Apr 28, 2011

Real Madrid and Barcelona face Uefa charges

Page last updated at 18:10 GMT, Thursday, 28 April 2011 19:10 UK

Mourinho was sent to the stands in the second half at the Bernabeu

Uefa has charged Real Madrid and Barcelona over incidents in their Champions League semi-final, including Jose Mourinho's post-match outburst.

The Real case also centres on the dismissals of midfielder Pepe and manager Mourinho and the behaviour of their fans during Wednesday's match.

Uefa is also looking at the red card shown to Barca reserve keeper Jose Pinto at half-time in their 2-0 win.

Both cases will be heard by the Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body on 6 May.

Barcelona later announced that they would report Mourinho to Uefaover his comments, with the Catalan club saying: "We want to stand firm when the war of words passes certain limits and we believe Mr Mourinho crossed this line yesterday."

A bad-tempered match erupted at half-time when there was a fracas on the touchline as the players were leaving the field, which resulted in Pinto being shown a red card.

I don't know if it's the publicity of Unicef, I don't know if it's because they are very nice, but they've got this power

Mourinho on Barcelona

Real were reduced to 10 men soon after the interval when Pepe was sent off for a high tackle on Dani Alves.

Real coach Mourinho was subsequently dismissed himself after being seen to sarcastically mouth "well done" to the fourth official.

Two late goals from Barca star Lionel Messi gave the Catalans a massive advantage going into Tuesday's second leg at the Nou Camp, and prompted Mourinho to launch into a diatribe in which he implied Barca are favourably treated by referees.

"It's clear that against Barcelona you have no chance," the Portuguese said. "I don't know if it's the publicity of Unicef [the club's shirt sponsor], I don't know if it's because they are very nice, but they've got this power.

"I don't know if it's the friendship of [Spanish football federation president Angel Maria] Villar at Uefa, where he is vice-president."

Mourinho drew a parallel between Wednesday's events and a similar "scandal" at Stamford Bridge in 2009 when Barca reached the final at Chelsea's expense after referee Tom Ovrebo turned down four penalty appeals by the Blues.

"I hope that one day [Barca coach Pep Guardiola] will win a clean Champions League, with no incidents behind it," he added.

Real Madrid made a staunch defence of their players on the club's website, saying that the Pepe sending off "changed the course of what was an evenly-fought match (but) was not worthy of a red card", adding that video showed "the player only touched the ball".

Barcelona's Sergio Busquets is later described as having "dived" in what was "another unsportsmanlike gesture and more fuel to the fire for the referee to deal with", adding: "It lasted for 90 minutes as millions around the world watched on the small screen."

Earlier this season, Mourinho was given a one-match Champions League ban by Uefa after appearing to instruct his players Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos to be deliberately sent off against Ajax so they would serve a suspension before the knockout phase.

Real are also being charged over the "throwing of missiles and a pitch invasion" by their fans, Uefa said.

'Yeti hand' replica to be returned to Nepal monastery

By Joanna JollyBBC News, Kathmandu

It is hoped the replicas will boost revenue at Pangboche Monastery

A pilot from New Zealand is in Nepal to return a replica of what some believe is the hand of a yeti to a remote monastery in the Everest region.

Mike Allsop will fly from Kathmandu to the Everest region on Friday to take the models to Pangboche Monastery, which sits at 4,000m (13,123ft).

The originals were stolen from the monastery in the 1990s.

They first came to light in the 1950s when an expedition to find the mythical yeti came upon the monastery.

Mr Allsop will also take with him a replica of a yeti skull-cap, which was also stolen in the 1990s.

Lingerie box

"I will take these replicas back to the monks so they can replace the ones that were stolen," Mr Allsop told the BBC.

Peter Byrne, the leader of the 1950s expedition to find the abominable snowman, said that while the skull was probably made of goat or antelope skin, the hand did not match the skeleton of a human or a primate.

Experts who examined the 'yeti hand' could not conclusively prove what it was

Mr Byrne managed to take one of the bones from the hand out of Nepal to his friend, the Hollywood actor James Stewart, who was on holiday at the time with his wife in Calcutta.

James Stewart's wife then placed the bone in her lingerie box and smuggled it into England where it was examined by a professor at Oxford University who said he could not conclusively say what kind of bone it was.

In the 1990s, an American television channel ran a documentary about the hand and skull. Shortly after, both were stolen from the monastery.

Mr Allsop said that he decided to make replicas of the hand and skull after trekking in the Everest region.

He approached the head of the New Zealand firm Weta Workshop, who were responsible for crafting the special effects and props for the Lord of the Rings films.

They agreed to make the replicas for free from photographs.

Mr Allsop has not yet told the monks in the monastery that he is returning with replicas of the hand and the skull.

He hopes that they will now be able to attract more trekkers to Pangboche, who will pay a small fee to see the artefacts.

"I want to help the monastery have an income again - I want to help them out," he said.

Dutch football club VVV 'signs up' hat-trick toddler

Video of the toddler's feat was posted on YouTube by his father Jorg

A Dutch football club has awarded a toddler a symbolic 10-year contract after watching video of him scoring a hat trick into his toy box.

When Baerke van der Meij, one and a half, drove three balls into the box one after another, his father Jorg posted the video on YouTube.

VVV, the club in the south-eastern town of Venlo where the family live, invited Baerke for a "trial".

They were doubly impressed by the fact his grandfather had played for VVV.

"Baerke did his best to amaze professional footballer Ken Leemans with his football techniques," the club said.

"One can speak of a right-footed player with a very good kick technique, perseverance and, importantly, football genes of grandfather Jan van der Meij."

Importantly, too, the little Dutchman can shout "bal" (English: ball).

The signing of the contract, with a little help from Jorg, was toasted with a glass of orange juice.

The video originally posted on YouTube has been viewed at least 1.67m times.

PlayStation Network credit card details were encrypted

The PlayStation network remains offline while Sony investigates the hack

Sony has revealed that credit card details held on its PlayStation Network were stored in securely encrypted files.

The news offers some hope to users worried about their personal data after the online system was hacked.

Sony had previously warned that card numbers and expiry dates may have been among the stolen data.

However, other information, including dates of birth and home addresses, did not have the same level of protection.

The full extent of the security breach was revealed on Monday, following a week-long investigation by Sony.

The company said that up to 77 million PlayStation Network members may have had their personal information taken during an "external intrusion".

The FBI confirmed to BBC News that it was now involved and had been in contact with Sony in the United States.

One of the main concerns for users has been the issue of card security.

In a question and answer blog, posted on the PlayStation website, the company said: "The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken.

"The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack."

The company has not revealed the type or strength of protection given to credit card information, and Graham Cluley from security firm Sophos warned that "encryption" could mean almost anything.

"Some are as weak as tissue paper, and others can take millions of years to crack," he told BBC News.

"For instance, you could have an encryption that made every 'A' a 'D', every 'B' an 'E' etc, but that would be trivial to crack."

Unusual transactions

Sony suggested that users should keep a close eye on their financial statements and alert their card issuer about any unusual transactions.

That advice was echoed by Visa Europe, the company behind the Visa payment system. It explained that if card data was found to have been stolen and used to make unauthorised payments, users would not have to pick up the bill.

"Cardholders who are innocent victims of fraud will get their money back, subject to the terms and conditions of their bank," it said in a statement.

PlayStation Network members were urged not to cancel their cards at this stage.

A spokesman for Barclaycard said that such action was unnecessary until it was known if card numbers had fallen into the wrong hands.

If that proved to be the case, Sony would need to hand over the information to the UK Payments Administration - the umbrella body that oversees financial transactions including bank transfers and card payments.

The card numbers would then be identified and passed to relevant banks who could block them from use or elevate the level of monitoring for unusual activity.

Wal-Mart to bring back guns to hundreds of US stores

The back of a Wal-Mart employee at one of its stores

Wal-Mart stopped selling guns at about 500 of its 3,600 US stores in 2006

Wal-Mart has said it will soon bring back the sale of firearms, including rifles and shotguns, at more than 500 of its US stores.

The retail giant stopped selling guns at hundreds of its 3,600 US stores in 2006, citing slumping consumer demand.

But a spokesman said guns would return to the shelves as "part of the overall push to bring 8,000 products back".

Thursday's news comes two months after Wal-Mart announced a seventh straight quarterly decline in US sales.

Hunting and fishing

Wal-Mart will be stocking more merchandise in a wide range of its stores in an effort to "offer customers the broadest assortment of our products possible", spokesman Lorenzo Lopez told the BBC.

He added that firearms would be part of that push, which he said had been planned for months.

"A few years back... we were trying to streamline the assortment," Mr Lopez said, referring to the decision in 2006 to cease stocking firearms in many Wal-Mart stores.

Wal-Mart currently sells rifles, shotguns and ammunition at about 1,000 of its locations in the US.

That will rise to roughly half its 3,600 US stores under the changes outlined on Thursday.

Mr Lopez said Wal-Mart was focusing on areas of the country where hunting and fishing are popular.

Federally-tracked gun sales grew more than 12% in the first quarter of 2011. However, growth has mainly been seen in handguns, which Wal-Mart does not carry.

Beijing 'back-sliding on rights'

Michael Posner answers questions at the news conference in Beijing on 28 April 2011

Michael Posner said that the human rights issue could harm ties between Beijing and Washington

A top US diplomat has accused China of "back-sliding" on human rights, after two days of dialogue in Beijing.

Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner said he had raised the subject of the recent crackdown on dissidents and lawyers in China.

But he said that no headway was made when specific cases such as that of detained artist Ai Weiwei were raised.

A Chinese spokesman said that US should not use human rights issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.

Rights groups say the most extensive government crackdown on dissent in years is taking place. Government critics including lawyers, bloggers and activists have been targeted.

The BBC's Michael Bristow, in Beijing, says that some believe China has launched this crackdown because it fears unrest similar to that taking place in the Middle East and North Africa.

Others believe that politicians looking to be promoted in next year's leadership reshuffle are trying to show how tough they are.

'No comfort'

Mr Posner said that the two sides had "tough" discussions about issues "deeply" concerning to the highest levels of the US government.

"In recent months we've seen a serious back-sliding on human rights, and a discussion of these negative trends dominated the human rights dialogue," he said.

Human rights protest in support of detained artist Ai Weiwei outside the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong on 10 April

The US says it is concerned about the plight of detained government critics such as artist Ai Weiwei

He said that he had raised cases of several prominent dissidents, such as artist Ai Weiwei - a government critic who has not been seen since his arrest as he tried to board a plane to Hong Kong. The authorities say they are investigating him for "economic crimes".

"On that case, we certainly did not get an answer that satisfies," he said. "There was no sense of comfort from the response or the lack of response."

He also raised cases including that of missing lawyer Gao Zhisheng and Liu Xia, the wife of imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, who is under house arrest.

The two sides also discussed the issues of Tibet and Xinjiang, both areas where minority groups seeking greater autonomy from China exist.

Mr Posner said the issue could harm bilateral ties.

"Human rights is an essential feature of what we do, and so to the extent that there are serious human rights problems, those problems become an impediment to the relationship," he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said both sides "had frank and thorough exchanges on issues of mutual concern".

"At the same time we oppose the United States using human rights to interfere in China's internal affairs," he added.

Ex-President Jimmy Carter calls for North Korea aid

Jimmy Carter arrives in Pyongyang on 26 April 2011

Former President Jimmy Carter has paid several visits to North Korea in the past

Inside North Korea

Former US President Jimmy Carter has accused the US and South Korea of human rights violations against North Koreans by withholding food aid.

Mr Carter made the comments after a three-day private visit to Pyongyang.

He also said North Korea was willing to hold unconditional talks with South Korea - a message conveyed in a note from leader Kim Jong-il.

South Korea wants the North to apologise for two deadly attacks last year before talks can restart.

It blames North Korea for sinking its warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives - something Pyongyang denies. It also wants an apology for the shelling of a border island in November that killed four people.

The US has stressed that Mr Carter's visit was "strictly private", while the South Korean foreign minister said he did not have "high expectations" that the former leader could deliver a break-through.

Food fears

Mr Carter travelled to North Korea with three former national leaders from The Elders group and held talks with Kim Jong-il's deputy, Kim Jong-nam.

Speaking in Seoul after his return, he said North Korea needed food aid.

File image of worker carrying hay in Taziri, North Korea, in December 1995

North Korea was hit by severe famine in the 1990s as its economy and crop base collapsed

"One of the most important human rights is to have food to eat, and for South Korea and the US and others to deliberately withhold food aid to the North Korean people is really a human rights violation," he said.

South Korea and the US have both suspended food shipments to the North in the past few years as a result of worsening political relations and concerns over monitoring the aid.

But, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul, North Korea has been warning of especially severe food shortages this year as a result of the harsh winter.

North Korea has been dependent on food aid since famine in the mid-1990s.

On Wednesday Samaritan's Purse, a US-based charity that surveyed food needs in North Korea in February, warned that food stocks in some parts of the country would run out by June.

On dialogue, Mr Carter said that although he did not meet Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader "sent word that he and the people of North Korea are willing to negotiate with South Korea or the United States... on any subject at any time without preconditions".

"He specifically told us that he was prepared for a summit with [South Korean] President Lee Myung-bak at any time," he said.

But he said that although the communist nation expressed "deep regret" over the warship sinking and the shelling, it did not apologise for either event.

Wider disarmament talks involving the US, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas broke down over two years ago on the issue of how North Korea's dialogue partners could verify that the information it had presented on its nuclear work was accurate and complete.

China is pushing for the talks to restart but both the US and South Korea say inter-Korean tensions must be eased first.

Mr Carter returned without a US national detained in the communist state, businessman Jun Young-su who is reportedly accused of conducting missionary work.

The former president last year secured the release of another US citizen jailed in the country, but said before he left that he did not expect to raise the case of Mr Jun on this occasion.

India chooses European fighters over US rivals

India accounts for 9% of global arms imports, according to one study

India has shortlisted two European fighters and ruled out two US rivals for a key $11bn military contract.

The Indian defence ministry picked the pan-European Eurofighter and France-based Dessault's Rafale ahead of jets made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The US ambassador in India said the US was "deeply disappointed" by the news.

President Barack Obama had personally lobbied on behalf of the US defence contractors, as had European leaders on behalf of the European jets.

"It is confirmed Eurofighter and Rafale have been selected and the remaining four are off," said the Indian defence ministry.

The other two companies to miss out were Sweden's Saab and the Russian makers of the MiG 35.

'Political setback'

The ambassador, Timothy Roemer, said: "We are reviewing the documents received from the government of India and are respectful of the procurement process."

He added that the US "looked forward to continuing to grow and develop our defence partnership with India".

However, some commentators suggested there could be some political fallout from the decision.

"The Americans will be very unhappy and people who have been backing the contract will say India has not sufficiently taken into account the political relationship with the US," said former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.

"That is a political setback for relations."

Mr Roemer announced separately that he was resigning from his post for "personal, professional and family considerations".

Big spenders

A report published last month said that India had overtaken China to become the world's largest importer of arms.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9% of all weapons imports between 2006 and 2010.

With a $32.5bn (£19.5bn) defence budget, India imports more than 70% of its arms.

The $11bn deal for 126 fighter jets is part of plan to spend $50bn over the next five years on modernising its armed forces.

NEWS

Apr 28, 2011

Real Madrid and Barcelona face Uefa charges

'Yeti hand' replica to be returned to Nepal monastery

Dutch football club VVV 'signs up' hat-trick toddler

PlayStation Network credit card details were encrypted

Wal-Mart to bring back guns to hundreds of US stores

Beijing 'back-sliding on rights'

Ex-President Jimmy Carter calls for North Korea aid

Inside North Korea

India chooses European fighters over US rivals

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NEWS

Apr 28, 2011

Real Madrid and Barcelona face Uefa charges

'Yeti hand' replica to be returned to Nepal monastery

Related Stories

Dutch football club VVV 'signs up' hat-trick toddler

PlayStation Network credit card details were encrypted

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Wal-Mart to bring back guns to hundreds of US stores

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Beijing 'back-sliding on rights'

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Ex-President Jimmy Carter calls for North Korea aid

Inside North Korea

India chooses European fighters over US rivals

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