lundi 28 février 2011

Marbled Godwit and its Doppelgnger

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Marbled Godwit and its Doppelgnger

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dimanche 27 février 2011

Murnanes Bay 1180618

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Murnanes Bay 1180618

Mini road trip on a sunny late summers day to celebrate 500,000 views on my flickr photostream. Not as many or as famous as the 12 Apostles another 30 mins down the coast I really enjoy the serenity of this beach.

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Pont d'Arc

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samedi 26 février 2011

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vendredi 25 février 2011

West Ham v Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish receives ringing endorsement from John W Henry

West Ham v Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish receives ringing endorsement from John W Henry

Liverpool’s principal owner, John W Henry, has issued another ringing endorsement of Kenny Dalglish’s reign as caretaker manager, seemingly increasing the likelihood that the Scot will be asked to take the job on a permanent basis.

West Ham v Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish receives ringing endorsement from John W Henry

Impressive job: Kenny Dalglish has steadied the ship since taking over at Liverpool leaving new owners FSG pleased with their choice of caretaker manager Photo: PA

Rory Smith

By Rory Smith 7:55PM GMT 25 Feb 2011

Rory's Twitter

Though Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s parent company, is not yet thought to have made a decision over who will occupy the Anfield dugout next season, Henry’s consistent praise of Dalglish — who he appointed last month to the end of the campaign — suggests the job is now the 59 year-old’s to lose.

Henry insisted last week that he felt FSG could not have made “a better choice” than Dalglish when seeking a replacement for Roy Hodgson and on Thursday he updated his Facebook status to express his delight at the on-pitch improvement since the Scot began his second spell at Anfield.

“Over the last seven matches, I believe, only one goal (and that may have been offside) has been conceded,” Henry wrote.

“Terrific effort on defense [sic] with increasing aggressiveness. We all have to be extremely happy with the progress, work-rate, determination and coaching staff. A total team effort. Great to see.”

Dalglish’s success puts FSG in a difficult — if enviable — position. The consortium had hoped to attract a young, dynamic manager around whom they could rebuild the Anfield side as their first permanent managerial appointment; only the severity of the situation Liverpool found themselves in under Hodgson forced the club’s owners to approach Dalglish with a temporary remit.

Yet the Scot’s impact has been so profound, helping the club move from a relegation battle to a European place in a matter of weeks, that failing to restore Dalglish to his throne on a permanent basis would incur the wrath of the club’s fans. Even Henry has admitted in recent weeks that the relationship between Dalglish and Liverpool’s supporters is “unique” in world sport.

Liverpool are now unbeaten in seven games, have progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League and will travel to West Ham on Sunday with Luis Suarez, the £22.8 million signing who has already become the darling of the Kop, restored to their side.

“We can already see what a good player Luis is,” said the club’s captain, Steven Gerrard, another in line to return against West Ham.

“I expect him to be even better when he adjusts to the speed of football in this country. He had not played many games in the weeks before he moved here so he is still getting his match fitness. When he gets that he will be very difficult to stop.”

In the continued absence of the club’s record signing, Andy Carroll — who is expected to return against Manchester United a week on Sunday — Suarez will most likely be paired in attack at Upton Park with Dirk Kuyt.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com

jeudi 24 février 2011

p u n c h

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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says injuries could scupper chase for honours on three fronts

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says injuries could scupper chase for honours on three fronts

Roberto Mancini admits Manchester City’s injury crisis is threatening their pursuit of honours on three fronts but expects them to be able to cope with the demands of the Champions League next season.

Manchester City manger Roberto Mancini admits mounting injuries could scupper chase for honours this season

Directing traffic: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini provides an animated prescence on the sidelines  Photo: AP

By Graham Chase 7:30AM GMT 24 Feb 2011

Mancini expects to be without defender Micah Richards and midfielder James Milner for Thursday’s match against Aris Salonika because of calf and hamstring problems respectively.

The Italian, who on Wednesday confirmed that goalkeeper Shay Given was likely to miss three months with shoulder surgery causing Manchester City to recall David Gonzalez from a loan spell at Leeds, expected to have just 16 players available for Thursday night, with Nigel de Jong and Adam Johnson both out with ankle injuries.

The second leg with Aris is City’s 13th match of the year and Mancini acknowledges that he cannot afford any more problems as they enter a pivotal period in their campaign.

In spite of his mounting concerns, Mancini believes City have progressed to such an extent that they could emulate his Sampdoria team, who reached the European Cup final in 1992.

“I think that every year you can improve,” he said. “At this moment we are looking to finish second, third, even first even though that’s difficult.

“But we want to be in a Champions League position and try to win something. Next year it could be different maybe because we can improve the team.

“We have players with a lot of experience. Playing in the Champions League at the start, it can be a problem but I played for Sampdoria in their first time in the Champions League 20 years ago and we got to the final.

“We need to improve because it’s clear we are not like Barca, Madrid, Milan or Inter. They are teams that have played in the Champions League for a long time.

“But for this year if we do well in the Europa League it will give us good experience.”

Mancini, who refused to respond to agent Kia Joorabchian’s claims that Carlos Tévez could leave for Corinthians, did not have European football to contend with last season and appears bemused at what is being expected of his players.

“It’s a big problem because this month will be very important for us,” he added. “We lost Johnson at the end of January and Nigel, Micah, Milner, all big problems because ankle, knee.

“When you play through to March 20 with one game every three days it’s very difficult but we have 16 players and it will be important that we don’t pick up any more injuries in the next few days.”

Match Details

Manchester City (4-4-2): Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Wright-Phillips, Y Toure, Barry, Silva; Dzeko, Tevez.

Aris (4-4-1-1): Sifakis; Vangeli, Guiaro, Lazaridis, Michel; Neto, Prittas, Faty, Sakata; Toja; Bobadilla.

Referee: P Kralovec (Czech Rep).

roberto mancini, james milner, nigel de jong, barca madrid, pivotal period, injury crisis, rsquo, david gonzalez, directing traffic, league position, ankle injuries ebook download, adam johnson, salonika, prescence, shoulder surgery, manchester city, goalkeeper, shay, midfielder, honours

Telegraph.feedsportal.com

Portland Bill at half past dawn

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Portland Bill at half past dawn

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mercredi 23 février 2011

113472855wfTuZx_ph

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113472855wfTuZx_ph

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mardi 22 février 2011

Gadhafi Battles to Hang On

[LIBYAMAIN_SUB2] Associated Press

Libyan rebels claimed control in Benghazi Monday as forces loyal to the regime continued to battle in Tripoli.

Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi violently crushed protests raging across his country Monday—and his armed forces loosed mercenary soldiers upon the capital to shoot protesters, witnesses said—as military, police and diplomats abandoned government posts and swaths of the country's east fell under control of antiregime forces.

Protests spilled into the capital, the western city of Tripoli, where Col. Gadhafi had long spread Libya's oil wealth generously and where he enjoyed his greatest support. Demonstrators who started their anti-regime protests last week in the country's east, a cradle of anti-Gadhafi activism, had taken control of the city of Benghazi there, witnesses said.

View Full Image

0221kadhafiB01

Associated Press

In this video image broadcast on Libyan state television early Tuesday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is shown.

0221kadhafiB01

0221kadhafiB01

The events mark the first time that uprisings roiling the broader Middle East have destabilized a major oil-producing state, threatening to add the Libyan strongman to the list of autocratic leaders ousted since the beginning of the year.

In an interview broadcast on Libyan state television early Tuesday morning, a tired, defiant looking Col. Gadhafi dispelled media rumors he had left the country. "I am in Tripoli, not in Venezuela. Do not believe these channels—they are dogs." He was shown emerging from a car, holding a white umbrella. It wasn't clear whether the interview was live or recorded.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday appealed for an end to the "unacceptable bloodshed" in Libya. "We join the international community in strongly condemning the violence in Libya," she said in a statement. The State Department ordered its embassy staff out of Tripoli.

A senior U.S. official briefed on Libya said, "It's a deteriorating situation, and you can't rule out at this stage a civil war." The United Nations Security Council plans to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the situation in Libya, according to a U.S. official.

Tripoli residents reported Monday that pro-Gadhafi troops, including what appeared to be battalions of foreign fighters, were being ferried to different parts of the city in helicopters. There were widespread reports that these and other government-friendly forces fired live rounds at protesters in the capital, as the Libyan response far exceeded the violence of other clashes across the region.

[LIBYAMAIN_jump]

Libyan deputy foreign minister Khalid Kaim, in an interview Monday night with the Al Jazeera news channel, denied reports that foreign mercenaries were working in Libya.

Col. Gadhafi's support dissolved on multiple fronts Monday. In the east, residents of several cities said government security forces had withdrawn from the streets to their bases, for now ceding all or parts of cities to protesters.

In Baida, close to Libya's border with Egypt, witnesses said local police turned their guns on the army's second brigade after it deployed inside the city and fired live rounds at protesters. The local police's flip forced the surprised army forces to withdraw to the airport on the city's outskirts, witnesses said.

A Libyan man who identified himself as an army spokesman told Al Jazeera news by telephone late Monday that military officers had issued a statement urging their colleagues to join the protests against the government. He said the statement called on soldiers "to march to Tripoli and overthrow" Col. Gadhafi.

The speaker's rank and military division were unclear, as were the number of officers who had signed. Early Tuesday, Libyan television called police and military to return to their stations.

Libya's ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujali, formally broke with Col. Gadhafi on Monday and called for him to step down. The deputy head of Libya's delegation to the United Nations, meanwhile, said he had stopped taking orders from the government and is asking the international community to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya's airspace so it couldn't bring in more mercenaries.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade-old rule appeared in increasing jeopardy on Monday as anti-government protests reached the capital of Tripoli for the first time. Reuters' Jon Decker reports.

Amateur footage shows protests spreading to Libya's capital city while Gaddafi's son called on the nation to work with the regime to "create a new Libya".

"The information that we are getting is that the regime is killing whomever goes out on the streets," the Libyan U.N. official, Omar al Dabashi, told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s World Service. "He [Col. Gadhafi] has clearly declared a genocide against his own people."

On Monday afternoon, two Libyan Air Force Mirage jet fighters flew to Malta, and Maltese online websites, citing local officials, said the pilots had claimed political asylum in the small Mediterranean nation. The pilots told local authorities they had escaped to Malta after refusing orders to bomb protesters in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, the country's second-largest and a center of protests, according to Times of Malta.

Maltese officials couldn't be immediately reached to confirm these reports.

Seif al-Gaddafi, the son of the president, late Monday denied widespread reports that Libyan aircraft had opened fire on civilians. In a statement broadcast on state television, he said there had been air strikes away from residential areas and targeting weapons warehouses outside of Tripoli, according to the BBC, which was monitoring Libyan state television.

U.S. officials said Libya is potentially explosive because it is essentially a conservative tribal society that has been forcibly integrated by Col. Gadhafi's security forces since he took over in 1969.

During Italian colonial times, the country was ruled as three autonomous states, with the east and the city of Benghazi largely in charge of its own affairs. If Col. Gadhafi is deposed, these officials said, many Libyans will likely revert to their clan or geographic affinities.

"People identify with their clans, particularly as you go further into Libya's hinterland," said a former U.S. official who worked closely with Col. Gadhafi. "Historically it's been difficult to unify them."

More

Clinton: Gadhafi Must Stop Bloodshed | More on Dispatch

Fleeing Egyptians Tell of Libya Carnage

U.S.'s Tripoli Bid Yields Little

Turkey Navigates Path Through Unrest

Iran Opposition Considers More Protests

Egypt Freezes Mubaraks' Assets

Yemen President Rejects Calls to Step Down

U.K.'s Cameron Condemns Violence in Libya

Europe's Ties With Libya Questioned

Oil Firms Suspend Libyan Operations

The Warfala tribe, one of the largest among Libya's population of 6.4 million, announced Sunday it was throwing its heft behind the protesters.

Amid concerns that the turmoil could curtail global oil supplies, Brent crude at one point Monday topped $105 a barrel, its highest level in 2½ years. A leader of a tribal group opposed to Mr. Gadhafi increased market jitters when he said government opponents could sabotage oil production if the government doesn't stop the attacks.

Libya produces 1.8 million barrels of oil daily, and its 41 billion barrels of proven reserves represent more than 3% of global supplies.

Since Col. Gadhafi reconciled with the West in 2003 and shut down the country's nuclear program, Libya has also been a major growth market for Western oil companies. The unrest threatens to undo years of effort by companies that have courted Mr. Gadhafi in the face of heavy political criticism.

On Monday, Wintershall, the oil and gas exploration arm of Germany's BASF AG and one of the largest operators in Libya, announced it was shutting around 100,000 barrels a day of output.

Libya has barred journalists from reporting on the events. The group Human Rights Watch said it had confirmed 233 deaths during the uprising so far, but witnesses and internationally based opposition groups estimated the toll was far higher.

Moammar Gadhafi's Libya

See some key dates in Col. Gadhafi's nearly 42-year reign.

View Interactive

Libya Protests Intensify

View Slideshow

[SB10001424052748704476604576158360734876694]

AP

More photos and interactive graphics

Calls placed to cell phones within the country were largely disrupted Monday. Several residents described their country's events by Internet phone.

Libyan protests that began last week escalated dramatically Saturday. Fierce fighting raged in Benghazi, Libya's second city, on the country's northeast coast after residents finished burying an early victim of the protests. As they marched from the graveyard and neared an army base in downtown Benghazi, soldiers opened fire with machine guns, according to several residents.

Benghazi's residents said some neighborhoods of the city had been consumed by full-fledged urban warfare between protesters and pro-government forces. Residents said pro-Gadhafi loyalists driving around in cars fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns in the streets.

Protests sprang up on the outskirts of Tripoli for the first time Sunday, say some of these residents. Col. Gadhafi's forces moved quickly to counter them, witnesses said.

Protesters who were in Green Square, the site of Sunday's mass protests in the capital, say uniformed soldiers opened fire on the crowds there, which numbered in the thousands. Waleed, a resident of Tripoli who was at the square Sunday, said the crowds were mostly men under 30 years of age. In the late afternoon, gun shots rang out within the crowd, he said. He said a friend saw two men standing next to him shot in the chest and killed.

"No one could tell where the bullets where coming from. Bullets were flying in the air and bodies were falling," Waleed said.

A doctor who was working at Tripoli's Central Hospital emergency room Sunday night said the hospital operated on 40 people between into the early hours Monday morning, all suffering from gunshot wounds. The hospital received bodies of 12 more people who had died on route to the emergency room, all with gunshot wounds to their heads, neck or chest, the doctor said, adding that many of the casualties were from the area around Green Square.

On Monday morning at around 3 a.m., emergency-room operations at the Central Hospital stopped because the doctors ran out of vital medication. The doctor said they had to turn ambulances away and have them take wounded people to other, smaller hospitals in the city.

The violence, which included protestors setting fire to some government buildings, continued into the night. Col. Gadhafi's special forces patrolled the city along with what appeared to be the foreign troops, several residents said by telephone.

Mr. Gadhafi's 42-year reign has veered wildly between violent extremes and bewildering farce. When the then-27-year-old army captain grabbed power from King Idris in a 1969 coup, few people could have predicted he would become one of the world's longest-lasting and most recognizable leaders. His eccentric and radical outbursts have angered and astonished Western leaders.

Mr. Gadhafi's support for Palestinian terrorists in 1986 prompted President Ronald Reagan to describe him as the "mad dog of the Middle East." By 2009, after a deal in which he revealed his country's nuclear program, his relations with the West had thawed far enough to allow him to visit New York, where he camped in a Bedouin tent and delivered an off-the-cuff, 94-minute harangue against imperialism to the United Nations General Assembly.

Col. Gadhafi's at-times eccentric international profile aside, it is the corruption, inefficiency and autocracy of his regime that has driven a popular uprising against it.

Uprising in the Middle East

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See photos from protests from Algeria to Yemen.

Mideast Mosaic

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A look at the economic and political status of selected countries facing unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

Regional Upheaval

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Track demonstrations day by day.

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The country's eastern half has a long history of resistance to outsiders and of friction with Col. Gadhafi's government in Tripoli. Until Col. Gadhafi seized control, power was focused in the east. Benghazi was the seat of the monarchy. The new regime made Tripoli its capital, and Libya's center of gravity shifted.

Although Libya's main oil fields and export facilities were in the east, Col. Gadhafi funneled most of the country's rapidly growing wealth to the western provinces.

"Gadhafi deliberately didn't put much money into the east and it was left to stagnate and grow very dilapidated," said Charles Gurdon, a Libya expert and managing director of Menas Consulting. "It led to lots of opposition, some Islamist and some not."

Over the past two decades, most of the opposition to Col. Gadhafi's rule has emerged around Benghazi, including the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which attempted to assassinate the Libyan leader in 1996. The current unrest traces its roots back to an uprising by student Islamists in the 1990s that Col. Gadhafi viciously suppressed. He deployed the army's feared second brigade, commanded by one of his sons, Khamis, against the students. Many who weren't killed in the mayhem were thrown in jail, many of them in Tripoli's Abu Salim Prison.

About a year later, in 1996, prisoners at Abu Salim, many of whom were from Benghazi, launched an uprising. A regime bombardment left 1,200 prisoners dead, according to Human Rights Watch. The "Abu Salim massacre" has since been a rallying cry for activists and opposition in Libya and a thorn in the regime's side.

The protests now shaking the country first flared outside Benghazi's courthouse on Feb. 15 after security forces arrested two outspoken members of the families of victims of the Abu Salim incident in 1996, as well as a human-rights lawyer, pushing their demands for compensation from the government, according to human-rights activists.

—Jay Solomon and Adam Entous in Washington and Leila Hatoum in Dubai contributed to this article.

Write to Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com and Charles Levinson at charles.levinson@wsj.com
Online.wsj.com

113473315nxAfok_ph

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113473315nxAfok_ph

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lundi 21 février 2011

Approfondimenti - La luce, lo spazio e il tempo

photo

Approfondimenti - La luce, lo spazio e il tempo

View On Black

Fratello Universo,
testimone del tempo
e della luce, impietosi
fendenti della vita tutta.

A Te urlo la mia angoscia
di uomo errante e disperato.
Atomi, elettroni, protoni
ebbene questa la materia
che compone Te e la mente mia.

Enorme il frastuono
se tento di capire,
mi devasta un vuoto
che colma solo la pazzia.

Ma della vita ho fatto ordine,
nessuna verit la pura verit
ed a ognuno rimane il gioco
della propria verit.
fd

Ho il piacere d'invitarti ad ascoltarla "Live"

No inviti a gruppi, per favore! Grazie :)
No group invitations, please! Thanks:)

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dimanche 20 février 2011

Virgen de la Vulnerata y el Sto. Cristo del Olvido

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Virgen de la Vulnerata y el Sto. Cristo del Olvido

Ver Sobre fondo negro I View On Fund Black

Mas fotos en este lbum:
Valladolid Semana Santa 2009

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samedi 19 février 2011

Embassy of Greece - Washington DC

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Embassy of Greece - Washington DC

Embassy of Greece - Washington DC
Greek Embassy

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Green House

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Green House

One of the large older homes on university street near downtown Mt. Pleasant.

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A Wilhelm Scream @ Groezrock 2010

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A Wilhelm Scream @ Groezrock 2010

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Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)

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vendredi 18 février 2011

IMG_0051

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jeudi 17 février 2011

Rangers v Sporting Lisbon: Walter Smith short of options as season of attrition takes its toll

Rangers v Sporting Lisbon: Walter Smith short of options as season of attrition takes its toll

As Rangers attempt an assault on four tournaments their progress resembles the charge of the Light Brigade. Fixtures to right of them, fixtures to left of them and casualties mounting as the campaign takes its toll.

Rangers v Sporting Lisbon: Walter Smith short of options as season of attrition takes its toll - El Hadji Diouf

Showing his colours: Rangers forward El Hadji Diouf shows off his new haircut with blue streak Photo: PA

Roddy Forsyth

By Roddy Forsyth 11:00PM GMT 16 Feb 2011

Lee McCulloch was carted off to the sawbones on Tuesday and is expected to miss most of the remainder of the season after an operation to remedy a cyst on his knee. Mind you, the Light Brigade started with 600 troopers whereas Walter Smith, as he mused wearily yet again ahead of this evening’s Europa League meeting with Sporting Lisbon, cannot even muster strength equal to half a platoon.

His pre-match briefings have become an exercise in repetition. In three sessions last Friday and two yesterday the same questions were posed. Who is available? Who has dropped by the wayside? Will you prioritise competitions?

Smith’s answers likewise comprise a litany. In this case, Nikica Jelavic is ineligible, Steven Naismith a doubt because of the hamstring strain which caused him to be withdrawn during the 6-0 thrashing of Motherwell last Saturday, but Kyle Lafferty is fit again.

And no, as he said in exactly the same words last week, Smith will not consider a sliding scale of tournaments because he cannot tell players that at Rangers they are expected to win every game and then advise them that some fixtures are more equal than others, even though Sunday’s meeting with

Celtic at Parkhead has the feel of an encounter that will go a long way towards determining the outcome of this season’s title race.

“I almost take a simplistic view of these things. When you are at a big club, and you enter a tournament, you want to try to win it,” said Smith. “When I was asked about the League Cup, and whether I was taking it seriously, my answer was quite simple, ‘Is everyone else taking it seriously? Because we’ve been in a lot of finals.’

“It’s the same thing in Europe. OK, there are certain circumstances you have to deal with – Steven Naismith, for instance, is touch and go in terms of fitness for this match. So we’ve got a decision to make – do we risk him or otherwise?

“It’s not just because we play Celtic on Sunday, but also because it is a hamstring strain and we don’t want to risk losing him for a period of time. There are decisions like that to be made but there is no way we will approach this by fielding a team that we think might not win this game just because we got to Celtic Park on Sunday. What if we ended up losing both games?

“If you set out trying to pick and choose your games, then you are

on very dangerous ground in my eyes. I don’t think you could call a European run a distraction.”

Under the circumstances it would be no surprise if Naismith fails to make it, the more so because he had not trained prior to yesterday. Still, with Lafferty available again and

El Hadji Diouf in his thoughts as a candidate for lone striker, Smith is less troubled at having to cope with the absence of Jelavic than he is about the loss of McCulloch.

McCulloch’s experience and expertise in the holding role has been crucial to Rangers’ ability to withstand pressure such as Manchester United imposed when the pair met at Old Trafford in the first match of this season’s Champions League group stage. McCulloch provided both protection for the 40-year-old David Weir and intelligent prompts for the midfield to take the pressure off the Ibrox defence.

There is no like-for-like replacement available. Kyle Bartley, the 19-year-old defender on loan from Arsenal, was employed there against Motherwell and made an impression with his strength and desire to step forward when the opportunity presented itself, but he also evinced a degree of rawness which the Fir Park side were unable to exploit and which would represent a risk against Sporting Lisbon, as Smith acknowledged.

“I see enough in him to know that we could play him but in an area of the field where Sporting are quite strong, in the middle of the pitch, we have a lack of experience with the boys we have left and it’s a wee bit of a problem for us,” said Smith.

The manager is known for his ability to spring a surprise on these occasions and he could, at a pinch, field Bartley as a defender and use the battle-hardened Steven Whittaker in the holding role, although the older man can sometimes be cavalier with his distribution.

Sporting, meanwhile, have fallen on lean times and although they are third in the Portuguese league they are 23 points behind the leaders, Porto, and have played before some alarmingly meagre attendances. There is, inevitably, the feeling that they are ripe for plucking.

However, given that Rangers have won only one of their last 17 European fixtures in open play, Sporting Lisbon may be excused for feeling the same about the Scottish champions.

Rangers (probable, 4-1-4-1): McGregor; Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Papac; Bartley; Davis, Diouf, Edu, Weiss; Lafferty.
Sporting Lisbon (probable, 4-5-1): Rui Patricio; Pereira, Grimi, Torsiglieri, Carrico; Santos, Maniche, Mendes, Vukcevic, Valdes; Postiga.
Referee: M Grafe (Germany).

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China is the world's second largest economy

China is the world's second largest economy

China became the world's second largest economy as Japan finally surrendered its 42-year-old reign after official figures showed a contraction in the final quarter.

Japan data confirms China as world's second largest economy.

China's rise was "unavoidable given the difference in population", said Naomasa Mitsuishi, a 45-year-old salaryman in Tokyo's Shimbashi district. I have no strong feelings about China surpassing Japan, because Japan has little room left for GDP growth compared to China, which is booming." Photo: Bloomberg

Malcolm Moore

By Malcolm Moore, in Shanghai 10:25AM GMT 14 Feb 2011

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China has claimed since as early as 2008 that it either was, or was imminently poised to become, the world’s second-largest economy.

Until now, Japanese economists have patriotically refuted the Chinese figures. However, weak consumer spending and a strong yen saw Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) fall by an annualised rate of 1.1pc in the final quarter.

That allowed China to pull ahead with a GDP total of $5.88 trillion (£3.68 trillion) for 2010, on a non-adjusted nominal dollar basis, compared to $5.47 trillion for Japan.

By comparison, the United States recorded GDP of $14 trillion in 2009, but experts have predicted that after sweeping past Germany, France, the UK and now Japan, China will catch up with the US by as early as 2030.

Similar predictions were made for Japan’s prospects during the 1980s. However, after more than a decade, being overtaken by China reflects Japan’s declining political and economic power.

Once China’s greatest enemy, and rival, Japan’s prospects are now dependent on ties with its bigger neighbour, the government admitted.

“The important issue for Japan is how to incorporate [and benefit from] China’s growth,” said Yukio Edano, the Chief Cabinet secretary, pointing out that Japan’s per-capita wealth is still ten times that of China’s, perhaps giving Japan the ability to invest in, and profit from, Chinese growth.

Kaoru Yosano, the Fiscal policy minister, added: “We welcome, as a neighbouring nation, that China’s economy is advancing rapidly. This can become a foundation for the development of the regional economy.”

He added: “We are not managing the economy to compete for ranking, but to enhance people’s lives.”

For China it was a triumphant moment. “China has done more than any other economy to pull the world out of recession, and may remain an important engine of global growth for some years to come,” stated an opinion piece in the China Daily, the official English-language newspaper.

China’s global power has grown considerably in recent years, but the Communist party remains nervous about assuming the mantle of an economic superpower, especially given China’s continuing development.

“China surpassing Japan to become World’s Second Biggest Economy - But not the Second Strongest,” said a headline in the People’s Daily newspaper.

Meanwhile, other economic statistics showed that China’s trade surplus fell to its lowest level in nine months in January after imports surged. The trade surplus shrank to $6.5 billion from $13.1 billion in December, well short of predictions.

It was the third consecutive month of declines for the trade surplus, however, the early start of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday could have affected exports.

Workers in coastal factories tend to begin travelling home in the two weeks before the official holiday begins, and this year some workers are reported to have won extra holiday concessions from factories in the South who remain desperate for staff.

Although Japan remains around 10 times richer on a per-capita basis, according to the International Monetary Fund, the reponse to the news by the Japanese public was one for resignation.

"The gap will widen from now on," said Takehide Yoshiura, a 43-year-old salaryman in Tokyo's Shimbashi district.

Naomasa Mitsuishi, also 45, said: "I have no strong feelings about China surpassing Japan, because Japan has little room left for GDP growth compared to China."

Get free advice on maximising investments with the Telegraph Wealth Management Service

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mercredi 16 février 2011

Arsenal v Barcelona: Wojciech Szczesny unfazed by 'surreal' Barca challenge

Arsenal v Barcelona: Wojciech Szczesny unfazed by 'surreal' Barca challenge

A Premier League debut at Old Trafford and now a first start in the Champions League against Barcelona – there is certainly no question of Wojciech Szczesny being gently eased into the limelight.

Wojciech Szczesny - Arsenal v Barcelona

Calling the shots: Szczesny is only 20 but he is not afraid to make demands of more experienced team-mates Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Jeremy Wilson

By Jeremy Wilson 7:00AM GMT 16 Feb 2011

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Fortunately, at only 20, his entire outlook is of someone who seems to regard every match as an adventure and an opportunity rather than an ordeal.

“Wojciech’s not fazed by anything,” said Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager.

“Most people, if they were told they were playing Barcelona, they might have a nervous night. He’s never overawed. It’s part of the job not to be inhibited when the competition is on.

“There are some players who do less well in matches than in training and some others the reverse. He’s one of the players who becomes who he really is during competition. He doesn’t give you the feeling that he’s nervous.”

Szczesny’s journey from fourth-choice Arsenal goalkeeper to a starting place for their most eagerly-anticipated match of the season has been remarkable.

A year ago, he was on loan at Brentford. On Wednesday night, he might well be the busiest — as well as the second youngest — player on the pitch against a team recognised as the best in the world. “Surreal” is Szczesny’s description of his involvement, but few would doubt that he is ready.

Injuries to Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski presented Szczesny with his chance and he duly kept a clean sheet in six out of 12 starts, something he also achieved 10 times during 28 matches on loan last season with Brentford.

Such statistics suggest his presence has a major influence on defenders.

Johan Djourou, the Arsenal centre-back, says that Szczesny is quite prepared to give his more experienced team-mates a “rollicking” if they neglect their defensive duty.

“He is not scared about anything,” said Djourou. “He is a great guy and very confident. For a guy of his age to have that is quite impressive. If he sees some things, he will tell you.

“He is very loud. He has presence. He is quite big and is good for defenders. He is very young but it looks as though he has been in the game ages.

“It is great when you have a keeper behind you who gives you more confidence, who is vocal and comes out for crosses.”

At 6ft 5in tall, allied to his temperament, Szczesny has outstanding physical attributes and has already overcome one serious injury, having broken both forearms during a freak training accident in 2008.

“He makes unbelievable saves,” said Wenger. “He has something that you cannot give to people. He has that presence.”

Goalkeeping is also in the blood as his father, Maciej, was a Poland international.

“Wojciech has three times more talent than I and he is taller and better built than me,” said Maciej. “But I know there will be some games for Wojciech that will shorten my life by several months.”

And if there is a game to test the nerves of any anxious father, it is surely Barcelona.

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U.K., Turkey Near Military Accord

LONDON—The U.K. and Turkey are negotiating a military pact that would see the two European powers take part in joint exercises and share expertise, a person familiar with the matter said.

The agreement underscores how the U.K., Europe's most active military, is eager to work more closely with allied militaries amid budget cuts. In October, the British government announced cuts to the military budget of 7.5% over the next four years.

An accompanying Security and Defense Strategy Review placed great emphasis on alliances and partnerships to "enhance capability."

Britain hopes to have completed its memorandum of understanding with Turkey by July, this person said. Much of the deal will hinge on joint exercises. For instance, the U.K. could train helicopter pilots in Turkey, whose hot and mountainous terrain replicates Afghanistan.

Further down the line, the two countries are looking at cooperating on equipment programs.

One "possibility" is that the Turks would help build Britain's Type 26 Frigate, a type of naval ship due to enter service in the early 2020s. Britain also wants to offer more places to train Turkish officers at its Royal College of Defence Studies and the Turks will invite British personnel to their training courses.‬‪

A spokesman for the Turkish defense ministry couldn't be reached for comment Sunday.

Turkey has one of the largest militaries in the world, with around 517,100 people across all its, mainly conscript-based, armed services, according to Jane's International Defense Review. The U.K. currently has around 178,370, ahead of expected cuts of around 17,000 jobs.‬‪

Britain has already signed a more far reaching agreement with France to form a joint expeditionary force and cooperate on developing new military technology. The country is also talking to Northern European countries, such as Norway and the Baltic states, about closer military ties.‬‪

The person familiar with the matter said such deals show how the U.K. can cooperate with European armies without going through a supranational body like the European Union.

The deal also highlights a desire by the U.K. to court Turkey. Senior Conservative party officials such as Defense Secretary Liam Fox and Foreign Secretary William Hague have long championed the country's ambition to enter the European Union.

Mr. Fox said he believes that Europe risks alienating a friendly secular Muslim country that is a key ally in Middle Eastern politics.

Write to Alistair MacDonald at alistair.macdonald@wsj.com

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lundi 14 février 2011

Lady Washington III

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Olympic Stadium bid: West Ham victory will leave sour taste for football

Olympic Stadium bid: West Ham victory will leave sour taste for football

Anybody who believes football and athletics can mix is naive, a long-jumper or a binoculars salesman. At the risk of going round in circles, it cannot be stated enough that running tracks are anathema to football grounds.

Olympic Stadium decision goes West Ham's way as Tottenham Hotspur lose bid battle

Grand Designs: an artist's impression of the Olympic Stadium occupied by West Ham Photo: AP

Henry Winter

By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent 9:43PM GMT 11 Feb 2011

Henry's Twitter

One look at the Olympic Park Legacy Company board that agreed to let football and athletics cohabit shows that only two of the 14 have had any significant involvement with football. Keith Edelman is ex-Arsenal while Nick Bitel is formerly of Wigan Athletic.

The board needed more individuals with an understanding of the unique dynamic of footballing park-life. West Ham United are about to lose their long association as being home to a good atmosphere. Sad.

As a schoolboy I was once smuggled into the Chicken Run at Upton Park to watch Trevor Brooking in his pomp. The atmosphere was electric. All-seater stadiums have lost a lot of their edge and a running track will further deaden the noise.

Of course, West Ham have every right to move to Stratford. In the tribal world of football, the Olympic Stadium lies in their territory (with a respectful nod to Leyton Orient). Yet a more sensible solution could have been achieved than yesterday’s flawed, foolish compromise that certainly guarantees a legacy: problems for years to come.

West Ham should have been awarded the stadium, allowed to remove the largely redundant running track, and ordered to build a 25,000-seat athletics arena close by. Architects have already pointed out they could simply have expanded the Olympic warm-up track.

Stratford could have been home to a southern version of Manchester’s successful SportCity at Eastlands. To make the athletics arena more financially viable, West Ham’s reserves and academy sides could have played there. The Chadwell Heath training complex could have been relocated to Stratford, just as Manchester City are planning to move their Carrington operation to Eastlands – a wonderful multi-sport hub with spreading commercial and residential developments.

It would have been possible to satisfy football’s needs, honour the Olympic legacy and emolliate the athletics lobby in a highly-politicised situation. Not now. Instead of football and athletics contentedly living next door to each other, they will now share a house with all the volatility of The Young Ones.

This is another reminder that the Olympics and the world’s No1 sport go together like nitro and glycerine. Football should not even be at the Olympics, which should be the pinnacle for a sport.

The selection process for the Great Britain football team for London 2012 has become inevitably vexed. Tensions abound between Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. This is country-versus-country, let alone the club-versus-country rows over star youngsters, that will erupt next summer.

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Diageo's Paul Walsh can drink to the health of his company

Diageo's Paul Walsh can drink to the health of his company

"As in any sector there are strong players and weak players and the weak will suffer. These times will create winners. Those who can seize the right opportunity will do well, and we intend to be one of them."

Diageo, Paul Walsh

Diageo's Paul Walsh: "I could do a deal next week, but I'm a great believer that you pick your moment. There is lots of stuff out there but you have to be selective' Photo: Newscast

Jonathan Sibun

By Jonathan Sibun 6:00AM GMT 11 Feb 2011

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It was December 2008 and the message from Paul Walsh, the chief executive of drinks giant Diageo, could not have been more clear. The global downturn would claim its victims and Diageo would be waiting to pounce. Fast-forward more than two years and shareholders are still waiting.

The maker of Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky on Thursday published results that will do little to rid shareholders of any frustration. Organic sales growth of 4pc was respectable, albeit missing analyst expectations, but they only gave weight to Diageo's growing reputation as the Mr Dependable of the drinks world. An income stock to trust in.

Meanwhile, Walsh has had to watch Pernod Ricard snap up brands including Absolut vodka, helping its close rival post organic sales growth of 10pc at the last count.

Walsh denies any frustration. "I could do a deal next week, but I'm a great believer that you pick your moment. There is lots of stuff out there but you have to be selective," he says. "As far as Pernod is concerned – think what they paid for Absolut. It gave them a fillip, but for a hell of a lot of money."

However, while few expect Diageo to adopt Pernod's aggressive approach, there is a growing view that the UK company could soon break its abstemious spell. Walsh is thought keen to seal his now 10-year legacy at Diageo's helm, while senior appointments – including that of new finance director Deirdre Mahlan – are likely to lead to a more acquisitive stance.

The latest round of drinks industry consolidation is expected to hit this year and Walsh – who says there is no reason to consider a sale of Guinness – is set to play the part of acquisitor. The break-up of Jim Beam owner Fortune Brands and the likely sale of raki maker Mey Icki in Turkey have caught Walsh's attention, while hopes are growing that Diageo's pursuit of long-term target Moët Hennesy could also come to fruition, albeit further down the line. The future of the UK group's other established target, family-owned Jose Cuervo tequila, is more difficult to gauge, while the chances of a tie-up with Heineken appear slim.

"On Moët Hennesy and Cuervo, it's out of our hands. Transformational deals are down to opportunity. If those opportunities are presented to us, given our balance sheet we're in a very good place to consider them," Walsh says, but on Fortune and Mey Icki the message is more promising.

"We would look at everything," he says, but suggests that any deal to acquire Fortune would come with its own competition issues. "There aren't many gaps in our portfolio."

Being forced to divest some of Fortune's top brands – such as Courvoisier cognac or Laphroaig whisky – would involve a more complicated deal structure but sources argue it would be unlikely to put Diageo off. Bacardi could be among those likely to take any divested brands, although it would be likely to avoid any joint-takeover bid.

Mey Icki, owned by private equity group TPG, is another candidate. TPG has hired advisers to work on a potential sale or flotation of the raki maker and Diageo is exploring its options. Walsh won't be drawn directly on his interest, but the message is clear.

"Turkey is a dynamic market and the brand has got a wonderful position. The company has a strong distribution system in place and it's very well managed. This is a quality asset in an exciting market."

The outcome, Walsh suggests, will come down to equity investors' potential interest in a flotation versus the price that could be garnered via a trade sale. "They [TPG] may have views on value and want to explore IPO opportunities first."

Trevor Stirling, an analyst with Bernstein, believes the path is now clearer for Diageo than it has been for some time. "In recent years they have been precluded from a number of deals on either competition or price. Fortune and Mey Icki are doable from a competition point of view – that's what's different this time."

Mr Dependable looks set to go for something a little stronger.

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dimanche 13 février 2011

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samedi 12 février 2011

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vendredi 11 février 2011

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jeudi 10 février 2011

Cash Buyers Lift Housing

Buyers in markets around the U.S. are snapping up homes in all-cash deals, betting that prices are at or near bottom and breathing life into some of the nation's most battered housing markets.

Cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com. In the fourth quarter of 2006, they represented just 13% of deals. Meanwhile, downtown Miami prices rose 15% in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority.

View Full Image

CASH

Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal

Richard Stoker, with wife, Jane, is buying three Miami Beach condos.

CASH

CASH

The percentage of buyers in Phoenix paying cash hit 42% in 2010—more than triple the rate in 2008, according to Raymond James's equity research division.

Nationally, 28% of sales were all-cash transactions last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The rate was 14% in October 2008, when the trade group began tracking the measure.

The jump in real-estate purchases made with cash is another sign of the revival of animal spirits in the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.48 points Monday, or 0.6%, to 12161.63, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 8.18 points, or 0.6%, to 1319.05.

Monday's announcements of $13 billion in acquisitions lifted stocks on hopes of more deals, share buybacks and dividends as companies regain momentum in an improving economy.

The two stock indexes have soared more than 80% since early March 2009.

The Federal Reserve reported that Americans increased their use of credit cards in December for the first time since August 2008, showing that consumers are getting less skittish about opening their wallets. Investors also were soothed Monday by encouraging signs in Egypt, including last weekend's reopening of banks.

Residential real estate has been slower to bounce back than stocks, but the presence of apparent bargains is luring in newly confident buyers.

Richard Stoker, a retired sales executive, recently plunked down cash for two condominiums in Miami Beach, and plans to close on one more in coming days. He loves the complex's ocean views, four swimming pools and activities such as yoga and Pilates.

But what also motivated the purchase, said the 73-year-old, was that "the prices were just irresistible. Florida's been hit pretty hard." To pay the $1.8 million, $1.2 million and $1 million prices on the condos, Mr. Stoker and his wife, Jane, cashed out of some financial investments and sold a Roy Lichtenstein painting and an Alexander Calder mobile.

Mr. Stoker could have taken out mortgages, but decided to pay cash. "It was a good time to lighten up in the art market and take on real estate at a favorable price," he said.

The harder a market has been hit, say economists, the higher the percentage of cash deals. Last summer, piano teacher Virginia Hall-Busch told a real-estate agent she met through the Rotary Club to keep her posted on deals on historic houses in Stone Mountain, Ga.

A few days later, Ms. Hall-Busch, 62, got a call about a 1918 bungalow with three bedrooms and one bathroom listed for "short sale," which in the real-estate world means at a price lower than what's owed on it. The home had been on the market for $159,000, then dropped to $129,000 and then to $79,900.

"I offered them 50," she said. "I figured, it wasn't like I needed a place to live. I can afford to be a little cocky here."

Ms. Hall-Busch closed in October for $52,500 and began renovations within weeks.

"When you have a bad economy, it's hard on lots of people," she said. "But right now if you've got the money to put down on a house, long term it's going to be good thing."

Some of the cash purchases reflect a tight lending environment, where even people with good credit and ample down payments are sometimes turned away for conventional borrowing.

"The rates are great but the underwriting is brutal," said Henry Schlangen, an agent with real-estate firm Pacific Union International who buys and sells for clients, mainly in Napa Valley, Calif.

"They hang these people upside down and shake them till they see what falls out of their pockets. So people are buying with cash and maybe they'll 'refi' later."

Mr. Schlangen, who deals in higher-end properties such as vineyard estates, estimated that 95% of his deals last year were all-cash, up from about half in previous years. "The deals that are consummating, these are buyers who feel they got a great deal," he said, noting a surge of buyers from China.

Cash buyers can often command 5% to 10% more off the asking price than a potential buyer using a mortgage, said Mohammed Siddiq, a real-estate professional in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sellers prefer cash deals since they close more quickly and avoid risks such as a buyer's job loss or a bank's changing its mind.

[CASH-CHT_NS]

And while many buyers making low-ball offers dig their heels, Mr. Siddiq said he has started to see bidding wars and slightly increasing prices.

Nationally, it isn't clear whether prices have bottomed. The Case-Shiller index of housing prices in 20 cities showed a steep decline in prices until 2009, when they appeared to bottom and began to trend upward. But in the second half of last year, prices began falling again. A Zillow index, meanwhile, never noted the uptick.

Since mid-October, Canyon Ranch in Miami Beach, the development Mr. Stoker bought into, has sold 35 units, with a third of the buyers from overseas and many others retiring from the Northeast.

The Stokers have a home in Potomac, Md., but spend most of the year in Florida. Mr. Stoker doesn't plan to rent out any of his new properties, saying he and his wife will live in one with two dogs, his son might live in another and the third will house an older dog and guests.

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