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Torres makes record move from Liverpool to Chelsea

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Fernando Torres hits brace against Chelsea

Torres hits brace against Chelsea (UK users only)

Chelsea have broken the British transfer record by paying a reported £50m to seal the capture of striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool.

The 26-year-old Spain international forward signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with the Blues.

"This is the target for every footballer - to try to play for one of the top clubs in the world," he said.

"They [Chelsea] are one of the biggest teams in Europe and are always fighting for everything."

The signing was pushed through shortly before the transfer deadline and came on a dramatic day, with Chelsea and Liverpool involved in the four biggest transfers of the day.

The Anfield club looked to plug the gap left by Torres leaving by signing two strikers - Uruguayan Luis Suarez from Ajax for £22.7m and Andy Carroll from Newcastle for £35m.

Chelsea also brought in Benfica defender David Luiz for a reported fee of £21.3m.

But it will be the capture of Torres that sends out the strongest message that the club remain a force to be reckoned with in the transfer market.

Torres, a World Cup winner in 2010 and European champion in 2008 with Spain, spent three-and-a-half years at Liverpool after joining from Atletico Madrid for a fee of £20m, scoring 81 goals in 142 matches.

"I'm so happy and proud to be here," added Torres, who is available to play in the Champions League having only featured in this season's Europa League and could face Liverpool in the league on Sunday.

"It's been two, three, four very hard days for me. I'm really happy - this is a great club. I'm prepared and ready for the challenge.

BIGGEST WORLD TRANSFERS

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (£80m)
Man Utd-Real Madrid (July 2009)

2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£56.5m)
Inter Milan-Barcelona (July 2009)

3. Kaka (£56m)
AC Milan-Real Madrid (June 2009)

4. Fernando Torres (£50m)
Liverpool-Chelsea (Jan 2011)

"I know there are many great players here and I will work hard to win a place in the team.

"I am looking forward very much to helping my new team-mates this season and for many years to come.

"It's my dream to win the Champions League and I'm sure I can, playing for Chelsea."

Torres becomes the fourth most expensive signing in world football behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kaka.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck added: "This is a very significant day for Chelsea, capturing one of the best players in the world with his peak years ahead of him.

"We have long admired the talents of a player who is a proven goalscorer in English football and Fernando's arrival is a sign of our continuing high ambitious. I hope every Chelsea fan is as excited as I am with this news."

The Reds rejected a £35m bid from Chelsea after Torres' transfer request was turned down on Friday.

But with Torres clearly intent on a move away from Anfield the Reds finally accepted defeat and cashed in on their prize asset.

Manager Kenny Dalglish said earlier on Monday: "Movement is part and parcel of football but the most important people at Liverpool Football Club are the ones who want to be here."

Liverpool had been angered by the timing of Torres' transfer request last week and reportedly believe the London club "tapped up" the player by encouraging him to express a desire to leave.

Torres had a £50m release clause in his contract that entitled him to leave if the Merseysiders, who are seventh in the Premier League, failed to qualify for the Champions League this season.

Torres, who signed a six-year contract when he joined the Reds, had been linked with Chelsea before.

The west Londoners were reported to be interested in luring the Spaniard from Anfield in the summer of 2008 and made a bid in May 2010, but after helping Spain win the World Cup in June, Torres pledged his future to Liverpool.

He said at the time: "My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed."

Torres notched three hat-tricks in his first season at Liverpool, scoring 33 goals in 46 appearances, and netted the winner as Spain beat Germany 1-0 to win the European Championship in 2008.

Hamstring injuries plagued him during the 2008-09 season but he still managed 17 goals in 38 games, while groin problems and knee surgery disrupted his 2009-10 campaign, although he still managed to find the net 22 times in 32 games.

Torres picked up a World Cup winners' medal with Spain but he failed to score during the finals in South Africa and pulled up with an abductor problem in the final, having come on as an 89th-minute substitute in the 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.

He has endured an indifferent 2010-11 season, scoring only nine goals in 26 games.

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China's state broadcaster used footage that appears to have been taken from a Hollywood film in one of its news reports - but not for the first time.

US actor Tom Cruise starred in the 1986 Hollywood film Top Gun

A China Central Television story about the country's air force showed an explosion that was identical to a scene from the 1986 film Top Gun.

The broadcaster often uses film clips in its news reports.

A person familiar with the company said it was currently trying to set up a system to contain this situation.

The disputed scene was aired on CCTV's main news bulletin on 23 January.

It was in a report about a training exercise undertaken by the People's Liberation Army's air force.

There were interviews with senior military figures.

Over pictures of fighter jets in action, the reporter told viewers that this was a live-fire exercise and all targets had been hit.

One scene showed a pilot firing a missile. A plane was then hit before exploding into flames.

But some keen-eyed observers posted comments on the internet claiming that the scene was identical to one in Top Gun, starring Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.

One person familiar with the way CCTV works said this would not be the first time movie footage was used in a news report.

"There are other cases of the deliberate use of inappropriate footage," he said.

Sometimes it happened because picture editors and reporters were being lazy, or the footage was simply too good not to use, said the source.

It occurs mostly in stories about the military, or science and technology. This is because it can be difficult to spot inconsistencies.

CCTV does not always tell viewers the footage is not genuine or pay royalties for the film and TV clips it uses.

A few years ago the European Union's then-trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, complained that CCTV had never paid any royalties to EU copyright holders.

An editor on the CCTV news programme that broadcast the "Top Gun" footage declined to comment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12321492

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UN experts believe North Korea has at least one hidden nuclear site, according to leaks of a UN report.

The report relies on evidence from US scientist Siegfried Hecker who visited a secret site in November last year.

He told the UN's panel of experts that the centrifuges he saw probably came from other hidden facilities, say reports quoting unnamed diplomats.

The panel's report, which has not yet been published, was handed to the Security Council last week.

US nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker visited the Yongbyon atomic complex in November

North Korean officials showed Mr Hecker, from Stanford University, an apparently fully functional uranium enrichment plant at the Yongbyon complex in November.

The UN's panel of experts, which assesses the sanctions regime against Pyongyang, was asked to produce the report after Mr Hecker briefed the Security Council on his visit.

Diplomats told Bloomberg that their report concluded that centrifuges and other equipment at the Yongbyon reactor had previously operated at one or more secret locations.

Another diplomat told Reuters: "There's no way they could have outfitted the centrifuge facility between 2009 and now without there being additional secret sites."

According to the diplomats - who were not identified because the report has not yet been published - Mr Hecker told the panel it was unlikely that the North could have manufactured all of the equipment.

He said it was more likely that they had imported some materials and assembled them in at least one secret location, before moving them to Yongbyon.

The panel's report recommends tightening sanctions to include asset freezes and travel bans on nuclear officials, according to leaks from diplomats.

The report is expected to be made public later in the week.

Last December, US officials also expressed concern that the North could have more secret facilities, after a briefing by Mr Hecker.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12330056

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Jacques Chirac's wife denies Alzheimer's report

French former President Jacques Chirac (27 Jan 2011)

Mr Chirac told a TV reporter he was feeling fine

The wife of French former President Jacques Chirac has denied reports that he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Bernadette Chirac told French radio that she was "scandalised" by the claims, little more than a month before her husband's trial for corruption.

Mr Chirac, president from 1995 to 2007, is facing two sets of allegations from his time as mayor of Paris.

A court in Paris confirmed on Monday that the trial would start on 7 March.

On Sunday, the newspaper Journal du Dimanche reported that the former president, 78, had suffered from memory lapses, according to unnamed friends, and added that his wife feared he had Alzheimer's.

But Mrs Chirac told French station Europe 1 on Monday that the reports were "a lie" and that she had "never spoken of that disease of Alzheimer's regarding my husband".

"If my husband was suffering from that illness I wouldn't hesitate in saying so," she said.

Mr Chirac himself told a reporter from BFMTV outside his home that his health was fine: "Do I look as if I'm not talking well? I am very well, thank you. I wish you the same good health."

End Quote Bernadette Chirac

The former president is accused of embezzlement and breach of trust in a bogus jobs scandal. It involved the funding of party allies with taxpayers' money while he was mayor of Paris. A further charge of illegal conflict of interest was added last November.

Mr Chirac's lawyer, Jean Veil, tried on Monday to have the case delayed pending a complaint by anti-corruption group Anticor. Last September, the Paris city authorities agreed to drop a civil suit in return for a 2.2m euro (£1.89m) payment from Mr Chirac and the ruling UMP party.

The court rejected Mr Veil's request, described by Anticor as "a manipulation".

Mrs Chirac insisted that her husband would go on trial: "He has always said that he wanted to be treated under the law just as anyone else. He must be treated no better but no worse than anyone else too."

While he did suffer from some problems with walking and hearing, Mrs Chirac said it was not clear whether these were linked to his age or a vascular condition for which he had treatment in 2005.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12322414

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Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of activity in the US, the world's largest economy.

Consumer spending in the US grew at its fastest pace in three years during 2010, official figures have shown.

Spending grew by 3.5% from 2009 the Commerce Department said, the best showing since a 5.2% rise in 2007 - before the country went into recession.

The 2010 levels were helped by a strong December, where spending grew by 0.7%, the sixth consecutive month of growth.

Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of activity in the US, the world's largest economy.

Rising incomes and the faster increase in spending meant that the savings rate dipped slightly in December, the data showed.

Economists expect that spending and savings will be boosted further in 2011, if the job market continues to slowly improve and with a cut in payroll tax.

"As hiring picks up this year, income gains should accelerate noticeably, providing fuel for both modestly faster spending growth than in 2010 and a renewed rise in the savings rate," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist for Pierpont Securities,

However, there is concern over whether these gains will be enough to offset further cutbacks in government spending and the weak housing market.

Last week, figures showed that US economic growth accelerated in the last three months of 2010 to an annualised rate of 3.2%, up from a rate of 2.6% in the previous quarter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12327467

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Japanese auto manufacturer Honda has reported a 40% drop in third-quarter profits after overseas sales were hit by the strong yen.

Honda generated net profits of 81.1bn yen ($989m; £623m), down from 134.6bn yen the year before.

Honda has raised its full-year profit forecast

The firm also blamed poor sales in Japan, which have been hit by the end of government incentives to encourage more people to buy green cars.

However, Honda raised its full-year net profit forecast to 530bn yen.

The carmaker believes that a recovery in the US car market should boost sales.

Honda also said the growing sales in emerging markets during the third quarter helped it to offset the loss of revenue from more mature markets

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India's demand for steel is growing along with the economy

India's environment ministry has given conditional approval to South Korean company Posco's plan to build a steel plant in the eastern state of Orissa.

The ministry has also cleared the plant's captive port and power plant if certain conditions are met.

The $12bn plant is India's largest foreign investment project.

Last year, a government panel said that environmental clearances for the plant be scrapped. Critics say the project will exhaust iron deposits in 20 years.

India earlier rejected plans by mining giant Vedanta to extract bauxite in Orissa saying it would damage the local environment.

Monday's approval spells out 28 "extra conditions" for the steel plant and 32 conditions for the port.

They include the company spending a share of profits on corporate social responsibility, ensuring green cover at the plant site, and restrictions on construction of the port in sensitive coastal areas.

"Projects such as that of Posco have considerable economic, technological and strategic significance for the country," the environment ministry said in a statement.

"At the same time, laws on environment and forests must be implemented seriously."

Sumber: BBC

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There was intense interest as Ariel arrived in court

A court in Indonesia has sentenced one of south-east Asia's best known pop stars to three-and-a-half years in prison for making and distributing sex videos on the internet.

The tapes of Nazril Irham, or Ariel as he is known, and two other celebrities, were made public last June.

He is the first celebrity to be charged under Indonesia's strict pornography law that came into effect in 2008.

Ariel denied distributing the videos, saying they had been stolen.

Ariel had made three sex videos featuring him and separately, two female celebrities.

The 29-year-old was found guilty of "giving an opportunity for others to spread, produce and prepare a pornographic video", according to the verdict.

"As a public figure, the defendant should be aware that fans might imitate his behaviour," said Judge Singgih Budi Prakoso.

He said that Ariel had done nothing to prevent the wide distribution of the videos.

Cultural divide

Ariel was speechless on hearing the verdict, and his teenage fans who filled the court room broke down in tears, says the BBC's Alice Budisatrijo, who was at the court in Bandung.

The singer's lawyer said he would appeal against the sentence and criticised the judges' admission that they were influenced by public pressure.

Outside the court, hundreds of protesters had gathered calling for a harsher punishment.

The charge carried a maximum 12-year sentence and a fine of more than $600,000 (£403,000).

The trial has become a target for protests by hardline Muslim groups who have adopted pornography as a banner issue, claiming it symbolises what they have called the nation's moral decline.

The Blackberry telephone provider, Research In Motion (RIM), has also been asked by the government to prevent pornographic content from being made available through their devices if they wish to maintain distribution in Indonesia.

The case has exposed the deep cultural divide in the country, our correspondent says.

Indonesia is a secular state with a long tradition of tolerance, but with more democracy in the past decade, Muslim political groups have tested their strength through morality and corruption campaigns.

Sumber: BBC

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Composer John Barry, famous for his work on Born Free, Out of Africa and the James Bond films, has died in New York of a heart attack aged 77.

Born John Barry Prendergast in 1933, the York-born musician first found fame as leader of the John Barry Seven.

His arrangement of Monty Norman's James Bond theme led to him composing scores for 11 films in the series, among them Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice.

His work saw him win five Oscars, while he received a Bafta fellowship in 2005.

His most recent film score featured in the 2001 war thriller Enigma, while a musical version of Brighton Rock, created with lyricist Don Black, had its London premiere in 2004.

Awarded an OBE in 1999 for his services to music, Barry was renowned for his lush strings, orchestral swells and elegant melodies.

CLASSIC JOHN BARRY SCORES

From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Zulu
Born Free
You Only Live Twice
The Lion in Winter
Midnight Cowboy
Diamonds are Forever
Somewhere in Time
Out of Africa
Dances with Wolves
Chaplin

His work found a new audience when Robbie Williams featured music from You Only Live Twice on his 1998 hit single Millennium.

Current Bond film composer David Arnold paid tribute to his predecessor via Twitter.

"I am profoundly saddened by the news but profoundly thankful for everything he did for music and for me personally," he said.

Barry's son-in-law, BBC business reporter Simon Jack, said he "truly loved writing music as much as people enjoyed listening to it".

"He saw himself as much a dramatist as a composer and his music was inextricably linked to the stories told on the screen."

Jack also remembered him as "a wickedly funny man" whose "passion, genius and sense of humour will be terribly missed by his family and friends".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Born Free star Virginia McKenna said Barry was "a wonderful musician and composer".

Close friend Michael Crawford, meanwhile, said he had written "some of the most memorable and beautiful film scores we could ever wish to hear".

Barry's first Oscars came in 1967 for his Born Free score and its iconic title theme.

He won Oscars for Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves

More Academy Awards followed for the soundtracks he wrote for The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves.

Barry also won four Grammys, a Bafta for The Lion in Winter and a Golden Globe for Out of Africa.

His work for TV included the themes for Juke Box Jury and The Persuaders, while his non-soundtrack work included the albums Eternal Echoes and The Beyondness of Things.

In 2002 he was named an Honorary Freeman of the City of York, an honour he received at a venue in the city where he once used to play trumpet in the 1950s.

Barry, who lived in Oyster Bay, Long Island, is survived by Laurie, his wife of 33 years, his four children and five grandchildren.

His family said funeral arrangements would be private and that a memorial service would be held in the UK later this year.