Category: news

Andy Murray’s Madrid Open campaign ended in the early hours of Saturday morning local time as he lost 7-5 6-3 to David Ferrer in the quarter-final.

The Spaniard took over an hour to win a hard-fought first set, leading 5-2 at one point before Murray won three games in a row to drag himself back into it.

As in the first set, Murray lost his first service game in the second.

Ferrer went 3-0 up before Murray pulled it back to 3-3, but the home favourite kept his composure to go on and win it.

From the outset Ferrer gained the upper hand, as he broke Murray in the second game, and it took Murray until the ninth game to pull that break of serve back.

The pair stretched one another to the limit in a superb seventh game, which saw a 34-shot rally and fine winners by both players, before Ferrer edged it to go 5-2 up, only to then lose three games in a row.

Murray saved one set-point with a fine double-handed forehand winner before Ferrer won the set.

The second set began in equally close fashion, and after another hard-fought break of serve to go 2-0 up, Ferrer won the next game ominously quickly to suggest the match was slipping away from Murray.

But Murray replied in superb fashion, holding serve, breaking back and then winning a drawn-out sixth game to go level at 3-3.

However, despite Murray’s valiant battling, his dogged opponent showed great concentration and fitness, and the patience of the home crowd was rewarded when Murray put a return in the net and Ferrer won after two hours 15 minutes of fascinating tennis.

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The airline will go to court to prevent a cabin crew strike – the transport secretary expresses surprise at the move.

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Ed Miliband will stand for the Labour leadership, the BBC has learned.

The former energy minister told members of his local constituency party in Doncaster that he intends to run and will announce it on Saturday morning.

His older brother David – the former foreign secretary – is also standing for the post vacated by Gordon Brown.

Ed said he had thought long and hard about standing against his older sibling, while David earlier insisted "brotherly love will survive".

The pair are the only two Labour MPs to have announced they are standing for the party leadership.

Speaking before Ed confirmed his decision David Miliband said he was "absolutely confident" the family could "remain strong" whatever happened.

Ex-Schools Secretary Ed Balls and backbencher Jon Cruddas have both indicated they are considering a bid.

Alan Johnson, Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper and Jack Straw have ruled themselves out of the race.

‘Progressive activists’

David Miliband, a former protege of ex-Labour leader Tony Blair, has said he wants to rebuild the Labour Party as "the great reforming champion of social and economic change in this country".

He said Labour had to acknowledge that it had "lost this election and lost it badly" and now had to "re-engage with the public and understand, especially in England, why we lost".

When asked earlier in the week about speculation Ed would enter the race, he said: "We have talked very frankly and openly to each other because we love each other as brothers."

He added: "Brotherly love will survive because brotherly love is more important than politics."

Before he announced his intention to stand Ed’s supporters launched a website with a petition urging him to throw his hat into the ring.

The site says it has been set up by "a bunch of progressive activists who want to see a swift end to Tory rule".

Ed Miliband is less well-known than David and has been an MP for less time, but he has the backing of trade union Unite and is known to have supporters in the Parliamentary Labour Party.

David Miliband has already been backed by a number of Labour heavyweights including former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

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At least 10 people have been killed in a suspected suicide car bomb attack during a football match in northern Iraq, police say.

They say that some 125 people were injured in the explosion at a stadium in the town of Tal Afar, 380km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.

Reports say the bomb was detonated in the entrance to the stadium near a large gathering of people.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sunni Islamist insurgents allied to al-Qaeda remain active in the volatile area.

Tal Afar is a predominantly Shia Turkmen town.

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Former Labour minister Stephen Timms is in hospital after being stabbed.

Police said Mr Timms, 54, was stabbed in the stomach at a constituency event in Newham, east London, but stressed his injuries were not life-threatening.

A 21-year old woman has been arrested after the attack at about 1500 BST but police have not given further details about what happened.

Mr Timms served at the Treasury under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and was recently re-elected as MP for East Ham.

The MP is reported to be sitting up in Royal London Hospital and talking to staff.

Largest majority

He was stabbed at the Beckton Globe Library, where he holds a regular constituency surgery.

Mr Timms was a close confidant of both Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling during Labour’s 13 years in government, serving latterly as financial secretary to the Treasury.

He has been MP for the constituency – and previously for Newham North East – since 1994.

His personal popularity in his constituency is reflected by the fact that he secured a 7.7% swing from the Conservatives in last week’s election, when Labour was generally losing ground across the country.

Mr Timms won a remarkable 70.4% of the vote and his 27,826 majority is the largest in the new House of Commons.

Married to Hui-Leng Lim, he describes himself as a Christian Socialist and is Labour’s vice-chairman for faith groups.

Cabinet ministers and former ministers, particularly those who served in departments such as the Home Office and the Northern Ireland Office, have security protection; the majority of MPs do not.

In 2000 Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones was wounded and his aide, Andrew Pennington, was stabbed to death in a frenzied sword attack during a constituency surgery at the party’s office in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Mr Jones, a married father of three, was conducting his weekly surgery when he received lacerations to his hands and arms while fending off blows from Robert Ashman, who was jailed for manslaughter and attempted murder.

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Shares fall sharply as fears continue about the impact of financial austerity measures in Greece, Portugal and Spain.

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The new home secretary has been urged to overrule her predecessor’s decision to allow the extradition of UK computer hacker Gary McKinnon.

Mr McKinnon’s lawyers have made "representations" to Conservative Theresa May as part of a long campaign to prevent a US trial for their client.

A judge is due to rule on whether the previous home secretary Alan Johnson was wrong to allow the extradition.

Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg have previously criticised the move.

Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon, 43, who has Asperger’s syndrome, is accused of breaking into the US military computer system. He says he was seeking evidence of UFOs.

Judicial review

The computer systems Mr McKinnon – now of Wood Green, north London – is accused of breaking into include the Pentagon. If convicted, he faces 60 years in prison.

Mr McKinnon’s lawyer Karen Todner said the solicitors firm Kaim Todner had asked Mrs May to "intervene and prevent the extradition".

"We hope the new Liberal-Conservative Government will act upon their previous public statements that it would be unjust to extradite Mr McKinnon," she said.

Last year, Mr Cameron said that if Mr McKinnon had questions to answer there was "a clear argument to be made that he should answer them in a British court".

In January Mr McKinnon’s legal team was granted permission for a judicial review of Mr Johnson’s decision that sending him to the US for trial would not breach his human rights.

Election candidate

At the time the Home Office said it had "noted" the court’s decision.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the judicial review was "heartening news" and said he hoped the courts would "display more courage than our ministers".

Mr McKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, has often spoken of the stress of the long campaign.

Speaking earlier this year she said: "We’ve fought for so long for compassion and understanding. Gary’s health has badly declined, it’s been traumatic to see."

Earlier this month she stood for election as an independent in Jack Straw’s Blackburn constituency, saying she blamed the justice secretary for pushing through the extradition treaty with the US.

She came last with 173 votes.

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ICC World Twenty20 semi-final, 14 MayVenue: St LuciaCoverage: Live commentary on BBC 5 live sports extra plus live text commentary and reports on the BBC Sport website & mobiles

Australia will look to set up a World Twenty20 final against old rivals England by ending Pakistan’s reign in Friday’s semi-final in St Lucia.

The Australians were unseeded for the event but Michael Clarke’s side have won all five of their matches in style.

They will go into the match with added confidence having defeated Pakistan by 34 runs in the initial group stage.

"We are thrilled to be in the semi-finals, but we didn’t come here to make the semi-finals," said Clarke.

The Australians, winners of the last three 50-over World Cups, were not seeded on account of their poor showing at the last World Twenty20 in England last year, when they lost both their group matches and were eliminated.

"As I’ve said from the start, I think this is a wonderful squad," said Clarke.

"We’ve got guys who haven’t had the chance in the middle, but they still turn up and train every day and work their backsides off.

"Then there’s the XI on the field that bust their backsides not only for themselves but also for the support staff, the supporters from Australia and the people at home who have doubted us in this format."

When asked if the victory over Pakistan on 2 May – when Shane Watson hit 81 in a total of 191 and Shaun Tait took 3-20 – had given his side the psychological edge, the Australia skipper replied: "I think it does, but it is more the way we are playing that gives me a lot of confidence."

Pakistan scraped through to the last four, winning only one of their three Super Eight matches.

They beat South Africa by 11 runs in their last match to get through on net run-rate, following an agonising one-run loss to New Zealand and a crushing six-wicket defeat by England.

But after Umar Akmal’s 51 and Saeed Ajmal’s 4-27 helped to overcome the South Africans, skipper Shahid Afridi said: "I think we are feeling good. Overall, the guys are very confident after the last game – and I think it will be a great game against Australia.

"We have played well, just missed some opportunities."

Pakistan won their first two Twenty20 matches against Australia, including a six-wicket win in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, but have lost their most recent two games.

Clarke, however, is determined not to underestimate their talents in Friday’s showdown, and added: "They are a very strong team in any form of the game, but especially Twenty20 – and they’ve shown that to make the semi-finals once again.

"We take momentum from every win we’ve had. But they’ll come out with a lot to prove on a wicket that will probably suit them a little more than Barbados."

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Thai security forces and anti-government protesters remained in a stand-off in Bangkok after clashes overnight in which one person died.

Shots and bangs were heard overnight as security forces moved to cut power and seal off access to the large protest camp in the city centre.

Earlier, a renegade general supporting the protesters was shot by an unknown gunman and is in a critical condition.

The protesters want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down.

Streets which would normally be full of commuters were almost empty early on Friday, says the BBC’s Vaudine England in Bangkok.

Thousands of protesters, known as red-shirts after the colour they favour, have reinforced their barricades and vowed to maintain their camp in a commercial district of Bangkok until elections are called.

"The total seal-off measure took place since yesterday evening," army spokesman Col Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said.

"Metropolitan Electricity Authority has cut off the power around Ratchaprasong intersection last night," he said.

The authorities have also begun to cut public transport and some mobile phone service to the area occupied by the protesters.

The government has threatened for days to cut off power, water and food supplies to the red-shirt camp but the protesters have their own supplies and appear ready for a long siege, says our correspondent.

Commander Red shot

Early on Friday, a new clash was reported as protesters apparently threw stones and bottles, prompting soldiers to fire warning shots in the air.

Overnight, one protester was shot dead after a group of red shirts confronted armed security personnel on the outskirts of the barricaded encampment.

At least nine people were reported to have been injured.

The clashes followed the wounding of a renegade Thai general who had been organising the red-shirts’ security.

Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng (Commander Red), was shot in the head and seriously injured.

Seh Daeng is part of the protesters’ more radical wing and had accused red-shirt leaders – many of whom have distanced themselves from him – of not being hard-line enough.

Circumstances surrounding the shooting, near the Silom business area, are not clear.

A spokesman for the red-shirt movement blamed an army sniper but military officials said troops had orders to fire only in self-defence.

The protesters – who have been occupying parts of Bangkok for more than two months – want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

Their camp stretches from the city’s shopping district south to its business hub.

Mr Abhisit is under severe pressure to end the protests, which have paralysed Bangkok since 14 March.

He had offered polls on 14 November – but the two sides failed to agree a deal because of divisions over who should be held accountable for a deadly crackdown on protests last month.

The 10 April operation left 19 protesters, one journalist and five soldiers dead.

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The US space shuttle Atlantis is about to undertake what is expected to be its final mission before retirement.

The vehicle is on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center ready to lift off at 1420 local time (1820 GMT).

Big crowds are anticipated on the roads leading to the Nasa facility and on the beaches of Florida’s Space Coast, all eager to catch a piece of history.

Atlantis will be delivering a Russian module to the space station, as well as batteries and a communications antenna.

The crew of six say they are very aware of the significance of the moment but are concentrating on the job they have before them.

"In a lot of ways you can’t afford to get too distracted," said Ken Ham, who will command Atlantis.

"This is the kind of thing that’s going to hit all of us after the mission, when we realise what part in history we played. I think the space shuttle is the single most incredible machine humanity has ever built."

US President Barack Obama has announced a new exploration policy that would take humans beyond the International Space Station (ISS), beyond even the Moon, to asteroids and to Mars.

The shuttles, which have been working in space since 1981, are being retired to museums; and Nasa is being asked to pass the role of taxiing astronauts to and from the ISS to private companies and to concentrate its efforts on developing the vehicles to reach more distant targets.

Three more shuttle sorties remain, including Atlantis’s mission.

The Discovery orbiter is aiming for a final flight in September, with the Endeavour ship scheduled currently to conclude the shuttle programme in November.

Friday’s lift-off will be the 32nd for Atlantis. Notable achievements in its 25-year career have included launching interplanetary probes from orbit and leading the Shuttle-Mir programme which saw the ship visit the Russian Mir space station more times than any other ship in the fleet.

The latest mission to the ISS will require Atlantis to carry up a 7m-long (23ft) docking and storage module known as Rassvet (Russian for "dawn").

The shuttle’s cargo bay will also contain a large rack structure holding six new batteries for the orbiting platform, as well as a spare communications Ku-band antenna, and a tool tray for the station’s Dextre robot system.

These items will be placed on the exterior of the platform during three spacewalks.

The trickiest moment of the mission is likely to come on flight day five when the Rassvet module is attached to the underside of the station. Russian modules are normally flown into their berthing positions, not lifted into place by a robotic arm.

The Atlantis crew has to be sure they apply sufficient pressure with the arm to engage the docking mechanism on Rassvet.

The British-born US astronaut Piers Sellers will be directing robotic operations.

"We’re going to be pretending to dock this like a Soyuz or Progress spacecraft," he said.

"We’re going to use the arm and very carefully approach the docking cone, and we’re going to fool Rassvet into thinking it’s docking itself. That’s how it’s going to activate all its latches and hooks."

Weather forecasters say there is a 70% chance of fine conditions at lift-off time, with low cloud being the one concern.

After it returns from the 12-day mission to the ISS, Atlantis will not go straight to a museum. It will instead be prepared as a standby shuttle ready to go rescue the astronauts on November’s Endeavour flight should they get into trouble.

Nasa has not excluded the possibility that it could yet fly out this standby shuttle to take additional spares and supplies to the space station.

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The new Conservative Welsh secretary says she and her officials will no longer travel first class on trains.

Cheryl Gillan disclosed the change as she made her first visit to Wales since taking the job in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government.

She met Labour First Minister Carwyn Jones, head of the Welsh Assembly Government, at his Cardiff Bay office.

Ms Gillan also met Welsh assembly Tory leader Nick Bourne and the leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, Kirsty Williams.

Ms Gillan is to tour Cardiff Bay and visit the Amelia Farm Trust in nearby Barry, which provides a centre for organisations supporting adults with learning difficulties.

After her appointment earlier this week, Ms Gillan said her first priorities would be the economy and a referendum on more legislative powers for the Welsh assembly.

The Cardiff-born Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire is the first female holder of the post.

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A gay couple are to sue the owners of guest house who turned them away because of their sexuality.

Michael Black and John Morgan, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, had booked a double room at the Swiss B&B in Cookham, Berkshire, in March.

Owner Mike Wilkinson said he and his wife Susanne stood by their stance and denied being opposed to gay people.

Civil liberties organisation Liberty is acting for Mr Black and Mr Morgan and said it planned to bring a civil case.

Legal director James Welch said the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 made it against the law for public authorities and other service providers to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation.

He said: "This isn’t about money for them. Their only motive is in order to prove the point that it is unlawful and should not have happened.

"If they win, they have said they will give any money away to charity."

He said the case was as important in principle as that of black US civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Alabama in 1955.

Mr Black, 62, and Mr Morgan, 56, had been in the village, near Maidenhead, to meet some friends for dinner and to see a local play.

At the time of the incident, Mrs Wilkinson told the couple it was "against her convictions" to let them share a bed.

Mr Wilkinson says the couple uphold their position, insisting they were simply adhering to their Christian beliefs.

He said: "We are rather surprised that Liberty would be so one-sided in a matter of liberty because there are two liberties to uphold in this case.

"There is a religious liberty to uphold and there is the right for homosexuals to practise what they want to do. We have received the letter from them.

"We don’t want to go to court but if they want us to then I suppose we will have to. We are sorry we have offended these guys."

The row escalated during the recent general election campaign when the then shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said people who run bed and breakfasts in their own homes should have the right to reject homosexual guests.

He said he was looking at being "sensitive to the genuinely held principles of faith groups" but was not seeking a change in the law.

Thames Valley Police has recorded the incident as a "homophobic incident".

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US President Barack Obama has vowed to end the "cosy relationship" between oil companies and US regulators in the light of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Promising "relentless" efforts to stop the oil leak, he rebuked oil industry executives for seeking to pass on blame for the disaster in Congress.

He condemned "the ridiculous spectacle of oil executives falling over each other to point the finger of blame".

Mr Obama was speaking after meeting his cabinet at the White House.

A lack of vigilant oversight contributed to the BP oil rig explosion, he said, speaking in the Rose Garden.

Federal regulators had, he said, sometimes approved drilling plans based on the oil companies’ promises to use safe practices.

The rule from now on, the president said, would be "trust but verify".

Mr Obama also said he shared the anger felt by Gulf Coast residents over the oil spill.

"The potential devastation to the Gulf Coast, its economy and its people require us to continue our relentless efforts to stop the leak and contain the damage," he told reporters.

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Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou resigns from the budget airline’s board to lead a shareholder revolt.

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Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans has splashed out £12m on a rare 1960s Ferrari. Why are classic cars like this so valuable? And which ones are fetching the highest prices?

Vintage vehicles are becoming increasingly highly prized as a growing number of collectors around the world compete to buy the very best and rarest models.

The 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO bought by Evans is one of just 36 that were built by the famous Italian firm, and is viewed by many experts as the most desirable car of its type because of its beauty and history.

The DJ bought another Ferrari, this time a 250 GT SWB California Spyder once owned by Hollywood actor James Coburn, for £5m in 2008.

But Chris Routledge of Coys auctioneers described Evans’ most recent purchase, which cost £6,000 when new, as the "Holy Grail" for many collectors.

Racing history

He said: "The 250 GTO is considered to be the ultimate in terms of its beauty and racing pedigree.

"They are very, very rare. They are seen as the Holy Grail of motor cars."

Phil Bell, editor of Classic Cars Magazine, said he was not surprised by the price Evans paid for the Ferrari.

He said: "This car is one of just 36 ever built, and only three were made in this particular body style.

"His car came second in the Spa 500km race in 1964. That kind of history makes it more valuable.

"The price he paid sounds about right for a car like that, but the rarest ones are hard to value because they often change hands behind closed doors.

"The value of the most collectable cars has been going up for some time.

"Things went crazy in the late 80s as speculators entered the market before a crash in the early 1990s.

"It’s really accelerated from about 2000 onwards.

"The market for really rare cars is still driven by true enthusiasts like Chris Evans.

"He has a collection of Ferraris of different types."

But despite its record price tag, Evans’ car – thought to be the most expensive sold in Britain – is not the world’s costliest.

That title belongs to an even rarer Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic which was sold privately recently for an estimated £30m.

A 1937 Type 57S Atalante which was discovered gathering dust in a Tyneside garage in 2008 sold at auction for £3m last year.

Other recent multimillion sales include a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa which sold for £8m in Italy last May, a Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe which was bought for £4.4m last August and a 1937 Mercedes Benz 540K Special Roadster which was sold three years ago for £3.9m.

Max Girardo of RM Auctions, where Mr Evans is rumoured to have bought his Ferrari, outlined the car’s past.

He said: "The value of classic cars has a lot to do with their histories.

"This GTO was raced a lot when it was new in Italy, including at Monza.

"It was then sold to (former racing driver) David Piper who raced it himself.

"It was with a collector in Japan for a while too."

The 250 GTO was so highly prized by Enzo Ferrari, who founded the firm, that he is said to have personally approved buyers.

Evans’ car is capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds and has a top speed of 174 mph.

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