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Leicester keeper Chris Weale allows a late Paul McKenna shot to creep under his body as Forest boost their play-off hopes by beating local rivals Leicester.
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President Saleh’s supporters waved flags and cheered
Yemen’s president has welcomed the Gulf Arab plan for a transition of power, in a speech to the largest demonstration by his supporters so far.
But Ali Abdullah Saleh made no commitment to accept the plan.
Hundreds of thousands rallied in his support in the capital, Sanaa, while similar numbers of opponents met nearby and in the southern city of Taiz.
At least 120 people have died in two months of protests demanding the end of Mr Saleh’s 32-year rule.
When President Saleh arrived at the rally in Sanaa, a huge cheer went up. Men were squeezed in around the stage and women gathered to the left and right in their black veils, holding the three-coloured flag. Children showed off to the photographers the pro-Saleh drawings on their faces.
On the other side of Sanaa, in Change Square, his opponents lined up their tents in the streets leading to the square now covered in anti-Saleh graffiti. They say they have lost all confidence in any promises he might make.
The longer this stand-off goes on, the greater the concern of some in Yemen and outside the country.
President Saleh has been an ally of the West in counter-terrorism operations, and some worry that without any clear plan for what comes after his rule, instability and more violence could follow.
Huge crowds gathered near the main mosque in the capital Sanaa, calling on President Saleh to retain power until his term ends in 2013.
In a very short speech, the 69-year-old leader said he welcomed the initiative of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) that proposes a transfer of power to the vice-president.
But he said any arrangements had to be “within the framework of the Yemen constitution” – language which could mask objections to the plan.
Some of the president’s allies suggest that he is open to leaving office, but many in the crowd fear that instability would follow his departure, says the BBC’s Lina Sinjab in Sanaa.
On the other side of capital, his opponents gathered in an area they now call Change Square.
Chanting “Go, go”, they demanded that Mr Saleh leave immediately. Most are sceptical of any initiative that would allow him to remain in office, even if power were transferred to his deputy.
In Yemen’s third largest city, Taiz, riot police fired in the air to keep vast crowds of pro- and anti-Saleh demonstrators apart, witnesses said. No casualties were reported.
There are weekly protests against Mr Saleh in Taiz The GCC proposal would see Mr Saleh quit within a month of signing the agreement and hand over to his vice-president.
It suggests that Mr Saleh appoint an opposition leader to run a new cabinet that would prepare for presidential elections two months later.
It also offers immunity from prosecution to Mr Saleh, his family and aides – something the opposition has roundly rejected.
Over the past two months, Mr Saleh has used violence to try to quell the unrest. He has also offered concessions, including a pledge not to run again for president or allow his son to succeed him, but to no avail.
Mr Saleh’s weak central government already has little control beyond the capital. In recent years, it has struggled to confront an armed rebellion in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.
Elsewhere in the country, at least 10 soldiers were killed in three attacks by tribesmen and al-Qaeda militants, officials said.
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Chesterfield climb into League One courtesy of third-placed Wycombe’s 0-0 draw against Torquay.
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At one stage yesterday’s fire near the Brecon Beacons had a 10-mile front Fire service chiefs say they are determined to break the annual cycle of deliberate grass and woodland fires every Easter holiday in Wales.
Crews have again been tied up fighting blazes with one of the largest on a mountain between Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Brecon Beacons.
A helicopter, fire engines, all-terrain vehicles and a water bowser were used.
The fire services say they endanger staff, divert resources, threaten property and harm tourism and wildlife.
Martin Henderson, head of risk reduction at the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said people had become used to accepting large numbers of deliberate grass fire at this time of year.
“It’s got to stop and we need public support to stop it,” he said.
“It’s anti-social behaviour and if it was some other form of anti-social behaviour there would be a public outcry about it.”
“We are trying to win hearts and minds – getting the youngsters to be proud of the area that they live and play in”
Martin Henderson South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
The South Wales service has extended a scheme called Project Bernie which it says reduced the number of deliberate fire in Rhondda Cynon Taff last Easter by over 40 percent.
It is now also being run in Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly and Bridgend and focuses on three main areas.
Better enforcement through high visibility police patrols, increased community awareness with the public urged to report a fire as soon as they are aware of it and activities for 13 to 17 year olds to gain their support.
Mr Henderson said: “It’s a long-term thing and as much as I may wish for it we won’t see an overnight success.
“We are trying to win hearts and minds – getting the youngsters to be proud of the area that they live and play in.”
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Many Abidjan residents want the northern fighters off their streets Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has ordered all soldiers to return to their barracks as he tries to restore normality after months of unrest.
He said that law and order would now be enforced by the police and gendarmes.
He took power last week after his forces arrested his rival, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to concede defeat in last year’s elections.
But some pro-Gbagbo militias continue to operate in parts of the main city, Abidjan.
Earlier this week, two rival group of pro-Ouattara forces clashed in the city – the “Invisible Commandos” which had taken control of parts of Abidjan and the Republican Forces who had swept across the country from their northern bases in March.
“As commander-in-chief of the army, I order you to pull all combat units to their barracks and bases of origin, whether that is in the north or the south,” Mr Ouattara told senior generals from both sides on Friday, reports the Reuters news agency.
The BBC’s John James in Abidjan says the decision to send troops back to the barracks is not without it risks, but it shows many of the northern ex-rebel soldiers that brought Mr Ouattara to power are proving as much a weakness as a strength in Abidjan.
Now most of the fighting is over, the often ill-disciplined force is accused of looting and perceived as a threat by some civilians, he says.
But he says an elite unit of the northern forces is likely to remain in the city to work alongside the UN peacekeepers guarding the new government.
The return of the police to the streets will encourage people to go back to work and businesses to reopen in the world’s main cocoa producer, our correspondent says.
Defence ministry spokesman Alla Kouakou Leon told BBC Afrique that Prime Minister Guillaume Soro would meet Ibrahim Coulibaly, leader of the “Invisible Commandos”, to try to resolve the dispute.
He also said that 5,000 members of the Republican Forces would be integrated into the army.
Mr Ouattara has been receiving pledges of allegiance this week from senior military officers and the heads of main institutions at Abidjan’s Golf Hotel where he has been based since the post-election crisis began.
On Thursday, President Ouattara said banks should open next week and that by the end of the month the normalisation process should be a reality.
He is to be officially sworn in as president in the second half of May, in the official capital, Yamoussoukro.
Our correspondent says a national unity government will then be announced, followed by parliamentary elections before the end of the year.
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Police in Bristol say eight officers were injured and nine people arrested during clashes over a new Tesco store
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Russia has said that its forces have killed a senior Saudi-born al-Qaeda figure in the North Caucasus region.
Haled Yusef Muhammad al Emirat, described as al-Qaeda’s chief envoy in the region, died with another rebel in a clash with troops in Chechnya.
Chechnya’s president said the rebel, nicknamed Moganned, trained and funded insurgents, and planned acts of terror.
Russia is fighting against a low-level Islamist insurgency in several republics in the North Caucasus.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement that Moganned was killed along with another militant in a raid on Thursday near the village of Serzhen-Yurt, in Chechnya’s southern mountains.
It said that the militant has been operating in the North Caucasus since 1999 and that by 2005 he had emerged as the top liaison official with al-Qaeda, helping raise foreign funds, particularly from the Arabian Peninsula.
“Almost all acts of terror using suicide bombers in the last years were prepared with his involvement,” a spokesman for the National Anti-Terror Committee said in a televised statement, according to AFP news agency.
The pro-rebel website kavkazcenter.com confirmed Moganned was killed on Thursday in a clash with security forces in Chechnya.
It said that at least two other militants had died in the attack.
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Four people were arrested when police forced their way into a council-owned property which was being used by squatters in Bristol.
Officers seized a number of items including what Avon and Somerset Police described as “possible petrol bombs”.
Officers closed off Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, before entering the building shortly after 2100 BST on Thursday.
Three of the four arrested were detained for public order offences.
Police said another person was arrested on suspicion of threats to cause criminal damage with intent to endanger life.
Supt Ian Wylie said that following the operation it was “unfortunate a small minority gathered and began attacking officers with bottles and other items”.
He added: “There have been several significant incidents in this building during the past few days, which have caused serious concerns to police and local residents.
“The safety of the public is paramount in a situation of this kind and we took the decision to carry out a robust and swift operation, following intelligence received about the criminal intentions of those who were occupying the building.”
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Protests, like this one in Baniyas, have brought thousands on to the streets Security has been stepped up in Syria ahead of what protesters say will be the biggest rallies so far against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Troops have reportedly been deployed in the flashpoint city of Homs ahead of Friday prayers, which have become the trigger for intensifying protests.
In concessions to protesters on Thursday, President Assad formally ended five decades of emergency rule.
Human rights groups say more than 200 people have died in weeks of protests.
A spokesman for Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Mr Assad “has the opportunity to prove his intentions by allowing (Friday’s) protests to proceed without violent repression”.
“The reforms will only be meaningful if Syria’s security services stop shooting, detaining, and torturing protesters,” said Joe Stork, HRW’s deputy Middle East director.
The Syrian government says it is listening to protesters’ demands and President Assad is pushing through a programme of reforms. Thursday’s concessions included abolishing state security courts and allowing peaceful protests
But analysts say increasing numbers of opposition activists are calling for the downfall of the regime.
President Bashar al-Assad says protesters’ demands for reform have been heard “The state of emergency was brought down, not lifted,” prominent Syrian activist Suhair Atassi wrote on her Twitter page.
“It is a victory as a result of demonstrations, protests and the blood of martyrs who called for Syria’s freedom.”
Syria’s unprecedented wave of unrest has been inspired by uprisings against authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.
However, Damascus has said an “armed insurrection” by Salafist groups is taking place in Homs and further north in Baniyas.
Salafism is a strict form of Sunni Islam which many Arab governments equate with militant groups like al-Qaeda.
Demonstrations against Mr Assad’s ruling Baath Party began in the southern city of Deraa in mid-March and quickly spread to other towns and cities.
The unrest poses the gravest threat to his rule since he succeeded his father Hafez al-Assad 11 years ago.
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Defence Secretary Robert Gates and General James Cartwright explained the drones’ “unique capabilities”
The most senior US soldier, Adm Mike Mullen, has said the war in Libya is “moving towards stalemate”, even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40% of Libya’s ground forces.
The US has authorised the use of armed, unmanned Predator drones over Libya to give “precision capabilities”.
Libyan rebels have been battling Col Gaddafi’s troops since February but have recently made little headway.
Adm Mullen also said there was no sign of al-Qaeda in the Libyan opposition.
In a speech to US troops in Iraq, he admitted radical groups might try to take advantage of the uprising in Libya, but added: “We’re watchful of it, mindful of it and I just haven’t seen much of it at all. In fact, I’ve seen no al-Qaeda representation there at all.”
Last month, a Nato commander said US intelligence had picked up “flickers” of al-Qaeda activity among the rebels.
Meanwhile, a fourth evacuation ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration is on its way to rescue stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians from the besieged city of Misrata.
Here in Tripoli, Nato jets have been circling high in the sky. Explosions thudded around the city in the early hours of the morning. They sounded distant but were still powerful enough to rattle the windows.
The chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, estimates that Nato has destroyed 30-40% of Libya’s main ground forces. Even so, he says the war is moving towards a stalemate.
That’s because neither the Libyan army nor the rebels can land knockout blows. The American decision to deploy armed, unmanned predator drones will not win the war for the rebels. But the drones give Nato another option, and at a time when the air campaign seems to be in trouble, they represent American political support as well as more American firepower.
Col Gaddafi’s forces have been pounding the city – the main rebel-held area in western Libya – for weeks. At least seven civilians were killed on Thursday, and medics say more than 1,000 people have died since the fighting began. Residents say they are being targeted in the streets by snipers.
The US hopes the low-flying pilotless drones will be able to accurately target pro-Gaddafi units on the ground in built-up areas like Misrata, where there is a high risk of civilian casualties.
Unmanned US drones are already used to target militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said two Predator drones were being made available for Nato use, but insisted there were still no plans to send in US ground troops.
The Pentagon said the first drone mission took place on Thursday but turned back because of bad weather.
Libya’s deputy foreign minister warned that the drones would increase civilian casualties and would not change the outcome of the conflict.
“They [drones] will kill more civilians and this is very sad,” Khaled Khaim told the BBC. “It’s for the Libyans to choose their destiny – not by sending more weapons or more air strikes, or more money and weapons to the rebels.”
“I think what they are doing is undemocratic, illegitimate. I do hope that they will reverse their decision.”
Meanwhile, US Senator John McCain has arrived on a visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Senator John McCain is the highest-ranking US official to visit rebel-held eastern Libya since the uprising began in February A crowd of about 50 people greeted him at the courthouse in Benghazi, chanting, “The nasty Gaddafi has left and McCain came”, the AFP news agency reports.
Senator McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, is the highest-ranking US official to visit the rebel-held east of the country since the uprising began two months ago.
Mr McCain said the rebels needed “a lot of help” and wanted the world to follow France and Italy in formally recognising them as Libya’s leaders.
“I just came from the hospital where I saw a number of people who are badly wounded and dying,” he said.
“That frankly puts a face on it that argues maybe we should be doing everything we can to help these people, and maybe we’re not and they’re dying.”
On Thursday, Libyan rebels were reported to have seized control of a border post on the Tunisian border in a rare advance in the west.
Reports say about 100 government soldiers handed themselves in in Tunisia after intense fighting in the region.
Restrictions on journalists in remote areas of Libya mean it is hard to independently verify such reports.
Street warfare is also continuing in the besieged city of Misrata, where the BBC’s Orla Guerin in Misrata has seen evidence that cluster bombs are being used by pro-Gaddafi forces.
Doctors told our correspondent the bombs are causing increasingly horrific injuries, with some civilians losing limbs.
The Libyan government has so far denied the charge.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has warned the international community to stay out of Misrata, saying the government will “unleash hell” if foreign troops enter the city.
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The Pope washes the feet of 12 priests as part of his Easter duties
Pope Benedict XVI is set to make history by becoming the first pontiff to take part in a televised question-and-answer session.
The pre-recorded programme will be broadcast on the Italian Rai channel on Good Friday afternoon.
People have been sending questions to a special website. Seven have been chosen for the Pope to answer during the 80-minute programme.
The questions have been restricted to the topic of Jesus.
Those selected to put their question include an Italian mother whose son was in a coma for many years and a young Japanese girl affected by the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Others reportedly putting questions include seven Christian students in Iraq and a Muslim mother from the conflict-torn Ivory Coast.
It is thought the question-and-answer session will take place via video link, the BBC’s Duncan Kennedy in Rome says.
“We proposed it and he accepted it”
Rosario Carello Rai TV host
It remains unclear whether the Pope has seen the questions beforehand or whether the questioners will be able to respond to the answers, he adds.
There has been scepticism from some who say the programme has largely been on the Vatican’s terms, and coincides with the publication of the pontiff’s book as well as Good Friday.
But, says our correspondent, the event marks a further move by the Pope to embrace new ways of transmitting his message of hope and renewal.
Until now, he has only ever taken questions from journalists on planes during foreign trips.
The show’s host Rosario Carello said the project initially seemed “crazy”, but they saw “something in Pope Benedict’s style that caused them to at least propose this idea to him”.
“We proposed it and he accepted,” he is reported by the Catholic News Agency as saying.
The programme will be broadcast at 1410 local time (1210 GMT), so that the Pope is speaking at 1500, the moment Jesus is traditionally believed to have taken his last breath.
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Millions of gamers have been left unable to play online as the Playstation Network remains unavailable after more than 20 hours.
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A unit used to assess prisoners coming to the end of their sentences is to be temporarily closed following concerns about “recent incidents”
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Assistant manager Gary McAllister confirmed Houllier would not require surgery Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has been told he will not require surgery after being admitted to hospital with chest pains.
The 63-year-old was taken to a hospital in Birmingham overnight on Wednesday.
Assistant manager Gary McAllister told reporters on Friday that Houllier would not need an operation.
Houllier had major surgery after suffering heart-related problems in 2001 while he was managing Liverpool FC.
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A teenager has died after falling from his bedroom window on the sixth floor of a tower block in south-east London.
Jovanni Peddie, 14, opened the window to look out but plunged on to a second-floor balcony beneath, his family said.
He was injured at Missenden block on the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth on Wednesday afternoon and was pronounced dead in hospital shortly afterwards.
Jovanni was “a lovely boy” who was bright and intelligent and wanted to be an architect, his aunt said.
“He was happy, bubbly and religious,” added Cherry Peddie.
“The family knows he has gone to the Lord.”
Jovanni attended Westminster City School in central London and was studying for his GCSEs.
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