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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Messi takes Barca into ‘new galaxy’


Lionel Messi s record five-goal haul in the 7-1 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen prompted Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola to hail the Argentine master as the game s greatest talent. Guardiola was not alone in his admiration after the defending champions sailed into the quarter-finals on a 10-2 aggregate. Robin Dutt, the coach of the vanquished Germans, insisted that Messi made Barcelona look as if they came from "another galaxy" while England striker Wayne Rooney took to Twitter to anoint the superstar as "the best ever". "I am fortunate to have Messi in the team and all I can do is try and create the conditions so that he plays his best football," said Guardiola. "You won t see anyone else like him. People said that Di Stefano, Maradona and Cruyff were the best when they were playing and now it is the same for Messi. He is on the throne and it is down to him how long he stays there." Messi bettered his previous record of four against Arsenal two seasons ago and now has 12 goals from seven Champions League matches this season after a majestic attacking performance from the World Player of the Year. Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, it was always going to be a tough task for Leverkusen with Barca unbeaten in 13 European home games. Messi struck twice before the break and then hit a further three after the restart while youngster Cristian Tello also grabbed a brace.  "This time Messi got five. Maybe the next time he will get six. These are only figures but he will always keep trying to get another goal because that is his personality," said Guardiola. Messi, as always, preferred the under-statement to superlatives. "I m happy, it s great to score a five, but the important thing tonight was the win and to qualify for the quarter-finals. Now, no matter who we meet, it s going to be very complicated, there are only good sides left in," he said. "We know it s hard for us in the Liga (10 points behind Real Madrid), but we want to defend our Champions League title and we are also keeping in our minds on the Spanish Cup." Dutt did not hold back in his praise for Barca and their guiding force. "There are no words to describe this performance from them, it was extraordinary, there is no doubt," said Dutt. "Without Messi, they are still the best but with him they are from another galaxy." Barca teammate Cesc Fabregas insisted no-one should be surprised by Messi s latest landmark. "You can expect anything from Leo," said Fabregas. "He is the best player in history, we have never seen anyone like him. "He didn t play at the weekend (Messi was suspended) and he wanted to do well. He enjoys being on the pitch and we are happy to have him." Rooney, whose Manchester United side failed to make the last 16, insisted he had witnessed a genius at work. "Messi is a joke. For me, the best ever," he tweeted.

Arsenal loss, AC Milan attempts to regroup


Having won the opening leg 4-0, Milan still advanced despite its poor performance in London on Tuesday but Ibrahimovic ranted with disgust to Swedish media after the match. "If you play for a big club like Milan, this can t happen," Ibrahimovic said. "It s OK to lose in a certain manner, but the way we lost this match is unacceptable. We re Milan and we ve got to be stronger and more stable." Ibrahimovic also lamented that manager Massimiliano Allegri lined him up out of position when Milan played with three strikers. Last weekend, Ibrahimovic marked his return from a three-match Italian league ban by scoring a hat trick in a 4-0 win at Palermo, and he is tied with Udinese s Antonio Di Natale for the Serie A scoring lead with 18 goals each. While another Italian league title would surely be nice, it s the Champions League that Ibrahimovic really wants. The Sweden international has won seven domestic league titles with the likes of Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Milan plus another two that were revoked with Juventus but he s never won Europe s biggest club tournament. "The more mad Ibrahimovic is, the better things go," Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said as the squad prepares for a match with lowly Lecce on Sunday. Also for Milan, midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has been cleared to play again after missing six months due to myasthenia, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease that affected his left eye. Meanwhile, Juventus will be without its three top center backs for a visit to Genoa. Leonardo Bonucci picked up a second yellow card late in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Bologna on Wednesday, while Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli are each out injured. After a series of matches postponed due to snow, Milan and Juve have now played the same number of games and defending champion Milan holds a two-point lead with 12 rounds remaining. Juventus remains the only undefeated club in the Italian league, but it also has the most draws 13 and has won just one of its last six matches. The absences in defense may not be easy to overcome against a Genoa squad featuring a potent strike duo of Rodrigo Palacio and Alberto Gilardino, who is expected back from injury. Genoa has already beaten Napoli, Lazio and Udinese this season. "We ll see what solutions we can find," Juventus  first-year coach Antonio Conte said. "(Arturo) Vidal is an alternative, but we re not hanging our heads down." Conte was sent off for protests in the second half against Bologna. "There was a general protest from the bench and I was surprised, but these are things that happen in football," Conte said. The weekend s action opens with surging Napoli hosting Cagliari and struggling Inter at Chievo Verona on Friday night, giving Napoli and Inter an extra day s rest before Champions League matches next week against Chelsea and Marseille, respectively. Also this weekend, Attilio Tesser marks his return as the coach of last-place Novara, which fired Emiliano Mondonico on Tuesday after just 36 days in charge. Before being fired in late January, Tesser had led Novara up from the third division to Serie A with two successive promotions. His first game back in charge will come against fourth-place Udinese, which was playing at Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday. Tesser s return marks the 14th coaching change in Serie A since the preseason. Also this weekend, it s: Palermo vs. Roma; Atalanta vs. Parma; Catania vs. Fiorentina; Cesena vs. Siena; and Lazio vs. Bologna.

Solar Storm & earth is under attack


A new and powerful solar flare was recorded in the night between Tuesday 6th and Wednesday, March 7, generating a solar storm, which at this time and that the Earth is investing in the next few days will continue to be felt. The meeting of the swarm of particles released from the Sun and the Earth’s magnetic field will surely give rise to spectacular auroras in the polar regions, but it could put strain on satellite communications.To give the show is once again the stain AR1429, become visible only from a few days and catch during its pyrotechnic “stunts” observatory Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) of NASA. The eruption of last night was so powerful as to be classified as Class X 5 : X-class eruptions are just the most intense, can trigger magnetic storms capable of causing blackouts in radio communications around the globe. This eruption resulted in expulsion of matter from the solar corona (CME) into space does not appear to be directed against the Earth, but it is possible that between 8 and 9 March glancing hit our magnetic field, increasing magnetic turbulence already underway at higher elevations due to solar activity of recent days.

6 British soldiers missing, feared dead in Afghanistan


Six British soldiers are missing and are believed to have been killed in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said Wednesday, taking the British death toll in the country to over 400. "I have the tragic duty to report that six soldiers are missing, believed killed, during a security patrol," said British spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Mackenzie. The ministry said an explosion had hit the soldiers  Warrior armoured vehicle on Tuesday while they were on patrol in Helmand Province, the restive southern area where most British troops are based. The servicemen s families have been informed, the ministry added. Prime Minister David Cameron described it as a "desperately sad day for our country". Before the explosion, a total of 398 British forces personnel had died while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001. If confirmed, the deaths would be the biggest British loss of life in a single incident in Afghanistan since a Nimrod aircraft crashed in 2006, killing 14 personnel. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the incident would not deter British forces from carrying out their role as part of NATO forces in Afghanistan. "I utterly condemn those responsible for this incident who will ultimately fail to derail a mission that is protecting our national security at home and making real progress in Helmand," Hammond said. "It is because of the continuing efforts of our Armed Forces, working alongside the Afghan National Security Forces, that we are on course to build an Afghanistan that can stand on its own two feet." Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, but Cameron announced in July that this would be reduced to 500 by the end of 2012. Britain is due to end combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. General Sir David Richards, Britain s Chief of Defence Staff, said the six missing soldiers had been doing "a dangerous but important job". "Increasingly the Afghans themselves are taking the lead in providing security across Helmand. This transition is allowing Afghans to gain the confidence to reject the Taliban and live normal lives," he said. The number of British troops killed in Afghanistan fell in 2011, but Britain has lost more lives than any country with troops involved in the conflict except the United States.

National dignity and the West anxious feeling about Iranian Atomic technology


Days before Iran s just-completed parliamentary elections, the country s supreme leader gave what amounted to a pep rally on the Islamic Republic's nuclear views.Atomic technology is a pillar of "national dignity," boasted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran must stand firm against the "bullying" pressures from the West. It showed how deeply Iran s leadership cares about its nuclear program in the face of efforts by the West, which is still hoping the finesse of diplomacy and the vise of sanctions can persuade Tehran to roll back on its ambitions and ease calls for military action, possibly led by Israel. Iran has steadfastly rejected demands to halt its uranium enrichment, which Washington and its allies worry could be the foundation for a future nuclear weapons program. Iran claims it seeks only energy and medical research from its reactors, but it wants full control over the nuclear process from uranium ore to fuel rods. Another layer was added to Iranian resolve last week when parliamentary elections gave Khamenei loyalists clear control of the chamber. It has no direct sway over key policies such as the nuclear program but can reinforce the messages from the ruling clerics. With a pliant parliament, Khamenei and the theocracy now have one less internal distraction at a potentially pivotal time: An attack on Iran is clearly on the table, at least as a talking point or a threat. "We understand the costs of any military action," said U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday after White House talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting clearly showed where they part company: Obama urging for more time to allow a mix of negotiations and economic pressures on Iran; Netanyahu saying that Israel must remain the "master of its own fate," while noting no decision has been made on a unilateral attack. Israel would consider a nuclear-armed Iran a threat to its existence. Both leaders, though, made it clear Iran must not develop a nuclear bomb, which could touch off a Middle East arms race and embolden Tehran s proxies, such as the anti-Israel group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Absent from the Washington talks at least publicly was recognition of the challenges facing any effort to force Iran to backpedal on its nuclear advances. From the perspective of Iran s leaders, national pride is on the line. Iran views its nuclear program as an essential element in its goal of becoming the Islamic world s technology hub, which includes aerospace and defense programs. In late February, Iran offered journalists a rare look inside a satellite control center less than a month after it announced another satellite was launched into orbit. "The Iranian nation will not withdraw one iota from its nuclear rights," said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in November. The nuclear efforts also represent Iran s policies of self-sufficiency that have been built over years of sanctions. Iran s military has devoted significant resources toward a homegrown defense industry that already claims domestically made drones, missiles capable of striking Israel and weaponry based on Russian, Chinese and North Korean designs. Sophisticated systems-jamming measures could have been deployed last year to bring down a CIA spy drone, which Iran says was recovered intact. The U.S. blamed a technical malfunction. "Nuclear achievements have various aspects, but creation of national dignity is the most important one," said Supreme Leader Khamenei in late February in a meeting with Iranian nuclear scientists and engineers.The dispute has deep roots. Nearly 20 years ago, the hard-line newspaper Jomhuri-e-Eslami ran an editorial accusing the U.S. and others of seeking to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear power technology and seeking to keep the country "in a state of technical backwardness." Iran s government-friendly media also frequently cite what they call a double standard between Western alarm over Tehran s nuclear capabilities and refusal to call attention to Israel, which is widely believed to have nuclear weapons. The Jewish state refuses to confirm or deny their existence. Khamenei called the pursuit of technology from nuclear to commercial the best buffer against "the domination of the world power," a clear reference to the U.S. and its allies. "The Iranian nation has not been after a nuclear weapon and it will not be," Khamenei continued. "It will prove to the world that nuclear weapons do not create power." But there is no doubt that Iranian leaders have taken careful notice of neighboring Pakistan. First came international pressures and outcry over Pakistan s nuclear arsenal and then reluctant acceptance. After Pakistan s nuclear weapon tests in 1998, Iran s foreign minister was the first to visit Islamabad, saying "Muslims are happy" that an Islamic nation had the capabilities to counter Israel s suspected nuclear-armed military. Iran, however, has been generally silent on a deal last week by North Korea to freeze nuclear activities and allow the return of U.N. nuclear inspectors in exchange for food aid. Israel dismissed the idea that the breakthrough could mean that similar economic pressures could work on Tehran. Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called North Korea s nuclear program a tool for "economic blackmail." In contrast, "Iran has global ambitions, with ideological motivations," he said. Tehran-based political analyst Hamid Reza Shokouhi believes Iran s Islamic leaders have vested their political credibility so deeply in nuclear self-sufficiency that significant pullbacks are unlikely. "Any withdrawal from the nuclear (program) will be seen as a political defeat," he said.

Suicide attack in Russia


She blew herself up at a checkpoint in Russia's volatile Caucasus region of Dagestan, officials said Wednesday. The attack was the most deadly incident in a upsurge of violence in mainly Muslim Dagestan since Vladimir Putin was elected president. "A woman set off a bomb with two kilogrammes of TNT on her body at the checkpoint in Karabudakhent village," said a statement on the Dagestani police website. The suicide bomber s severed head was found tens of metres (yards) from the blast on Tuesday night, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. Investigators said relatives had identified her as the widow of a Dagestan rebel leader who was killed in a police operation against militants last month. "She was Aminat Ibrahimova, the widow of a leader of a group from (the town of) Kaspiysk, the former interior ministry official Zaur Zagirov" an unnamed police source told ITAR-TASS. The five victims were low-ranking police officers aged 22 to 34, the ministry said. Two more officers were hospitalised.