US Muslims protest over hearings

Several hundred people have gathered in New York's Times Square to protest at this week's Congressional hearings on the US Muslim community.

The hearings will look at the extent of radicalisation within the community and the response on that issue of Muslim leaders.


Muslim organisations say they are being unfairly singled out.


The hearings are in response to such events as the Fort Hood shootings and the Times Square car bomb plot.
'Xenophobic behaviour'


The BBC's Tom Burridge in Washington says the protesters braved the rain to march on the streets of New York, many carrying banners reading "Today I am a Muslim too".


In the hearings, Peter King - a Republican Congressman and chair of the homeland security committee - has called several witnesses to testify about "the extent of radicalisation within the American Muslim community".


Mr King, who represents New York, claims some Muslim leaders are not doing enough to help the police and the FBI investigate terror plots which originate in the US.


Our correspondent says cases such as that of Pakistan-born US citizen Faisal Shahzad, who tried to blow up a car bomb in New York's Times Square last year, and Virginia-born US army Maj Nidal Hasan, who allegedly killed 13 people on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, have changed political language and thinking in the US.


Politicians, the police and people are talking about a relatively new, homegrown threat, he says.


The protesters in New York and others fear the hearings will only increase Islamaphobia in America.


Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who led the campaign to build an Islamic centre near the destroyed World Trade Center site, addressed the Times Square crowd.


"Our real enemy is not Islam or Muslims," said Imam Rauf. "The enemy is extremism and radicalism and radical ideology."


Muslim Democratic Congressman Andre Carson said he wanted to tell "the Peter Kings of the world, we will not take your xenophobic behaviour".


Mr King's language on this subject has often proved inflammatory, our correspondent says, and many believe the witnesses he has called to speak at the hearings do not represent mainstream Muslims.

Cricket World Cup: Kevin Pietersen flying home for op

Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the rest of England's World Cup campaign because his hernia problem is more serious than first thought.

The 30-year-old opener will be replaced by Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan.

England had hoped Pietersen would play through the pain before having hernia surgery after the tournament.

But the decision was taken to fly him home on Monday after he struggled in the field during the six-run win over South Africa on Sunday.

England coach Andy Flower told BBC Sport: "The medical advice was that he could get through the tournament.

"The hernia problem that he had would not get significantly worse and he wasn't going to tear anything so we hoped that he would get through the tournament ok, take pain killers when needed and bite the bullet.


"Unfortunately he says that the pain is too debilitating and he can't go on like that, so it's a pretty simple decision in replacing him."

The hernia problem was initially discovered after an MRI scan following Pietersen's return to England after the post-Ashes one-day series in Australia, which the home side won 6-1.

Before Sunday's game, Pietersen had shown signs of returning to the form that resulted in him equalling the record as the fastest player to score 1000 one-day runs, notching up 129 runs in England's first three World Cup games.

Opening the batting with captain Andrew Strauss he scored 39 against the Netherlands, 31 against India and 59 in the defeat to Ireland, before making only two runs in Sunday's Group B win in Chennai, though he did manage to bowl eight overs.

On his departure from the tournament, Pietersen told his Twitter page: "Absolutely devastated!! Sad to leave India. Love the people & the hospitality!"

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said: "Although he has scored only two fifties in the last 27 games, Pietersen was a potential match-winner and England's dilemma will be deciding who now opens the batting in his place, with Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell the likely candidates."

Pietersen's injury requires around six weeks of recovery and will also rule him out of the Indian Premier League, which he was due to contest with the Deccan Chargers.

Morgan, one of the best finishers in the one-day game, was originally ruled out of the tournament with a broken finger.

But he has made a quicker-than-expected recovery and will join up with the squad this week once clearance has been received from the International Cricket Council.

The Dublin-born left-hander, who played for Ireland in the last World Cup before switching to play for England, has a batting average of 38.08 from 61 one-day internationals, with four hundreds and 10 fifties.

An inventive stroke-maker, he was a key member of the England side that won the ICC World Twenty20 last year.

However, he did not score more than 30 in any of his six innings during the 6-1 defeat to Australia before succumbing to a broken finger.

"His finger has healed nicely and he has full flexibility back into the joint," Flower added. "He hasn't done any training yet, so we'll get him straight into the nets and up to speed as well as we can."

England will be guaranteed a place in the World Cup quarter-finals if they beat co-hosts Bangladesh on Friday.

Flower said he had already decided who would open the batting in Chittagong, but suggested the opening pair could be decided on a game-by-game basis.

"What that can give us is flexibility," he said. "We should remain adaptable depending on what the opposition is and what the pitch conditions are."

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Football Stadiums And Naming Rights

Is football the new religion?  Are football stadiums the cathedrals for the new common man? Two questions that people have asked for years.  But what truth is there in an answer of “Yes”?  Based on the explosion of commercialisation of the game I would suggest that some football clubs have a cult-like approach to fan engagement.  Get them in as young as possible, ram our product down their throats as often as we can and then brainwash them to come and spend ridiculous sums of money on things like branded toasters, branded bottles of water and even branded vodka.  There is certainly no end to what a football club will slap an advert on these days for cash.  Apart from renaming the actual club as you can find all through the Austrian Bundelisga (Red Bull Salzburg anyone? or are you simply looking for a Cashpoint in Altach), the biggest billboard a club has to offer is their ground.  Stadium naming rights are big business these days.  In Germany it is the norm to sell the naming rights on a regular basis but elsewhere in Europe where many grounds are not owned by the clubs, but by local authorities it is not common.

The situation in England is confused to say the least. If you look at the twenty biggest stadiums in England, only three are sponsored.  The Emirates, The Ricoh Arena and The Walkers Stadium in Leicester.  Interestingly there are a couple of other stadiums in the list that used to be “named” but have now dropped the convention.  Middlesborough’s The Riverside started off life as the Cellnet and then the BT Cellnet stadium before reverting back to its proper name in 2003.  Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium was originally known as the Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium, quite a mouthful before they withdrew their support in 2006. Oh, and who can forget the ridiculous situation at Newcastle United when St James’ Park was renamed the SportsDirect@St.James’ Park or something else ridiculous for a period of time.

Stadium rebranding his hardly the religious approach akin to the “cathedrals for the common man” is it?  For whose purpose is the naming of a stadium?  The players?  Will the team be more likely to turn performances up by 10% if they have a new name above their heads. The fans? Look at the situation in Dortmund.  Do the Borussia fans bedecked in their yellow and black say, obviously translated from our German cousins “Are you going down the Westfalonstadion today” or “Shall we head off to the Signal Iduna Park”?

مواجهة تاريخية بين كليتشكو وهايي في ألمانيا

ذكرت وسائل الإعلام اليوم الأحد أن الملاكم الأوكراني فلاديمير كليتشكو سيلتقي مع البريطاني ديفيد هايي في ألمانيا في وقت لاحق من العام الجاري.

ويحمل هايي /30 عاما/ لقب رابطة الملاكمة العالمية للوزن الثقيل فيما يحمل كليتشكو بطل المنظمة العالمية والاتحاد الدولي والمنظمة الدولية للملاكمة.

ونقلت صحيفة بيلد اليوم عن كليتشكو ، الأخ الأصغر لفيتالي حامل لقب بطولة العالم للوزن الثقيل ، قوله "اني سعيد حقا بنجاحي في المشاركة في هذه المباراة".

وكان كليتشكو ألغى في وقت سابق مشاركته في مباراة للاحتفاظ باللقب أمام ديريك شيسورا في نيسان/ابريل المقبل بسبب الإصابة.

وقال بيرن بوينتي مدير اعمال كليتشكو أن 25 حزيران/يونيو أو الثاني من تموز/يوليو المقبلين ، قد يكون احدهما موعدا محتملا للمباراة والتي يمكن اقامتها في جيلسنكيرشن أو دورتموند او كايزرسلاوترن.

وتردد أن الملاكمان سيقتسمان جائزة مالية قدرها 25 مليون يورو (7ر34 مليون دولار).

وقال هايي لهيئة الإذاعة البريطانية (بي.بي.سي) أنه لا يستطيع الانتظار لحين مواجهة كليتشكو "إنها مباراة ينتظرها جميع متابعي الملاكمة وجميع مشجعي الرياضة بشكل عام".

Away win leaves Real Madrid seven points behind Barcelona

Real Madrid proved that they can win without Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday by beating Racing Santander 3-1 away, with two goals from Karim Benzema after Emmanuel Adebayor had given them the lead.

The impressive win, in which both teams missed a penalty, left them seven points behind runaway leaders Barcelona, who beat Zaragoza 1-0 at home on Saturday.

It was Real's first league match without Ronaldo - who has a pulled hamstring - for a year but they actually seemed to play better without him, with a more collective spirit.

Their new leader was Mesut Oezil, who set up Adebayor to score the first goal after 23 minutes of domination. Just four minutes later Oezil played through Benzema to make it 2-0 with a precise finish.

Santander came out of the second half with a little more aggression, and in the 51st minute Giovani - on loan from Tottenham - was pulled down for a penalty by Xabi Alonso. However, Real keeper Iker Casillas had few problems in saving the weak spot-kick of Pablo Pinillos.

Swedish midfielder Kennedy pulled a goal back for the hosts 20 minutes from time after being played through by Mehdi Lacen, but Benzema restored Real's two-goal lead five minutes later after a swift counter-attack masterminded by Angel Di Maria.

Di Maria was then pulled down for a penalty by Marc Torrejon, but Santander keeper Tono emulated Casillas by saving the penalty of Adebayor.

It was Santander's first defeat under coach Marcelino Garcia, who took over in January, and left them in 13th place, just above the relegation fray.

Real, for their part, are now 14 points ahead of third-placed Valencia, who won 2-1 at Mallorca on Saturday. Valencia are four points ahead of fourth team Villarreal, who crashed 3-1 at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

Athletic Bilbao moved up to fifth on Sunday by beating luckless Sevilla 2-0, thanks to a clumsy own goal from Federico Fazio plus a late penalty coverted by Andoni Iraola.

The win left Bilbao with 41 points from 27 games. They are nine points behind fourth-placed Villarreal but one ahead of Espanyol, who lost 1-0 away to Levante on Sunday on a goal from the in-form Felipe Caicedo.

Sevilla, for their part, stayed seventh with 38 points.

Earlier on Sunday, Almeria had moved off the bottom with a 2-1 comeback win away to fellow strugglers Hercules, who are in awful form.

Abraham Paz headed Hercules into the lead six minutes into the second half, only for Almeria to turn the tables with late goals from Sofiane Feghouli and Modesto M'Bami.

Two other struggling sides who threw themselves a lifeline on Sunday were Sporting Gijon and Osasuna.

Gijon scored a 2-0 home win over dull Getafe, thanks to first-half goals from Miguel de las Cuevas and Diego Castro.

Osasuna, for their part, scored a late 1-0 win away to fellow strugglers Malaga, who are back on bottom. Veteran defender Sergio Fernandez headed in the crucial away goal in stoppage time.

Malaga are now bottom with just 23 points from 27 games. Then come Almeria on 25, Hercules on 26, Zaragoza on 27, and Deportivo Coruna and Gijon level on 28.

On Monday Deportivo are at home to Real Sociedad.

Veteran captain Puyol to miss Barcelona-Arsenal showdown

Veteran Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will miss Tuesday's Champions League showdown at home to Arsenal, the Spanish champions said on Sunday.

Defender Puyol, 32, has not recovered from the tendinitis in his left knee that has kept him out of action for six weeks.

Barca were hoping that Puyol would be fit, especially because Gerard Pique, his usual partner for Barca and Spain, is suspended for the big match.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola - who is suffering from a slipped disc but will be on the bench on Tuesday - will have to improvise a new central defensive tandem. He is likely to put midfielder Sergio Busquets back in defence alongside left-back Eric Abidal.

This would mean putting Javier Mascherano in midfield in place of Busquets, and either Maxwell or Adriano at left-back in place of Abidal.

The other option for Guardiola is to draft in either Marc Bartra or Albert Fontas, the young central defenders of Barca's second division nursery team.

The good news for Barca is goalkeeper Victor Valdes is fit, after making a successful return from injury in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat of Zaragoza.

Barca, one of the favourites in the tournament, lost the first leg 2-1 against Arsenal in London and therefore need to win on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals.

Bremen and Mainz secure important victories

Werder Bremen and Mainz 05 secured very important Bundesliga victories on Sunday - albeit for differing reasons.

   Bremen's 3-1 win in Freiburg saw them leave the relegation zone, while Mainz's 4-2 victory at SV Hamburg pushed them above Bayern Munich into fourth place.

   Andre Schuerrle with two goals, Florian Heller and an own goal by Gojko Kacar gave Mainz the win in Hamburg, for whom Marcell Jansen and Mladen Petric scored.

   Hamburg's opening goal - coming a day after FIFA announced that goal-line technology would not be implemented for at least another year - was clearly not a goal as the ball did not cross the line after Jansen's shot in the 17th minute.

   Mainz drew level in the 56th minute through Schuerrle's header.

   It took the home side just three minutes to go ahead again as Petric made the most of Mainz's failure to clear the ball.

   Mainz came back for the second time when Kacar scored into his own goal on the hour when he attempted to clear a cross from Marcel Risse.

   Worse was to follow for Hamburg, as a quick break allowed Schuerrle to score his second with a well-taken chip over Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost eight minutes from the end.

   Substitute Heller put the game beyond doubt two minutes from the end.

Man-of-the-match Schuerrle said that it was much tougher than the score suggested. "It was a very difficult game for us, Hamburg dominated the first half and deserved their lead, but we came back strongly and I think in the end it was a fair result.

"The coach told us at half-time that we should believe in ourselves and we did that and were rewarded in the end."

   The win sees Mainz move to fourth in the table on 43 points, while Hamburg are seventh on 37 points.

   In the earlier game Werder Bremen secured an important victory at SC Freiburg to gain three points in their battle against relegation.

   Sandro Wagner, Claudio Pizarro and substitute Marko Marin scored the goals for the visitors, while Papiss Demba Cisse pulled one back for Freiburg from the penalty spot.

   Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said his side deserved the victory. "The team has worked well the whole week. Possibly we gave away the ball too easily, but we played well.

   "We need to be a unit, we all got ourselves into this difficult situation and we need to work together to get ourselves out of it."

   On Saturday, Bayern Munich's hopes of finishing in the top three received a massive dent as they lost 3-1 at Hanover 96, who are third on 47 points - five points more than Bayern who are fifth.

   Bayer Leverkusen, who beat VfL Wolfsburg 3-0, are second behind runaway Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund - eight points ahead of Bayern.

   Dortmund, who beat Cologne 1-0 on Friday night, are virtually assured of their first championship since 2002 as they have a 12 point lead over Leverkusen with just ten games to go.

   At the wrong end of the table, there were important victories for bottom club Borussia Moenchengladbach, who beat Hoffenheim 2-0 and VfB Stuttgart, who won 1-0 against a 10-man Schalke 04.

   In other matches Nuremberg stayed in contention for a place in Europe with a 5-0 thrashing of St Pauli, while Eintracht Frankfurt's poor run of not having scored a goal in the eight matches they have played in 2011 continued as they were held to a goalless draw at home by Kaiserslautern.