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Sir Jackie Stewart: want more overtaking in F1? Make circuits punish drivers for their mistakes
Getting F1 back on track has been in the news this week with the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and the start of the season put back to Melbourne on March 27.
Frustrated: Fernando Alonso was the favourite to take the drivers' crown last season but found himself unable to get past the Renault of Vitaly Petrov Photo: AP
By Sir Jackie Stewart 6:43PM GMT 26 Feb 2011
It was unquestionably the right decision and I hope we are back there later in the year.
A positive to come out of it, though, is that Australia is a great curtain raiser as it nearly always produces an exciting race, something, alas, a number of circuits on the calendar fail to do.
I have my own theory on this age-old problem.
In my time I have been a very keen golfer and when I think of the great golf courses of the world – from St Andrews to Pebble Beach to Augusta – they all have green fairways and they all have sandy bunkers.
Some suit the longer hitters; others place a premium on accuracy. But they each have their own unique characteristics. Crucially, no two of the ones I mentioned were designed by the same person.
My belief is that the major reason for the lack of overtaking in modern grand prix racing is down to the modern tracks, nearly all of which have been designed by the same man, the German architect Hermann Tilke.
Yes, braking zones are now much shorter due to highly efficient brakes and aerodynamic downforce, meaning there is a much smaller overtaking zone (in my day it may have been as much as 200m; now it is more like 50m).
But the new circuits themselves must take their share of the blame. Put simply, they are largely carbon copies of each other and they tend not to penalise mistakes.
Take the last race of 2010 for example. There were four drivers who could have clinched the championship in Abu Dhabi but Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was the overwhelming favourite.
He had only to finish fourth to secure his third world crown. It didn’t happen because he could not find a way past Vitaly Petrov, a rookie in his first season in F1 and with little or no experience of being under such pressure.
Alonso ran wide at the Yas Marina track on four separate occasions as he tried to best the Renault. And yet incredibly the car behind him, driven by Mark Webber, was still not able to pass.
The run-off area was so well manicured and without obstacles that Alonso was effectively able to make fairly big mistakes and still maintain his position. That is plainly wrong.
Racetracks have changed since my day and thank God for that. Back then a driver who raced for five years had a two in three chance of being killed.
Four to six drivers a year lost their lives. It was totally unacceptable and I campaigned hard for improved safety in the sport, which happily came to pass.
It is nearly 17 years since a life was lost in an F1 car. I can’t think of an industry, a sport or a business where that standard of risk management has been achieved.
But we have now gone too far the other way. Circuits should not permit liberties to be abused without a penalty that can be instantly recognised by spectators or TV viewers. Safety is one thing; abuse of privilege is another.
Tilke has been behind almost every new circuit in F1 since the early 1990s. In some respects, he has done a great job, bringing fantastic amenities and luxuries to the sport. But I fear he has not done much for the spectators.
Unless circuits are modified, spectators and television viewers might have to live with a lack of overtaking for some time.
For years F1’s governing body the FIA has been convinced that tweaking the technical regulations – such as changing from slick to treaded tyres – would allow overtaking to return. It has not happened.
This year the introduction of moveable wings manipulated by drivers and the return of KERS devices, have been brought in to encourage overtaking. But I have another solution.
What if Tilke simply modified the corners around his circuits in such a way that if a driver runs wide he is penalised?
What if the surface of the run-off areas was changed so that a car’s traction is reduced and a driver going wide loses ground either to the car he is following or allows the car chasing him to pass?
Pretty simple really – and a lot cheaper than developing KERS.
Making mistakes is something we all do. In most cases we have to pay for those mistakes. We shouldn’t die for them but we surely should be penalised.
This is what race fans the world over want to see; the best drivers in the world, in the most advanced cars, competing to become world champion. They should not be able to get there by getting away with making mistakes.
The fee for this article is going to the Grand Prix Mechanics Charitable Trust
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In A Japanese Country Garden
Mrs Mail and I wandered around Brisbanes Mount Cootha Botanic Gardens, and when we got to the Japanese Gardens, guess what we found - yes Japanese.
These three cute girls were all dressed up in uniform eating a platter of sushi. Not one to pass up an opportunity, naturally I dived in and made conversation.
They actually spoke better English than I did, so were probably born here. They told me they were doing a photo shoot, and just behind them, I saw some weapons including a bazooka.
Make up your own mind on that. I made the fatal mistake of taking only one shot. Never do that.
The girl in the middle had such funky spiked hair that you can't see here, and also her facial expression doesn't really show how pretty she looked, so one shot, no - don't do it.
Big guess here, but the blonde is probably a wig :-) but they all looked really cute. And the sushi looked good too, but I decided not to press my luck.
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Week #32 - Life & Living Things
Shoot Anything Saturday
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Italy v Wales: match preview
Read a full match preview of the Six Nations game between Italy and Wales at the Stadio Flamini, Rome on Saturday Feb 26 2011, kick-off 2.30pm.
By Steve James 5:58PM GMT 25 Feb 2011
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Saturday February 26
Italy v Wales
Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Kick-off: 2.30pm
TV: BBC 2: 2pm onwards
Italy: L McLean (Treviso); A Masi (Racing Metro), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), A Sgarbi (Treviso), M Bergamasco (Racing Metro); K Burton (Treviso), F Semenzato (Treviso); S Perugini (Aironi), L Ghiraldini (Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), S Dellape (Racing Metro), Q Geldenhuys (Aironi), A Zanni (Treviso), R Barbieri (Treviso), S Parisse (Stade Francais, capt).
Replacements: C Festuccia (Racing Metro), A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro), V Bernabo (Treviso), M Vosawai (Treviso), P Canavosio (Aironi), L Orquera (Brive), T Benvenuti (Treviso).
Wales: L Byrne (Ospreys); M Stoddart (Scarlets), J Hook (Ospreys), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), M Phillips (Ospreys); P James (Ospreys), M Rees (Scarlets, capt), C Mitchell (Ospreys), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), A-W Jones (Ospreys), D Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys).
Replacements: R Hibbard (Ospreys), J Yapp (Cardiff Blues), J Thomas, (Ospreys), J Turnbull (Scarlets), T Knoyle (Scarlets), R Priestland, (Scarlets), L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues).
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).
Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England) and John Lacey (Ireland).
Form guide: Italy LLLWLL; Wales LDLLW
Average number of caps: Italy 42.6; Wales 36
Average age: Italy 27.6; Wales: 26.9
Pack weights: Italy: 890kg; Wales 897kg
Last thee meetings
2010: Wales 33 Italy 10
2009: Italy 15 Wales 20
2008: Wales 47 Italy 8
Key clash
Sergio Parisse is always key to Italy at No 8, he is their best attacking option, go to man in the line-out and their most effective man in defence. Without a big performance from their captain Italy struggle.
Opposite number Ryan Jones doesn't always take the eye for Wales but puts in a mountain of work in it was noticable that their much improved performance against Scotland last time
Telegraph.feedsportal.com
Five people died as a result of looting that accompanied demonstrations demanding changes to the constitution in Morocco, the country's interior minister said Monday, as the thousand year old North African monarchy became the latest government subject to demands for greater democracy that are sweeping the region.
The protests attracted 37,000 people around the country Sunday and were generally peaceful, Interior Minister M. Taieb Cherqaoui said at a press conference. He said looters had damaged more than 100 buildings, including a bank in the port town of Al Hoceima, where five people died in a fire. He also said 128 people were wounded, mostly police. It wasn't possible to verify those figures independently Monday.
Several thousand people rallied in Moroccan cities on Sunday demanding political reform and limits on the powers of King Mohammed VI, the latest protests demanding change that have rocked the region. Video courtesy of AFP.
In Rabat, the capital, a crowd of as many as 10,000 people marched through the streets Sunday chanting: "Down with autocracy" and "The people want to change the constitution," as well as slogans against the government, corruption and state television.
Smaller crowds also gathered in Casablanca, the nation's business center. Video clips uploaded to Youtube overnight showed what purported to be protesters in Tangier, Fes, Marrakesh and other cities. A clip from Al Hoceima, a port in northern Morocco, showed a building gutted by fire and young men milling around among broken glass from the blown-out windows. A clip from Sefrou, near Tangier, showed a group of police severely beating one protester with clubs.
Morocco is one of the last of the so-called Maghreb countries of Northern Africa where protesters have taken to the streets in the wake of the fall of Tunisia's president this year, and many analysts had predicted it would prove an exception.
Photos: Protests Spread to Morocco
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![[SB10001424052748703498804576156462155811944]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-MQ809_0220mo_D_20110220131600.jpg)
European Pressphoto Agency
Indeed, as protests began Sunday, there was virtually no visible uniformed police presence in Rabat. By 4 p.m., there was no sign of the state violence witnessed in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain or Iran, and the crowd had dwindled to around 1,000.
Stores were largely unshuttered and cafés open along the protesters' route toward the parliament, as patrons watched from their sidewalk tables sipping café au lait in the partly Francophone capital.
Yet Sunday's demonstrations, triggered as in Egypt by a Facebook campaign, underscore the potential for political tension. Morocco has seen some steps toward democracy over the past decade, including two elections that international observers declared largely free and fair, but most powers remain with the king and his appointees.
A crowd that included Islamists, leftists carrying Che Guevara banners and the apolitical uniformly stopped short of calling for the removal of King Mohammed VI. The king, who took the throne in 1999 and dramatically improved Morocco's once notorious record on torture, as well as on women's rights and some other areas, is widely popular. There were similar protests Sunday in Casablanca, Morocco's much larger business center.
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Associated Press
Protesters march during a protest and wave the Moroccan flag in Rabat, Morocco Sunday Feb. 20, 2011. At least 2,000 people are marching in Morocco's capital to demand a new constitution that would bring greater democracy in the North African kingdom.
But as elsewhere in the Middle East and the Maghreb, a younger generation is demanding systemic change. If granted, it would transform the distribution of power in this nation of 32 million, stripping influence from what a U.S. diplomat described as Morocco's "monarchical autocracy" in a 2008 U.S. State Department cable published by WikiLeaks.
"People don't take part in elections in Morocco, they are meaningless. We want a monarchy, but like in Spain or England," said Aharahi Fawzi, a 30-year-old IT specialist with a university degree, who has been unemployed for three years—a common complaint in Morocco. Spain and England both have largely ceremonial monarchs who have limited powers.
Bystanders, generally older, looked on with disapproval. "This king works for the people. He has done a lot for the poor," said a 67-year-old who said he was a landscape artist and gave his name only as Mohammed. "I don't know what these young people want, we who are older have seen a lot."
Protest organizers put out a video to promote the demonstrations, in which a group of young people, one after the other, say in a single sentence why they want to take part. The reasons include "so that I can get a job without bribing," and "so we can hold accountable those who ruined this country."
The government's main spokesman had said it looked on the prospect of demonstrations with "serenity." Protests in Morocco are relatively common.
But the government appears to have been rattled. Several government ministers sought to taint protest leaders as foreign agents, homosexuals or other claims in public comments; Twitter campaigns sprang up apparently spontaneously to persuade young people not to attend; and an online rumor was spread that the protests had been canceled. Protest organizers put out a second video to counter that rumor.
Many diplomats and analysts, as well as ratings agencies, have predicted that Morocco would prove the least susceptible country in the region to unrest, a prediction still supported by Sunday's light police presence. They cited the comparative tolerance of a regime where thousands of nonprofit organizations operate freely, and where there have been relatively free elections over the past decade.
"This just isn't the same country as 10-15 years ago," said Robert M. Holley, a retired U.S. diplomat and executive director of the American Moroccan Center for Policy, a lobby in Washington, D.C. "The point is that if people want to change the government in Morocco, they just have to wait a couple of years until elections and do it."
Morocco scores the highest of all countries in the region on Freedom House's indexes of political representation and civil liberties. At the same time it scores among the lowest on economic indicators, ranking 114th in the 2010 United Nations Human Development Report, compared with Egypt at 101st, and Bahrain at 39th. Morocco's gross national income per capita of $2,770 and literacy rate 56%, according to World Bank data, are particularly low. Libya, Iran, Jordan and Bahrain have GNI per capita ranging from $4,000 to $25,000, and all have literacy rates above 80%.
There is growing frustration at the slow, and some say slowing, pace of political reform in Morocco. Though parliaments are elected, the king appoints the prime minister, as well as the ministers of justice, foreign affairs, defense, interior and religious affairs, as well as all regional governors. He also has the right to block laws.
As a result, election turnouts have fallen steadily, dropping to 37% at the 2007 parliamentary elections, from 58% 10 years earlier. Similarly the PJD, an Islamist party that chose to participate in the democratic process and didn't take part in Sunday's demonstrations, has lost support to the harder-line Justice & Charity movement.
"People in the U.S. and Europe always say Morocco is free. But if you look here, it isn't true. We want real elections where the people get to choose what they want," said Nabil, a 24-year-old protester and supporter of Justice & Charity, who declined to give his surname. He said he feared reprisal.
Online.wsj.com
Meditation – sand dunes on the Oregon Coast
Beautiful sand dunes just outside of Florence ( Oregon not Italy ) .
I was thinking of the image for today as it was not a good day. It started with passing away of Leo Dery . He was the oldest member of our Surrey Photography Club , few days short of 95th birthday . I really liked him , he was .. great. Sens of humor and vitality . At 94 he asked me “ How much ? “ … “ Leo ? How much what ? “ … “ To start with that digital , I need good camera and computer – so how much ? “ . He was not a tall man but I looked up to him
Later in the day earthquake in Christchurch . First thing, I checked where Ian lives .. big sigh of relief 200-300km south . Than he posted an update – they are OK .
Here in Vancouver we tend to be reminded about geological past of our city as the earth shakes other places.
My prayers are with Leo and people of Christchurch
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00:44:25
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Kenya v Pakistan: Cricket World Cup 2011 match report
Pakistan (317 for 7) beat Kenya (112) by 205 runs
Start as we mean to go on: Pakistan's Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul shared seven wickets as they eased past Kenya in their opening match Photo: AP
By Telegraph staff and agencies 4:10PM GMT 23 Feb 2011
Shahid Afridi took five wickets and Umar Akmal scored one of four half-centuries as Pakistan crushed Kenya by 205 runs to get their World Cup campaign off to a flying start on Wednesday.
Hapless Kenya found their opponents too hot to handle after Umar hit a 52-ball 71 to anchor Pakistan's challenging total of 317 for seven before they bundled out their rivals for just 112 in 33.1 overs.
Once Pakistan introduced spin, Kenyan wickets fell quickly with Afridi unplayable in the day-night match at Mahinda Rajapakse stadium.
Only Collins Obuya, with 47, and three other batsmen managed to reach double figures as Kenya – bowled out for a paltry 69 in their first match against New Zealand on Sunday – faltered again.
Pakistan headed for a 300-plus total thanks to Umar, Misbah-ul-Haq (65), Kamran Akmal (55) and Younis Khan (50) as four batsmen scored half-centuries for the ninth time in a World Cup match.
Man of the match Umar, 21, playing his first World Cup tie, gave the innings a final flourish, sharing a rapid 118-run stand for the fifth wicket with in-form Haq who was equally aggressive during his 69-ball stay.
With Umar and Haq in full swing, Pakistan racked up 70 runs in the batting powerplay, with the junior Akmal hitting four boundaries off one Elijah Otieno over.
Haq, Pakistan's best batsman in the recent Test and one-day series in New Zealand, also added 45 for the fourth wicket with Khan before giving impetus to the innings with Umar to help Pakistan put up an impressive total.
Haq, whose first scoring shot was a six, hit one more six and a single boundary, while Umar notched eight boundaries and a six before holing out off Thomos Odoyo who finished with three for 41.
Odoyo conceded 20 wides in an embarrassing team total of 46 extras.
Kenya equalled the highest number of wides bowled in a one-day innings of 37 conceded by the West Indies against Pakistan at Brisbane in 1989.
Pakistan had been sluggish at the start with openers Mohammad Hafeez (nine) and Ahmed Shehzad (one) falling in quick succession, leaving their team struggling at 12 for two.
Hafeez was the first to go, failing to keep a drive down as a diving Seren Waters picked up a beautiful catch at short mid-wicket.
Two overs later, Shehzad, who scored his first run after 13 deliveries, was caught by skipper Jimmy Kamande off Odoyo.
Khan and Kamran revived the innings through a solid 98-run stand for the third wicket, pushing for singles off some tight bowling.
Pakistan next take on Sri Lanka, winners against Canada in their first match, on Saturday. Kenya meet Sri Lanka on March 1 with both matches in Colombo.
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Canadian beermaker Labatt Breweries said it may take legal action against the National Hockey League after it gave rival brewer Molson Coors an exclusive beer sponsorship deal.
Labatt, part of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said it had begun negotiations with the NHL several months ago to extend their arrangement "in good faith" and that both parties had agreed on the terms to renew the deal through 2014.
As part of the deal, Molson Canadian would be called the "Official Beer of the NHL."
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London Olympics 2012: nation 'can be very proud' of velodrome, says GB's cycling performance director
Great Britain's cycling performance director Dave Brailsford has said the nation "can be very proud" of the new velodrome track which was officially opened at the London Olympics site earlier today.
Test run: members of the British Cycling Track team take to the velodrome Photo: PA
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By Brendan Gallagher 12:15PM GMT 22 Feb 2011
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Brailsford said that it only seemed "five minutes ago" that he was looking at a cardboard model of the track and is hoping it will prove a successful Olympic venue for Great Britain's Track Cycling Team next summer.
Matt Crampton was the first GB rider to test it out early this morning – and can now afford one day off to bask gently in the glory before getting back to work.
Brailsford said: "Everything is absolutely first class for the riders. From the track to the access to the pits, while the concourse on the middle level for supporters to walk around is perfect. It has been put together by people who really care about cycling and who have taken the trouble to consult us guys along the way.
"One of the things I love about this velodrome is that it is just 300 metres from the Olympic village which is ideal. The last velodrome which was on the Olympic site was Seoul in 1988. It is a facility that the nation can be very proud of. It seems just five minutes ago I had a cardboard model of the interior on my desk, moving things around, to see if this and that worked.
"Stunning as it is, in many ways we have to try and treat this as just another velodrome. This is the sporting arena where our sole job is to win medals. It looks like a very fast track, there is no reason why it shouldn't be, but we will know soon enough.
"In configuration it reminds me more of the track in Newport, than our Manchester track. The finish is five metres further down the straight than in Manchester and we will only get to know the perfect lines to ride for maxiumum speed in due course."
The glory of the velodrome – immediately dubbed the 'Pringle' by the proud East End locals – is its basic simplicity and beauty. You could spend a lifetime trying to come up with a better intrinsic design and fail miserably. And of course the thing about Pringles, as well we know, is that you just can't get enough of them. You keep going back for more and more.
Designer Mike Taylor, a partner at Hopkins architects and a keen cyclist, can take much of the credit but cyclists such as Sir Chris Hoy and Paul Manning were also consulted along the way and the 6000 capacity velodrome would appear to be both cyclist and spectator friendly.
At the specific suggestion of the cyclists the seating has been extended around the high banking to ensure that the "wall of noise" all cyclists refer to and love during competition is complete. Hoy also requested that industrial air curtains be installed by all the doors – as spectators enter and exit draughts of cold air can enter the velodrome and have a surprisingly detrimental effect to the timed events.
"It will be nice when we turn up on race day for the first day of competition at the Olympics," said four-time Olympic gold medal winner Sir Chris Hoy. "All of the Union Jacks will be out and, hopefully, the noise and the atmosphere will give us an advantage, maybe put the fear of death into the other countries, too."
"Having been involved in a very small way in the design process in the early stages, it's amazing to see the velodrome finally completed," said Hoy. "To be able to have ridden on it gives me a feel for what it's going to be like. I can't wait."
"No matter where you are in the stadium, you can see the full track. Instead of having noise in the back straight and the home straight as you go around, you get this wall of noise the whole way. It creates this gladiatorial arena."
ODA chairman John Armitt said: "In delivering the velodrome on time and to budget, we have completed our first Olympic Park venue and our biggest milestone to date. "The striking architecture of the velodrome and the medal prospects of our world-leading cyclists mean the venue will become one of the defining images from the Games, and a landmark new building for future generations to enjoy."
London Mayor Boris Johnson added: "It's going to be a fantastic theatre of sport and will be the crucible where future champions are forged."
For the technically minded the 250m piste consists of 54km of Siberian pine shipped in from Archangel and shaped at a German sawmill while 360,000 nails have been required to "fix" the piste in position.
The banking is the standard 42 degree for a 250m track and although, like most new tracks, it is expected to be lightening quick nobody will really know until it is first used in earnest. Sir Chris Hoy and Vicky Pendleton will both be present today and might find a couple of flying laps irresistible.
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Councils have good reason to fear Pickles
Telegraph View: The Local Government Secretary knows how to expose the fantasy world of town hall culture, having been a council leader himself.
7:25PM GMT 18 Feb 2011
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The chief executives of eight local councils in Greater London earn either the same as, or considerably more than, the President of the United States. This may strike us as an unbelievable state of affairs – but no doubt the council "CEOs", as they increasingly style themselves, think they're worth it. Over the past few years, local government has acquired West Wing-style airs and graces. Council leaders preside over "cabinets" and are protected by cohorts of "support teams" whose function is as much to do with circulating propaganda about services as providing the services themselves. The communications unit of Haringey council in north London, for example, has been running an exercise called "Did you know…?" to foist statistics on its residents. Strangely, it has yet to ask them whether they know that the unit – according to its own lavish website – employs 28 people, or that its marketing budget is £4 million.
This is the culture that Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Local Government, wants to dismantle. This week, he announced plans to force councillors to hold full meetings to scrutinise their senior executives' pay deals. The Local Government Association, while perfectly happy for its members to accept most of their funding from Whitehall, regards this as impertinent "top-down" interference. After all, it points out, senior council salaries are already published. That is true – but until Mr Pickles started making a fuss this week, most members of the public had no idea that 220 council employees earned more than the Prime Minister's salary of £142,500. As we reveal today, Phil Dolan, the outgoing chief executive of South Somerset district council, earned almost £570,000 last year.
Mr Pickles knows exactly how to expose the fantasy world of local government, having been a council leader himself. He has, for example, declared war on the "town hall Pravda printing presses" that are destroying genuine local newspapers – thereby conveniently exempting local authorities from independent criticism. The Government's new code of conduct will ban councils from publishing their own so-called papers more than four times a year.
But knowing town hall culture as well as he does, Mr Pickles will be aware that he faces formidable opponents. Councils have spent years building up complex structures whose purpose is to justify excessive spending. The spending review has given them a new reason to exist: to blame the Coalition for cutting front-line services while quietly ensuring that it is indeed headline-grabbing services rather than bureaucracy that are cut back.
The Local Government Secretary has no time to lose. He must start a national debate about the proper function of local government before the worst cuts bite and the flow of propaganda from high-spending councils to the liberal media becomes unstoppable. To do so, Mr Pickles must ultimately go beyond drawing attention to the three million "non-jobs" in local government: he must encourage us to ask fundamental questions. For example, are simple revenue-generating operations, such as residents' parking permits, really the remit of local government? Are leisure centres, however popular, best run from the public sector? Does the council tax system go far enough in forcing town halls to justify their spending?
The immediate priority, however, must be to give the public more information about hidden council waste – some of which, it should be pointed out, is generated by Conservative councillors with delusions of grandeur. For example, we need to know more about procurement, a subject that many councils prefer not to discuss but, again, something that Mr Pickles has the inside knowledge to investigate. If that provokes more accusations of top-down interference, then so be it: most of the money spent by local government comes from the centre, and it is high time that Parliament interfered with the process of dribbling it away.
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Bahrain: fears for fresh violence after funerals
Fresh outbreaks of violence are expected in Bahrain after several protestors killed by government security forces over the past few days are buried today.
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Bahraini anti-government demonstrators take one of their wounded to hospital in Manama Photo: AP
protester camp in the capital's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain: Bahrain: fears for fresh violence after funerals "/>
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Women weep outside a hospital morgue people died and hundreds were left injured when police stormed an anti-government protester camp in the capital's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain Photo: GETTY
7:00AM GMT 18 Feb 2011
At the first burials of demonstrators who were killed when security forces crushed anti-government protests in the capital's main square, mourners angrily denounced the country's rulers.
The funerals were taking place outside a village mosque for three men killed in the pre-dawn attack on a protest encampment in Manama. At least two others, possibly including a two-year-old girl, died in the fierce crackdown and more than 200 were injured.
About 200 Shia mourners waved banners and cried slogans criticising Bahrain's Sunni monarchy.
"There is going to be violence, there is going to be clashes," a protester called Sayed told BBC television.
"Bahrain is going into a really dark tunnel," he said, adding he feared for his safety. "If they (the authorities) knew my name, I might lose my job, I might lose my life."
The army in Bahrain, a country of 1.3 million people of whom 600,000 are native Bahrainis, has issued a warning to people to stay away from the centre of the capital and said it would do whatever was needed to maintain security.
Tensions were also high in Libya, were thousands of anti-government protesters were on the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi, one day after "day of rage" demonstrations led to fatal skirmishes with the security forces. Pro-Gaddafi supporters also were out on the streets, according to CNN.
BBC radio, quoting a witness, said protesters against Muammar Gaddafi had clashed with security forces, who were using guns, and doctors had counted the bodies of 10 people. Unconfirmed reports suggested that up to 50 people could have been killed.
Other Middle Eastern countries were also bracing for renewed displays of public anger towards their governments.
Crowds have also taken to the streets in Yemen and Iran demanding at the very least more representation and at the most the overthrow of leaders.
The protests, inspired by popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt that saw veteran presidents of both countries driven out of office, have forced the authorities to react, sometimes with fatal consequences.
On Thursday in Yemen, four protesters were killed in the port of Aden in demonstrations that began seven days ago and which showed no signs of abating.
Demonstrators want to be rid of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years but is seen by Washington as a key ally in its fight against al Qaeda militants based in Yemen.
In Iraq on Thursday, two people were killed and 47 were injured when police opened fire on anti-government protesters in the northern city of Sulaimaniya.
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Aris Salonika 0 Manchester City 0: match report
Read a full match report of the Europa League last-32 first-leg match between Aris Salonika and Manchester City at Kleanthis Vikelidis, Greece on Tuesday February 15 2011.
Sitter: Edin Dzeko missed a great chance for Manchester City to score against Aris Salonika in Greece Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Rob Stewart 7:04PM GMT 15 Feb 2011
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Manchester City's players had green lasers beam into their faces but it was Edin Dzeko who was decidedly off-beam in this Europa League tie as he fluffed the chance to make a bit of history.
Television pictures showed that visiting players were targeted as they took their stations at a corner won in the early stages of this encounter that would probably have been won comfortably by a dominant City side had Dzeko not missed a sitter early on that would have set the stage for his team to become the first team to win a European game in this neck of the woods.
City manager Roberto Mancini made four changes to the team that started the Manchester derby last weekend with Kolo Toure, Jerome Boateng Edin Dzeko, and Shaun Wright-Phillips, coming in for, respectively, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Pablo Zabaleta and the injured James Milner.
Mancini’s charges were up against a team named after Ares, the god of war, and intent on stretching their 24-game, 40-year unbeaten home run in European competition and the fireworks as the sides lined up set the tone for a raucous evening in Greece’s second city on the shores of the Aegean.
Despite the intimidating surroundings at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, City almost monopolised possession early on and would have been ahead in the ninth when David Silva created space for himself tested goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis from 25 yards only to see his shot beaten away.
City maintained the upper hand as Aris failed to get a look in and Edin Dzeko should have put his team ahead in the 15th minute when he was played in by Aleksander Kolarov but after Silva took a touch he casually side-footed the ball straight at Sifakis from close range and his effort was palmed away.
It was not the stuff expected from a player deemed to be worth £27 million when City signed him from Wolfsburg last month.
In what was turning into a one-sided contest and Dzeko had another sight of goal in the 27th minute after being teed up by Shaun Wright-Phillips but his shot from the just outside the penalty box lacked conviction and was easily gathered by Sifakis.
Dzeko then tried his luck from distance after being played in by Gareth Barry but screwed his 20-yard shot high and wide of the target in what seemed like a sign of desperation from the Bosnian.
Joe Hart then gave Aris a helping hand when, after he comfortably saved Michel’s header in a sudden flurry of activity in his box, City’s goalkeeper ended up handling the ball outside his area as he ran into Barry when he tried to hoof the ball upfield.
Hart would have been relieved to see the resulting free-kick from midfielder Darcy Neto curl just wide of his right-hand post in a rare moment of anxiety for City’s 1,000-strong travelling support.
Aris raised their game after the break but were unable to seriously trouble Hart as Mancini back four hardly put a foot wrong although Neto did test the England international with a free kick before he denied Juan Toja.
Dzeko seemed to have made up for his early lapse in the 63rd minute when he rose to meet Barry’s cross but his header was pushed over the crossbar by Sifakis in acrobatic fashion.
Hart then pulled off a brilliant save to foil Neto who would have been forgiven for thinking he had opened the scoring when he let fly from 25 yards but the keeper’s fingertips pushed the rising shot to safety.
Dzeko then took aim from 25 yards but saw his effort veer just wide of he Aris goal as the game hotted up.
Mancini sent on Mario Balotelli in place of the disappointing Wright-Phillips and Dzeko was taken off as the game drifted towards the final whistle with City now surely confident of securing a place in the next stage of the competition a week on Thursday in Manchester with Besiktas or Dynamo Kiev awaiting the winners in the group of 16.
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Coney Island Vs the dock
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Would you pay #120,000 for a bag of seeds?
They caused a sensation at the Tate. Now art lovers everywhere are on the edge of their seats as the porcelain sunflower seeds are auctioned tonight.
Up for sale: Ai WeiWei's iconic sunflower seeds. Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Judith Woods 7:00AM GMT 15 Feb 2011
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New Bond Street in the heart of London, and here in the designer emporia the only double dip is into Birken handbags for black credit cards in the rarefied confines of Bulgari or Chanel. Stepping into Sotheby’s auction house, doors are opened and staff greet you. As you sink your feet into the deep-pile carpets, it’s a salutary reminder that the rich truly are different.
In the real world, for example, those two old wooden panels, paint peeling, scraped and scarred would be awaiting a special uplift from the council. In the art world, Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild is “a paragon of the artist’s most arresting and seductive language” – price tag estimated at between £5 million and £7 million. Donald Judd’s crenellated brass shelf costs more than the average house. And its next-door neighbour.
This evening, these two works and great number of major pieces by the likes of David Hockney and Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley and Andy Warhol will go under the hammer in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction, which is expected to be something of a blockbuster.
An estimated £30 million will change hands, yet the first lot – by convention expected to generate the most excitement – isn’t the Nine Multicolored Marilyns or Chris Ofili’s elephant dung and glitter collage, but an iconic mound of porcelain Sunflower Seeds by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. They have utterly captured the public’s imagination.
The 100kg batch, exquisitely piled up on a little podium, has a guide price of £80,000-£120,000. But figures showing China is now the world’s second-largest economy after the US are reflected in a new wave of collectors and investors from the Far East, and if bidding is as lively as expected, the final price could be much higher.
But just what is it about these seeds that is so compelling? Primarily it’s because over at Tate Modern 100 million similar seeds are spread across the floor of the Turbine Hall, in a mesmerising, enigmatic installation, and the confluence of public art and private commerce has long been a profitable one.
“Given the huge buzz at the Tate, there couldn’t be a shrewder time for the seeds to come to auction for the first time,” says Melanie Gerlis, art market editor at The Art Newspaper. “Nobody knows exactly who is selling them, which adds to the interest. The excitement in the room tends to be very high at the start of a sale and as this is the first lot, that could push the price up.”
Strictly speaking this isn’t quite the first auction; a single seed pilfered from the Tate was recently sold on eBay for £28. But the Sotheby’s seeds haven’t been purloined – although the volume is so vast, it’s hard to imagine anyone would notice the absence of a sack or two – in fact, Ai produced 10 similar “variants” to be sold separately.
“Maybe because of the economic environment, a lot of the contemporary art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s is quite thought-provoking, more serious. There’s less neon and glitz and more Richter, who is very much the thinking man’s artist,” says Gerlis.
Ai, 53, is best known for his co-design of the Beijing “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium, which he later renounced as “a fake smile”. But his human rights activities in China have led to his persecution by the authorities. He was subjected to severe police beatings – which left him needing cranial surgery – for speaking out against the shoddy construction of schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He has been placed under house arrest and last month his £750,000 art studio in Shanghai was torn down for allegedly failing to comply with planning regulations – despite the fact that he was personally invited by the local mayor to build it two years ago.
When he was awarded the 11th Unilever Series commission for the Tate – previous recipients include Louise Bourgeois and Anish Kapoor – his Kui Hau Zi (Sunflower Seeds) sculpture received universal acclaim.
The seeds are open to myriad, complex interpretations. They were laboriously handmade by 1,600 skilled craftspeople over two years, and their quantity echoes the scale of Chinese mass production of cheap goods for the West. Yet these seeds are not plastic, but porcelain, a precious material with enormous cultural resonance in China.
Sunflower seeds also represent the unattainable agricultural quotas set by Chairman Mao, when the Chinese relied on these snacks to survive the ensuing famines. Mao also depicted himself in posters as the sun, his subjects as sunflowers, basking in his glory. Yet these are seeds, not blooms; full of potential not yet realised and a stark parallel with the Chinese population, who now make up a fifth of the world’s 6.7 billion people.
So far, so intellectual, but there’s a powerful emotional dimension to the seeds. At a visceral level, the impulse is to plunge your hands into the pile, feel the smooth seeds trickle through your fingers and experience their unexpected weight, their counter-intuitive texture.
At the opening, last October, the intention was to make the Turbine Hall exhibition hands-on; Ai wanted people to crunch across them, pick them up and even put them in their mouths. The first lucky visitors did just that; they rolled round, scampered through them, gathered armfuls and built seed castles. But within 48 hours, the installation was roped off on health-and-safety grounds as the volume of ceramic dust generated was deemed dangerous.
The effect thereafter was of gazing longingly at an empty beach from a packed promenade. But still the audiences come to stare, and with good reason, as it’s impossible not to be moved by this lavish spectacle of Chinese proportions – a harmonious, amorphously identical mass from a distance, but up close, each seed is utterly unique.
The Sotheby’s lot is more modest in scope, and also easier to house. According to Helen Ho, director of Bespoke Art Advisory, a London-based art consultancy that specialises in contemporary Chinese art, the seeds are hugely significant and it seems probable that they will return to Ai’s homeland.
“Recent Chinese contemporary art is all going to mainland Chinese buyers,” says Ho. “Ai Weiwei is quite a controversial figure, so it will be fascinating to see who buys it. A lot of his art is large-scale installations, which don’t necessarily sell at auction, which may distort prices.”
The one question mark over the work is the motivation of the seller. The seeds were made in 2010 and sold through a gallery in Copenhagen to a collector who has now put them on the market with what is considered to be slightly dubious haste – and indeed, taste.
“That sort of thing raises concerns that the owner is flipping their artwork – selling in order to make a quick profit,” says Ho.
Back at Sotheby’s there’s an air of genteel hush, broken only by low-level American and European voices earnestly discussing art portfolios. An Italian man in a pale cashmere sweater reaches out and briefly runs a finger along a £300,000 Joseph Beuys chalk-on-blackboard, evidently of the robust opinion that he can touch what he can afford.
And in the centre of the gallery, overlooked by a small bronze Angel of the North (guide price £400,000 to £600,000), Juan Muñoz’s bizarre polyester-resin human Tombliboos (£800,000 to £1.2 million) and Warhol’s Marilyns (£2.3 million) the sunflower seeds look plump, rounded and tantalising.
“It’s fantastic that art which has such political and social importance is opening a sale at Sotheby’s,” says Stephen Tribbell, gallery manager at Olyvia Fine Art, which specialises in Chinese contemporary art. “It stands as a testament to how far Chinese contemporary art has come.”
So does Sotheby’s. Tonight, when the gavel falls on those 100kg of Sunflower Seeds, a market value can be put on the 150-ton exhibit in the Tate, which will satisfy the curiosity of movers and shakers in the art world. For the rest of us, it’s academic. But if you’re passing the Tate before May 2, it’s well worth a visit, to admire and to contemplate.
If Warhol looked to Hollywood, just as the Renaissance looked to the antiquities, in search of gods, then Ai directs our gaze back to the earth – and it’s impossible not to feel a powerful response to his silent clarion call.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com
Chevron told to pay $8bn by Ecuador
Chevron, America's second biggest oil company, has been ordered to pay an $8.2bn (£5.1bn) fine it has described as “fraudulent”, after losing a 20-year lawsuit in Ecuador.
Amazonian frogs covered in oil, rescued from a pit left by Texaco in Ecuador. Chevron bought Texaco in 2001 and says the claims against it are fraudualent. Photo: CLARE KENDALL
By Helia Ebrahimi 11:40PM GMT 14 Feb 2011
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Chevron is charged with causing environmental damage in the Amazon River basin more than 20 years ago through Texaco - a company Chevron acquired in 2001.
“The Ecuadorian court’s judgment is illegitimate and unenforceable,” Chevron said in a statement. “It is the product of fraud and is contrary to the legitimate scientific evidence. Chevron will appeal this decision in Ecuador and intends to see that justice prevails.”
The judgment ranks second only to BP’s $20bn Gulf Coast Claims Facility - the settlement fund set up to atone for the environmental damage caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year.
However, Chevron pledged to appeal the court order, arguing that earlier rulings by US and international courts will bar enforcement of yesterday’s decision.
The lawsuit on behalf of Ecuadorian Amazon communities, was originally filed in New York in 1993. It sought $27bn in damages from illness, deaths and economic loss.
In February, Chevron filed a racketeering lawsuit against the lawyers and the plaintiffs in federal court for “leading a fraudulent litigation and PR campaign against the company.”
Chevron, which has no assets in Ecuador, won the court order barring the Ecuadoreans from attempting to enforce the judgment in the US or elsewhere.
In 2009 Chevron also filed a claim against Ecuador in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague seeking orders that it has no liability for the environmental pollution, saying that PetroEcuador - the state-owned oil company that took over the Texaco operations in 1992 - should pay the damage award.
According to the plaintiffs Texaco dumped chemical-laden oil drilling waste in hundreds of small ponds dug between 1964 and about 1992.
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Death on the road 3
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I have teenage grandsons and this is the greatest fear.
From the Car and Truck Expo in Bairnsdale.
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Scottish Budget on course to pass after Lib Dem deal
Alex Salmond’s £33 billion spending plans appear on course to win the Scottish Parliament’s approval today following a last-minute deal with the Liberal Democrats over student funding.
John Swinney has offered a series of last-minute concessions to get his Budget passed Photo: JAMES FRASER
By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor 10:33AM GMT 09 Feb 2011
John Swinney, the SNP Finance Minister, bowed to Lib Dem demands for extra funding to be found in the 2011/12 Budget for college bursaries.
He also made concessions to Labour and the Tories as Holyrood’s parliamentary arithmetic means Mr Salmond’s minority administration needs the support of at least one other party.
Sources close to the First Minister and Mr Swinney had described today’s vote as being on a “knife edge” and there were fears there could be a repeat of 2009, when the Budget was initially rejected.
But they were confident last night they had done enough to get the Budget passed, dispelling the prospect of Mr Salmond resigning and calling an early Holyrood election.
Mr Swinney still needed to finalise agreement last night with the 16 Tory MSPs, who have backed all three of the SNP’s previous Budgets and whose support may be required again.
But senior Lib Dem sources said their 16 members would not vote against the plans. They were thought to be the major stumbling block to the Budget passing.
The Finance Minister yesterday sent letters to his shadows in each of the three main opposition parties with concessions. The Lib Dems had heavily criticised the draft Budget for failing to provide enough money for college bursaries.
Jeremy Purvis, the party’s finance spokesman, said: “Liberal Democrats were clear that the budget needed to be stronger for young people in colleges so that they could gain skills, which will support economic recovery.
“It looks as if the government has accepted our case.”
Mr Purvis warned he was still seeking “clarification” on the concessions, which the party at a group meeting today, ahead of the final vote on the Budget Bill.
The Conservatives were not satisfied with Mr Swinney’s offers on their two priorities – public sector reform and giving private companies more access to state contracts.
However, it was thought he will promise more projects to support private sector growth to get the Tories on board.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister offered Labour support for apprenticeships but Andy Kerr, the party’s finance spokesman, said he would not support the Budget as it stands.
He has demanded the SNP spend £40 million to create a ‘Future Jobs Fund’ to tackle youth unemployment, a key Labour Holyrood election pledge.
The two Green MSPs appear all but certain to vote against the spending plans, having demanded Mr Swinney increase taxes and delay the new Forth road bridge for a year to maintain public spending.
Margo MacDonald, Holyrood's only independent member, was expected to seek funding from the minister for the Lothians area, which she represents.
Mr Swinney has already had to make amendments to make good a £30 million shortfall in the Budget after his plan to tax large shops and supermarkets was thrown out by MSPs.
A spokesman for the Finance Minister said he had held “constructive meetings” with the other parties and confirmed he has “put proposals” to the three main opposition parties to secure their support.
Mr Salmond’s senior special adviser added: “In our view, the Budget ought to pass on the basis of its merits. We’ve been open to other parties’ concerns and objectives.”
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888 results 'make us more appealing' to Ladbrokes
The chief executive of 888 has insisted that a takeover from Ladbrokes remains on the cards and that the internet gaming company's most recent figures "only make us more appealing".
telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01820/888_1820703b.jpg" width="620" height="388" alt="Ronnie O'Sullivan in action during his quarter final match against John Higgins in the 888.com World Championship at the Crucible Theatre"/>
888 issued an upbeat fourth-quarter trading statement, with operating income rising 18pc
By Alistair Osborne 6:45AM GMT 08 Feb 2011
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Gigi Levy dismissed a recent report that discussions had broken down with the bookmaker, adding: "The talks are ongoing. It's a big deal for everybody."
Ladbrokes approached 888 with a £240m takeover proposal pitched at around 70p a share, as revealed by The Telegraph in December.
Mr Levy would not be drawn on any "stumbling blocks" between the two companies, saying only: "These are negotiations like any other negotiations between two companies. They take time."
His comments came as 888 issued an upbeat fourth-quarter trading statement, with operating income rising 18pc to $71m (£44m) compared with the previous three months. 888 shares rose 0.75 to 44.5p.
However, 888 added a twist to the takeover discussions by disclosing that the performance of Wink Bingo, acquired in December 2009, was so far ahead of expectations that the earn-out may need to be renegotiated. 888 said the payment would be "at the upper end of the earn-out range", adding it was in advanced discussions "with the Wink Bingo vendors in relation to the structure and timing of such a payment to ensure that the group meets its obligations".
Nick Batram, an analyst at Peel Hunt, said the earn-out payment "could be as much as £48m cash and compares with the group's current gross cash position of $67m.
"We believe that the most likely outcome is a restructuring of the earn-out as opposed to an equity fund raising. Either way it is another factor that suggests 888 is not in a position of strength when negotiating a sale of the business," said Mr Batram, who has a "sell" recommendation on 888.
Total operating income for 2010 rose 6pc to $262m, lifted on a pro-forma basis by a 23pc like-for-like increase from bingo to $50m. Casino income fell 1pc to $117m, while poker was 26pc down at $38m.
Ivor Jones, an analyst at Numis, continues to see logic in a takeover by Ladbrokes. "We believe there is a good fit between the two businesses and that both sets of shareholders should be supportive of a deal," he said.
Ladbrokes declined to comment.
Leisure, Travel and Hospitality vacancies at Telegraph Jobs.
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The old gramophone / La vieja gramola (2)
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