09/05/2014

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:00:00. > :00:08.Gunned down on the streets of Ukraine - at least 20 people are

:00:09. > :00:14.reported killed as the army clashes with pro-Russian separatists. The

:00:15. > :00:20.violence erupted in the eastern city of Mariupol as pro-Russians tried to

:00:21. > :00:25.seize the police headquarters. TRANSLATION: It's only Russia that

:00:26. > :00:28.can protect us, no one else. Everyone else is against Ukraine.

:00:29. > :00:35.Why hasn't President Putin come here yet? But President Putin did appear

:00:36. > :00:38.in Crimea in front of jubilant crowds, for the first time since it

:00:39. > :00:43.was annexed from Ukraine by Moscow America has called it a provocative

:00:44. > :00:46.and unnecessary visit. Also tonight: The veteran entertainer Rolf Harris

:00:47. > :00:51.goes on trial over alleged sexual offences against young girls.

:00:52. > :00:54.Mothers of the kidnapped schoolgirls - new claims that Nigerian

:00:55. > :00:58.authorities were warned the school would be targeted, but failed to

:00:59. > :01:00.act. An investigation's launched after

:01:01. > :01:05.graphic pictures appear to show British servicemen posing with a

:01:06. > :01:12.dead Taliban fighter. He's got it through. It's Sergio

:01:13. > :01:15.Aguero! Can Manchester City do it again? A dramatic end to the Premier

:01:16. > :01:20.League ahead this weekend, as the club vies with Liverpool for the

:01:21. > :01:24.title. Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News,

:01:25. > :01:29.Peter Moores is back at the helm and England's cricketers are back to

:01:30. > :01:46.winning ways. They beat Scotland in a rainy one-day international.

:01:47. > :01:50.Good evening. There's been another major escalation in the crisis in

:01:51. > :01:54.Ukraine, with more serious clashes in the east of the country. The

:01:55. > :01:57.Ukrainian government says its troops engaged pro-Russian activists in a

:01:58. > :02:02.firefight after they tried to storm a police headquarters in the port

:02:03. > :02:07.city of Mariupol. Ukraine says more than 20 people were killed. Most are

:02:08. > :02:10.thought to be pro-Russian activists. The clashes came as Vladimir Putin

:02:11. > :02:15.arrived in Sevastopol for his first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed

:02:16. > :02:19.the peninsula in March. More on that in a moment. First, this report from

:02:20. > :02:26.Richard Galpin, who was at the scene during the clashes in Mariupol. This

:02:27. > :02:32.report contains images you may find distressing.

:02:33. > :02:37.Video which the BBC believes shows Ukrainian troops fighting a pitch

:02:38. > :02:44.battle with pro-Russian separatists in the centre of Mariupol. The

:02:45. > :02:48.military sending in reinforcements, they say needed to dislodge a group

:02:49. > :02:54.of separatists who had earlier occupied the police headquarters.

:02:55. > :02:58.But hearing the gunfire, other pro-Russian activists rushed onto

:02:59. > :03:06.the street, trying to stop the reinforcements getting through. This

:03:07. > :03:14.man's venture into the road proves disastrous. He is shot in the

:03:15. > :03:18.chest. It is not known if he survived. At the police

:03:19. > :03:24.headquarters, the epicentre of the battle, evidence of the intensity of

:03:25. > :03:30.the fighting. There was no one left inside. The fighting at the police

:03:31. > :03:33.station seems to be the most serious incident so far in this city. There

:03:34. > :03:40.are still bodies on the streets, waiting to be taken away. This man

:03:41. > :03:49.showed me one of the bodies here. Apparently, it was that of a

:03:50. > :03:56.policeman. He was one of ours, he says. He was on the side of the

:03:57. > :04:01.people. The pro-Russian crowds here said that is why the military had

:04:02. > :04:09.attacked the police station. They claimed it had not been stormed by

:04:10. > :04:13.separatist rebels. This woman tells me only Russia, no one else, can now

:04:14. > :04:19.protect them. Why hasn't President Putin come here so far, she says.

:04:20. > :04:23.The Ukrainian military is now bracing itself for further

:04:24. > :04:27.fighting, with reports tonight but more separatists gunmen are heading

:04:28. > :04:36.towards this city. Ukraine is moving ever closer to civil war. Richard

:04:37. > :04:38.Galpin, BBC News, in Mariupol. The clashes in Mariupol were

:04:39. > :04:41.happening as President Putin was on his first visit to the Crimean

:04:42. > :04:45.peninsula since it was annexed from Ukraine in March. The government in

:04:46. > :04:48.Kiev called it a "gross violation of Ukraine's sovereignty". His visit

:04:49. > :04:52.was also condemned as provocative by NATO, the United States and the EU.

:04:53. > :04:57.Daniel Sandford reports from Sevastopol.

:04:58. > :05:00.President Vladimir Putin, the first Russian leader in almost 70 years to

:05:01. > :05:02.expand his territory, arriving today in Sevastopol Harbour, as Russian

:05:03. > :05:16.air force jets roared overhead in triumph, beaming live pictures to

:05:17. > :05:19.viewers across the world. It was the first time he had come here to

:05:20. > :05:27.Crimea since he annexed the peninsula less than two months ago.

:05:28. > :05:31.TRANSLATION: I am sure that 2014 will be written into the history of

:05:32. > :05:34.this city and our whole country as the year when the people who live

:05:35. > :05:43.here made a firm decision to be together with Russia. Then he

:05:44. > :05:46.stepped out into the crowd of tens of thousands of delighted Sevastopol

:05:47. > :05:56.residents, many of them now proud owners of Russian passports. This is

:05:57. > :05:58.Crimea's most Russian city. It was a display of defiance by President

:05:59. > :06:01.Putin, coming to Sevastopol in the face of international opposition to

:06:02. > :06:15.his annexation of Crimea, knowing full well that the people here

:06:16. > :06:20.supported what he did. The United States described President Putin's

:06:21. > :06:24.trip as provocative and unnecessary. Today was Victory Day in Crimea and

:06:25. > :06:32.across the old Soviet Union, the day people celebrate the defeat of Nazi

:06:33. > :06:36.Germany. But in Kiev, the Victory Day ceremonies were much more

:06:37. > :06:44.sombre. Ukraine has lost Crimea, and the East is in flames. TRANSLATION:

:06:45. > :06:52.69 years ago, we fought alongside Russia against fascism, but now

:06:53. > :06:58.Russia has started to fight us. So history is repeating itself, but in

:06:59. > :07:01.a different form. But tonight, with the Russian warships lit up in

:07:02. > :07:04.Sevastopol Harbour, they were celebrating, with little concern for

:07:05. > :07:12.Kiev or the minority in Crimea who had wanted to remain part of

:07:13. > :07:16.Ukraine. Daniel Sandford, BBC News, Sevastopol.

:07:17. > :07:23.With me now is our diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall.

:07:24. > :07:27.Iniesta Ukraine, the situation on the ground seems to be going from

:07:28. > :07:31.bad to worse -- in eastern Ukraine. Where is the crisis heading?

:07:32. > :07:34.Everyday, the stakes seem to get higher and what happens more

:07:35. > :07:39.shocking. Today, the Ukrainian army brought heavy armour into a city

:07:40. > :07:44.centre for a chaotic shoot out. It does feel as though it is heading

:07:45. > :07:47.towards a fully fledged civil war. Devastating for Ukraine, but also

:07:48. > :07:52.worrying for everyone if it leads to a chasm between the rest and Russia.

:07:53. > :07:55.Hats precisely for that reason, there seems to be intense activity

:07:56. > :07:59.going on behind the scenes to try and get some sort of peaceful

:08:00. > :08:03.resolution to this. It is not straightforward. On the one hand,

:08:04. > :08:08.there was President Putin in the Crimea today, very triumphant. On

:08:09. > :08:11.the other hand, there have been a few hints from him, making it sound

:08:12. > :08:15.as though perhaps he wants to take his foot off the accelerator. ABC

:08:16. > :08:19.wants to dodge crippling western sanctions and war on his border.

:08:20. > :08:24.Firstly, he has distanced himself from the rebels' referendums which

:08:25. > :08:28.Judy be held in eastern Ukraine. Secondly, he has hinted that he will

:08:29. > :08:35.not block the presidential election in Ukraine at the end of May. If

:08:36. > :08:39.certain conditions are met. And thirdly, he is hinting that he might

:08:40. > :08:43.go to the D-day celebrations in Normandy in June. Does that mean

:08:44. > :08:46.that he thinks I then, he will have found a way to de-escalate the

:08:47. > :08:51.tensions? It would be very difficult. There is almost no

:08:52. > :08:54.trust. Things could have spiralled out of control already.

:08:55. > :08:57.One of the best known faces on British television, Rolf Harris, has

:08:58. > :09:01.gone on trial, accused of sexual offences against four young girls

:09:02. > :09:06.between 1968 and 1986. The jury was told that one of his alleged victims

:09:07. > :09:09.was a friend of his daughter's. The prosecution described him as a

:09:10. > :09:12.Jekyll and Hyde character who used his fame to abuse children. The

:09:13. > :09:22.84-year-old denies 12 charges of indecent assault. Our correspondent

:09:23. > :09:26.David Sillito reports. In court, he was described as

:09:27. > :09:31.famous, charming, talented, but also a man with a side. But Harris walked

:09:32. > :09:35.into court today to hear accusations that he had used his fame to

:09:36. > :09:39.sexually assault children. One of the central allegations is that he

:09:40. > :09:43.repeatedly abused a girl, a friend of the worn on the left, his

:09:44. > :09:49.daughter Bindi. These allegations go back to his heyday as a children's

:09:50. > :09:55.entertainer on television. He and his wife Alwyn lived at the time at

:09:56. > :09:58.this house in Sydenham in south London. It is claimed he indecently

:09:59. > :10:03.assaulted the girl, his daughter's friend, when she was 13, abuse that

:10:04. > :10:07.she says went on for years. In court, Rolf Harris, wearing a

:10:08. > :10:13.hearing loop as he listened, heard the woman said she -- he treated her

:10:14. > :10:16.like a toy. Years later, Rolf Harris sent a letter to the girl's father.

:10:17. > :10:18.He admitted they had had a relationship, said it began when she

:10:19. > :10:46.was 18 and added: your Majesty, lovely to you meet

:10:47. > :10:51.you. The prosecution reminded the jury that this was a man who had

:10:52. > :10:55.been given a CBE. He had painted picture of the Queen. Children were

:10:56. > :11:02.in awe of him. In the 60s, he was accused of assaulting an 11-year-old

:11:03. > :11:06.autograph hunter. He is only on trial for event said to have taken

:11:07. > :11:11.bracing Britain, but there are other accusations, relating to events in

:11:12. > :11:14.Malta, New Zealand, Australia. Altogether, eight women have come

:11:15. > :11:19.forward. The prosecution said none of them know one another, but

:11:20. > :11:25.together they present a pattern of behaviour and abuse of young girls.

:11:26. > :11:28.He left court not having yet had the chance to say anything in his

:11:29. > :11:31.defence. He denies all the charges, charges that the prosecution said he

:11:32. > :11:36.is only facing now because at the time, he was too famous, too

:11:37. > :11:40.powerful, untouchable. David Sillito, BBC News.

:11:41. > :11:43.The Nigerian military have been accused of ignoring warnings about

:11:44. > :11:45.the raid last month by Islamist extremists in which more than 200

:11:46. > :11:47.schoolgirls were kidnapped. The human rights group, Amnesty

:11:48. > :11:50.International, claims the security services were warned that the

:11:51. > :11:53.militants were heading for the school hours before the attack. And

:11:54. > :11:56.one man, whose daughters were seized, has told the BBC that some

:11:57. > :12:02.teachers sent their own children home before the raid began in the

:12:03. > :12:14.northern town of Chibok. Our World Affairs Editor John Simpson reports

:12:15. > :12:19.from Nigeria's capital, Abuja. We need our daughters, she says. If

:12:20. > :12:22.Amnesty International is right and the Nigerian army failed to act on

:12:23. > :12:28.the information it had received, these families in Chibok would not

:12:29. > :12:35.be suffering like this. Those who were closest to the girls feel they

:12:36. > :12:40.have been badly let down. Boko Haram is experienced and has plenty of

:12:41. > :12:43.local sympathisers, but the Nigerian army by contrast is not particularly

:12:44. > :12:47.efficient and is at a real disadvantage in the area. This was

:12:48. > :12:55.one government minister's response to the amnesty allegation. It would

:12:56. > :13:03.really be outrageous if our security forces received a report. We are

:13:04. > :13:08.going to investigate this report. Other allegations are starting to

:13:09. > :13:11.surface. I met the father of two of the kidnapped girls, a Christian

:13:12. > :13:15.minister just arrived from Chibok. He believes that teachers from the

:13:16. > :13:22.school were tipped off about the raid beforehand. The staff who are

:13:23. > :13:24.working there, they have daughters who are at school there, and none of

:13:25. > :13:29.their daughters were kidnapped because they had the information

:13:30. > :13:33.earlier and they sent their daughters home and left the rest of

:13:34. > :13:42.the daughters there. Then Boko Haram came and kidnapped them. So you

:13:43. > :13:46.think the teachers were in contact with Boko Haram? There was

:13:47. > :13:49.information that Boko Haram were coming to the town. The girls were

:13:50. > :13:56.taken from their burned-out school to the vast Sambisa Forest, 60,000

:13:57. > :14:00.kilometres in size. Locating them will be hugely difficult. Foreign

:14:01. > :14:03.help is starting to arrive, but it is pretty small scale. The Americans

:14:04. > :14:08.are bringing in eight new advertisers. The British High

:14:09. > :14:12.Commissioner says there will be an extra ten British once, but what

:14:13. > :14:18.hope is that's the battle is always between heart and head. One hopes

:14:19. > :14:23.they will come back. It is possible that some will escape. Some may find

:14:24. > :14:28.their way out some other way. What is the fact, however, is that the

:14:29. > :14:32.trail is four weeks old, the Touraine is rough and the tools at

:14:33. > :14:38.hand, at least at the moment, are limited. None of Boko Haram's asked

:14:39. > :14:43.attacks have affected Nigeria like this one. Some people here now feel

:14:44. > :14:46.the best hope will be that wood will feel so pressured that it will just

:14:47. > :15:00.let the girls go -- Boko Haram. The UK economy has almost returned

:15:01. > :15:03.to levels not seen since its peak just before the recession in 2008,

:15:04. > :15:06.according to the latest figures. Manufacturing output grew at its

:15:07. > :15:09.fastest pace in nearly 15 years during the first few months of this

:15:10. > :15:12.year. And export figures were also strong. Our Chief Economics

:15:13. > :15:15.Correspondent, Hugh Pym, reports now from the London Gateway docks.

:15:16. > :15:17.The economic horizon looks brighter. Figures on overseas trade and

:15:18. > :15:21.manufacturing today underlined that and a crucial milestone is in sight

:15:22. > :15:26.a return to where we were before the recession.

:15:27. > :15:36.During the boom years, UK economic output accelerated. By early 2008.

:15:37. > :15:39.It had reached a peak. Then came a plunge and deep recession. It has

:15:40. > :15:47.been slowly recovering since then and is now within a whisker of

:15:48. > :15:50.getting back to pre-recession level. Well, we're probably just about

:15:51. > :15:54.there now, in May. Our figures today show that in April we were within

:15:55. > :16:03.about 0.1 or 0.2% off where we were in January 2008, so we are very

:16:04. > :16:10.nearly there. For a balanced recovery to take hold, selling more

:16:11. > :16:14.goods and services is required. The number of goods leaving British

:16:15. > :16:19.ports like this is growing faster than the amount coming in, so the

:16:20. > :16:25.oversea trade deficit was lower. They are keeping busy at this major

:16:26. > :16:34.new port complex in the River Thames in Essex. Mini are being exported to

:16:35. > :16:37.Brazil. We have the gateway servicing industries in Brazil and

:16:38. > :16:42.South America. These are the exciting trade lines now. But it

:16:43. > :16:46.hasn't been a painless recovery. Before the recession, real wages,

:16:47. > :16:53.before being taken account of inflation, shown by the blue line,

:16:54. > :16:57.kept pace with economic output or GDP, the white line, but then they

:16:58. > :17:00.fell back and even when the economy started growing, real wages up to

:17:01. > :17:05.the beginning of this year, carried on falling.

:17:06. > :17:09.There is some way to go before real incomes with back to where they were

:17:10. > :17:12.and while the UK may be about to move ahead of the pre-recession

:17:13. > :17:15.peak, the US, Germany and France have moved past that point, the

:17:16. > :17:26.economic downturn still casts a long shadow. In the last hour, a

:17:27. > :17:30.ceasefire has been agreed in South Sudan with a view to signing a

:17:31. > :17:34.Searle Nant peace deal. The United Nations have been trying to prevent

:17:35. > :17:37.fighting that has seen thousands killed.

:17:38. > :17:41.Let's speak to our Africa correspondent Andrew Harding in

:17:42. > :17:46.Johannesburg. The question is, what chances of the ceasefire holding?

:17:47. > :17:50.Well, it's certainly progress, Sophie. This is an intensely

:17:51. > :17:55.personal conflict between two key rivals. They have finally sat down

:17:56. > :18:00.and fleshed out the broad outlines of a possible agreement. I think it

:18:01. > :18:04.is much too early to see this as any sort of lasting, final breakthrough

:18:05. > :18:08.but above all, it is a reminder of how cynical, how unnecessary this

:18:09. > :18:12.conflict has been. We are talking about a million people homeless.

:18:13. > :18:19.Thousands of people killed and for what? For essentially a political

:18:20. > :18:23.dispute within a ruling party. If, though, this breakthrough, this deal

:18:24. > :18:28.does stick, it will at least be proof that concerted international

:18:29. > :18:38.diplomacy, in a chaotic messy world, can at least sometimes make a real

:18:39. > :18:42.difference. Thank you. The Ministry of Defence has been an investigation

:18:43. > :18:45.after photographs emerged which appear to show one or two British

:18:46. > :18:50.service personnel posing with the dead body of an enemy fighter. The

:18:51. > :18:55.aimages were taken in the aftermath of an attack on the main British

:18:56. > :18:59.base in Afghanistan in September 2012. Two members of the RAF

:19:00. > :19:04.regiment have been suspended from frontline duties. A British soldier

:19:05. > :19:09.kneels beside the bloody dead body of a Taliban fighter. The MoD shows

:19:10. > :19:13.us not to show faces but there are smiles as well as thumbs up. Images

:19:14. > :19:21.that have only now come to light but taken two years ago, after a brisen

:19:22. > :19:27.raid by insurgents on Camp Bastion. As well as millions of pounds of

:19:28. > :19:31.damage the attack left a marine dead and eight British soldiers injured

:19:32. > :19:36.and now the possibility that a war crime was committed. The Geneva

:19:37. > :19:41.Convention requires that detainees and bodies be treated humanly. It

:19:42. > :19:45.requires the corpses be treated with respect and this is certainly a

:19:46. > :19:49.violation of that prohibition. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence

:19:50. > :19:55.said it had a zero tolerance policy on the mistreatment of those enemy

:19:56. > :19:58.killed in action, adding that it was taking this incident extremely

:19:59. > :20:02.seriously. Military police have launched an investigation and two

:20:03. > :20:06.members of the RAF regiment have now been withdrawn from frontline

:20:07. > :20:15.duties. This isn't the first time it has happened. Trophy photos of Iraqi

:20:16. > :20:20.prisoners, abused at Abu Ghraib by American soldiers are seared in the

:20:21. > :20:23.memory. That was premeditated torture but this latest incident

:20:24. > :20:27.involving British personnel took place in the heat of a battle and

:20:28. > :20:31.those who serve on the frontline say it is not the same My gut reaction

:20:32. > :20:35.is that it is disgusting, you look at the photos and they are horrible

:20:36. > :20:38.but as someone who has been there, I can understand the place from which

:20:39. > :20:42.those photographs come and I think they are probably more stupid than

:20:43. > :20:48.they are depraved. It is still damaging, as is the

:20:49. > :20:53.timing. Just as the curtain falls on Britain's long military presence in

:20:54. > :20:59.Afghanistan. This isn't how they want to be remembered. One of

:21:00. > :21:02.Europe's most controversial parties launched its campaign today for the

:21:03. > :21:06.European elections, which are less than three weeks away. Many regard

:21:07. > :21:12.Golden Dawn in Greece as a neo-Nazi party. Despite having several of its

:21:13. > :21:16.MPs in prison, it could win seats in the European Parliament. Greece was

:21:17. > :21:19.at the centre of the eurozone crisis and saw its economy collapse and

:21:20. > :21:22.that is benefiting both the extreme right and the radical left. Our

:21:23. > :21:25.Europe Editor, Gavin Hewitt, reports from Athens. In an Athens hotel this

:21:26. > :21:28.evening, chants of "we will stand our ground", as one of Europe's most

:21:29. > :21:39.controversial parties, Golden Dawn, introduced its candidates for the

:21:40. > :21:44.European election. Many in Greece regard it as a neo Nazi party. After

:21:45. > :21:46.five years, when the economy had shrunk 25%, anti establishment

:21:47. > :21:54.parties from the far right and the far left are poised to do well in

:21:55. > :21:57.the polls. This is Golden Dawn on the streets just three months ago.

:21:58. > :22:02.They have been accused of attacking migrants. Their leader and some of

:22:03. > :22:06.their MPs have been arrested, but they could end up with seats in the

:22:07. > :22:10.European Parliament. We are not Nazis, we are not fascists but if

:22:11. > :22:12.somebody in this country sets off patriotic ideas, he will be

:22:13. > :22:27.considered as a fascist, it is terrible. The economic crisis hangs

:22:28. > :22:30.over this campaign. Yes, unemployment is edging down, but

:22:31. > :22:37.parties from the far right and far left say Greece became a laboratory

:22:38. > :22:40.for austerity, to save the euro. The government says that an economic

:22:41. > :22:45.corner has been turned with the deficit down and growth on the

:22:46. > :22:48.horizon. But the reality for tens of thousands of Greeks is that life

:22:49. > :22:54.continues to be a battle for survival. This family, like many

:22:55. > :23:04.Greeks, has seen its income slashed and debts increase. How much did

:23:05. > :23:10.your salary go down? Since 2010? It is about 50%. TRANSLATION: We can't

:23:11. > :23:15.afford to do anything, to go on vacation or out to dinner. We have

:23:16. > :23:19.cut down on all that. We only pay the banks. In this climate, the

:23:20. > :23:22.radical left party Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras is ahead of the main

:23:23. > :23:32.government party in some polls, by blaming the austerity measures. This

:23:33. > :23:35.is not a success story. This is a disaster story and everybody should

:23:36. > :23:44.understand that the only way to overcome the crisis is to stop the

:23:45. > :23:47.austerity measures. Here is the unknown will Greek voters put their

:23:48. > :23:49.faith in the recovery, or will they turn to the radical left? Or even

:23:50. > :24:00.the far right? If It's the final weekend of the

:24:01. > :24:02.English Premier League football season, with Manchester City's

:24:03. > :24:07.narrow lead making them hot favourites to win the title. But the

:24:08. > :24:10.club is facing a record ?50 million fine for breaking new rules about

:24:11. > :24:14.how much their wealthy owners have been spending on the club. Tonight a

:24:15. > :24:17.deadline passed for the club to accept their punishment, with no

:24:18. > :24:19.resolution. The Financial Fair Play rules, introduced by European

:24:20. > :24:22.football's governing body UEFA, are meant to stop the richest clubs

:24:23. > :24:27.gaining an unfair advantage through unlimited spending. Our Chief Sports

:24:28. > :24:33.Correspondent, Dan Roan, looks at how that might affect Manchester

:24:34. > :24:38.City's ambitions. COMMENTATOR: Balotelli. He's got it through. It's

:24:39. > :24:40.Sergio Aguero! It was the ultimate finale to a

:24:41. > :24:43.Premier League season, having claimed the title in dramatic

:24:44. > :24:46.fashion two years ago, Manchester City are once again on the verge of

:24:47. > :24:52.winning English football's biggest prize but all this success could now

:24:53. > :24:54.come at a cost. Even the richest clubs involved in European

:24:55. > :24:57.competitions, like Chelsea who won the Champions' League in 2012, must

:24:58. > :25:01.now adhere to Financial Fair Play rules. These were introduced by

:25:02. > :25:10.governing body UEFA to tackle reckless spending. Here at City,

:25:11. > :25:12.huge losses in recent years mean they're now facing a fine of ?50

:25:13. > :25:17.million, and fans at the training ground this morning weren't happy.

:25:18. > :25:23.United have been spending money for decades to win. Now we get it and we

:25:24. > :25:26.are getting punished for it. My own personal opinion is, it is a

:25:27. > :25:29.vendetta. City's unprecedented ?1 billion spending spree under the

:25:30. > :25:31.ownership of Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour is now on the verge of

:25:32. > :25:38.bringing more footballing success here to the Etihad Stadium. But that

:25:39. > :25:43.kind of expenditure is under more scrutiny than ever. For example,

:25:44. > :25:46.UEFA will have looked closely at the club's ?350 million stadium and

:25:47. > :25:53.shirt sponsorship deal with the airline, Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi.

:25:54. > :25:57.City say they are on course to break even by the end of this year, and

:25:58. > :26:00.point to the investment they have made in these facilities in a

:26:01. > :26:02.deprived part of east Manchester. Some believe they deserve sympathy.

:26:03. > :26:05.It is a shame, really, that Manchester City haven't quite got

:26:06. > :26:08.themselves organised perhaps in a way that keeps them on the right

:26:09. > :26:12.side of those rules but, I think there might be a some way to go on

:26:13. > :26:16.this particular one yet. All I would say, in defence of Manchester City,

:26:17. > :26:22.I find it hard to sit here and come with up a view that what Manchester

:26:23. > :26:25.City has done is "wrong." After a recent blip, Liverpool need

:26:26. > :26:29.City to lose on Sunday to have any chance of the title. They know

:26:30. > :26:34.that's unlikely, but point to an uneven financial playing field.

:26:35. > :26:38.Cometh Sunday, we will fight to the very end. If we win the game and we

:26:39. > :26:41.end up not winning the title, I think to finish second to the

:26:42. > :26:46.richest team in the history of sport, really shows the measure and

:26:47. > :26:49.the progress we've made here. The most severe fine in footballing

:26:50. > :26:52.history would wipe out the money City would make from winning the

:26:53. > :26:56.title for a second time in three years. That, as well as limits on

:26:57. > :27:05.their squad size, would be a penalty that even the new dominant force in

:27:06. > :27:06.the English game couldn't ignore. That's all from