29/01/2012 BBC Weekend News


29/01/2012

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Talking to the Taliban - Afghanistan tries to kickstart

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peace talks. After a decade of conflict, President Karzai's

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government says it's ready to meet the insurgents.

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In Syria, reports of more than 60 dead in fresh clashes after the

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withdrawal of Arab League monitors. Stephen Hester's Royal Bank of

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Scotland bonus - a minister says the Government couldn't be happier

:00:23.:00:33.
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if he gave it up. And Novak's nocturnal victory -

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Djokovic's Australian Open win sets Good Evening.

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The Afghan Government is planning talks with the Taliban in an effort

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to move towards a formal peace agreement. The BBC understands the

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meeting will take place in Saudi Arabia or Turkey. The news came

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amid claims by former Taliban officials that insurgent

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negotiators had met with American representatives in Qatar. Our

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correspondent Quentin Somerville has the latest from Kabul for us

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now. For years, the Taliban have ridiculed President Karzai's

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Government saying it was a puppet regime. It was illegitimate. These

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two sides have been fighting and killing each other. President

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Karzai said he wouldn't meet the Taliban until they accepted the

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Afghan constitution. It now seems these two warring sides will sit

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down and talk to each other. For ten years, the war against the

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Taliban has ground on relentlessly. The fight becoming bloodier and

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deadlyier as each side failed to find victory on the battlefield.

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But now, even as the kill goes on, there are the first hints that the

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two sides may be ready to talk. The Taliban are far from ready to

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put down their guns. But, for the first time, they are plaining to

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speak to President Karzai's Government. They'll meet in either

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Saudia Arabia or Turkey. Previously the men who led these fighters said

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they'd only speak to the Americans from the new office in the Gulf

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state of Qatar. An MP says it is time talks happen Afghan to Afghan.

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We have to start the negotiations and the national community and

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Afghan Government have to start. Ham add Karzai met David Cameron

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this weekend. They signed a long- term partnership. Peace may be a

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long way off but the clock is ticking. There is pressure that

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nobody wants to be left out. That counts for the Taliban side, the

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Afghan Government side and the international side. There is a real

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opportunity to move towards negotiations and a settlement.

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is a war that will likely never be ended on the battlefield. These

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British combat troops and the Americans leave here in three years

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but the worry for Afghans is, are the Taliban serious about talks or

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simply just buying time? The Taliban have set out their

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conditions, people airl they want the Americans to return some

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Taliban leaders who are being held in Guantanamo Bay. They have not

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indicated if they are will to give ground. Could they accept women's

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rights? Any peace deal is many There have been fierce clashes in

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the South skirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. More than 60

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people have been killed today. Free Syrian arplty says its it's been

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strengthened by fresh waves of defection from Government forces.

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What's left of a military bus bombed by armed rebels close to

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Damascus. It s attacks like this which have provoked the current he

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is caplation according to the Government. Six soldiers died here.

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Others were woundeded but survived to tell the tale. Suddenly the bus

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seemed to take off and burst into flames he said. All the windows

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shattered. They were thrown out on to the ground. They opened fire on

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them as well. This is the Government's answer. A say can and

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bombarding places like Homs which has been a hot-bed of defiance from

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early on. Dozens of tanks and hundreds of troops are being thrown

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into battle in residential areas. The raiplg Eyam is no longer just -

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- regime is no longer just facing crowds of unarmed protesters. These

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are the men the Government calls terrorists and the opposition calls

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heroes who are defending civilians. The free Syrian army made up of

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deserters seems to be growing by the day. With the Arab League of

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standing down there are now outside witnesses. The focus is more

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strongly on intensifying discussions at the UN Security

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Council, the only hope left of a way out of the carnage.

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Rough seas and strong winds that have hampered rescue and recovery

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operations on the capsized Costa Concordia have caused the liner to

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slip slightly. The news came as Italian divers continued their

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search of the wreck before efforts to remove the ship's fuel begin. 16

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people remain unaccounted for after the discovery of another body

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yesterday. Greece has rejected German

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proposals for a senior EU official to take control of the Greek budget,

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saying it would be impossible for it to hand over control of tax and

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spending powers. The rejection comes ahead of an EU summit in

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Brussels tomorrow to discuss the Eurozone crisis. From Brussels

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Chris Morris reports. Preparing for what could be the first of many EU

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sum its in Brussels this year, the crisis rumbles on. This one's about

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the new fiscal treaty with tough budget rules which Britain isn't

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signing and about economic growth and job creation. But it wouldn't

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be a proper summit these daus without talk of Greece. It's still

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missing the fiscal targets set by international lenders which is why

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Germany wants an EU commissioner to take control of Greek policy and

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tax spending. I don't know if they want to make Greece an example for

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the other countries of what is going to happen. But to have like

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someone control everything, it is really a shame. It is like another

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occupation. There is some good news for Athens. A deal may have been

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done with the banks to write off a decent chunk of Greek debt. But the

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Greek Government says Germany's plan is an affront to national

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sonchity. There's no need for such a measure. We've gone a long way

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reducing the deficit. If you take into account we are in the fourth

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year of recession. The fall of the deficit has been quite big. So I

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think we are moving along on the right track.

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If only Greece were the EU's only problem. Unemployment in Spain has

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risen well above five million. More jobs will go after a Spanish

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airline suddenly shut its operations down. The debt crisis

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claiming more victims. So another summit taking place with the

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eurozone still dogged by uncertainty and a lack of economic

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confidence. Finding the right balance between imposing austerity

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and encouraging growth is now one of the top priorities for EU

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leaders. And many think they haven't yet got it right.

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The Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said no-one would

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be happier than the Government if the Royal Bank of Scotland Chief

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Executive Stephen Hester foregoes his bonus. There's been pressure on

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Mr Hester to give up his bonus worth nearly a million pounds with

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Labour saying it will force a Commons vote on the issue.

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The Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester may be out of sight

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but very much in mind. His own chairman refused a bonus. Some

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think Mr Hester may soon be in line for a much bigger pay day than

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originally thought. Ministers such as Iain Duncan Smith are caught

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between backing the Royal Bank of Scotland boss who they feel is

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doing a good job and calling for pay restraint at the top. It is for

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him individually to make a decision about that. I don't have a

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collective opinion on that as a member of the Government of the but

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the Government would be happen y if he took such decisions. But it is

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up to him. Stephen Hester gets a stallry of �1.2 million. He is

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entitled to share up to �4.2 million a year. He's on a long-term

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incentive plan which could have reached lfpls �5 million. He's

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unlikely to reach that now. The share price is below the 40p men

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mum required. A survey from High Pay Centre says only 7% of people

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think FTSE 100 bosses should e, ar more than �1 million a year. Two

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thirds felt lower ranking employees should sit on committees to decide

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bosses pay. That's normal practice in grpl any where executive pay is

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less toxic and whose companies are global success stories. We need

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workers on pay boards. They know what's going on inside a company.

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They know what's reasonable. They won't object to people who are

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really worth it getting paid what they need to be paid to retain them

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and recruit them. I think it will really take a lot of the heat out

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of this issue. The issue of executive pay here in the UK is set

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to intensify in the coming weeks. Banks are set to publish their

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bonus figures for their top people and the Government's set to

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implement new rules on executive pay. Added to that, the economy is

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stagnating and pay for many is flat line ing. The public and political

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move against the status quo is growing.

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United Nations inspectors have arrived in Iran to have the the

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possible military actions of Iran's nuclear programme. The team hopes

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to tour nuclear facilities over the next three days, look at documents

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and assess the nature of Iran's activities. Western countries

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recently imposed the tightest sanctions yet against Iran. At

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Tehran's airport a handful of protesters took the place of a red

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carpet. As IAE. Inspectors began a three-day tour of Iran. We hope

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Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible

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military announcements. We are looking forward to a start with a

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dialogue. A dialogue that is overdue. Here's where they'll

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expect to go. The inspectors will tour Iran's declared nuclear

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facilities. They'll analyse documents. They'll ask scientists

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why Iran is enriching so much uranium, more than it may need for

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civilian purposes. Iran's Government says this inspection

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will prove that its nuclear programme is peaceful. But previous

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inspections never managed to resolve that question. This short

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visit in itself is unlikely to provide a definitive answer. It is

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only a three-day visit. It is probably unlikely too much can be

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achieved within this time. But if they were to start negotiations on

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the particularly military aspects to the programme that would be

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highly significant. But Iran often prefers displays of power to

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negotiations. It recently carried out naval exercises in the Gulf.

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And it has even threatened to close the straight of home us. A vital

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shipping channel in the region. In turn, the West sent its own warning

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back to Iran. Keep the strait open and engage with the visiting

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inspectors. Sport now.

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Arsenal came back from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2. It

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was quite a turn around in a game which saw the home side booed off

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at half tile. Earlier today, Sunderland drew 1-1 with

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Middlesbrough at Stadium of Light in their fourth round tie.

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The first half hour at the eplt rates may be have forgettable. The

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rest wasn't. Villa scored two goals. Dunn thunderous. Bent, acute. 2-0

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to the visitors. In the second half, they repaid their hosts with

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gracious penalty box activity. Richard Dunne harvested Ramsay.

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Walcott should have been going nowhere but Villa insisted he score,

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which he Z Darren Bent proved why he's a striker not a defender. Van

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Persie scoring his 347th goal of the season or 25th anyway! Arsenal

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face the winners of the replay of Sunderland and Middlesbrough. The

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lower league visitors provided the class in the first half. Bryan

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Robson's volley sublime. Robson's touch was anything but in the

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second half. His back pass carving open his own defence. The ball

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arriving in the path of a Sunderland man making his come back

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after 17 months out with injuries, Fraizer Campbell. His delight

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understand able. The draw for the fifth round has

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been made. The stand-out ties include: League Two Crawley Town

:14:36.:14:46.
:14:46.:14:48.

Celtic will face Kilmarnock in the final of the Scottish League Cup

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next month after they beat Falkirk 3-1 at Hampden. The First Division

:14:52.:14:55.

side had been hoping to knock both old firm sides out of the

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competition having already beaten Rangers. But Anthony Stokes scored

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twice to secure the victory after Falkirk's Jay Fulton had earlier

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cancelled out a Scott Brown penalty. final in history between two of the

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sports greats. But after nearly six hours and at 1.37 in the morning

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the result had a familiar ring. Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in

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a five-set thriller to win The Australian Open. It's his third

:15:22.:15:32.
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consecutive grand slam title, all Look closely at Novak Djokovic's

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trainers. He keeps a tally of the Grand Slam trophies he's won. In

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the first set against Rafael Nadal it didn't like like he'd be holding

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on to his title. It looked like he'd put his shoes on the wrong

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feet. He gave up on his racket before the first set was out. The

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change didn't stop his losing the first set. Things looked brighter

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for the Serb when he won the second set 6 will have 4.

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The third came even more easily. 6- 2. Djokovic of the on a role. But

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Nadal can never be accused of 2308ing. No such thing as a lost

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cause. He saved three break points. It took a tie-break to separate

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them in the fourth. One of the great. The importance of such

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moments in the match can be gauged by the number of Nadal fist pumps.

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Into a fifth set and hour. Fatigue a possible factor as they passed

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the mark for the longest match in Australian history. Djokovic found

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himself serving for the match. COMMENTATOR: It's over. You have to

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say the man deserves it. T-shirt was off again. The champion's every

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sinew stretched to breaking to defend his trophy. A third

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Australian Open title for Djokovic. What a way to start the year.

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England's Robert Rock held off the challenge of former World Number

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One Tiger Woods, and US Open Champion Rory McIlroy to take

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golf's Abu Dhabi Championship. Rock went into the final day sharing the

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lead with Woods, but birdied three of his first six holes to set up a

:17:17.:17:19.

one-shot victory on 13 under. McIlroy finished second, while

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Woods fell away to share third with Graeme McDowell and Thomas Bjorn.

:17:22.:17:32.
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