29/01/2012 BBC Weekend News


29/01/2012

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Tonight, the BBC learns that the Duke executive of RBS will not be

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taking his bonus. Stephen Hester says that he will turn down nearly

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�1 million after coming under intense pressure.

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The Afghan Government prepares to meet with the Taliban in Saudi

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Arabia to try to kick-start peace talks.

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

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League monitors withdraw. It is over. You have to say that

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the man deserves this. Novac Djokovic's nocturnal victory. His

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Good evening. Within the last few minutes, the BBC has learned that

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the chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester,

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has decided not to take his bonus. He has been under intense pressure

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since the bonus of just under �1 million was made public last week.

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In a moment I will speak to our political correspondent but first

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joining us on the line is Robin Paxton, who broke the story tonight.

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-- Robert Peston. The final straw for Stephen Hester was the decision

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of the Labour Party to push to a vote in the House of Commons,

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questioning whether or not he should get a bonus. It became clear

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to Stephen Hester that this issue was not going to go away. There was

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a significant risk that actually Labour would win the vote because

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there are a number of Lib Dems that are very angry about the bonus.

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They may well have voted with Labour. He simply took the view

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that it was damaging to the bank and to him personally for this row

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to go on and on, and he has therefore decided to waive the

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bonus. I can tell you that the board was urging him to fight. They

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felt that he had burned the -- earned the bonus for making it the

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Royal Bank of Scotland less risky, reducing loans and borrowings by

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something like �600 billion. In their view, this has put RBS on a

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firmer footing. Curiously and despite the controversy, the board

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was saying that they would back him if he decided to fight all this

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pressure to waive the bonus. Ultimately he has taken the view

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that he will not be taking this �1 million in shares. Thank you very

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much. Our business Editor Robert Peston, who broke the story in the

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last few minutes. Our political correspondent is here. The

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political pressure was really growing today. Yes, it did. There

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will be relief among ministers. Iain Duncan Smith said today that

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nobody would be happier than the Government if Stephen Hester gave

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up the bonus, which is what has happened. This has been a problem

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for the Government. They have had a rational argument that you have to

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pay the best in the City a lot of money, but this just did not chime

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with the rhetoric that we have been hearing from many ministers and

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David Cameron himself, who has been talking about shareholders clamping

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down on excessive pay. The Conservatives particularly did not

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want to be painted as being on the side of the rich and the City when

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they are making cuts elsewhere. They will be relieved that this has

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happened but the problem is this will rear its head again next year

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unless they come up with some kind of long-term solution to the

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problem. Thank you very much. That is the latest on the Stephen Hester

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bonus story. In other news, after a decade of

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war in Afghanistan, there are signs that the Government is taking the

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first steps towards peace talks with the Taliban. The talks will

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take place in Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks. Any dialogue will

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be Afghan-led, according to Hamid Karzai, but so far focus has been

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on US efforts to talk to the Taliban. For 10 years the war

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against the Taliban has ground on relentlessly. The fight has become

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bloodier and deadlier, as each side failed to find victory on the

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battlefield. But now even as the killing goes on, there are the

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first hints that the two sides may be ready to talk. The Taliban are

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far from ready to put down their guns. But for the first time, they

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are planning to speak to Hamid Karzai's Government. They will meet

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in either Saudi Arabia or two Turkey. Previously the men who led

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these fighters said they would only speak to the Americans from the new

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office in the Gulf state of Qatar. This NVQs says it is time for talks

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to happen Afghan to Afghan. -- this MP. It is incredibly difficult to

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win this war using the military so they have to talk. David Cameron

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met Hamid Karzai this weekend. Peace may be a long way off, but

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the clock is ticking. There is this pressure that nobody wants to be

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left out and that now accounts for the Taliban side and the Afghan

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Government, and the international actors. There is a sense that there

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is a more real opportunity to move towards negotiation and settlement.

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This is a war that will likely never be won on the battlefield.

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These British combat troops and the Americans will leave Afghanistan in

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three years' time. So the worry here in Kabul are the Taliban

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serious about the negotiations? Could they ever accept an Afghan

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constitution and women's rights? Are they simply playing for time,

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waiting for foreign troops to go? There have been fierce clashes on

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the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus following the withdrawal

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of Arab League monitors. Activist so that 60 people have been killed

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today. The Free Syrian Army claims it has been strengthened by a fresh

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wave of defections from Government forces. They are now making

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advances towards Damascus. What is left of a military bus, bombed by

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armed rebels close to Damascus. It is attacks like this, the

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Government says, that have provoked the current escalation. Six

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soldiers died here. Others were wounded but survived to tell the

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tale. Suddenly the bus into take- off. It burst into flames and all

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the windows shattered. We were thrown onto the ground and then

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they opened fire on us as well. This is the Government's answer,

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attacking and bombarding places like Homs which has been a hotbed

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of defiance from early on. Dozens of tanks and hundreds of troops are

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being thrown into battle in residential areas. The regime is no

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longer just facing crowds of These are the man the Government

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calls terrorists and the opposition calls heroes, defending civilians

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against brutal oppression. The Free Syrian Army, made up of deserters,

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seemed to be growing by the day. With the Arab League observers now

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standing down, the escalation of violence is going ahead with no

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outside witnesses. That means the focus is even more strongly on

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intensifying discussions at the UN Security Council, the only hope

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left of our way out of the carnage. President Sarkozy has claimed

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tonight that Europe is over the worst of its financial crisis. He

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has been speaking ahead of a summit of EU leaders that begins tomorrow

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in Brussels. How is President Sarkozy couching this? Well, he was

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a little bit optimistic tonight. He said Europe was no longer on the

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edge of an abyss. He said the financial markets were,. The debt

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crisis has not gone away. He announced new taxes tonight, and

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said that VAT, sales tax, would go up to 21% in France. He also

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announced a tax on financial transactions, that will go ahead.

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It was the same tax that David Cameron described as mothers.

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David Cameron will be at this summit. -- describes as madness.

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What will the atmosphere be like given what happened the last time

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there was a summit? There is always a chance that the tension will

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flare up again. There will be discussion about jobs and growth,

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and the decision for greater budgetary discipline in the EU, it

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was that treaty that prompted David Cameron to use his veto and that

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will be discussed. Greece will cast a shadow. There are intense

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negotiations going on over another bail-out. If that were to fail,

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then breeze would be facing bankruptcy some time in the late

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March. -- Greece would be facing bankruptcy. And a German proposal

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at the weekend, which they suggested might need an EU

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commissioner to enforce tax and spending issues in Greece, that has

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caused fury in Athens. It is interesting to observe, two years

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into the crisis, and Greece still very much on the agenda. Thank you.

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Our European Editor, live from Brussels.

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Rough seas and strong winds have caused the Costa Concordia to slip

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slightly further into the water today. Italian divers have

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continued their search of the wreck before efforts to remove the fuel

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begin. 16 people remain unaccounted for after the discovery of another

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body yesterday. It could be several months before the wreck can be

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moved. United Nations inspectors have

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arrived in Iran to investigate a possible military aspects of its

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nuclear programme. The team hopes to tour nuclear facilities over the

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next few days, look at documents and tried to assess the exact

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nature of Iran's activities. Western countries recently imposed

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the tighter sanctions get against Iran. -- the tightest sanctions yet.

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At the Tehran International Airport, handful of protesters did the place

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of a red carpet as IAEA inspectors began a three-day tour of Iran.

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hope that Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the

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possible military aspect of this programme. We are looking forward

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to the start of the dialogue which is overdue for a very long time.

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This is where they will expect to go. The inspectors will tour Iran's

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nuclear facilities and they will analyse documents. They will ask

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scientists why Iran is directing so much uranium, more than it may need

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for civilian purposes. The Government says that this

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inspection will prove that their nuclear programme is peaceful.

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Previous inspections never managed to resolve that question. This

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short me that in itself is not likely to provide a definitive

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answer. -- short visit. It is only three days so it is not likely much

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could be achieved. Nevertheless, if they start to negotiations on the

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military aspects of the programme, that would be highly significant.

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Iran often prefers displays of power to actual negotiations. They

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recently carried out naval exercises in the Gulf. They have

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even throttle to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping channel

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in the region. In their turn, they have sent their own message. Keep

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the Strait of Hormuz open and engage with the visiting officials.

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Now the sport. Arsenal have staged a remarkable FA Cup comeback. They

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were 2-0 down against Aston Villa and booed off by their fans at half

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time. But three second half goals gave them victory at the Emirates

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Stadium. Earlier Sunderland drew 1- 1 with Middlesborough at the

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Stadium of Light in their fourth round tie. Tim Franks watched the

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action. The first half-hour at the Emirates Stadium may have been

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forgettable but the rest was not. Richard Dunne scored this

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thunderous goal and then Darren Barr and was acute. 2-0 to the

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visitors. -- Darren Bent. They repaid their visitors with some

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gracious hospitality in the penalty box. Robin van Persie was the reply

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of this. Theo Walcott should have been going nowhere but Aston Villa

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seemed to insist that he should score, which he did. Darren Bent

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then proved why he is the strike and not the defender. Robin van

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Persie, with machine tooled accuracy, making it 3-2. Arsenal

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will face the winners of the replay between Sunderland and

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Middlesbrough. The lowly visitors provided the class in the first

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half. Barry Robson's Folly was sublime. His touch was anything but

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in the second half. His back-pass carved open his own defence and the

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ball arrived in the path of a Sunderland man making his comeback

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after 17 months of injuries. Fraizer Campbell, his delight

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understandable and unfettered. After today's games, the draw for

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the fifth round was made and the stand-out ties include League Two

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Crawley Town hosting Premier League Stoke and League One's Stevenage

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playing Spurs. Championship side Brighton's reward for beating

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Newcastle is a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.

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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

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side had been hoping to knock both Old Firm clubs 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. It was the longest Grand Slam final

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in history, between two of the sport's greats. But after nearly

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six hours, the result had a familiar ring. Novak Djokovic beat

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Rafael Nadal in a five set thriller to win the Australian Open. It's

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his third consecutive Grand Slam title, all of them at the

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Look closely at jock's trainers he keeps a tally of the Grand Slam

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trophies he has won but in first set it didn't look as if he would

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be holding on to his Australian title. In fact it looked as though

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he had put his shoes on the wrong feet. He was so out of sorts he's

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gave up on his racket before the end of the first set. The change

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didn't stop him losing that 7-5 but things began to look brighter. He

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won the second set, 6-4. The third, came more easily. 6-2. Djokovic was

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on a roll. But Nadal can never be accused of folding, no such thing

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as lost cause in his book. Saving three break points. It took a tie-

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break to separate them in the fourth, one of the great, the

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importance of such moments in a match can be gauged by the number

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of Nadal fist pumps. That is out. Into a fifth. Set and hour, fatigue

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a possible factor as they passed the mark for the longest match in

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Australian Open history. From a break down, Djokovic found himself

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serving for the match. It is over and you have to say the man

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deserved it. T-shirt was off again, the champion's every sinew

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stretched to breaking, to defend his trophy. A third Australian Open

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title for Djokovic and what a way to start the year. England's Robert

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Rock held off the challenge of the former world number one Tiger Woods

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and Rory McIlroy to take golf's Abu Dhabi Championship. Rock ranked

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117th in the world went into the final day sharing the lead but

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birdied three of his first six holes to set up a one shot victory.

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Rory McIlroy finished second while Woods was third. It was Rock's only

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second win in 228 attempts. The New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko has become

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the youngest winner of a profaetion event at 14. She won the New South

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Wales open by four shots. That is all the sport for now. An our main

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news Robert Peston has learned the Royal Bank of Scotland chief

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