Liverpool have confirmed the signing of highly-rated Serbia international Milan Jovanovic from Standard Liege on a three-year contract.
Milan Jovanovic
GettyImages
Milan Jovanovic: Three-year deal at Anfield
Jovanovic, who scored the winning goal when Serbia beat eventual World Cup semi-finalists Germany 1-0 in South Africa, has joined on a free transfer.
Liverpool's move for the striker was lined by up former manager Rafael Benitez before his departure at the start of June and there were fears his new club Inter Milan might make a late bid to scupper the deal.
But Jovanovic, who scored two goals in this season's Champions League group stage, said he was delighted to seal his move to Anfield.
"It is an honour for me to sign for one of the biggest clubs in football,'' said the 29-year-old. "I cannot wait to start working with the manager and I'm looking forward to joining up with my new team-mates on our Swiss training camp.''
By Soccernet staff
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Hodgson confident Gerrard will stay
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson believes Steven Gerrard will be staying at Anfield after revealing that he has had "positive" talks with the club captain.
Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres
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Roy Hodgson is trying to hold onto prized assets Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres
Having already lost Yossi Benayoun to Chelsea, Hodgson is focused on keeping Gerrard and Fernando Torres at the club, amid speculation that the pair could leave.
But the future appears bright for Liverpool fans, as Hodgson met with Gerrard and Jamie Carragher following his appointment last Thursday, with the talks going to plan according to the new Reds boss.
"I think they went splendidly," Hodgson told LFC Weekly. "I was very happy to meet the players and, of course, Kenny [Dalglish] who I already know so well.
"I was delighted to see how positive they are. Everybody is looking forward to the new season. Obviously Steven and Jamie are the playing heartbeat of the club and it's very important we keep people like that with us.
"I anticipate there might be a situation where other big clubs will try and sign Steven, but he gave no indication that he wanted to leave. Nobody at the club wants him to go so I will be doing my utmost to make sure he stays. I am confident he will."
With Gerrard happy to stay, Hodgson must turn his attention to Torres when he returns from World Cup action, though the Liverpool boss is confident that he can convince the Spain striker to commit his future to the club.
"Fernando is a wonderful striker and I understand the fans' concerns about his future," Hodgson said. ''Unfortunately with the World Cup still on, I won't be able to meet him face to face for another few weeks.
"That's just circumstance and you won't hear me complaining about it. When I do meet him, I will be doing everything I possibly can to convince him that Liverpool is the place to be. If he sees progress, I am confident that he won't want to go anywhere else. I think he understands the club and the city."
Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres
GettyImages
Roy Hodgson is trying to hold onto prized assets Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres
Having already lost Yossi Benayoun to Chelsea, Hodgson is focused on keeping Gerrard and Fernando Torres at the club, amid speculation that the pair could leave.
But the future appears bright for Liverpool fans, as Hodgson met with Gerrard and Jamie Carragher following his appointment last Thursday, with the talks going to plan according to the new Reds boss.
"I think they went splendidly," Hodgson told LFC Weekly. "I was very happy to meet the players and, of course, Kenny [Dalglish] who I already know so well.
"I was delighted to see how positive they are. Everybody is looking forward to the new season. Obviously Steven and Jamie are the playing heartbeat of the club and it's very important we keep people like that with us.
"I anticipate there might be a situation where other big clubs will try and sign Steven, but he gave no indication that he wanted to leave. Nobody at the club wants him to go so I will be doing my utmost to make sure he stays. I am confident he will."
With Gerrard happy to stay, Hodgson must turn his attention to Torres when he returns from World Cup action, though the Liverpool boss is confident that he can convince the Spain striker to commit his future to the club.
"Fernando is a wonderful striker and I understand the fans' concerns about his future," Hodgson said. ''Unfortunately with the World Cup still on, I won't be able to meet him face to face for another few weeks.
"That's just circumstance and you won't hear me complaining about it. When I do meet him, I will be doing everything I possibly can to convince him that Liverpool is the place to be. If he sees progress, I am confident that he won't want to go anywhere else. I think he understands the club and the city."
Fan runs on field in World Cup semifinal
DURBAN, South Africa -- The World Cup semifinal between Germany and Spain was interrupted briefly in the fourth minute Wednesday when an Italian fan carrying a vuvuzela ran onto the field to protest the exclusion of a player from Italy's squad.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that the intruder is named Mario Ferri, who was wearing a blue T-shirt with a slogan protesting the absence of forward Antonio Cassano from Italy's national team at the tournament.
Ferri pulled a similar stunt last November during a friendly between Italy and the Netherlands in Pescara.
The fan entered the field near Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's net and sprinted almost to midfield before he was caught by security.
His hands were clasped behind his back and he was quickly taken to the sidelines and lifted over the boards. Police then sprinted with the man to a tunnel as play resumed.
South Africa Police Service spokesman Vish Naidoo was unable to confirm the fan's identity late Wednesday.
South African authorities have created special courts at World Cup stadiums to fast-track cases arising from soccer-related incidents during the tournament.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
Italian news agency ANSA reported that the intruder is named Mario Ferri, who was wearing a blue T-shirt with a slogan protesting the absence of forward Antonio Cassano from Italy's national team at the tournament.
Ferri pulled a similar stunt last November during a friendly between Italy and the Netherlands in Pescara.
The fan entered the field near Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's net and sprinted almost to midfield before he was caught by security.
His hands were clasped behind his back and he was quickly taken to the sidelines and lifted over the boards. Police then sprinted with the man to a tunnel as play resumed.
South Africa Police Service spokesman Vish Naidoo was unable to confirm the fan's identity late Wednesday.
South African authorities have created special courts at World Cup stadiums to fast-track cases arising from soccer-related incidents during the tournament.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
Cup attendance to top 3 million
JOHANNESBURG -- The World Cup total stadium attendance will pass 3 million at the Germany-Spain semifinal match on Wednesday.
FIFA says 2,997,000 people have attended the first 61 matches, for an average of 49,134 with three games left to play.
The figures place South Africa third in both categories, behind the 1994 tournament in the United States and the 2006 edition in Germany.
South Africa had a total capacity of 3.42 million but few matches have totally filled stadiums.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
FIFA says 2,997,000 people have attended the first 61 matches, for an average of 49,134 with three games left to play.
The figures place South Africa third in both categories, behind the 1994 tournament in the United States and the 2006 edition in Germany.
South Africa had a total capacity of 3.42 million but few matches have totally filled stadiums.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
Snoop Dogg pursues Coronation Street role
US hip hop star Snoop Dogg has revealed he is a fan of Coronation Street and wants a cameo part in the show.
Snoop told fans during a visit to Manchester, ahead a concert at the city's Apollo, that he had asked his agent to negotiate him a role.
Snoop, who has followed the soap for 11 years, believed that Granada TV producers had responded with interest.
A spokeswoman for Granada said: "He's obviously a great character but hard to see how he'd fit into Weatherfield."
She said they had yet to receive an approach from the performer, whose real name is Calvin Broadus.
Continue reading the main story
I love the whole dynamic, the way it is put together
Snoop Dogg
He said: "I had my agent reach out to them to see if they could try to get me on and they said they were interested so hopefully it might happen.
"It would be perfect for me to be on the show.
"I love the whole dynamic, the way it is put together, it is my world, it is something I could fall into."
The 38-year-old recorded a video message to mark the show's 50th birthday earlier this year.
While in Greater Manchester, the rapper also visited Salford's Ordsall Community Centre, where he played football with young volunteers.
The teenagers had given up their time to paint the centre in exchange for tickets to his Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube concert.
Snoop told fans during a visit to Manchester, ahead a concert at the city's Apollo, that he had asked his agent to negotiate him a role.
Snoop, who has followed the soap for 11 years, believed that Granada TV producers had responded with interest.
A spokeswoman for Granada said: "He's obviously a great character but hard to see how he'd fit into Weatherfield."
She said they had yet to receive an approach from the performer, whose real name is Calvin Broadus.
Continue reading the main story
I love the whole dynamic, the way it is put together
Snoop Dogg
He said: "I had my agent reach out to them to see if they could try to get me on and they said they were interested so hopefully it might happen.
"It would be perfect for me to be on the show.
"I love the whole dynamic, the way it is put together, it is my world, it is something I could fall into."
The 38-year-old recorded a video message to mark the show's 50th birthday earlier this year.
While in Greater Manchester, the rapper also visited Salford's Ordsall Community Centre, where he played football with young volunteers.
The teenagers had given up their time to paint the centre in exchange for tickets to his Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube concert.
Brazil footballer surrenders in missing woman case
The goalkeeper of Brazil's most popular football team has surrendered to the police in connection with the disappearance of his former lover.
Bruno Fernandes, who plays for Rio de Janeiro's Flamengo, is being investigated after Eliza Samudio went missing nearly a month ago.
A teenage cousin of the footballer told police she had been abducted and was dead.
Ms Samudio had said that the married footballer was the father of her baby.
'Clear conscience'
The goalkeeper walked into a Rio police station on Wednesday night, shortly after a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Police had earlier arrested his wife, Dayane Souza, and several of his friends.
The warrants were issued after a 17-year-old cousin of Mr Fernandes told police that he had taken part in Ms Samudio's abduction with a friend of the footballer, Luiz Henrique Ferreira Romao.
According to police, the youth told them that Ms Samudio was dead but did not say how she died, nor where her body was.
On Monday, Mr Fernandes told Brazilian radio that he had a "clear conscience. In the future I'll be able to laugh at all this".
The BBC's Ana Pisarro says the case has transfixed the Brazilian media, combining as it does all the ingredients of a Brazilian TV soap opera.
US to access Europeans' bank data in new deal
Euro MPs have approved a new deal to allow US anti-terror investigators to access Europeans' bank data.
The vote followed tough negotiations with US authorities after a previous agreement was blocked by the European Parliament in February.
EU negotiators say the new deal gives EU officials authority to monitor the US investigators' actions.
The deal gives the US access to bulk data from Swift, a firm that handles millions of bank transactions daily.
Washington says the Swift deal is crucial to fighting terrorism, as part of the US Terrorist Financing Tracking Programme (TFTP) set up after the September 2001 attacks on the US.
Privacy concerns
Top US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, lobbied the EU over the data transfer deal.
Continue reading the main story
This sends the right signals about our resolve in fighting terrorism and our commitment to remaining a strong partner of the United States
Timothy Kirkhope UK Conservative MEP Q&A: US data deal with Europe
The agreement was passed with 484 MEPs in favour and 109 against. There were 12 abstentions.
In February Euro MPs rejected an earlier draft agreement, saying the privacy safeguards were inadequate.
The fact that the US was secretly accessing Swift bank data did not come to light until 2006.
Under the new deal, the EU police agency Europol will assess whether specific data requests are necessary for the fight against terrorism before the data is sent to the US, the European Commission says.
The Commission will appoint EU officials to monitor the US investigators' actions.
There is also a requirement that bulk data can never be sent to third countries.
EU citizens who believe their data has been misused will have the right to legal action in the US courts.
'Sends right signals'
The Commission says the data transferred under TFTP can include identifying information about the originator and/or recipient of the transaction, including name, address, national identification number and other personal data related to financial messages.
A German Liberal MEP, Alexander Alvaro, said the deal "will ensure that terrorist financing can be traced back to its sources, but it will not affect day-to-day bank transfers of EU citizens".
And the leader of the UK Conservative MEPs, Timothy Kirkhope, said it "sends the right signals about our resolve in fighting terrorism and our commitment to remaining a strong partner of the United States".
The lobby group European Digital Rights (EDRI) says the new deal is still not restrictive enough. It will allow a great deal of data to be transferred to the US, EDRI says, doubting that aggrieved EU citizens will get any legal redress in the US.
EDRI also says Europol is the wrong vehicle to vet US anti-terror requests, because Europol itself will be able to request data from US searches, and that "drastically reduces any incentive to limit the transferred amount of data".
A judicial body, not the police, should be in charge, it argues.
BBC NEWS
The vote followed tough negotiations with US authorities after a previous agreement was blocked by the European Parliament in February.
EU negotiators say the new deal gives EU officials authority to monitor the US investigators' actions.
The deal gives the US access to bulk data from Swift, a firm that handles millions of bank transactions daily.
Washington says the Swift deal is crucial to fighting terrorism, as part of the US Terrorist Financing Tracking Programme (TFTP) set up after the September 2001 attacks on the US.
Privacy concerns
Top US officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, lobbied the EU over the data transfer deal.
Continue reading the main story
This sends the right signals about our resolve in fighting terrorism and our commitment to remaining a strong partner of the United States
Timothy Kirkhope UK Conservative MEP Q&A: US data deal with Europe
The agreement was passed with 484 MEPs in favour and 109 against. There were 12 abstentions.
In February Euro MPs rejected an earlier draft agreement, saying the privacy safeguards were inadequate.
The fact that the US was secretly accessing Swift bank data did not come to light until 2006.
Under the new deal, the EU police agency Europol will assess whether specific data requests are necessary for the fight against terrorism before the data is sent to the US, the European Commission says.
The Commission will appoint EU officials to monitor the US investigators' actions.
There is also a requirement that bulk data can never be sent to third countries.
EU citizens who believe their data has been misused will have the right to legal action in the US courts.
'Sends right signals'
The Commission says the data transferred under TFTP can include identifying information about the originator and/or recipient of the transaction, including name, address, national identification number and other personal data related to financial messages.
A German Liberal MEP, Alexander Alvaro, said the deal "will ensure that terrorist financing can be traced back to its sources, but it will not affect day-to-day bank transfers of EU citizens".
And the leader of the UK Conservative MEPs, Timothy Kirkhope, said it "sends the right signals about our resolve in fighting terrorism and our commitment to remaining a strong partner of the United States".
The lobby group European Digital Rights (EDRI) says the new deal is still not restrictive enough. It will allow a great deal of data to be transferred to the US, EDRI says, doubting that aggrieved EU citizens will get any legal redress in the US.
EDRI also says Europol is the wrong vehicle to vet US anti-terror requests, because Europol itself will be able to request data from US searches, and that "drastically reduces any incentive to limit the transferred amount of data".
A judicial body, not the police, should be in charge, it argues.
BBC NEWS
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