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Drogba double puts Chelsea second

LONDON, England — Didier Drogba scored twice as Chelsea came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Stamford Bridge and climb above their London rivals into second place in the Premier Division table.

Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal a 59th minute lead but Drogba struck twice in the space of 10 minutes to send Chelsea to within five points of leaders Manchester United, who beat 10-man Liverpool 3-0 earlier in the day.

Arsenal now lie six points adrift of United with Liverpool a further eight points behind.

The Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger conceded that his side’s title prospects were fading.

Of course it is a big setback when you add the four games we drew and then losing here, he said. I feel we have to come back to winning games before we dream of the title.

I believe we have the strength but at the moment we are six points behind United. We have first to win our next game before we speak about the title. We have to become stronger defensively first.

The players will be very disappointed because they gave everything but we go home with nothing. I feel Ferguson is the biggest winner today.

Chelsea played patiently in the early stages, allowing Arsenal plenty of possession.

The Gunners created few dangerous chances but Dutch striker Robin van Persie was well placed when he sliced a shot well off target and then he had a volley easily held by Carlo Cudicini.

Chelsea became more menacing, with Drogba often a threat, but he wasted a fine opportunity when he lost control of the ball when clean through.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Emmanuel Eboue had efforts scrambled away by Chelsea and Gallas hit the upright from five yards after sliding in at the back post.

Salomon Kalou miskicked when he looked likely to put the home team in front and Manuel Almunia did well to divert Joe Cole’s dangerous low cross.

Cudicini had an early chance to shine in the second period, superbly stopping Matthieu Flamini’s rasping volley.

Arsenal made the breakthrough when Sagna beat his marker at the near post to head in from a Cesc Fabregas corner.

But the Frenchman’s afternoon turned sour when he was forced off with an ankle injury.

Drogba equalized in the 73rd minute when the ball rebounded off Frank Lampard into his path on the edge of the penalty area. Drogba fired a low shot beyond Almunia and into the bottom corner.

Nine minutes later the powerful striker picked up Joe Cole’s free kick eight yards out and he managed to bring the ball under control before despatching a right-foot shot which Almunia got a hand to as it went into the net.

Drogba almost made it a hat-trick moments later but Almunia made an outstanding save near the post.

Chelsea manager Avram Grant was relieved to see Drogba to his best.

It is about time because since he is back from Africa, like the others, he was not in the shape he was before, Grant said.

That is reasonable because they played a lot of games in humid weather. But against Tottenham he was better and here he was very good.

Grant knows the title is still a long shot but he took pride in his side’s attacking football at a time when they need to win at all costs.

I don’t know if we will win the league but we will do our best to do it, he said.

We have won more than 80 percent of our games. Since we lost in the League Cup we scored 20 goals or more in all the competitions.

I promised we would play attacking football. We did that and scored goals. It is important because for me the way is more important than anything else. E-mail to a friend

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Cheney in Mideast: Palestinian state ‘long overdue’

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A Mideast peace agreement will require painful concessions by Israelis and Palestinians who must work together to defeat those committed to violence, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.

After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Cheney stressed the U.S. commitment to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, saying it was long overdue.

Achieving that vision will require tremendous effort at the negotiating table and painful concessions on both sides, said Cheney, whose stop in Ramallah came just two months after President Bush’s trip to the West Bank.

Abbas, a moderate, controls the West Bank and is battling Hamas militants who have taken charge of Gaza from Abbas-allied forces and have bombarded southern Israel with rockets.

Terror and violence do not merely kill innocent civilians, they also kill the legitimate hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people, Cheney said.

In their meeting, Abbas asked Cheney to help stop Israeli settlement expansion and military operations targeting militants, said Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide.

Speaking at the news conference, Abbas thanked Cheney for U.S. support. But he also lashed out at Israel’s settlements and checkpoints, and called for an end to Israeli military operations.

Peace and security can’t be achieved through settlement expansion and building barriers, he said. To reach peace, Abbas said, what is required is will, courage and strong support from the international community, especially the U.S.

In his remarks, Cheney said, A negotiated end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — one that addresses the legitimate national claims of both people — will have limitless value. Years of mistrust and violence have achieved nothing, and the extremists who have stood in the way of a settlement have only caused further grief and suffering to the Palestinian and Israeli people.

No one, he said, deserves to go through life in a climate of fear of deprivation. … That should not be and must not be the direction of events in this region.

Before the session, aides to Abbas said Abbas would tell Cheney there had been little progress in peace talks since the Palestinian leader and Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to a resumption at a November conference hosted by President Bush in Maryland.

Cheney said the future belongs to the advocates of peace and reconciliation. He quoted Bush and said that the establishment of a state of Palestine is long overdue. The Bush administration, Cheney said, will commit resources to help the Palestinians build the infrastructure necessary to prosper.

Cheney held talks with Israeli officials in Jerusalem before flying by helicopter to the West Bank. After seeing Abbas, Cheney planned a separate meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The vice president began Easter Sunday with a prayer and the singing of Amazing Grace at a tiny chapel in Jerusalem, then launched into a day of talks about the Mideast peace process and the rising influence of Iran in the region.

We are obviously dedicated to doing all we can as an administration to try to move the peace process forward, and obviously actively involved in dealing with the threats that we see emerging in the region — not only threats to Israel, but threats to the United States as well, Cheney said in a meeting with Israel’s president, Shimon Peres.

It was clear that Cheney was referring to Iran. Peres was more specific, saying the declarations that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes against Israel cannot be ignored.

We have this problem of the Iranians who want to build two satellites, the Hezbollah and the Hamas in Gaza. … Nobody can control us and say that declarations by Ahmadinejad are less serious, Peres said. We have to take it seriously.

He said time is of the essence in the peace negotiations, but that he believes progress is achievable.

Cheney is on a 10-day trip to the Mideast, where oil, the future of Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran’s rising influence in the region have highlighted his talks with foreign leaders. His visit here is part of the Bush administration’s strategy to keep the pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to reach a framework agreement for peace before Bush leaves office in January 2009.
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Warnapura century inspires Sri Lanka

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA (AP) — Sri Lanka opener Malinda Warnapura hit a maiden century before Jerome Taylor claimed three wickets to revive West Indies on the opening day of the first Test on Saturday.

Sri Lanka closed on 269 for four with Warnapura topscoring with 120. The 28-year-old left-hander was particularly strong through the offside and clubbed 14 boundaries off 216 balls in four and a half hours at Providence Stadium.

Warnapura, the nephew of Sri Lanka’s first test captain Bandula Warnapura, said his family would be particularly proud.

He was also keen to dedicate the innings to his father, Upali, a useful left-handed allrounder who supported his career from the start.

My father would be the guy who would be most happy today, Warnapura said. I had to wait so long to play test cricket and to get a test hundred as well.

Fellow left-handers Michael Vandort (52) and Kumar Sangakkara (50) also made solid contributions.

Vandort hit eight fours and notched 1,000 runs in his 15th test before his dismissal.

Sangakkara counted three boundaries before he fell to the impressive Taylor.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene was unbeaten on 25 at the close, with Tillekeratne Dilshan on 15 not out.

Taylor took three for 59, including two wickets in one over late in the day. Dwayne Bravo took one for 48.

Taylor admitted the pitch was a good batting surface and that his team had to work hard to maintain parity.

Coming here to play, we didn’t expect anything better than what is happening now, Taylor said. We know this is Guyana and the wickets, they are all pretty flat.

So we have to come out, we have to fight hard and try to give our best and put West Indies in the front, the Jamaican added. So said, so done. Right now, the Sri Lankans are actually in front but not too far away from us.

Warnapura and Vandort gave Sri Lanka a fine start after Jayawardene won the toss. The new pair shared a record opening stand of 130 either side of lunch.

The pair beat the previous best for Sri Lanka against West Indies of 126 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in St. Lucia on their last tour in 2003.

Warnapura admitted he benefited from scoring a century and a half century in the warmup match a few days earlier on the same ground.

We got a great opportunity to play the three-day game at the same venue. We got maximum use out of it, he said. I’m happy. I really enjoyed it.

West Indies struggled during the first session and the visitors lunched at 85 without loss.

Vandort survived an early run-out chance but there was little encouragement for the home team in the first two hours.

West Indies managed its first strike midway through the day when Vandort was leg before to an inswinging yorker from Taylor.

But Warnapura and Sangakkara continued Sri Lanka’s dominance in a second-wicket stand of 75.

Warnapura brought up his maiden century half an hour before tea off 182 balls. He survived one chance on 95 when Bravo at slip floored an edge off Chris Gayle’s offspin. He finally fell to a leg side catch to the wicketkeeper off Bravo at 205-2.

Sangakkara and Jayawardene, the heart of Sri Lanka’s batting, were threatening total dominance when Taylor tilted the balance.

Sangakkara had just raised his bat for a half century when Taylor found his edge to a flashing drive and Devon Smith held on at first slip at 243-3.

Two balls later, Thilan Samaraweera chipped a Taylor slower ball to short midwicket and West Indies was back in the contest.

Dilshan began shakily but clubbed two fours in one Taylor over to send the teams to stumps evenly balanced. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Prominent Muslim becomes Catholic on Easter

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Italy’s most prominent Muslim commentator converted to Roman Catholicism on Saturday during the Vatican’s Easter vigil service presided over by the pope.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim, Magdi Allam has infuriated some fellow Muslims with his criticism of extremism and support for Israel.

The deputy editor of the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Allam often writes on Muslim and Arab affairs.

He told the Il Giornale newspaper in a December interview that his criticism of Palestinian suicide bombings generated threats on his life in 2003, prompting the Italian government to provide him with a sizeable security detail.

Pope Benedict XVI baptized seven adults during the service. Watch the vigil

It marks the period between Good Friday, which commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion, and Easter Sunday, which marks his resurrection.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said of Allam before the service that anyone who chooses to become a Catholic of his or her own free will has the right to receive the sacrament. Watch Allam receive the sacrament of baptism

Lombardi said the pope administers the sacrament without making any ‘difference of people,’ that is, considering all equally important before the love of God and welcoming all in the community of the Church.

In the Il Giornale interview, Allam explained his complicated relationship with Islam and his affinity for Israel.

I was never practicing, he was quoted as saying. I never prayed five times a day, facing Mecca. I never fasted during Ramadan.

Yet he said he did make the pilgrimage to Mecca, as is required of all Muslims, with his deeply religious mother in 1991.

Married to a Catholic, with a young son and two adult children from his first marriage, Allam indicated in the interview that he would have no problem converting to Christianity.

He said he had even received Communion once — when he was 13 or 14 — even though I knew it was an act of blasphemy, not having been baptized.

Allam also explained his decision to entitle a recent book Viva Israel or Long Live Israel, saying he wrote it after he received death threats from Hamas.

Having been condemned to death, I have reflected a long time on the value of life. And I discovered that behind the origin of the ideology of hatred, violence and death is the discrimination against Israel. Everyone has the right to exist except for the Jewish state and its inhabitants, he said. Today, Israel is the paradigm of the right to life.

In 2006, Allam was a co-winner, with three other journalists, of the $1 million Dan David prize, named for the Israeli entrepreneur of the same name. Allam was cited for his ceaseless work in fostering understanding and tolerance between cultures.

Benedict opened the lengthy nighttime service by blessing a white candle, which he then carried down the main aisle of the darkened St. Peter’s Basilica. Slowly, the pews began to light up as his flame was shared with candles carried by the faithful, until the whole basilica twinkled and the main lights came on.

The baptism rite during the vigil service is part of the joyful renewal Christians associate with Easter.

There is no overarching Muslim law on conversion. But under a widespread interpretation of Islamic legal doctrine, converting from Islam is apostasy and punishable by death — though killings are rare.

Egypt’s highest Islamic cleric, the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, wrote last year against the killing of apostates, saying there is no worldly retribution for Muslims who abandon their religion and that punishment would come in the afterlife.

Reaction to Allam’s conversion was largely muted from Italy’s Muslim community.

The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy — which Allam has frequently criticized as having links to Hamas — said the baptism was a personal choice.

He is an adult, free to make his personal choice, the Apcom news agency quoted the group’s spokesman, Issedin El Zir, as saying.

Osama bin Laden accused the pope in a new audio message posted Wednesday of playing a large and lengthy role in a new Crusade against Islam that included the publication of drawings of the Prophet Mohammed that many Muslims found insulting.

Lombardi said Thursday that bin Laden’s accusation was baseless. He said Benedict repeatedly criticized the Mohammed cartoons, first published in some European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in February.
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China’s threats raise boycott talk

(CNN) — China’s threats to crush the Tibetan uprisings were followed by protests in Britain and India on Saturday, while European politicians again raised the prospect of boycotting the Beijing Olympics if violence continues.

The Communist Party’s flagship newspaper People’s Daily urged the shattering of the conspiracy and sabotaging activities of the ‘Tibet independence’ forces on Saturday.

Beijing also released a most wanted list of 21 protesters as it seeks to quell the largest challenge to China’s control of the region since the 1959 uprising.

But in London, hundreds of people protested outside China’s embassy in a gathering organized by the Free Tibet Campaign, among other activist groups.

The Chinese are worried about their public image, their global image at the Olympics. We’re worried about lives, Chonpel Tsering, a Tibetan who has lived in London since 1982, told The Associated Press.

We know some have been killed and hundreds, perhaps thousands have been arrested.

Campaigner Matt Whitticase told AP that the protesters want the British government to force China to allow the Red Cross and the United Nations into Tibet.

He said the organizations should be allowed to give medical treatment to those hurt in the violence and to objectively report on what was happening there.

Campaigners also want China to lift its ban on allowing foreign journalists into Tibet. Watch demonstrations in Taiwain, India

MP Kate Hoey of Britain’s ruling Labour Party was expected to address the demonstration when the march ended in Trafalgar Square, alongside the chairman of the Tibetan community in the UK, Sonam Frasi, and former political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol.

Meanwhile, the president of the European Union’s Parliament said Saturday that the region’s countries should not rule out threatening China with an Olympic boycott if violence continues in Tibet.

Beijing must decide itself; it should immediately negotiate with the Dalai Lama, Hans-Gert Poettering told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

If there continue to be no signals of compromise, I see boycott measures as justified.

France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has backtracked this month from his suggestion of a boycott of the Olympics’ opening ceremonies, saying that some economic decisions must be made at the expense of human rights.

The games will be staged August 8-24.

On Saturday in Dharmsala, the seat of Tibet’s government-in-exile, hundreds of protesters carrying Tibetan and Indian flags marched through the streets to pledge their support to the Dalai Lama and voice their disapproval of China’s crackdown in the region.

Many of the roughly 500 protesters were local Indian businessmen, shouting statements like Keep fighting, Tibetans and Long live the Dalai Lama.

India has had a long relationship with Tibetans, Ram Swarup, a prominent local businessman, told the AP. We are concerned about what’s happening in Tibet and are here to show our solidarity to the Tibetan people.

Beijing has smothered Tibetan areas with troops, cracking down after March 10 protests marking the anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule turned violent four days later.

Beijing’s official death toll from the rioting is now 22, but the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile has said that 99 Tibetans have been killed.

The protests, which started in Lhasa, touched off demonstrations among Tibetans in three other provinces.

Beijing has portrayed the protests as having been instigated by supporters of the Dalai Lama.

We must see through the secessionist forces’ evil intentions, uphold the banner of maintaining social stability … and resolutely crush the ‘Tibet independence’ forces’ conspiracy, the People’s Daily said in an editorial.

However, the United States joined the debate Friday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — a Democrat — lending her support to the Tibetan cause on a visit with the Dalai Lama at his headquarters.

The AP reported that she called China’s crackdown a challenge to the conscience of the world and dismissed Beijing’s claim that the Dalai Lama was behind the fighting as making no sense. Watch Pelosi speak out against China’s actions in Tibet

In response to worldwide criticism, Beijing has begun releasing tallies of statements of support from foreign governments and trying to get its version of events before the international community.

On Friday, authorities intensified a hunt for 21 people accused of violence, posting their photos on major Internet portals.

The suspects are accused of endangering national security and cited for beating, smashing, looting and arson. One was shown wielding a long sword, and another had been shown on news programs slashing another with a foot-long blade.

Outside Lhasa, Beijing has deployed troops across a wide area of western China, where more than half of China’s 5.4 million Tibetans live, the AP reported.
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