Vanendert claims stage 14 victory

Dates: 2 July - 24 JulyCoverage: Listen live to every stage finish on the BBC Sport website (UK only); live text commentary on key stages; updates on BBC Radio 5 live & sports extraGet involved: Tweet with the hashtag #bbcTdF Vanendert claimed his maiden Tour victory Belgian Jelle Vanendert took the 168.5km mountainous trek from St Gaudens to Plateau de Beille to claim victory in the 14th stage of the Tour de France - his maiden win.

Spain's Samuel Sanchez finished second behind the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider and Luxembourg's Andy Schleck was third.

France's Thomas Voeckler retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.

Voeckler had been expected to lose his lead on Saturday, but held onto his one minute, 49 second advantage.

"I would be lying if I said I expected to be with the best climbers today," admitted Voeckler.

"I thought I had a chance to keep the jersey, but I was really surprised to be up there with them. But it was a good surprise."

Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finished 21 seconds behind, with Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) leading the group of favourites home, 46 seconds adrift.

Andy Schleck finished two seconds ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard), Voeckler and Frank Schleck, who were all 48 seconds adrift of Vanendert.

On four previous occasions when a stage has finished at Plateau de Beille, the winner has gone on to stand on top of the podium in Paris.

However, with seven days of racing and the Alps to come, it is premature to announce Vanendert as a successor to Marco Pantani (1998), Lance Armstrong (2002 and 2004) and Alberto Contador (2007) - particularly due to his already-hefty deficit.

With six classified climbs, including the 15.8km ascent to the finish, it was always likely to be a day for the general classification contenders, including Contador, racing with a large support who had flooded over the Spanish border.

But, as on Thursday's 12th stage to Luz-Ardiden, defending champion Contador appeared short of his best and remained four minutes behind Voeckler.

Sunday's 193km 15th stage from Limoux to Montpellier is likely to end in a sprint finish, where green jersey holder Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) comes into his own, giving the general classification hopefuls time to gather breath before the Alps.

STAGE 14 RESULT

1. Jelle Vanendert (Belgium/Omega Pharma-Lotto) 5h 13m 25s

2. Samuel Sanchez (Spain / Euskaltel) +21"

3. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg / Leopard) +46"

4. Cadel Evans (Australia / BMC Racing) +48"

5. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / Team Sky)

6. Alberto Contador (Spain / Saxo Bank)

7. Thomas Voeckler (France / Europcar)

8. Fraenk Schleck (Luxembourg / Leopard)

9. Jean Christophe Peraud (France / AG2R)

10. Pierre Rolland (France / Europcar)

11. Ivan Basso (Italy / Liquigas)

OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Thomas Voeckler (France/Europcar) 61hrs 04mins 10secs

2. Fraenk Schleck (Luxembourg / Leopard) +1:49"

3. Cadel Evans (Australia / BMC Racing) +2:06"

4. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg / Leopard) +2:15"

5. Ivan Basso (Italy / Liquigas) +3:16"

6. Samuel Sanchez (Spain / Euskaltel) +3:44"

7. Alberto Contador (Spain / Saxo Bank) +4:00"

8. Damiano Cunego (Italy / Lampre) +4:01"

9. Tom Danielson (U.S. / Garmin) +5:46"

10. Kevin De Weert (Belgium / Quick-Step) +6:18"

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Pakistan rejects US murder claims

8 July 2011 Last updated at 11:10 GMT Saleem Shahzad had complained of ISI threats Pakistan has reacted angrily to the US army's top officer's suggestion that the government "sanctioned" the killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad.

Information minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that Adm Mike Mullen's statement was "extremely irresponsible and regrettable."

She said it would cause difficulties in relations between the sides and prove a setback to the war against terror.

US-Pakistan relations have been extremely fraught in recent months.

But Adm Mike Mullen's remarks are the most explicit yet in a downward spiral in recent US-Pakistan relations.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says that for a senior American official to say that he believes the authorities were involved heaps further pressure on Islamabad at a time when the Pakistani government's relationship with Washington - on which it has become so reliant for support - is under serious strain.

Mr Shahzad was kidnapped near his home in Islamabad in May. His body was found two days later in Punjab province. At the time, many in the Pakistani media blamed Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for the murder. The ISI has denied involvement in the case.

Adm Mullen said he could not confirm if the the ISI was involved.

"I have not seen anything that would disabuse that report that the government knew about this," Adm Mullen told journalists in Washington on Thursday.

"It was sanctioned by the government, yeah," he said.

Adm Mullen added that he did not have a "string of evidence" linking the death to the ISI.

Downward spiral

Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, said an independent inquiry was evidence that the government was taking the journalist's killing seriously. The government-appointed commission to investigate the killing began work last month.

Continue reading the main story M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad

Adm Mullen's latest salvo is being interpreted here as an attempt by the US to keep pressure on the Pakistani security establishment at a time when the latter is engaged in a vigorous PR campaign to project a softer image of the military.

US-Pakistan relations visibly deteriorated with the Raymond Davis affair in March, when a CIA agent shot and killed two Pakistani men. Two months later, US special forces killed Osama Bin Laden on Pakistani territory.

In subsequent weeks, there have been high-profile visits by US officials to Pakistan, creating an impression that both sides are determined to move on from their mutual troubles.

But Mr Mullen's statement indicates that differences between the two countries not only persist, they are becoming serious enough to warrant public accusation by a high-ranking US official that Pakistani government "sanctioned" the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad.

"Any evidence that our American friends have should be shared with that commission," Mr Haqqani told the New York Times newspaper.

"We are as interested in getting to the bottom of this matter as anyone else in the world, given our concern about human rights," he said.

Tension between the US and Pakistan hit a new low after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden by US commandos in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Last month, Adm Mullen publicly acknowledged that there would be substantial cuts to US military numbers in Pakistan.

He said that US-Pakistan ties needed time to heal but added that it would be dangerous to abandon Islamabad.

"I think the worst thing we could do would be cut them off," he said. If that happened, he said, "10 years from now, 20 years from now, we go back and it's much more intense and it's much more dangerous."

Correspondents say that during his tenure, Adm Mullen has been a forceful advocate for maintaining dialogue with Pakistan and with its military establishment.

He was said to be close to the Pakistani army's chief of staff, Gen Ashfaq Kayani. Indeed, Adm Mullen is thought to have made more visits to Pakistan than any other senior US official or chief of staff in recent times. But, correspondents say, the latest comments are yet more evidence of his patience wearing thin.

He steps down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later this year.

Journalist 'danger' Continue reading the main story On 22 May a deadly 15-hour siege on Pakistan's Mehran naval airbase in Karachi left 16 deadOn 27 May Saleem Shahzad published a piece about al-Qaeda infiltration in Pakistan's navy A number of journalists have speculated that the attackers may have had inside helpAn ex-naval commando was arrested in connection with the attacks on 30 MayMr Shahzad, who worked for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and the Italian news agency Adnkronos International, had made a career writing about various Islamist militant networks operating in Pakistan.

Shortly before his death he had written an article about al-Qaeda infiltration in Pakistan's navy.

He reported that the militant group was behind a recent deadly assault on the Mehran base in Karachi because talks had failed over the release of several naval personnel arrested on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda affiliates.

Human rights groups have called Pakistan the most dangerous place in the world for journalists to operate, saying they were under threat from Islamist militants but also Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies.

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BoA pays $8.5bn to settle claims

29 June 2011 Last updated at 11:50 GMT The payouts are to large investors who bought bonds backed by bad-quality mortgage loans Bank of America says an $8.5bn (?5.3bn) payout over housing crash claims will leave it with quarterly losses of up to $9.1bn.

The money, from the bank's Countrywide arm, is to settle claims that it sold poor quality mortgage-backed bonds that lost money when the market crashed.

The mortgages were granted without proper checks on, for example, borrowers' creditworthiness.

The payout is the third of its type this year.

The bank says it will also set aside another $5.5bn in provisions.

Bank of America's chief executive, Brian Moynihan, said: "We will continue to act aggressively and in the best interest of our shareholders to clean up the mortgage issues largely stemming from our purchase of Countrywide."

In pre-US market trading, though, the shares rose 6% on relief that the issue had been resolved.

Earlier this year, the bank agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (?1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.

Those claims also related to loans sold by Countrywide Financial Corporation, which Bank of America bought in 2008.

Bank of America agreed a further payout in April for an estimated $1.6bn to resolve claims with the bond insurer Assured Guaranty.

The payout is subject to court approval.

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Libya PM claims talks with rebels

18 June 2011 Last updated at 02:16 GMT The BBC's Andrew Harding followed a student in the UK joining the rebels

Libya's prime minister has said his government has been in talks with the rebels fighters, despite denials from the rebels themselves.

Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi called for new negotiations between the government and rebel leaders to resolve the conflict.

He also accused Nato of crimes against humanity in its attacks on Libya.

Earlier, Libyan rebels said that 10 civilians had been killed and 40 wounded in a rocket attack by Col Gaddafi's forces on Misrata.

"Our doors are open to all and we are in contact with all the parties," Mr Mahmudi said, according to Agence France-Presse.

He said meetings had taken place in Egypt, France, Norway and Tunisia, and that he could "name the persons" who attended from the rebels' side.

'No negotiation'

But Mahmoud Jibril, the head of international affairs in the rebel National Transitional Council, said earlier on Friday that there had been "no negotiation" between the council and the regime.

Continue reading the main story

This is the first time they [Nato] are facing an armed nation of millions... They will be defeated”

End Quote Col Muammar Gaddafi Speaking in Naples after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, he said that were negotiations to take place, the TNC would "announce it out of commitment to our friends all over the world".

He added: "We pursue every means possible, whether political, whether military, to liberate our country and establish democratic government based on a constitution and equal rights."

The prime minister's comments came as Nato planes carried out further raids on the capital, Tripoli, attacks which Mr al-Mahmudi said constituted war crimes.

He called for "an urgent meeting" of the United Nations to examine "these crimes committed by Nato against Libyan civilians".

On Friday, Libyan government forces bombarded the western rebel-held city of Misrata and territory held by rebel fighters between Dafniya and Zlitan.

'They ruined it'

These are the next towns on the road to Tripoli from Misrata, as they continued trying to advance westwards after weeks of being besieged by Col Gaddafi's forces.

Ambulances ferried wounded rebel fighters from the front line west of Misrata

The rebels returned fire from the front line, about 32km (20 miles) from Misrata, with their own artillery and rocket launchers.

A rebel commander, Mohammed Ali, said they were aiming at tanks and munitions stores in Naima, near Zlitan.

"We had a strategy to finish everything today but some of the fighters think it's a game," he told the Reuters news agency. "They shot when they weren't supposed to shoot and they have ruined it."

Nato military spokesman Wing Cdr Mike Bracken told reporters that there were "some positive signs that civilians are unifying against the Gaddafi regime" in the area.

What started as a peaceful uprising against Col Gaddafi's 41-year-rule four months ago has grown into a civil war, with the rebels now holding a third of the country in the east and pockets in the west, including Misrata.

Tripoli remains firmly under the control of the government, despite Nato launching more daytime air strikes.

Following fresh air raids on Friday, Libyan state TV broadcast an audio message from Col Gaddafi, in which he shouted: "We are in our country and we are determined to stay and defend it. We are staying, we are staying. Let them even use nuclear bombs."

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