Jose Mourinho: Premier League apologises over story 'mistake'

The Premier League has apologised to Chelsea after publishing a story on its website saying Jose Mourinho had returned as manager of the Blues.
The story appeared on Sunday with Monday's date and was later removed.
"It was a publishing error. We took it down as soon as we were notified of it. We've apologised to Chelsea," said a Premier League spokesman.
He added that the Premier League had no prior knowledge of any movement or any announcement regarding Mourinho.

The story, dated Monday, was later removed from the site
The story was headlined: "Portuguese coach is back at Stamford Bridge after signing a xx-year contract."
It went on: "Jose Mourinho returns for second stint as Chelsea manager. Portuguese signs x-year-deal."
Chelsea have made no comment.
Mourinho signed off from his three-year spell at Real Madrid on Saturday with a 4-2 win over Osasuna.
He is widely expected to return to Stamford Bridge and link up again with the club he first joined in 2004 and led to back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006. He left to join Inter Milan in 2008.
In response to the anticipated confirmation of the Portuguese's return to west London, David Johnstone, spokesman for Chelsea fanzine cfcuk, said Mourinho could bring the club together again.
"The Chelsea players and the supporters will love him," he said. "For a lot of time since he left, supporters haven't been united. Last season saw probably the worst show of disunity I've experienced since I started following the club 40 years ago.
"Hopefully he will unite the fans.
"It will be a relief once the deal is finally announced and he will be welcomed back. He shouldn't have left in the first place and hopefully second time around it could be even better."
Following Saturday's match against Osasuna, Real defender Ricardo Carvalho, who has agreed a deal to join French side Monaco, hinted that Mourinho was heading back to London.
Carvalho played for Chelsea under Mourinho - and when asked whether they could win next season's Premier League, the defender said: "I'm sure in two, three years they can but even in his [Mourinho's] first year he can win it again.
"When we arrived together in 2004 Chelsea had not won the league for 50 years so I hope now they can win it again. Jose is a special coach and I think he deserves all the best because he works very hard."



bbc

U.S. takes Apple to trial over e-books price-fixing

(Reuters) - Apple Inc goes to trial Monday over allegations by federal and state authorities that it conspired with publishers to raise the price of e-books.

The trial pits the maker of the popular iPad and iPhone against the U.S. Justice Department in a case that tests how Internet retailers interact with content providers.

"This case will effectively set the rules for Internet commerce," said David Balto, a former policy director for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

The Justice Department filed its case against Apple and five of the six largest U.S. book publishers in April 2012. The lawsuit accused them of conspiring to increase e-book prices and break Amazon.com Inc's hold on pricing.

Apple is going to trial alone after the five publishers agreed to eliminate prohibitions on wholesale discounts and to pay a collective $164 million to benefit consumers.

The five publishers were Pearson Plc's Penguin Group, News Corp's HarperCollins Publishers Inc, CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster Inc, Hachette Book Group Inc and MacMillan.

The U.S. government is not seeking damages but instead an order blocking Apple from engaging in similar conduct. However, if Apple is found liable, it could still face damages in a separate trial by the state attorneys general and consumers pursuing class actions.

'DIRECT EVIDENCE'

Based on a comment by the presiding judge at the final hearing before the trial, Apple may face an uphill battle.

"I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books," U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who is hearing the case without a jury, said on May 23.

While those comments suggested Apple might be smart to seek a settlement, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in an interview Tuesday with All Things Digital that Apple was "not going to sign something that says we did something we didn't do."

Apple may be calculating that future damages claims by states and class actions make it worth going to trial, said John Lopatka, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University.

"Apple might think, 'We may lose at the trial level, but we may well convince an appellate court the trial judge mischaracterized the evidence," Lopatka said.

'MARKET IN TURMOIL'

Neither side disputes that in 2009 publishers were concerned about low prices for e-books resulting from the dominance of Amazon.com, which launched its Kindle e-reader in 2007.

As it prepared to launch its iPad and was looking into opening an electronic bookstore, Apple has said it was entering a "market in turmoil," with growing tension between the publishers and Amazon.

Amazon, which declined comment, was selling 90 percent of all e-books in 2009. It was buying books wholesale and at times selling them at a loss, pricing them at $9.99, with the goal of promoting its Kindle.

The Justice Department contends that Apple's entry into the market provided publishers with a means to get together to increase prices.

At the suggestion of Hachette and HarperCollins, the government says Apple began considering an agency model in which publishers set the price and Apple took a fixed percentage.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, told his biographer that, "we told the publishers, ‘We'll go to the agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30 percent, and yes, the customer pays a little more, but that's what you want anyway.'"

The Justice Department said Apple provided assurances to publishers their rivals would join.

Apple says that it was unaware of efforts by the publishers to conspire before it entered the marketplace, and said when it did, it act independently.

It also contends that in the wake of its introduction of the iBookstore, prices have fallen rather than risen from $7.97 on average to $7.34.

BIGGER ISSUE

For the Justice Department, many of its goals have been accomplished, thanks to the settlements with publishers, which lifted restrictions on discounting and promotions by e-book retailers. Those deals have already lowered prices for consumers, the department says.

But the government may be aiming at a bigger issue, said Geoffrey Manne, a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School.

Among other things, the government lawsuit seeks to declare that certain provisions in the agreements between Apple and the publishers are unenforceable.

These provisions, known as most-favored-nation clauses, provided that if other e-bookstores sold the books at cheaper prices, then Apple could reduce its prices. The government has said this provided an incentive for the publishers to raise prices at other retailers.

Similar types of most-favored nation clauses have been central in other content industries such as music and television where content providers have a role in setting the price. They have also become a discussion point in certain antitrust communities, Manne said, and a government win could "send a pretty strong message" about their use.

"If the government wins this case, it would be because the court for some reason determines that most-favored-nation clauses are more harmful to competition than helpful," he said.

The case is United States v. Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-02826.*

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in helicopter scare

Mr Ahmadinejad is believed to have returned to Tehran by road
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a group of government officials has been forced to make an emergency landing in a mountainous region in northern Iran.

No-one was hurt in the incident on Sunday, the president's website said.

The pilot reportedly managed to land the helicopter safely in the Alborz mountain range.

Mr Ahmadinejad is coming to the end of his second and final term as the nation's president.

He was on his way to inaugurate three road projects, including Iran's biggest road tunnel, in Mazandaran province, when the helicopter came down, reports said.

"The president and his accompanying delegation are in perfect health and the crashed helicopter stayed at the crash site for repairs," the news agency Mehr said.

It was unclear what caused the emergency landing.

Mr Ahmadinejad is believed to have returned to Tehran by road.

Eight approved candidates are standing for president in elections in June.

Mr Ahmadinejad's term in office ends in August as constitutional limits bar him from standing for a third time.

His ally, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, has been barred by the country's Guardian Council from standing, as has former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.



Bbcnews

Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina 'ends hunger strike'

Alyokhina previously spent five months in solitary confinement
Maria Alyokhina, a jailed member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, has ended her hunger strike after 11 days, her friend has said.

Pyotr Verzilov, husband of band-mate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, said Alyokhina's health was satisfactory.

He said her demands over security for inmates at the prison colony in the Urals town of Berezniki had been met.

Three Pussy Riot members were jailed after an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral in February 2012.

Yekaterina Samutsevich had her sentence suspended on appeal last October. Tolokonnikova was denied parole last month.

Padlocks

Alyokhina had been moved to a hospital in her prison colony on Tuesday.

She begun her hunger strike after claiming prison officials were attempting to turn fellow inmates against her by holding a security crackdown in advance of her parole hearing.

She alleged that prisoners who formerly entered workplaces freely had to wait long periods for prison guards to escort them.

Mr Verzilov told Agence France-Presse: "Maria said that the prison administration took her on a special tour of the colony, to show her that her demands have been met."

He said the padlocks on buildings where inmates work had been removed.

He also told Interfax that Alyokhina's lawyer had filed an appeal against a court's refusal to grant her leave to apply for parole.

Alyokhina previously spent five months in solitary confinement after claiming that officials deliberately lodged her with hardened criminals and encouraged them to intimidate her.

The Pussy Riot trio were jailed for two years last August after being convicted of a breach of public order motivated by religious hatred.

The prosecution prompted worldwide condemnation, with Sir Paul McCartney among those calling for the band members to be freed.


bbcnews

Egypt's Shura Council and constitution panel 'invalid'

Egypt's top court has ruled that the upper house, or Shura Council, and a panel that drafted the new constitution are invalid.

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the laws governing the election of members of the Islamist-dominated Shura Council and the constitutional panel were illegal.

But the court said the Shura would only be dissolved after new elections.

Egypt has faced a string of court cases challenging official institutions.

High security

Islamist President Mohammed Morsi had established the 100-member constitutional panel to draw up the new document.

The constitution was adopted by a nationwide vote in December.

It was unclear what effect the ruling would have on the legitimacy of the constitution.

The Supreme Constitutional Court had ruled last year that the electoral law under which both houses of parliament were elected was invalid, prompting its dissolution.

The Shura Council was then given legislative powers by the constitutional panel.

Mr Morsi's Freedom and Justice party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, holds 42% of the Shura Council's seats and can easily gain a majority with support from conservative allies.

Opponents say the president has used the council to rush through an Islamist agenda and laws that have too many loopholes.

In the latest ruling, the presiding judge, Maher al-Beheiry, said the Shura Council should remain until the election of a new parliament. A date has yet to be set for elections.

There was high security at the court building in southern Cairo ahead of the latest ruling.


BBCNEWS

Niger: Boko Haram prisoners tried to escape

(AP) — A Niger official says that members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram tried to escape from the central prison in Niamey on Saturday afternoon and killed two guards.

Niger prosecutor Ibrahim Waziri said late Saturday night that three prisoners from the radical Islamic group of Nigeria managed to grab a gun and killed two prison guards and injured three others in their attempt to break out of the prison. He said the three prisoners were captured.

The attempted prison break attack came less than a week Niger was rocked by a double suicide bombing by Islamic radicals in the towns fo Agadez and Arlit in which 35 were killed, including the attackers.*

Fashola Sues Jang Over NGF Chairmanship Position

The fight for the control of the Nigeria Governors' Forum between Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and Plateau Governor, Jonah Jang, took a different turn on Friday as pro-Ameachi governors, represented by Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, went to court to stop Jang from parading himself as the chairman of the NGF.

Fashola, who filed the suit at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in his capacity as a member of the forum, asked the court to declare that Jang is not competent to be called the elected chairman of the NGF.

Apart from Jang, other defendants in the suit are the Director-General of the NGF, Asishana Okauru; the Sole Administrator purportedly appointed by Jang, Osaro Onaiwu, and the Registered Trustees of the NGF vested with the power to administer and manage the trusts of the NGF.

In the writ of summons filed by a former Lagos Attorney General, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) and former West African Bar Association President, Femi Falana (SAN), Fashola maintained that 35 governors participated in the election that returned Amaechi as the NGF chairman.

He, therefore, asked the court to stop Jang from parading himself "as the elected chairman of the NGF in any manner whatsoever and howsoever."

Fashola is also seeking a declaration that the first defendant (Jang) is not competent to relocate the secretariat of the Nigeria Governors' Forum from No. 1, Deng Xiaoping Street, Off AIT Junction, Asokoro Extension, Abuja to No. 2, Nana Close, by Ene Crescent, Off Nile Street, Maitama, Abuja or to any other place.

The plaintiff revealed that Okauru had been under pressure from Jang to handover the assets and documents of the NGF to him (Jang).

He therefore asked the court to declare that Okauru "is not competent to handover the assets and documents of the Nigeria Governors' Forum to the first defendant, his agents, privies and servants in any manner whatsoever and howsoever."

Apart from these, the Lagos State governor also asked the court to declare that the second defendant (Okauru) is not competent to use the name Nigeria Governors' Forum in respect of any other organisation which does not have the 36 governors as members and/or in any other manner inconsistent with the constitution of the governors' forum.

He is also seeking an Order of Perpetual Injunction restraining Okauru from handing over the property and documents of the Nigeria Governors' Forum to Jang, his agents, privies and servants in any manner whatsoever and howsoever.

In addition to these, Fashola asked for, "an Order of Injunction restraining the third defendant from parading himself as the Sole Administrator of the forum in any manner whatsoever and howsoever."

In the statement of claim, Fashola stated that he would rely on the NGF's registered constitution at the trial.

He averred that the election into the post of the chairman of the NGF took place at the Rivers State Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja on Friday, May 25, 2013.

"The governors of Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara states took part in the said election.

"The four candidates who submitted nomination forms for the election were the governors of Bauchi, Katsina, Plateau and Rivers states. The nomination forms will be relied upon at the trial of this suit. Before the said election, the governors of Bauchi and Katsina states withdrew from the election leaving the contest for the governors of Plateau and Rivers states. Thereafter, the 35 governors voted for the candidates of their choice.

"At the end of the voting, the Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, scored 19 votes while his rival, the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Jonah Jang, scored 16 votes.

"Consequently, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was declared the winner of the election. At the trial of this suit, the plaintiff will rely on the video recording of the election which has been broadcast by the AIT and Channels Television stations."

The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, told SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday that pro-Amaechi governors were fully behind Fashola.

Speaking through his Commissioner for Special Duties and Regional Integration, Mr. Ajibola Basiru, Aregbesola said Fashola, as a member of the NGF, had the right to challenge any illegality by the forum.

Aregbesola said, "Any action to further entrench democracy is supported by Osun. This suit is one of such actions. Jang's action is ridiculous. Recent developments have shown that he didn't win the election.

"When he wanted to inaugurate the forum's secretariat in Abuja, he sent invitation cards to governors and only 16 governors, including himself, honoured the invitation. If you truly won an election and you feel you are being denied your mandate, you go to court. You don't resort to self-help."

Similarly, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said he was fully in support of his Lagos State counterpart action's to stop the pro-Jang governors from operating through the court action.

Fayemi, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, said Amaechi won the NGF election which was credible and that the opening of another secretariat was illegal.

He said, "Mr. Governor is fully in support of the court action. He is aware of it and he is throwing his weight behind Governor Fashola on this matter."

Reacting to Fashola's court action, the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Prof. Shedrack Best, said if pro-Amaechi governors were in the majority, there was no need for a law suit.

"If Governor Fashola claims that his camp has the majority, he does not need to go to court. Let him call them and showcase them."

Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who is in Jang's camp, also said governors were free to stop being members of the forum "because it is a free association."

He said, "We are not proud of what has happened. We are saying we must sit for what is just. It is an association of equals. It is a voluntary association. Anybody can pull out without any consequences.

"A situation where a chairman of a forum of equals decided to contest election while holding the position is not right.

"Some of us argue that he (Amaechi) was there by consensus and we expected that he should step down. Immediately he indicated his interest, I said he must dissolve the house then elect a pro tem chairman. Yes, it has always been a consensus issue and we know that the PDP endorsed Jang. If somebody planted a camera somewhere because it was his own house or because of lack of respect for others, it is too bad."

Efforts to speak with the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, on Friday were futile. When one of our correspondents called him on the phone, there was no response from Metuh. Subsequent calls made to his phone were not picked.

Jang who is believed to have the backing of President Goodluck Jonathan had lost the chairmanship election to Amaechi by 19 votes to 16.

He, however, refused to accept defeat and instead proclaimed himself as the authentic chairman of the forum.

Jang also appointed a sole administrator in place of the director-general of the forum.

Few days after Amaechi won the election with the support of opposition governors, the PDP suspended him as its member.

Jang's faction of the NGF also opened a parallel secretariat in Abuja on Thursday


Punch