jonnann

Malbranque lawyers respond to claim he's retiring to care for son: "Steed does not have a son & his immediate family are all in good health"

It was a summer camp for the Labour partys youth division. Not a political meeting. 500-700 youths from 14 to 30 spend 4 days there every year. There are concerts, football-tournaments, political meetings etc. People sleep in tents. A summercamp for like-minded people. Some probably brought their children.

Children as young as 7-8 years old were killed at Utøya. They were doing work there, picking up empty bottles. According to eyewitnesses.

TORRES SIGNS SIX-YEAR DEAL FOR REDS Jimmy Rice Fernando Torres has today completed his move from Atletico Madrid to Liverpool after putting pen to paper on a six-year deal. liverpoolfc.tv: TORRES SIGNS SIX-YEAR DEAL FOR REDS

RICK Parry is set to leave Liverpool Football Club. The ECHO understands Parry’s departure by mutual consent will be officially announced by Liverpool later today. The long serving chief executive will not leave with immediate effect though with all parties in agreement that he will remain in position until the end of the current season. Speculation will inevitably surface suggesting Parry has lost a power struggle with Reds boss Rafa Benitez but the ECHO understands the real reason for his power is an acknowledgement that his relationship with Tom Hicks is unworkable. As yet, there are no indications about who will replace Parry when his time at the club comes to an end.

Didn’t we buy Keane for 17mp plus about 3mp add-ons? Keane has played 19 games for us in the league and haven’t been in the squad in the last couple of games. Maybe the first add-on kicks inn after 20 games and that’s the reason he is not in the squad? Anyway if we sell him for 15mp we really haven’t lost that much.

Interesting reading regarding Kop Football Limited. This Is Anfield • View topic - TAKEOVER Talk Thread v.4: Kuwaitis to take over?

TONY BARRETT: No sign of an end to Liverpool FC civil warfare Jan 26 2009 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo 1 2 next » ANYONE expecting a swift and merciful end to the ongoing battle for the soul of Liverpool Football Club has clearly not been paying too much attention over the last two painful years. Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser al Kharafi is the latest potential suitor to come to the Anfield table, have a look at the deal on offer and walk away. Like both Dubai International Capital and the emirate of Dubai itself before him, Kharafi has found the investment "opportunity" not to his liking. Given the fact that the asking price for a partial or total stake in the club is not in keeping with its actual value it is little surprise that hardened businessmen don't want a piece of the action, especially with Tom Hicks looking to remain on the scene and carry on calling at least some of the shots. One city source told the ECHO that he was stunned that any potential investor would be willing to enter into a dialogue about the possibility of buying Liverpool at this time and was bemused by al Kharafi's emergence onto the scene. "With any business deal of this magnitude you have to ask yourself one very simple question – is the commodity on offer worth the price that is being sought," he said. "Remember that an asking price does not always reflect market value. "In the case of Liverpool Football Club, the asking price will inevitably fall in the months to come so why would anyone buy it now?" It is simple economics which makes this the case. Hicks and his warring co-owner George Gillett have until July to either find a new refinancing deal or to pay back the £350m debt they owe the Royal Bank of Scotland. In the current financial climate there is precious little chance of either happening and the longer the owners go without being able to do so the more likely they are to be dragged kicking and screaming into a buyers market. It is all a long way from a little over a year ago when Hicks and Gillett were in the box seat and confident enough in their position to be able to tell a bidder with the massive wealth of Dubai that even an offer in the region of £500m was not enough for Sheikh Mohammed to get his hands on the keys to Anfield. There was even a suggestion at one point of a member of Hicks' negotiating team informing a representative of Dubai that the asking price was actually £1bn. When asked why he thought Dubai would be willing to pay almost five times what Hicks and Gillett had bought the club for just a year earlier the representative replied: "Because you are Father Christmas". Whether this anecdote is an accurate portrayal of what occurred it does serve as an allegory to a time when Hicks in particular thought he was in a position to make such demands. That was pre-credit crunch though and the world is an altogether different place since billions upon billions of pounds were wiped off the value of global stock markets – and a crisis of confidence in the banking sector brought the usual lending and borrowing practices almost to a standstill. The source added: "Look, even Man United are having difficulties in recent months. "Back in September they were confident that the crisis in the financial world would not affect their lucrative sponsorship deal with AIG even though AIG were in serious trouble. "Last week AIG pulled the plug and now United are facing up to the prospect of having to find a sponsor in a climate which is nowhere near as healthy as the one in which they did their last deal. "Everyone is retrenching and the football industry will have to cut its cloth accordingly like everyone else. "If Hicks and Gillett were not already aware of this then they will be now. "The situation for them is clear. If they are to make the kind of money they had hoped to from their acquisition of Liverpool then they must build the new stadium. "But this is probably impossible now that lending has all but dried up and they will have enough trouble refinancing their current outstanding loans, never mind taking out new ones. "Realistically, an exit strategy is their only way forward and this has been the case for some time. "They will be hoping that a deal can be done in the very near future because with every day that passes and the closer they get to the date when they must refinance, the lower their asking price will have to become." Friday's leaking of al Kharafi's interest was the latest salvo in a PR battle which has been out of control for more than a year. Indications are that the story which appeared in almost every single national newspaper emerged from London and outraged al Kharafi who had demanded that any business be done in private. Sources in Kuwait have told the ECHO that the moment news leaked any potential deal was dead in the water and stressed that the plug would have been pulled on Friday had it not been a holy day in the Muslim faith. The motives for the leak are as yet unclear although one theory is that it was a thinly veiled attempt to try and generate interest by someone in one or other of the American owners camps. It will certainly not have been a co-ordinated move though as despite claims that Hicks and Gillett are working hand in hand, their mutual antipathy is as strong as ever. Also, the withdrawal of interest from Kuwait should not be seen as a takeover collapse. No deal was imminent and no price had been agreed. Al Kharafi tested the water and like others before him found the temperature not to his liking. But one thing is for sure, Liverpool's parlous ownership situation is not likely to improve in the months to come. If anything, things are only going to get worse as the clock ticks down to the July D-day for refinancing and the potential for the current owners to make vast profits diminishes with every passing hour. The past two years have been disastrous for Liverpool FC but the next six months are set up for matters to deteriorate still further. With hundreds of millions of pounds at stake, a bitterly divided boardroom and no apparent saviour at the Shankly gates, an already bumpy ride is only likely to become even more hazardous for Liverpool and its long suffering fans.

HICKS CASH CHASE By David Maddock 26/01/2009 Tom Hicks yesterday flew in to sort out Liverpool's future. Mirror Sport can reveal he and partner George Gillett approached six different parties in an attempt to secure investment in the club. Hicks was not due on Merseyside until later this week, but brought the trip forward. Gillett is also jetting to Liverpool to discuss pressing matters such as boss Rafa Benitez's contract and the future of players including Daniel Agger and Dirk Kuyt. The future of the club will top the agenda, as Hicks attempts to bring in fresh money while clinging on to a stake in the club. The Americans separately approached several leading business figures offering a share in Anfield in return for much-needed funds. But while Gillett is prepared to sell his 50 per cent, Hicks is reluctant to do the same. He hopes to retain an investment and remain on the board. It is understood Hicks is looking for an investor prepared to work with him in a partnership to buy out all of Gillett's stake. Kuwaiti businessman Nasser Al-Kharafi, ranked by Forbes as the 48th richest man in the world, was among those approached. His representatives had talks last week with Liverpool's Finance and Commercial directors, initially to hear proposals over a possible investment opportunity. But there are other potential investors, and it has been revealed by sources at Anfield that the link with Al-Kharafi was leaked in an attempt flush out rival bidders. Liverpool have been trying to finalise a naming rights deal to pay for their new stadium, while the Al-Kharafi Group is looking at sponsoring a Premier League club as a means of promoting the luxury holiday resort it has built at Port Ghalib on the Red Sea. Company vice-president Loay Al-Kharafi said it was "not at the moment looking to a buy a club". HICKS CASH CHASE - mirror.co.uk

I don’t think you can pin this one on Parry. It seems that the club has stopped all ongoing contract negotiations.

Link to the interview: Ekstra Bladet - Daniel Agger frustreret og ærgerlig

Agger had a meeting with Liverpool regarding his contract in the beginning of November, and the club told him that they would contact him soon. Three months later nothing has happened. He says he is frustrated. According to an interview with Extrabladet (Danish)

Is he really that good?

2 million euros according to Emsdettener Volkszeitung.

Teams: Portsmouth: Ashdown; Lauren, Kaboul, Wilson, D.Traore; Nugent (Duffy 46), Mvuemba, Hughes, Utaka; Kanu, Sahar. Liverpool: Bouzanis; Mendy, Ayala, San Jose, Kelly; Crowther, Spearing, Irwin, Weijl; Pacheco, Flora. Goals: P: Arnold Mvuemba L: Flora, San Jose, Irwin and Brouwer

Vincent Weijl and Jordy brouwer scored.

DUBAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Dubai Investment Group said on Wednesday it is not involved in any negotiations to buy Newcastle football club and does not plan to do so in the future. "Following incorrect media speculation about Newcastle Football Club, Dubai Investment Group can confirm that it is not involved in any negotiations to buy Newcastle Football Club, nor does it plan to do so in the future," the investment firm, which is a member of Dubai Holding, said in a statement. Dubai Investment Group says will not buy Newcastle | Reuters

Albert Riera can make impact at Liverpool, says Rafael Benitez - Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk Riera, though, represented the main business of the day for Liverpool, with the 26-year-old finally putting pen to paper on a four-year contract. Liverpool have negotiated a deal that will see them pay an initial £5.5million fee with Espanyol set to receive a significant slice of any sell-on fee.

Liverpool FC close to deal for Robbie Keane Jul 18 2008 EXCLUSIVE by John Thompson, Liverpool Echo Liverpool FC close to deal for Robbie Keane - Liverpool Echo.co.uk

It wasn't a dirty tackle...