Football: Messi scores twice as Barcelona make record start to season

MADRID: Lionel Messi hit a brace as Barcelona beat Zaragoza 3-1 to make the best ever start to a Liga season but Real Madrid kept in touch with a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.

There were doubts that Tito Vilanova could take on the mantle left by Pep Guardiola this summer but he has proved himself in emphatic fashion with the team notching up eleven wins and a draw so far that leaves them six points clear at the top and eight ahead of bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Messi opened the scoring but while Francisco Montanes brought Zaragoza level, Alex Song restored the advantage before the break. Messi got his second and his 17th of the season to ensure a victory and another record with Barca's start beating those of Real Madrid in the 1968-69 and the 1991-92 seasons.

"It was an excellent performance from the team and Leo is a key player but he doesn't do it on his own and has great players around him," said Vilanova afterwards.

Madrid have an uphill task to now catch Barca but the ease with which they took apart Athletic suggests they are on the right track.

A deflected shot from Karim Benzema off Jon Aurtenetxe put them ahead after 12 minutes and then Sergio Ramos and Benzema again gave them a commanding lead. Ibai Gomez reduced the arrears before the break but Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira made it a heavy defeat for sorry Athletic.

Barca had their preferred centre-half pairing of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol available for the first time since mid-September due to injuries and Song was chosen ahead of Javier Mascherano to play the defensive midfield role with Sergio Busquets suspended.

The main surprise for Zaragoza was the decision to play Carlos Aranda in attack rather than the in-form Helder Postiga with the likely reason that he is more of a team player who drops deep than an out-and-out striker.

Injuries and suspension forced Zaragoza to field makeshift defence with Raul Goni coming in at left back and Adam Pinter in the centre, and they struggled from the start especially on the left.

Jordi Alba crossed for Messi in the first minute and though he shot just wide the Argentine did put Barca ahead after 15 minutes with Alba again the supplier.

Messi was given plenty of room in the heart of the defence to pick his spot and slotted past keeper Roberto Jimenez.

Barca were looking lively and passing the ball with fluidity despite the fact that a number had been away on international duty during the week, but Zaragoza drew level out of the blue.

The home side failed to clear a corner with full-back Martin Montoya only finding the edge of the area where Montanes fired the ball back in and it found the back of the net after taking a slight deflection off Puyol.

With the ease that Barca were opening up Zaragoza there was little alarm among the Catalan faithful and five minutes later it was their idol Messi who set up the second goal. He pulled the ball back from the deadball line for Song to score a rare goal.

Barca continued to dominate the game but Zaragoza looked dangerous when they did attack with Victor Rodriguez and Montanes going close with shots from distance before the break.

The home side then dropped their level with passes going astray, giving some hope to Zaragoza on the counter-attack.

But Messi responded to wrap the game up with half an hour to go with another clinical finish. This time he was found by the right full-back Montoya and he found the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Earlier, a contentious late penalty by Roberto Soldado condemned nine-man Espanyol to a 2-1 defeat by Valencia.

Bottom-side Espanyol more than held their own after Samuele Longo equalised Jonathan Viera's opener but minutes from the end Hector Moreno was adjudged to have handled in the area. Replays suggest the ball hit his chest.

Moreno and Sergio Garcia were dismissed for complaining.

Elsewhere, Malaga drew 0-0 away to Osasuna.

- AFP/de

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Criminal defamation case: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh summoned

NEW DELHI: A trial court on Saturday issued summons against senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in a criminal defamation case lodged by BJP President Nitin Gadkari after it found "prima facie" evidence to proceed against the politician.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar directed Singh to appear before the court on December 21 to face trial for the offence punishable under section 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC.

Gadkari had filed a defamation case against the Congress general secretary who had allegedly accused him of having business links with his party MP Ajay Sancheti.

In his plea, Gadkari had alleged that Singh accused Gadkari of pocketing huge sum to the tune of Rs 490 crore in the coal block allocation to Sancheti. tnn

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

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GOP Mourning for Mitt Romney? Not So Much

Republicans are over it.

And most of them aren't doing much mourning for Mitt Romney.

Just over a week since the two-time Republican presidential hopeful failed to deny President Obama a second term, instead of offering up condolences for a candidate who garnered 48 percent of the popular vote, GOP leaders seem to be keeping Romney at arm's length.

"I've never run for president -- I've lost elections but never for the presidency -- and I'm sure it stings terribly," New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie said in an interview Friday morning with MSNBC, but added: "When you lose, you lost."

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, an early endorser and a frequent presence by Romney's side on the campaign trail, echoed Christie.

"The campaign is over," she said in an MSNBC interview on Thursday, "and what the voters are looking for us to do is to accept their votes and go forward."

A period of blame and soul-searching was inevitable for Republicans after Nov. 6, but Romney hastened it with his candid comments on a conference call with donors this week in which he attributed President Obama's win to the "gifts" he gave to key voting blocs.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Specifically, Romney told some of his top campaign contributors that he lost because, in his words, "what the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote, and that strategy worked."

According to Romney, some of the best "gifts" went to Hispanic voters, who overwhelmingly supported President Obama.

"One, he gave them a big gift on immigration with the Dream Act amnesty program, which was obviously very, very popular with Hispanic voters, and then No. 2 was Obamacare," Romney said on a conference call, audio of which was obtained by ABC News.

It took almost no time for GOP leaders to disavow Romney's assessment.

"I don't think that represents where we are as a party and where we're going as a party," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender, said at a press conference at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Las Vegas earlier this week. "If we're going to continue to be a competitive party and win elections on the national stage and continue to fight for our conservative principles, we need two messages to get out loudly and clearly: One, we are fighting for 100 percent of the votes, and second, our policies benefit every American who wants to pursue the American dream."

Ayotte also refused to give Romney any cover: "I don't agree with the comments."

Neither did former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, one of Romney's primary rivals who went on to become one of his most ardent surrogates.

"I don't think it's as simple as saying the president gave out gifts," he said in an interview with C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program that is set to air this weekend.

Pawlenty said that President Obama "just tactically did a better job getting out the vote in his campaign" and "at least at the margins, was better able to connect with people in this campaign."

His view is backed up by the national exit polls, which show that 53 percent of voters said that President Obama was "more in touch" with people like them compared with 43 percent who said the same of Romney.

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Israel hits Hamas buildings, shoots down Tel Aviv-bound rocket

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza, and the "Iron Dome" defense system shot down a Tel Aviv-bound rocket on Saturday as Israel geared up for a possible ground invasion.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said Israeli missiles wrecked the office building of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - where he had met on Friday with the Egyptian prime minister - and struck a police headquarters.

Along the Tel Aviv beachfront, volleyball games came to an abrupt halt and people crouched as sirens sounded. Two interceptor rockets streaked into the sky. A flash and an explosion followed as Iron Dome, deployed only hours earlier near the city, destroyed the incoming projectile in mid-air.

With Israeli tanks and artillery positioned along the Gaza border and no end in sight to hostilities now in their fourth day, Tunisia's foreign minister travelled to the enclave in a show of Arab solidarity.

In Cairo, a presidential source said Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi would hold four-way talks with the Qatari emir, the prime minister of Turkey and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in the Egyptian capital on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Egypt has been working to reinstate calm between Israel and Hamas after an informal ceasefire brokered by Cairo unraveled over the past few weeks. Meshaal, who lives in exile, has already held a round of talks with Egyptian security officials.

Officials in Gaza said 43 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians including eight children, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

The Israeli army said it had zeroed in on a number of government buildings during the night, including Haniyeh's office, the Hamas Interior Ministry and a police compound.

Taher al-Nono, a spokesman for the Hamas government, held a news conference near the rubble of the prime minister's office and pledged: "We will declare victory from here."

Hamas's armed wing claimed responsibility for Saturday's rocket attack on Tel Aviv, the third against the city since Wednesday. It said it fired an Iranian-designed Fajr-5 at the coastal metropolis, some 70 km (43 miles) north of Gaza.

"Well that wasn't such a big deal," said one woman, who had watched the interception while clinging for protection to the trunk of a baby palm tree on a traffic island.

In the Israeli Mediterranean port of Ashdod, a rocket ripped into several balconies. Police said five people were hurt.

Among those killed in airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday were at least four suspected militants riding on motorcycles.

Israel's operation has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called Israel's right to self-defense, along with appeals to avoid civilian casualties.

Hamas, shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, says its cross-border attacks have come in response to Israeli strikes against Palestinian fighters in Gaza.

RESERVIST CALL-UP

At a late night session on Friday, Israeli cabinet ministers decided to more than double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000, political sources said, in a signal Israel was edging closer to an invasion.

Around 16,000 reservists have already been called up.

Asked by reporters whether a ground operation was possible, Major-General Tal Russo, commander of the Israeli forces on the Gaza frontier, said: "Definitely."

"We have a plan ... it will take time. We need to have patience. It won't be a day or two," he added.

A possible move into the densely populated Gaza Strip and the risk of major casualties it brings would be a significant gamble for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, favorite to win a January national election.

Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week long Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year period of 2008-09, killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died.

But the Gaza conflagration has stirred the pot of a Middle East already boiling from two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to spread beyond its borders.

"Israel should understand that many things have changed and that lots of water has run in the Arab river," Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem said as he surveyed the wreckage from a bomb-blast site in central Gaza.

One major change has been the election of an Islamist government in Cairo that is allied with Hamas, potentially narrowing Israel's manoeuvering room in confronting the Palestinian group. Israel and Egypt made peace in 1979.

"DE-ESCALATION"

Netanyahu spoke late on Friday with U.S. President Barack Obama for the second time since the offensive began, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

"(Netanyahu) expressed his deep appreciation for the U.S. position that Israel has a right to defend itself and thanked him for American aid in purchasing Iron Dome batteries," the statement added.

The two leaders have had a testy relationship and have been at odds over how to curb Iran's nuclear program.

A White House official said on Saturday Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to discuss how the two countries could help bring an end to the Gaza conflict.

Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters that Washington "wants the same thing as the Israelis want", an end to rocket attacks from Gaza. He said the United States is emphasizing diplomacy and "de-escalation".

In Berlin, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had spoken to Netanyahu and Egypt's Mursi, stressing to the Israeli leader that Israel had a right to self-defense and that a ceasefire must be agreed as soon as possible to avoid more bloodshed.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Israel and Egypt next week to push for an end to the fighting in Gaza, U.N. diplomats said on Friday.

The Israeli military said 492 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel since the operation began. Iron Dome intercepted another 245.

In Jerusalem, targeted by a Palestinian rocket on Friday for the first time in 42 years, there was little outward sign on the Jewish Sabbath that the attack had any impact on the usually placid pace of life in the holy city.

Some families in Gaza have abandoned their homes - some of them damaged and others situated near potential Israeli targets - and packed into the houses of friends and relatives.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams and Douglas Hamilton in Tel Aviv, Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Jeff Mason aboard Air Force One, Writing by Jeffrey Heller; editing by Crispian Balmer)

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Golf: Ai Miyazato seizes LPGA lead

NAPLES, Florida: Japan's Ai Miyazato collected nine birdies in an eight-under par 64 on Friday to take a one-shot lead midway through the LPGA tour's season-ending Titleholders tournament.

Miyazato, seeking a third victory this season, had just one blemish on her card, a bogey at the par-five second hole.

She more than atoned, with five birdies on the front nine and four more on the back at TwinEagles for a 10-under total of 134 after two rounds.

"I was just really calm out there all day long and I did really good on the greens," Miyazato said. "My game is really in good shape but I still have a couple more days so hopefully I can keep it going."

She was one shot in front of South Korean Na Yeon Choi, the US Women's Open champion who carded a 68 for 135.

South Korea's Sun Young Yoo, part of a trio sharing the first-round lead, thought whe was two shots adrift after a 70 but was assessed a one-shot penalty for an improper drop.

That gave Yoo a one-under 71 and put her in a tie for third on 137 alongside France's Karine Icher (70), American Brittany Lincicome (69) and overnight co-leader Suzann Pettersen of Norway (71).

Yoo was penalized for failing to hold her arm at shoulder height when she took her drop, and ended up with a triple-bogey eight at the hole.

"This is one of those rules you don't like to apply a penalty to," rules official Janet Lindsay told the Golf Channel. "You don't see the player gaining an advantage, but it definitely was a breach of the rule and that is a one-stroke penalty."

South Korea's So Yeon Ryu, who also shared the first-round lead, carded a 72 to fall into a tie for seventh alongside Germany's Sandra Gal and Australian Karrie Webb on 138.

Stacy Lewis, the world number two who has locked up the Player of the Year award, was two-under through 36 holes.

Lewis, the only player to win four titles this season, needs to win the $500,000 first prize to have a chance of passing money list leader Inbee Park of South Korea.

-AFP/ac

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Cops Stop Alleged 'Twilight' Movie Theater Gun Plot

A Missouri man is accused of planning a movie theater massacre at a screening of the final "Twilight" movie.

Blaec Lammers, 20, was charged Friday with first-degree assault, making a terroristic threat and armed criminal action after his mother alerted police that he had purchased 400 rounds of ammunition and two assault rifles "very similar to the ones in Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting," according to probable cause statement issued by the Bolivar, Mo., Police Department.

Lammers told police that he had "homicidal thoughts" and "had purchased the firearms with the intentions of shooting up the movie theater" in Bolivar, Mo., according to probable cause statement.

Polk County Sheriff?s Office

Lammers allegedly told the cops that he had already purchased a ticket for the Nov. 18 screening of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2"

Lammers said he also planned to shoot up a nearby Wal-Mart store, according to the statement. He had previously threatened to stab a Wal-Mart employee in 2009.

Police characterized Lammers as "being off his medication," but he was able to purchase the rifles on Monday and Tuesday this week. He then practiced shooting them in Aldrich, Mo.

According to the Springfield News-Leader, Lammers is being held on $500,000 bond and does not yet have an attorney.

On July 20, suspected gunman James Holmes shot up an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, killing 12 and wounding 58 on the opening weekend of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."

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China's commerce minister voted out in rare congress snub: sources

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's commerce minister was surprisingly blocked from a spot on the ruling Communist Party's elite body during a conclave this week, sources said, a rare snub for an official that could raise questions about trade policies during his tenure.

The failure of Chen Deming to secure a seat on the 25-member Politburo marks one of the few surprises to emerge from the party's five-yearly congress that wrapped this week with the anointing of a new slate of top leaders who will run the world's second largest economy.

It is also the first time in more than two decades that an official designated for a Politburo spot has been voted out of the party's 205-member Central Committee in elections. Central Committee membership is a prerequisite for a Politburo seat.

"Chen Deming was voted out during multi-candidate elections to the Central Committee," one source told Reuters. State news agency Xinhua said there were eight percent more candidates than seats in a preliminary vote before the formal election on Wednesday.

Not being name as an alternate or full member during the party's 18th congress means Chen, who was previously an alternate member, is almost certain to step down as commerce minister next March. Party regulations require cabinet ministers to be Central Committee members.

It is unclear why Chen, who was seen as a strong candidate for a vice premiership and at 63 is young enough to serve another five-year term under party rules, did not secure the votes for a seat on the Central Committee.

Tianjin Mayor Huang Xingguo, 58, who was elected a full member of the Central Committee, is front-runner to replace Chen as commerce minister, two sources with ties to the leadership said.

Ma Kai, 66, secretary general of the State Council, or cabinet, is tipped to become a vice premier now that Chen is out of the running, the sources said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for discussing secretive elite politics.

Until now, a politician designated to become a Politburo member has not been barred from the Central Committee since 1987, when Deng Liqun, an ultra-conservative and reviled Marxist ideologue, was voted out at the 13th congress in a deeply embarrassing fall from grace.

Chen's imminent retirement as commerce minister, a post he has held since taking over from now disgraced politician Bo Xilai in late 2007, would come as China faces growing tension with major trade partners in Europe and the United States and Chinese officials warn of increasing protectionism.

China's leaders set a goal for 10 percent export growth this year, but it is more likely to come in at around 7 percent as the world has struggled to recover from financial crisis.

DEFENDED RECORD

Some experts suggest that Chen's age was the main factor in his ouster.

"Minister Chen didn't get onto the Central Committee because of his age. He was born in 1949 and that makes him too old to serve a full term," said a Commerce Ministry official who declined to be identified.

But exceptions to the mandatory retirement age of 65 are often made for cabinet ministers and provincial governors and politicians can become a vice premier before they turn 68.

Du Qinglin, 66, a vice chairman to parliament's advisory body, was just elected to the Central Committee.

At a news conference last week on the sidelines of the congress, Chen declined to answer questions about whether he was being considered for a vice premier post, but he defended the ministry's record at the World Trade Organisation.

"When you consider the volume of trade cases in which China is involved, we've won quite a few," Chen said. "But we haven't bragged about our wins, whereas some of our foreign colleagues have trumpeted theirs."

Analysts said Chen had a reputation as a competent and moderate minister, suggesting his performance may not have been at the center of his failure to secure a central committee seat, and despite the questions that are bound to arise, policy would probably not change.

"China's overall trade policy is not set by the ministry, but by the central government," said He Weiwen, director of the China-U.S. Trade Research Centre at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Under Chen, the ministry has increased its use of WTO legal processes, in part to gain experience. China has a relatively short history of participating in multilateral institutions and while it has lost most of WTO cases filed against it, most countries defending against complaints have the same problem.

Scott Kennedy, director of the Research Centre for Chinese Politics and Business at Indiana University said Chen's departure from the Central Committee was puzzling and political motives could be at play.

"I don't think he could be punished for his record as minister of commerce. I think overall he's done a pretty decent job with the hand he has been dealt," Kennedy said.

(Additional reporting by Lucy Hornby and Nick Edwards; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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