-- England soccer star Ashley Cole received the backing of his club manager on Monday in the wake of reports that the Chelsea player had shot a work-placement student with an air rifle.
British police are investigating a claim by Sunday paper News of the World that Cole wounded 21-year-old Tom Cowan at the English Premier League champions' training ground the previous weekend.
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, however, said that the 30-year-old would be selected for Tuesday's home clash with table-topping Manchester United.
"He always had very good behavior here. Now, we have to move on. Who didn't make a mistake in his life?" the Italian said in quotes reported by the UK Press Association.
Is it time for Wenger to change his philosophy?
--Carlo Ancelotti
"He will play tomorrow, yes. Obviously, we are not happy with what happened. But I have spoken with him. He was very disappointed with this, and said sorry.
"It was an accident. We have taken proper action but tomorrow he will play."
Cowan, a sports sciences student, needed treatment from Chelsea's medical staff after being hit in the side by a pellet, PA reported.
Ancelotti said Cole had since apologized to Cowan, to his teammates and club officials.
Many employers would sack staff who took a weapon to their workplace, and Ancelotti admitted that Cole had made an error.
"The mistake was that the gun was here in Cobham. We didn't know the gun was here," he said.
Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been cleared to play at Stamford Bridge after escaping punishment for his apparent elbow on Wigan's James McCarthy on Saturday.
Television replays showed that the England star clearly lashed out at McCarthy and caught the midfielder in the face as he ran by, but referee Mark Clattenburg awarded only a free-kick.
The English Football Association could have taken further action, but received no request to punish the 25-year-old from the referees' ruling body despite Wigan manager Roberto Martinez insisting Rooney should have been sent off.
"Mark took the correct course of action with this incident," Professional Game Match Officials general manager Mike Riley told PA on Monday.
"In this incident Mark was following play, but caught sight of two players coming together and he awarded a free-kick because he believed one player had impeded the other.
"We should be clear that Mark did nothing wrong in officiating this incident as he acted on what he saw on the pitch."
COMMENT:The thing that I understand is that Ashley Cole of chelsea wounded a Tom cowan of 21years old so the police are investigating the claim.
2.
Novak Djokovic matched Roger Federer's feat of three successive titles at the Dubai Tennis Championships by crushing the world No. 2 in Saturday's final.
The Serbian, who also beat Federer in the Australian Open semifinals last month on the way to winning his second grand slam, triumphed 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 11 minutes to clinch the 20th ATP Tour crown of his short career.
The 23-year-old, seeded second, claimed the $386,000 first prize as he denied his Swiss opponent a fifth title in Dubai and 68th overall.
"Any time I win against Roger it's a great success because he's such a great player. We all know how mentally strong of a player he is," Djokovic, who trailed 3-1 in the second set, told the ATP Tour website.
"To be able to win against Roger in straight sets as I did tonight is incredible, but I want to keep on going. This match has probably been one of the best that I played this year.
--Novak Djokovic
"I feel physically well, fit, mentally motivated to do even more coming up to Indian Wells and Miami where I haven't done well in the last years.
Going into the match, Federer held a 13-7 career advantage over Djokovic and was 3-2 ahead in finals, but the world No. 3 is now unbeaten in 14 matches going back to December's Davis Cup final.
It was Federer's second defeat in a Dubai final, having also lost in 2006 to current No. 1 Rafael Nadal before bouncing back to triumph for the fourth time the following year.
It was only the third time in the event's 19 stagings that the top two seeded players had met in the title match.
"This one has been one of the rather disappointing matches for me against him," Federer said. "I can't play great every time either. So it's been a tough one, but I'm not too disappointed. It's another final for me. I tried tonight -- it just didn't really happen for me."
Meanwhile, women's No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki suffered a surprise defeat to third-ranked Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final of the Qatar Ladies' Open on Saturday.
The Dane went into the match having not dropped a set all week after reclaiming the top spot from Kim Clijsters on the way to winning the title in Dubai, but lost 6-4 6-4 in Doha.
Second seed Zvonareva, the runner-up the last time the tournament was held in 2008, clinched her 11th WTA Tour victory and leveled her head-to-head record against the 20-year-old Dane at 4-4.
"Caroline is No. 1 and playing very well. I was just fighting for every point and trying to go for my shots," Zvonareva told the WTA website.
"This is definitely a special moment for me, especially after that tough match against Daniela (Hantuchova) and another great one against Jelena (Jankovic)."
Wozniacki, who ended 2010 at the top of the rankings before surrendering it briefly to Australian Open champion Clijsters, said she was happy with her week.
"Vera played a great match and a great tournament. I'm happy to be in the finals -- it was another great tournament for me and I always enjoy being back in Doha. I will be back next year for sure.," she said.
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3.
A British Airways employee was found guilty Monday of four terror-related charges, including plotting to blow up an airplane, a court in London said.
Rajib Karim, 31, worked as a software engineer for British Airways in the northern English city of Newcastle. He used his position to pass on information to al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, including to U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, jurors in the four-week-long trial in London were told.
Karim, who was arrested last year, admitted offering himself for terrorist operations, making a jihadi recruitment video and fundraising for terrorism, but denied knowing that information he gave al-Awlaki would be used for terrorism.
Prosecutors said he passed on information that would have been useful for terrorists plotting to blow up a plane and also information that could have been used to help plan a "disruptive" cyber attack on British Airways.
Al-Awlaki is thought to be hiding out in Yemen, and was recently described by U.S. President Barack Obama's counterterror chief, Michael Leiter, as posing a bigger threat to the U.S. homeland than Osama bin Laden.
A key part of the prosecution case was a series of heavily encrypted messages between al-Awlaki and Karim, in which al-Awlaki pressed for information about Karim's job and his knowledge of airport security.
"I pray that Allah may grant us a breakthrough through you ... can you please specify your role in the airline industry, how much access do you have to airports, what information do you have on the limitations and cracks in present airport security systems?"
Karim replied: "The kuffar (a derogatory term for non-Muslims) are planning to install full body scanners across UK airports. This allows them to see things under clothes."
But he warned al-Awlaki to be realistic: "You are probably hoping that I work at the airport, but the fact is I don't. I personally know two brothers, one who works in baggage handling at Heathrow and another who works in airport security. Both are good practising brothers and sympathize towards the cause of the mujahedeen."
Replying, al-Awlaki got straight to the point:
"Our highest priority is the U.S. Anything there, even on a smaller scale compared to what we may do in the UK, would be our choice. So the question is: with the people you have is it possible to get a package or person with a package on board a flight heading to the U.S.?"
Karim, who was born in Bangladesh and is now a British citizen, had been in the UK three years at that point, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said.
CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said this communication confirmed what U.S. intelligence officials had been saying for some time: "This trial has presented Awlaki not only as the charismatic driving force behind al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula but also a key operational figure in the group, a guy who is orchestrating plots against the West."
The exchange of messages took place in January 2010 and February 2010, just weeks after AQAP was blamed for a failed bomb attack on a Delta Airlines transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian man, had trained with AQAP in Yemen before attempting to detonate explosives sewn into his underpants, according to U.S. officials.
AQAP has also been widely blamed by western intelligence officials for twin foiled attacks on cargo aircraft last October.
One device, hidden in a printer cartridge and described as "viable" by British officials, was uncovered on a UPS plane after it landed at East Midlands airport in the United Kingdom. The other -- also hidden in a printer cartridge - was found on a FedEx plane at Dubai airport.
British investigators say they have no evidence that links Karim to either of these plots. They describe him as "dedicated to the terrorist cause," though they say there was no imminent danger of him launching an attack himself.
Police have also refused to say where the original tip-off about Karim came from, saying only, "We had some information that made him of interest to us."
Karim is due to be sentenced March 18.
COMMENT:The thing that I understand is that a british airway employee was found guilty Monday of four terror-relates charges
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