Kim Jong-il death: North Korea 'pledge' to Kim Jong-un

North Korean state media have been reporting pledges of loyalty to new leader Kim Jong-un after the death of his father Kim Jong-il.

The body of Kim Jong-il is lying in state in the capital Pyongyang as organised public mourning continues in streets and halls.

State media hailed the new leader, 27, as "the outstanding leader of our party, army and people".

The US has urged North Korea to pursue a "path of peace".

The UK's consul in Pyongyang, Barnaby Jones, said foreign diplomats had been greeted by Kim Jong-un, seeming to confirm that he is indeed now in charge.

But as the choreographed Stalinist-style succession plays out, the still unanswered question is how tight a grip the young untested new leader has on the levers of power, the BBC's John Sudworth reports from the South Korean capital Seoul.

Kim Jong-il died on Saturday of a heart attack caused by overwork and stress at the age of 69, state media said. He will be buried on 28 December.

'Lighthouse of hope'
Kim Jong-un led a solemn procession of mourners on Monday past the body of his father, displayed on a bier under glass in a hall of the mausoleum where the embalmed body of Kim Il-song is kept.

State media heaped praise on the "Great Successor", describing him as a "lighthouse of hope" for a country awash in a "sea of tears and grief."

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At the scene

Rafael Wober
Associated Press correspondent
All over Pyongyang you can see separate, kind of, mourning events. Outside one major meeting hall, hundreds of people are lining up to go and stand in front of the portrait of the deceased Gen Kim Jong-il.

They cry and wail for a few minutes before they are moved along so that the next group can come up.

This kind of thing is going on all over the city and there is also a strong sense of mourning, in that the normal activity of shops and the normal way that people might drink, or eat, or enjoy themselves is basically discouraged during this period.

In pictures: Kim Jong-il in state
Neighbours on alert
Regional concerns
World media review
The strange world of North Korea
"We will look up to the respected Comrade Kim Jong-un as we pledged to do so in front of you," said Lee Jin-Hyang, a worker at the Pyongyang Textile Factory, addressing Kim Jong-il's remains.

Pak Chol Yong, a soldier, was quoted by the state news agency as saying: "We will devotedly safeguard Gen Kim Jong-un with arms, closely rallied as one in mind around him."

Photographs released by North Korean state media showed solemn gatherings in halls and opens spaces in Pyongyang.

At least some of the mass wailing and weeping on the streets of Pyongyang is an expression of genuine grief, our correspondent says.

Rafael Wober, a journalist with the Associated Press, one of the few foreign media organisations to be given access to Pyongyang, described the moment news of the death broke on Monday:

"Well, the announcement came as a complete surprise. I went out, I could see immediately in the corridors hotel staff crying, in the restaurant and the shop downstairs, hotel staff in tears, sobbing."

One defector who now lives in Seoul remembered similar scenes in 1994, following the death of the country's founder, Kim Il-song, and was suspicious of the emotions on display.

"You couldn't not cry in public so people used to pinch themselves to make themselves cry," he said.

Urgent talks
Continue reading the main story
North Korea


Population about 23 million
One million-strong army thought to be world's fifth largest
Manufacturing output mainly geared to military's demands
Daily life strictly controlled by government
Food shortages, power cuts, poor infrastructure
Guide to North Korea
Pavements washed by hand
Inside the North Korean bubble
Kim Jong-il: The cinephile despot
Kim Jong-il had been in the process of formalising Kim Jong-un as his successor when he died.

But the transition had not been completed and analysts fear Mr Kim's death could trigger a period of instability in the internationally isolated nuclear-armed state.

The worry is that Kim Jong-un, less than 30 years old and a completely unknown quantity, may lack the political skill to hang on to power. A power struggle with other family members or the military elite is a worrying possibility, our correspondent says.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US is ready to help the North Korean people and create lasting security on the Korean peninsula.

Around the region, countries have been holding urgent talks about what the implications of Mr Kim's death might be.

South Korea, whose military has been put on alert in the wake of Mr Kim's death, has sent its condolences to the North Korean people.

Its failure to express condolences after the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 affected relations between the two states for years.

Launching the Mid-year 2012, the Suzuki GW250 USD 40 Million Sale

In China and Europe was first paved, even in England comes under the name Suzuki Inazuma 250. Then when the sport touring bike will be officially sold in Indonesia?

"If there are no obstacles middle of 2012, the possibility of fitting Pekan Raya Jakarta (PRJ)," whispered speakers from PT Indomobil Suzuki Sales (SIS), ATPM Suzuki in Indonesia.

Being the price fixed will enter the premium segment in the number of Rp 40 million. "The price will not be far from the Ninja 250R and CBR 250R," he explained again.

According to him, this bike had a differentiation when compared with two 250 cc sport bikes that had already been circulated. GW250 not sport fairing, so it is more suitable for travel within the city.

"In addition, two-cylinder engine as well as the CBR 250R is not the only one cylinder," he said'm sure this bike will be busy touring lovers invaded.

These motors carry a two-cylinder engine. Each cylinder head construction has single overhead camshaft (SOHC) and 2 valves. Although the technology is simple, but has adopted fuel injection and water cooled. Suzuki claims its power reached 18 kW at 8500 rpm.
Its wheelbase is 1430 mm long to explain that this bike is more priority to stability when driving away. Telescopic front suspension and monoshock at the rear are expected to make the trip more exciting.

Touchless smartphones and TVs could be on sale in 2012

So you've lost your TV remote control. Again.

Not to worry, says a tiny Israeli start-up company called XTR3D - soon you'll be able to flick through channels and adjust the volume using only... your hand.

You'll just have to turn your palm towards the screen, and zap away without ever getting off the couch.

And no need for under-the-skin electronics or fancy microchips.

Instead, the TV - or rather gesture recognition software installed inside - will "read" your moves and execute appropriate commands, without any need for physically pressing any buttons.

Based in Tel Aviv, XTR3D is one of the developers of such motion capture technology, and it has just received $8m (£5m) investment bound to give "touchless" tech another push - and according to the firm, bring the first motion control smartphone into the market as early as next year.

US electronics giant Texas Instruments is among the investors.
Although the Israeli firm follows in the footsteps of Microsoft's Kinect, the multi-directional gesture control gaming console that was launched last year and has since been selling like hot cakes despite the average $200 price tag, its technology is quite different.

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“
Start Quote

Our target is to penetrate the market, so it will be something for everyone to try out”

Dor Givon
XTR3D
The Kinect has depth sensors, multi-array microphones and RGB cameras that provide the software with the information it needs to track both voice and gestures.

XTR3D, on the other hand, uses ordinary 2D cameras - such as a webcam of a computer or the one in your smartphone - to extract 3D out of a 2D image.

This creates the same three-dimensional effect as on the Kinect.

According to the Tel Aviv start-up's spokesman Roy Ramati, XTR3D's technology has all the advantages of a 3D camera without any of the disadvantages - it can work in broad daylight, is much cheaper and uses a lot less power.

"And it can be installed into any consumer electronics device," adds Mr Ramati.

Dor Givon, XTR3D's founder and chief technical officer, adds that it is even possible to play a proper Kinect game on a regular laptop that has the software, touchlessly controlling the device from a distance of a few centimetres to up to 5m away.


Controlling the TV without a remote would eliminate the need to look for it
And, he says, anyone will be able to afford it.

"Our target is to penetrate the market, so it will be something for everyone to try out," says Mr Givon.

"New devices will have the interface embedded in them, with older ones you will be able to download the software from the app store."

Besides gaming and switching TV channels, the existing prototypes include a PC where it is possible to flip through a PowerPoint presentation just by waving your hand, a tablet and a smartphone that have features such as using gestures to create the effect of a joystick, to click, swipe, zoom in and out with a pinch gesture, and a GPS device that can be controlled touchlessly while driving.

Ultrasound and optical
Despite being at the forefront of gesture-controlled technology, XTR3D is not the only firm aiming to make our world touchless.

Various kinds of motion detection have been around for a while.

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“
Start Quote

Gesture is definitely heating up!”

Francis MacDougall
Qualcomm
For instance, simple gesture recognition such as hovering your hand near a water tap or a toilet flush to activate them are becoming more and more common.

And after Microsoft paved the way with Kinect, bringing new digital dimensions to the gaming world, other companies followed.

Microsoft itself is now actively trying to expand Kinect's use into other industries.

Recently, it announced that it would release a commercial version of the Kinect software development kit in early 2012.

Microsoft has also teamed up with about 200 businesses in more than 20 countries - among them car manufacturer Toyota and digital advertising firm Razorfish - for Kinect to reach well beyond gaming.

"The Kinect can sense your entire body for interaction with the device, and we're only scratching the surface of what can be done because beyond computing there's a lot of scenarios where this kind of natural user interaction could be really powerful, a real paradigm shift," says Shahram Izadi, a researcher from the Microsoft Research Centre in Cambridge, England.

And the creator of the chip that powers the motion-sensing part of the Kinect, an Israeli company called PrimeSense, is now selling a gadget that has the same hardware as Microsoft's device.

Once hooked up to a regular computer, it can provide a Kinect-like experience without the Kinect.

Apple has also filed patents that involve allowing users to touchlessly "throw" content from one device to another, for example from a tablet onto your TV screen.

Another electronics giant, mobile chip maker Qualcomm, has recently bought a small Canadian firm GestureTek.

It targets three devices: tablets (including eReaders), smartphones and TVs, and uses a combination of cameras and ultrasound.
Ultrasound sensors are there for close range "no-look" gesture control - they pick up movements with help of a microphone instead of an optical camera, explains Qualcomm's director of technology Francis MacDougall.

"One issue the Kinect has is an inability to track close to a device. The default design can track no closer than 50cm - great for TVs but not so good for tablets and smartphones," says Mr MacDougall.

"So Qualcomm has placed multiple audio sensors - microphones - into their handset designs to isolate the voice location in 3D space while filtering out everything else.

"This technique is extremely low power and can track the hand within one to 15cm of the phone."

Touchless world
Imagine that you are driving a car and your child is on the back seat watching a movie on a tablet - you don't have to divert your attention from the road, but just by making a gesture near the tablet you would be able to pause it or turn it off.

And such possibilities are endless, says Mr MacDougall.


With gesture-controlled interfaces, touching the screen would become unnecessary
For instance, how about answering a phone when you're cooking, eating or driving without touching the screen or even having to look at it? Or turning pages on an eReader with swipe gestures? Or skipping to the next song with a swipe or pausing it with a palm raised?

These touchless features are pretty much what other companies working in the area have been promising to deliver, but one that relates to TV control is quite unique to GestureTek.

"We're working on face recognition that will be used to identify each member of the family and bring up custom interfaces as part of a next generation 'smart TV' interface," says Mr MacDougall.

To achieve that, the firm is turning to optical solutions, similar to those used by XTR3D - the standard forward-facing 2D camera and in some cases a stereo set-up - two standard 2D camera sensors spaced a small distance apart to calculate the 3D location of any features in the scene.

However the companies around the world are doing it - with regular or infrared cameras, or with ultrasound sensors, one thing is certain, says Mr MacDougall.

"Gesture is definitely heating up!"

Man City edge Arsenal to keep United at bay

Manchester City FC restored their two-point Premier League lead after beating Arsenal FC 1-0 to maintain their perfect home record in the top flight this season.

In a pulsating encounter, Sergio Agüero and Mario Balotelli came close early on, while Joe Hart made a fine stop from Gervinho. The hosts took the lead early in the second period through David Silva, and although Robin van Persie was thwarted by Hart, and Thomas Vermaelen twice threatened late on, City might have settled the contest on 66 minutes when Pablo Zabaleta hit a post.

Manchester United FC had briefly returned to the top of the standings after a 2-0 success at Queens Park Rangers FC. Wayne Rooney gave the visitors a first-minute lead with his 12th league goal of the season, while Michael Carrick's effort sealed a 12th win of the campaign for the champions.

Tottenham Hotspur FC are five points behind United in third, with a game in hand over the top two, after overcoming Sunderland AFC 1-0 thanks to Roman Pavlyuchenko's winner (61). Liverpool FC, meanwhile, are sixth thanks to a 2-0 triumph against Sunderland AFC courtesy of Craig Bellamy (11) and Martin Škrtel (15) strikes.

Video: Clamped Bugatti Veyron

With the Bugatti Veyron you are absolutely king of the road. But owning one of the most powerful cars in the world doesn’t make you king of the parking as proven in today’s video.
This video shows that the parking rules in the Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, apply to everyone as the local police clamped the French hypercar. Without a doubt the ‘unlucky’ owner of the Veyron wasn’t impressed by the parking fine, but he surely paid attention whether or not the wheels have been scratched.

Liege attack: Gunman kills four in Belgium

A gunman has opened fire in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege, killing at least four people and wounding 123.

The man also threw grenades into a crowded square from a rooftop before killing himself, reports say.

He was named as Nordine Amrani, aged 33. He was known to police for firearms offences. Officials said the attacker acted alone, ruling out terrorism.

The latest victim to die was an 18-month-old girl whom doctors had fought for several hours to save.

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At the scene

Matt Cole
BBC News, Liege
The central square in front of the Palais de Justice remains cordoned off this evening.

The Christmas market is dark and empty, but it was very different this lunchtime. Scores were enjoying a festive shopping experience when the man now named as Nordine Amrani began shooting and throwing explosives. People began running, screaming, children amongst them.

While the 33-year-old attacker was known to the police, having previously faced drug and weapons charges, officers say they currently don't know why he carried out this terrible act.

Amrani was jailed for 58 months in September 2008 for possessing firearms and drugs, media reports said.

Officials did not confirm this, but said they were aware he had spent some time in prison.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo, visiting the scene, described the attack as "horrible".

"There are no words to describe this tragedy," he said.

"We think first and foremost of the innocent victims, their family and friends. We also think of all the people working at the scene and more generally of the people of Liege.

"The whole country shares the pain of the families affected. We share the shock of the population."

Belgium's King Albert and Queen Paola also came to pay their respects.

Weapons in a bag
Amrani had been asked to come for an interview at a police station in connection with charges against him.

A resident of Liege, he left home with a rifle, a pistol and three grenades in a bag, prosecutors said.

Greg Ienco, a journalist at local newspaper La Meuse-Liege, described the scene of the attack.

"We saw four explosions. I was in a building 200m from Saint-Lambert Square," he said.

"It was quite incredible. We saw one man on the roof who tried to kill people. This man killed himself with a grenade."


Liege police hold a news briefing following the attack
Two of the people confirmed dead were boys aged 15 and 17, the third a 75-year-old woman.

A city hospital announced the death of a fourth victim, a 17-month-old girl, at 21:45 GMT.

TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones of the square.

Several people are reported to be in a serious condition.

Medical staff at a field hospital at the scene treated 52 of the injured. Some others made their own way to other hospitals.

Roads into the centre of Liege were sealed off but vehicles are now coming back into the city.

Explosives experts were called in to search the area for unexploded grenades. People were initially told to stay in buildings but are now returning to the streets.

Place Saint-Lambert is a busy intersection, served by hundreds of buses daily. It hosts an annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

Chelsea sink Manchester City, Juve stay unbeaten

Frank Lampard scored a late penalty as Chelsea FC rallied from a goal down to condemn ten-man Manchester City FC to their first defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge, while AS Roma's Francesco Totti missed a spot-kick and the opportunity to end the unbeaten run of Juventus, who earned a 1-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.

On a rainy night in west London, Manchester City got off to the perfect start when Mario Balotelli scored after just two minutes. The Italian international raced on to a fine pass from Sergio Agüero, rode Branislav Ivanović's challenge and beat Petr Čech with a cool finish. But despite dominating the first half City, hitherto unbeaten in 14 league matches, conceded a 34th-minute equaliser, when Raul Meireles converted Paul Sturridge's centre.

Sturridge might have scored himself shortly after the interval, sending a snapshot narrowly wide from the edge of the area, and the impetus swung in the hosts' favour when Gaël Clichy was shown a second yellow card after hauling down Ramires. Lampard, on as a replacement for Meireles, scored from an 82nd-minute spot-kick awarded for a handball by Joleon Lescott. City remain two points clear at the top of the English top-flight, while André Villas-Boas's charges are up to fourth place.

Juventus returned to the top of Serie A, level on points with Udinese Calcio, after coming from behind to draw against Roma. The Giallorossi also took an early lead when Daniele Di Rossi scored after five minutes with a volley from the edge of the area. Marcelo Estigarribia and Arturo Vidal both came close to equalising before half-time but it was Giorgio Chiellini's first goal of the season, early in the second period, that brought Juve back into the match.

Moments later the Bianconeri were also indebted to Gianluigi Buffon for stretching their unbeaten league sequence to 14 matches with a penalty save from Francesco Totti. In an open game there were late chances for Pablo Osvaldo and Totti, while at the other end Fabio Quagliarella was thwarted with two minutes left by the excellent Maarten Stekelenburg.

Motorola wins Apple wireless patent fight in Germany

A German court has ruled in Motorola Mobility's favour in a patents dispute with Apple.

The Android smartphone maker had complained that Apple failed to license one of its wireless intellectual properties.

Apple uses the technology in its iPhones and 3G iPads.

Motorola could now try to force Apple to remove the feature from its devices or halt sales in Germany. However, Apple said it intended to appeal.

Motorola said the ruling validated its "efforts to enforce its patents against Apple's infringement".

Apple responded: "We're going to appeal the court's ruling right away. Holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want."

If Motorola does decide to pursue an injunction blocking sales of Apple's products the case could result in a clash between the iPad maker and Google - Motorola's shareholders have approved the search giant's takeover of their company and the deal is due to be completed in 2012.

Fighting times
The case relates to Motorola's patent for a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system".

Motorola licenses this patent to others on Frand (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

The owner of a Frand-type patent is obligated to license out its technology to third-parties because the invention has been declared to be essential to an industry standard.

Apple had offered to pay a Frand-set fee going forward and was willing to pay a similar rate for past infringements. But it lost the case because it tried to retain the right to contest the validity of the patent with a view to past damages.

It tried to do this because Motorola had defended its right to charge an above-Frand rate for Apple's use of its technology over the past four years. This could have been many times higher than the rate Apple was willing to pay and potentially very expensive.

Motorola will have to post a 100m euro (£85m; $133m) bond if it wishes to enforce a sales injunction against Apple. The cash would cover compensation to Apple if the ruling was later overturned.

Motorola welcomed the ruling.

"We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our intellectual property, as the company's patent portfolio and licensing agreements with companies both in the US and around the world are critical to our business," said Scott Offer, senior vice-president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility.

"We have been negotiating with Apple and offering them reasonable licensing terms and conditions since 2007, and will continue our efforts to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable."

Appeal details
Patent watchers say it could be years before the case is resolved.

"This is really a given between such large players in high stakes disputes," said Florian Mueller, a patent consultant who revealed the court's verdict on his blog.

"In Germany you get a first ruling by a regional court rather quickly - this litigation started in April this year. Usually between companies of this stature the disputes go to the higher regional court and that could take a couple of years," Mr Mueller told the BBC.

Mr Mueller advises Microsoft and others and has campaigned for patent reform in Europe.

He said Apple could try to revise its products, but noted that Frand-type patents were, by their nature, hard to work around. He added that doing so could run the risk of causing communication problems with the mobile networks' equipment.

Samsung tablet ban
Although Apple is on the receiving end of this lawsuit it has also been very active in the courts suing HTC, Samsung and Motorola among others for claimed patent infringements.

It temporarily managed to have Samsung's tablets banned from sale in Australia, although the restriction was overturned earlier today.

The US International Trade Commission is expected to rule on its dispute with Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC on 14 December. The judgement could lead to shipments of HTC's products being blocked in the US.

Although the targets of Apple's lawsuits are often firms which use Google's Android software, the two firms have avoided suing each other. That is set to change when Google's takeover of Motorola Mobility is completed early next year.

"Google with its pending acquisition will be watching this case with great interest as any victory is an endorsement of Motorola's patent portfolio that it is seeking to acquire," said Ben Cross, director of research at the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight.

Five favourite travel apps of 2011

The Apple and Android online stores have pages and pages of creative travel apps, making it overwhelming to figure out which ones are worth your time.
From easy-to-use hotel booking tools to smart ways to book a private car, here are my five
favourite free apps that launched this year:
Evernote Food
Evernote, the note-taking app with 10 million users, recently launched a food-specific spin-off called Evernote Food, to help people "capture, share and re-live" their favourite meals. This app is especially useful for travellers given that meals take pride of place in many people's vacation memories.
Say you visit Milan and stumble into an excellent restaurant like Trattoria Masuelli. Use the app to snap a photo of your risotto (or of the menu); write a note about the tastiness of the Carnaroli rice in the dish (or about the chandeliers on the ceiling); and add to your note the restaurant’s name, location and contact details by searching for the information in the app's database. Then, whenever a friend wants a recommendation of where to eat in Milan, you can search on the words "Milan" or “risotto", find your note and share the information with them easily. Any text in your photos is also searchable, such as the words on a menu that has been photographed. You can also share your notes via Twitter or Facebook.
Expedia Hotels
It took a long time, but Expedia, the site that sells more hotel rooms than any other online travel agency, finally created a hotel booking app this year. The wait was worth it, because the app is a well designed, efficient way to find and reserve a night's stay on the fly. No wonder Expedia Hotels quickly became the most downloaded travel app in dozens of countries. As of today, it's also the only app that has been customised for the iPad and Android tablets.
Best Of…
The "Best Of…" app find recommendations of the best places to drink, eat and sample culture in more than 10,000 spots in 32 US cities. The app was created by owners of New York's Village Voice newspaper, and an independent, youth-oriented edge is noticeable in the reviews. The app also stands out for having "best of" picks that are primarily chosen by professional reviewers, unlike the restaurant and bar recommendations found on user-generated apps like Yelp, Urban Spoon and Zagat.
Uber
Cab-related apps have exploded in popularity this year. But when it comes to booking private cars -- a task that's particularly relevant for travellers heading to airports -- Uber is the most intuitive and helpful app available. Currently covering only a half dozen US cities (NYC, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco/Palo Alto, Seattle, Washington DC), plus Paris, the app should grow quickly next year because it recently won more than $30 million in funding to expand.
Broadcastr
Audio guides have long provided helpful narration of the artwork in museums. New app Broadcastr aspires to do something similar: provide audio guides for walking around outdoors at a destination. The app "crowd-sources" audio stories about the landmarks in popular tourist areas of major cities. Anyone can leave an audio note about an attraction and pin it on an online map that's shared for playback via web or smartphone.
Imagine you've downloaded the app, and you're playing music on your smartphone while you stroll down a street in London's West End theatre district. As you pass a major landmark, your phone may switch off your music and turn on an audio recording of a person describing a landmark you're passing. The recorded material might be from a celebrity, such as comedian Ricky Gervais, or it might be from an ordinary person. To make sure you hear only relevant information, you can set the app's filters to only share audio about your favourite topics, such as food or architecture. Broadcastr also curates audio clips to make sure they're worthy of the general listeners' time. A big drawback to the app is that there are only 14,000 audio recordings so far, mostly in New York City, San Francisco and London. But the app -- and the concept behind it -- is promising.

Brilliant Basel hit heights to knock out United

FC Basel 1893 2-1 Manchester United FC
A goal in each half from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei secured a famous home victory and second place in Group C at their opponents' expense.
FC Basel 1893 reached the UEFA Champions League last 16 for only the second time as Marco Streller and Alexander Frei scored in each half to secure a famous victory over Manchester United FC to end last season's finalists' interest in the competition.

With SL Benfica already assured of progress, Basel and United met with Group C's second qualifying berth at stake. United needed only a point but Xherdan Shaqiri proved a thorn in their side; his cross led to Streller's thumping ninth-opener finish and, as the visitors pressed for an equaliser, the 20-year-old set up Frei to head a second six minutes from time.

Phil Jones halved the deficit, but Basel survived a tense finale to advance from the initial group stage for the first time since 2002/03. United, meanwhile, fail to progress from a group stage for only the third time and, though both teams will be involved in a draw on 16 December, the English club will be in the UEFA Europa League.

Although United started confidently, their early optimism was punctured after they failed to clear Markus Steinhöfer's delivery. Shaqiri collected on the left wing and whipped in a vicious cross that United goalkeeper David de Gea could only deflect into the path of Streller, who fired in convincingly.

That strike put the wind in Basel's sails and they continued to press forward as United struggled to contain Shaqiri. However, Nani was becoming equally influential for the visitors and, just past the half-hour, delivered a dangerous cross that narrowly evaded Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung.

Nani's own effort was bravely smothered by Yann Sommer, and the Basel goalkeeper was also equal to Rooney's drive after the striker was put through by Ryan Giggs. The English side's mounting frustration was obvious, yet they started the second period positively. Rooney sent one effort wide, before the home goal had a fortunate escape when Steinhöfer's attempted volleyed clearance came back off his own crossbar.

Basel had chances of their own, Frei having one kick acrobatically saved as Heiko Vogel's charges looked to put daylight between them and United. On the break they managed to do just that; Shaqiri curled in from the right and Streller cleverly dummied for Frei to steal in at the far post and nod in.

Jones's header after Federico Macheda's shot had come back off the bar gave United hope, but Basel stood strong.

Marseille's late comeback at Dortmund stuns Olympiakos

Marseille scored twice in the last five minutes to win 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund and take second place in Group F ahead of Arsenal's conquerors Olympiakos.

The French side had trailed their German rivals 2-0 but after Andre Ayew levelled things on 85 minutes, Mathieu Valbuena grabbed an unlikely win.

In Group E, Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw at Genk meant Chelsea beat them to top spot with their win over Valencia.

Porto also went out after a goalless draw with Zenit St Petersburg.

With Arsenal already through, Marseille went into the final day in control of their own destiny in Group F, a point ahead of third-placed Olympiakos.

However, Jakub Blaszczykowski opened the scoring for the Germans and Mats Hummels added a second from the spot and, although Loic Remy pulled one back in first-half added time, with the Greek side on their way to a comfortable win over Arsenal, French prospects looked bleak.

But Ayew equalised with five minutes remaining before Valbuena snatched second place away from Olympiakos with a third goal with just two minutes left.

Porto had given themselves a chance of progressing from Group G when they won 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk in their previous match.

But the 2004 winners and Europa League holders could not find a way past stubborn Russians Zenit, who held on to second place.

Apoel, who are the first Cypriot team to progress to the knockout phase, qualify as Group G winners despite slipping to a 2-0 home defeat to Shakhtar.

Luiz Adriano, who had earlier missed a penalty, put the Ukranians ahead before Yevgen Seleznev added a second to set up his team's first Champions League win of the season.

Leverkusen knew that a victory in Genk would have been enough to seal top spot in Group E but they fell behind to a first-half goal from Jelle Vossen.

Eren Derdiyok pulled one back for the Germans, but Chelsea's comprehensive win over Valencia meant Bayer had to settle for second place.

BARCA'S KIDS AGAINST BATE
Continue reading the main story
Defender Andreu Fontàs, 22, ninth appearance, born Catalonia, Spain.
Defender Marc Bartra, 20, fourth appearance, born Catalonia.
Defender Martin Montoya, 20, third appearance, born Barcelona.
Midfielder Thiago Alcantara, 20, 32nd appearance, born Italy (joined Barca aged 14).
Midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos, 21, ninth apperance, born Mexico (joined Barca aged 12).
Midfielder Sergi Roberto, 19, third appearance, born Catalonia.
Midfielder Rafinha, 18, first appearance, born Brazil (joined Barca aged 13).
Forward Isaac Cuenco, 20, eighth appearance, born Barcelona.
Group H's top two was already confirmed before the final round of fixtures but first-placed Barcelona's second string played with plenty of style on the way to a comfortable 4-0 victory over BATE Borisov, who knew a win at the Nou Camp would have given them a chance of third place.

Pep Guardiola's outfield players had an average age of just 21.4 years but swept past the Belarus champions.

Sergi Roberto opened the scoring before half-time, before defender Martin Montoya added a second and winger Pedro added two more, one from the spot, after the interval.

Facing Plzen, second-placed AC Milan scored twice in the space of two minutes at the start of the second half through Alexandre Pato and Robinho.

But David Bystron halved the deficit before Michal Duris scored an injury time equaliser for the Czech team, who finish third.

Sarkozy and Merkel kick off week of euro crisis talks

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to meet to agree on joint proposals aimed at resolving the eurozone debt crisis.

They will take their ideas to an EU summit on Friday that is being seen as crucial for the single currency.

Germany favours strict EU central control while France wishes to preserve more national sovereignty.

Meanwhile, two badly-hit Eurozone countries, Italy and Ireland, are preparing tighter austerity measures.

In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Monti is due to seek approval for his government's plans in parliament.

Taxes on the assets of the wealthy will go up, as will pension ages. There will be a major drive to tackle tax evasion.

And Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said the population must prepare for a tough budget this week.

Public spending will be cut by 2.2bn euros (£1.9bn) a year and taxes raised by 1.5bn euros, with VAT increasing to 23%.

Treaty talk
Monday's Franco-German meeting in Paris kicks off a week of meetings involving European leaders, the European Central Bank (ECB) and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, culminating in Brussels on Friday with an EU summit.

With financial markets putting pressure on some of the eurozone's largest - and most highly indebted - nations, President Sarkozy said the stakes were high.

"What will remain of Europe if the euro disappears?" he asked. "Nothing."

France and Germany must play a key role to ensure "a zone of stability", he said last week.

"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity."

Mrs Merkel has promised "concrete steps towards a fiscal union" - in effect close integration of the tax-and-spend polices of individual eurozone countries, with Brussels imposing penalties on members that break the rules.

"We need budget discipline and an effective crisis management mechanism," she said. "So we need to change the treaties or create new treaties."

Mr Sarkozy faces an election early next year and is under pressure not to cede sovereignty to unelected officials in Brussels.

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Crisis jargon buster
Use the dropdown for easy-to-understand explanations of key financial terms:
Default
Default
Strictly speaking, a default occurs when a borrower has broken the terms of a loan or other debt, for example if a borrower misses a payment. The term is also loosely used to mean any situation that makes clear that a borrower can no longer repay its debts in full, such as bankruptcy or a debt restructuring.
A default can have a number of important implications. If a borrower is in default on any one debt, then all of its lenders may be able to demand that the borrower immediately repay them. Lenders may also be required to write off their losses on the loans they have made.
Glossary in full
Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy have been working so closely in recent weeks that commentators have taken to calling the two Merkozy.

Treaty change could take many months, but the hope is that a strong, unified expression of intent on Friday could reassure markets enough to lower borrowing costs for Italy, Spain and other countries with high debt and spluttering economies.

If governments can not pay their debts - if they default - the resulting shock could bring down the banks that lend to them and create another global economic crash.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's presence in Europe this week for several meetings with leaders is a measure of US concern that Europe's woes could spread beyond the continent.

On Thursday the ECB holds its monthly policy meeting. It has come under pressure to do more to ease Europe's debt crisis but has ruled out the idea of "eurobonds" backed by all eurozone members.

Germany is against the notion as is the ECB itself because such a move could lessen pressure on governments to control their spending.

However, ECB head Mario Draghi has hinted that the bank could take more aggressive action to help governments.

The ECB has been buying modest amounts of government bonds on the secondary market but could step that up, which would stabilise or lower borrowing costs.

EURO finals schedule confirmed

The finals schedule has been confirmed with Poland starting the tournament against Greece and other opening games including Germany v Portugal, Spain v Italy and England v France.
The schedule for UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine has been confirmed following the draw in Kyiv.

Poland will launch the tournament on Friday 8 June at 18.00CET against Greece in Warsaw followed by the other Group A opener between Russia and the Czech Republic at 20.45CET. The next day the Netherlands face Denmark in Kharkiv and Germany take on Portugal in Lviv to begin Group B, and on 10 June Group C starts as holders Spain play Italy and the Republic of Ireland are matched with Croatia.

Ukraine are involved in the last of the opening set of fixtures, meeting Sweden in Group D in Kyiv after England tackle France in Donetsk. The group stage runs until 19 June, then, after a rest day, the quarter-finals take place over four consecutive nights. The semi-finals are on 29 June in Donetsk and the following evening in Warsaw, before Kyiv stages the 1 July decider.

Match schedule
All kick-offs CET, Ukrainian time is one hour ahead

Friday 8 June 2012
#1: POL v GRE, 18.00CET, Warsaw
#2: RUS v CZE, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Saturday 9 June 2012
#3: NED v DEN, 18.00CET, Kharkiv
#4: GER v POR, 20.45CET, Lviv

Sunday 10 June 2012
#5: ESP v ITA, 18.00CET, Gdansk
#6: IRL v CRO, 20.45CET, Poznan

Monday 11 June 2012
#7: FRA v ENG, 18.00CET, Donetsk
#8: UKR v SWE, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Tuesday 12 June 2012
#9: GRE v CZE, 18.00CET, Wroclaw
#10: POL v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Wednesday 13 June 2012
#11: DEN v POR, 18.00CET, Lviv
#12: NED v GER, 20.45CET, Kharkiv

Thursday 14 June 2012
#13: ITA v CRO, 18.00CET, Poznan
#14: ESP v IRL, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Friday 15 June 2012
#15: SWE v ENG, 20.45CET, Kyiv
#16: UKR v FRA, 18.00CET, Donetsk

Saturday 16 June 2012
#17: CZE v POL, 20.45CET, Wroclaw
#18: GRE v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Sunday 17 June 2012
#19: POR v NED, 20.45CET, Kharkiv
#20: DEN v GER, 20.45CET, Lviv

Monday 18 June 2012
#21: CRO v ESP, 20.45CET, Gdansk
#22: ITA v IRL, 20.45CET, Poznan

Tuesday 19 June 2012
#23: ENG v UKR, 20.45CET, Donetsk
#24: SWE v FRA, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Wednesday 20 June 2012
No matches

Thursday 21 June 2012
#25: 1A v 2B, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 22 June 2012
#26: 1B v 2A, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Saturday 23 June 2012
#27: 1C v 2D, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Sunday 24 June 2012
#28: 1D v 2C, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Monday 25 June 2012
No matches

Tuesday 26 June 2012
No matches

Wednesday 27 June 2012
#29: W#25 v W#27, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Thursday 28 June 2012
#30: W#26 v W#28, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 29 June 2012
No matches

Saturday 30 June 2012
No matches

Sunday 1 July 2012
#31: W#29 v W#30, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Euro 2012: England and Ireland await finals draw

Final preparations are taking place in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, as 16 nations including England and the Republic of Ireland await the Euro 2012 draw.

The ceremony will take place from 1700 GMT on Friday, with countries due to be drawn into four groups of four teams.

World and European champions Spain are in Pot One alongside the Netherlands and co-host nations Poland and Ukraine.

Pot Two consists of England, Germany, Italy and Russia, with the Republic of Ireland in the bottom group.

Giovanni Trapattoni's side sit alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic and France, while Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden, who were recently beaten 1-0 by England in a friendly, make up Pot Three.

ENGLAND
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BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, Greece, Czech Republic
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Portugal, France
It throws up the possibility that England and the Republic of Ireland could be drawn together in the same group, though Spain, Germany, Portugal and France are widely regarded to be the strongest teams of their respective pot seedings.

And with the tournament split across two countries, location will be a big consideration for teams when their names are drawn.

England have already chosen the Polish city of Krakow as their base for Euro 2012, so would welcome being drawn in Group A, in which all matches will be staged in either Warsaw or Wroclaw, both of which are approximately 150 miles from England's base.

The other Group based in Poland is C, where matches will be staged in either Poznan (200 miles from Krakow) or Gdansk (300 miles away).

REP OF IRELAND
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BEST CASE SCENARIO: Poland, England, Greece
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Spain, Germany, Portugal
The matches in Group B and D will involve longer journeys to Ukraine. The venues for Group B are Kharkiv (700 miles from Krakow) and Lviv (200 miles), while Group D is Kiev (540 miles) and Donetsk (930 miles).

The Republic of Ireland, having qualified through the play-offs, have yet to settle on a finals base.

Seedings for Euro 2012

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Poland*, Ukraine*.

Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia.

Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

* As joint hosts, Poland and Ukraine have already been allocated to Groups A and D respectively.

Sarkozy: France Germany ties key to eurozone stability

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has said France and Germany must come together to ensure stability at the heart of Europe.

In a major speech in the port of Toulon, Mr Sarkozy said he and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, would meet on Monday to propose measures to "guarantee the future of Europe".

He warned that economic convergence would be long and difficult.

But he promised that France would not give up its sovereignty.

He said the euro could not continue to exist unless eurozone economies pulled together.

Europe had to be "refounded" he said, with France and Germany at its heart to ensure "a zone of stability".

"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity.

"France is fighting so that Europe can still make its voice heard in the world of tomorrow," he said.

Stricter financial discipline was needed, he added, with more severe sanctions for countries which did not meet their responsibilities.

Mr Sarkozy also made a robust defence of measures he had already introduced to tackle France's debts.

He said the country had to end doubts about its ability to pay, in order to avoid being targeted by speculators.

Continue reading the main story
Key points of Sarkozy speech

France and Germany will announce proposals on Monday to "guarantee the future of Europe"
They agree that there should be a new EU treaty to impose greater financial integration
Convergence is the key to solving the eurozone crisis but it will be a long and difficult process.
France rejects fiscal union where national budgets would be approved in Brussels
The rebuilding of Europe is not a march towards a federal super-state
The European Central Bank will remain independent
France must end doubts about its ability to repay debts
Two-speed Europe
Mr Sarkozy said Europe's response to the debt crisis had not been fast enough.

He said Germany and France had agreed that there should be a new European treaty to govern the relations between countries.

However, he rejected German suggestions that national budgets could be approved and regulated in Brussels.

The BBC Paris correspondent, Christian Fraser, says the French president's speech was a sombre assessment of the eurozone crisis and an acknowledgement that eurozone leaders had not worked quickly enough to solve the problems.

Mr Sarkozy has previously expressed the belief that a two-speed European Union is inevitable, arguing that full economic integration will be impossible as the EU expands to more than 30 members.

In a speech in November he said "there will be a two-speed Europe: one speed that moves toward more integration in the eurozone and one speed for a confederation in the EU."

The French president's speech in Toulon comes amid warnings by analysts that France could lose its triple-A credit rating, due to its exposure to the European debt crisis.

Mr Sarkozy will meet the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in Paris on Friday.

Britain is concerned about the possible impact of a two-speed Europe in which it could be left on the margins along with other countries outside the euro.

European Union leaders will hold a summit in Brussels next week, which is seen by many analysts as a crucial moment in efforts to tackle the debt crisis.