SPORT

- reported by Osiris.


Today marks one of the most exciting fixtures in the history of English football. Four titans will clash and the outcome will determine who will remain at the top and who will slip further.

Manchester United face old arch-rivals Arsenal at home. Confident from five wins, four in the Premiership and one Champions League match victory against Celtic, the Red Devils will be looking to extend their winning streak. Ryan Giggs and Park Ji Sung miss this exciting match, but Rooney returns and Alex Ferguson has other midfield options in the form of Alan Smith and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who made his successful comeback into the squad with the winning goal over Celtic.

In the past, the Man U v Arsenal match would always be considered as a "title-decider", but with the introduction of Joes Mourinho's Chelsea two years ago, the pulsating action on the pitch and eagerness from the fans vanished. Three years without a Premiership title has made Ferguson hungry to prove his credibility as manager, having been with the Red Devils for twenty years. Perhaps this could be the year when Chelsea is deposed of their throne.

Arsenal too have their own problems. Their inspirational tailsman and skipper Thierry Henry has been rated "10-15%" fit to play today, while striker Robin van Persie is also injured, having hurt his hip when he got his foot stuck in the pitch while dribbling against Hamburg. Central defender Kolo Toure has recovered from his hip injury, also suffered midweek, and this would be a huge relief to Arsene Wenger, who is struggling to cope with his defensive injuries and problems. Phillipe Senderos, Lauren and Gael Clichy are all expected to return to the squad within four to six weeks.

Julio Baptista and Emmanuel Adebayor are expected to lead the attack upfront; this is the opportunity to show how strong the Gunners are, even without Henry. Wenger has claimed that his team "is ready" for United. This awaits to be seen later tonight. Ready to win, or ready for another embarrassing loss? If Arsenal fail to claim three points from tonight's match, it would be the worst start in the Premiership under Wenger, four games without a win.

Chelsea welcome newfound rivals Liverpool to Stamford Bridge for the early kick-off. The Merseysiders had defeated the Blues 2-1 in the Community Shield and Mourinho's men would be looking to exact revenge on Benitez's.

Andriy Schevchenko has had his dreams twice shattered by Liverpool and he will definitely be determined to get back. In 2005, his missed penalty allowed Liverpool to comeback from 3-0 down and win the shootout against AC Milan. In the Community Shield, despite scoring the opening goal, Liverpool overcame the deficit and won again.

Shevchenko, 29, said: "In my first game for Chelsea, we lost to them and now it's important to win."

"I scored but my team lost and it is important to win in this game. It's a difficult game - Liverpool are a big club and a good team.''

With a 30 million price tag on his head which Chelsea happily paid Milan, the striker is desperate to impress on the pitch, having scored twice in the first six games. Shevchenko said: "I feel okay. My performance is coming and it's very important to work now for the future. My aim is to win the fans over with the quality of my game and my goals.''

Chelsea are currently fourth in the table, but Liverpool are in an unfamiliar twelveth. Another loss would see the Reds slip further don the table, together with Arsenal.

Benitez wants to end that run and foster better relations with Mourinho following the pair's failure to indulge in the traditional post-match handshake after recent games. This will be the 12th time the clubs have clashed in the Mourinho-Benitez era and Benitez is prepared for the latest instalment.

"We are ready now for Chelsea,' he said. 'You can never be sure because Chelsea are a very good team but we feel ready and we are planning to go there and win. I have no problem shaking hands, I'll give him (Mourinho) the opportunity to shake hands if he wants."

Benitez will no doubt rotate his squad again, and it appears certain captain Steven Gerrard - left out of the starting line-up on Tuesday for the Champions League draw with PSV Eindhoven - will start the match. Who Benitez opts to play in central defence is another matter. Daniel Agger played very well there in the Community Shield success in Cardiff in August, and was outstanding in the Reds' first clean sheet of the season against PSV. This could earn him the nod over the veteran Sami Hyypia.

Benitez said: "Now we will see who is ahead. For Eindhoven, Danny was ahead of Sami in my thinking. But that may not be the case in the future. Other times, Sami will be the one in the forefront."

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By Ah Fatt

Walau eh, Ah Fatt tell you ah, now the IMF come to Singapore to chit-chat, gahmen go and close all the roads near the Marina side, they think very funny is it?

All the roads close, that means Ah Fatt cannot drive his newly-bought Nissan Sunny around town and haolian to all the chio bu on the street. What? Nissan not good? Ah Fatt like the car can already, no need you come and kachiau me one ok?

Anyway, cannot drive around means cannot use carpark also one leh! Then gahmen also tell all the hotels there not to accept bookings from other people. All reserved for IMF. I tell you ah, IMF stand for Irritating Money-Face. Everything also money. I think you can see dollar signs in their eyes one lor. Reserve for money-face never mind, reserve already they haven't come ah! Then now the hotels all headache 'cause gahmen is ruining their business. You know how many hotels are affected or not? Got that tall tall Swissotel lah, Raffles hotel lah, Conrad, Pan Pacific, so many sia! Road block here block there, want to go to Marina side have to take MRT and walk. The underpass side will be how mother crowded lor!

Then another funny thing ah. Gahmen spend so much money to plant trees and beautify the place, quite nice actually. But then money-face not happy. You know why? 'Cause gahmen don't allow protestors on the streets.

Haiyo... This one I must really laugh ah. One, as if IMF will care about what the protestors have to say. Two, I think gahmen has done the right thing. You see, our country is so small and and located in a sensitive region. If anything happens in our country ah, we will be damn vulnerable sia. You let these protestors run around creating trouble, later run out of control, we can say 'good game' already. We purposely create a safe environment for all you money-face people to come here, you still kachiau us. You listen hor, Ah Fatt is not happy ok?

Ah Fatt also heard that Mickey Mouse company is interested to build a theme park here leh! They say last time Singapore could already have had a Disneyland in the 1990s, in the Seletar Area, but then gahmen want Disney to fork out their own money to reclaim land, 'cause Mickey Mouse wants the land size 4 times bigger than the one in Tokyo. So Disney buay song go to Hong Kong lor! Siao ah! So big for what? Not like Singapore got so many people. 4 million nia.

Aiya, now that they are talking about building Disneyland near Marina IR, quite exciting ba. Ah Fatt haven't been to Mickey Mouse land for long long time liao. But now only talk, no action. See how first lor. Hopefully next time can go Marina there and shake Mickey Mouse's hand. But they better make sure gahmen don't close Marina roads like now la.

If Singapore next time can become a BIG tourist hit, Ah Fatt will run around my HDB estate naked. Sorry la, Ah Fatt too humji don't dare run around island. Estate already quite malu ok?

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WORLD

- reported by Osiris.

A private funeral for "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was held on Saturday at a funeral home in Caloundra, and it has been reported that the local council had given the Irwin family permission to bury Irwin, 44, at the 25-hectare zoo that has been owned by the family since 1970.




Steve Irwin cuddling a baby croc. All the crocs will definitely miss him!










Irwin was killed by a stingray on Sept. 4, whle filming an underwater set in the Great Barrier Reef. Apparently he was annoyed by the constant disturbance of the stingray and spoke into his microphone, "Someone please chase that critter away! We can't carry on like this!"

Richard, the culprit in this gruesome murder, swam towards Irwin on hearing his remark and stabbed his barb into the Australian show host's chest. Irwin died of the resulting cardiac arrest. The video of the incident is now in the hands of the Australian police and investigators are trying their best to identify Richard.

Said Monica, a friend of Richard who has refused to cooperate with the police with regards to the whereabouts of the stingray, "I've known Richard since we were ten years old. He wouldn't hurt anyone! Mr Irwin must have said something real nasty to Richard, something that has not been reported."

Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper has reportedly accquired the services of an Aborigine lip-reader to determine the actual words Irwin spoke seconds before his death.

John Stainton, Irwin's longtime manager, said that the family and friends are planning a memorial service to be opened to the public. He also said that Irwin's wife Terri and the children were coping 'quite well' with the sudden death. The Irwins have two children, Bindi, 8, and Bob, 2.

One venue mentioned for the memorial service is a 52,000-seat sports stadium in Brisbane, the nearby capital of Queensland state.

Irwin could have had a formal state funeral offered by Prime Minister John Howard but Bob Irwin said his son preferred a smaller, private funeral.

"He called me hours after he was gone, telling me not to blow it up but keep it under tabs, as quiet as possible." Bob told Rotters Int.

Please leave your condolences on the 'COMMENTS' page.

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SPORT

- reported by Osiris.


Arsenal are still without a win after having played 3 games in the Premiership. Having drawn once at home and lost at Manchester City last week, many would have felt this would be the match where Arsenal will commence their winning form, especially with the arrivals of Baptista and Gallas.

With Justin Hoyte preferring to play on the right-flank, it was up to experienced French defender Gallas to take the role as left-back. The Frenchman who is able to play on all positions across the defence made his debut on the starting line-up.



William Gallas makes his debut for Arsenal.








The gunners started brightly with a succession of corners, with Gilberto Silva glancing a backward header across the face of goal. Boro keeer Mark Schwarzer produced a couple of fine saves to deny Thierry Henry's curling effort, and the defenders managed to block shots from the Gunners, desperate to find a goal in this match.

But just after Freddie Ljungberg's shot was blocked and Alexander Hleb had his effort saved, Middlesbrough shocked the home team with the lead. Morrison made progress down the right, getting the better of Gallas. He played a nice one-two with Jason Euell on the edge of the Arsenal area before dispatching a cool finish under Jens Lehmann.

Arsenal have now trailed in all 3 of their Premiership matches, plus the second-leg of their Champions League qualifiers against Dinamo Zagreb. This sure is worrying sign of the defence - without the mighty and experienced Sol Campbell and the other defenders who have been on the injury table, the backline seems to be Arsenal's Achilles heel.

The home side remained calm, patiently waiting for a chance to get back into the game. Van Persie should have levelled the game 18 minutes before half-time when Emmanuel Eboue cut the ball into his path, but somehow managed to stab the ball wide.

In the second-half, the Gunners still pressed on and dominated possession, but could not make the most out of the ball outside the Boro penalty area. Their shots were still unable to find the back of the net, and Middlesbrough were holding the line more rather than attacking. Then in the 64th minute, Captain George Boateng was sent off for a tackle on Ljungberg. He had been cautioned 2 minutes earlier for protesting with the referee about Henry's freekick, which had been taken while Schwarzer was still lining up his wall.

With 23 minutes left, Eboue was brought down in the box by Steven Downing and Henry made no mistake by converting the spot-kick. Clearly lifted by their equaliser, Arsenal went all out to grab the winner, with Wenger substituting Van Persie, Ljungberg and Gilberto for Emmanuel Adebayor, Baptista and Tomas Rosicky. But 10-man Middlesbrough would not let the Arsenal into the box so easily, and the game ended with a draw.

Wenger was certainly concerned about his team's performance. "When we fail to win a game we have dominated, it is always worrying and I am now aware that this is our worst ever start in the Premiership."

"It was one of those games when we had all the ball, and the chances against a side that refused to come out and play, but we got ourselves into trouble by falling behind and gave ourselves a mountain to climb."

"We lacked sharpness because half of the team has been away [on international duty]."

However the Arsenal manager insisted that the team had 'so much' potential to do so much better.

Perhaps it is Arsenal's play that is giving them problems. Their style of play is always a 'beautiful counter-attack'. While holding off the opposition, when they finally get the ball, they quickly make their runs and that beautiful passing before making the perfect finish. That was the case in Europe last season. With the other teams all pressing for a winner, the counter-attack method worked. But in the Premiership, especially with smaller teams, it is not a full-fledged assault. So while Arsenal may dominate the possession, they lack the wit to finish. And when the opposition manages to score and take the lead, they quickly defend strongly and not let Arsenal break through. This makes Arsenal finding an equaliser difficult, lest say a winner.

Arsenal have a mid-week Champions League tie against Hamburg away before visitng Old Trafford on Sunday. Manchester United have made it four wins out of four, and are currently at the top of the table, after beating Tottenham Hotspurs 1-0. Given the Red Devils current form, it is hard to imagine Arsenal winning them. Perhaps a draw will do, unless Arsenal can produce that winning form they had lost, after losing so many key players.

Elsewhere in the Premiership ( Saturday ) :

Everton 3 - 0 Liverpool

Chelsea 2 - 1 Charlton

Newcastle 1 - 2 Fulham

Sheffield Utd 0 - 0 Blackburn

Portsmouth 1 - 0 Wigan

Bolton 1 - 0 Watford


Playing on Sunday:

West Ham v Aston Villa

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SPORT

- reported by Osiris.

Ashley Cole has moved from Arsenal to Chelsea, with Blues defender William Gallas heading in the opposite direction.

The deal was confirmed minutes before the transfer window closed on Friday midnight, putting an end to perhaps most protracted transfer saga this season. It all started when the Arsenal defender met up with Chelsea executives sometime in November last year in what was an illegal meeting. Cole and Chelsea were subsequently charged and fined for violating FA rules on negotiating transfer moves. In his soon-to-be-released autobiography, Ashley Cole criticized the club for the way the board treated him during that time.

William Gallas, on the other hand, fell out with manager Jose Mourinho after failing to report for duty during Chelsea's pre-season training in US, and was omitted from the first-team.

It is believed that Chelsea have paid 5 million pounds plus Gallas for the England defender. Ashley Cole expressed his happiness after the success of his transfer, "I'm very happy to have my dream come true, but at the same time I feel sad to leave my team-mates who have worked hard together all these years. I am looking forward to the new challenges ahead and meeting my new team-mates in the changing room!"



Ashley Cole has walked away from Arsenal for good.








Chelsea are now refuting claims that Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon are not on good terms regarding the departure of Gallas. An insider source told Rotters International that Mourinho had a 'special relationship' with the French defender, but Kenyon 'ruined everything' by selling Gallas behind Mourinho's back. "He has a hot bod!" our source claimed to have heard from the coach. The club maintains that both men are still on good terms and remain in constant contact.




French hot bod?








Arsenal has also swapped winger Jose Antonio Reyes for Real Madrid's Julio Baptista for an undisclosed fee. Reyes had expressed his desire to return to Spain weeks ago after failing to get accustomed to the English way of life since he arrived in London in 2004.

"I miss my home and my family. I also cannot watch my favourite bull-fighting exhibitions here in London. Now I am glad that I can return to Spain, and I must be the happiest man in the world!"

Wenger is pleased to have Baptista on his team, having failed to sign the Brazilian last season. "Julio Baptista will be a great addition to our squad. He is a powerful young international and is a versatile footballer who can operate both in midfield and as a striker. He has shown his potential over the past few seasons in Spain with both Real Madrid and Sevilla and we're looking forward to him joining us. While welcoming Julio we would like to wish Jose the best of luck for his time in Spain."



"Imagine I'm wearing an Arsenal jersey and carrying a trophy."

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WORLD

- reported by Osiris.


Around 100 Italian chefs donning their white uniforms have arrived on small motor boats at the Lebanese port city of Tyre today as part of a first wave of Italian entertainment services expected over the weekend.

At least 800 Italians are eventually set to arrive in Tyre with the goal of supporting the Global Circus Force, initiated by the United Nations to bring happiness and joy to the people of Lebanon.

The U.N. multinational forces -- which include Italy -- will be in the region not to make money, but under their mandate will be responsible for safeguarding themselves and any nearby civilians who are in danger of being scammed, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday.

The chefs will set-up food stalls around the city to aid the food crisis there, giving civilians a chance to experience the taste of Italy without having to spend a single cent. Food delicacies there include pasta, pizza, Mediterranean tastes and a huge range of deserts. The chefs have been reminded before-hand not to include pork or lard in the cooking as they will be working in a Muslim country.

Said Mr Antonio Agosto, the head chef of the Italian team, "We are extremely delighted to be able to serve the Lebanese community. War disrupts people's lives and we hope that through our acts of kindness, we can help the people of Lebanon lead their normal lives again. Furthermore, they can sample lots of delicious food and even try breakfast with an Italian flavour in the coming days! Squisito!"


Agosto ( extreme right ) with the members of the Italian Chef Committee, in charge of overseeing the chefs' operations in Lebanon.






The rest of the Italian force coming to Lebanon include circuses, opera singers and dancers who will liven up the streets with their entertaining performances.

Meanwhile, Indonesia said Saturday that it would send a 1000-strong entertainment group to southern Lebanon by month's end, after Israel had dropped objections to its participation in the G.C.F.

Israel earlier said it did not want Indonesia to take part because it was afraid that the 200 fire-breathers Indonesia would be deploying could be used to launch fiery attacks on the Jewish state.

But an official at the United Nations, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were private, said Friday that Israeli leaders had changed their minds, AP reported.


Israeli official who declined to be named, but did not mention that we could not publish his photo.









"We are ready to send our entertainment groups by the end of the month at the latest," Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters while attending a conference on the resort island of Bali.

U.N. officials and European diplomats have urged Muslim nations to contribute to the 15,000-person force that the U.N. Security Council envisioned in an August 11 resolution that led to a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Malaysia and Bangladesh have also offered manpower, though they also do not recognize Israel.

It has been confirmed by Rotters International that Belgium has pledged 300 chocolate chefs to aid the Italians, while Finland and Poland are set to provide a few hundred men each as well. The United States is watching Finland's movements closely, as they are concerned about the consequences Finnish-company Nokia may bring when they distribute free phones to the Lebanese people.

"Handphones can be reconfigured by terrorists to set-off bombs, and we are afraid that Hezbollah forces might use this technology to attack the G.C.F when they hold their charity events." said a spokesman for the United States Defense Department.

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