House 'cleanest in world': Lawson

NIGELLA Lawson may be a "domestic goddess" but she doesn't accept being called "the lady of the house".

In a second day of evidence on Thursday, Lawson stood in high-heeled boots for another four-and-a-half hours of answering questions in a UK court - with some of her responses sparking a few smiles and giggles.
Testifying at the trial of two former assistants accused of fraudulently using her and former husband Charles Saatchi's credit cards, the celebrity cook took issue with defence barrister Karina Arden referring to her as "the lady of the house" - a home she later joked must have been the "cleanest house ever in the world".
Repeating the term back to the barrister, Lawson said: "I don't think it is the job of a woman to run a house."
She said it was the job of both herself and Saatchi, and has already told London's Isleworth Crown Court she is an "independent woman".
When asked if the multi-millionaire Saatchi Gallery owner had an interest in the house, Lawson said: "Absolutely. He would go round and point out marks he wanted removed.
"He is a person with a tremendous eye for detail."
When Arden was asking if a property owned by Saatchi was sold for STG25 million ($A45.3 million), and Lawson said she was not aware of the exact sum, the barrister said the figure had been reported in the press, to which the TV star replied: "Then it must be correct."
Her response prompted laughter from the members of the court press bench.
The food writer said among other duties, defendant Francesca Grillo would organise Saatchi's frappuccinos and sew buttons on his suits.
Arden asked if Francesca did the food shopping, to which Lawson replied: "I do a fair amount myself."
The barrister then said: "This is no criticism of you as a domestic goddess."
At one point, Arden referred to Saatchi as Charles and quickly apologised, to which Lawson replied, as quickly: "I don't mind what you call him."
Arden told Lawson she shares her "penchant for things Italian" and added that she did not mean that as a criticism.
Lawson said: "I don't see how that could ever be interpreted by anyone as a criticism."
When asked by Arden about specialist cleaners who came to their home, Lawson said Saatchi "likes to have control over every element".
She said: "You make the wrong assumption if you think I was in control of the decisions, and I don't think for one minute your client would disagree with me."
Speaking about weekends in which she would have been happy to spend time with family and do her own washing up, Lawson said she "complied" with her ex-husband's decision to call in help.
Arden said the former couple's home had a "silver room" filled with tea services, candlesticks and trays.
The barrister said silver cleaners visited once or twice a month and charged STG400 per visit.
Lawson disputed this, saying "mostly the silver looked awful" and she was glad to see the back of it.

source- www.news.com

Police strike leads to looting in Argentinian city Cordoba

Government authorities in Argentina say order has returned to the streets of Cordoba after a police strike prompted widespread looting and violence.

A sit-in by police seeking pay raises in Argentina's second-largest city prompted hours of looting, robberies, injuries and vigilante mobs trying to protect their neighbourhoods before the provincial government agreed to the officers' demands and peace returned to the streets.

Three deaths were reported amid the violence in Cordoba and a copycat effort to loot a store outside the nation's capital.

The accord brings steep pay hikes for Cordoba police. Governor Jose Manuel de la Sota said they will now be the best-paid in the nation. But the violence suggests how easily social conflicts can erupt in Argentina, where most cities are surrounded by slums known as "misery villages,'' and street protests by activists demanding more handouts to keep up with inflation are a daily fact of life.

De la Sota accused President Cristina Fernandez of starving Cordoba of federal support, saying her administration could have easily prevented the violence by sending national police in earlier.

"It's like we have to burn our national identity document because there are some who don't consider us part of the Argentine Republic,'' de la Sota complained in a fiery speech after resolving the strike.

The president's Cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, denied this and accused de la Sota of trying to shift the blame for a problem that was entirely his responsibility. Still, 2,000 border police were dispatched to Cordoba by Wednesday afternoon to help restore order.

The violence began Tuesday evening after police abandoned their posts while the governor was travelling outside Argentina, and continued through the night, with storefronts shattered, mobs stealing merchandise, robbers attacking people in the streets and vigilantes arming themselves to protect their homes. Banks and schools were closed and people huddled inside Wednesday as more supermarkets and a mobile television van recording the violence were attacked, even as officers and provincial authorities negotiated the deal.

Hospital authorities reported two deaths: a young motorcyclist was shot in the chest and an 85-year-old man collapsed while his home was being robbed, according to Cordoba's Voz del Interior newspaper. More than 100 were injured, mostly from shattered glass. At least 56 people were arrested, and both the governor and police chief said after signing the deal that anyone responsible for looting will go to jail.

The deal raises most officers' monthly take-home pay to more than 10,000 pesos, said the governor's Cabinet chief, Oscar Gonzalez. That amounts to $1,612 at the official exchange rate, or $1,075 at the black market rate many Argentines consider a more reliable measure. Not all officers were happy with the deal, but many were seen chanting and cheering at their success before returning to work.

De la Sota also described darker motives behind the strike: He called it a response to his decision to close 140 brothels that provide income to corrupt officers.

"We know that this, which is a terrible business, horrible, is linked to drug trafficking and that it would bring us problems sooner or later,'' he said.

While the streets returned to normal in Cordoba, about 50 people tried to loot a supermarket in Glew, a poor neighbourhood in southern Buenos Aires province, authorities said. The owner tried to fend them off with gunfire early Wednesday and his body was found after the building was set on fire, Cesar Orlando Mateo, a volunteer firefighter who responded to the scene, told Radio La Red.

source- www.news.com

George Clooney and Katy Perry reveal generation gap in views on Twitter

GEORGE Clooney (52 years old, zero followers) says stars who use Twitter are morons, but Katy Perry (29 years old, 48 million followers) says she intends to use her "terrifying" social media army to achieve good in the world.

In the January edition of Esquire UK, released today, Clooney says "anyone who is famous is a moron if they're on Twitter ... It's just stupid".

"I don't for the life of me understand why any famous person would ever be on Twitter.

"Because first of all, the worst thing you can do is make yourself more available, right? Because you're going to be available to everybody."

The Gravity star also said that the demands of film fame have become much greater since the golden years of Hollywood.

"Not that I'm comparing myself to Clark Gable, or whoever, but they couldn't survive in this environment ... They'd punch the s - t out of some people. It requires a kind of Zen quality."

But pop queen Katy Perry, who has just been made an envoy for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), says she is ready to put her enormous social media following to good use.

Perry has a record 48 million followers on Twitter (more even than Justin Bieber). When signing her UNICEF contract on Tuesday she said she could bring a lot of awareness to issues, because she had "a terrifying amount of people that follow me on Twitter".

"We can pinpoint it if there are various places that we need to focus on more than others; whenever there is a crisis going on I can always kind of call up my troops,'' she added.

Perry told AFP later of how social media power can be exploited if stars like herself do not preach.

"There is a generational change that is happening because of technology being so available and everybody being so connected and being able to see what is going on immediately. Nothing is so hidden any more,'' she said.

"I think one of the reasons maybe I got to the highest position on Twitter is because I am not always selling something to the Tweeters, because they hate that,'' Perry said in the interview.

"The kids don't really like to be sold to all the time. They are interested in when the music comes out, or when the video comes out.

"But I think they want to see my personality. They like when I share videos or get them involved or interact with them. They like the funny things, the silly things, they like the ranting, mumbling whatever it is I do.''

Perry said she would not silence her often outspoken style for her new post.

"It is not that I censor myself, I just know what's appropriate, what's not. I do not censor myself in real life. But I am an adult and make choices of my own for what I need to share.''

source- www.news.com

How Heidi and Spencer Pratt blew $10 million

"WE thought we were Jay Z and Beyonce" - and that right there was Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's problem.

The reality show pair have revealed how they blew their $10 million fortune in just a few short years, experiencing a spectacular fall from grace.

In a new interview with InTouch magazine, the couple say they went from one of reality TV's richest couples to living with Pratt's parents in Santa Barbara.

"We were immature and we got caught up," Pratt told the mag.

"Every time we'd go out to eat, we'd order $4,000 bottles of wine. Heidi was going to the mall and dropping $20,000 to $30,000 a day. We thought we were Jay Z and Beyoncé."

"Now I can spend like $100 at Victoria's Secret. I feel like a different person," added Montag.

The couple revealed earlier in the year that they were so convinced that the Mayan Apocalypse was coming that they blew millions of dollars before the calendar hit December 21, 2012.

"We made and spent at least $10 million," Spencer later told OK! magazine. "The thing is, we heard that the planet was going to end in 2012. We thought, we have got to spend this money before the asteroid hits.

"Here's some advice, definitely do not spend your money thinking asteroids are coming. The world didn't end," he added.

"I would give my friends $15,000 for their birthday. Just cash. I would buy people cars. Every valet I met got a couple of hundred pounds tip. I would pay people $200 just to open doors for us."

They added to the Mirror that they spent their money on things like armoured trucks and designer handbags because they truly believed the end was near.

 source- www.news.com

Nigella Lawson tells court she has used cocaine a few times; Saatchi grabbed throat over grandchildren remark

CELEBRITY chef Nigella Lawson has admitted taking cocaine but said it was at difficult times in her life including amid "acts of intimate terrorism" by her then husband Charles Saatchi.

In sensational evidence at lsleworth Crown Court in London’s west, a composed but at times emotional Lawson outlined intimate moments in her life including with the "brilliant but brutal" Saatchi.

She also gave her version of events behind those photographs that made headlines around the world, depicting Saatchi appearing to throttle his wife earlier this year while at an outdoor table at the upmarket Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair in central London.

She said contrary to reports, there had not been an argument as such at that point but a customer had walked passed their table with a baby in a stroller.

“I said ‘I'm so looking forward to having grandchildren’,” Lawson recounted.

“He grabbed me by the throat and said ‘I'm the only person you should be concerned with, I am the only person that should give you pleasure’.”

She said she had put up with a long summer of bullying and abuse at the hands of her husband who she said was out to “destroy” her and her credibility.

The self-made millionaire TV cook and author dismissed as lies suggestions she was a drug addict or that her house was littered with drug paraphernalia including teaspoons and white powder left discarded on the toilet top.

But the 53-year-old said she had joined her then first husband John Diamond with taking cocaine, on six occasions, after his cancer had been diagnosed as terminal about 12 years ago.

She said it gave him some escape but she did not abuse the substance as she had to look after him and the children.

She took cocaine again in July 2010 during a relationship issue with Saatchi.

“I was having a very, very difficult time. I felt subjected to acts of intimate terrorism,” she told the court.

“I felt shamed, isolated in fear and unhappy.”

But Lawson was adamant it was “absolutely ridiculous” to suggest she was a drug addict or habitual user and certainly not having used drugs every day for 10 years of her marriage and added “people who do that are a lot thinner than I am”.

“A friend of mine offered me some cocaine. I took it,” she told the court of the 2010 incident, adding it had “completely spooked her”. She said she took the drug during a difficult time in her marriage. 

“I felt I needed it to get through my life and it helped,” she said.

“I concluded that I did not have a drug problem, I had a life problem, and I needed to attend to that and I did seek out a therapist.”

While Lawson was a witness in the $1.3 million credit card fraud trial against two former assistants - Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo - she said that felt she was on trial in what was tantamount to a witch hunt.

“I found the answer was in changing the situation and trying to create a tolerable situation for me and my family,” she said

“I have to say, since freeing myself from a brilliant but brutal man, I'm now totally cannabis, cocaine, any drug-free.”

Lawson also admitted taking marijuana in the last year of her marriage to Saatchi, which formally ended in July this year, but said she would not know how to roll a joint and the drug use was not something of which she was proud.

She said she was greatly relieved the drug episodes were behind her as was her relationship with Saatchi, who she said had threatened her with punishment for attending a girlfriend’s birthday party. There were no beatings she said but “emotional abuse”.

Grillo defence lawyer Andrew Metzer QC then attempted to hand her photographs of Saatchi's assault to which Judge Robyn Johnson refused them to be shown.

Nigella Lawson's PAs spent $86,000 monthly on cards

Charles Saatchi says he still loves ex-wife Nigella Lawson

But she denied claims by the Grillos that the infamous the assault was after Saatchi had found out she had authorised the women to spend up to $1.3 million of luxury goods on themselves or motivated by anger at her cocaine abuse.

She said all those claims had been made on the internet and it was astonishing Mr Metzer was giving them such credibility.

Mr Metzer asked Lawson if it was the case his clients had been drawn into the trial by Saatchi and herself and their private battle, to which she said she was the one that had actually been drawn in. Lawson also denied claims she has lied about not authorising the women to use the credit cards for themselves because she was scared of her ex-husband.

Lawson spent five hours standing in the witness box but must return tomorrow to continue her cross examination.

source- www.news.com

Russia seeks answers over deadly crash

RUSSIA has sought answers for the latest deadly plane crash to raise concerns about the safety of its civil aviation, with investigators focusing on a fault with the 23-year-old plane or pilot error as the likely cause.

The Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737-500 crashed on landing at the airport in the Volga city of Kazan after a flight from Moscow's Domodedovo airport on Sunday night, killing all 44 passengers and six crew on board, the emergencies ministry said.

"The main versions of what happened are an error in piloting and technical factors, including a technical failure," the head of the transport Investigative Committee for the Volga region, Alexander Poltinin, was quoted on Monday as saying by Russian news agencies.

He confirmed that the crash occurred while the aircraft was making a second attempt at landing and said the investigation would have to consider why the pilot had not managed to land the first time.

The disaster claimed the lives of the son of the leader of the Tatarstan region, Irek Minnikhanov, and the head of Russia's FSB security service in Tatarstan, Alexander Antonov.

Also among the dead was a Briton, Donna Carolina Bull, 53, and a Ukrainian national, the emergencies ministry said. The rest of the victims are believed to be Russian citizens.

The plane owned by Tatarstan Airlines, the regional carrier of the Tatarstan region in central Russia, was 23 years old and had seven owners during its life, Russian media and specialised websites said.

It went into service in 1990 and was used first by now-defunct French airline Euralair Horizons and then by Air France. Before being acquired by Tatarstan Airlines, it was operated by Uganda Airlines, Brazil's Rio Sul, Romania's Blue Air and then Bulgaria Air.

While being operated by Rio Sul, it had a serious accident on landing in Brazil in 2001, which, although it claimed no lives, meant the plane had to have serious repairs.

Russia has experienced a string of deadly air crashes, usually involving small and poorly regulated regional airlines that sprang up across Russia after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The most recent major accident before Sunday's disaster was in April 2012, when a passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off from Tyumen airport in Siberia, killing 33 people.

Source- www.news.com

US, Russia throw weight behind Syria talks 

THE US and Russia have thrown their full weight behind long-delayed Syria peace talks that the UN says finally would be held on January 22, though it is not yet clear whether key sponsors of the warring sides would attend.

"We haven't established a list yet," UN and Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Monday.
That left open the participation of Saudi Arabia, seen as a major sponsor the majority Sunni Muslim rebels, and Iran, steadfast backer of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad which is dominated by Alawites derived from Islam's Shi'ite sect.
"These two countries will certainly be among the possible participants," Brahimi said after closed-door talks in Geneva with US and Russian officials.
The talks will bring together the Syrian government and the opposition at the negotiating table for the first time since the rebellion against Assad erupted in March 2011.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced the date for the long-delayed conference on Syria dubbed Geneva II at the UN headquarters in New York.
"At long last and for the first time, the Syrian government and opposition will meet at the negotiating table instead of the battlefield," Ban told reporters.
"The fighting has raged on far too long - with more than 100,000 dead, almost nine million driven from their homes, countless missing and detained, and terrible violations of human rights," Ban said, calling the war the "biggest threat to international peace".
The US, which has long urged Assad to step down, called the upcoming talks the "best opportunity" to form a new transitional government to lead Syria out of war.
"In order to end the bloodshed and give the Syrian people a chance to meet their long-deferred aspirations, Syria needs new leadership," US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
He said he recognised "that the obstacles on the road to a political solution are many, and we will enter the Geneva conference on Syria with our eyes wide open".
Russia, which broadly supports the survival of Assad's regime, also underlined the importance of the talks.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a 35-minute audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican during which both men discussed the urgent need "to promote concrete initiatives for a peaceful solution to the conflict, favouring negotiation", the Holy See said.
They agreed any solution should involve "the various ethnic and religious groups, recognising their essential role in society", it said in a statement.
Kerry has been working with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to organise the peace talks with the UN since May.
White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters travelling with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One that "we'll necessarily need to end (Geneva) with Assad leaving power".
Brahimi, meanwhile, said the country's warring sides should not wait until January 22 to rein in fighting.
"We very strongly appeal to the Syrian government and the opposition to not to wait for the conference," he said, urging the sides to "diminish the violence (and) release prisoners and detainees of all sorts".
He admitted though, "being realistic", that "a lot of the things that need to happen will happen after the conference starts".
Brahimi said the conference would start "without any preconditions".
The opposition Syrian National Coalition has agreed to attend, but its authority is not recognised by Islamist rebel groups that are proving the most effective on the battlefield.
Brahimi said the opposition coalition had a "very important role to play" and had to be "as representative as possible" for the talks to work.
"We are in touch both with the government and the opposition. We are asking them to name their delegations as early as possible, hopefully before the end of the year," said the Algerian mediator, who previously was UN envoy for Afghanistan and Iraq.
"This conference is really for the Syrians to come to Geneva and talk to one another and hopefully start a credible, workable effective peace process for their country."

source- www.news.com

 

Co-op Group chair quits over Paul Flowers drugs claims

The chairman of the Co-op Group has resigned, saying "serious questions" were raised by the scandal over its former banking chairman, Paul Flowers.

Mr Flowers apologised after he was filmed allegedly buying drugs, while the Co-op has said it is investigating.
Questions have also been raised about Mr Flowers' competence in the role, which he was appointed to in 2010.
Len Wardle, who led the board who appointed Mr Flowers, said he felt it was "right" that he stepped down now.
Meanwhile David Anderson, the former chief executive of the Co-op Bank, is due to appear before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, where he will give evidence about the troubled bank and its takeover of the Britannia Building Society.
'Real change' The company said Mr Wardle had resigned as chairman and from the board "with immediate effect". He had held the position since 2007 but announced last month that he would leave in May 2014.

 MPs question David Anderson, the former chief executive of Co-operative Financial Service"The recent revelations about the behaviour of Paul Flowers, the former chair of the Co-operative Bank, have raised a number of serious questions for both the bank and the group," Mr Wardle said in a statement"I led the board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the bank board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now, ahead of my planned retirement in May next year."I have already made it clear that I believe the time is right for real change in our operations and our governance, and the board recently started a detailed review of our democracy."I hope that the group now takes the chance to put in place a new democratic structure so we can modernise in the interests of all our members."

Mr Wardle will be replaced by Ursula Lidbetter, who is the Co-op Group's deputy chairwoman and chief executive of the Lincolnshire Co-operative Society.

Paul Flowers chaired the bank from June 2010 to April this year

Mr Flowers, who was chairman of the bank from April 2010 until June this year, was filmed allegedly ordering cocaine and boasting about his use of other banned substances in a video published by the Mail on Sunday.
The Methodist minister and former Bradford City councillor has apologised for the actions he described as "stupid" and "wrong". He has been suspended from both the Labour Party and his church.
The Co-op Group had said it would launch a "fact-finding process to look into any inappropriate behaviour", as well as a review of its "democratic structure".
'Lamentable' performance The scandal has also prompted pressure on City regulators to introduce tougher checks on candidates for senior banking roles.
Conservative MP Brooks Newmark said Mr Flowers had not been competent in the job and questioned how he could have been appointed.
"Clearly he was not fit to be in that position and while obviously his performance was lamentable, I also think unfortunately that the regulators should be held to account on this," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"They should have done their due diligence to see whether Mr Flowers was fit and proper to run a major financial institution."
Former director general of the CBI, Lord Digby Jones, told Today: "The problem you have got if you bring in more regulation is will it serve its purpose?
"To do more background checks, excellent. To ensure that you get the best, not necessarily British [bankers, and to] ensure that banking can be a force for good in the country - if that calls for more rigorous implementation of the rules that you have then I'm up for that."
He said he thought the industry had "moved on" from 2008 when there was an element of "jobs for the boys", and that Mr Flowers would probably not be appointed now.
'No grasp' Mr Flowers appeared before a committee of MPs earlier this month, during which he appeared to have "no grasp" of "basic" facts about the bank, said BBC business editor Robert Peston.
He said Mr Flowers had never worked in the banking sector in "any senior capacity", but had been appointed chairman of the Co-op Bank as a result of a "power struggle within the co-operative movement".

Mr Flowers appeared before the Treasury Select Committee earlier this month

Our correspondent said Mr Flowers' rivals in the movement had been "surprised and disappointed" when the now-defunct Financial Services Authority (FSA) had approved his appointment.
The Financial Conduct Authority, which has taken on some of the FSA's former responsibilities, said Mr Flowers "underwent the appropriate interview process when originally coming on to the Co-op board [in 2009]".
The BBC understands he faced a less rigorous interview when he became chairman, because at the time regulators did not see the posts of non-executive director and chairman as significantly different - though that has since changed.
David Jackman, head of ethics at the FSA until 2003, has said it was "very disturbing" that Mr Flowers had made it through the vetting procedure.
Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee and headed up the recent banking standards commission, has said MPs could see Mr Flowers was "manifestly unsuitable" for the job when he appeared before the committee on 6 November.
The Mail on Sunday said he was filmed buying the drugs days after being grilled by the MPs.

source-  http://www.bbc.co.uk

Sardinia hit by deadly cyclone and floodig

At least 16 people have been killed in flooding prompted by a cyclone and heavy rain that swept through the Italian island of Sardinia.

A number of people are reported missing after rivers burst their banks, sweeping cars away and causing bridges to collapse.
The worst-hit area appears to be in and around the north-eastern city of Olbia.
Prime Minister Enrico Letta has spoken of a "national tragedy" and a state of emergency is expected to be declared.
"We're at maximum alert," Giorgio Cicalo, an official from Sardinia's civil protection authority, told Italy's Rai TV.
"We haven't seen a situation as extreme as this, perhaps for decades. Especially because it's been across the whole island."

 

 

 

Hundreds of people across the Mediterranean island have been moved from their homes because of the flooding caused by Cyclone Cleopatra.
Sardinian Governor Ugo Cappellacci told Italian TV that the situation on the island was "dramatic".
Olbia Mayor Gianni Giovanelli was quoted by Sky TG24 as saying that the city had been hit by an "apocalyptic"' storm.
Cyclones are extremely rare in the Mediterranean.
Brazilian family Reports from the island say flood waters in some areas were up to 3m (10ft) high.
A Brazilian family of four drowned when their basement flat in the town of Arzachena, in the northern part of the island, filled with water. Two children were among the dead.
Three people died when a road bridge collapsed on to their car near Olbia, according to local media.
In a separate incident, a mother and her daughter were found dead in their car after it was swept away by floods.
Among the victims was a police officer who died after a bridge collapsed as he tried to escort an ambulance.

Some city residents used social media to offer shelter to those forced out of their homes.
Meanwhile Governor Cappellacci told La Stampa newspaper that thousands of people had been affected.
"Unfortunately the situation is tragic," he said.
The storms also caused extensive damage to farms on the island and disrupted a number of flights to and from mainland Italy.


source-  http://www.bbc.co.uk

 

 

 

Rival Libya militias in fresh clashes near Tripoli

As he gets set to mark his 100th Test, Kevin Pietersen insists the Australian media have mistaken his natural confidence for arrogance - and revealed he hopes to keep playing for England until 2016.
The batsman also admitted to make mistakes in his career - most likely a reference to the 2012 'textgate' scandal which saw him dropped from the England squad.
But having made his debut in the 2005 Ashes, Pietersen says he is feeling happier than ever in the England set-up as he gets set to mark a personal milestone at the Gabba on Thursday.
"We've all made mistakes in our lives, and if I hadn't learned I wouldn't be sitting here on the eve of my 100th Test match," Pietersen said. "Where my career is right now, I don't know that I could be any happier. Clearly there's been some bad stuff which has been well-documented. When you're riding the crest of a wave and everything's going really well for you, it's hard to learn. But when you make mistakes in life, business, anything, you learn."
Pietersen had clear-the-air talks with his former skipper Andrew Strauss on Monday in an attempt to heal the rift formed last year.
"Do you ever look at things and think why you've done things? We all make mistakes," he reiterated.
After the Brisbane Courier Mail put Pietersen on their front page with a headline claiming even his own teammates don't like him on Monday, he laughed off a Twitter exchange with one of the paper's journalists attempts, where he tweeted about no one knowing where Brisbane is.
"I actually respect the Australian journalists for the way they come at oppositions," said Pietersen. "I think it's fantastic. I've had it for however many years, and I know when I walk out to bat the Gabba's going to clout me.

Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/cricket/sport/story/258795.html#dMWGwmWqGTGjF7rH.99

As he gets set to mark his 100th Test, Kevin Pietersen insists the Australian media have mistaken his natural confidence for arrogance - and revealed he hopes to keep playing for England until 2016.
The batsman also admitted to make mistakes in his career - most likely a reference to the 2012 'textgate' scandal which saw him dropped from the England squad.
But having made his debut in the 2005 Ashes, Pietersen says he is feeling happier than ever in the England set-up as he gets set to mark a personal milestone at the Gabba on Thursday.
"We've all made mistakes in our lives, and if I hadn't learned I wouldn't be sitting here on the eve of my 100th Test match," Pietersen said. "Where my career is right now, I don't know that I could be any happier. Clearly there's been some bad stuff which has been well-documented. When you're riding the crest of a wave and everything's going really well for you, it's hard to learn. But when you make mistakes in life, business, anything, you learn."
Pietersen had clear-the-air talks with his former skipper Andrew Strauss on Monday in an attempt to heal the rift formed last year.
"Do you ever look at things and think why you've done things? We all make mistakes," he reiterated.
After the Brisbane Courier Mail put Pietersen on their front page with a headline claiming even his own teammates don't like him on Monday, he laughed off a Twitter exchange with one of the paper's journalists attempts, where he tweeted about no one knowing where Brisbane is.
"I actually respect the Australian journalists for the way they come at oppositions," said Pietersen. "I think it's fantastic. I've had it for however many years, and I know when I walk out to bat the Gabba's going to clout me.

Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/cricket/sport/story/258795.html#dMWGwmWqGTGjF7rH.99

There has been renewed fighting between rival militias on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, a day after at least 43 people died in clashes.

The latest violence in the suburb of Tajoura, involving local militiamen and fighters from Misrata, left one dead.
Friday's clashes occurred after protesters marched on the headquarters of the Misrata militia to demand that it leave Tripoli, and were fired upon.
The government is struggling to contain militias who control parts of Libya.
On Saturday Prime Minister Ali Zeidan confirmed that fresh fighting had taken place in Tajoura.
He urged all sides to "exercise maximum restraint", adding: "No forces from outside Tripoli should attempt to enter the city because the situation is very tense and could escalate further."
AFP quoted Mr Zeidan as saying: "The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution."

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says Tajoura is seen as the gateway to the capital and the latest fighting was sparked when an armed convoy from Misrata entered it in an apparent attempt to make its way to the centre.
Misrata is about 200km to the east of the capital.
Our correspondent says armed groups halted the convoy, which retreated 15km (9 miles) away, but that live rounds were exchanged for some time afterward.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned" by the latest clashes and urged "all sides to exercise restraint and restore calm".
Civilian backlash Government-linked militias set up checkpoints across the capital amid tightened security for the funerals of many of those killed on Friday.
Officials have updated the death toll from Friday's violence from 31 to 43. About 500 people were wounded.
Friday's fighting began after demonstrators marched on the headquarters of the Misrata brigades in the capital's Ghargour district.

 

 Mr Zeidan said the protest march had been "peaceful and came under fire when it entered Ghargour".

However, Libya's al-Ahrar television quoted Taher Basha Agha, the head of the Misrata militia at Ghargour, as saying that the protesters were armed.
"It was not a peaceful demonstration. They carried light arms and shot at us," he was quoted as saying.
Witnesses said the militiamen had initially fired to ward off the protesters, some of whom were children, but shot at the crowd when it continued to advance.
Other witnesses said armed men returned hours later to storm the militia HQ, with some buildings set on fire.
It is unclear how many casualties were caused at the initial protest and at the later fighting.
A militia group calling itself the Shield of Libya said on Saturday it had secured Ghargour and that the Misrata fighters had withdrawn.
The Misrata militia was involved in clashes in the capital last week which left two people dead.
There have been increasing demands from civilians that the militias - which emerged during the 2011 revolution - disband or join the army, in line with an end-of-year deadline set by the interim government in Tripoli.
Some militiamen have been given salaries and taken into the government security forces but many still remain loyal to their own commanders.
Last month, Mr Zeidan was briefly seized by a militia group in Tripoli.
Two years after the overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi, Libya still has no constitution and divisions between secular and Islamist forces have paralysed parliament.


source-   http://www.bbc.co.uk

As he gets set to mark his 100th Test, Kevin Pietersen insists the Australian media have mistaken his natural confidence for arrogance - and revealed he hopes to keep playing for England until 2016.
The batsman also admitted to make mistakes in his career - most likely a reference to the 2012 'textgate' scandal which saw him dropped from the England squad.
But having made his debut in the 2005 Ashes, Pietersen says he is feeling happier than ever in the England set-up as he gets set to mark a personal milestone at the Gabba on Thursday.
"We've all made mistakes in our lives, and if I hadn't learned I wouldn't be sitting here on the eve of my 100th Test match," Pietersen said. "Where my career is right now, I don't know that I could be any happier. Clearly there's been some bad stuff which has been well-documented. When you're riding the crest of a wave and everything's going really well for you, it's hard to learn. But when you make mistakes in life, business, anything, you learn."
Pietersen had clear-the-air talks with his former skipper Andrew Strauss on Monday in an attempt to heal the rift formed last year.
"Do you ever look at things and think why you've done things? We all make mistakes," he reiterated.
After the Brisbane Courier Mail put Pietersen on their front page with a headline claiming even his own teammates don't like him on Monday, he laughed off a Twitter exchange with one of the paper's journalists attempts, where he tweeted about no one knowing where Brisbane is.
"I actually respect the Australian journalists for the way they come at oppositions," said Pietersen. "I think it's fantastic. I've had it for however many years, and I know when I walk out to bat the Gabba's going to clout me.

Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/cricket/sport/story/258795.html#dMWGwmWqGTGjF7rH.99

As he gets set to mark his 100th Test, Kevin Pietersen insists the Australian media have mistaken his natural confidence for arrogance - and revealed he hopes to keep playing for England until 2016.
The batsman also admitted to make mistakes in his career - most likely a reference to the 2012 'textgate' scandal which saw him dropped from the England squad.
But having made his debut in the 2005 Ashes, Pietersen says he is feeling happier than ever in the England set-up as he gets set to mark a personal milestone at the Gabba on Thursday.
"We've all made mistakes in our lives, and if I hadn't learned I wouldn't be sitting here on the eve of my 100th Test match," Pietersen said. "Where my career is right now, I don't know that I could be any happier. Clearly there's been some bad stuff which has been well-documented. When you're riding the crest of a wave and everything's going really well for you, it's hard to learn. But when you make mistakes in life, business, anything, you learn."
Pietersen had clear-the-air talks with his former skipper Andrew Strauss on Monday in an attempt to heal the rift formed last year.
"Do you ever look at things and think why you've done things? We all make mistakes," he reiterated.
After the Brisbane Courier Mail put Pietersen on their front page with a headline claiming even his own teammates don't like him on Monday, he laughed off a Twitter exchange with one of the paper's journalists attempts, where he tweeted about no one knowing where Brisbane is.
"I actually respect the Australian journalists for the way they come at oppositions," said Pietersen. "I think it's fantastic. I've had it for however many years, and I know when I walk out to bat the Gabba's going to clout me.

Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/cricket/sport/story/258795.html#dMWGwmWqGTGjF7rH.99