Tevez completes move to City

Manchester City have announced they have reached an agreement to sign Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez.

The 25-year-old, who left city rivals United at the end of last season, has agreed personal terms and is expected to pen a five-year deal at Eastlands.

City have confirmed the deal has been ratified by the Premier League and the Football Association, and Tevez is expected to have a medical shortly before meeting up with his new team-mates on their pre-season tour to South Africa.

Manager Mark Hughes told www.mcfc.co.uk: "It is terrific news. Carlos is an international player of the highest class who possesses all the attributes that will help drive this club forward."

He added: "He is not only outstanding technically but he is a reliable goalscorer and someone who will contribute fully to the team ethic. He gives us another exciting attacking dimension.

"I cannot wait to welcome him to City."

With rumours swirling round Manchester that Emmanuel Adebayor is about to be offered a five-year contract to leave Arsenal and continuing speculation over the future of Chelsea skipper John Terry, it is clear City are a club on the march.

It is Hughes' job to mould a team from the succession of star names being welcomed to the club, although it is a task to relish rather than one to fear, with ambition coursing through the veins of City's Abu Dhabi-based backers.

"This is yet another deal that shows the commitment of owner Sheikh Mansour to make this club the best it can possibly be," said Hughes.

"I am sure our fans will give Carlos an exceptionally warm welcome."

The Premier League have ratified all the paperwork and assured themselves City have sole registration of the only player to win the South American player of the year award three seasons running.

An Olympic champion with Argentina in Athens five years ago, Tevez has won successive Premier League titles at United, where he was a crowd favourite.

Whether such adoration will be maintained now he has become one of a select band to have joined both Manchester clubs will be tested at the Old Trafford derby on September 19.

However, having lost out on Tevez, Sir Alex Ferguson today declared his belief the former West Ham player had already done a deal to move on.

"I half expected Carlos Tevez would be going a long time back," said the United boss.

"I think he maybe did a deal around January because I spoke to him and gave him an offer on the night we played Inter Milan (in March) and he never came back to me.

"I phoned him on holiday and he never got back to me and I texted him twice and he never got back to me then either, so obviously he had made his mind up a long time ago.

"He was a good player and did well for us. But he obviously assessed the situation and wanted to go somewhere else."

Such talk seems slightly wide of the mark but, with his family settled in the north-west and City hardly scrimping on the value of contracts, Tevez spurned interest from Chelsea to effectively remain at his current base, merely exchanging a red shirt for blue.

It further strengthens an attack that includes Roque Santa Cruz, Robinho and Craig Bellamy, plus a further five experienced players, most of whom are likely to find themselves surplus to requirements.

That will definitely be the case if the transfer of Adebayor goes through, although Arsenal must know they will be putting their own Champions League place at risk by sanctioning such a deal.

In addition, Terry's situation needs to be clarified, with City willing to pay record wages to lure the England captain north from Chelsea.

With the Londoners ready to leave for their own pre-season tour on Thursday, it has been suggested some kind of press conference could be held where Terry outlines his own vision for the future, although as he apparently feels let down by the lack of big names heading for Stamford Bridge, manager Carlo Ancelotti could not be certain of its contents.

Rafa thought of signing Owen

Rafa Benitez has revealed that he considered signing Michael Owen but dismissed it as he could not guarantee a first team place.

The 29-year-old spent eight successful seasons at Anfield at the start of his career scoring 158 goals in all competitions.

However that has not stopped the striker from moving down the East Lancs Road to fiercest rivals Manchester United on a free transfer from Newcastle this summer.

Benitez admitted that he flirted with the idea of bringing the forward back to Liverpool but did not feel he would dislodge Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard up front.

"We had contact with different people and were analysing the situation," he told The People.

"But if you want to play Torres and Gerrard there is not always a lot of space for other players.

"When I brought back Robbie Fowler it was a different situation. We were looking for someone who could understand his role clearly and he was a good finisher.

"But we have a World Cup coming up and all the top players want to play. In his position it would be hard for Owen to play every week at Liverpool."

The Spaniard is also confident he already has enough squad depth at his disposal to cope with any injuries to his preferred front pairing.

"We are confident in (Dirk) Kuyt, (Ryan) Babel, (David) Ngog and (Andriy) Voronin for next season. We have players with quality," he added.

"People say I might need another striker but I remember signing Robbie Keane and everyone was saying good things.

"Then after I sold Robbie people were saying I was short of strikers but we scored more goals than anyone in the Premier League."

Westwood playing into form

Sick on Thursday, better on Friday, flying on Saturday - this has been some week for Lee Westwood.

And next week might be even more memorable. Perhaps only Tiger Woods will go into The Open at Turnberry with more confidence.

Doubtful before the start of the Barclays Scottish Open and wishing after two holes he had pulled out - "I was stupid to play," he said - on Saturday Westwood added a 64 to his second-round 66.

And he admitted afterwards that thoughts of the European Tour's first-ever 59 entered his mind when he birdied nine of the first 12 holes and had two more clear chances coming straight up.

"I was just unfortunate," said the Ryder Cup star, who last Sunday was in a play-off for the French Open after a superb closing 65.

"I had to wait on the 13th tee and on the next and those sort of things just break your rhythm occasionally."

A chest infection that kept him awake all night had been the reason he came so close to withdrawing.

"It just goes to show I'm a man who needs his sleep. It just felt like somebody's else head on my shoulders - I was dizzy and I couldn't focus.

"It felt almost like I was hung over, if any of you have ever been hung over." To a group of journalists that raised a laugh.

"I was given anti-biotics, slept for three hours after I played yesterday and then for another 12 hours.

"I've obviously still got a bit of a bad chest, but it's not making me feel ill. I had my tonsils taken out last November and when you take them out it just goes to your chest instead.

"I spoke to Ian Poulter and he had the same thing. He gets more chest infections than he used to."

Going into last year's Open Westwood was a centre of attention following his third-place finish in the US Open.

He finished only 67th and complained about how hard it was for home players.

"At the US Open I went in with no expectations. This week that's just not possible," he stated then.

"It's just not possible to be low key. There's too much to do to concentrate solely on golf.

"I think that's part of the reason British players don't do better, but I think I can manage it better in the future."

On the same subject he commented: "It's just an intense week. The demands on your time are very great.

"If you can just go in there and not have to talk to anybody it would be a massive result.

"But unfortunately it's the Open Championship and I'm British - and I'm not the sort that's not going to talk."

From three over par after two holes on Thursday Westwood is now 10 under. He still has catching up to do, but his game is exactly where he wants it to be so close to Turnberry.

Asian Cup champions Iraq celebrated their first match on home soil in seven years with a 3-0 friendly win over Palestine. Hawar Mulla Mohamad, Younis

Asian Cup champions Iraq celebrated their first match on home soil in seven years with a 3-0 friendly win over Palestine.

Hawar Mulla Mohamad, Younis Mahmoud and Loay Salah were on target in Iraq's first match played at home since a 2-1 defeat to Syria in Baghdad in July 2002.

The home side opened the scoring at the Francois Hariri Stadium in Arbil after 19 minutes when Salih Sader's corner was headed by Salam Shaker to Mohamad, who converted from close range.

Iraq should have doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time when they were awarded a penalty, but Mahmoud's effort was saved by Palestine goalkeeper Mohamad Shbeir.

Mahmoud made up for that miss, though, by scoring the second goal after 56 minutes when he headed home a cross from the left by Bassem Abbas.

Iraq continued to press and they added a third in the last minute when striker Salah shot powerfully past Shbeir.

This game was hailed as a symbol of hope and peace for the war-torn country.

The match was played in Arbil, which is the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, and it gave an opportunity for Arabs and Kurds to forgo hostilities and cheer for the same side.

Iraq had sensationally won the Asian Cup in 2007 but have struggled since and failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa, while they recently represented Asia at the Confederations Cup but failed to advance out of the group stage after recording draws against hosts South Africa and New Zealand while losing to Spain.

Meanwhile, Palestine will reportedly travel to Baghdad on Monday to play a second friendly against Iraq.

Potter tribute to murdered actor

Cast and crew from the new Harry Potter film are to wear white ribbons on their wrists at its world premiere as a mark of respect to murdered actor Rob Knox.

Mr Knox, 18, who played Marcus Belby in the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was stabbed in Sidcup, south-east London, last May.

He was defending his brother when he was attacked by Karl Bishop, who received four life terms in March.

The film's world premiere is being held in Leicester Square on Tuesday.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the teenage wizard in the film, said Knox's death had hit all of the cast.

He said: "I won't pretend I knew him incredibly well, or was his best friend on set, but I knew him and liked him, and what happened to him was obviously tragic and awful."

The Harry Potter film cast are to pay tribute to all knife-crime victims

Co-star Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley, younger sister of Harry's best friend Ron, said the cast wanted to show solidarity with all knife-crime victims.

"It's going to be quite a traumatic experience for his family, who've been very supportive of him," she said.

She said the wearing of white ribbons on their wrists was not only for his life but for other families who had experienced knife crime.

The film is the sixth film based on JK Rowling's best-selling books and has director David Yates, who took charge of the last movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, back at the helm.

He said Knox's death was a "waste".

"You are surrounded by young people all day long who bring a great commitment to what they do, and Rob was no different," he said.

"He came in and wanted to do brilliant work, he put his heart and soul into it, and you just think 'what a terrible waste'."

Tensions Reportedly Rise at Preah Vihear Border

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh 03 July 2009

Military sources said Thursday Thai troops have reinforced their positions along the contested border near Preah Vihear temple, adding tensions to a military standoff that has resulted in several skirmishes over the past year.

“A clash could have happened this afternoon, at 3 pm, but finally tensions were abated,” one officer stationed in Preah Vihear province said Thursday.

On Wednesday night, Thai soldiers arrived in five trucks at the entry of Preah Vihear temple, which is at the center of the disputes that were sparked when the temple was added to a Unesco World Heritage list in July last year.

Cambodian soldiers barred about 10 Thai soldiers from entering an encampment near Keo Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda, which has been occupied by Thai soldiers since July 15, 2008, the officer said, requesting anonymity.

“They came with their truck lights switched off,” he said.

Other military sources said Thai soldiers had reinforced positions near Ta Thao gate, at the entry of the 11th-Century temple, near two areas where fighting occurred in 2008, namely Sambok Khmom and Veal Intry, or Eagle Field.

Gen. Pol Saroun, commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, downplayed the rising tensions between the military.

Lt. Gen. Chhom Socheat, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Defense, said the situation on the border was “normal” on both sides.

In meetings between regional military commanders Wednesday, the Cambodian side urged the Thais to withdraw troops from nearby the pagoda, Sambok Khmom and other areas around the temple, Chhom Socheat said.

Thai commanders said they would take the request under consideration, he added.

U.S. to provide assistance to reform Cambodia public financial system

PHNOM PENH, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The United States government announced Monday its intention to provide technical assistance to the Royal Government of Cambodia to support the country's public management reform program and efforts to improve fiscal controls and promote greater transparency in financial transactions.

The announcement was made after a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy and Finance Keat Chhon and U.S. Ambassador Carol A. Rodley, and Michael Ruffner from the Treasury Department's Office of Technical Assistance (OTA).

"The assistance is designed to help Cambodia strengthen the enforcement of laws and controls as they relate to budgeting and financial accountability, banking and financial services, the insurance and financial industries, and tax administration and collection," it said in the statement.

It added that the financial management and accountability assistance programs were expected to begin within the next few months.