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Park Ji-Sung: I will never forget my time at Manchester United

The South Korean completed a move to QPR on Monday and has issued an emotional farewell to the Old Trafford outfit where he enjoyed a successful seven-year spell

The South Korean, who joined the Red Devils from PSV Eindhoven in 2005, officially announced his departure to Loftus Road on Monday for an undisclosed fee.

And the four-time Premier League-winning midfielder described playing for the Old Trafford outfit as a "privilege".

"My time at United will last in my heart for the rest of my life," he told the club's official website.

"It’s been a great privilege to be part of such a great team, to have won so much and to have played with special teammates and for the greatest manager in the game.

Park, who enjoyed cult status amongst the club's fans, also had kind words for the Old Trafford faithful upon his departure."I would like to thank everybody at the club who give their best every single day to put every player in the best condition to enjoy their football and achieve success."

“The fans have been fantastic to me and I will always remember them with great affection," he added.

"Now, I’m looking forward to giving everything for a new challenge at QPR, where I will bring all my ambition and spirit I have gathered at United. [Those qualities] will be with me forever."

Man Utd star joins QPR

Queens Park Rangers have completed the signing of midfielder Park Ji-sung from Manchester United.
The 31-year-old has signed a two-year contract with QPR and joins the club for an undisclosed fee.

"This is a real coup for QPR," QPR boss Mark Hughes told the club's official website. "We are delighted Ji is going to join us because his record speaks for itself.

"He has been a big player for Manchester United and played a big part in their success in recent years.

"He is hugely respected there because of what he has achieved, his application to his work and the impact he has on games.

"He was always picked for the big matches because they could rely on him, and we are going to reap all those qualities.

"I think it is fair to say Ji has been attracted not to where QPR are, but where QPR are going.

"We were able to show him where the club is heading and he embraced it. Ji gets what we are trying to do. This is a huge signing for this football club."

Park told QPR player: "The project was simply too good to resist and I am excited about getting started in pre-season and going on tour to Asia in the coming days.

"I am joining a club that is very much on an upward curve - a club that has a very bright future."

"I am overjoyed and can't wait to see him in a QPR shirt," QPR owner Tony Fernandes added.

"It shows our determination and our ambition to build this club.

"Ji is a global star with a Champions League winner's medal to his name, and he is as excited about this move as we all are."


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Dos Santos could stay with Spurs

Giovani dos Santos claims he would be prepared to stay on at Tottenham, with no move away from White Hart Lane arranged as yet.

It was expected that the Mexico international would be among those offloaded by Spurs this summer as they usher in a new era under Andre Villas-Boas.

Dos Santos has struggled for games throughout his time in England and has taken in regular loan spells as a result.

A permanent switch would be beneficial to all concerned, but the 23-year-old says he will continue to fight for a first-team role if he remains in north London.

"The window closes at the end of August and I am calm, I'm not getting desperate," Dos Santos told Record.

"I'm still a Tottenham player and if there is no other option, I'll stay and do my best like I have always done.

"I can't complain. I have learnt a lot at Tottenham, the team have great quality, and it won't be a bad thing if I have to stay."

Reports have suggested that La Liga outfit Malaga are keen to take the former Barcelona playmaker back to Spain, but Dos Santos claims no official approach has been made.

"Nothing concrete has come as yet, we expect that will happen within the next few days," he said.

"I'm very relaxed here with the national team (at a pre-Olympic training camp), my head is here and my agent is dealing with everything.

Dos Santos added: "I am trying to keep myself away from it all and focus here, to be 100 per cent and not get worried about the clubs.

"There are obviously options, but I'm relaxed. I talk to my agent every day and he has told me to stay calm and that there will be news soon."

Chelsea bid for Schurrle turned down

Chelsea have had an offer in excess of £16million for Germany forward Andre Schurrle rejected by Bayer Leverkusen, according to a report in Germany.

The 21-year-old has established himself as one of Germany's most exciting young talents since joining Leverkusen from Mainz last year.

He has already won 16 caps for Germany and was a member of their Euro 2012 squad.

Leverkusen chief executive Wolfgang Holzhauser was quoted as saying by German news agency SID: "We were presented with a very concrete offer from Chelsea for Andre of beyond the 20 million euro mark. The sum was pushed back and forth between the two clubs. We ultimately chose Andre.

"Andre is very valuable for us. He has also made it clear he would like to stay with us."

Hockey: India beat South Africa 6-5

The Indian hockey team defeated South Africa 6-5 in a thrilling third test at La Albericia in Spain.

 

Strikers Shivendra Singh (13th, 38th minutes), Dharamvir Singh (19th, 21st), Tushar Khandker (36th) and penalty corner specialist VR Raghunath (53rd) were on target for India.

The goal-scorers for South Africa were Austin Smith (17th, 69th), Tim Drummond (42nd), Ian Haley (48th) and Justin Ried Ross (67th).

Shivendra put India ahead in the 13th minute. South Africa - who qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games winning the last qualifier at Kakamigahara in Japan - equalised four minutes later through Smith.

The South Africans then played a defensive game, but some sharp moves by the Indians helped Dharamvir score twice in the span of three minutes to help India lead 3-1 at the half time.

The Men in Blue added two more after the lemon break, with goals from Khandker (36th minute) and Shivendra (38th minute).

South Africa reduced the margin through Drummond and Haley in the 42nd and 48th minutes, respectively (5-3).

India added one more goal in the 53rd minute through a penalty stroke by Raghunath, while Ross and Smith converted two penalty corners in the dying moments of the match to round off a 5-6 finish.

India will now play South Africa again on Wednesday.

World bodypainting festival

Artists create colorful costumes from paints at the 15th World Bodypainting Festival in Poertschac, Austria.

Air India flight makes emergency landing in Pakistan

Mumbai, July 9 (IANS) An Air India flight bound for New Delhi fromAbu Dhabi with 122 passengers and six crew members made an emergency landing in Pakistan early Monday due to what is being called a technical fault. All on board were reported safe.

The carrier said a relief aircraft would be sent to Nawabshah airportin Pakistan's Sindh province to bring those on board back by afternoon.

The Abu Dhabi-New Delhi flight AI-940, which originated from Bahrain, was forced to make the landing after a hydraulic failure warning, an airline official said.

As a precautionary measure, the flight -- scheduled to arrive at 5.15 a.m. in Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport -- made the landing at the Pakistani airport, the official added.

"All passengers and crew members are safe. There is no cause for worry."

A technical team, which will also go on the rescue flight, will investigate the causes that resulted in the hydraulic warning getting activated in the aircraft.

John Terry appears in court on racial abuse charge

LONDON (Reuters) - Former England soccer captain John Terryappeared in court on Monday charged with racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier Leaguematch in October.

Ferdinand, brother of Manchester United defender Rio, toldWestminster Magistrates Court that he had not realised at the time that any racist insult had been directed at him by the Chelsea player.

The high-profile case, focusing on foul language from both players, triggered the resignation in February of England's Italian managerFabio Capello after the FA decided to strip Terry of the captain's armband for Euro 2012.

The court heard that it was only when Ferdinand got home and his then-girlfriend showed him a clip of the incident on YouTube that he believed Terry had referred to his colour among the expletives used.

He said he would have told officials at the time had he realised.

"I would have been obviously very hurt and I probably wouldn't have reacted at the time because, being a professional, you can't do that. I probably would have let the officials know what happened and dealt with it after the game," he said.

"When someone brings your colour into it, it takes it to another level and it's very hurtful."

Terry, who was also present in court, denies committing a racially aggravated public order offence and maintains he was sarcastically repeating what Ferdinand mistakenly thought he had said.

He faces a fine of 2,500 pounds if convicted at a hearing expected to last five days.

During cross-examination, Ferdinand agreed he had sworn at players in the past and been on the receiving end.

He said he was angry at Terry seeking a penalty call and there had been some barging on the pitch. He had also alluded to an alleged affair between the Chelsea player and the ex-girlfriend of former England team mate Wayne Bridge.

Terry had been stripped of the England captaincy before the 2010 World Cup following those allegations.

Ferdinand also said he had been reluctant initially to talk to the police because the incident had happened on the field of play and was a sporting matter.

Allegations of racial abuse cast a shadow over the Premier League last season, with Liverpool's Luis Suarez banned for eight matches for abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra during a match in October.

That case was dealt with by the football authorities rather than going to court. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Alison Wildey)

Wimbledon champ Roger Federer eyes Olympic singles gold

Wimbledon: The morning after Roger Federer won a record-tying seventh Wimbledon championship, he returned to the site of his latest triumph to conduct interviews in various languages and, while there, ran into All England Club Chairman Philip Brook.

They exchanged pleasantries on Monday and before parting ways, Brook said: "I`ll see you in a few weeks."

"I`ll check in with you when I get back," Federer replied with a grin.

   

In this rather unusual season, the green grass that Federer knows so well is the scene of two significant events: Wimbledon, which ended Sunday, and the London Olympics tennis competition, which begins July 28.

Having restored his reign at the Grand Slam tournament, Federer can quickly follow that up by earning a gold medal in singles for Switzerland, one of the few accomplishments missing from his overflowing resume.

And make no mistake, Federer is not merely happy to be participating in the 2012 Summer Games.

"I do believe my situation has got that little star next to it. I am now the Wimbledon champion, and I think that gives me even more confidence coming to the Olympics. And maybe in some ways, it maybe takes some `pressure,`" he said, uncrossing his arms to make air quotes with his fingers, "off the Olympics, because I already did win at Wimbledon this year. So that`s a good thing for me, because of course there is a lot of hype around me playing at the Olympics this year." This is about winning, not participating.

He won`t stay in the athletes` village. Been there, done that. Instead, Federer will rent his usual house near the All England Club, an arrangement that worked well this past fortnight, clearly.

Federer has already been to three Olympics; he met his wife, Mirka, a former tennis player, at the 2000 Games. He carried the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony twice, but said he might allow someone else to have that honor this time. He owns a doubles gold he won with Stanislas Wawrinka in Beijing four years ago.

A singles gold would be the perfect gift for a guy who has everything, including a record 17 Grand Slam titles (his first came at Wimbledon in 2003) and, as of Monday, 286 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, equaling Pete Sampras` career record.

"Obviously, the Olympics is the next goal," Federer said during a 15-minute session with a half-dozen reporters. "I was taking it in steps, really: All-out until Wimbledon. And then, after that, take a break, reassess, prepare well, then come back for the Olympics and hopefully play well."

On Tuesday, Olympic organizers officially begin to take over the All England Club and make it theirs.

There was a flurry of activity around the grounds today. A large electronic video scoreboard was getting dismantled. Potted plants were being discarded. A souvenir shop was being emptied of purple-and-green umbrellas and other Wimbledon items to make way for Olympic mementos.

"Apparently, people are moving in and (are) just going to change everything. I mean ... A lot. Also, it`s going to be different, because all of the (staff) are going to be different. Normally, we have familiar faces, everybody we know. Those are all apparently gone, so that`s going to be a bit odd and disappointing, almost to a degree," Federer said.

"But I`m sure the IOC are going to make it work. ... I`m excited to see how they`re going to make it work, because this already works as good as can be. So I don`t know how they`re going to make it better. But anyway, let them try."

India Says Pakistan Aided Planner of Mumbai Attacks

NEW DELHI — India’s home minister on Wednesday said there was new evidence of Pakistani state support for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, citing information provided by Abu Jindal, an Indian man suspected of being one of the planners.

The Indian authorities say that Abu Jindal, who was recently captured by the Indian police, and five others guided the Mumbai attacks from a “control room” in Karachi, Pakistan. The Indian authorities say they have recordings of phone conversations during the attack that included Mr. Jindal’s voice.

At a news conference in Tiruananthpuram, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said that Mr. Jindal confirmed during an interrogation that he was in the Karachi control room that had given orders to the 10 gunmen who killed more than 160 people in a three-day attack on multiple locations in Mumbai in 2008.

“Some state support was there for these people,” Mr. Chidambaram said, referring to men in the control room with Mr. Jindal. And he claimed that Mr. Jindal had identified some of those other men.

“The way we are going has put us in a good light and put Pakistan in a bad light,” he added. “It is Pakistan which is under pressure and not India.” Pakistan has repeatedly rejected Indian accusations that its top military spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, was involved in the attacks, which are thought to have been carried out by the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

On Wednesday, Rehman Malik, a senior adviser to the Pakistani president on interior issues, denied the new charges. “Why are you blaming Pakistan?” he said at a news conference. “He is your citizen. You fail to control your citizen.”

Pakistan warned India three years ago that it had its “own Taliban,” Mr. Malik said. “See the result. I wish best of luck to India.”

Indian intelligence experts said that the arrest of Abu Jindal was even more significant than that of Ajmal Qasab, the last known surviving attacker.

Ajit Doval, former chief of India’s Intelligence Bureau, said: “Abu Jindal is more important because he is the eyewitness in what happened in Pakistan during the attack and about preparations. He is a planner, organizer, motivator and trainer. Qasab is only a one-event man.”

White Muslim one of six arrested over ‘terror plot'

White Muslim convert Richard Dart and a former police community support officer were among six people arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack in Britain.

Richard Dart, who was radicalised by the cleric Anjem Choudary, was held following police raids in east and west London.

A former PCSO and two of his brothers, who were living just over a mile from the Olympic site in Stratford, were also among those detained during the police and MI5 operation to prevent a suspected terror assault.

One of the brothers was Tasered by officers. Counter-terrorism police had first searched their home last November.

The Daily Telegraph understands the police moved over fears that a group had obtained a sword which could potentially be used in a terrorist attack.

Mr Dart, 29, the son of Dorset teachers, featured in a BBC documentary last year filmed by his own brother about his conversion. During the film, called My Brother the Islamist, he was seen protesting about British soldiers in Afghanistan and accused them of being “murderers”.

He also called for Sharia law to be established in Britain, as well as saying that one of his friends used to be “in the police”, but is not any more. Mr Dart has changed his name to Salahuddin al Britani. Salahuddin comes from the medieval leader who drove King Richard I from Jerusalem during the Crusades.

It emerged last year that the former BBC security guard was living off state benefits in a luxury flat in Mile End, east London.

Anjem Choudary said he had converted Mr Dart but had not been in contact with him for more than a year.

The six, which included one woman, were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism after police raids during the early hours of Thursday, July 5.

Neighbours in Stratford said one of the brothers was Jahangir Alom, 26, who served as a former Metropolitan community support officer between May 2007 and September 2009. He is understood to also go under the name of Abu Khalid.

In 2010, Mr Khalid appeared in a YouTube video to say why he had stopped being a PCSO and had become an Islamic fundamentalist.

In the film he explains that he realized he was leading a “misguided” life after meeting with some “brothers”. He said as a PCSO he was involved in stop and searches and that he now realised he was “implementing kuffur (enemies of Islam) law on the streets of London”.

The other two brothers arrested are understood to be Mohammed Alomgir, 24, and Moybur Alom, 18. Mr Alomgir was hit with a police Taser during the arrests but did not require hospital treatment.

At the same time, in Ealing, west London, a 29-year-old man, believed to be Mr Dart, was arrested in the street, while a 21-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were held at separate residential premises.

Police insisted that the arrests were not linked to the Olympics and that an attack was not believed to be imminent.

The suspects had been monitored by counter-terrorism officers and MI5 for some time and the arrests were part of a pre-planned intelligence operation.

Mr Dart’s stepfather Thomas Leech, speaking from the family’s home in Weymouth, Dorset, confirmed that Mr Dart had been arrested but said the family did not wish to comment further.

In Stratford, another neighbour said that the three brothers had been “getting more religious throughout the years”. Another said he was “confused” because the “big one” used to be a PCSO, so the events had left him “very surprised”.

Neighbours said the father of the family had left their mother to bring up three sons and one daughter on her own.

During the raid at the Abbey Road address in Stratford, the front door of the house was smashed, leaving debris lying on the doorstep and a red curtain draped over the entrance. Police erected a blue tent in front of the door as officers visited and left the property throughout the day.

A neighbour said the street lights had been extinguished and the road blocked off to traffic just before the arrest.

He said: “It seemed like it was synchronised by the police. There were no sirens. However, at around 4.10am we heard a big blast. I saw from the window that the door of the house flew off.

“It wasn’t a battering ram that the police used, it was an explosion that went, ‘bang’ four times. It was dark. The only thing I could see was the officers all in black in helmets and with riot shields.”

Reje Rahman, 32, a child protection worker, said her 12-year-old daughter was so scared by the raid that she “couldn’t get to sleep afterwards” and thought that the “building was going to collapse”.

http://youtu.be/nohBfJCHzsE

Al-Qaeda terror suspect caught at Olympic Park

A suspected terrorist who MI5 believe is a would-be suicide bomber was found repeatedly near the Olympic Games venue.

The alleged al-Qaeda militant was caught crossing through the Olympic Park five times, breaking a ban imposed by the Home Secretary, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The 24 year-old has previously tried to get to Afghanistan, allegedly for terrorist training, and is suspected of fighting for the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, which has been responsible for thousands of deaths, including those of Western aid workers. He is accused of trying to recruit other Britons to its cause.

A Home Office lawyer warned after his discovery in the Olympic area that the man - known as CF - wanted to “re-engage in terrorism-related activities, either in the UK or Somalia” and is “determined to continue to adhere to his Islamist extremist agenda”.

His detention is the most serious security alert yet to hit the Olympic Park.

It is disclosed today after a week which saw 14 terror-related arrests across Britain, including a white Muslim convert detained over an alleged plan to carry out a major terrorist attack.

The Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, will be protected by the largest peacetime security operation ever seen in Britain when the event begins on July 27.

CF is one of nine suspected risks to national security who are subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpim) - legal orders which restrict their movements and computer use and who they can meet.

They were introduced to replace control orders, which were abolished by the Coalition after long-running controversy over whether they breached human rights and threatened civil liberties.

CF is being prosecuted for breaking the conditions of his order after he was arrested last month and held in police custody. He challenges the banning order at the High Court on Monday.

He is charged with five separate breaches between April and May of an order specifically banning him from using the London Overground rail route which passes through the centre of the Olympic Park.

He apparently travelled from Caledonian Road and Barnsbury station in north London to Stratford, the station for the Games.

Stratford station is beside the Westfield shopping centre which people will go through to get into the Olympic Park, where most of the events are to be held.

The area is heavily protected and regarded by security services and police as among the most significant targets for terrorists.

His presence in the banned zone was discovered because of an electronic tag which he must wear under the conditions of his order, which banned travelling on the route he took or being in the vicinity of the Games.

The tag uses GPS satellite technology to trace his exact movements, and revealed he had passed through the Olympic Park repeatedly.

The latest security scare came to light in a court case involving CF and another terror suspect, known as CC.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has compiled a case against CF which says he attempted to travel to Afghanistan to fight jihad and take part in suicide operations in 2008.

He was prosecuted in Britain but absconded during his trial in June 2009 and fled to Somalia. In his absence he was acquitted of any crime.

Officials claim CF, who comes from a large family of Somali origin from north London, attended a terrorist training camp and fought alongside jihadis from the al-Qaeda group al-Shabaab.

The Home Office says CF is linked to a group of six British nationals who received terror training from al-Qaeda leader Saleh Nabhan, who was killed in a dramatic raid by American Navy Seals in 2009, an operation with parallels to the raid last year which killed Osama bin Laden.

CF was possibly involved in CC’s plans to attack Western interests in Somaliland - which has broken away from Somalia and does not have a fundamentalist Islamic regime - the court heard, and attempted to find recruits in the UK for fighting overseas.

CF, who married a Somali woman in Mogadishu in 2010, suggested he and CC may have been betrayed to the authorities by CC’s brother-in-law for a bounty payment. Both men deny involvement in terrorism.

They were arrested in Burao, Somaliland on January 14 2011 and deported to Britain. When he returned that March CF was jailed for his previous absconding offence.

He was released from HMP High Down, Surrey, in May 2011, after serving just under two months’ imprisonment. He was then placed on a control order and required to live in Norwich.

A Tpim restricting his movements, his access to electronic communications, and the people he is allowed to meet was imposed when the measures came into force earlier this year.

In papers in the High Court proceedings, James Eadie QC, for the Home Office, said: “The Secretary of State continues to assess that were it not for the Tpim notice, CF would re-engage in terrorism-related activities, either in the UK or Somalia.

“Notwithstanding that CC and CF have now been subject to controls for longer than a year, it cannot be said that either of them has renounced his commitment to terrorism, nor has the passage of time significantly diminished the risk they present.”

He added: “The Secretary of State assessed that it was necessary to impose a control order on CF to manage the risk posed by CF following his release from prison, as he was previously successful in absconding from bail.

“As CF has previously re-engaged in Islamist extremist activity, despite being on bail, previous disruptive action has not been enough to dissuade him from his involvement in Islamist extremism.

“His previous conduct has demonstrated a level of commitment to Islamist extremism, and CF is therefore determined to continue to adhere to his Islamist extremist agenda.”

His lawyers claimed at a High Court hearing last Friday that he had been given “erroneous advice” by his solicitors. Lawyers said he had been travelling to attend legal meetings at his solicitors’ office in Stratford.

CF has since been released on bail and is due to be prosecuted for breaching his Tpim measures later this year.

A full court hearing challenging the two suspects’ Tpim measures, as well as the legality of control orders they were previously under, begins at the High Court on Monday before Mr Justice Lloyd Jones.

The cases of CF and CC are the first to come to light where terror suspects have been placed on control orders or Tpims after returning to the UK from suspected terror activity abroad.

In previous known cases, the legal measures have been used to restrict extremists whom the Home Secretary has been unable to deport to their home countries due to human rights concerns.

CF and CC are also bringing legal claims against the Government, claiming that British agents were complicit in torturing them in a Somali prison.

Their lawyers claim the two men were assaulted and subjected to “mock executions” before being illegally deported back to Britain, which they say was “unlawful rendition”.

The allegations will reignite claims that British intelligence agencies have been complicit in alleged ill-treatment of terror suspects overseas.

They echo the case of Binyam Mohammed, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee, who claimed an MI5 officer colluded in his torture.

Danny Friedman, the barrister representing CF, told the High Court last week that “at least one, if not more, UK agents participated in unlawful conduct” including “hooding, assaults, mock execution and humiliation” when the men were first detained.

When visited by a British consular representative one month later, CF and CC complained of being ill-treated and said they suspected some of the perpetrators were British, but no action was taken, according to court papers.

CF also endured sleep deprivation and “forced standing” in Hargeisa prison in Somaliland, where he was held for 50 days without access to a court, Mr Friedman said.

Timothy Otty QC, the barrister representing CC, claimed there was “serious wrongful conduct on the part of the security services or other agents of the UK overseas”.

The latest Olympic Park security scare comes after two Muslim converts were arrested last month on suspicion of plotting an attack on the Olympic canoeing venue in Waltham Abbey, Essex.

The men aged 18 and 32 were detained at their homes in east London after being seen acting suspiciously in a dinghy at the sporting location on the River Lea.

Last week two separate anti-terror operations resulted in 14 arrests. Seven men were being questioned last night after firearms were found in car impounded by police after it was stopped on the M1 in South Yorkshire during a routine check for uninsured drivers, and a series of linked raids were launched.

Separately a seventh person - a woman, 22 - was arrested at a home in Hackney, east London, after six arrests made across the city in London by anti-terrorist police.

In February, more than 2,500 emergency services personnel and civil servants took part in a drill which simulated a terrorist attack on London’s transport network during the Olympics.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said: “CF has been charged with five offences of breaching his Tpim. He is next in [criminal] court on July 27.”

US was 'key player in cyber-attacks on Iran's nuclear programme'

The US was the principal player in the most sophisticated cyber-attack ever known and has been orchestrating a campaign against Irandesigned to undermine the country's nuclear programme, it has been claimed.

According to anonymous senior administration sources, quoted in the New York Times, President Barack Obama decided to speed up an initiative launched by his predecessor, George W Bush, codenamed Olympic Games, which aimed to use computer viruses to attack Tehran's uranium-enrichment programme.

The disclosures about Obama's role in the cyberwar against Iran appear to show beyond doubt that the US, with the help of Israel, was behind the Stuxnet virus, which sent some of Iran's centrifuge machines – used to enrich uranium – spinning out of control. The revelation will raise questions about whether Washington was also behind the Flamer virus discovered by experts last week.

Flamer also targeted Iran, though its main aim was to spy on the country's oil industry. It is believed to have downloaded vast amounts of information over two years and had technical capabilities never seen before.

The revelations about US involvement in cyberwar may be seized upon by China and Russia, which are regularly accused by Washington of cyber espionage and theft.

The depiction of Obama's hands-on role in cyber attacks follows the highly political disclosure in an election year that the president had taken a personal role in approving terrorist targets for US drone strikes. The revelations on Iran appear designed to neutralise Republican accusations that he has been weak over the issue of Iran's nuclear programme.

According to the New York Times, Obama took the decision to accelerate the pace of computer sabotage against Tehran in 2010, even after details about one of the cyber weapons developed to attack Iran, the Stuxnet worm, accidentally leaked on to the internet. It had been designed to target Iran's Natanz nuclear plant.

At a meeting in the White House situation room within days of the Stuxnet leak, Obama asked his advisers, including Leon Panetta, the head of the CIA, whether the effort should be wound up because it had been compromised.

According to sources in the room at the time, Obama asked: "Should we shut this thing down?", before opting instead to push ahead with the attacks. The Natanz plant was hit twice more by versions of the worm, which damaged up to 1,000 high-speed centrifuges then enriching uranium.

The revelation of Obama's involvement in ordering cyber-attacks on Iran in a joint programme involving Israel follows the disclosure that Iran had recently been hit by the Flamer virus, thought to be 20 to 40 times larger than Stuxnet.

According to the latest analysis of Flamer, it had a bluetooth capability never seen before in a computer worm. The computer security firm Symantec said any laptop infected with Flamer would search for other bluetooth-enabled devices, sucking up information that might include mobile phone numbers. This would help the attacker "identify the victim's social and professional circles".

The Kaspersky Lab, a Russian-based computer security firm that has studied Stuxnet and Flame, said the first Stuxnet attack on Iran took place around June 2009, but its existence did not emerge until almost a year later, appearing to fit precisely the timeline proposed by the New York Times' sources. Some experts have said there are sufficient similarities between the worms to suggest they have the same source.

Last year the US deputy defence secretary, William Lynn, declined to reveal whether the US was involved in the development of Stuxnet. "This is not something that we're going to be able to answer at this point," he said.

The timing of the disclosure to the New York Times's David E Sanger, who boasts of access to Obama and his closest officials, is particularly significant. In recent weeks, the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, has tried to portray the Obama administration as weak and muddled on foreign policy, most recently over the crisis in Syria. Recent sympathetic media disclosures appear to have been designed to counter this suggestion.

Stuxnet was launched in 2006 after President Bush was advised that a cyber weapon might be more effective than sabotage – the CIA had introduced faulty materials into Iran's nuclear procurement networks.

The goal then was to secretly access Natanz's industrial computer controls, which had been designed by the German company Siemens, to acquire a blueprint of how it worked.

That achieved, a joint US-Israeli operation set about building a worm to attack the plant and make its centrifuges run out of control. As was suggested at the time, Stuxnet appears to have been introduced into the Iranian plant with contaminated computer drives.

"That was our holy grail," one of the architects of the plan said, referring to how the plant was physically accessed. "It turns out there is always an idiot around who doesn't think much about the thumb drive in their hand."

US sources quoted blame Israel for the eventual discovery of the worm. They said the Israeli partners modified Stuxnet and made a programming error that caused it to escape and replicate in cyberspace.

The disclosures throw fresh light on the rapid development of US cyberwarfare capability and reveal its willingness to use cyber weapons offensively to achieve policies.

The 'Viagra' transforming local economies in India

A rare fungus some are calling Indian Viagra is starting to transform local economies in the Himalayas. But some of those harvesting it are now having to arm themselves to protect what has become a valuable cash crop.

There is a fungus that attacks caterpillars in the Indian Himalayas. People in north India call it kira jari. In neighbouring Tibet it is known as yarsagumba.

The fungus mummifies its prey and then grows out of the top of the dead caterpillar's head. It appears above ground just as the snow melts in May or June.

In China, kira jari is used as an aphrodisiac. Athletes have used it as a performance-enhancing drug. For villagers in the Indian Himalayas it is a source of income.

During the last five years they have begun to collect the caterpillar fungus and sell it to local traders. These middlemen, in turn, sell the fungi to businesspeople in Delhi and it travels on from there to Nepal and China.

When sold in the village, a single fungus fetches 150 Indian rupees (about £2 or $3) - more than the daily wage of a manual labourer.

Some people are able to collect 40 in a single day. So the search for caterpillar fungus has come to resemble a type of Himalayan gold rush.

I have spent the past few months in the Indian Himalayas doing research on youth and social change. I lived in the village of Bemni, located at about 10,000 feet (3,000m) near the Indian border with Tibet.

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Much of our time was spent trying to understand the changing economy of the village, and kira jari featured heavily in our interviews.

Take Prem Singh, a 24-year-old man in the village known for his restless energy and appetite for hard work.

Prem spent the first two weeks of May in high altitude snowfields collecting kira jari. He went on his own, carrying rice, wheat and daal on his back, camping in a cave on the way, and eventually pitching camp 5,000 metres up. He found nothing during the first three days.

But then his luck changed. He returned to Bemni with 200 fungi stuffed into old sweet jars. He is using his earnings to construct a new house, an impressive two-storey structure built out of local stone.

Kira jari, and the money it earns, is big news for Bemni. Young men have generally been looking outside the village for opportunities to make money in cities down in the plains. They have worked in hotels, in the army, and in some of the new service industries emerging in urban India.

Kira jari is reversing this process somewhat. Since 2007, when villagers learnt about the fungus, vast numbers now head not to the big cities but to the high altitude meadows.

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People joke that the meadows - formerly the preserve of intrepid goatherds - have become small towns of tents, stoves, and clothes' lines. As Prem told us, "Why would I migrate to Delhi to work in a hotel when I can earn in two weeks what I'd make in Delhi in two years?"

But there is a dark side to fungus collection, too.

Some villagers return with nothing to show for their weeks in high altitude snow fields. Many fall ill. Searching for the fungus involves lying on your front, elbows dug into the scree and snow, scouring the ground in front of you for nothing larger than the stalk of an apple. It is freezing cold, there is a howling wind, and your lungs ache.

People often return to the village with snow-blindness, painful joints, and problems breathing. One person died recently as a result of the altitude. Another man fell into an ice crevasse and was only rescued by villagers 13 days later - he had lived on drips from the glacier. (Apparently he is back collecting kira jari this year).

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The fungus business is also generating rivalries. There are two villages that are at loggerheads over access to a high-altitude meadow where kira jari is especially abundant. They have to carry guns on their trips for the fungus.

There are other risks, too. It is legal to collect the fungus but not legal to sell it.

Two years ago, a confidence trickster arrived in Bemni and promised people he could get a very good price for their crop. He disappeared with people's fungi and has never returned. Because kira jari is part of the black market, the villagers could not complain.

Last year young men from the village tried to sell their fungi in a local town. Someone in the village tipped off the local police who intercepted the young men on the road and seized the entire fungus crop.

Imagine the heartbreak as they trooped back to the village. The men had nothing to show for weeks in the bitter cold, while the police no doubt profited from their booty.

But people seem to take these risks in their stride. As Prem said to us, "You have got your risky work and your safe work. Kira jari is the risk, local manual labour is the safe option."

For the time being, India's home-grown version of Viagra has become a decent gamble.

US ready to attack Iran, says envoy to Israel

The US has plans in place to attack Iran if other measures fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel says.

Dan Shapiro said the US hoped diplomacy and sanctions would persuade Iran to alter its nuclear programme, but a military option was "ready".

US President Obama has previously said military action has not been ruled out.

The US and its allies say Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, an accusation Tehran denies.

Talks between Iran and six world powers are due to resume in Baghdad on 23 May.

'The right thing'

Mr Shapiro made his comments to the Israel Bar Association on Tuesday, a recording of which was later obtained by the Associated Press news agency.

"It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically through the use of pressure than to use military force," Mr Shapiro said.

"But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it's ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready."

Pentagon spokesman George Little on Thursday stressed that Washington's policy on the issue "has not changed at all".

"The ambassador's comments are perfectly in line with what we have been saying for a while with respect to Iran. Our focus in the US is on using diplomatic and economic instruments... to bring pressure to bear on the Iranians to do the right thing," he said.

Mr Little added that Mr Shapiro "was absolutely correct to say that no options are off the table but those options are not something that are being contemplated at this time".

Both Israel and the US have said they consider military force a last resort to stop Iran using its uranium enrichment programme to make a weapon.

Israel, which feels threatened by the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, has hinted it could launch a pre-emptive strike.

The BBC's Tehran correspondent, James Reynolds, says Mr Shapiro's remarks go further than previous comments by President Barack Obama that all options are on the table, including military action.

Although aimed at an Israeli audience, the ambassador's comments will not go unnoticed in other capitals, including Tehran, our correspondent says.

Sanctions

Six world powers - the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - are trying to persuade Tehran to reduce uranium enrichment and open up its nuclear facilities to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Fresh talks opened in Istanbul in April - the first for 15 months - and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton described them as "constructive and useful".

The EU, the US and the UN have all imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

In the past, US officials have stressed the regional instability that would result from any attack on Iran.

In March, Mr Obama said there was "still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution".

He warned there was "too much loose talk of war" and that it was playing into Iran's hands. However, he stressed that all options remained open.

Tehran insists it is enriching uranium to produce medical isotopes and fuel for nuclear reactors.