Mr Gerrard was celebrating Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Newcastle

England midfielder Steven Gerrard has told Liverpool Crown Court he is “sorry” about a fight in which he punched a man in a Merseyside bar.

The Liverpool FC captain has admitted hitting Marcus McGee, 34, in the Lounge Inn, Southport, in December last year but said he was defending himself.

But Mr Gerrard added: “I am certainly mistaken in thinking he was coming towards me to throw punches at me.”

The 29-year-old footballer, of Formby, Merseyside, denies affray.

Mr Gerrard was drinking in the Lounge Inn in Southport with friends in the early hours of 29 December last year to celebrate Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Newcastle United.

“I certainly knew I had had a drink,” Mr Gerrard told the court.

“I was certainly in control of how I felt in my surroundings.”

It was very difficult at the time to explain to police why I did throw that first punch Steven Gerrard

Mr Gerrard said he was given permission by the club manageress to choose music from a stereo Mr McGee was operating.

He said he was looking at the music card, but it was “snatched” from his hand by Mr McGee.

Mr Gerrard said the pair had an argument four or five seconds and then he walked away, but returned a few minutes later.

Heated discussion

The footballer said it was a heated discussion with Mr McGee and added that he wanted to “smooth things over”.

Mr Gerrard said he hit Mr McGee to defend himself.

“It was very difficult at the time to explain to police why I did throw that first punch.

“We were arguing and I told the police I felt that Marcus came towards me and that’s why I raised my arms.

Steven is a terrific ambassador for our club and city Statement from LFC chaplain, the Reverend Bill Bygroves

“I firmly believed Marcus came towards me to hit me.”

Mr Gerrard described raising his left arm and swinging it towards Mr McGee, making contact with him with his wrist.

He said: “I grabbed the back of his jumper as he moved forward to me.

“When I had hold of Marcus, I remember swinging my right hand two or three times.”

In Mr McGee’s evidence he said he did not know that John Doran, a friend of Mr Gerrard, had thrown the first punch.

Mr Gerrard reiterated that he was unaware that Doran, 29, had lashed out and therefore, when Mr McGee came towards him, he thought he was in danger.

Mr Gerrard was with a group of friends at the Lounge Inn

Asked how he felt now about hitting Mr McGee, Gerrard said: “I am certainly mistaken in thinking he was coming towards me to throw punches at me.

“Now I know, obviously, he had been struck, reacted and thought the strike was by me and he came into me and that’s when I reacted.

“I am sorry about the whole incident.”

After watching the CCTV footage again, Mr Gerrard told the jury: “I didn’t go over there with any intentions to fight.”

He later added: “Obviously I am upset about how the whole thing turned out.”

Character references for Mr Gerrard, provided by former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and the club’s chaplain the Reverend Bill Bygroves, were read out to the jury.

Mr Dalglish said the midfielder was “very responsible” and “humble”.

Mr Bygroves said: “Steven is a terrific ambassador for our club and city.”

Doran, of Woodlands Road, Ian Gerrard Smith, 19, of Hilary Avenue, and Paul McGrattan, 31, of Linden Drive, all Huyton, have all admitted affray.

Accrington Stanley footballers Robert Grant, 19, of Enstone Avenue, Litherland, and Ian Dunbavin, 28, of Guildford Road, Southport, have also admitted affray.

John McGrattan, 34, of Rimmer Avenue, Huyton, has admitted threatening behaviour after denying affray.

The trial continues.

Malik’s 134 came off 240 balls and included 13 fours and two sixes

A brilliant century from Shoaib Malik put Pakistan firmly on course for a morale-boosting victory in the third Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Resuming on 16-1 with a lead of 82 in their second innings, Pakistan’s top order stumbled to 67-4 early on.

However, Malik (134) combined well with Misbah-ul-haq and Kamran Akmal to lead his side to 425-9 declared.

Chasing 508 to win, Sri Lanka batted bravely but were 183-3 by stumps and now face a tall order on day five.

Kumar Sangakkara will no doubt be key to the hosts’ bid to earn a record-breaking victory, the captain ending the day 50 not out alongside Thilan Samaraweera.

However, the loss of opener Tharanga Paranavitana for 73 an hour before stumps could cost Sri Lanka dear as they look to wrap up a 3-0 series whitewash victory.

And it was Malik who took that vital wicket, luring Paranavitana into a prod into the hands of short leg, to complete an excellent day for the all-rounder.

Earlier, he played a crucial innings after Pakistan’s top order succumbed to the hosts’ seamers.

Coming to the crease at 67-4, he shared a partnership of 119 with Misbah-ul-haq (65) and one of 133 with wicket-keeper Akmal (74) as the middle order set about building a match-winning total.

Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer then scored runs at a good pace down the order to set up the declaration.

And once Paranavitana had departed, Danish Kaneria took over with the ball spinning off the day four pitch, removing Malinda Warnapura and, crucially, Mahela Jayawardene to put Pakistan in charge.

Australia’s Webber lies third in this season’s drivers’ championship

Mark Webber has signed a new contract committing him to the Red Bull team for the 2010 Formula 1 season.

The 32-year-old Australian won the German Grand Prix earlier this month to record his first F1 race victory.

Webber has been in impressive form this season with five podium finishes and his win at the Nurburgring lifted him to third in the drivers’ championship.

“I’m extremely happy Red Bull and I have been able to agree to race together again next year,” said Webber.

“Even in the leaner and tougher years at the start of my relationship with the team, I’ve always enjoyed working with them.

“So now to go through this purple patch, which we hope will continue for a good while to come, makes the work even more enjoyable.

“We’ve a very exciting finish to this year’s championship, but I’m also looking forward to helping to develop and race the car in the 2010 world championship.

“I’m sure we can have a good 18 months together and then we’ll see what happens at the end of next year.”

With team-mate Sebastian Vettel already signed up for 2010, Red Bull are the first team to definitively confirm their driver pairing for next season.

Of his relationship with Vettel, Webber said it was “professional”.

“It’s fine,” he added. “It’s the same as I’ve had with every other team-mate.

“We turn up, we drive the car and we go home. We’re not ringing each other up between races but he’s here to do a job and so am I.”

Webber and Vettel have closed in on championship leader Jenson Button after recent one-two finishes in Britain and Germany, and now now trail the Brawn driver by 21 and 22.5 points in second and third place respectively.

Team boss Christian Horner said it was an easy decision to re-sign Webber given his current form.

“He has continued to show huge commitment and determination this season, especially following his bike accident at the end of last year,” he said.

“His recent results show he is on the form of his life - most notably with his recent win at the German GP - and he has the motivation to deliver at the highest level.

“It was therefore a straightforward decision to extend the relationship.

“We believe the driver line-up of Mark and Sebastian is one of the strongest in the sport.”

Prof Henry Louis Gates is a prominent Harvard scholar

The US president has said police acted “stupidly” when they arrested a black Harvard scholar outside his own home.

Prof Henry Louis Gates was held last week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to the top university where he teaches.

Barack Obama said the US had a long history of African-Americans being disproportionately stopped by police.

Officers were called to Prof Gates’s house after a woman reported seeing two black males - the professor and his driver - trying to force entry.

Although the exact facts of the incident are disputed, Prof Gates was arrested outside his home after providing the officer with identification.

Mr Obama said: “I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry.

“Number two… the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.”

An initial disorderly conduct charge was dropped and Cambridge police called the arrest “regrettable and unfortunate”.

‘Rogue policeman’

Mr Obama said federal officials should work with local police to “improve policing techniques so that we’re eliminating potential bias”.

He said that when he was in the Illinois state legislature, he had worked towards a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that African-Americans and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately.

“And that is a sign, an example of how race remains a factor in the society,” he said.

Prof Gates has said he was “outraged” by the arrest and called the officer, Sgt James Crowley, a “rogue policeman”. Sgt Crowley has refused to apologise.

During the confrontation between the two men, the 58-year-old professor reportedly said: “This is what happens to black men in America.”

His lawyer said Prof Gates had just returned from a trip overseas and, upon arriving at the property with a driver, found his front door jammed and had to force it open.

By the time police arrived at the house, he and the driver had managed to get inside the property.

According to police, Prof Gates shouted at the officer and accused him of racial bias.

The bank defrauded traders, farmers and its own landlord

Scammers have targeted a town on the Uganda-Kenya border with an elaborate fraud - setting up a fake bank and taking deposits, before fleeing.

The bank opened an office in Malaba town, advertised on radio and took $100,000 in deposits over two months.

But when investors turned up to reclaim their money, all they found was a note saying: “Sorry the bank operations have been moved to a new place.”

The scammers had paid for food, rent and advertising with fake cheques.

Richard Ojore, the landlord of the building where the fraudsters set up shop, set he had believed they were “genuine people”.

“We signed an agreement, and they even issued me a cheque for the duration of a year,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.

“That’s when I went to the bank and presented the cheque for confirmation. The bankers confirmed to me that the thing is a fake.

“By the time I reported back to Malaba, they had already fled.”

The BBC’s Abraham Odeke in Malaba says crowds of people gathered outside the bank’s offices as the story spread.

He says most of them are retail traders and the small-scale farmers from the villages surrounding Malaba.

But he says all that is left inside the office of Visa Finance Bank are empty chairs - the cashiers, fans and even the carpets have all gone.

New cables could revolutionise communications in the region

The first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa has gone live.

The fibre-optic cable, operated by African-owned firm Seacom, connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Europe and Asia.

The firm says the cable will help to boost the prospects of the region’s industry and commerce.

The cable - which is 17,000km long - took two years to lay and cost more than $650m.

Seacom said in a statement the launch of the cable marked the “dawn of a new era for communications” between Africa and the rest of the world.

The services were unveiled in ceremonies in the Kenyan port of Mombasa and the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.

School benefits

The cable was due to be launched in June but was delayed by pirate activity off the coast of Somalia.

The BBC’s Will Ross in Nairobi says the internet revolution trumpeted by Seacom largely depends on how well the service is rolled out across the region.

To the disappointment of many consumers, our correspondent says some ISPs (internet service providers) are not planning to lower the cost of the internet, but instead will offer increased bandwidth.

But businesses, which have been paying around $3,000 a month for 1MB through a satellite link, will now pay considerably less - about $600 a month.

The Kenyan government has been laying a network of cables to all of the country’s major towns and says the fibre-optic links will also enable schools nationwide to link into high quality educational resources.

But our correspondent says it is not clear whether the internet revolution will reach the villages, many of which still struggle to access reliable electricity.

The European Commission overseas competition issues

Banks which receive state help must show they have a viable future without further support under new guidelines published by the European Commission.

Aided banks must pay some of their restructuring costs, the commission said, and may have to sell assets and hold back on acquisitions.

“We need to make banks viable again without state support and re-invigorate competition,” said an EU statement.

It has so far cleared 70 rescues by European nations.

‘Working seriously’

There may be constraints imposed on acquisitions or on aggressive pricing and marketing strategies funded by state aid, it said, in order to limit distortions of competition.

“The financial crisis may not be over yet, but we need to start working seriously with member states to restructure European banks,” added Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

The new rules will be in force until the end of December 2010.

The commission - which oversees competition issues in the 27-member European Union - also said it would take account the financial crisis when assessing bank restructuring plans.

It comes after the commission had agreed to restructuring plans by Germany’s Commerzbank and WestLB that included reducing their balance sheets.

Ford’s market share has increased despite the downturn

Ford, the only one of the “Big Three” US carmakers not to have gone bankrupt, has reported a quarterly profit of $2.3bn (£1.4bn).

However, the profit was largely due to one-off gains related to debt restructuring, with demand for new cars remaining weak.

Excluding the gain, Ford said it made an operating loss of $424m.

Ford boss Alan Mulally said the business environment was “extremely challenging” worldwide.

Despite the economic downturn, Ford said it gained market share in all the regions in which it sells cars when compared with the second quarter of 2008.

“While the business environment remained extremely challenging around the world, we made significant progress on our transformation plan,” said Mr Mulally, Ford’s chief executive.

“Our underlying business is growing progressively stronger as we introduce great new products that customers want and value, while continuing to aggressively restructure our business and strengthen our balance sheet.”

The figures were better than analysts had expected and Ford shares were expected to climb when US markets open later.

The profit figure included a $3.4bn gain related to measures taken to restructure its debt obligations, Ford said.

Revenue declined $11bn to $27bn.

Although Ford has managed without a US government bail-out, it has not escaped unscathed from the financial crisis and economic downturn.

The company has cut tens of thousands of jobs and closed factories to reduce costs.

It is also considering the sale of its Swedish brand Volvo to raise cash, after already selling off its luxury European brands Jaguar and Aston Martin.

The first song to be released as a single by Susan Boyle has yet to be chosen, her spokeswoman has said.

The 48-year-old Britain’s Got Talent star was reported to be releasing a cover of classic song Moon River as her debut assault on the charts.

The 1961 song, which won an Academy Award, was sung by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

Boyle, who was recently interviewed on US TV, is expected to release her first album at the end of the year.

Charity recording

The Scottish singer, speaking on for the first time since she came second to dance group Diversity on the talent show, said dealing with fame was “like a giant demolition ball”.

She had undergone a makeover for her appearance on NBC’s Today show.

Boyle shot to fame with her performance of I Dreamed A Dream, a number from musical Les Miserables.

She also sang Memory from stage show Cats during the course of the competition.

Cry Me A River, which Boyle recorded for a charity CD in 1999, is expected to be included on her new album along with her Britain’s Got Talent songs.

U2 were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005

Musical acts including U2 and Aretha Franklin are to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at two concerts.

The gigs, set to take place in New York in October, will also feature inductees including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton and Metallica.

Both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel and rock trio Crosby, Stills and Nash are lined up to perform together.

The concerts have been billed as “once in a lifetime” events.

Collaborations

Jan Wenner, chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said they are “designed to celebrate the artists and their music.”

Tickets for the concert, which are scheduled to take place on 29 and 30 October at New York’s Madison Square Gardens, will go on sale on 3 August.

Other stars mentioned in the concert line-ups include Stevie Wonder and Metallica, with various collaborations and guest stars also planned.

The performances are designed to trace the history of rock and roll, from soul to hard rock.

The proceeds from the concerts will go towards permanent funding for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and Museum, established in 1984 by Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun who died in 2006.

Earlier this year, Metallica and rap group Run DMC were the latest in the line of artists to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Artists qualify for inclusion 25 years after the release of their first record.

A whole host of UK musicians have also been recognised, including Sir Paul McCartney and Dusty Springfield.