English Premier League: Liverpool wins 3-1 against Blackburn

MANCHESTER: Liverpool defeated Blackburn 3-1 to maintain a 1-point lead in English soccer’s Premier League over Chelsea, which won at Bolton 2-0.

Xabi Alonso, Yossi Benayoun and Steve Gerrard scored in the final 22 minutes to give Liverpool the away win. Nicolas Anelka and Deco had the goals as Chelsea set a record with its 11th consecutive away win in the top flight.

Manchester United got a late goal in beating Sunderland 1-0, while Arsenal also won 1-0 over Wigan. Hull came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1, Stoke rallied to tie Newcastle 2-2 and Fulham and Manchester City tied 1-1.

Alonso broke the deadlock at Blackburn’s Ewood Park with a goal in the 68th minute and Benayoun doubled Liverpool’s lead 11 minutes later when he fired a shot past Paul Robinson.

Roque Santa Cruz scored for Blackburn, which is 19th in the 20-team standings, in the 86th minute, but Gerrard clinched the victory for Liverpool in stoppage time.

Liverpool improves to 37 points after 16 of 38 games, while Chelsea has 36 following its record-setting victory.

“It was good, we know this is a difficult team to play against,” Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told Sky Sports. “The first goal in the second half was the difference.”

Anelka opened the scoring at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium in the ninth minute. It was his league-leading 13th goal of the season and his 99th in the Premier League.

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India has right to self-defense: Obama

WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama said every nation had the right to self-defense but declined to say whether India could pursue Pakistan-based extremists accused of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks.

"If a country is attacked, it has a right to defend itself," he said in an interview aired Sunday on a foreign TV channel in reply to a question whether India could go in hot pursuit of militants over the Pakistan border.

Obama, who has reserved the right to strike Pakistan-based militants if the government in Islamabad is unwilling or unable, called for a "strategic partnership" with all of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan against terror.

"So far (Pakistani) President (Asif Ali) Zardari has sent the right signals. He has indicated that he understands this is not just a threat to the United States but a threat to Pakistan," he said.

Suspicion over the recent Mumbai carnage, which left 172 dead, has fallen on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group that has fought Indian rule in Kashmir and was blamed for a 2001 attack on the New Delhi parliament.

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Rice denies 48-hour deadline for Pakistan to take action

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that Pakistan must act quickly to arrest suspects linked to the deadly attacks in India to help ensure there are no follow-on assaults.

Interviewed on a foreign TV channel, Rice said she stressed during her visit to Pakistan last week how important it was for Islamabad to act quickly but denied there was a 48-hour deadline to take action.

"The important thing is that Pakistan act and that these people are brought to justice and that any information that they may have is put to use in making sure follow-on attacks don't happen," Rice said.

Rice echoed remarks from Pakistan's foreign office denying Islamabad had agreed to a 48-hour timetable to take action against Pakistanis accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The Washington Post reported that Pakistan had agreed to a deadline imposed by the United States and India to arrest three people and formulate a plan to take action against a militant group accused of involvement in the attacks.

"No. There's not a timetable involved here," the US top diplomat said.

"Obviously, this is counterterrorism work. It's hard work. And it's not as if these people are sitting on the surface," she said, adding that Pakistani leaders "understood their responsibilities and now we're waiting."

The 60-hour Mumbai siege by Islamic militants has badly affected relations between India and Pakistan, the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors who have fought three wars since independence from Britain.

India says all 10 gunmen involved in the assault came from Pakistan, and has handed Islamabad a list of 20 terror suspects, with demands for their arrest and extradition.

Suspicion over the recent Mumbai carnage, which left 172 dead, has fallen on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group that has fought Indian rule in Kashmir and was blamed for a 2001 attack on the New Delhi parliament.

Before visiting Pakistan, Rice made a solidarity visit to India.

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