Three points would have lifted West Bromwich Albion out of the Premiership drop zone last night, but they were forced to settle for one and the slender consolation of going above Norwich City on goal difference and level with Crystal Palace on points. In the League a narrow defeat means the lose of three points.Benitez also spoke of his respect for Mourinho - "a very good coach" - but said the three defeats Liverpool had already suffered to Chelsea did not concern him. Nevertheless he was relieved to have a fit-again Alonso, who broke his ankle in a tackle with Frank Lampard when the two sides met at Anfield, alongside him yesterday.Alonso himself conceded that his midfield contest with Lampard would be pivotal. "I think that will be a key as the midfield is always a battle in every game and they have a strong midfield If we control that area we will have more chances.". Benitez said the difference between Liverpool's outstanding form in this competition, and their disappointments in the League, was that "we can lose by one goal in the Champions' League and maybe you will be favourites". It recently passed anti-secession laws requiring military action if the island makes a formal bid for independence. The problem is that Taiwan is a flourishing democracy and most of its 23 million people see no reason to abandon political freedom and follow the Communist Party dictates.

Mr Chan's People First Party calls for reunion with China under negotiated conditions. A position which has made him a favourite of Beijing.Is it a sellout for Taiwan?The nationalist party and the Chinese government are both offering to lay aside past arguments and put the island's permanent status to one side. The only problem is that the nationalists - formerly a dictatorial power - are not in government. In fact both sides seem to be trying to undermine Chen Shui-bian, the Taiwanese President, as a way of discouraging voters from backing his push for independence.

After weeks during which his supporters criticised the visit as a sellout, President Chen eventually gave it his blessing"One country, two systems" - what's that all about?For years both sides hid behind the sticking plaster concept of "One China" in which Taipei and Beijing espoused the same policy, while differing in its interpretation. On Friday he is to hold talks with Hu Jintao, China's President. For the Chinese leadership, the visit is a chance to show a more neighbourly face as it flexes its muscles on the international stage.Why is the Taiwan trip controversial?China has long contended that Taiwan is part of China - just like Hong Kong. Why is Taiwan's opposition leader in China? Why is Taiwan's opposition leader in China? The leader of Taiwan's opposition nationalist party, the Kuomintang, stepped on to Chinese soil yesterday, the first such visit since Mao Zedong's victorious Communist forces drove Chiang Kai-shek from the mainland in 1949. One of Taiwan's wealthiest people, Lien Chan, arrived at Nanjing, at the start of an eight-day stay aimed at lowering tensions in the long and bitter standoff between Beijing and Taiwan.

When they came here first in 1982 it was very easy for the first year. But then they said, 'We are going to take your land piece by piece'."Emily Amrusy, spokeswoman for the Yesha Council, the settlers' umbrella body, said the international activists had laid the poison to frame the settlers. She said she did not know why escorts had been provided for schoolchildren.Shelley Stanley, 22, an American volunteer working in Tuwani, said she had gone to Kyriat Arba police station to report that she had been told by a security guard at the Maon settlement that the poisoning had been the work of Havat Maon settlers."The policemen took a statement," she recalled, "but when I asked what would happen, he said, 'This is way over our head; we are waiting for a decision'.". "They watch The Sopranos or some of those movies about the mob, and they think it's just some colourful characters. The thing is, they're still doing this."Officials said the arrests will be remembered as one of the biggest single round-ups of suspected organised crime leaders ever seen in Chicago. Also caught in the net was James Marcello, 63, believed to be the boss of all the bosses in the city.Two of those charged are former Chicago police detectives, including Michael Ricci, 75, who arrived in court on Monday in a wheelchair..

Highly toxic chemicals have been spread on Palestinian sheep pastures in what villagers believe is an escalation of a campaign of harassment against them by Jewish West Bank settlers. The last, on 16 February, left a Italian human rights activist, Johannes Steger, with a fractured jaw, a torn retina and amnesia.The villagers blame the nearby settlers of Maon and Havat Maon for the attacks, which have prompted the army and police to provide an armed escort for the children travelling round the settlement between the two villages.Amnesty has accused the Israeli police - who are fully responsible for this section of the occupied West Bank - of failing adequately to investigate the poisoning and bring its perpetrators to justice. While most of the suspects were arrested on Monday in states as far flung as Arizona, Florida and Illinois, a manhunt is underway in Chicago for Mr Lombardo, 75, and a man identified as Frank "The German" Schweihs.One of the 14 suspects, Frank Saladino, was found dead when police arrived to arrest him but they believe he died of natural causes.Patrick Fitzgerald, the US Attorney in Chicago, said the dragnet, "Operation Family Secrets" had been years in the making and had put a "hit on the mob" in the city."People tend to forget what these guys are about," he added. While most would probably turn to the "benign civil sector", the danger remained that "hostile foreign governments, terrorists or insurgents may seek Iraqi expertise".He also said troops in Iraq may continue to find small numbers of degraded chemical weapons, most likely remnants from before 1991. In the hands of an insurgent "the use of a single even ineffectual chemical weapon would likely cause more terror than deadlier conventional explosives".. Federal prosecutors said they had delivered a crippling blow to organised crime in Chicago - the former stomping ground of Al Capone - rounding up 14 alleged Mafia gangsters. The body of Mr Spilotro, whose story was the inspiration for a character played by Joe Pesci in the Martin Scorsese film Casino, was found in a corn field.Lawyers for Mr Lombardo said he was innocent of all the charges.