Gareth Bale: Spurs 'consider rival bid to Real Madrid offer'

 By Dan Roan BBC chief sports correspondent

Tottenham have received offers from more than one club for Real Madrid target Gareth Bale.

According to senior sources at White Hart Lane, Real's £86m bid for the 24-year-old Welshman is not the only one being considered.
Spurs insist no final agreement has yet been reached with the Spanish giants.
However, Real Madrid still remain on the brink of sealing a world record transfer for Bale after days of negotiations.
The identity of the second bidder is not known, although Manchester United have been linked with the winger this summer.
In a further twist, it has emerged that Spurs have approached Chelsea with a view to buying a player - thought to be Juan Mata - to replace Bale.
Spurs were close to signing the Brazilian winger Willian last week before a late bid from Chelsea beat them to his signature.
Losing out to their London rivals has delayed Spurs finalising the departure of Bale, and Mata had been identified as a potential replacement.
Spurs are frustrated that Chelsea are refusing to sell a player who could now find himself behind Willian in the Stamford Bridge pecking order.

When markets go dark: 8 reasons for exchange shutdowns

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When the trading floor goes dark

The Nasdaq, the US’s second-largest stock exchange, halted trading for three hours in the middle of the day on Thursday, the latest in a string of technological snafus for stock markets — and the Nasdaq in particular.
The Nasdaq — where companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Intel list their stock — didn’t reopen for trading until about 35 minutes before the market closed. Some saw the trading shutdown as yet another blow to already-fragile investor sentiment, adding to distrust in markets that has been fueled by other recent snafus.
It’s not the first time an exchange has shut down. Natural disasters, presidential assassinations, terrorism, societal unrest, panic-induced selloffs and even squirrels have shuttered exchanges around the globe. Take a look.

Video Game Lets China Seize Islands From Japan

Players can shoot Japanese soldiers as they defend the disputed islands in a Chinese army training game released to the public.

A gamer plays Glorious Mission in an office in Shanghai

The islands are under Japanese control

China has released a computer game originally designed to train its army which allows players to defend contested islands in the East China Sea.

The  Diaoyu islands, or Senkaku to the Japanese, have been at the centre of a decades-long dispute between the two Asian powers and there are regular skirmishes off its coasts.
To celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) the Chinese have released an online game called Glorious Mission Online.
Players can shoot Japanese soldiers, who drop dead shooting up a small Japanese flag with its red sun styled to resemble a bullet wound.
Glorious Mission Online was developed by Giant Interactive Group, a Chinese developer and publisher, in collaboration with the PLA for use in training simulations.

Japanese and Chinese vessels near the disputed islands

"Players will do battle alongside the PLA, with guns in hand, and tell the Japanese: 'You will not violate our sovereign territory!'" says a statement on the game's website.
The PLA was interested in having a 3D interactive game for simulations with virtual replicas of their weapons, said Richard Chiang, a spokesman for Giant Interactive.
Mr Chiang said: "The military was 100% behind this game. Rather than playing the same foreign games like Call Of Duty and being American Marines shooting Russians or whatnot, Chinese can actually play as Chinese soldiers."
The row over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which has been administered by Japan since 1971,  has badly affected relations between Beijing and Tokyo.
Japan's defence ministry declined to comment on the game's release.

Apple Ban Overturned By Obama Administration

The White House move marks the first time since 1987 that a US administration has vetoed a product ban ordered by the trade panel.

The White House has stepped into a patent war between Apple and Samsung by vetoing a ban on imports of iPads and iPhones in the US.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) in June banned the import or sale of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G distributed by AT&T Inc, saying the devices infringed a patent owned by the South Korean electronics giant.
But US Trade Representative Michael Froman vetoed the ban, saying his decision was in part based on its "effect on competitive conditions in the US economy and the effect on US consumers".
The decision marks a setback for the South Korean electronics company. However, Mr Froman said Samsung could continue to pursue its case through the courts.

The decision, dealing a blow to Samsung, was welcomed by Apple

It is the first time since 1987 that a US administration has vetoed a product ban ordered by the trade panel.
Samsung said it was "disappointed" at the lifting of the ban.
"The ITC's decision correctly recognised that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a licence," it said in a statement.
Apple welcomed the news and applauded the administration "for standing up for innovation".
It added: "Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way."

US Trade Representative Michael Froman

The Apple products targeted by the ITC ban are more than a year old, though some models such as the iPhone 4 remain solid sellers.
Apple sells more than 100 million iPhones annually, but it does not break down sales by models.
Apple and Samsung have been waging a global patent war since 2010, filing multiple lawsuits against each other over the design and functionality of their devices.
Apple argues Samsung's Android phones copy vital iPhone features. Samsung is fighting back with its own complaints.
Last year, a federal court ruled that Samsung owed Apple $1bn in damages for infringing on non-essential Apple patents.
But the judge refused to impose an import ban on Samsung phones and later struck $450m from the verdict, saying the jurors miscalculated.
The case is set for a rematch in an appeals court.
Samsung is the world's largest maker of smartphones. Analysts estimate it outsold Apple nearly two to one in the first three months of the year.
However, Apple's smartphone business is more profitable.