the ball from james up and under and passed to julien malzieu who raced into
the corner to touch down
the ospreys tried to reduce the deficit but instead conceded second try
shortly before the final whistle as napolioni nalaga profited from
misunderstanding between two of the welsh side players and cantered in to
score the try which james converted
clermont coach vern cotter was full of praise for his side opponents
have rarely seen team ospreys as well prepared as that they came with
very precise plan but appreciated the reaction of my team after the welsh
try
defending champions leinster needed last minute try from brian driscoll to
secure bonus point win over brive and move five points clear of london
irish in pool
london irish are away to the scarlets on sunday before hosting leinster in
likely pool decider at twickenham next weekend
isa nacewa and gordon arcy were leinster other try scorers while brive
crossed twice through retief uys and scott spedding
stade francais beat english side bath to remain top of pool four and move
to within point of place in the last eight
stade are four points clear of ulster with one match remaining but still face
relatively tricky trip away to edinburgh next weekend
ulster too must travel to bath and should they win and stade lose without
either side gaining bonus point to both finish on points it would be the
french side who top the table based on their head to head results
stade had looked to be cruising near the end of the first half after two jimmy
arias tries put them to the good
however immediately after arias second touchdown lionel beauxis attempt at
volleyed clearance from hugo southwell pass ended up being an airkick
the ball went over the stade try line and bath south african scrum half
michael claassens was on hand to beat the france fly half who was playing at
fullback to the ball and claim try which was duly converted
bath narrowed the deficit further two minutes into the second half when fijian
fly half nicky little landed penalty
northern ireland parties in crunch talks
belfast jan afp
northern ireland main protestant and catholic parties said they held
constructive talks saturday on the thorny issue threatening the province
fragile power sharing set up
the protestant conservative democratic unionist party dup and catholic
socialists sinn fein held discussions on transferring policing and justice
powers from london to belfast the last stage of the devolution process
the parties are bitterly divided on the issue and the tricky talks come as
northern irish politics reels from series of scandals
first minister peter robinson the dup leader has stepped aside for six weeks
to clear his name over sex and money scandal engulfing his wife iris
meanwhile sinn fein president gerry adams has been under pressure over his
handling of sex abuse allegations against his brother liam
sinn fein wants the powers transferred immediately while the dup insists there
must be community confidence in the arrangements first
on saturday sinn fein held talks with the dup and would do so again on monday
it said sinn fein also held internal talks
robinson also briefed his dup northern ireland assembly lawmakers on the
progress of negotiations at three hour meeting
dup spokesman said the the talks were very useful and constructive
adams described the situation as work in progress
our focus has to be to make this work and it is my view that it can be made to
work within the context of the good friday and st andrews agreements peace
accords of and he said
sunday will give all of us an opportunity to reflect on the discussions
alliance party leader david ford is tipped for the eventual post of justice
minister his non sectarian cross community party is seen as the only one that
could command support in the role from both sides
talks are at an extremely important stage and believe that the coming days
will define politics in northern ireland for years to come ford said
it looks as if the dup and sinn fein are finally engaging seriously on some of
the crucial issues that have divided them and blocked progress
meanwhile adams insisted he did not know that his brother liam who is on the
run worked for sinn fein in the heart of his own parliamentary constituency
liam adams chaired local branch of sinn fein in west belfast in three
years after gerry adams claimed he had ousted him from the party
don know every member of the party in west belfast he said
football africa cup of nations egypt mozambique
benguela angola jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group match at ombaka stadium
saturday
egypt khan own goal gedo mozambique
teams
egypt
essam al hadary mahmoud fathalla hany said ahmed al muhamadi wael gomaa
ahmed fathi shikabala mohamed gedo nagy sayed moawad hosni abd
rabou ahmed hassan capt mohamed zidan ahmed eid emad motaeb
coach hassan shehata
mozambique
joao rafael eugenio bila carlos danito parruque almiro lobo marthinho
mucuana dario khan edson sitoe simao mate elias pelembe samuel chapanga
manuel bucuane capt momed hagy goncalves fumo josemar machaisse
coach mart nooij ned
referee kokou djaoupe tog
yellow cards khan lobo hagy
football champions egypt reach cup of nations quarter finals
benguela angola jan afp
defending champions egypt booked their place in the last eight of the africa cup
of nations on saturday by defeating mozambique in group match here
the pharaohs wrapped up their second win in two games courtesy of dario khan
own goal early in the second half and late effort by substitute mohamed gedo
nagy
they have six points from three matches while nigeria moved into second place
on three points after they stopped benin
mozambique slipped goal down in the th minute when defender khan again put
the ball through his own goal off powerful low cross from the right by egypt
ahmed fathi
it was the unfortunate khan second own goal in as many matches in the
tournament after also scoring against his own team in tuesday draw with
benin
egypt had to wait until the st minute before they could double their lead
nagy second half replacement for mohamed zidan took his chance very well
when he smashed home left footed shot into the roof of the mozambique goal
from inside the yard box
egypt made only one change from the side which started against nigeria on
tuesday with hossam ghaly giving way to zamalek playmaker shikabala while fumo
started ahead of the experienced dario monteiro in the mozambique line up
in the th minute mozambique forward goncalves fumo tried an ambitious
shot from about yards but it posed no problem for essam el hadary in the
egypt goal
in the th minute rafael pushed goal bound low drive by shikabala from
yards away for corner
three minutes later the same player lobbed the ball over an onrushing
mozambique goalkeeper only for samuel chapanga to clear the danger
the best action in the first half came in stoppage time when egypt launched
counter attack which released emad motaeb to fire at goal only for rafael to
dive full stretch and punch into safety
after the opening goal the champions continued to pile on the pressure
in the rd minute sayed moawad fired narrowly wide from inside the box
while moments later mozambique skipper manuel bucuane put the ball at the back
of the egyptian net only for the effort to be disallowed for offside
in the th minute substitute ahmed eid darted into the mozambique yard box
only for him to blast his final effort wide off the mark
mozambique fought back in search of an equaliser
substitute hagi blazed his shot from top of the box wide in the th minute but
as the clock ticked away it was obvious that they lacked the finishing prowess
to get on the score board and make better contest of this clash
polish prime minister wins charlemagne prize
berlin jan afp
polish prime minister donald tusk was saturday named the winner of the
charlemagne prize awarded in recognition of his work for furthering liberty and
democracy in europe
tusk played key role in the defeat of anti european nationalism not only in
poland and worked to develop the understanding and cooperation of poland with
its european partners statement from the prize organisers said
the charlemagne prize is prize for distinguished service on behalf of european
unification
tusk has been poland prime minister since november and was strong
supporter of the ratification of the eu lisbon treaty by poland
past recipients of the prize include bill clinton vaclav havel the euro
currency represented by the european central bank and valery giscard
estaing who oversaw the drafting of the european constitution treaty
in statement in brussels european commission president jose manuel barroso
congratulated tusk as deserving winner of the award
prime minister tusk has played major role in integrating poland into the
european union and placing his country at the heart of europe since its
accession in barroso said
today donald tusk is one of the most respected european leaders the polish
people can also take the highest pride in this recognition
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor stephanie griffith
tel
what happening in the americas on sunday
un chief visits haiti as rescuers search for quake survivors
ex presidents bush clinton appeal for haiti aid
port au prince un secretary general ban ki moon visits haiti as rescue teams
search for survivors trapped in the rubble five days after deadly earthquake
that devastated the impoverished caribbean country expect coverage haiti
quake picture video graphic
santiago cliffhanger runoff vote in presidential election between conservative
billionaire sebastian pinera and former president eduardo frei that threatens
the left year hold on power expect coverage chile vote picture
washington former us presidents george bush and bill clinton appear on the
major sunday political talks shows talk to appeal for aid for haiti expect
coverage haiti quake us
los angeles the hollywood foreign press association hosts the th golden globe
awards with science fiction epic avatar hoping to score vital pre oscars
momentum event opens at gmt monday expect coverage entertainment us
film globes picture video
washington the head of the us military relief operations in haiti lieutenant
general ken keen discusses us aid efforts along with the head of the us agency
for international development aid rajiv shah on various political talkshows
expect coverage haiti quake us aid
france denies protesting us handling of haiti aid flights
port au prince jan afp
the french government denied saturday that it had protested american handling of
aid flights into haiti after french hospital aircraft was prevented from
landing
there has been no protest from the french government on the subject of the way
the port au prince airport is run said foreign ministry spokesman bernard
valero
franco us coordination in emergency aid for haiti is being handled in the best
way possible given the serious difficulties and the dramatic consequences of the
haiti quake and the magnitude of the damage he added
valero was responding to questions on an earlier comment by french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet who told reporters have made an
official protest to the americans through the us embassy
joyandet was speaking at the us operated airport in port au prince the main
port of entry into the impoverished caribbean nation devastated by massive
earthquake
french hospital aircraft was turned back from the international airport on
friday after major logjam of dozens of planes carrying rescuers and supplies
for survivors
the haitian government has tasked the united states with operating the airport
whose control tower was destroyed in tuesday magnitude quake
major powers fail to agree on new iran sanctions
new york jan afp
representatives of six major powers ended meeting in new york saturday to mull
response to iran nuclear defiance without reaching agreement russian
official said
we had very sober assessment russian deputy foreign minister sergei ryabkov
told reporters it is inconclusive in the sense that we did not make any
decisions right away
the closed door working luncheon which lasted little over two hours grouped
the five permanent members of the un security council britain china france
russia and the united states plus germany
beijing which has been cool to the prospect of slapping fourth round of
sanctions on tehran backed by the west sent lower level diplomat while the
other countries were represented by political directors of their respective
foreign ministries
state department spokesman philip crowley insisted thursday that it will be
useful meeting to have regardless of the chinese representation
diplomatic sources said the european union hosted meeting of the so called
was preceded by two hour gathering of the four western members of the group
asked whether moscow was prepared to back fresh sanctions against iran for
refusing to comply with un demands that it halt nuclear enrichment ryabkov
said russia has always supported the dual track approach
us secretary of state hillary clinton said monday that the six would explore
the kind and degree of sanctions that we should be pursuing as iran doggedly
refused to comply with un demands to halt uranium enrichment
western members of the group were likely to present their russian and chinese
colleagues with range of new and tougher sanctions diplomats said
measures said to be under consideration include tougher sanctions targeting
iran insurance financial and arms sectors
the goal is to increase the pressure so iran will accept un brokered deal
aimed at allaying suspicions about the nature of its nuclear program
the proposal would have most of iran low enriched uranium leu stockpile
shipped abroad to be further enriched into reactor fuel
but tehran has ignored us set december deadline to accept the offer drawn
up by the un international atomic energy agency and countered with its own
proposal of simultaneous and staged swap of leu with reactor fuel
in bid to minimize the impact on the iranian people and avoid affecting the
very people protesting president mahmoud ahmadinejad hardline regime
washington favors sanctions targeting iran revolutionary guard corps seen as
the economic and military backbone of the iranian regime
washington and its western allies fear that iran is secretly developing fissile
material for nuclear weapons under the cover of its uranium enrichment program
but iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and solely geared toward
generating electricity for its civilian population
washington along with britain france and germany have for months sought to
convince russia and china that the time has come to get tougher with the islamic
republic which has already ignored three sets of security council sanctions
diplomats noted that moscow having seen its mediation efforts rebuffed by
tehran has signaled it is prepared to turn up the heat on the iranians
but china which has close economic and energy ties with iran has said new
sanctions would be premature and that more time should be given for diplomacy to
work
in addition to eu senior security adviser robert cooper ryabkov and china
kang yong the meeting brought together geoffrey adams of britain jacques
audibert of france emily haber of germany and william burns of the united
states
istanbul launches year as european cultural capital
istanbul jan afp
istanbul on saturday launched year of art events as it became one of three
cultural capitals of europe for feting the occasion with concerts street
shows and firework displays
the accolade bestowed by the european union is seen by turkey as an
opportunity to reaffirm its bid to join the bloc and showcase diverse heritage
shaped by both western and eastern cultures
festivities including light shows were organised at seven locations across the
city of million symbolising the seven hills on which ancient istanbul was
built
several museums were to stay open until midnight
about guests among them ministers from some european countries
attended reception hosted by turkish president abdullah gul and prime minister
recep tayyip erdogan
istanbul is european city with its heart its culture and civilisation its
people its past and future it has always looked towards europe erdogan said
istanbul has shaped european culture and has been shaped by it
this shows that not only istanbul but turkey is european and should join the
european union he added
turkey began membership talks in but progress in the negotiations has been
held up by frequent political disputes and opposition to the mainly muslim
country accession by members of the bloc notably france and germany
istanbul which once served as the capital of the roman byzantine and ottoman
empires has been designated as cultural capital along with the german city of
essen and the hungarian city of pecs
the first turkish city to be given the title istanbul hopes to increase the
number of its visitors from to million with around cultural events
throughout the year
founded by roman emperor constantine in under the name of constantinople
the city was conquered by ottoman turks in and served as their capital
until modern turkey was founded in with its capital in ankara
istanbul however has remained as turkey cultural and financial centre
growing into sprawling metropolis spread over dozens of square kilometres
miles on both sides of the bosphorus strait separating europe and asia
the agency responsible for the events istanbul selected about
projects two thirds of which are related to historical heritage and the
remaining to arts events
the programme will feature the opening in july of the museum of innocence
conceived by nobel literature laureate orhan pamuk following the release of
his latest novel bearing the same name the exhibition from byzantium to
istanbul in september and november the european universities theatre festival
in may and concert by irish rock band in september
figure skating canadian championships results
london canada jan afp
selected results here on saturday from the canadian figure skating
championships qualifier for the vancouver winter olympics
pairs
free skate jessica dube bryce davison pts anabelle langlois cody
hay meagan duhamel craig buntin mylene brodeur john
mattatall kirsten moore towers dylan moscovitch paige
lawrence rudi swiegers
final standings jessica dube bryce davison anabelle langlois cody
hay meagan duhamel craig buntin mylene brodeur john
mattatall kirsten moore towers dylan moscovitch paige
lawrence rudi swiegers
football africa cup of nations group standings
benguela angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings after late match saturday played won
drawn lost goals for against points
egypt qualified
nigeria
benin
mozambique
fixtures
times gmt
jan
at benguela
benin egypt
at lubango
mozambique nigeria
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football africa cup of nations egypt mozambique
benguela angola jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match saturday
egypt khan own goal gedo mozambique
urgent football egypt reach africa cup of nations quarter finals
benguela angola jan afp
defending champions egypt reached the africa cup of nations quarter finals with
win over mozambique in group on saturday
alert
football egypt reach africa cup of nations quarter finals
football pele backs rookie coach maradona
bogota jan afp
brazilian legend pele threw his support behind diego maradona on saturday
insisting that the controversial argentina coach was not to blame for his team
lacklustre form
pele said that responsibility for argentina mediocrity which almost cost them
place in the world cup finals should be laid at the feet of the country
soccer bosses
maradona wasn an experienced coach he started only last season so
it not his fault pele told news conference here
don believe that he guilty perhaps the guilty one is the person who
agreed to appoint him as coach
despite the two countries bitter rivalry pele believes that argentina will be
force to be reckoned with at this year world cup finals in south africa
they will be very strong he said they will be well prepared team to
beat
meeting of world powers on iran inconclusive diplomat
new york jan afp
representatives of six major powers ended meeting in new york saturday to mull
response to iran nuclear defiance without reaching agreement russian
official said
we had very sober assessment russian deputy foreign minister sergei ryabkov
told reporters it is inconclusive in the sense that we did not make any
decisions right away
the closed door working luncheon which lasted little over two hours grouped
the five permanent members of the un security council britain china france
russia and the united states plus germany
beijing which has been cool to the prospect of slapping fourth round of
sanctions on tehran sent lower level diplomat while the other countries were
represented by political directors of their respective foreign ministries
hillary clinton arrives in haiti quake hit capital
port au prince jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton arrived saturday in haiti to work on an
urgent bid to clear logistics hurdles and find creative ways to deliver aid to
quake hit haitians
clinton who arrived in the devastated capital port au prince shortly before
gmt is the highest ranking us official to visit haiti since the massive
quake struck on tuesday
she has said she would meet president rene preval to ask how the united states
could help tackle fuel shortages and other logistical problems that were dogging
the relief effort
the chief us diplomat who met preval during visit to port au prince in april
last year told reporters traveling with her that she wanted to listen to him
to be sure we are as responsive as we need to be
clinton and rajiv shah her director of the us agency for international
development said the un world food program had begun setting up food and water
distribution centers at points across the capital we re looking to expand
that shah said
urgent hillary clinton arrives in haiti quake hit capital
port au prince jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton arrived saturday in haiti to work on an
urgent bid to clear logistics hurdles and find creative ways to deliver aid to
quake hit haitians
alert
hillary clinton arrives in quake hit haiti
renault seeks to reassure sarkozy on french production
paris jan afp
renault chief carlos ghosn assured french president nicolas sarkozy on saturday
that production of the new clio line would not be entirely transferred to turkey
as the government had feared
france number two carmaker renault has come under heavy pressure from the
government to keep jobs at home following press reports about planned shift in
clio production from flins outside paris to bursa in turkey from
after meeting of around an hour ghosn told sarkozy that renault would keep
using the flins factory and gave assurances that part of the clio iv
production there was guaranteed sarkozy office said in statement
ghosn said that renault will keep the site use and activity continuing
production there of combustion vehicles while developing the production of
electric vehicle sarkozy office said
the government will also make million euro loan at favourable rate to
help turn flins into major european site for electric vehicle production and
make million euro loan to build battery factory at the site
the elysee statement made no mention of what renault work might be done in
turkey or the exact breakdown
renault had until now said no decision had been taken on the possible move
while stressing that most of its production was already done outside of france
the french state is renault biggest shareholder with percent stake
we re not giving all that money to support the auto sector so that all our
factories can leave to go abroad sarkozy told members of parliament at an
elysee meeting on wednesday
strongly contest the idea that these big companies just because they are
global no longer have nationality
france minister for europe pierre lellouche has rejected suggestions that
the pressure on renault not to move production abroad could violate the terms of
french deal last year to support the car industry
eu competition commissioner neelie kroes said in brussels that there was an
apparent contradiction between the french government latest move and
promises it made last year that subsidised loans to national car producers would
not affect their freedom to move their operations
french government measures taken last year to support the auto sector in the
economic downturn included generous loans to carmakers on condition that they
keep production and jobs in france
guinea seeks new prime minister after crisis deal
conakry jan afp
guinea sought new interim prime minister saturday after deal that sidelines
the country junta chief recently targeted in an assassination bid following
massacre of opposition supporters
on friday guinea political rivals signed the deal providing for elections in
six months and for junta chief captain moussa dadis camara to remain in
convalescence following the december bid to kill him camara is currently in
burkina faso
the first two people put forward for the role of prime minister jean marie
dore and rabiatou serah diallo must go to ouagadougou for talks said
lieutenant mohamed kasse spokesman for interim junta chief general sekouba
konate
dore is spokesman for the forces vives coalition of opposition parties trade
unions and civil society and rabiatou serah diallo is general secretary of the
national confederation of guinean workers
but the pair refused to go to the capital of burkina faso whose president
blaise compaore is mediating between the ruling junta and the guinean
opposition and insisted konate return home to name new premier
the prime minister head of government should be named in conakry and not
abroad said dore the people are awaiting general konate return with
fervour to congratulate him
diallo echoed him saying what are we going to ouagadougou for we cannot take
all our little problems there
interim leader konate spokesman kasse said the general would remain president
and head of state for six month period
he added that after the elections automatically he general konate will hand
over his powers
according to kasse while the discussions will occur in burkina faso the
official nomination of interim prime minister will take place in guinea
it is matter of days it is imminent kasse said adding that position
would also be found for the unsuccessful candidate
the deal on friday coming after two days of difficult negotiations was met
with relief from the international community led by france and the african
union which were concerned about an immediate return to guinea by camara
camara was shot in the head by an aide de camp in december after what some said
was dispute over bloody crackdown on an opposition rally in september in
which more than people were shot dead
guinea has marked decisive stage in getting out of the crisis it has been in
for year and on the way to state of law and justice french foreign
minister bernard kouchner had said in statement
france will resolutely back the application of this declaration and in this
framework can soon resume its cooperation it will attempt to mobilize guinea
partners so that they can accompany the process toward elections
president of the african union commission jean ping also welcomed the
agreement describing it as positive evolution of the situation in guinea
rugbyu european cup tables
paris jan afp
european cup tables following saturday matches played won drawn lost
points for against bonus points points
pool
munster
northampton
perpignan
treviso
pool
biarritz qualified
gloucester
glasgow
dragons
pool
leicester
clermont
ospreys
viadana
pool
stade francais
ulster
edinburgh
bath
