angolans prepare for african nations cup
luanda
angola is racing against the clock to get everything ready for the african
nations cup after almost three decades of civil war angolans view the
tournament as symbol of peace but it is also huge challenge to modernise the
country dilapidated infrastructure in time
voiced report
wednesday january
angola minibus unavoidable for visiting football fans
luanda
angola is hosting the african nations cup for the first time in the event
year history the oil rich nation has built brand new stadiums for the
occasion but improving the transport infrastructure has proved more
troublesome task massive traffic jams and lack of public transport force city
dwellers to use private minibuses to get around
voiced report
thursday january
chelsea biggest challenge may just be around the corner
london
four of chelsea best players have left the club for the whole of january to
play in the african nations cup so how will the west londoners cope without the
likes of didier drogba
voiced report
friday january
cameroon has high ambitions heading into football cup
paris
cameroon made it to the finals in but coach paul le guen says the squad
has its sights set on crowning glory in this year african nations cup afptv
met up with the frenchman ahead of his departure for kenya where the cameroon
team was preparing for the competition
images and soundbites
the losers in luanda housing boom
luanda
african cup host luanda is booming with oil money and reconstruction projects
eight years after the end of angola civil war but across the city bulldozers
are razing shantytowns to make way for upmarket housing compounds leaving
thousands homeless
voiced report
alert
togo player calls for african nations cup to be suspended after shooting
alert
four wounded in gun attack on togo team bus at african nations cup players tell
afp
tennis federer beaten by davydenko again
doha jan afp
roger federer who ended the season with surprise loss to nikolay
davydenko in london ended his first tournament of with another defeat to
the surprising little celebrated russian
federer was not at his best never serving particularly well and mistiming
few important balls on the backhand side but the more remarkable thing about
his defeat how he was often bullied by davydenko fierce flat hitting
from the baseline
davydenko excellent performance carried him into qatar open final against
rafael nadal perhaps increasing the chances of the former world number one from
spain winning his first title since triumphing in rome in early may
however davydenko who appears to have gained more aura and self belief since
capturing the atp world tour masters title has won four times out of five on
hard courts against nadal and was bristling with confidence after his second
successive win over federer
before lost times in row to federer but because beat him in london
felt like really could win davydenko said still had the level had in
london and that was good but don know how long can keep it up
federer who has had six matches in eight days did not seem too concerned about
the setback taking comfort in the quality of his preparation he has had for the
australian open grand slam title he would love to regain from nadal
have to get my unforced errors down but apart from that moved well and
didn think my performance was too bad federer said though there was
suspicion that six matches in eight days sometimes in cool conditions had left
him with painful arm
nikolay played well when he needed to play well he got ahead and got the
momentum and that helped him then he played the big points well and deserved to
win
corollary was that federer started modestly by the time all of the spectators
had found their way to their seats the wimbledon and french open champion was
already two breaks of serve down to the bustling piercing eyed davydenko
that advantage not only helped elevate the russian general level as federer
indicated but it also had an inspiring effect on his serving
davydenko managed percent first service record in the first set first
serves out of and federer did well to manage even one break back before
davydenko closed the set out
the second set saw federer covering acres of ground sometimes defending
tenaciously in an attempt to pressure davydenko into error but it rarely
happened
instead the surprising third seed broke again for and reached at which
stage nadal due for his post match press conference stopped to watch the
action on the monitor instead
federer saved one match point on his own serve in the penultimate game and
never gave up but could not get anywhere near preventing davydenko from serving
out for the match which he did brilliantly to love
nadal comfort will be the excellence of his own performance in win
over viktor troicki the fifth seeded serbian which was even more one sided
than the score makes it seem and suggests that he is back not far from his best
nadal took points in row from the second game of the second set generating
such sense of freedom that he began flattening out his drives hitting harder
and experimenting with fiercer serves and the occasional successful volleying
foray
that gained him games in row before troicki rescued measure of dignity
with three late games but it did not hide the degree to which he had been
outplayed
it all worked said nadal feel that am ready to win tournament
again can tell if the opportunity will come here or in australia or in
indian wells but feel it will come and ready
european stocks close slightly firmer
london jan afp
european stock markets closed slightly firmer on friday recovering after much
weaker than expected us employment report disappointed investors hoping to see
an improvement in the ailing labour market
dealers said early gains were quickly lost after the data showed us december job
losses of when some had believed there could have been jobs created
they said there may have been some encouragement from revision for november to
gain of jobs for the first positive reading after months of losses
overall however the figures left the debate on the economic outlook where it
was previously there are signs of recovery but they are weak and vulnerable
to any reverse they added
in london the ftse index of leading shares edged up percent to
ponts in paris the cac added percent to points and
in frankfurt the dax put on percent to points
in new york the blue chip dow jones industrial average was down percent at
around gmt while the tech heavy nasdaq composite was up percent
following the key employment report
estimates for the us data ranged from loss of jobs to gain of
with the consensus for loss of jobs
the market and global investors expected good employment report now we can
see how much they are disappointed said al goldman at wells fargo advisors
dealers said the outcome dampened speculation that the us federal reserve would
raise near zero interest rates sooner than expected as the economy emerges from
the most severe recession in decades
our reaction is that the economic recovery remains very fragile as employers
still are not hiring said fred dickson at da davidson amp co noting that
job losses over the past two years came to some million
in paris xavier de villepion of global equities stressed that the us jobs
figures were volatile and it was likely that the december figure would be
revised down in the next report
elsewhere in europe amsterdam rose percent brussels edged up
percent madrid slipped marginal percent and milan was up percent
earlier friday in asian trade tokyo closed up percent in its best finish
since october as investors hoped weaker yen would help key exporters
shanghai inched up percent in choppy trade while hong kong added
percent sydney rose percent
greek jews protest over synagogue arson
chania greece jan afp
the jewish community in greece protested friday over an arson attack on
synagogue on the southern greek island of crete calling for action to fight
anti semitism
the synagogue in the town of chania northwest crete was targeted on monday
night police said but quick action from the fire brigade meant damage to the
building was limited
we are confident the government will condemn this disgraceful act and take
every necessary step to arrest those responsible the greek jewish community
said in statement
in crete newspaper the head of the attacked synagogue nikos hanaan
stavroulakis warned of rise in racist attacks on the island in recent months
particularly against immigrants
vandals sporadically target jewish buildings and cemeteries in greece attacking
the cemetery in the northwest town of ioannina last june
more than percent of jews in greece were exterminated by the nazis during
world war two and today the community numbers only few thousand
european freeze hits transport as britain limits gas
london jan afp
europe grappled with grounded planes and yet more eurostar cancellations friday
as bitter winter weather forced britain to curb industrial gas usage in order to
save supplies
britain saw overnight temperatures plunge to minus degrees celsius minus
eight degrees fahrenheit at altnaharra in the scottish highlands the lowest
so far in the country worst winter in decades
hundreds of flights were also scrapped leaving more passengers stranded
on the continent forecasters in france warned of imminent significant
snowfalls while germany braced for up to centimetres inches of fresh
snow later friday accompanied by gale force winds
what is being forecast for the weekend could lead to chaotic traffic conditions
and potentially leave large parts of germany completely paralysed the autoclub
europa warned
conditions in britain sparked concern for energy supplies where major
companies which were not named were ordered to halt using gas friday in
order to maintain overall supplies of the fuel
ninety seven major companies had their gas turned off thursday in the first
such move since although the government said there was no immediate danger
for households
we ve got plenty of supplies the gas storage is about percent full
environment secretary hilary benn told gmtv television there absolutely no
need for any domestic customers to worry
the beleaguered eurostar passenger rail service linking britain with france and
belgium via the channel tunnel cancelled half of its services between london and
paris
because of the current severe weather conditions eurostar will continue to run
restricted service up to and including sunday it said
low cost airline easyjet cancelled flights largely to and from london
gatwick and liverpool airports british airways cancelled around departures
from london heathrow while around incoming flights were scrapped
on the roads the aa motor vehicle breakdown service said it had dealt with
breakdowns since december in our entire history we have never been
as busy its president edmund king said
thousands of schools remained closed while several of the weekend english
premier league football matches were called off and few fixtures in scotland
survived
the very cold weather will continue over the weekend with penetrating frosts
across the country the met office weather service said
in norway temperatures hit minus degrees celsius in the central village of
folldal the plunging temperatures forced rise in electricity demand sending
prices up too
in france people left without electricity in and around the southern
city of arles after power lines collapsed under the weight of snow around
centimetres fell in some parts of the southeast
some departments districts were put on orange alert with heavy snowfall
expected the amount of snow expected is significant exceptional even meteo
france warned
most of spain was put on alert for fresh snowfalls strong winds and low
temperatures while heavy rain triggered floods in the andalusia region
switzerland kilometre mile gotthard tunnel part of strategic
trans european motorway that runs from germany to italy was due to reopen to
trucks following heavy snowfall
in poland nine people died in the past two days bringing the total to
since the start of november police spokesman told afp most of the victims
were described as homeless
overnight temperatures dipped to minus degrees celsius and forecasters
predicted more snow and freezing temperatures over the next seven days
in the netherlands where temperatures hit minus degrees celsius the ice
skating federation knsb warned that ice on lakes and canals was not yet solid
enough for the traditional dutch winter pastime
football togolese players shot in angola report
paris jan afp
several togolese footballers in angola for the african nations cup were
injured some seriously when their team bus was fired on with machine guns
french infosport television reported friday
the sports channel said the bus was fired on as the team travelled through the
politically unstable cabinda region bordering congo
two players have been injured one player thomas dossevi told infosport
which later reported that several players had been seriously hurt
contacted by afp reporters in angola organisers of the event said the team bus
had simply burst tyre causing panic among those inside after second
enquiry organisers said they had no knowledge of the incident
togo are scheduled to get their campaign underway against ghana on monday
however dossevi said the players had already expressed wish not to play the
tournament
we don feel much like playing the can cup our thoughts are with our friends
the injured said dossevi of french second division side nantes
dossevi named goalkeeper kodjovi obilale of french amateur side gsi pontivy and
defender serge akakpo of romanian outfit vaslui as among the injured
he added we had just crossed the border between congo and cabinda where togo
are to play their group matches we had filled in the border formalities and
were surrounded by police everything was fine then there was powerful burst
of gunfire
everyone dived under the seats and the police fired back
it felt like war had broken out it shocking when we got off the bus we were
asking ourselves what was up
akakpo he said took bullet in the back
the official in charge of communications also stopped bullet he lost lot
of blood dossevi added
of obilale there is no news save for the fact that he was bleeding lot
getting shot on your way to football match is just disgusting said dossevi
who added he believed that goalkeeping coach had also been hurt
togo whose skipper is manchester city forward emmanuel adebayor were set to
face ghana in cabinda on monday
cabinda had been expected to deploy heavy security at its chiazi stadium
chelsea stars michael essien of ghana and ivory coast didier drogba are due to
play the group stages there one of four cup venues in the country but not all
the security will be for the premier league stars
oil rich cabinda separated from the rest of angola by the democratic republic
of congo has been embroiled in long running independence struggle but is
scheduled to host seven nations cup matches this month
the conflict in the region officially ended in deal with the front for
the liberation of the enclave of cabinda flec
flec however has made several media claims in recent months about attacks on
the military and foreign construction and oil workers based in the province
alpine skiing season over for austrian hope holaus
haus im ennstal austria jan afp
austrian skiier maria holaus has been ruled out for the rest of the season after
fracturing her right ankle during training for the world cup downhill race here
on friday
the austrian ski federation confirmed that the year old underwent surgery and
will be hospitalised until sunday
holaus has three world cup podium finishes including one victory to her name and
was one of the austrian women teams hopes for the winter olympics after the
retirement of renate gotschl
london stock market looks to extend new year bounce
london jan afp
the london stock market will look to extend positive start to next week
when investors absorb fresh economic data and results from supermarket group
tesco and mining giant rio tinto
london benchmark ftse index ended the week on friday at points
rise of percent from thursday of the previous week when markets had shut
early ahead of the new year celebrations
this week on thursday the ftse struck the highest intraday level
since early september albeit amid low trading volumes as some workers
remained on holiday and as freezing weather kept others at home
momentum coupled with positive newsflow is helping to push the ftse to month
highs etx capital senior trader manoj ladwa said
traders will focus next week on british trade data on tuesday and industrial
production numbers on wednesday with many looking for sign that the economy is
really about to come out of recession
on the company earnings front tesco and rio tinto will publish trading updates
on tuesday and thursday respectively
global markets began on positive note monday as investors counted on an
extension of the strong recovery from the worst economic slump since the
dealers said
positive manufacturing data from china and the united states also helped but
then sentiment took hit on friday on news that the us economy lost jobs
in december dashing hopes of turnaround the ailing us labour market
the london ftse jumped by about percent in as whole having soared
by almost percent since striking six year lows last march at around the
points mark
canada largest newspaper chain for sale
ottawa jan afp
one of the world largest media firms canwest global filed for bankruptcy
protection on friday for its canadian publishing group as it tries to sell its
websites dailies and community newspapers
the winnipeg based company television operations and its flagship national
post newspaper were put under court protection several months ago when
advertising revenues dropped in dour economy
however canwest newspaper division and dozens of its websites had been
operating outside of this creditor protection
in statement the company said its secured creditors had agreed to take over
the newspaper group unless buyer comes forward with better offer
certain creditors which include canada five biggest banks will also provide
up to million canadian dollars million us to canwest to meet
obligations to current employees and suppliers of post filing goods and
services under the plan
rbc capital markets has been asked to oversee the sale and search for buyer
the newspapers include the vancouver sun the calgary herald the ottawa citizen
and montreal the gazette and employ some canadians
bankrupcty protection will provide canwest with the time and stability needed
to implement controlled financial restructuring of their businesses and to
complete the sale while day to day business operations continue
uninterrupted the company said in statement
its creditors said they hoped to acquire or sell off the whole of the newspaper
division rather than auction off each newspaper separately given the
operating synergies that can be realized from national chain of newspapers and
online businesses
the majority of any potential buyers voting shares however must be canadian
owned in accordance with canada media ownership rules
louisiana execution is third in us this year
washington jan afp
louisiana has become the third state to carry out an execution this year
putting gerald bordelon to death by lethal injection late on thursday prison
authorities told afp
bordelon who was convicted in of murdering his year old stepdaughter
was declared dead at pm local time thursday minutes after he was
injected with three drug cocktail said pam laborde prison spokeswoman
two other men were executed on thursday kenneth mosley in texas and
abdullah sharif kaazim mahdi in ohio
bordelon confessed to sexually assaulting and then murdering his granddaughter
and waived his right to appeal his sentence so he would be executed as quickly
as possible
it generally takes at least years for convicts sentenced to the death penalty
to exhaust the various appeals to which they are entitled according to the
death penalty information center
bordelon execution was the first in louisiana since and the th
execution in the state since when the supreme court reestablished the
death penalty there are another men on death row in the state
the united states executed people in
football togolese team fired on in angola injuries report
paris jan afp
several togolese footballers in angola for the african nations cup were
injured some seriously when their team bus was fired on with machine guns
french infosport television reported friday
the sports channel said the bus was fired on as the team travelled through the
cabinda region bordering congo
two players have been injured one player thomas dossevi told infosport
which later reported that several players had been seriously hurt
contacted by afp organisers of the event said the team bus had simply burst
tyre after second enquiry organisers said they had no knowledge of the
incident
togo are scheduled to get their campaign underway against ghana on monday
however dossevi said the players had already expressed wish not to play the
tournament
we don feel much like playing the can cup our thoughts are with our friends
the injured said dossevi of french second division side nantes
dossevi named goalkeeper kodjovi obilale of french amateur side gsi pontivy and
defender serge akakpo of romanian outfit vaslui as among the injured
he added we had just crossed the border between congo and cabinda where togo
are to play their group matches we had filled in the border formalities and
were surrounded by police everything was fine then there was powerful burst
of gunfire
everyone dived under the seats and the police fired back
it felt like war had broken out it shocking when we got off the bus we were
asking ourselves what was up
egypt bans british mp galloway from entering country
cairo jan afp
egypt told british mp george galloway he was persona non grata on friday after
activists who joined him to send an aid convoy to gaza clashed with police
the left wing lawmaker flew home to london claiming he had been basically
forced onto plane in cairo although egyptian authorities denied they had
deported him
foreign ministry official told galloway before he left that he was no longer
welcome an afp reporter at cairo airport said
the foreign ministry later issued statement saying galloway would not be
allowed to return to egypt
the decision came two days after activists with the viva palestina convoy
clashed with police in the port town of el arish kilometres miles from
the gaza border
they had been protesting against an egyptian decision to send some of the
convoy trucks to gaza through israel
egypt allowed most of the convoy and galloway to enter gaza after the clashes
spokeswoman with the viva palestina convoy said galloway had returned to egypt
earlier on friday after hearing reports that seven members of the convoy had
been arrested
seven protesters were arrested during tuesday clashes but police swapped them
for four policemen held by the activists
prosecutor in el arish later issued warrants for the arrest of seven
activists including two britons and an american woman the others are two
turks malaysian and kuwaiti it was not immediately clear if it was the
same seven people
arriving back at london heathrow airport at lunchtime on friday galloway told
sky news television he and friend had been bundled into car and given
little choice but to get on plane out of egypt
twenty five police officers accepting no dissuasion drove us straight to the
airport basically forced us onto the plane and on the steps of the plane
representative of the foreign affairs ministry in egypt told me that was
declared persona non grata he said
viva palestina said galloway and companion were forced into van on the
egyptian side of the rafah border crossing before being taken to cairo airport
galloway was officially deported from cairo today friday when egyptian
plain clothes police officers bundled him onto london plane it said
security official said six police cars had waited for galloway at the border
crossing and escorted him to cairo security and airport officials denied he was
deported saying he left willingly
although it was not the first convoy led by galloway to deliver aid to gaza the
arrival of the convoy early this year came amid bitter dispute between egypt
and the organisers
the convoy was held up for days in the jordanian port town of aqaba after egypt
refused it entry through the southern sinai
the convoy was forced to travel to the syrian port of lattakia and take ferry
to el arish on egypt mediterranean coast
egypt accused galloway who once called for the overthrow of egyptian president
hosni mubarak at london rally of trying to embarrass the country which has
refused to permanently open its rafah border crossing with gaza
israel has closed its border with gaza to all but limited supplies since the
islamist hamas movement seized control there in
last march canada refused galloway entry saying that he supported hamas which
it blacklists as terrorist group like the european union and the united
states
corrected us wary of allowing bagram inmates to challenge detention
washington jan afp
us appeals court appeared reluctant thursday to grant detainees at the bagram
prison in afghanistan the same rights given in to prisoners in guantanamo
to be able to challenge their detention in us civilian courts
judges here were wary of extending three detainees such rights at the military
prison at the bagram air base north of kabul indicating such ruling could
lead to other prisoners held overseas by the united states to seek redress in
federal court
in april last year us district judge john bates recognized the right of bagram
detainees who were not afghan nationals and were not captured in afghanistan
to challenge their detention in the united states
he based the ruling on the landmark supreme court move in to allow such
rights to some prisoners held at the us naval base at guantanamo bay cuba
these detainees have been denied due process insisted attorney tina foster
on thursday
the three appeals court judges however expressed concern that an approval of
bates ruling would open the door to more than prisoners currently held at
bagram and serve as precedent for other people detained in us military bases
around the world
the bagram prison has served since as holding site for terror suspects
captured outside afghanistan and iraq
in september the united states granted bagram prisoners the nominal right to
challenge their detention but not in us courts
bates originally ruled that foreign prisoners held at bagram should also be
provided the right enshrined in the writ of habeas corpus
in responding however the administration has argued bates ruling reverses
long standing law imposes great practical problems conflicts with the
considered judgment of both political branches and risks opening the federal
courts to habeas claims brought by detainees held in other theaters of war
during future military actions
many of the detainees at bagram have languished for years
but unlike prisoners at guantanamo bay where some war on terror
detainees are still held the bagram inmates have had no access to lawyers no
right to hear the allegations against them and only rudimentary reviews of their
status as enemy combatants
football togolese team fired on in angola injuries report
paris jan afp
several togolese footballers in angola for the african nations cup were
injured some seriously when their team bus was fired on with machine guns
french infosport television reported friday
the television said the bus was fired on as the team travelled through the
cabinda region bordering congo
two players have been injured one player thomas dossevi told infosport
which later reported that several players had been seriously hurt
contacted by afp organisers of the event said the team bus had simply burst
tyre
togo are scheduled to get their campaign underway against ghana on monday
golf africa open second round leaders
east london south africa jan afp
leading scores after second round of africa open at par metre east
london golf club friday rsa unless noted
trevor fisher
patrick sjoland swe
thomas aiken keith horne
deane pappas bradford vaughan justin walters eng
klas eriksson swe
charl coetzee louis de jager pelle edberg swe james
kingston jarmo sandelin swe charl schwartzel richard
sterne jaco van zyl jbe kruger
sion bebb wal michiel bothma titch moore james
morrison eng julien quesne fra neil schietekat tjaart
van der walt
selected
darren clarke nir
phillip price wal
thomas bjorn den
nick dougherty eng
joakim haeggman swe
