at the last moment they told us no we cannot sign this agreement which
would have settled all the outstanding questions canceled all outstanding
legal actions over the cup and postponed the competition by one month until
march
alinghi on sunday said oracle representatives clearly bear the substantial
responsibility of the negotiations failure
bertarelli said on friday that the sails were made in villeneuve switzerland
should the american justice system outlaw their use it would be like asking
roger federer to defend his title without using his tennis racket oracle would
win the america cup in court as without our sails we cannot race he said
coutts responded sunday by saying federer does not go to wimbledon with illegal
racquets
oracle giant trimaran which has metre fixed wing sail is to begin
training on tuesday off valencia where alinghi catamaran took the water this
weekend
urgent polls close in tight chilean presidential election
santiago jan afp
polls closed sunday in close fought presidential election in chile that pit
billionaire conservative sebastian pinera against former president eduardo
frei
alert
voting ends in tight chilean presidential election
ukraine vote heads for tense run off exit polls
kiev jan afp
ukraine braced for nail biting run off between two old rivals in presidential
elections after sunday first round vote eliminated discredited orange
revolution hero president viktor yushchenko
exit polls forecast the election was led by pro russia politician viktor
yanukovich the man accused of rigging the elections which sparked the
orange revolution when peaceful uprising swept the old order from power
second place was set to go to prime minister yulia tymoshenko former orange
revolution comrade of yushchenko who subsequently fell out with the president
and adopted more pragmatic tone on relations with russia
but with yanukovich failing to win majority the election would have go to
second round on february with all to play for between two old rivals who have
savaged each other reputation in the campaign
yanukovich is set to obtain percent of the vote and tymoshenko percent
according to the initial results of an exit poll of sunday ballot organised by
the foundation for democratic initiatives
another poll by the gfk ukraine organisation showed yanukovich ahead on
percent and tymoshenko on percent official results are due on monday
morning
the polls showed yushchenko taking miserable six percent of the vote
reflection of ukranian frustration that the orange revolution failed to realise
the desire for reform and an end to corruption
both polls also showed strong performance from businessman sergiy tigipko who
made late campaign surge and could prove the kingmaker in instructing his
electorate how to vote in the second round
although she is behind the polls represent good news for tymoshenko as if
confirmed they would mean she has narrowed the gap on her main opponent
compared with the last opinion polls before the new year
andrew wilson ukraine expert at the european council on foreign relations said
the first round gap between yanukovich and tymoshenko would be crucial as she
would be hard pressed to make up difference of more than percent
the orange revolution raised hopes of new era free of kremlin influence
for the country of million that would set precedent for other former soviet
states
tymoshenko famed for her peasant style blonde hair braid is seen as more in
favour of eu integration than yanukovich but has also played up her close ties
to russian strongman prime minister vladimir putin
the bitter campaign saw the shady pasts of the candidates once again dredged up
yanukovich was jailed twice in the soviet era for theft and assault though the
convictions were erased in the late tymoshenko herself was briefly
detained in on smuggling charges that were later quashed
the level of cynicism in ukraine is such that one local politician is even
standing under the name of protivsikh against everyone while website
appeared last week offering voters the chance to auction off their votes
yushchenko and tymoshenko were comrades in arms in the orange revolution but
later became sworn enemies their relationship poisoned by perennial power
struggle and mutual accusations of criminal wrongdoing
since yanukovich has sought to reinvent himself with the help of western
pr strategists and to show he is not servant of the kremlin but defender of
ukrainian interests
he has also sought more support in the country ukrainian speaking west
traditionally the heartland of tymoshenko and yushchenko supporters while
holding on to his powerbase in the russian speaking east
this time allegations of vote rigging have not shadowed the vote although
scandal has erupted over the presence of hundreds of georgians in the eastern
city of donetsk whom officials allege were sent to disrupt the poll
athletics ethiopians sweep houston marathon titles
houston texas jan afp
ethiopia teshome gelena set course record in winning the houston marathon
men title on sunday while compatriot teybe erkesso defended her title in the
race by breaking her own course mark
gelena won in two hours seven minutes and seconds while erkesso took her
crown in nearly seconds under her old mark
american shalane flanagan the metres olympic bronze medalist at the
games won the houston women half marathon crown in her first race beyond
in
flanagan time was seconds under south african born us runner colleen de
reuck former course record from flanagan used the event to judge how her
training for the london olympic marathon is progressing
football ghana blow as essien injures knee at training
luanda jan afp
ghana star michael essien injured his right knee training on sunday and could
miss key africa cup of nations clash against burkina faso here
team spokesman said the chelsea midfielder was taken to hospital for scan
and later rejoined his black stars team mates as they prepare for must win
group fixture on tuesday
ghana media officer randy abbey told afp michael suffered right knee
injury after collision with couple of teammates in the training session this
morning
he was taken to local hospital for scan and we ll get the results back
tomorrow and then have clearer idea of whether he can play
essien absence would be huge blow to ghana who face burkina faso at the
seat november stadium in the angolan capital
ghana are one point behind burkina faso and the four time champions need win
to avoid being eliminated after the first round of the biennial african football
showpiece
essien arrived in angola late for the tournament because snow delayed his flight
from london and has been struggling to recover from hamstring injury sustained
playing for chelsea in the champions league last month
he was kept on the bench until half time against ivory coast last friday in
cabinda by serb coach milovan rajevac to avoid aggravating the injury and his
second half presence on the pitch could not prevent loss
football fab effort inspires arsenal
bolton england jan afp
arsenal captain cesc faberegas scored his th goal of the season as the gunners
beat bolton wanderers here on sunday and then said his tally owed as much to
luck as anything else
but there was nothing fortuitous about the way in which the spain midfielder
returning from three games out with hamstring problem opened the scoring in
the th minute with quick footed finish
fabregas then set up compatriot fran merida for the gunners second minutes
from time here at the reebok stadium as owen coyle first match as bolton
manager ended in defeat
victory saw arsenal close to within three points of premier league leaders
chelsea and they will go top of the table on goal difference if they beat
bolton at the emirates stadium on wednesday
maybe scoring more goals is just luck because when was younger had so many
opportunities and they weren going in fabregas who is still only year
old told sky sports
but this year they are and it important that they keep coming have been
training for few years in front of goal and feel stronger and that helps in
the last yards
it is always difficult to come to bolton and we are proud to win
they are difficult team to play against and we respect every team it is
important to win again on wednesday for the title race
arsenal manager arsene wenger was full of praise for fabregas
when speak about players with more personality on the pitch have to talk
about him he has an authority he scored again and was very influential
wenger said
arsenal after taking the lead had to survive spell of concerted bolton but
as might have happened in previous seasons they did not buckle
we have matured some players have much more personality on the pitch and that
helps us get results wenger said
looking to next week match re arranged after being postponed because of the
recent cold weather that hit britain the frenchman added it is unusual to
play the same side twice in three days and they put lot of effort in today and
we will face the same problems on wednesday
coyle who controversially quit lancashire top flight rivals burnley to manage
wanderers joined wenger in saluting fabregas display
cesc could play for anybody in world football he is an outstanding player
said the former bolton and republic of ireland striker
defeat left bolton in the relegation zone but coyle insisted his side had been
unfortunate not to come out of the match with at least point
that was very harsh on us with what we offered to the game on another day we
could have had positive result we had numerous chances and the ball didn
break for us on occasions he said
if we play at that level we will pick up points in this league and we can make
game of it on wednesday the scotland born manager insisted
obama admits to doubt pain beneath calm exterior
washington jan afp
nearly year into his presidency barack obama acknowledged sunday that he at
times is wracked by doubt and disappointment when his key agenda items are
slowed by multiple hurdles
you know folks ask me sometimes why look so calm obama told several
hundred worshippers from the pulpit of washington vermont avenue baptist
church where slain civil rights leader martin luther king jr once delivered
sermon
the us leader is famous of his aura of unflappability in the face of crisis but
he acknowledged that there are sometimes roiling emotions beneath the surface
have confession to make there are times when not so calm my wife
knows there are times when progress seems too slow there are times when the
words that are spoken about me hurt there are times when the barbs sting there
are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught he added
change is so painfully slow in coming and have to confront my own doubts
but the president said it was his faith that gave him inner calm and peace and
urged congregants at the church to find solace in theirs
so let us hold fast to that faith obama urged the congregation
together we shall overcome the challenges of the new age together we shall
seize the promise of this moment together we shall make way through the
winter and we re going to welcome the spring
obama the nation first african american president spoke on the eve of the
martin luther king jr holiday during the service where his two daughters and
his wife joined him he nodded his head and tapped his feet as the choir sang
reverend cornelius wheeler said the church had already sent dollars in aid
to quake devastated haiti
the massive hope and goodwill that greeted obama historic inauguration have
partly evaporated with the change he promised neither as fast nor as sweeping
as had been expected in the face of challenging times
despite some successes obama now confronts thicket of domestic and foreign
challenges among them ballooning deficit percent unemployment approval
ratings tipping below percent revived fears of al qaeda airborne terror and
an emboldened insurgency in afghanistan
chinese kidnapped as karzai mulls taliban strategy
kabul jan afp
the taliban said sunday they had kidnapped two chinese engineers in afghanistan
as president hamid karzai office said he was set to announce new plan for
forging peace with the islamist insurgents
the kidnapping the latest in series by the militia or criminals came as the
nato military force announced that us soldier had died in eastern afghanistan
after being wounded while fighting taliban led insurgents
the engineers who had been helping to build road were seized on saturday in
the northern province of faryab with four afghans said local government
spokesman who could not identify the kidnappers
unknown people kidnapped yesterday two chinese engineers along with their two
local drivers and two guards in qaysar district said jawaed bidar
the abduction was claimed by the taliban
our mujahedeen have taken two chinese engineers their two drivers and their
two guards spokesman yusuf ahmadi said taliban islamic court would decide
on their fate he said
several dozen foreigners including engineers and journalists have been
kidnapped in afghanistan since us led operation that toppled the taliban
government
some kidnappings are claimed by the insurgents and some by criminal gangs the
taliban have denied holding two french journalists snatched with three afghan
assistants on december
with the taliban led insurgency gaining pace since karzai office said
sunday the president was due to announce new plan to make peace with
insurgents including by offering them economic incentives to stop fighting
karzai intended to announce the plan before key conference with afghanistan
international backers in london on january his spokesman waheed omar told
reporters
it would include economic incentives as many men carrying guns for the taliban
did so for cash rather than to support their hardline religious ideology omar
said
we have done some things in the past but we have not done enough omar said
we have not been able to provide proper security for those who join the
government we may have not been very good at providing them with economic
opportunities jobs and anything else anybody would want after reintegration
karzai has long called for peace talks with the taliban even offering
government posts to its leaders but the militia has refused dialogue until
the withdrawal of international troops on which kabul relies for security
karzai discussed the reintegration of taliban fighters with washington special
representative to afghanistan and pakistan richard holbrooke in kabul on
saturday
holbrooke told reporters afterwards that any new plan couldn be worse than
past efforts
there is good plan they have learnt from experience he said
the united states and nato have troops in afghanistan fighting the
taliban led insurgency with another being deployed this year
nato international security assistance force isaf announced sunday the
latest death of foreign soldier in the long running conflict which is also
exacting an increasing toll on civilians
an isaf service member from the united states died of wounds yesterday as
result of an engagement with insurgents in eastern afghanistan it said
it gave no other details
according to an afp tally based on one kept by the independent website
icasualties org foreign soldiers have died in afghanistan so far in
afghanistan defence ministry said bomb killed two afghan soldiers in the
southern province of helmand on saturday
and in herat province on the western border with iran district governor was
killed in taliban ambush sunday along with five other people police said
nfl bears defensive end adams dead at age
chicago jan afp
gaines adams year old defensive end for the national football league
chicago bears died on sunday morning in south carolina hospital reportedly
from cardiac arrest caused by an enlarged heart
adams was selected fourth overall in the nfl draft by the tampa bay
buccaneers who traded him to the bears last october
the former college star at clemson was pronounced dead at self regional hospital
in greenwood south carolina
espn reported greenwood county coroner james coursey as saying preliminary
autopsy indicated adams died from heart attack due to an enlarged heart
coursey also told television station wyff that adams appeared to be in good
health before his death
remember him at the draft as fine young man nfl commissioner roger
goodell said in statement our condolences to gaines family his teammates
on the bears and buccaneers and their organizations on their loss
adams made tackles including sacks in nfl games he had one sack in
games with the bucs and bears in the just completed nfl season
football german league table
berlin jan afp
german league table after sunday evening match played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
bayer leverkusen
schalke
bayern munich
hamburg
borussia dortmund
werder bremen
eintracht frankfurt
hoffenheim
wolfsburg
mainz
borussia gladbach
vfb stuttgart
vfl bochum
cologne
freiburg
hanover
nuremberg
hertha berlin
football kuranyi proves his worth to fire schalke second
berlin jan afp
ex germany striker kevin kuranyi proved his worth by sealing schalke
win over nuremberg on sunday to put the royal blues second in the bundesliga
despite nearly being sold over the winter break
the year old who notoriously walked out on the germany team in october
struck in the th minute with his ninth league goal of the season to put
schalke second point behind leaders leverkusen
before the game schalke coach felix magath admitted he had wanted to sell the
striker to english side sunderland earlier this month for reported four
million euros to ease the club debts but the player had scuppered the deal
we reached an agreement with club but kevin decided he wanted to stay and
achieve something with schalke this season said magath
last december kuranyi became one of select few players to have scored
goals in the bundesliga and is out of contract in june
there was drama at cologne when dortmund grabbed goal deep in extra time to
seal win after the hosts had fought back from down in the last ten
minutes before striker kevin grosskreutz scored the winner in the st minute
dortmund coach jurgen klopp charged along the lower tier of the stand in delight
at the final whistle and the result leaves his side fifth in the table while
cologne are th
on saturday vfb stuttgart kept their unbeaten record under coach christian
gross with victory over champions vfl wolfsburg to seal their first
bundesliga win since september
former tottenham boss gross took over after markus babbel was sacked last
december and having put his side in the champions league last gross
recorded his first bundesliga win and it came against the defending champions
this was stuttgart first win in games with goals by robert hilbert pavel
pogrebnyak and timo gebhart with consolation from edin dzeko
the win leaves stuttgart th in the league while wolfsburg are now ninth and
will buoy gross side with stuttgart set to face defending european champions
barcelona in the last of the champions league next month
earlier bayer leverkusen came from behind to beat mid table mainz and
reclaim top spot after bayern munich had temporarily taken charge
bayern win over hoffenheim on friday night had briefly given them one
point advantage but leverkusen regained pole position
bottom side hertha berlin got their off to great start as they enjoyed
win at hanover in what was only their second win since the opening day of
the season
polish midfielder lukasz piszczek netted in the th minute to get the capital
club on the way before brazil raffael made it after minutes and greek
striker theofanis gekas hit the third with minutes remaining
berlin are still three points from nearest rivals nuremberg and eight points
from escaping the bottom three but the win will have boosted their confidence
hamburg are now fourth after their win at home to freiburg as germany
midfielder marcell jansen and croatia striker mladen petric scored either side
of half time
werder bremen are sixth after their defeat at eintracht frankfurt their
fourth straight league defeat
eta stresses political fight but does not renounce violence
madrid jan afp
statement from the basque armed separatist movement eta on sunday stressed the
importance of political struggle without explicitly renouncing violence as
demanded by the spanish government
eta which last carried out an attack in july said it supported the position
stated last year by members of its banned political wing batasuna on launching
new democratic process after first such move failed in
while considering that one must respond to repression our strength lies in the
political struggle eta said in basque language statement translated by the
gara newspaper
referring to november proposal by batasuna members to launch new peace
process eta wrote that the freedom fighting left batasuna which drives this
people struggle has spoken and eta makes those words its own
eta is blamed for over deaths in year campaign for independence in the
basque region of northern spain and southwestern france
the statement published on sunday said that state violence towards eta must
end in order for democratic process to develop
since it officially called off month old ceasefire in june due to
deadlock in tentative peace talks with the spanish government it has killed
nine people and carried out about attacks
eta figures on several terrorist blacklists including those of the european
union and the united states
football cameroon zambia teams
lubango angola jan afp
teams for africa cup of nations group match between cameroon and zambia at
tundavala stadium on sunday
cameroon
idriss kameni geremi njitap nicolas koulou rigobert song henri bedimo
stephane mbia alexandre song jean makoun achille emana samuel eto capt
tchoyi somen
coach paul le guen fra
zambia
kennedy mweene chintu kampamba joseph musonda emmanuel mbola thomas
nyirenda rainford kalaba felix katongo stoppila sunzu james chamanga
christopher katongo capt jacob mulenga
coach herve renard fra
referee khalil al ghamdi ksa
football fabregas enjoys happy return at bolton
bolton england jan afp
cesc fabregas marked his return to the arsenal side in style by scoring in
win away to bolton wanderers that moved the gunners to within three points of
premier league leaders chelsea
fabregas opened the scoring with goal typical of arsenal at their attacking
best in the th minute before fellow spaniard fran merida sealed win
minutes from time that ensured owen coyle first match as bolton manager ended
in defeat
the former burnley manager was unveiled as gary megson successor last week and
was presented to the crowd before the game but the limelight was stolen by
gunners captain fabregas who opened the scoring and set up the second goal
fabregas had missed arsenal three previous matches with hamstring problem
but the break did not appear to have done him any harm as he ran the show for
the visitors
coyle almost enjoyed dream start after just seconds as intelligent play
down the right wing from lee chung yong enabled kevin davies to dribble into the
box but he could not control the ball and the chance went begging
the match ebbed and flowed with neither side making progress until fabregas went
down heavily in the box courtesy of challenge from jussi jaaskelainen but
referee phil dowd ruled out arsenal penalty appeals
bolton who won have long to wait for chance of revenge when they face
arsenal at the emirates on wednesday had clearly been bolstered by the arrival
of their new manager and had several good chances but they came to nothing
tamir cohen shot wastefully over the bar when well placed in front of goal after
minutes and an ivan klasnic effort soon after also did little to worry
arsenal goalkeeper manuel almunia
bolton matched arsenal in terms of possession and attacking intent but lacked
the refinement required to make the most of their opportunities and arsenal made
them pay for that shortly before the half hour mark
abou diaby was tackled by gretar steinsson on the edge of the box but the
icelandic defender tripped and gifted the ball to fabregas who after collecting
wonderful return pass from eduardo calmly slotted into the bottom left
corner
fabregas was at the heart of everything for arsenal and had further decent
penalty appeal turned down when zat knight clipped him
but bolton players thought he dived and wrought their own justice two minutes
later when goalkeeper paul robinson was booked for clattering challenge on the
spain midfielder
it was all getting very heated and moments after robinson yellow card
arsenal tomas rosicky was booked for lashing out at ivan klasnic
bolton looked much brighter after the re start as south korea lee consistently
caused trouble down the right wing
matt taylor also played in more advanced role but he missed glorious chance
in the th minute as he blasted over when totally unmarked
taylor then wasted another fine opportunity to get the home side back on level
terms when with minutes to go he opted to shoot from distance rather than
run on goal even though he was completely unmarked
bolton were made to pay when substitute merida made the most of some indifferent
defending to double arsenal advantage
fabregas was again the instigator as he charged forward and found eduardo and
although his cross was headed away by knight it fell straight to the feet of
merida whose finish was unerring
football german league results
berlin jan afp
german league results on sunday
schalke kuranyi nuremberg
cologne mckenna mohamad borussia dortmund hummels
grosskreutz
saturday
hanover hertha berlin piszczek raffael gekas
eintracht frankfurt russ werder bremen
borussia gladbach baecker vfl bochum sestak dedic
hamburg jansen petric freiburg
bayer leverkusen kadlec barnetta kroos derdiyok mainz
hoogland bungert
vfb stuttgart hilbert pogrebnjak gebhart vfl wolfsburg dzeko
friday
bayern munich demichelis klose hoffenheim
ban says haiti worst disaster in decades
port au prince jan afp
un secretary general ban ki moon said sunday that haiti was the worst
humanitarian crisis in decades as he surveyed the devastated quake hit capital
for himself
after an emotional reunion in port au prince with michele montas haitian who
until late last year was his spokeswoman ban was to meet president rene preval
and receive helicopter tour of the disaster zone
am going to haiti with very heavy heart to express solidarity and full
support of the un to the people of haiti ban told journalists accompanying him
on the day long trip
tuesday magnitude quake has killed tens of thousands of haitians and was
also the worst ever disaster to befall the un with staffers confirmed dead
and nearly others still unaccounted for
we have to prepare for the worst ban said as he flew out of newark referring
to un employees still missing after the disaster that flattened much of port au
prince and nearby towns in western haiti
ban said the three top priorities were to save as many people as possible to
bring emergency humanitarian aid in the form of water food and medication and
to coordinate the massive aid effort
the un has noted that at least local government structures remained after the
tsunami hit indonesia aceh province but in the haiti town of leogane
for example all public services were lost in the earthquake
between and people are thought to have died in that town alone an
indication of the horrific scale of the catastrophe beyond port au prince
ban will assess the caribbean nation needs and attempt to boost the shattered
morale of the brazilian led united nations stabilization mission in haiti
minustah
on the eve of his departure ban grimly confirmed that minustah civilian chief
hedi annabi his brazilian deputy luiz carlos da costa and acting police
commissioner doug coates of the royal canadian mounted police were the latest
confirmed fatalities
the united nations was his life and he ranked amongst its most dedicated and
committed sons the un boss said of annabi veteran tunisian un
troubleshooter
annabi was meeting with visiting chinese police delegation when the quake
flattened minustah main headquarters building in port au prince christopher
hotel building
ban has sent edmond mulet top un peacekeeping official and annabi
predecessor to port au prince to take charge of minustah in an interim
capacity
accompanying ban in haiti were un development program head helen clark top un
peacekeeper alain leroy un humanitarian chief john holmes and susana malcorra
who is in charge of the world body field support operations
holmes on friday appealed for million dollars from the world community to
help three million quake victims in the western hemisphere poorest country for
period of six months
the money is to be used for urgently needed food water and sanitation medical
supplies tents and blankets logistics and education
ban last toured haiti with former us president bill clinton in march to
