champions league slots
villarreal are under bit more pressure because of their poor start
explained valencia midfielder david albelda they are improving but we have
point cushion however we need to win to get close to the two teams above us
barcelona and real madrid
football italian serie results
rome jan afp
italian serie resuts on saturday
cagliari larrivey jeda livorno
playing later
bari inter milan
sunday
ac milan siena atalanta lazio chievo juventus fiorentina bologna
napoli palermo parma udinese as roma genoa sampdoria catania
football spanish league results
madrid jan afp
spanish league results on saturday
osasuna juanfran pandiani espanyol
playing later
athletic bilbao real madrid gmt
barcelona sevilla gmt
sunday all gmt unless stated
malaga getafe racing santander valladolid almeria tenerife real
zaragoza xerez real mallorca deportivo la coruna atletico madrid
sporting gijon gmt valencia villarreal gmt
kuwait needs security not money from iraq fm
kuwait city jan afp
kuwait is not asking its former occupier iraq to repay the multi billion dollar
debt but only for assurances on security and good neighbourhood the kuwaiti
foreign minister has said
what we need from iraq is security and assurances we don want money which is
the last thing on our mind sheikh mohammad al sabah told al qabas newspaper in
an interview due to appear on sunday
let me be very clear we have not asked iraq to repay the debt said sheikh
mohammad according to an advance copy of the interview received by afp
he also urged iraq to help create the atmosphere conducive that could allow the
kuwaiti parliament to write off the debt
we want iraq to be good and safe neighbour said the kuwaiti minister who
complained that some iraqi mps still praise former leader saddam hussein for
invading the oil rich emirate
kuwait loaned iraq an estimated billion dollars during the iraq
iran war iran and baghdad new leaders have repeatedly asked the emirate to
forgive the loans
the emirate is also owed around billion dollars in war reparations by
baghdad but sheikh mohammad said compensation has its own international
mechanism
iraqi forces invaded and occupied kuwait in august before they were driven
out by us led international coalition seven months later
the issue is not financial there are deep concerns among large section of
kuwaitis about policies of the new iraq sheikh mohammad said
he said kuwait was concerned over lawlessness in southern iraq possible
sectarian conflict that could spillover to kuwait and al qaeda militants moving
into kuwait from iraq
football mozambique egypt teams
benguela angola jan afp
teams for africa cup of nations group match between mozambique and egypt
here on saturday
mozambique
joao rafael bila eugenio almiro lobo marthinho mucuana dario khan
edson sitoe simao elias pelembe samuel chapanga manuel bucuane fumo
coach mart nooij
egypt
essam el hadary mahmoud fata alla hany said wael gomaa ahmed
fathi shikabala sayed moawad hosni abdrabou ahmed hassan mohamed
zidan emad motaeb
coach hassan shehata
referee kokou djaoupe tog
afp
six powers meet in new york to mull new iran sanctions
new york jan afp
six major powers huddled behind closed doors saturday to mull response to
iran nuclear defiance with china represented by lower level diplomat in
signal of its reluctance to back tougher sanctions pushed by the west
the meeting working luncheon of the so called the five permanent
members of the un security council plus germany kicked off shortly after noon
gmt at the european union mission here
britain france germany the united states and russia were represented by
political directors of their respective foreign ministries while china sent
counselor from its mission to the un
diplomatic sources said the eu hosted meeting was preceded by two hour
gathering of the four western members of the group
we are aware that the chinese representation will be below the level of
political director state department spokesman philip crowley said thursday
it will be useful meeting to have regardless of the chinese representation
one diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity cautioned against expecting
any spectacular outcome
in brief comments to reporters on his way to the meeting sergei ryabkov
russian deputy foreign minister said it is bit early to speak on specifics
right now
asked whether moscow was prepared to back fresh sanctions against iran for
refusing to comply with un demands that it halt nuclear enrichment he replied
russia has always supported the dual track approach
we do have three un security council sanctions resolutions which moscow
supported that the good proof of it ryabkov added
the last diplomat to arrive was kang yong of china who made no comment to
reporters
robert cooper senior security adviser representing the european union was to
brief reporters at the end of the closed door meeting
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
diplomats said western members of the group were likely to present their russian
and chinese colleagues with range of new and tougher sanctions
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
measures said to be under consideration include tougher sanctions targeting
iran insurance financial and arms sectors diplomats said
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 snubbed its nose at three sets of un 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 cooper ryabkov and kang the meeting brings together geoffrey
adams of britain jacques audibert of france emily haber of germany and
williams burns of the united states
football benin made to pay the penalty by nigerians
benguela angola jan afp
nigeria defeated benin on saturday here at the ombaka stadium to get their
africa cup of nations campaign back on track after loss to egypt in their
opening group match
the super eagles netted the match winner after minutes from the penalty spot
through everton striker yakubu aiyegbeni after romuald boco handled goal bound
header by osaze odemwingie
the goal atoned for yakubu miss earlier in the first half when put through on
goal by kalu uche after minutes the big striker drilled his shot from inside
the box inches away from target with goalkeeper rachad chitou beaten
this was nigeria third win in as many nations cup clashes with their
neighbours and it moves the eagles to second place in the group with group
leaders egypt and mozambique to play later on saturday
it was tough match we did not expect anything less because there are no
longer small teams said nigeria coach shuaibu amodu after the match
we are the more experienced of the two teams and we needed this game more we
won and that has now built confidence in the team after we lost our first
match
benin skipper damien chrysostome said his team had been unfortunate
we were unlucky because we hit the bar twice we tried what we could but at
the end we lost that is the reality he said
nigeria kicked off this west african derby but the first half chance fell to
benin striker razak omotoyossi in the third minute inside the box with the
nigerian goal at his mercy but he hesitated to allow the eagles clear for
corner
otherwise it was rather cautious start by nigeria and benin after the first
minutes of play as there was hardly much to choose between the two teams
benin packed their defence and began to cling on to their lives as the game wore
on and nigeria launched wave after wave of attacks
however the eagles attacks were slow and predictable and so allowed their
opponents to clear their lines
stephane sessegnon brought the crowd at the ombaka stadium to its feet in the
th minute when he let fly from about metres but the crossbar came to the
rescue of nigerian goalkeeper vincent enyeama
four minutes after the break nigeria would have doubled their lead through
bolton defender danny shittu but his shot from free kick was somehow scrambled
to safety by chitou
and at the other end of the pitch it was battle of attrition between
omotoyossi and nigeria skipper joseph yobo
omotoyossi would win this when an injured yobo was forced to limp out of the
game in the nd minute after clash with the combative fc metz striker
sessegnon scuffed his shot in the rd minute and moments later nouhoum kobena
saw his shot from yards come off the nigerian crossbar as benin mounted their
own pressure for an equaliser
in the nd minute nigeria were denied second goal through substitute obinna
nsofor after chitou saved off the feet of the malaga striker after he was put
through on goal by the dashing obasi
both teams then created chances but they could not put the ball in the back of
the net before angolan referee martins de carvalho blew the final whistle
vatican paper hails pope jewish christian conciliatory role
rome jan afp
few catholics have done as much as pope benedict xvi to bring jews and
christians together the vatican newspaper said saturday ahead of his visit to
synagogue and after he moved controversial world war ii era pope pius xii
closer to sainthood
few catholics in the th century have done as much as joseph ratzinger as
theologist bishop head of the organ that protects catholic doctrine and now as
pope to bring jews and christians closer together the director of the
osservatore romano giovanni maria vian wrote in the paper
in the article published ahead of the pope visit to rome main synagogue on
sunday vian hailed pope benedict steps forward since the vatican ii
declaration absolved jews of blame for jesus death
during the synagogue visit the pope will pay homage to the victims of the
terrible persecution in the rome ghetto as he has already done unequivocally
several times in particular at auschwitz and in israel vian wrote
the pope last month sparked anger among jewish groups by bestowing the title
venerable on the wartime pope necessary step towards beatification and
eventual sainthood after which the vatican said the honour concerned pius xii
piety and not his historical role
britain kept waiting for first female bishop
london jan afp
woman priest failed to be elected as britain first female bishop on saturday
as the scottish episcopal church opted for man instead
the reverend canon alison peden who is married with three children was on
shortlist of three for the role of bishop of glasgow and galloway
however the very reverend gregor duncan was chosen instead
women have been allowed to become bishops in the scottish episcopal church since
but peden was the first to be shortlisted
elsewhere in the anglican communion in britain the church of england is
debating whether to permit women bishops the church in wales voted against it
in april
the church of ireland allows the ordination of female bishops but no women have
been appointed
rallying sainz marches to dakar triumph
buenos aires jan afp
carlos sainz added the dakar title to his two world rally championships on
saturday thwarting volkswagen teammate nasser al attiyah desperate late bid
to snatch victory
the year old spaniard world rally champion in and had led the
dakar since the fifth stage and clinched two stages on the nd running of the
gruelling event
he finished min sec ahead of al attiyah with whom he angrily clashed on
friday penultimate stage when he accused the qatari of unsporting behaviour
when he passed kicking up blinding south american dust storm in the process
al attiyah had the meagre consolation of taking the race th and final stage
km special from santa rosa to the argentine capital
it very important day for me won in europe in spain and today in the
dakar am really happy and relieved said sainz
we drove very fast but we were clever too it was tough and daily fight
against my teammate knew it would be like that
today could not afford any mistakes straight ahead crossing straight
ahead crossing we had to master everything and control our emotions
fellow volkswagen driver mark miller of the us ended the two week race which
crossed both argentina and chile min sec behind sainz to claim third place
it was volkswagen third win in the event following triumphs in and
france stephane peterhansel three time champion and six time winner in the
motorcycle section was fourth in his bmw hr min sec behind sainz while
bmw teammate guerlain chicherit was fifth
al attiyah had started the day min sec behind sainz but the gap always
looked insurmountable
second place is good result for me never got this high in the standings
said the year old qatari
really went for it but we knew the stage would be long straight line
al attiyah insisted there were no hard feelings between and sainz who the
qatari idolised when he was starting out in the sport despite their angry
fallout on friday
congratulations to carlos sainz what matters is that volkswagen won am
happy for carlos he did his job tried to do mine next year win but
now go shake hands with carlos he part of the team
france cyril despres won his third dakar motorcycling title while portuguese
rider ruben faria claimed the final stage honours
despres who will turn on january finished over five minutes behind his
ktm team mate
norwegian pal ullevalseter finished second overall over an hour behind despres
after finishing second on his ktm in the stage min sec behind faria
chilean francisco chaleco lopez riding an aprilia was third overall less than
five minutes behind the runner up
all victories are nice but this one is particularly beautiful said despres
it is victory for hard work of expertise and of an incredible team of
course there is lot of emotion we have had three tough years three years of
injuries training hard times
despres was also the champion in and when the race was still staged in
africa
football angola in high spirits but doubts over flavio persist
luanda jan afp
angola approach monday decisive group clash with algeria in high spirits yet
with persistent question mark hanging over the participation of star striker
flavio
the africa cup of nations hosts held training session in high humidity at
luanda inter stadium on saturday with flavio spending the first minutes
performing light exercises apart from the rest of the squad
the scorer of goals in the opening draw with mali and the defeat of
malawi would be major loss to coach manuel jose who refused to be drawn on
whether his forward would make monday line up
will answer that question tomorrow sunday the portuguese manager told
afp
the training run out was held with six strategically placed security guards high
up in the stands waiting to stamp out any crowd trouble presumably from the
row upon row of empty seats as there was not fan in sight
the smattering of media were escorted out of the stadium when the serious
business began as jose mapped out his plans to topple algeria and ensure
qualification for the quarter finals
angola are sitting pretty for the last eight the malawi win pushing them to the
top of group on four points with malawi and algeria on three and mali on one
point
mali and malawi face off at the same time on monday in cabinda with any of the
quartet still in with chance of progressing
after the session angola captain kali assessed the task that lay ahead for him
and his teammates
it very difficult match decisive for both teams
we know the algerian players they re good but the most important factor about
them is they are good as collective unit
asked about the state of fitness of flavio who had to come off in the second
half against malawi gilberto who also failed to last the minutes on
thursday and another fitness concern zuela kali responded of course we ve
got injuries but there is still another hours to go
players can recuperate but if one can make it we have the men to replace
him
al ahly midfielder dede who missed the second game with thigh problem has
already been ruled out
kali said morale in the hosts camp was high but added we re at home and the
biggest responsibility is to our supporters
he paid tribute to jose noted disciplinarian who is something of national
hero in egypt after enjoying fine run of success with al ahly
discipline is the foundation of any team and the boss we call him mister
as he doesn like us to call him anything else is good on that
he also man who has winning mentality and that rubs off on us the
players we have lot of respect for him
algeria as is their inclination here in angola held second successive behind
closed doors training session across the city at scoqueirus stadium as coach
rabah saadane continues his policy of trying to concentrate the minds of his
world cup qualifiers on getting through to the knockout stages
list of major bodies pledging aid to haiti
paris jan afp
here is list of organisations which have pledged or are raising emergency
relief funds for haiti as of saturday
un seeks million dollars from donors
organization of american states has collected million dollars
international monetary fund targets million dollars in aid
major us businesses pool at least million dollars in cash and in kind aid
according to the us chamber of commerce on friday
red cross raises funding appeal ten fold to million swiss francs
million dollars million euros
google gives one million dollars and internet resources
the us national basketball association donates one million dollars
briton breaks world treadmill record
london jan afp
former british army soldier on saturday stormed into the record books by
breaking the world treadmill record after seven gruelling days on the run
mike buss from swindon outside london clocked up miles
kilometres breaking the previous record of miles kilometres in his
week long attempt
the former army physical training instructor had been running up to three
marathons day on treadmill in swindon brunel shopping centre sleeping two
hours per day
he is raising money for charity which helps injured british service personnel
was always looking at hitting the mark so to go miles further is
brilliant he said
ve lost two toenails my legs are aching and the arches of my feet are
painful after hitting the treadmill for more than hours day but feel
good
going home to have bath then have beef stew for dinner and chill out
he said
football africa cup of nations nigeria benin
benguela angola jan afp
full result of africa cup of nations group match at ombaka stadium here on
saturday
nigeria yakubu pen benin
teams
nigeria
vincent enyeama elderson echiejile yusuf mohammed joseph yobo capt apam
onyekachi danny shittu john obi mikel dickson etuhu kalu uche sani
kaita osaze odemwingie yakubu aiyegbeni obinna nsofor chinedu obasi
coach shuaibu amodu
benin
rachad chitou yoann djidonou khaled adenon djiman koukou damien
chrysostome capt boco romuald seidath tchomogo emmanuel imorou felicien
singbo muri ogounbiyi stephane sessegnon razak omotoyossi nouhoum
kobena arnaud seka
coach michel dussuyer fra
referee martins de carvalho ang
yellow cards sessegnon boco echiejile omotoyossi
rugby union european cup results
paris jan afp
european cup results on saturday
pool
treviso ita munster irl
pool
gloucester eng biarritz fra
pool
leicester eng viadana ita
clermont auvergne fra ospreys wal
pool
stade francais fra bath eng
pool
cardiff blues wal sale eng
playing later
pool
leinster irl brive fra
played friday
pool
glasgow sco newport gwent dragons wal
pool
ulster irl edinburgh sco
playing sunday
pool
northampton eng perpignan fra
pool
toulouse fra harlequins eng
pool
scarlets wal london irish eng
football africa cup of nations group standings
benguela angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings after early match on saturday played
won drawn lost goals for against points
egypt
nigeria
mozambique
benin
fixtures
benguela unless noted times gmt
jan
egypt mozambique
jan
benin egypt
at lubango
mozambique nigeria
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football leverkusen fight back to regain first place
berlin jan afp
bayer leverkusen had to come from behind to beat mid table mainz on saturday
and reclaim the bundesliga top spot after bayern munich had temporarily taken
charge
bayern win over hoffenheim on friday night had given them one point
advantage but leverkusen regained top spot and hit back from conceding an early
goal after mainz defender tim hoogland put his side into an early lead
coach jupp heynckes said his side earned the win after waking up from their
earlier setback
we made life very hard for ourselves in the early stages admitted heynckes
we were not really awake and we needed to be woken up and the goal did just
that the team reacted very well and the middle of the first half was our best
passage of play
we had many chances to score but after they pulled it back to we stepped
things up again that is an asset of our game
leverkusen began the fightback when czech defender michal kadlec netted their
first after minutes before swiss international midfielder tranquillo barnetta
scored second just four minutes later to make it
rising star toni kroos then volleyed home the third from directly in front of
goal on minutes before mainz pulled back consolation goal through defender
niko bungert on minutes
but swiss striker eren derdiyok made sure leverkusen go back to the top with
their fourth goal on minutes
the result leaves leverkusen two points clear at the top of the table but
schalke have the chance to claim second from bayern if they can beat second
from bottom nuremberg on sunday
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
greek striker theofanis gekas then slotted home third with minutes
remaining and it could so easily have been but berlin ramos had his late
penalty saved
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 third 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
on friday germany striker miroslav klose came off the bench to help bayern beat
hoffenheim after argentina centre back martin demichelis had opened the
scoring for munich in the first half
rugbyu clermont cardiff keep knockout hopes alive
paris jan afp
french side clermont and last season semi finalists cardiff stayed in the hunt
for places in the last eight of the european cup on saturday with deserved
victories
clermont outclassed previous pool three leaders ospreys in france to put
them second behind new leaders leicester who trounced italian side viadana
clermont need to beat viadana next weekend with an offensive bonus point to give
them chance of topping the table
cardiff humbled english side sale with two quickfire tries early in the
second half from richie rees and bradley davies settling the outcome
however despite giving cardiff chance of progressing the result most
benefited pool five leaders toulouse who can qualify if they beat harlequins in
toulouse on sunday and claim bonus point
their french top rivals biarritz did qualify on saturday as pool two winners
despite losing to gloucester
clermont went behind early on shortly after having try disallowed as irish
grand slam winning winger tommy bowe finished off delightful backline move for
his sixth try of the campaign keeping him top of the tryscorers list
however from then on it was all clermont and but for the nornally reliable
australian fly half brock james missing several kicks at goal no less than
three hit the posts they would have been out of sight by the time wales prop
adam jones was yellow carded with minutes remaining
the french side had scored try prior to that as aurelien rougerie collected
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
stade francais beat english side bath to remain top of pool four and move
to within point of place in the last eight
stade who have had disappointing season domestically 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 ulster
having won the first meeting with stade victorious in the second
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
