mexican striker guillermo franco while he is unlikely to risk scott parker if
the midfielder is still struggling with the hamstring problem that forced him
off against tottenham
afp sports schedule for saturday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for saturday january
football
fa cup third round in england action in the scottish premier league as well as
the spanish first division where leaders barcelona take on villarreal
slugs fbl eng facup fbl sco pr fbl esp
tennis
build up to the australian open with hopman cup underway in perth while rafael
nadal tackles robin soderling in the final of the uae exhibition tournament
slugs tennis hopman aus tennis uae
rallying
day two of the dakar rally is km special from colon to cordoba
slug auto moto rally dakar
nordic skiing
first stage of the tour de ski at oberhof in germany
slug ski nordic
nordic combined
world cup round at oberhof in germany
slug ski nordic combined
afp sports schedule for saturday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for saturday january
football
fa cup third round in england action in the scottish premier league as well as
the spanish first division where leaders barcelona take on villarreal
slugs fbl eng facup fbl sco pr fbl esp
tennis
build up to the australian open with hopman cup underway in perth while rafael
nadal tackles robin soderling in the final of the uae exhibition tournament
slugs tennis hopman aus tennis uae
rallying
day two of the dakar rally is km special from colon to cordoba
slug auto moto rally dakar
noric skiing
first stage of the tour de ski at oberhof in germany
slug ski nordic
nordic combined
world cup round at oberhof in germany
slug ski nordic combined
football united stress leeds is top priority
manchester england jan afp
manchester united midfielder darren fletcher insists that sunday fa cup duel
with historic rivals leeds is his immediate concern rather than premier
league champions league double
leeds former english champions but currently playing in the third tier of
domestic football after spectacular fall from grace will be the first in
series of key games for united
after sunday comes meeting with manchester city in the league cup semi finals
before premier league battle resumes again at birmingham on january
ac milan are then on the agenda in the champions league in february
everyone looks ahead and speaks about the christmas period but the matches we
are into now straight afterwards are just as important said fletcher
just take each game as it comes and think all the other players do the same
thing
you can look too far ahead of yourself and start thinking about what is to come
whether you have an easy run of games
but it never works out like that we have the fa cup the league cup semi final
and then more important league games the best thing to do is try to win them
all
teammate michael carrick said he is relishing united clash with leeds and
feels sir alex ferguson side are on the verge of fine burst of form
united go into the new year two points off the premier league leaders chelsea
and safely through to the knock out phase of the champions league
even so england midfielder carrick accepts united have not hit top gear yet
during the campaign
the old trafford club have lost five matches in the premier league and have been
beset by defensive injuries
those problems at the back are starting to clear up with wes brown and nemanja
vidic forming what looks like solid central defensive partnership
ferguson intends to use his youngsters in the league cup against city but has
said he will opt for strong selection against league one leaders leeds
the yorkshire club who pipped ferguson men to the domestic title in
have been in the third division of english football for three years but as
recently as decade ago were significant top flight contenders
the teams first meeting since leeds were relegated in is eagerly awaited
and the visitors are set to bring supporters to old trafford
but carrick is looking forward to his first taste of this most intense of
fixtures
experiencing those types of feisty atmospheres are why you play football
carrick said
rivalries like that add extra spice it is great for the fans and good for the
players
no matter where you play or whether the atmosphere is for or against you it
is great feeling to play
besiktas were very hostile when we went there earlier this season in the
champions league but it was still terrific to play in
leeds are bringing lot of fans and we are looking forward to it it should be
cracking game
united have lost two of their last five matches at home but beat wigan last
time out and carrick is desperate for them to continue their improvement at old
trafford against leeds
we have not hit top form all season especially at home carrick conceded we
have just been doing enough to get through we know we are better than that and
now is the time to do it
ferguson has hinted that gary neville will play against leeds and he will use
similar side to the one that thrashed wigan
leeds have not won at old trafford since and they go into sunday match as
huge underdogs
but midfielder jonny howson insists they have nothing to fear having narrowly
lost to liverpool in the league cup earlier this season
they have big players but we want to test ourselves and impress against these
players howson said
we have players who can hurt and you saw that against liverpool in the league
cup we caused them problems
saw an interview with jamie carragher where he said we were their toughest
game up to that point so don see why we can cause them united problems
on sunday
danish police shoot man trying to enter mohammed cartoonist home
copenhagen jan afp
danish police late friday shot and wounded man close to radical somali
islamists who tried to enter the aarhus home of kurt westergaard who drew
controversial cartoons of islam prophet mohammed danish security sources
said
the danish cartoonist who has received several death threats since danish
newspaper four years ago published his drawing featuring mohammed wearing
turban in the shape of bomb was at home in viby near the western city of
aarhus when the year old and two others tried to get in daily politiken
reported online
guards repulsed the three intruders as security alarms were set off and the
wounded man was hospitalised
denmark ritzau news agency said dozen police vehicles were at the scene
while sappers were sent in to look for bomb that might have been laid
contacted by afp jutland police confirmed an incident near the home of the
year old cartoonist but refused to give details pending the release of
statement later
westergaard is one of cartoonists whose drawings of the muslim prophet were
first published in danish newspaper jyllands posten in september sparking
controversy among muslims worldwide
the cartoons were considered offensive by many muslims and their publication
sparked violent protests worldwide in january and february
demonstrators burned danish flags in protests that culminated in february
with the torching of danish diplomatic offices in damascus and beirut and dozens
of deaths in nigeria libya and pakistan
rugbyu brian moore says was abused as child
london jan afp
former england hooker brian moore revealed in newspaper interview saturday
that he was sexually abused as child by teacher on an overnight field trip
the abuse began when he was about nine or ten years old and continued in school
along with three other boys moore told the daily telegraph
now the former harlequins player said he never told his parents because his
church going abuser who he does not name and has since died was friend of
theirs and because he felt ashamed
so difficult is the subject that if you have been abused you feel tainted by
association with the awfulness of the crime moore told the newspaper ahead of
the publication of his new autobiography beware of the dog
of his abuser he added felt cheated when heard he had died
wrote him letter explaining the effects of what he did but he died before
could send it what happened to me cannot have been an isolated incident it
had probably been going on for years
moore who was capped times for england played in three world cups and was
part of the winning side in three grand slams is now commentator known for
his brash style an attitude he links back to his abuse
anyone with similar issues will understand that it is possible to come across
as bullish argumentative forceful mouthy and yet be absolutely crippled
emotionally it compensation mechanism he said
us talk radio king limbaugh out of hospital
honolulu hawaii jan afp
outspoken us conservative radio host rush limbaugh left hospital in hawaii on
friday after heart scare and took veiled swipe at president barack obama
plans to reform health care
limbaugh the multi millionaire high priest of talk radio who is hugely
influential figure in republican politics said doctors had found nothing wrong
with his heart despite severe chest pains he suffered on wednesday
have been treated to the best health care the world has to offer that is
right here in the united states limbaugh said
limbaugh who has millions of faithful listeners declined to take
questions saying he did not want to get into political discussion in
hospital setting despite his loaded comments about the health care system
don think there is one thing wrong with the american health care system it
is working just fine just dandy he said
limbaugh said that battery of tests including an angiogram had found
absolutely nothing wrong with his heart and not arterial disease
the controversial radio star who in the past admitted an addiction to pain
killers broadcasts his hard hitting show from florida and had been on vacation
in hawaii when he was struck down
coincidentally limbaugh was in hawaii at the same time as his biggest political
target obama who is spending his christmas and new year vacation in his
native state
in early with the republican party demoralized by obama big election
win limbaugh emerged as rallying figure for conservatives and caused
political storm when he said he hoped the president failed
democratic strategists who see limbaugh as divisive figure were delighted to
portray the talk radio king as the leader of the republican party
obama is pressing the senate and the house of representatives to quickly merge
rival health care reform bills so that he can sign historic reform bill into
law within weeks
corrected somali pirates seize indonesian chemical tanker
nairobi jan afp
somali pirates seized an indonesian chemical tanker friday with crew members
in the gulf of aden maritime watchdog bodies reported
the singapore flagged pramoni was captured while en route to india the third
vessel since august to be taken in the region patrolled by foreign navies
said andrew mwangura of the east africa seafarers assistance programme
it marked the first attack by somali pirates this year
among the crew of the deadweight tonne pramoni heading toward kandla are
indonesians five chinese nationals nigerian and vietnamese said
mwangura adding that the sailors were safe
the european union atalante force confirmed the news saying the ship
master reported on vhf that the ship was hijacked and all the crew are well the
ship is presently heading south towards somalia
on monday pirates seized the st james park uk flagged chemical tanker with
crew of from nine different countries while yemeni authorities said the same
day that yemeni freighter with crew members had also been taken
since the end of the summer monsoon season allowed pirate attacks to resume
three months ago somali pirates had abandoned the gulf of aden for the wide
open seas of the indian ocean venturing as far as the seychelles and beyond
the latest capture brings to at least ships and around seamen currently
held by somalia pirates
argentine rights office burglarized
buenos aires jan afp
three men have attacked offices of argentina human rights secretariat
threatening staff and stealing documents incriminating former military officers
officials said friday
the men broke into provincial office of the national human rights secretariat
in la plata kilometers miles from buenos aires on december and
threatened to kill the head of the office
the development comes amid trials of former argentine military officers accused
of abuses during the country military dictatorship including that
of former navy captain alfredo astiz for the kidnap and murder of two french
nuns
this is intimidating and mafioso behavior said buenos aires governor daniel
scioli they had the clear objective of taking dossiers relating to repressors
who are expected to be judged for human rights abuses
astiz dubbed the blonde angel of death is on trial with others accused of
torture and killings of political prisoners in the naval mechanics school
notorious secret prison used by the military in its dirty war on the left
human rights groups estimate that people died in the brutal campaign
against political dissidents
at least five new cases against supporters of the dictatorship are expected to
begin in
danish police shoot man trying to enter mohammed cartoonist home media
copenhagen jan afp
danish police late friday shot and wounded man trying to enter the aarhus home
of kurt westergaard who drew controversial cartoons of islam prophet
mohammed danish media reported
the danish cartoonist who has received several death threats since danish
newspaper four years ago published his drawing featuring mohammed wearing
turban in the shape of bomb was at home in viby near the western city of
aarhus when the year old and two others tried to get in daily politiken
reported online
guards repulsed the three intruders as security alarms were set off and the
wounded man was hospitalised
denmark ritzau news agency said dozen police vehicles were at the scene
while sappers were sent in to look for bomb that might have been laid
contacted by afp jutland police confirmed an incident near the home of the
year old cartoonist but refused to give details pending the release of
statement later
westergaard is one of cartoonists whose drawings of the muslim prophet were
first published in danish newspaper jyllands posten in september sparking
controversy among muslims worldwide
the cartoons were considered offensive by many muslims and their publication
sparked violent protests worldwide in january and february
demonstrators burned danish flags in protests that culminated in february
with the torching of danish diplomatic offices in damascus and beirut and dozens
of deaths in nigeria libya and pakistan
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
magnitude quake strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
powerful magnitude earthquake struck near the solomon islands in the
western pacific on monday with the potential to cause local tsunami
seismologists said
the us geological survey said the magnitude quake was measured at depth of
about kilometres miles and struck about kilometres from the town of
gizo
no tsunami alert was immediately issued but the pacific tsunami warning centre
said earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be
destructive along coasts located within few hundred kilometres miles of the
earthquake epicentre
geoscience australia said the quake was probably about kilometres from the
nearest land could cause local tsunami but was unlikely to be major wave
it big earthquake but it probably not going to cause large regional
tsunami geoscience australia seismologist clive collins said
collins said local tsunami was possible but there had been no reports of
damage as yet and these were very difficult to predict
don think there any problem but we don any information as yet he told
afp
magnitude quake strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
powerful magnitude earthquake struck near the solomon islands in the
western pacific early monday with the potential to cause local tsunami
seismologists said
no tsunami alert was issued but the pacific tsunami warning centre said
earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be
destructive along coasts located within few hundred kilometres miles of the
earthquake epicentre
the us geological survey said the magnitude quake was measured at depth of
about kilometres miles and struck about kilometres from the town of
gizo
underdog british pm brown ready for election fight
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown admitted sunday he was the underdog in this
year general election but pledged he would not stop fighting to win the
poll
the day after conservative main opposition leader david cameron drew out his
battle themes for the election brown said the vote to be held by june at the
latest would be the decision of the decade for britain
brown set out his case why voters should plump for him and his centre left
labour party to lead britain out of its worst recession on record
cameron centre right tories have consistently been ahead in opinion polls for
more than year although the gap has narrowed slightly in recent months
when you re behind in the polls you ve got to regard yourselves as the fighter
everything ve ever won in my life ve had to fight for brown told bbc
television
he described himself as someone who is ready to fight for every aspect of
britain future and will not stop fighting
we the labour party will fight every inch of the way he vowed
new survey for the daily telegraph newspaper put the conservatives on
percent labour on percent and the third party centre left liberal democrats
on percent
the pollsters yougov questioned adults on tuesday and wednesday
explaining his outlook on the election campaign brown said my vision for the
future of britain is as the digital low carbon biotechnology education
creative industry leader of the world
he declared that labour is the only party that can take people from recession
to recovery and guarantee that we have growth in the future
this is defining issue of the election believe in an age of aspiration of
opportunity and prosperity afraid the conservatives have gone for an age of
austerity and that means the majority of hard working families suffer as
result
on saturday cameron kicked off his campaign to become the next premier
declaring britain cannot go on for another five years with gordon brown
cameron is set monday to publish draft election manifesto and unveil budget
plans for the national health service including shakeup of maternity
services
conservative government will reform maternity services so that mothers and
mothers to be are put right at the heart of the service opposition health
spokesman andrew lansley said
brown became premier in june succeeding the retiring tony blair who
had led labour to power in with landslide victory and two more election
wins in and
when asked in the interview why people should vote for brown he replied in the
third person because he knows how to deal with the british economy problems
and take us through them and he knows what sort of economy we can build for the
future
brown would not be drawn on date for the general election which as prime
minister he can call at any time before the current five year parliament expires
at midnight on may
he said there would be labour budget this spring if it at the right time
budget is due before march
brown and other labour heavyweights have attacked the private education
background of cameron and other top conservatives leading the tory chief to
accuse labour of fighting an old fashioned left wing class war
brown said his remarks about cameron were in jest adding don attack him
for being toff attack him for having the wrong views
urgent magnitude quake strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
powerful magnitude earthquake struck near the solomon islands in the
western pacific early monday the second quake in less than an hour the us
geological survey said
ex ubs whistleblower may leave jail rich man
washington jan afp
an ex employee of swiss banking giant ubs may leave prison rich man after he
blew the whistle on huge us tax fraud cbs television said sunday
bradley birkenfeld turned in thousands of people for trying to evade paying
taxes in the united states but he was sentenced in august to three years and
four months in jail for inciting ubs clients to commit tax fraud
birkenfeld told cbs sunday he felt he had been badly treated after he denounced
ubs clients who were said to have invested some billion swiss francs
billion dollars in secret swiss accounts
the only one going to prison out of accounts and no swiss bankers
he said gave them the biggest tax fraud case in the world exposed
international criminals and going to jail for that
but one of his lawyers stephen kohn told the us television channel that
birkenfeld could have the last laugh as under federal laws he may be entitled
to up to percent of any taxes recovered by the us tax service
according to prosecutors the internal revenue service could recoup several
billion dollars in lost taxes
birkenfeld from massachusetts was sentenced just two days after ubs and the us
and swiss governments reached landmark out of court settlement of the us civil
tax fraud complaint
despite strict swiss secrecy laws ubs agreed to hand over some names to
us authorities suspected of tax evasion
birkenfeld was however sentenced for aiding the californian property developer
igor olinicoff to hide some million dollars of shares in switzerland and
lichtenstein
his lawyer kohn said the us authorities should however be thanking him
mr birkenfeld has saved the taxpayers billions of dollars brought thousands of
people to justice they should blow up his check kohn told cbs
us toughens screening for us bound flights
washington jan afp
us officials sunday toughened security measures for all us bound airline
passengers and warned those traveling from targeted nations would have to
undergo mandatory tight screening
the new measures came in the wake of the botched christmas day bombing of
northwest airlines plane heading from amsterdam to detroit which has forced many
nations to boost airport security
all passengers flying into the united states from abroad will be subject to
random screening or so called threat based screens the transport security
administration tsa said in statement
but it further mandated that every individual flying into the us from anywhere
in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of
terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced
screening
the tough rules go into effect from midnight sunday gmt monday and follow
the failed plane attack blamed on year old nigerian who had recently
traveled to yemen to train with al qaeda
suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly boarded the flight at amsterdam
schiphol airport after flying in from lagos nigeria
cuba iran sudan and syria are currently the only four countries deemed by the
state department to be state sponsors of terrorism
but senior administration official told afp the mandatory stringent measures
which would include pat downs and enhanced screening would apply to all
passengers traveling from or via total of countries including afghanistan
libya nigeria pakistan somalia and yemen
he refused to reveal the remaining four nations
according to the us prosecutors abdulmutallab tried to bring down the northwest
airlines airbus using device containing the explosive petn also known as
pentaerythritol
stitched into his underwear it was not spotted by the traditional metal
detectors it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire put out by
passengers
dutch officials have said they now plan to put full body scanners into use
within three weeks and british prime minister gordon brown said sunday british
airports were going to gradually introduce such equipment
we have recognized that there are new forms of weapon that are being used by
al qaeda so we ve got to respond accordingly brown said
us president barack obama on saturday accused al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
aqap yemen based cell of osama bin laden group of targeting the
northwest jet carrying people
but amid questions over the failures in us security his top counter terrorism
advisor john brennan said there had been no evidence which would have detected
the plot sooner
there was no smoking gun there was no piece of intelligence that said this guy
is terrorist and is going to get on plane none whatsoever brennan told
fox news sunday
the terror scare has prompted obama to order review of intelligence and
security operations and he will meet with spy chiefs and top officials tuesday
to discuss the findings
the united states and britain meanwhile closed their embassies in the yemeni
capital on sunday as brennan said there were indications al qaeda is planning
to carry out an attack against target inside of sanaa possibly our
embassy
but brennan indicated the united states was not opening new front against al
qaeda in yemen and has no plans to send troops there
wouldn say we re opening second front this is continuation of an
effort that we had underway as said since the beginning of the
administration said brennan
brennan also accused radical yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi of trying to
instigate terrorism saying he was linked to both the plane bomb plot and the
shooting that killed people at the fort hood army base in november
mr awlaqi is problem he clearly part of al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula he not just cleric he is in fact trying to instigate terrorism
meanwhile the family of abdulmutallab who is the son of wealthy banker have
said they will travel from northern nigeria to detroit to attend his arraignment
due on friday
alert
magnitude quake off solomon islands usgs
ex ubs whistleblower may leave jail rich man
washington jan afp
an ex employee of swiss banking giant ubs may leave prison rich man thanks
after he blew the whistle on huge us tax fraud cbs television said sunday
bradley birkenfeld turned in thousands of people for trying to evade paying
taxes in the united states but he was sentenced in august to three years and
four months in jail for inciting ubs clients to commit tax fraud
birkenfeld told cbs sunday he felt he had been badly treated after he denounced
ubs clients who were said to have invested some billion swiss francs
billion dollars in secret swiss accounts
the only one going to prison out of accounts and no swiss bankers
he said gave them the biggest tax fraud case in the world exposed
international criminals and going to jail for that
but one of his lawyers stephen kohn told the us television channel that
birkenfeld could have the last laugh as under federal laws he may be entitled
to up to percent of any taxes recovered by the us tax service
according to prosecutors the internal revenue service could recoup several
billion dollars in lost taxes
birkenfeld from massachusetts was sentenced just two days after ubs and the us
and swiss governments reached landmark out of court settlement of the us civil
tax fraud complaint
despite strict swiss secrecy laws ubs agreed to hand over some names to
us authorities suspected of tax evasion
birkenfeld was however sentenced for aiding the californian property developer
igor olinicoff to hide some million dollars of shares in switzerland and
lichtenstein
his lawyer kohn said the us authorities should however be thanking him
mr birkenfeld has saved the taxpayers billions of dollars brought thousands of
people to justice they should blow up his check kohn told cbs
darts taylor powers to th world title
london jan afp
england phil taylor won th world darts title on sunday when he defeated
australia simon whitlock in the final of the pdc world championship
wales mark webster took third place beating raymond van barneveld of the
netherlands
taylor trailed whitlock by two sets to one but then produced stunning recovery
hitting finishes of and in run of five successive winning sets
he told sky sports think that one of the greatest finals no disrespect to
the others
it was hard work but this is everything ve ever dreamed of and practised for
it been absolutely brilliant and so chuffed
world number one taylor claimed winners cheque of pounds the
highest ever paid out in darts history
darts world championships results
london jan afp
pdc world championships results on sunday
final
phil taylor eng bt simon whitlock aus
