rabah saadane
nickname
desert foxes
fifa rankings
africa
world
previous appearances
hosts
best showing
champions
tournament record
record wins
uganda nigeria
record losses
ivory coast nigeria ivory coast malawi
nba bryant scores in return to madison square garden
new york jan afp
kobe bryant marked his return to madison square garden by scoring points to
lead the los angeles lakers to win over the new york knicks on friday
bryant put up big numbers in the fourth quarter scoring points but it was
far short of his last visit to the garden when he scored an arena record
points
bryant said he trying not to think about individual records at this point in
the national basketball association season
don think the way that we re playing we re ready for that type of
situation he said guys have got to get going other players have got to find
the rhythm because need them on this trip
pau gasol added points which translated into dollars for the haiti
earthquake victims gasol said earlier he would contribute dollars for
each point he scored friday
we had to fight through fatigue gasol said at the beginning we were
allowing too many layups
we played much better in the second half once we started playing good defence
in the fourth quarter it was lot better
bryant came in averaging points in his previous games in new york
he has five point games in new york but was never close to that in this one
scoring only points on shots through three quarters
he finished only eight of from the field on the fourth anniversary of his
point game
andrew bynum finished with points for los angeles who lost to lebron james
cleveland cavaliers on thursday
the lakers are just two games into an eight game road swing
we take it one game at time said lakers ron artest we played decent we
didn play great
david lee scored season high points and grabbed rebounds wilson
chandler added points and danilo gallinari had for the losing team
dogs fatally maul woman in vietnam report
hanoi jan afp
vietnamese woman was mauled to death by at least five guard dogs at coffee
farm in the country central highlands state linked media reported saturday
pham thi ngan was illegally collecting coffee beans from the farm in dak
lak province on thursday when the dogs went after her said the tuoi tre
newspaper
other women who had entered the farm with her climbed into trees to escape but
ngan was too slow it said adding that her body and face were unrecognisable
after the mauling
conan brien sings his swan song on nbc
los angeles jan afp
an emotional conan brien bid adieu to nbc on friday saying that walking away
from us television long running the tonight show was the most difficult
decision of his life
at times fighting back tears brien thanked his legions of fans for making
sad situation joyous and inspirational urging them to fight cynicism over the
ugly public feud that ended his seven month tenure at the legendary late night
comedy show
the audience at universal studios in burbank california replied in kind giving
him standing ovation and chanting conan conan conan repeatedly
after an experiment placing the funnyman predecessor in prime time garnered
meager ratings and frustrated the network affiliates nbc television announced
it would bring jay leno back to the show he hosted for years
the settlement landed brien reported million dollar buyout with the
red haired comedian pocketing around million and the balance going to his
staff in bid by nbc to end what has been public relations disaster once
and for all
but during his last monologue for the show the embattled host even found time
to thank nbc network he has called home for over years
yes we have our differences right now and yes we re going to go our separate
ways he went on
but this company has been my home for most of my adult life am enormously
proud of the work we have done together and want to thank nbc for making it
all possible
he also delivered few last jabs to his nbc paymasters practice that had
become nightly staple of his opening monologues ever since the saga broke out
into public view
ladies and gentlemen he announced we have exactly one hour to steal every
single item in this studio
leno and other comedians at other networks had also used their shows to joke
about nbc controversial move
never one to pass an opportunity for self deprecating humor brien told his
audience just want to make one thing clear to everyone listening out there
right now will do nudity
among his guests were actor tom hanks rocker neil young comedian will ferrell
and steve carell star of the hit television series the office
carell gave brien an exit interview asked if we would consider working
for nbc again in the future brien replied don know can say at this
time
although he was calling it quits with show he loved and admired brien told
his fans that really feel this should be happy moment
every comedian every comedian dreams of hosting the tonight show and for
seven months got to do it and did it my way with people love do not
regret one second of anything that we ve done here he added
have had more good fortune than anybody know and if our next gig is doing
show in eleven parking lot we will find way to make it fun
the wrangling with nbc went public earlier this month when reports circulated
that brien show was to be given new am scheduling slot to
accommodate new half hour program hosted by leno
it followed nbc decision to cancel leno prime time show starting at pm
after only four months following poor ratings
however brien refused to accept the change quietly accusing nbc in public
letter of attempting to destroy the tonight show and vowing to quit his long
term deal if the change went ahead
figure skating davis white maintain lead in ice dance
spokane washington jan afp
defending champions meryl davis and charlie white maintained their lead in the
ice dance competition by winning the original dance here on friday
davis and white once again finished ahead of olympic runner ups tanith
belbin and ben agosto davis and white scored points friday to take their
two event total to
belbin and agosto are less than two points back of the leaders with
points heading into saturday dance final
the top three teams from ice dance will advance to the olympics february
in vancouver canada
ice dance begins february with the free dance competition and wraps up with
the free dance february
tennis federer ready for all comers after easy win
melbourne jan afp
world number one roger federer declared himself fresh and ready to take on his
main rivals after strolling into the fourth round of the australian open on
saturday
the time grand slam champion brushed aside st seeded spaniard albert
montanes in stress free one hour minutes on rod laver arena
pretty straightforward match really federer said don remember him
having any break points
happy with the match and was able to serve it out so it was good
federer said he was in top shape for the coming battles ahead in the final week
of tournament he has won three times before
happy survived first round scare against igor andreev he said
after that was able to come through comfortably in the next two rounds into
week two feel like fresh and ready to take on the bigger names
so far it been great happy the way feeling obviously you ll
elevate your game gradually as the opponents get harder
federer is expected to face sterner test in the round of on monday against
either australian two time grand slam champion lleyton hewitt or former finalist
and unseeded cypriot marcos baghdatis who play later saturday
the swiss great leads hewitt and has won their last encounters while he
leads finalist baghdatis
my form is fine he said think you have to assess it as the tournament
goes on
you can feel great today and play horror in two days time
don want to say playing the best tennis of my life because haven
had to so far it depends how you re being pushed and how the opponent is
playing ll go match by match
it an interesting draw think there no easy way to final or to
victory here you ve definitely got to probably beat some of the best players in
the world
the top seed was never threatened by baseliner montanes and broke the spaniard
service three times
he was at the net to break montanes in the fourth game of the opening set
breaking to love in the ninth game of the second set and in the opening game of
the final set when montanes made backhand error
montanes only won points in the first set as federer slipped through the
gears in his most consummate performance of the tournament after dropping set
against russian igor andreev in his opening match
that was the first time federer had lost set in first round grand slam match
since the us open
federer hit total of winners in the three sets but he made total of
unforced errors as he attempted to take the game to the spaniard
montanes took set off federer at their previous meeting on clay in the second
round of the french open but he was never likely to come close to
achieving that here
the victory improved federer australian open record to which makes him
only second to swede stefan edberg for most match wins here in the open
era
tennis australian open results day six nd update
melbourne jan afp
results from day six of the australian open at melbourne park here saturday
denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
roger federer sui bt albert montanes esp
nikolay davydenko rus bt juan monaco arg
fernando verdasco esp bt stefan koubek aut retired virus
lukasz kubot pol bt mikhail youzhny rus walkover wrist injury
novak djokovic srb bt denis istomin uzb
women singles
rd round
samantha stosur aus bt alberta brianti ita
victoria azarenka blr bt tathiana garbin ita
vera zvonareva rus bt gisela dulko arg
serena williams usa bt carla suarez navarro esp
francesco schiavone ita bt agnieszka radwanska pol
li na chn bt daniela hantuchova svk
tennis china li battles into fourth round
melbourne jan afp
china th seeded li na won through to the fourth round of the australian open
when she beat slovakia daniela hantuchova on saturday
australia mulls request to take guantanamo inmates
sydney jan afp
australia was considering fresh request from the united states to resettle
group of inmates from the guantanamo bay detention facility officials said
saturday
australia has received another request from the united states and the matter is
being considered foreign affairs spokeswoman told afp
canberra has already rebuffed at least three such requests two from the
administration of former us president george bush and third received last
may from president barack obama
the spokeswoman said the latest request came in late but she could not
comment on specifics or confirm how many such advances the us had made
the australian government will consider requests on case by case basis and in
accordance with the government strict immigration and national security
requirements she said
according to local press the may request involved six men from china turkic
speaking uighur minority who were resettled in the tiny pacific island nation
of palau after australia refused to take them
palau is former us administered territory which relies heavily on us aid and
its president johnson toribiong in november said beijing may have pressured
australia not to take the six
the united states refused to send the men back to china which expressed anger
over their release describing them as terrorist suspects for fear they would
be persecuted
they were held for close to eight years in the cuban island prison and cleared
of all charges four years ago
switzerland this month refused to offer asylum to two uighur inmates of
guantanamo following diplomatic pressure from beijing who warned it could
affect relations
the obama administration is trying to close the controversial centre partly by
seeking third countries prepared to take in some of the detainees obama self
imposed january closure deadline passed unmet friday
tennis djokovic through to fourth round
melbourne jan afp
serbian third seed novak djokovic marched into the fourth round of the
australian open with win over uzbekistan denis istomin on
saturday
he next plays unseeded pole lukasz kubot
cycling tour down under stage five results
adelaide australia jan afp
results on saturday from stage five of the tour down under over kilometres
miles from snapper point to willunga
stage
luis leon sanchez esp hr min sec luke roberts aus milram at
sec alejandro valverde esp caisse epargne cadel evans aus bmc
peter sagan svk liquigas doimo markus fothen ger milram
sebastien rosseler bel cameron meyer aus garmin transitions
greg henderson nzl sky fabio sabatini ita
selected robbie mcewen aus katusha andre greipel ger htc
columbia lance armstrong usa radioshack oscar pereiro
esp astana
overall
andre greipel ger htc columbia luis leon sanchez esp caisse
epargne at sec luke roberts aus milram robbie mcewen aus
katusha cadel evans aus bmc greg henderson nzl sky
eduard vorganov rus katusha jurgen roelandts bel omega pharma lotto
markus fothen ger milram andriy grivko ukr astana
selected alejandro valverde esp caisse epargne lance armstrong
usa radioshack oscar pereiro esp astana
players unions fight promoter join sports effort for haiti
washington jan afp
aid from us sports continued to flow for earthquake ravaged haiti on friday
with boxing promoter top rank pledging share of ticket sales to relief
efforts
top rank chief bob arum said the company would donate one dollar from every
ticket it sells through the end of the year to aid for haiti
the plan will start with featherweight card at madison square garden on
saturday where turnout of about is expected
for fight like this it might be few thousand but for march it could be
or arum said
on march filipino hero manny pacquiao takes on us based ghanian joshua
clottey at the billion dollar cowboys stadium in dallas
the facility home of the nfl dallas cowboys is being configured for
fans but can seat more depending on demand
arum said he wasn sure how many tickets will be sold the rest of the year
because there is no accurate way to predict how many shows will be put together
who will headline the shows and where they will take place
hopefully other promoters will join us he said
boxing has been affected by the quake that rocked haiti on january the
official death toll as of friday was put at more than
welterweight world titlist andre berto who was born in miami to haitian parents
and represented haiti in the olympics has pulled out of fight against
shane mosley next week as his family deals with the crisis
have seen the pain in my parents eyes as they attempt to understand what has
happened to our homeland and recognize place they once called home he said
players unions for four us pro leagues launched campaign to support the
clinton bush haiti fund
the one team haiti project will urge fans to text the word team to
donating dollars for us fans and five dollars for canadian ones
all the funds will go to relief efforts the campaign said friday
since the earthquake hit their country the haitian people including friends
and family of mine have been through so much devastation said georges
laraque an nhl players association member who recently played for montreal
nhlpa members together with the members of the nflpa mlbpa and the nbpa hope
that we can make meaningful contribution and encourage sports fans across
north america to join us in helping haiti
major league baseball player magglio ordonez donated dollars to the
american red cross on friday and his detroit tigers teammate miguel cabrera gave
dollars to project medishare for haiti the tigers added dollars
the nfl san diego padres and their foundation gave dollars to unicef
spanish basketball star pau gasol was one of players that donated
dollars to the quake victims for every point they scored in their nba games on
friday night
gasol finished with points in the lakers win which means he will
donate dollars to the clinton bush haiti fund
think it is important to be able to contribute gasol said there are so
many tragedies going on in the world and we have got to acknowledge how lucky we
are so we decided to do that with the clinton foundation
the other players taking part in the aid effort comprise rookie of the year
derrick rose atlanta all star joe johnson rookie tyreke evans and spencer
hawes of sacramento wizards players antawn jamison and mike miller pacers
guard mike dunleavy jr celtics centre kendrick perkins and thunder guard
russell westbrook all the players are clients of the wasserman media group
speaking at halftime of the lakers game former president bill clinton said the
need is great
the situation in haiti is awful said clinton in announcing the programme
there is no way to put nice spin on it but have confidence the people of
haiti that they can get through this
think their spirit is great
the players in action friday will combine with other wasserman nba clients
to donate minimum of dollars to the fund
nba allen helps make garnett return successful one
boston jan afp
ray allen scored the go ahead three pointer in overtime as boston made kevin
garnett return successful one by beating portland on friday
allen went just three of from the field in regulation but made the most of
his overtime minutes
garnett returned to the lineup and finished with points and four rebounds in
over minutes of floor time for the celtics
boston won five games and lost six with garnett out of the lineup
thought had some decent energy garnett said my timing is off little
bit as far as rebounding but you know ll get that
paul pierce logged points before fouling out near the end of regulation and
rajon rondo chipped in points nine assists and six rebounds in the win
andre miller ended with game high points to go with eight assists and eight
rebounds for the trail blazers who had won three of four coming in
martell webster and lamarcus aldridge each netted points in defeat
brandon roy sat out due to nagging hamstring problem and his replacement
jerryd bayless suffered an ankle sprain in the third quarter
yodelling in the new year swiss style
urnaesch switzerland jan afp
yodelling in the new year wearing huge headdress and giant cowbells in the
frozen countryside sounds more like comedy than rite that reduces many swiss
to tears of nostalgic longing
but the age old custom is as iconic in the northeast appenzell region as the
country cheese with holes cuckoo clocks and chocolates and is even drawing
young people to join the plucky silvesterklaeuse as the practitioners are
known
it always bring tears to my eyes said walter irniger who travels to the
quiet appenzell village of urnaesch every year to watch the klaeuse
you often see people cry when they welcome the silvesterklaeuse it the
feeling it brings back memories he said pointing to his tear stained cheeks
the silvesterklaeuse or st sylvester mummers appear twice each year on
december and january trooping through snow from village to village door
to door to ring in the new year
typical was the group who stirred awake urnaesch seven men outfitted in
colourful velvet costumes and hand painted masks each wore massive headgear
made of carved wood sequins and lights depicting swiss river landscape
outside one farmhouse they bounced into action shaking vigorously to set off
the cowbells each different pitch when that dies down they yodel the
trilling song style associated with the swiss austrian mountains that theory
holds was meant to carry across hill and dale
for urnaesch farmer christean mittler it is simply joy to wake up to all
this
the roots of the ritual whether pagan or religious have become fuzzy with
time when asked why they cling to it most locals some whose thickly
accented swiss german dialect leaves speakers from other parts of the country
struggling to understand can explain
for me the day of the sylvester saint sylvester or new year eve is the
most important in the year said stefan walser silvesterklaeus for the
past years
it malady fever it brings emotions that are very difficult to explain
ask myself what would happen if couldn do this anymore and to be honest
don want to know he said
the two dates go back to th century dispute over new year eve according
to urnaesch brauchtumsmuseum or museum of traditions many locals opposed the
new calendar proclaimed by pope gregory xiii setting december as the new year
and wanted to stick to january in line with the old julian calendar so over
the years the the region decided to celebrate both
among the younger set year old ueli rechsteiner estimates that at least
others around his age have joined as silvesterklaeuse despite the hefty time
commitment this requires
each group builds its headgear around the same theme which they change every
three years walser said it can take months to design and fabricate
themes are not limited to folklore one group had regional leisure activities
clanging and yodelling from house to house with figurines of gymnasts on
parallel bars skiers whizzing down slopes and footballers battling it out on
pitch atop their heads
others displayed daily life farmers herding cows carpenters at work even
families eating dinner photos at the brauchtumsmuseum even show models of the
titanic and zeppelin on old headgear
though women can be silvesterklaeuse most are men due to the strength needed to
trudge for hours with an average kilo pound structure on one head
when asked why he joined the young rechsteiner said only for tradition
our lives are very modern now people are looking for the old days said
irniger
honour for bangladesh aid group quiet afghan success
dhaka jan afp
immaculately attired and cigar in hand fazle hasan abed who will soon become
the first bangladeshi citizen to be knighted does not look as if he holds the
secret to better future for afghanistan
but his charity the bangladesh rural advancement committee has successfully
exported its model of development to the war torn country where corruption and
taliban insurgency have frustrated many western aid efforts
key element of brac success in afghanistan is that we are from developing
country we know and understand poverty he told afp after his knighthood was
announced in britain new year honours list
outside bangladesh our operations in afghanistan are our largest we have been
there for the last seven years we are cost effective we pay bangladeshi
salaries and yet achieve more than other aid groups abed said
abed who holds duel bangladeshi british citizenship and is due to be
knighted on february trained as an accountant in london and quit his well
paid job with oil giant shell when war broke out in bangladesh in
using the proceeds of the sale of his london flat he founded brac after the
bloody battle for independence ended the following year
at first brac helped millions of refugees who streamed back into the new
country and then it diversified into healthcare micro finance agriculture and
education
brac decided to look at poverty as multi dimensional syndrome not just
income poverty but poverty in terms of healthcare in terms of education the
things that keep poor people poor he said in an interview at his dhaka office
surrounded by flowers sent to congratulate him on his knighthood
four decades later abed approach has been hailed as one factor behind the
drop in the proportion of bangladeshis living in extreme poverty from percent
to around percent of the population
the approach has proved so successful that brac which has staggering
local employees worldwide has expanded into africa including southern sudan
and been lauded by world figures such as former us president bill clinton
southern sudan is again post conflict country most of the people lived in
refugee camps for years so whole generation does not know how to do
agriculture he said
abed new title sir fazle will open some doors as brac explores more
opportunities in africa he said
didn aspire to the honour but it will help us operate he said adding
that he is not the first person in his family to receive the title his great
uncle was knighted under the british raj in
brac overseas expansion began in when abed followed the collapse of the
taliban regime and was struck by the parallels with bangladesh in the early
saw lot of opportunities in afghanistan for brac the government was
fragile donors were looking for organisations which could deliver abed said
so he took his organisation which has turnover of nearly one billion
dollars and is bangladesh second largest employer after the government to
kabul the afghan capital
we now have afghani staff we are working in healthcare education
micro finance empowerment of women gender parity and getting girls into
schools he said
brac extends credit to families across the country has presence in
all of afghanistan provinces and has just been granted contracts to run
hospitals in afghan provinces including one in kabul
the low key success on the ground and their popularity with the afghan
government they think we re great resource abed said could provide
new framework for development work in afghanistan
last week outgoing un special envoy kai eide warned the international mission
would fail unless the civilian components were given as much attention as the
military role in stabilising the country
it slows our work if there is no stable government but development can still
happen as long as the people are there said abed explaining how brac works in
fragile fractured state using skills honed in volatile bangladesh
as long as you work in villages directly with the people the government
does not mind what you get up to he said
brac receives funding from philanthropists such as george soros and bill gates
but generates most of its income through commercial enterprises including an
international retail clothing chain named aarong
in the long run abed believes his organisation which also has interests in
internet providers banks and tea plantations can help strengthen the afghan
state
and as kabul government comes under constant criticism for corruption brac
also provides means of channeling aid through village councils and direct
grants system called the national solidarity programme
we are working in villages in afghanistan on the national solidarity
programme we are building groups of people who will manage their own villages
abed said
village councils are being set up through village elections and the councils
then decide what they need come up with project proposals and the government
funds it he said
only when the people themselves decide what they want and then we try and
deliver it can development work achieve its aims he said
afp features
paris jan afp
we will shortly move the following stories
highlights
yodelling in the new year swiss style
honour for bangladesh aid group quiet afghan success
lifestyle switzerland tradition appenzell feature
urnaesch switzerland
yodelling in the new year wearing huge headdress and giant cowbells in the
frozen countryside sounds more like comedy than rite that reduces many swiss
to tears of nostalgic longing
words by hui min neo picture
bangladesh afghanistan charity aid focus
dhaka
immaculately attired and cigar in hand fazle hasan abed who will soon become
the first bangladeshi citizen to be knighted does not look as if he holds the
secret to better future for afghanistan
words by shafiq alam picture
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
the art of forgery goes on show in london
london jan afp
unique collection of art goes on display at the victoria and albert museum in
london on saturday all of it fake
more than forged paintings and sculptures seized by the capital
metropolitan police are on show for the first time including fake antiquities
and works attributed to giacometti and contemporary british artist banksy
if they were real the collection would be worth more than four million pounds
