officials said people were killed over the weekend in northern mexico eight
of them in ciudad juarez where the murder rate has already more than doubled
this year compared to
ciudad juarez ground zero for drug related violence has seen homicides
since january against for the same period last year authorities said
last year drug violence claimed more than victims in this city across
from el paso texas
the eight murders saturday included passerby riddled with bullets from
passing car and shootout between military patrol and drug traffickers that
left two shooters dead the chihuahua state attorney general office said
elsewhere eight people were murdered in the state capital also named
chihuahua and two others in the nuevas casas grandes township it added
president felipe calderon has dispatched troops in nationwide crackdown
on organized crime but has so far failed to stem the tide of drug related
violence that has left people dead since the initiative was launched
three years ago
shell shocked togo leaves as africa cup opens
luanda jan afp
togo national football team still reeling from rebel attack that killed two
of their squad traveled home sunday against the players wishes as the africa
cup of nations kicked off in angola
president jose eduardo dos santos denounced friday attack by separatist rebels
in the northern enclave of cabinda where the teammates were flying back to togo
with their two slain colleagues
we condemn this act of terror but the competition will continue in cabinda
dos santos said as he opened the tournament we are together may the best man
win
his government and african football officials pleaded to the last second for
togolese authorities to allow the players to fulfill their wish to compete in
the tournament to honour their slain colleagues
it very sad it hard for africa and for us these things are part of life
you have to accept it togo captain emmanuel adebayor told afp at the airport
in cabinda
the team later arrived home in lome on special government plane where it was
met at the airport by prime minister gilbert fossoun houngbo members of the
government and sports officials an afp correspondent reported
cabinda is to host seven of the tournament matches but with togo
goalkeeper kodjovi obilale still in critical care at south african hospital
their prime minister ordered the team home
we understand the position of the players who want to in some way avenge their
dead colleagues but it would be irresponsible for the togolese authorities to
allow them to continue houngbo earlier told reporters in lome
rebels ambushed the togo convoy as they drove into the cabinda enclave from
neighbouring congo brazzaville on friday leaving players cowering under their
seats during minute gunbattle with security forces
goalkeeper obilale was airlifted to johannesburg hospital to undergo surgery
to treat gunshot wounds to the lower back and abdomen
he is ventilated at the moment it still early stages at the moment
hospital spokeswoman said he is in critical condition but he stable
separatist rebels threatened to carry out more attacks saying they had warned
confederation of african football caf boss issa hayatou against holding
matches in cabinda
this is going to continue because the nation is at war because hayatou
persists said rodrigues mingas secretary general of the forces for the
liberation of the state of cabinda military position flec pm
we wrote two months before the nations cup to mr issa hayatou to warn him that
we were at war he did not want to take our warnings into consideration mingas
told afp by telephone
they were warned they knew it and they closed their eyes
mingas faction is one of several groups battling for independence in small but
oil rich cabinda cornerstone of angola economic boom despite peace
agreement
mingas now lives in exile in france and french foreign ministry spokesman on
sunday vowed response to his comments
south african president jacob zuma condemned the shooting as shocking and
unacceptable but brushed away speculation that the attack could affect his
nation hosting of the world cup in june
he reiterated that south africa remains percent ready to host the fifa
world cup and dismissed speculation that the angolan incident had any bearing
on the world cup tournament in south africa his office said in statement
despite the sombre mood in cabinda spirits soared in luanda where cars honked
and pedestrians blew trumpets to celebrate angola opening match against mali
however mali was able to wipe out four goal deficit to draw with the
hosts
the tournament was meant as coming out party for the oil rich nation after
decades of civil war and angola put on splashy opening ceremony with
fireworks laser lights and traditional dancers enacting scenes from the
country history
the normally traffic clogged streets were deserted as angolans gathered on
rooftops and huddled around televisions to watch the game
nfl ravens run roughshod over patriots
foxboro massachusetts jan afp
the baltimore ravens ran riot from the very first play on sunday and ran over
perennial contenders new england in the first round of the nfl playoffs
ray rice exploded up the middle for an yard touchdown on the opening play to
set the tone for the ravens who booked second round clash with indianapolis
one thing we said as an offense is we want to start games fast rice said
wanted to be the guy today to start fast whether it was five yard run or an
yard run wanted to be the guy to say this will be fast tempo game we
want the other team to play catch up to us
new england superstar quarterback tom brady turned the ball over three times
on the first four possessions including fumble on the fourth play of the game
that baltimore turned into touchdown for lead after less than five
minutes
brady also matched playoff career worst with three interceptions as he lost
postseason contest at gillette stadium for the first time after winning seven of
them
the patriots had won their last home playoff games at gillette and at foxboro
stadium since their last defeat in
the patriots who won three super bowl titles from were perfect
at home in the regular season but were hearing jeers from their home fans as
they fell adrift in the first quarter
have been booing us too the way we played brady said playing the way
we played today we weren going to beat anybody
brady the nfl comeback player of the year after his return from serious knee
injury was of for yards with two touchdown passes and three
interceptions
brady wasn the only patriot to struggle randy moss caught just five passes
for yards
all of us that participated in the game are accountable for our performance
patriots coach bill belichick said and don think anybody felt very good
about it players coaches anybody
the patriots trailed at halftime after which they received the kickoff
brady shortly threw his third interception which dawan landry returned yards
to set up billy cundiff yard field goal that made it
brady then threw his second touchdown pass to julian edelman who was in for
injured receiver wes welker covering one yard
the patriots defense however couldn stop the ravens runners with
left baltimore willis mcgahee ran three yards for lead
the trio of rice mcgahee and le ron mcclain gained yards on the ground
rice leading the way with rice ran for two touchdowns and mcgahee and
mcclain one each
the ravens who lost the afc championship game to eventual super bowl champions
pittsburgh last season will go to indianapolis next weekend seeking to avenge
regular season loss to the colts on november
in sunday national conference game the arizona cardinals hosted the green bay
packers in rematch from the final day of the regular season
togo team plane arrives home
lome jan afp
togo team plane arrived home on sunday after leaving africa cup of nations
football tournament over rebel attack that killed two members of their squad
the plane arrived in lome around pm gmt and was met by prime
minister gilbert fossoun houngbo members of the government and sports
officials an afp correspondent reported
spokesman for the confederation of african football had earlier said the team
would be flying home along with their two slain colleagues following friday
attack as the team arrived in cabinda for the tournament
eurostar running reduced monday service as snow lingers
london jan afp
eurostar warned passengers it would operate restricted service between britain
and france and belgium on monday because of freezing weather conditions
for monday january there is reduced timetable with some cancellations
including our late evening services the cross channel passenger train operator
said on its website late sunday
it said last minute cancellations were possible and urged passengers to
postpone their trip to later date if possible
fewer eurostar trains than normal ran at the weekend because of the snowy
conditions
the service was massively disrupted in december when trains broke down in the
channel tunnel after snow which fell in northern france melted and caused the
trains electrical systems to malfunction
the breakdowns led to dozens of trains being cancelled causing misery for
passengers in the busy pre christmas period
boxing pacquiao to fight clottey at cowboys stadium
los angeles jan afp
filipino superstar manny pacquiao march fight against ghana joshua
clottey will be held at cowboys stadium the billion dollar state of the art
home of the nfl dallas cowboys us media reported saturday
espn com reported that cowboys owner jerry jones closed the deal with top rank
promotions chief bob arum on sunday afternoon after arum had attended the
cowboys nfl playoff victory over philadelphia at the stadium on saturday night
jones had put the facility forward as venue for the anticipated fight between
pacquiao and unbeaten american floyd mayweather
that super fight fell through for good last week over disagreement on the drug
testing protocol and arum lined up clottey for pacquaio world boxing
organization welterweight title defense
jones said he was thrilled to host bout involving fighter of pacquaio
stature regardless of his opponent and even if the fight with clottey won be
the mega money spinner that pacquiao mayweather promised to be
never got into the nfl or bought the cowboys for the money jones told
espn com was lucky enough to already have some
this is about having fighter like manny and an event like this in our venue
when we finished the deal was shaking as much as was when we beat the
eagles just as excited
jones said the stadium won be configured for maximum seating capacity
they ll start out planning in the seat range
but that one of the great things about the stadium we can expand the
seating capacity as it warrants jones said
the hard hitting clottey who lives in new york is coming off controversial
split decision loss to puerto rico miguel cotto last june fight many
thought clottey won
cotto was then pounded by pacquiao in november in fight stopped in the final
round
the pacquiao mayweather bout which had been tentatively scheduled for march
in las vegas fell apart over the issue of pre fight anti doping blood tests
mayweather originally insisted they be conducted right up to the fight while
pacquiao wanted day cut off before the bout they were unable to reach
compromise
social democrat josipovic wins croatian presidency
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic who pledged to lead croatia into the european
union and crack down on corruption was elected president with over percent
of the vote official results showed monday
josipovic won percent of the vote in sunday election according to
official results released by the electoral commission the figures take into
account the results of percent of all polling stations the commission
said
josipovic lecturer in criminal law and classical music composer who has
enjoyed an untarnished political career vowed if elected president to wage an
uncompromising fight against corruption and to achieve zagreb goal of
joining the eu in
this was definitely referendum for croatian citizens whether we want
european modern croatia or another one mirando mrsic the head of josipovic
campaign team said after exit poll results tipped josipovic to win
the rival candidate populist zagreb mayor milan bandic ran on largely
similar platform but managed to secure only percent of the vote
commentators said the race between the bookish law professor and the outspoken
and devout catholic mayor had polarised croatians who felt they had to choose
between civil left or nationalism playing with right wing sentiments
modern or conservative croatia
josipovic election is certainly an important step towards boosting of ties
between zagreb and brussels radovan vukadinovic an international relations
expert told afp
he will try to make croatia country that can serve as an example to others in
the region that are aspiring to join the eu
the process of eu integration of the region thus gets an important new
dimension and provides possibility to develop even better ties with europe
he told afp
of the six republics that made up yugoslavia before it collapsed in series of
wars in the bosnia croatia macedonia montenegro serbia and slovenia
only the latter is an eu member
the fight against corruption is key challenge if croatia which joined nato
last year wants to succeed in its bid to join the european bloc and put the
trauma of the war further behind it
several investigations are under way into alleged graft at state run firms more
than dozen officials have already been detained
josipovic who will be croatia third president since its independence in
has also promised to try to help pull the country economy out of recession
unemployment is running at around percent and zagreb has forecast
contraction of up to percent in its economy for its external debt is
meanwhile nearly percent of gross domestic product
for all his campaign pledges the day to day running of croatia is largely in
the hands of conservative government led by prime minister jadranka kosor as
the president has limited powers
josipovic election was also hailed by croatian serb leader milorad pupovac
josipovic is the man that croatia needs to continue the fight against
corruption reform the judiciary and economy join the eu and settle relations
with the neighbours notably serbia pupovac was quoted by local media as
saying
ties between croatia and serbia have gradually improved since the war
during which the belgrade regime backed serb rebels
power back in quake hit northern california minor damage
san francisco jan afp
power returned to homes in northern california and cleanup of minor damage was
underway sunday after magnitude earthquake struck off the coast leaving no
victims
the quake whose epicenter was located miles kilometers west of ferndale
and miles kilometers northwest of sacramento was felt all the way in
the neighboring state of oregon to the north in reno nevada to the west and in
santa cruz in the south the us geological survey said
the coastal city of eureka home to inhabitants was most rattled by the
temblor along with neighboring humboldt hill and ferndale
officials sought to reassure worried locals sunday
we can say that most of the city came through pretty well eureka spokesman
gary bird told afp there were no reports of major injuries just scrapes and
bumps
engineers were working to assess damages and secure properties city building
was evacuated saturday and several others could present hazards
some windows were shattered shops were littered with toppled shelves and fallen
objects strewn across the floor while some ceilings cracked or crumbled under
the shock
some people lost power in the region but everything returned to normal
early sunday
david eisenhauer spokesman for pacific gas amp electric which services the
region said electricity was restored for all our customers
dozen aftershocks were felt overnight close to the quake epicenter
including one measuring on the open ended moment magnitude scale
the temblor occurred in an area known to seismologists as the mendocino triple
junction where three tectonic plates meet and cause frequent seismic events
it was the strongest in northern california since the earthquakes of and
both of which measured
social democrat josipovic elected croatian president official
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic was elected by wide margin croatia third
president since the country independence from the former yugoslavia in
official results showed early monday
josipovic took percent of the vote in sunday run off presidential
election while his rival populist zagreb mayor milan bandic garnered
percent the results from nearly all polling stations showed
josipovic law professor and classical music composer who has enjoyed an
untarnished political career has vowed an uncompromising fight against
corruption
croatia next president is expected to lead the country which has been hit
hard by the economic crisis into the european union zagreb hopes to join the
member bloc by
the fight against corruption is among key criteria for croatia eu bid
turnout was percent of croatia million registered voters some six
percentage points higher than in the december first round and just slightly
lower than in the presidential election
josipovic is succeeding the popular centrist stipe mesic who steps down on
february after serving his maximum two five year terms in office
the year old successfully guided the country to parliamentary democracy
after the authoritarian rule of independence leader franjo tudjman
and web hot trends in adult entertainment
las vegas nevada jan afp
mania stoked by stunning new television sets and the blockbuster film
avatar is being embraced by porn industry notorious for helping new
technologies access homes
bad girls in used an avn adult entertainment expo that ended sunday in las
vegas to unveil an unprecedented online library exclusively in the format and
first of kind turnkey digital viewing system
for several decades the adult entertainment industry has driven adoption of
every significant new entertainment delivery system the vhs home video craze
in the the satellite television mania in the and the present day
internet said bad girls producer lance johnson
and beyond will be all about
adult expo attendees wearing active shutter glasses grinned as they immersed
themselves in bad girls video displayed in on giant high definition
television
the firm package consists of inch centimeter television
compact computer server and shutter glasses that synch with the screen to trick
eyes into viewing in
the bad girls system is priced at dollars and subscription to the
online video library costs dollars month according to woman at the booth
that gave only her first name samantha
the potential of in adult entertainment was proven decades ago by soft
core film the stewardess which raked in million dollars in theaters
during the two years after its release in according to johnson
internet technologies were woven throughout an expo rife with with studios
promoting products barely clad talent signing autographs and posing for
pictures and even mechanical bull made into giant phallus
true companion sex robot named roxxxy priced in the thousands of dollars
debuted at the show and bone town was shown off as the world first action
adventure videogame
there are some virtual sex games out there but none that actually have
adventure and storyline to them said maximus baptist viii of bonetown com
corporation called the man inc is trying to shut down all the sex and drugs
so you have to help the people of bone town get rid of the man
the videogame can be played on consoles because the companies making them
target pg audience according to baptist
elsewhere on the show floor the hottrix company behind ibeer imunchies and
ibug applications for iphones touted an app sex shop devoted to lascivious
software for apple globally popular smartphones
we have way to bring adult content to the iphone without jail breaking
hacking or altering your iphone in any way said hottrix co owner steve august
apple would not allow us to use its app store so we came up with our own
more than two million applications most of them for adult videos or pictures
have been downloaded from the hottrix shop according to august
for the second year in row adult entertainment powerhouse pink visual saw
visits to its mobile video service soar after christmas as people turned on new
iphones and tapped into porn
mobile has saved our tail this year said pink distribution operations
manager kim kysar noting that the porn industry was not spared during the
economic turmoil
we took hit when everyone else took hit and mobile is making up the
difference for us
social networking trends are also being reflected with an online community
launched about year ago for adult entertainers and their fans
jamaican cleric back in kenya after deportation fails
nairobi jan afp
radical jamaican imam deported from kenya has returned to the east african
country after an airline refused to fly him to gambia he told press
conference by phone from prison on sunday
lawyers for abdullah al faisal who is on global terror watchlist and served
four years in british jail for inciting racial hatred located him at kenya
prison following his return
he was to be flown to gambia via nigeria but an airline in nigeria refused to
take him he said during the phone call which was arranged by his lawyers
was deported to the gambia but when reached nigeria an airline there
declined to fly me to gambia the year old said after his lawyers put the
call through loudspeaker for reporters to hear
was then returned to nairobi and now am here
kenya deported the cleric on thursday after an earlier attempt to do so had
failed
authorities had previously tried to deport him to neighbouring tanzania but dar
es salaam rejected the move and the controversial imam was sent back to nairobi
international airport on wednesday
one of his lawywers mbugua mureithi told reporters on sunday he planned to go
to court on monday morning to compel the government to release al faisal
muslim human rights executive director al amin kimathi said he is being held at
the industrial area gk prison
we don understand why he is there because he has never been charged in
court kimathi said
faisal was arrested on december shortly after attending prayers at mosque
in the coastal city of mombasa
police and immigration officials said at the time they arrested the imam for
violating immigration regulations by preaching
faisal was arrested in britain in after spending years urging his
audiences to kill jews hindus and westerners
social democrat josipovic elected croatian president official
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic was elected by wide margin croatia third
president since the country independence from the former yugoslavia in
official results showed early monday
josipovic took percent of the vote in sunday run off presidential
election while his rival populist zagreb mayor milan bandic garnered
percent the results from nearly all polling stations showed
urgent social democrat josipovic elected croatian president official
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic was elected by wide margin croatia third
president since the country independence from the former yugoslavia in
official results showed early monday
alert
social democrat josipovic elected croatian president official
rugby union clermont go top as they edge toulouse in thriller
paris jan afp
perennial chokers clermont went top of the top standings on sunday after
beating toulouse in thrilling encounter
clermont times beaten finalists in the championship final were behind for
most of the match in toulouse the hosts having scored two first half tries by
shaun sowerby and france winger vincent clerc
however minutes from time the visitors who rested several of their first
choice stars including aurelien rougerie struck with their only try of the
match by tasesa lavea which was converted by morgan parra
toulouse had their chances to win the match but the mercurially gifted frederic
michalak failed with last gasp penalty
clermont moved top courtesy of better points difference than previous leaders
castres while defensive bonus point saw toulouse move into third also on
better points difference above defending champions perpignan who have game in
hand
clermont captain julien pierre said that his side had answered their doubters
we felt that no one really believed in us and that with the european cup match
coming up next weekend we would let this one go he said
have to say that even when we were behind thought we would win
toulouse excitable manager guy noves was disappointed both by the result and
by the refereeing
it feels like we have had our hair pulled said noves
this referee was in charge of our match against toulon and that was pantomime
in itself with the two cards for dusautoir and nyanga
france international fly half lionel beauxis kicked points as stade francais
got welcome victory over another out of form french rugby giant biarritz
at the stade de france on saturday
beauxis was in imperious form as he converted the only try of the match by
centre mathieu bastareaud while biarritz former french international dimitri
yachvili kicked of his side points in what was scrappy encounter
on saturday castres golden run came to an abrupt halt as they lost away at
improving montpellier who gained the scalp of stade francais days ago
on friday perpignan had returned to winning ways after poor run with
win over racing metro
the catalan side bounced back from their recent european cup exit as they handed
racing metro second straight loss the club having last weekend seen nine
match winning streak ended by bourgoin
stade victory came after series of poor results and bastareaud admitted that
the pressure had been on
it has been bit hot and bit tense this week said bastareaud
we have to continue to pull together and work hard to get sixth place he
added referring to making the top six which at least gets them into the play
offs for the championship semi finals
in other matches toulon rebounded from their humbling last weekend by
clermont to beat montauban scoring two tries and with england star jonny
wilkinson scoring eight points with the boot
brive good run continued and took them further away from the relegation zone
as they followed up last sunday victory over perpignan with victory
england international back jamie noon scoring the second of the visitors tries
away at albi who look almost certain to be relegated
snooker ding and fu beaten at masters
london jan afp
china ding junhui and hong kong marco fu both suffered crushing first round
defeats in the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on sunday
ding lost to mark selby and fu went down to former world champion peter
ebdon
ding who last month won the uk championship snooker second most prestigious
tournament by beating world champion john higgins in the final was swept
aside as selby raced into lead
the most successful asian player in professional snooker history ding only
avoided the embarrassment of whitewash when selby failed to pot what would
have been the clinching ball in the sixth frame
that gave ding consolation frame before selby wrapped up the match in the
seventh
both the first two frames were relatively competitive with ding compiling
break of in the second only for mistake on the blue to let selby in
mark played very well ding told worldsnooker com missed some balls and
found it hard
had chances and tried to play better safety but mark was very good
everybody is good player here so you are sure to get tough draw
ding added commitments in china over the holiday period had cut across his
preparations for the masters
was busy in china played in chinese ranking tournament and did some
things for sponsors didn get back until january so only had four days
to practise ll be working hard now to be ready for the welsh open
barry hearn who made his name in the field of sports promotion as snooker great
steve davis manager has recently been installed as the head of the governing
body world snooker with the aim of boosting the sport flagging popularity in
its british heartland and cashing in on its global appeal
this year at the masters the players are walking out to theme tunes as now
happens at many leading events in darts sport where hearn is widely credited
for helping revive spectator and television interest
selby who walked out to underdog song by rock band kasabian who come from
his hometown of leicester central england was envious of ding choice of eye
of the tiger best known as the theme music from the rocky boxing films
starring sylvester stallone
the music was great it pumps you up and gets you involved selby told the
bbc would have liked to have ding tune though as would have come out
with boxing gloves and towel
fu won the first two frames against ebdon and was looking good in the third but
missed brown which let the englishman in for frame winning break of
ebdon renowned for his safety play fought back and following scrappy fifth
frame was in front
from then on ebdon found his touch with succession of fluent breaks and might
have finished the match with century before missing pink
selby will now face either higgins or mark allen in the quarter finals with
ebdon up against the winner of the match between ronnie sullivan and
australia neil robertson
there was to be no fairytale return for vastly popular wildcard jimmy white who
was seeking his first masters title years since he won the tournament
however the powers of the whirlwind have been inreasingly on the wane and
becalmed white went out to mark king
snooker masters results
london jan afp
results from the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on sunday
