after marathon six year trial he was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment only to be pardoned and set free by his successor gloria arroyo
at the end of the day it still politics talking and these warlords will not
go down quietly casiple said
one judge had already backed out from the explosive case saying he feared for
his life there have also been calls from prosecutors for the justice department
to ensure the safety of witnesses
in report to congress defending martial law arroyo said those massacred bore
marks of despicable torture contempt and outrageous torment
relatives of the victims said they hoped for swift trial but were also
prepared for drawn out legal battle
believe we will get speedy trial said myrna reblando whose husband
alejandro was among the journalists slain those of us who are left behind
however are prepared to fight for justice however long it may take
ampatuan snr had controlled maguindanao province for most of the past decade and
was grooming his son to take his place as governor in national elections in may
ampatuan snr influence and power grew because arroyo allowed him to maintain
strong heavily armed militia as part of government strategy to contain
muslim separatist insurgents in the south
in exchange for the support ampatuan also helped deliver votes from the
province to arroyo and her candidates in the election allegedly through
cheating
the shocking crime forced her to cut political ties with the clan but critics
say the ampatuans may still hold enough political power to avoid the penalties
many believe they deserve
football african nations cup winners
luanda jan afp
list of previous african nations cup winners ahead of the edition in angola
from january to january
previous champions
egypt
egypt
ethiopia
ghana
ghana
zaire now democratic republic of congo
sudan
congo
zaire
morocco
ghana
nigeria
ghana
cameroon
egypt
cameroon
algeria
ivory coast
nigeria
south africa
egypt
cameroon
cameroon
tunisia
egypt
egypt
football african nations cup seeds
luanda jan afp
seeds for african nations cup from january to january in angola
group
angola mali algeria malawi
group
ivory coast ghana togo burkina faso
group
egypt nigeria benin mozambique
group
cameroon tunisia zambia gabon
note hosts angola and title holders egypt were automatic first seeds and
performances in previous three editions of competition determined other
placings
football african nations cup venues
luanda jan afp
venues for african nations cup from january to january in angola
luanda
cidade universitaria stadium capacity
fixtures group group quarter final semi final final
the flagship venue and host of the opening game and final built as with the
other venues by the chinese the cidade universitaria is modern bold design
home of several angolan sides including petro atletico and benfica
cabinda
chimandela stadium capacity
fixtures group group quarter final
with its curvy design the roof of this brand new stadium in huila in this
northern province evokes the waves lapping up on the coast from the nearby
atlantic
benguela
complexo da sr da graca stadium capacity
fixtures group group quarter final semi final third place play off
set amidst former vast banana plantation the oval white and steel stadium is
open on wide side to give panoramic view of the ocean it is the second
largest after luanda
lubango
alto da chela stadium capacity
fixtures group group quarter final
at an estimated cost of million dollars the colourful alto da chela is the
smallest of the four angolan venues the site at an altitude of is
former shanty town which is due for massive makeover
football african nations set to have premier impact
london jan afp
the african nations cup is due to have major impact upon events at both ends
of the english premier league table
leaders chelsea have seen ivory coast forwards didier drogba and salomon kalou
as well as ghana midfielder michael essien and nigeria john obi mikel all
depart for angola where the competition starts on sunday
chelsea italian boss carlo ancelotti already has one of the best equipped
squads in england lucrative top flight and if needed can ask the blues
billionaire owner roman abramovich to bankroll some new signings during the
january transfer window
however after overseeing holders chelsea fa cup win over watford which
featured two goals from year old striker daniel sturridge his first for the
london club since pre season move from manchester city ancelotti said
think that we can do good january good performances without the african
players
there have been seasons where arsenal now four points off top spot would have
had as many players on african nations cup duty as london rivals chelsea
this time around the gunners will only be without ivory coast defender emmanuel
eboue and cameroon midfielder alex song
even so with robin van persie and johan djourou both long term injuries
arsenal manager arsene wenger would rather his squad was not disrupted by
tournament which unlike the world cup or european championships takes place
while the english season is in progress
on occasions the players come back affected by negative experience wenger
said
however wenger reduced his african nations cup worries with the pre season sale
of both the ivory coast kolo toure and togo emmanuel adebayor to premier
league big spenders manchester city
they play the african nations cup every two years and believe that when you
have too many players who go in january it is big problem arsenal french
manager explained
if any premier league side is likely to be adversely affected by the tournament
it is basement club portsmouth
the cash strapped south coast side are four points adrift at the bottom of the
table and such is their dire financial position portsmouth have had transfer
embargo slapped upon them by the premier league
in the midst of all their other problems pompey are set to lose four players to
the african nations cup in ivory coast international aruna dindane algeria duo
nadir belhadj and hassan yebda and nigeria veteran kanu
frustrated portsmouth boss avram grant said don know why fifa allow this
don know why they have the african cup of nations in january
the players go two weeks before and need one or two weeks afterwards to
recover the israeli added
we pay lot of money especially the big teams to players who are not with us
for two months the former chelsea manager insisted think fifa need to
think about this
quake in south atlantic near sandwich islands usgs
washington jan afp
major magnitude earthquake struck the southern atlantic ocean early
tuesday east of south georgia and the south sandwich islands sparsely
populated british territory us monitor said
the quake struck at am gmt in waters kilometers miles
east of bristol island part of an chain inhabited mainly by scientists on
series of bases the us geological survey reported
the earthquake about kilometers miles east of the falkland
islands occurred at depth of kilometers six miles according to usgs
the pacific tsunami warning center issued an alert stating there was no threat
of destructive widespread tsunami but warned there is the small possibility
of local or regional tsunami that could affect coasts near the epicenter
football coast favoured as nations cup launches african feast
luanda jan afp
the african football feast begins sunday in angola with the nations cup
serving as tempting starter ahead of the multi flavoured world cup main
course
only hosts south africa of the six world cup qualifiers from africa will be
missing and algeria cameroon ghana ivory coast and nigeria are expected to
make the nations cup knockout phase
add defending champions egypt and hosts angola and the list of likely african
champions is complete for the first nations cup to be staged in portuguese
speaking country since its inception years ago
didier drogba inspired ivory coast are the darlings of the media and for the
second consecutive tournament carry the favourites tag into day
extravaganza scheduled for capital luanda plus benguela cabinda and lubango
after trampling all before them two years ago in ghana the ivorians came
horribly unstuck in the semi finals against title holders egyptians who won
with amr zaki scoring twice
bosnian coach vahid halilhodzic has been busy lately dampening ivory coast
expectations warning that while his star sprinkled squad makes for impressive
reading the total impact is often less than the sum of the parts
drogba who has hinted that angola will be his nations cup swansong says the
arrogance and complacency of the squad must be eradicated if the ivorians
are to win the tournament second time
we will treat every opponent with respect humility and seriousness there is
no room for complacency like in ghana no game is won in advance warned the
year old chelsea goal machine
ivory coast are in an all west africa group with ghana burkina faso and togo
and it would be shock if the two world cup qualifiers failed to stamp their
authority
without nations cup title since ghana have been ravaged by injuries with
central defenders john pantsil and john mensah and midfielders stephen appiah
and laryea kingston ruled out
and serb coach milovan rajevac axed midfielder sulley muntari for ill discipline
so the always demanding workload for box to box chelsea workaholic michael
essien just got few kilograms heavier
togo boast manchester city striker emmanuel adebayor and the pick of the burkina
faso line up is moumouni dagano qatar based striker and leading scorer in the
qualifying competition with goals
champions record six times egypt are another side staggering from pre
tournament blows with playmaker mohamed aboutraika fellow midfielders mohamed
barakat and mohamed shawky and zaki ruled out by injury
no country has won the nations cup three consecutive times and while the
pharaohs seem set to finish among the top two in group completed by nigeria
benin and mozambique it is difficult to imagine them going all the way again
nigeria coach shaibu amodu boosted by successful late fitness tests on everton
defender joseph yobo and wolfsburg striker obafemi martins has been told to
reach the semi finals or face some sombre music
in truth only first title for the nigerian super eagles since may save
the coach amid rumours of unhappiness among his assistants over some squad
selections like ring rusty reserve goalkeeper austin ejide
the advantages of playing at home should propel angola into the last eight from
group with algeria and mali contesting the other place and malawi looking too
limited to compete successfully at this level
celebrated portuguese coach manuel jose has set quarter finals target for the
angolan palancas negras black antelopes but tradition suggests they could go
further with just four of hosts failing to reach the last four
cameroon transformed team under the strict but fair leadership of french
coach paul le guen appear stronger than group rivals gabon tunisia and
zambia and even good enough to claim fifth title
talismanic striker samuel eto revels in the extra responsibility of being made
captain and veteran defender rigobert song refusing to sulk after losing the
armband and team place won back slot in the starting line up
football afp african nations cup advisory
paris jan afp
we will shortly begin to file our first series of advancers on the african
nations cup which begins in angola on sunday
our preview includes profiles and factfiles on all qualifiers portraits of
all the major stars plus comprehensive package of background information and
all the breaking news
from friday three days before the curtain raiser in luanda between the hosts
and mali afp will have its experienced team of reporters and photographers in
place
they will be providing in depth coverage of each game up to the january final
as well as reporting on all the excitement and drama surrounding this biennial
event
we will also be supplying full video and graphics service throughout the three
week competition
we will shortly move the following
fbl afr preview
the african football feast begins sunday in angola with the nations cup
serving as tempting starter ahead of the multi flavoured world cup main
course
words by david legge
fbl afr eng pr
the african nations cup could have major impact upon events at both ends of
the english premier league table
words by julian guyer
fbl afr venues
fbl afr seeds
fbl afr winners
fbl afr fixtures
fbl afr rules
fbl afr qualifying facts
fbl afr gpa ang facts
fbl afr gpa mli facts
fbl afr gpa alg facts
fbl afr gpa maw facts
fbl afr gpa ang profile
fbl afr gpa mli profile
fbl afr alg profile
fbl afr maw profile
fbl afr ang star
fbl afr mli star
fbl afr alg star
fbl afr maw star
fbl afr ang coach
fbl afr mli coach
fbl afr alg coach
fbl afr maw coach
tennis brisbane international results first update
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the third day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
tuesday denotes seed
first round
men
carsten ball aus bt mischa zverev ger
tomas berdych cze bt nick lindahl aus
oleksandr dolgopolov jr ukr bt bernard tomic aus
marcos baghdatis cyp bt mardy fish usa
james blake usa bt sam querrey usa
matthew ebden aus bt jurgen melzer aut
second round
women
andrea petkovic ger bt vania king usa
melinda czink hun bt barbora zahlavova strycova cze
kim clijsters bel bt alica molik aus
dollar edges down in asia
tokyo jan afp
the dollar remained under pressure in asian trade on tuesday as renewed market
optimism spurred demand for currencies seen as well placed to benefit from an
economic recovery
the dollar fell to yen in tokyo afternoon trade down from in new
york late monday the euro rose to dollars from but dropped to
yen from yen
the tokyo market took its cue from new york where the greenback was sold
overnight as traders took profits on its recent climb said jitsuo tachibana
senior manager in the foreign exchange division of sumitomo trust bank
positive us and chinese manufacturing data released on monday bolstered hopes
the worst of the economic global slump is over encouraging investors to seek
out riskier but higher yielding currencies than the us unit
the us institute for supply management said its purchasing managers index rose
to percent in december from percent in november fifth consecutive
expansion and well above forecasts for percent
manufacturing in china continued to expand in december with new factory orders
up for the ninth month in row according to survey by hsbc china
after the pace of global expansion in manufacturing activity cooled in november
it has accelerated again in the final month of raising hopes that growth
in will be much better than last year nab capital analysts wrote in
note
this has buoyed stock markets pushed commodity prices higher and increased the
likelihood that global economic growth will continue to exceed that in the us by
comfortable margin weighing on the greenback
the market was turning its attention to key monthly jobs data due out in the
united states on friday that are seen as crucial indicator of the health of
the world largest economy
trading is expected to be rangebound for the rest of the day as market players
are now trying to factor in forecasts for us payrolls figures to be released
later this week sumitomo trust bank tachibana said
many investors are hoping the us economy will finally stop shedding jobs in
december after months of hefty losses
the dollar was softer against asian currencies falling to south korean
won from on monday to thai baht from and to
indonesian rupiah from
it declined to taiwan dollars from to singapore dollars from
and to philippine pesos from
urgent quake in south atlantic near sandwich islands usgs
washington jan afp
major magnitude earthquake struck the southern atlantic ocean early
tuesday east of south georgia and the south sandwich islands sparsely
populated british territory the usgs said
china zoo keeper killed by lion state media
beijing jan afp
worker at wildlife park in central china was attacked and killed by an
african lion while he was cleaning out her cage state media reported tuesday
the year old worker identified only by his surname ming was attacked by the
lion at the nanhai wildlife park in the city of madian in henan province on
thursday the beijing youth daily reported
ming had only been at his job for four days when the attack occurred it said
yang yang the nine year old african lion has been placed under quarantine as
an investigation into the incident is conducted the report said
in november police in northeast china shot dead two siberian tigers after the
animals severely mauled worker at wildlife park in liaoning province
report said at the time
due to lack of funds and customers at the park the tigers were in state of
starvation at the time of the attack it said
alert
major quake in south atlantic near south sandwich islands usgs
basketball yao ming to become father
shanghai jan afp
the wife of nba centre yao ming is expecting their first child sending netizens
into frenzy of hope for new generation to lead china basketball team in
the future
the news that ye li is pregnant is true yao ming and his wife would like to
thank all those who are showing concern yao china based spokesman zhang chi
told afp
he declined to give further information citing the need for relaxed
environment for china most famous basketballing couple to complete the most
important thing in their lives
according to the beijing news the year old houston rocket out for the
season as he recovers from foot injury is expected to become father in
july no decision has been made on where the baby will be born
both yao and his wife once centre on china women national basketball
team are the offspring of professional athletes they reportedly married at
the request of sports officials in their hometown of shanghai
ever since the metre seven foot six inch yao married his metre wife
in speculation has run rampant as to when their first baby would be born
popular internet portal sina com said
as both yao and his wife were born in the and are only children the
couple will be allowed to give birth to two children under china recently
relaxed one child family planning policy the report said
we hope that yao ming and ye li will go further and raise more pillars of the
next generation of chinese basketball it said
in sina com online poll percent of more than people voting said
that yao child was likely to grow taller than metres while percent
said the baby would grow taller than metres
yao and his wife returned to china late last year to do promotional work for the
shanghai world expo and to launch the season of the shanghai sharks
professional chinese basketball club that yao recently purchased
korea looks to boost failed trade zone
seoul jan afp
north korea has upgraded the status of free trade zone near its border with
china and russia as it looks to boost foreign investment state media said
tuesday
the move is also seen by analysts as further attempt by pyongyang to reassert
government control of the faltering economy more than month after north korea
drastically revalued its currency
three weeks ago north korean leader kim jong il reportedly visited the
northeastern city of rason formerly rajin sonbong which became special
economic zone in but never fulfilled its proposed role as transport hub
rason city was designated as municipality in decree issued by the
presidium of the supreme people assembly parliament the official korean
central news agency said
the cabinet and relevant organs shall take practical measures to implement the
decree it said
analysts say the move to upgrade the zone to municipality reflects pyongyang
fresh drive to revitalise the area through cooperation with china and russia
north korea and russia have agreed to renovate cross border railway and port
facilities in rason china has also been actively exploring investment
opportunities in the city
it is an expression of north korea will to attract foreign investment and
also to strengthen ties especially with china seoul dongguk university
professor kim yong hyun told afp
but the isolated communist country will be cautious in opening its doors to the
outside world without progress in efforts to improve relations with the united
states analysts say
in policy setting new year joint editorial the north state newspapers
called for an end to hostile relations with washington vowing to work towards
nuclear free peninsula
the north left six party nuclear disarmament talks in april last year followed
by its second nuclear test
the move is also seen as part of north korea desperate attempt to boost
supply following its currency reform kim said
on november the north knocked two zeroes off its currency for one
revaluation and restricted the amount of old notes that could be changed for
new
the surprise currency reform followed by ban on the use of foreign currency
from january was aimed at clamping down on free market activity to reassert
government control of the faltering economy
free markets sprang up after the state food distribution system collapsed during
famines in the
golf embattled tiger welcome back in australia officials
melbourne jan afp
australian officials tuesday said scandal hit golfer tiger woods was welcome
back any time after his november visit delivered million dollar million
us boost to the local economy
victoria state government made the comments after number of high profile
sponsors dropped the world number one following revelations over string of
extra marital affairs
we have made it clear that tiger is welcome to come play golf any time in
victoria tourism and events minister tim holding said
he has obviously made some announcements about his golfing future we respect
that and we respect his privacy
woods drew thousands of fans as he swept to victory at november australian
masters his last tournament before mysterious florida car crash brought the
affairs to light and prompted him to take break from golf
victorian taxpayers forked out million australian dollars to lure the
megastar to melbourne but were rewarded by million dollar fillip in ticket
sales hotel and restaurant bookings and taxi and retail receipts
swiss watchmaker tag heuer and gillette have both dropped woods from ad
campaigns while consulting firm accenture ended six year sponsorship deal
australian media have said woods alleged mistress rachel uchitel was also in
melbourne during the masters tournament
afp sports schedule for tuesday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for tuesday january
tennis
roger federer and rafael nadal are top seeds at the qatar open while kim
clijsters is top seed at the brisbane international as the build up to the
australian open continues
atp also at brisbane and chennai wta at auckland
hopman cup continues in perth
slugs tennis atp qat tennis atp wta aus tennis atp ind tennis wta nzl
tennis hopman aus
cricket
third day of the third test between south africa and england in cape town with
the visitors resuming on behind the hosts first innings total of
coverage by colin bryden
india sri lanka at dhaka in the second odi of three nation tournament which
also includes bangladesh
slugs cricket rsa eng cricket ind sri
rallying
fourth stage of the dakar rally is km special from fiambala to copiapo
coverage by joris fioriti
slug auto moto rally dakar
us overhauls terror watchlists
washington jan afp
the united states revamped its terror watchlists monday as president barack
obama readied for talks with his intelligence and national security chiefs on
foiled attack on us bound jet
tougher screening procedures for all us bound air travelers also swung into
effect at airports around the world prompting complaints by some countries that
they were unfair
obama who has denounced systemic intelligence failures in the christmas day
bombing attempt was scheduled to meet tuesday with us intelligence chiefs on
findings of two reviews into nigerian man attempt to bring down the
jetliner
an administration official told afp the president would unveil an initial
series of reforms following the meeting
the talks in the secure white house situation room will focus on ongoing reviews
of the botched attack on northwest flight as it approached detroit as well as
boosted security measures and improved intelligence sharing for us national
security and counterterrorism operations
white house spokesman bill burton said safety and security measures are moving
forward even as the review goes on in bid to plug security gaps
there already been rescrubbing of all the different lists he told
reporters referring to the us government broader watchlists of names of
persons with suspected terrorist ties as well as the narrower no fly list of
those barred from boarding us bound flight
probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and
probably dozens were moved to different lists
obama has directly linked the al qaeda network responsible for the september
attacks on the united states to the botched bid to blow up the
northwest jet with people on board
umar farouk abdulmutallab year old nigerian is alleged to have tried to
detonate explosives sewn in his underwear as the plane was approaching to land
but was overpowered by passengers on the flight from amsterdam
the administration ordered tight new security measures for us bound passengers
including random patdowns and baggage checks
travelers flying from or via countries including cuba iran nigeria and
yemen will have to undergo mandatory enhanced screening before boarding their
us bound flights under the new rules
the draconian measures drew protests from some of the countries singled out
it is unfair to discriminate against over million people because of the
