to move to the top of the english premier league table on saturday
tuqiri former australia international in both league and union joined the
tigers in november after an alleged code of conduct breach put paid to his
cap career with the wallabies which yielded test tries
the dynamic back scored twice in the second half as leicester who cleared
more than tonnes of snow from their welford road ground pulled clear from
their old rivals in the only one of this weekend premiership matches to
survive the big freeze engulfing britain
playing behind pack like ours is sensational and it was tremendous to get
the tries after being here for seven weeks tuqiri said
this is one great club and already having good time even with this
weather he added
leicester bonus point win left them point clear of saracens
they were behind shortly before the break following an early try from mark
van gisbergen and danny cipriani penalty
but they hit back on the stroke of half time through johne murphy try
converted by toby flood
then came tuqiri double and penalty try with england fly half flood kicking
points in all in match where leicester victory was built on dominant
display at the scrum
am so proud because we ve beaten very fine team after working so hard all
week to get the game on said leicester coach richard cockerill
on average we do scrums week but ve played in france and we have
some argentine guys here so our scrummaging experience is good the former
england front row added
meanwhile cockerill wasps counterpart tony hanks was happy with the display of
danny cipriani out of favour with england manager martin johnson in the
talented back preferred position of fly half even though the playmaker spurned
kick at goal which could have extended the visitors lead
was pleased with danny cipriani performance at fly half said hanks
he is back to good form and while it was bit ambitious not taking that
penalty in the first half when we led that is now the reason we go home
empty handed
worryingly for england ahead of johnson announcement next week of his squad
for the upcoming six nations wasps veteran test lock simon shaw suffered
knee injury
simon shaw suffered hyper expansion of the knee so we took him off as
precaution hanks explained
football fergie fury over fletcher red card
birmingham england jan afp
sir alex ferguson was furious with referee mark clattenburg after darren
fletcher was sent off for two bookings in saturday draw at birmingham
clattenburg dismissed fletcher with six minutes to play at st andrews after the
scotland midfielder who had already been booked for first half foul on lee
bowyer tripped birmingham striker cameron jerome
united held on for draw that moves them within one point of leaders chelsea
but united boss ferguson was unhappy that clattenburg punished relatively
minor infringement by fletcher
haven seen softer sending off for long time it absolutely
ridiculous ferguson told espn
ve watched clattenburg this season and in the arsenal tottenham game you
had to have someone hit with an axe before he booked anyone then here he sends
off fletcher it was very soft
but there were some wonderful weird decisions out there the linesman flagged
for offside for our goal and it was an own goal
ferguson insisted he had no complaints with united display even though his
side wasted chance to overtake chelsea at the top of the table
we played so well in the first half so to lose goal right on half time makes
it difficult because this is hard place to come at the moment but we had the
experience to come back ferguson said
they work so hard and make it difficult for you we have to be satisfied with
point especially as we ended with men
it is tough league it not going to be easy to win it teams like
birmingham have improved lot
birmingham manager alex mcleish has down fantastic job he has got his
players running miles for him he has to take great credit for that
mcleish side have now set club record of matches unbeaten in the top
flight and the birmingham manager said that was another fantastic performance
from our lads proud of the players it is wonderful journey up to this
point
the spirit we have in the dressing room is very powerful these guys have
spirit that far outweighs their individual ability it is as good as any have
ever seen
we could have won it in the end if cameron had taken care of pass that would
have given christian benitez sure tap in
football united scrape birmingham draw
birmingham england jan afp
alex mcleish came desperately close to inflicting defeat upon former manager
sir alex ferguson as birmingham city drew at home to english champions
manchester united here on saturday
victory would have seen united go top of the premier league with leaders
chelsea not in action this weekend after their match against hull was one of
several fixtures to fall victim to the freezing conditions affecting britain
the result was made worse for united by the sight of scotland midfielder darren
fletcher being sent off late on at st andrews
cameron jerome put birmingham now club record top flight games unbeaten
ahead in the th minute before scott dann second half own goal prevented the
blues from beating united for the first time in years
mcleish who played in the trophy winning aberdeen side of the early
managed by ferguson claimed before kick off his former boss had mellowed with
age and no longer threw too many tea cups
but it would have been no surprise if the floor of the visitors dressing room
had been covered in shards of pottery at half time after what must have been the
worst minutes produced by united side in several years
if ferguson was less than impressed with the performance of his team in the
shock fa cup defeat by third tier leeds seven days earlier this was worse when
you consider the scot had ripped up the starting xi from old trafford and made
no fewer than seven changes in an attempt to correct what he hoped mere blip
united were fortunate to only be solitary goal behind at the break after an
insipid minutes which highlighted how ineffective the champions can be
without cristiano ronaldo
the visitors created just one clear chance when joe hart saved superbly at the
feet of wayne rooney following antonio valencia yard diagonal pass
birmingham relentless endeavour and determination to frustrate united deserved
some kind of tangible reward just hours after mcleish collected the poisoned
chalice of the manager of the month award for december and it came six minutes
before the interval
lee bowyer sheer will to beat rafael to james mcfadden corner underlined
united tentative defensive work and that was compounded when johnny evans
instinctively stuck out leg and diverted the ball directly into the path of
jerome five yards out and the striker accepted the gift for his fifth goal of
the campaign
but for the poor awareness and execution of ecuador striker christian benitez
jerome could have doubled the lead moments later after his partner was unable to
find the correct pass in two on one situation
whatever ferguson said during the interval appeared to go unheeded and only
fine save from tomas kuszczak prevented benitez from putting birmingham in
front
it was key turning point and united without finding any fluency somehow
managed to fashion an equaliser
even then they needed the assistance of the unfortunate dann who did not
deserve to be the victim after sterling performance alongside roger johnson
at the heart of the blues defence
patrice evra fizzed centre back across the goal after johnson and bowyer had
thrown themselves into blocks on the edge of their own area
dann instinctively stuck out leg to prevent the cross reaching rooney at the
far post but succeeded only in turning the ball beyond hart and into his own
net
it was one of the few things that went right for ferguson in worrying
performance so soon after the leeds debacle and united display was summed up
when fletcher already booked for crude challenge on bowyer was dismissed
by referee mark clatternburg for second yellow card after foul on jerome
three minutes from time
financial sector much better but still fragile financial chief
basel switzerland jan afp
the financial stability board said saturday the situation in the financial
sector had improved but remained still very fragile
the situation is much better than one year ago said mario draghi governor of
the italian central bank and chairman of the fsb global watchdog made up of
senior representatives of national financial authorities
it improving but it has many fragilities he added at news conference at
bank for international settlements headquarters
the financial stability board which is working on number of steps to
strengthen the banking system and avert another financial crisis will present
its preliminary conclusions to group of nations in june draghi said
the group of major economies was established in to bring together
systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key
issues in the global economy
nfl seahawks set to hire carroll as new coach report
seattle washington jan afp
us college coach pete carroll may be headed back to the national football
league this time to be the head coach of the seattle seahawks espn reported on
saturday
carroll who has spent the past nine seasons coaching the university of southern
california is expected to be introduced by the seahawks on monday espn
reported on its website
seattle finished with record this season and fired had coach jim mora on
friday
the los angeles times is reporting that carroll would also be given the title of
club president
nothing is official but if carroll lands the job it would mean he beat out
minnesota assistant coach leslie frazier the seahawks have refused to comment
carroll has won two collegiate national championships in nine years at usc but
his nfl track record is not so glamorous
he was fired after one season as coach of the new york jets and after three
seasons at the helm of the new england patriots
italians evacuate migrants bring in police after clashes
rosarno italy jan afp
italy deployed extra police and evacuated migrants on saturday from southern
town after residents violently attacked african farm workers protesting against
their conditions
the clashes which began thursday left people injured in the calabrian town of
rosarno latest reports said but calm was generally restored saturday with
barricades erected by locals dismantled and shops open
the injured included foreigners the latest of whom was fired at with
shotgun on saturday as well as police officers and locals police said
buses with police escorts took immigrants from rosarno to the towns of crotone
kilometres miles away and bari around kilometres to the
northeast
locals applauded as the buses left rosarno and police said around more
immigrants had fled the town of their own accord
around foreigners have been evacuated to crotone and bari and other
immigrants will leave in the course of the night local police chief mario
morcone told afp
the situation in rosarno was slowly returning to normal he added
the italian authorities have said immigrants taking the special buses will not
be arrested even if they arrived in the country illegally
some of the immigrants who came to the region in their thousands to work on the
fruit harvest are fleeing despite being owed wages by their employers
francis year old from ghana said he was owed euros dollars but
was too frightened to stay if we don leave we will die he said we came
here to work and now people are shooting at us
the violence broke out thursday when hundreds of immigrants most of them
africans employed illegally demonstrated after some of them had been shot at
with air rifles ansa said
demonstrators set fire to cars and smashed windscreens before police intervened
leading to scuffle that left several of the demonstrators injured
on friday local residents set up roadblocks and occupied the town hall before
violence erupted once more
in separate incidents on friday two immigrants were beaten and seriously
wounded with iron bars media and officials said one of the wounded was
admitted to hospital for brain surgery
two other immigrants were hit in the legs with shotgun pellets and five more
were deliberately run over by vehicles driven by locals they said they
suffered minor injuries
interior minister roberto maroni member of the anti immigrant northern league
party said the tensions were result of too much tolerance towards
clandestine immigration
the right wing newspaper il giornale owned by the family of prime minister
silvio berlusconi agreed that illegal immigrants should be kept out
but it added once they are here they cannot be shamefully exploited and shot
at while they do work that our unemployed sneer at
priest luigi ciotti founder of the anti mafia association libera pointed
the finger at the ndrangheta the local criminal organisation which dominates
calabria
according to italy main trade union cgil about immigrant workers in
italy live in poor conditions similar to those in rosarno being housed in
insalubrious huts without running water
it said immigrants employed as farm labourers earned low wages of around euro
dollars day
one employer pasquale giovinazzo ans justified the low wages saying the
african workers were less experienced than italians
around immigrants in lived in disused factory in rosarno sleeping on
mattresses surrounded by piles of shoes and dirty clothes
the union also accused the mafia of controlling the sector and criticised
maroni statement saying immigrants were paid miserable salaries and have
terrible hours similar to slavery
bosnian charged with conspiracy to commit murder court
new york jan afp
bosnian arrested in new york in probe of potential al qaeda linked attack
in new york was charged saturday with conspiracy to commit murder abroad and
receiving military type training from al qaeda
adis medunjanin also known as mohammed pleaded not guilty to the two count
indictment
the charges held that he knowingly and intentionally conspire to commit one or
more acts outside the united states that would constitute the offenses of murder
and maiming
he also allegedly did knowingly and intentionally receive military type
training from and on behalf of foreign terrorist organization to wit al
qaeda the indictment said
medunjanin was arrested by fbi agents friday along with taxi driver zarein
ahmedzay both alleged associates of an afghan immigrant charged for an al
qaeda linked plot to bomb new york
ahmedzay was charged friday with making false statements to the fbi
the charges against medunjanin were given in brooklyn federal court and
bail hearing was scheduled for january
the pair is said to be associates of najibullah zazi colorado man accused
of buying chemicals and planning bombing spree around last year anniversary
of the september attacks
president barack obama has repeatedly singled out the zazi investigation as
proof that us intelligence is in fact doing good job against an increasingly
multi headed foe
however it was not immediately clear how much of breakthrough in the zazi
probe the arrests would prove
zazi who is also being held in detention pending trial in brooklyn is accused
of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction little detail has been
revealed by the authorities about what he allegedly plotted
the indictment against ahmedzay does not accuse him of terrorism or taking part
in the alleged plot against new york but lying to investigators
ahmedzay attorney michael marinaccio said his client who says he is
naturalized us citizen is accused of having lied about whether he knew whether
john doe went to pakistan for military training
ahmedzay made trips to afghanistan and pakistan in and was questioned by
the fbi in marinaccio said he has family in both countries
john doe the legal term used when real name cannot be made public
appears to refer to zazi who allegedly received training from group linked to
al qaeda while he was in pakistan
but to infer that ahmedzay was part of terrorist plot would be stretching
the charge against him marinaccio said
the new york times reported that both ahmedzay and medunjanin had participated
in zazi pakistan trip making them prime suspects in the unfolding bomb plot
probe it said the trio attended the same new york high school
according to us media reports medunjanin was arrested after car accident he
reportedly tried to flee fbi agents who were trailing him they had earlier gone
to his house with search warrant and confiscated his passport
the only other people charged in the alleged zazi plot are zazi father and
new york imam both of them also accused of lying to the fbi but not terrorism
prosecutors say zazi traveled to new york with bomb making instructions in
laptop he also allegedly shopped for large quantities of chemicals found in
beauty products that could have been the ingredients for explosives
few other details about his alleged activities have been made public
oil talks fail between russia belarus news agencies
minsk jan afp
belarus and russia failed saturday to overcome their dispute over oil supplies
but they remain willing to keep talking belarussian government spokesman
said quoted by russian news agencies
the belarussian and russian delegations have again failed to reach compromise
solution and to sign documents on conditions for oil deliveries to belarus
said the spokesman quoted by the ria novosti news agency
nevertheless the two sides expressed their willingness to continue talks he
said after representatives from the two nations met for several hours saturday
in moscow
moscow and minsk previously failed to agree terms for on new year eve
and fears have been raised that energy supplies to europe could be affected as
belarussia is key transit country for russian oil
three years ago another dispute between moscow and minsk led to the brief
closure of pipeline through belarus which carries around third of russia
total oil exports to europe
deputy prime minister vladimir samachko was part of belarus negotiating team
on saturday and his presence in moscow had raised hopes that deal might be
struck
quoting the belarussian government press service the interfax news agency said
the belarussian delegates set out their position backed up by data only for
the russians to ignore their arguments
belarus which earns income from refining and reselling russian crude oil
is opposing russian customs duty on oil that went into effect on new year
day
moscow says the dispute will have no impact on deliveries of russian oil to
europe which is enduring one of its toughest winters in years
earlier on saturday russian news agencies citing an anonymous russian expert
said moscow proposed customs duty exemption for oil intended for belarus
own domestic use
belarus would thus get million tonnes of crude oil tax free for its own
consumption representing savings of billion dollars year based on
levy of dollars per tonne
by dragging out the talks the belarussian side could lose these advantages
the expert was quoted as saying
chevron pipeline attacked in nigeria
lagos jan afp
nigeria main rebel armed group in the restive oil producing nigeri delta on
saturday said it had hand in an attack on chevron crude oil pipeline which
forced shut in of barrels day
this attack was sanctioned by mend but did not involve our fighters the
leading militant group the movement for the emancipation of the niger delta
mend said in statement
the attack on friday took place at makaraba about kilometres miles
southwest of warri one of the main cities of delta state
chevron spokesman scott walker confirmed the attack telling afp chevron
nigeria limited confirms that there was breach on its makaraba utonana
pipeline in delta state nigeria on friday january
the sabotage led to shut in of production of about bpd from the
makaraba and utonana platforms to protect the environment said walker from
houston texas
violence had subsided in the months after an amnesty offer declared by the
government of president umaru yar adua in july last year
the attack is the second known following the laying down of arms by thousands of
militants in the delta under the government unconditional pardon
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for local
communities had since staged attacks on oil installations in the niger
delta playing havoc with output and international oil prices
the attack exposes the continued vulnerability of the oil industry
infrastructure and the resolve of the people of the niger delta to fight for
their land mend said in an email statement signed by its spokesman jomo gbomo
at the peak of the unrest nigeria the world eighth largest exporter of crude
saw its output slashed by third
but government amnesty deal declared mid had seen lull in attacks and
rise in nigeria oil output to around two million barrels per day according to
government statistics
bomb explodes outside greek parliament
athens jan afp
an explosive device went off outside the greek parliament in athens on saturday
but no one was injured and no damage was immediately reported police said
the explosion around pm gmt was preceded by telephone call to the
eleftherotypia newspaper warning of the blast
police evacuated the area around the site where passers by normally stroll close
to the monument of the fallen soldiers guarded by the presidential evzones
guards
the explosive went off minutes after the call little less than the time
given by the anonymous caller
the device which was fitted with timer was hidden in garbage bin few
metres yards from an evzones sentry box
anti terrorism officers were investigating the attack the first to target the
centre of greek democracy which police blamed on extreme left militants or
anarchists
greece has been rocked by string of attacks against economic interests and
offices of politicians since youth was killed by police officer in december
in the last such attack which caused extensive damage greece largest
insurance company ethniki asfalistiki was hit in athens on december
it was claimed by anarchist group conspiracy of the cells of fire which is seen
responsible for dozens of such attacks against offices and homes of political
leaders
in september last year police found hide out of the group in an athens suburb
and arrested six suspects
another group revolutionary struggle ea has been active for the last six
years and is blacklisted by the european union as terrorist organisation
ea claimed an attack on the athens stock exchange in september which caused no
injuries
tennis nadal shocked by mr invisible davydenko again
doha jan afp
rafael nadal who not so long ago was dominating the men tour is still
without title for more than eight months after an astonishing defeat in the
final of the qatar open here on saturday
nadal failed to convert two second set match points in
loss to nikolay davydenko known as mr invisible which will once again
raise the question whether he has the confidence to fight his way back to the
pinnacle
little more than week before he begins the defence of his australian open
title nadal also let slip final set lead and retreated into more
defensive and containing patterns which contributed significantly to the
courageous davydenko revival
maybe needed to be bit more calm nadal said about the second match point
which got away but probably that because have not won tournament for so
many months
in this tournament came back to play my best tennis for long time claimed
nadal making the best of his disappointment
anyway lost today saturday he played unbelievable tennis he was just
better
for three quarters of an hour this had looked impossible
during that phase the russian began uncertainly nadal imposed flatter
hitting earlier taken more enterprising attack which he had been employing
previously this week and had romped through seven games without reply
when davydenko began to play more as he had against roger federer in the semi
finals taking the initiative wherever possible hitting stridently and if
necessary finishing the rally in the forecourt nadal fought back aggressively
from down and looked odds on to close the match out in the tie break
on one of his match points at davydenko played just too well but on the
second at nadal earned himself relatively pressure free hit on the
forehand from inside the baseline and unaccountably put it into the net
once he had also let slip an early break of serve in the final set nadal lack
of confidence born from injury long sequence without title and doubts
about his future began to reveal itself
he retreated more often into what he knew best the style in which he contains
his opponent attacks from several feet behind the baseline relying on
mobility tenacity and change of paced winners from counter hitting positions
but on hard courts that can be risky ploy against so fine striker of the
ball as davydenko who had the ability to fashion quick winners from either wing
and to apply finishing volley confidently when required
he had after all won the last four of their previous meetings on this surface
by the second half of the final set he was more often dominating the rallies and
dfter two hours and minutes of battling it no longer seemed surprise when
his turn around was complete
was just fighting never thought about winning didn think could
win claimed davydenko though this seemed more like his professional
psychology for taking each point as it came along
for every point was fighting and at the end it was just amazing
it made the man who has become known as mr invisible for having so low public
profile only the second player to beat both federer and nadal in the same
tournament twice the other is david nalbandian of argentina
it also raised the question now that he has his th title including the atp
world tour masters in london at the end of the season whether he can also
take away nadal australian open title
for three sets it really interesting davydenko answered predictably trying
to downplay his chances
there it will be five sets it different conditions here it degrees
cold and there it can be degrees
it ought to be the same but when you get there it always feels different but
have confidence so we will see
football ten man roma beat chievo to go fourth
rome jan afp
as roma survived the th minute sending off of goalkeeper doni to beat woeful
chievo and move up to fourth in serie on saturday
daniele de rossi scored the only goal of the game in the opening minute as
former italy striker luca toni made his debut following his loan move from
bayern munich
coach claudio ranieri paid tribute to his new striker who was only replaced
late on due to tiredness
hoped that toni would be as ready as this for the commitment of match he
played well and was great help to us he said
with against he would have run less but even so he managed to keep us
high up the pitch he created the chance for penalty he fought hard and won
many battles
but that roma managed to dominate match in which they played almost minutes
with numerical disadvantage said more about chievo ineptitude than their own
ability
however ranieri was relieved not to see the same late collapse that saw them
lose lead in injury time away to cagliari in midweek
we got very tense but it useless to remember that today given what happened
in sardinia we reacted well and stayed concentrated right until the final
whistle
they were off to flying start as de rossi headed home david pizarro corner
in the first minute
four minutes later toni should have opened his roma account but he flicked
rodrigo taddei inch perfect cross wide of the near post when it seemed easier
to hit the target
roma seemed to have shot themselves in the foot on minutes when centre backs
juan and nicolas burdisso left gaping hole for elvis abbruscato to steam
through onto luca rigoni through ball
doni who was only in the side after julio sergio was ruled out just before
kick off came charging out of his box and blocked abbruscato chip with his
arm earning straight red card
even so the visitors created little and de rossi curled free kick inches past
the post on minutes while three minutes later toni failed to get touch on
john arne riise fizzing volleyed cross from just few yards out
riise then teed up taddei on minutes but the brazilian bundled his back post
volley wide
ten minutes after the restart toni won his side penalty after crumpling in the
box under minimal pressure from davide mandelli but justice was served when
stefano sorrentino saved pizarro spot kick
still roma looked the more likely winners as marco cassetti met taddei cross
two yards from goal at the back post on minutes but as he stooped to head
the ball it dipped under his head and hit his chest before dribbling wide
champions and leaders inter milan were due to host basement sitters siena in the
day late game knowing victory would take them points clear at the top
for hours at least
the big game of the weekend will take place on sunday in turin as second placed
ac milan travel to face juventus one point and one place below them in serie
football chelsea the winners as united and arsenal are held
london jan afp
premier league leaders chelsea were the winners on saturday despite their match
being postponed as both their main rivals manchester united and arsenal dropped
points
chelsea whose match was one of seven to be postponed because of the bad
weather in england hold one point advantage over united with game in hand
after the defending champions were held away at in form birmingham city
arsenal have played the same amount of games as chelsea but are three
points adrift after coming away with fortunate home draw over everton
tomas rosicky equalising in the final minute
birmingham managed by alex mcleish who played under united boss sir alex
ferguson when his fellow scot was in charge of aberdeen went ahead in the th
minute when cameron jerome forced the ball home after the visitors failed to
