striker emmanuel adebayor who was unharmed told bbc radio five live in britain
early saturday
if the security is not sure then we will be leaving tomorrow don think
they will be ready to give their life
football jose hopes midas touch will rub off on angola
luanda jan afp
portuguese coach manuel jose hopes to transfer his midas touch from club to
national team level sunday when he leads angola into an african nations cup
rocked by terror attack on the togo bus convoy
jose and the palancas negras black antelopes confront mali at the new
seat november stadium here in the opening match of the biennial
african football showcase
the silver haired year old who turned egyptian club al ahly into
continental juggernaut this decade inherited struggling angolan squad six
months ago in his first national team assignment
officials told him to win the nations cup but jose lowered the bar to
quarter finals place and being paired with mali world cup qualifiers
algeria and malawi in group offers realistic chance of progress
mini league winners and runners up advance to the last eight of tournament won
by egypt in ghana two years ago and if angola can secure maximum points against
underachieving mali they will be set fair
our goal is to qualify for the quarter finals every team wants to win this
tournament and when the angola football federation signed me the idea was to
lift the cup recalled jose
but angolans cannot raise expectations so high so soon we must advance step
by step we are ready to look our opponents in the eye and play good football
after that who knows
missed club football at first and for few months it was tough then
settled and am going into this tournament positively it is good challenge for
my career and am very motivated
tradition favours angola with of opening matches won by the country
staging the tournament and five drawn the last hosts not to succeed were the
malians who could only draw with liberia in bamako eight years ago
although angola have struggled for goals in warm up matches that delivered two
victories seven draws and one loss jose heaped praise on his strike force
ahead of the match tournament in luanda benguela cabinda and lubango
we have worked hard to become more attack conscious and improve our finishing
have good strikers in flavio mantorras love and ze kalanga he
said
mali boast potent midfield with captain mahamadou diarra of real madrid
seydou keita of barcelona and mohamed sissoko of juventus while strike frederic
kanoute of sevilla was voted african footballer of the year
you need only look at the calibre of players in this team the body language
attitude and spirit to know we mean business was the warning to angola from
mali coach stephen keshi
afghan president resubmits cabinet nominees
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai new cabinet nominees were presented to
parliament saturday in his second attempt to form functioning government and
end drawn out political crisis
karzai last week ordered parliament to cancel its winter recess to consider new
nominations for cabinet posts after it threw out most of his original choices
wish to express my thanks to parliament for postponing its vacation to do
this important job for our country said second vice president mohammad karim
khalili
as he presented nominees to the lower house of parliament the wolesi jirga
each came forward and bowed to the parliamentarians
of the names karzai put forward last month for cabinet portfolios only seven
won approval in secret ballot of of the lawmakers
for the post of foreign minister for which there was no nominee last time
round former cabinet minister and current national security advisor to karzai
zalmi rasool was nominated
the new list includes three women nominated for the women affairs public
health and social affairs portfolios the only woman on the original list
incumbent women affairs minister husn banu ghazanfar was rejected
two posts not nominated saturday the powerful water and power and
telecommunications positions would be presented in coming days khalili said
current water and energy minister ismail khan was rejected by parliament in
move seen by observers as rejection of karzai past practice of surrounding
himself with warlords as reward for their support
last week rejections have effectively left afghanistan without fully
functioning government dragging out political vacuum that has prevailed since
an august presidential election
karzai was declared the winner and pledged to tackle the endemic corruption that
infects his government and every aspect of afghan life
the president decreed last monday that parliament should delay its day recess
until he proposed new ministers in place of those rejected
parliament had been due to break last tuesday
after being presented to parliament nominees face questioning from mps before
secret ballot for approval
presidential spokesman feroz mohammand told afp the debate would take week
before ballot could be held
officials have said karzai is eager to pull together cabinet ahead of
conference set to take place in london on january to discuss the future of
the impoverished and war weary country
currently kabul ministries are being run by junior bureaucrats who have little
power and no coherent plan
the president determination that the cabinet be finalised ahead of the london
conference appears to be recognition that time is of the essence if he is to
prove his stated commitment to eradicate corruption
the international community that keeps his fragile administration in power
with troops deployed under us and nato command to quash taliban led
insurgency has given him until mid to show progress
the seven ministerial nominees who did win approval included those who had been
approved by karzai supporters in the international community as competent and
clean technocrats
they represented the dominant ministries including interior defence
agriculture and education
the united states and nato are sending in an extra troops over the course
of this year even as public opinion in the west turns increasingly against
continued engagement following more than foreign troop deaths in
tennis clijsters beats henin in final of brisbane international
brisbane australia jan afp
belgium kim clijsters beat compatriot justine henin to win
drama charged final of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
saturday
the two great rivals battled it out for two hours minutes before clijsters
eventually claimed victory on her fourth championship point
henin hopes of winning her first tournament since making comeback to the
sport ended with the loss but she showed enough to suggest she will be major
force at the upcoming australian open
clijsters who made her own comeback midway through last year played some
brilliant tennis in the first one and half sets and appeared headed for an
easy victory
but she stumbled badly when trying to close out the match at and henin
seized on her opponent nerves attacking relentlessly and winning five
straight games to put the match back on even terms
henin kept the pressure up at the start of the third winning her first service
game breaking shell shocked clijsters then holding her own serve to lead
and take an apparently firm grip on the final
clijsters refused to give in however and broke back to put the set back on
serve only to give away the advantage in the eighth game when she put an
overhead smash into the net to concede the break
but in yet another twist clijsters broke back immediately winning the game in
almost identical fashion this time henin putting smash into the net
henin brought up two championship points in the next game when clijsters served
at to stay in the match but couldn convert either and clijsters held on
with the set almost inevitably going to tie break
clijsters had appeared the more vulnerable throughout the third set but she
quickly opened up lead in the tiebreak taking it to with second
serve ace
she brought up three championship points at but henin fought back again to
make it
however henin then served double fault and this time clijsters made no
mistake taking her th title with her fourth match point
football dossena returns to italy with napoli
rome jan afp
italy international full back andrea dossena has joined napoli from liverpool
after an unhappy months on merseyside
the left back who has international caps signed contract until the end of
the season
am delighted to be able to wear the napoli shirt ve chosen place of
great prestige with great ambition said the year old who joined liverpool
from udinese
can wait to play at the san paolo stadium in front of incredible fans
dossena who will wear the number eight shirt could make his debut on sunday at
home to sampdoria
napoli are enjoying their most promising season since the heady days of diego
maradona when the southern italians won the serie title in and
they currently sit fourth in serie in champions league qualification
position and have been unbeaten in matches since walter mazzarri took over
from former italy boss roberto donadoni in october
dossena played only matches for liverpool and was rarely first choice this
season
football league results
sydney jan afp
results of australian league matches played on saturday
wellington phoenix brown dadi brisbane roar van dijk
central coast mariners mrdja north queensland fury brockie
gold coast united smeltz adelaide united dodd
skiing world cup win for slovenia majdic
val di fiemme italy jan afp
petra majdic of slovenia won the nordic sking women world cup race here on
saturday
she came home first in sprint finish to the kilometres class style ahead
of elena kolomina of kazakhstan and marianna longa of italy
iran charges against bahais on trial this week baseless
tehran jan afp
iran said on saturday that bahais arrested in connection with recent anti
government protests would go on trial in the coming days as spokeswoman for
the pacifist religion rejected charges they were holding arms in their homes
the bahais trial will be this week in revolutionary court in tehran tehran
prosecutor abbas jafari dolatabadi was quoted by the fars news agency as saying
he repeated comments he made on friday that they were arrested because they
played role in organising the ashura protests and for having sent abroad
pictures of the unrest
he added that they were not arrested because they are bahais arms and
ammunition were seized in some of their homes
but diane alai the bahai international community united nations
representative in geneva said the charges against the bahais being held in
evin prison were entirely unfounded
without doubt these are baseless fabrications devised by the government to
further create an atmosphere of prejudice and hatred against the iranian bahai
community alai said in statement
bahais are committed to absolute non violence and any charge that there
might have been weapons or ive rounds in their homes is simply and
completely unbelievable she added
followers of the bahai faith founded in iran in are regarded as infidels
and suffered persecution both before and after the islamic revolution
the bahais consider bahaullah born in to be the last prophet sent by god
in direct conflict with islam the religion of the vast majority of iranians
which says mohammad was the last prophet
in mid iran arrested seven bahais on charges of spying for archfoe israel
which the islamic republic does not recognise
alai said we are particularly concerned by the fact that these accusations come
just days before the scheduled trial of seven bahai leaders who have been
locked up for nearly two years on equally unfounded charges
president mahmoud ahmadinejad disputed june re election triggered wave of
opposition protest amid charges that the vote was marred by massive fraud
on december eight people were killed in clashes between security forces and
opposition supporters who staged fresh protests
at least of those arrested during the protests are still being held in
tehran police say
the bahai statement of its members were arrested on december in early
morning raids on their homes in tehran
royal trophy singles pairings
bangkok jan afp
draw for the singles matches sunday in the royal trophy team competition between
asia and europe at amata spring country club asian names first
charlie wi kor simon dyson eng
liang wen chong chn colin montgomerie sco
koumei oda jpn alexander noren swe
jeev milkha singh ind robert karlsson swe
prayad marksaeng tha pablo martin esp
ryo ishikawa jap peter hanson swe
gaganjeet bhullar ind soren kjeldsen den
thongchai jaidee tha henrik stenson swe
golf europe spring to the fore in royal trophy
bangkok jan afp
player captain colin montgomerie led from the front as europe fought back
against holders asia in the royal trophy with three morale boosting wins on
saturday
europe trailing after the opening foursomes go into the final day
singles leading and needing four points to regain the silverware
at amata spring country club
it was very important to win three matches it was great day said
montgomerie we go into the singles point ahead which gives us great
advantage but the job is only half done there are eight points still to play
for it will be big day
asian captain naomichi joe ozaki who led the team to stunning victory
last year remained upbeat despite saturday reversals
everyone on the team wants to win tomorrow he said we are here to defend
our title hopefully we can get some early momentum in the singles
the year old montgomerie wounded by an opening loss to japanese young gun
ryo ishikawa teamed up with simon dyson to beat the indian pair of jeev milkha
singh and gaganjeet bhullar by and in their fourball encounter
there was bit of needling in the match with montgomerie showing the intensity
he will require when he captains europe in the ryder cup in october questioning
why bhullar was putting when out of the hole
england dyson currently lying fourth on the european tour ryder cup
rankings took the opportunity to impress the captain with couple of chip ins
from off the green
we enjoyed it and simon played especially well throughout the day said
montgomerie one of the greatest ryder cup players of all time with eight
appearances in the biennial clash against the united states
we kept both balls in play and that was key we hardly missed fairway
between us and that why we came out victorious
the red hot combination of robert karlsson and alexander noren the only
european winners in the opening day foursomes kept the momentum going with
thumping and victory over ishikawa and koumei oda
world number ishikawa and oda took the scalps of montgomerie and pablo martin
in the foursomes but failed to shine against the swedes who were staggering
under par after holes
someone said our combined score was under but did not know it was that
low said karlsson europe number one in after winning our first match
we felt it was important to get off to good start again and not give them
anything
charlie wi and liang wen chong bounced back from their opening loss with
comprehensive and win over the struggling duo of peter hanson and soren
kjeldsen to give asia much needed point
wi us pga tour regular and former asian number one liang won the first hole
and never looked back in one sided tussle kjeldsen was ruled out of the
opening hole after his caddy broke the rules by repairing pitch mark on his
player line
got off to great start and made couple of birdies and liang really put us
on top after that said wi he made couple of clutch putts and we made seven
birdies on the front nine that really tough to beat
world number seven henrik stenson of sweden and martin rounded off good day
work for europe with hard fought and win over the thai pairing of
thongchai jaidee and prayad marksaeng who had per cent records last year
and won their foursomes match on friday
the local heroes found some form around the turn to square the match after being
behind by two holes but couple of missed putts at decisive times handed the
advantage back to the experienced stenson and spain martin
the swede who has played in two ryder cups wrapped up the win after prayad
missed birdie putt at the par three th
cricket england duo reject ball tampering claims
london jan afp
england pacemen james anderson and stuart broad both insisted saturday they had
nothing to be ashamed of after being caught up in suggestions of ball tampering
during the third test against south africa
the proteas raised concerns over the state of the ball after television pictures
showed broad stopping the ball with the underside of his boot and anderson
working on it with his fingers moments later
however south africa did not follow through with formal complaint and the
international cricket council declared the matter closed meaning neither fast
bowler would face disciplinary action
however former england captain michael vaughan said the duo had been lucky
with anderson especially fortunate to have avoided ban which would have ruled
him out of next week series finale
but anderson told saturday edition of britain daily mirror newspaper his
actions at cape town newlands ground were entirely innocent
to be caught up in suggestions of ball tampering was huge disappointment
said the lancashire quick
it led to lot of comment and cast shadow over me and stuart broad when we
done nothing wrong except be bit absent minded and lazy
know my old england captain michael vaughan is entitled to his opinion but
was little bit hurt by some of the comments he made about me because like
to think he knew me well enough to know wouldn do something like that
anderson insisted
he added definitely was not altering the ball to try and help us was just
looking at it and playing with it there was tuft of leather that had come up
and wasn digging in any nails or anything like that into the ball
broad meanwhile conceded he been lazy in stopping the ball with his boot but
said it was ridiculous to believe that could help induce reverse swing or
somehow alter the ball condition in another way that would aid the bowlers
my actions in stopping the ball with my boot have been questioned but am not
the first bowler to stop ball with his size and will not be the last
broad told saturday edition of britain daily mail
it was close to degrees celsius out there in newlands at the time and if
was guilty of anything it was just laziness in not bending down to pick up the
ball
ball tampering that astonishing for one thing if was skilled enough to
be able to step on the scuffed up side of the ball and know exactly what was
doing to create an unfair advantage with my feet would be playing football in
the premier league rather than cricket for england
england in repeat of the series opener drew the third test with just one
wicket standing on thursday
that left with them an unbeatable series lead ahead of the fourth and final
test at the wanderers stadium in johannesburg which starts next thursday
truecompanion takes wraps off robot girlfriend
las vegas nevada jan afp
roxxxy the sex robot is having coming out party saturday in sin city
in what is billed as world first life size robotic girlfriend complete with
artificial intelligence and flesh like synthetic skin will be introduced to
adoring fans at the avn adult entertainment expo in las vegas
she can vacuum she can cook but she can do almost anything else if you
know what mean truecompanion douglas hines said while giving afp an early
peak at roxxxy
she companion she has personality she hears you she listens to you
she speaks she feels your touch she goes to sleep we are trying to replicate
personality of person
roxxxy stands five feet seven inches tall weighs pounds has full cup
and is ready for action according to hines who was an artificial intelligence
engineer at bell labs before starting truecompanion
the anatomically correct robot has an articulated skeleton that can move like
person but can walk or independently move its limbs
robotic movement is built into the three inputs and mechanical heart that
powers liquid cooling system
roxxxie comes with five personalities wild wendy is outgoing and adventurous
while frigid farrah is reserved and shy
there is young naive personality along with mature martha that hines
described as having matriarchal kind of caring amp susan is geared
for more adventurous types
people ordering the robots online at truecompanion com detail their tastes and
interests in way similar to that at online dating sites but the information is
used to get the mechanical girlfriend in synch with her mate
she knows exactly what you like said hines if you like porsches she likes
porsches if you like soccer she likes soccer
roxxxy is wirelessly linked to the internet for software updates as well as
technical support and sending her man email messages
people can customize robotic girlfriends personalities and then share the
programs with others online at truecompanion com according to hines
just think about wife or girlfriend swapping without actually giving the person
to someone else hines said you can share the personality online
inspiration for the sex robot sprang from the september attack that
destroyed the world trade center in new york city
had friend who passed away in hines said promised myself would
create program to store my friend personality and that became the
foundation for roxxxy true companion
hines sees his creation as not only recreational innovation but as an outlet
for the shy people with sexual dysfunctions and those that want to experiment
without risk
roxxxy versions are priced from to dollars depending on features
the sex robot is available in europe and the united states and will eventually
be available globally according to hines
lebanon asks us to reverse ban on hezbollah tv
beirut jan afp
lebanese president michel sleiman has urged the united states to reverse
decision to ban the hezbollah television channel al manar during talks with us
senator john mcain
president sleiman asked that washington backtrack on its decision to ban
certain television channels including al manar statement from his office
said after the friday meeting
sleiman concerns come after the us house of representatives passed bill in
december calling for punitive measures against middle east television networks
seen as fueling anti american hatred
arab information ministers are due to meet on january at the cairo
headquarters of the member arab league to discuss the us bill
the bill adopted in decisive vote asks president barack obama to
report six months after the text has passed on anti american incitement to
violence in the middle east and for other purposes
for years media outlets in the middle east have repeatedly published or
broadcast incitements to violence against the united states and americans the
bill read
the networks listed include al aqsa the television station of the islamist
palestinian movement hamas which broadcasts from the gaza strip and
hezbollah al manar
al manar is on list of terrorist organisations announced in december by
the united states where the television has lost its feed and is banned from
broadcasting
hezbollah is considered terrorist organisation by the united states and its
key middle east ally israel although the shiite movement is major political
party in lebanon
hezbollah has two ministers in the new national unity cabinet that us and
western backed sunni prime minister saad hariri unveiled in november
tennis brisbane international results roundup
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the seventh day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
saturday denotes seed
final
women
kim clijsters bel bt justine henin bel
semi finals
men
andy roddick usa bt tomas berdych cze
radek stepanek cze bt gael monfils fra
tennis robson future star
perth australia jan afp
england laura robson confirmed she was future star of women tennis with
shock win over much higher ranked rival in the hopman cup final here saturday
having already been hailed by murray and world no elena dementieva as player
of rare talent the year old melbourne born englishwoman put the exclamation
mark on one of the defining weeks of her fledgling career with stunning
singles win over maria jose martinez sanchez in britain heartbreaking loss
in the mixed teams final against spain on saturday
the world no who turns during the upcoming australian open shocked her
th ranked opponent in most unexpected straight sets win
although robson had been ultra competitive in her three previous singles matches
here martinez sanchez had been unbeaten in her three singles outings
the junior wimbledon champion came out with bold attitude and it paid off in
spades as she blew the spaniard off the court in the first set
the spaniard serve had been broken in singles only twice all week but the
precocious robson was able to do so twice in the first set alone
played well especially in the first set completely dominated she said
cheekily after the match
murray had praised robson mental strength on friday and it was on full display
in the second set as the teenager recovered from break down as her opponent
tested the youngster mobility with string of canny drop shots fighting back
when martinez sanchez served for the set at
with her mother kathy watching and number of relatives that live in perth in
the stands robson also saved set point on her own serve before rattling off
six successive points in the tiebreak to set up four match points
martinez sanchez rallied to get it back to before successive forehand and
backhand winners allowed robson to seal the win
robson who has been given wildcard into australian open qualifying hit
winners off the forehand side
the teenager again showcased her poise and impressive groundstrokes in the mixed
doubles as she tried valiantly to blunt the spanish challenge only for the
british to come up just short but the loss won take too much gloss off her
efforts this week
it been good experience for me playing all the girls ranked places
above me she said with grin
robson has made one grand slam appearance taking set of daniela hantuchova in
the first round at wimbledon last year
murray who approached robson to partner him here said on friday that the sky
was the limit for the teenager
what is most impressive for her age under pressure think she is great he
said
she doesn make silly mistakes she doesn make bad decisions at important
stages of matches
after beating robson on friday dementieva the highest ranked player robson has
come up against in her brief career also praised the young brit
she has got big future dementieva said
egypt bars gaza bound aid convoys from its territory
cairo jan afp
aid convoys bound for the gaza strip will now be banned from traveling across
egypt after activists this week clashed with police the foreign minister said
in remarks published on saturday
ahmed abul gheit told government newspaper al ahram that members of one convoy
led by british mp george galloway committed criminal acts on egyptian soil on
their way to the blockaded palestinian coastal enclave
egypt will no longer allow convoys regardless of their origin or who is
organising them from crossing its territory abul gheit said
members of the viva palestina convoy committed hostile acts even criminal
ones on egyptian territory the foreign minister added without elaborating
on tuesday night activists with the viva palestina convoy clashed with police in
egyptian the port town of el arish kilometres miles from the gaza
border
they had been protesting an egyptian decision to send some of the convoy
trucks to gaza through israel
seven protesters were arrested during tuesday clashes but police swapped them
for four policemen held by the activists
prosecutor in el arish later issued warrants for the arrest of seven
activists including two britons and an american woman
abul gheit was speaking to al ahram from washington where he is on visit to
discuss the middle east peace process he said that from now on aid to gaza
must be handed over to the red crescent at el arish who will turn it over to the
palestinian chapter of the muslim relief organisation in gaza
the comments come day after foreign ministry official told galloway he was
no longer welcome in egypt as he flew out of the country
later on friday galloway told sky news television he and friend had been
bundled into car and given little choice but to get on plane out of egypt
on the steps of the plane representative of the foreign affairs ministry in
egypt told me that was declared persona non grata he said
egypt accused galloway who once called at london rally for the overthrow of
egyptian president hosni mubarak of trying to embarrass the country which has
refused to permanently open its rafah border crossing with gaza
khamenei backs crackdown on opposition protest
tehran jan afp
iranian supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei urged the authorities on saturday
to carry out their duties against the corrupt ones and the rioters after
december anti government protest in which eight people were killed
the ensuing pro government rally was last warning for everyone he told
number of iranians from the islamic republic clerical nerve centre of qom
he was referring to december rally in which hundreds of thousands of
hardliners took to the streets calling for the punishment of the protestors and
opposition leaders
the authorities of the three powers of the system executive legislative and
judiciary saw what people want they should fully carry out their duties
