st rd best of frames
mark selby eng bt ding junhui chn
peter ebdon eng bt marco fu hkg
preliminary round best of frames
mark king eng bt jimmy white eng
playing monday
preliminary round
mark williams wal rory mcleod eng
st rd best of frames
shaun murphy eng stephen hendry sco
stephen maguire sco king white
playing tuesday
st rd
ronnie sullivan eng neil robertson aus
allister carter eng williams mcleod
playing wednesday
st rd
john higgins sco mark allen nir
ryan day wal joe perry eng
top senate democrat to stay despite furor over race remark
washington jan afp
embattled senate democratic leader harry reid vowed sunday that he would not
resign amid calls from republicans that he step aside following impolitic
remarks on race
senator reid will stay in his position as majority leader and will run for
reelection his office said in statement released late sunday that touted the
senator long record of addressing issues that are important to the african
american community
his republican critics who are looking to politicize the issue can say the
same said the remarks by the veteran democratic lawmaker
the statement was released as republicans on sunday demanded senate reid resign
for his statement cited in new book in which he says that the united states
is ready to embrace black presidential candidate like obama because he is
light skinned african american with no negro dialect unless he wanted to
have one
since the release of his remarks published in the upcoming book game change
on the presidential campaign the top senate democrat has been contrite
reportedly making phone calls to numerous black leaders and expressing his
personal regret to president obama who in statement on saturday accepted
reid apology
but republicans decrying the remark as indicative of closet liberal racism and
double standard on racial matters among democrats called on the democratic
leader to step down
racism and racist conversations have no place today in america said
republican national committee chairman michael steele speaking sunday to nbc
television meet the press program
it confirms to me mind set that is out of step with where america is today
said steele who himself is african american
from my perspective whether he steps down today or retire him in november
either way he will not be the leader in the republican official said
steele seemed to take particular umbrage over the use of the word negro word
that has been retired from every day usage in describing people of african
american descent
it an old mindset when you re using language in that harkens back to the
and before the civil rights era he told the fox news sunday
television program
democrats meanwhile described the remarks as an unfortunate choice of
language and brushed aside calls for their leader to step aside
think senator reid did very big thing yesterday by saying you know used
language that looking back on it wasn the right language said tim kaine
the democratic governor of virginia and head of the democratic national
committee also speaking to fox news sunday
obama kaine said made very plain in his discussions that he considers senator
reid great battler for equality and social justice and considers the book
closed
reid has been in republican sights for long time and his downfall would be
considered major gop coup he was already in political trouble in his home
state nevada where he is to stand for reelection later this year
republicans also see the imbroglio as chance to equal the score after their
senate leader several years ago trent lott was made to resign for comments
deemed racially insensitive
there double standard if trent lott should resign then harry reid
should said conservative jon kyl the senate republican whip speaking to fox
news sunday
like to see the same standard applied to both he said
reid in statement on saturday apologized not only to obama but to all
african americans
deeply regret using such poor choice of words sincerely apologize for
offending any and all americans especially african americans for my improper
comments reid said highlighting that throughout my career have worked
hard to advance issues important to the african american community
obama later issued statement of his own accepting reid apology without
question
accepted harry apology without question because ve known him for years
ve seen the passionate leadership he shown on issues of social justice and
know what in his heart the president said
the senator office said going forward reid remains focused on the legislative
agenda not on the current contretemps
senator reid will continue working today tomorrow and the days ahead to move
our nation forward with policies that create jobs make health care affordable
and help struggling families in nevada and across the country the statement
said
football plabennec record nice cup upset
paris jan afp
relegation threatened third division side plabennec claimed the biggest scalp of
the french cup thusfar this weekend when they knocked first division nice out in
the last
goals from captain jean michel abiven and an own goal from defender gerald cid
saw them come from behind france international striker loic remy having given
nice the lead in the th minute to record famous if unlikely victory
their coach franck kerdiles while delighted to have defeated first division
team remained realistic about their real target for the season
the priority is to stay up it is vital to bring the team back down to earth
for the challenge ahead he said
his nice counterpart didier olle nicolle was left fuming by what he saw as
totally unprofessional performance by team that itself is hovering just above
the relegation zone
the worry is that certain of the senior players did not perform at all in the
second half he said that is rank lack of professionalism and highlights
our mental fragility
french giants paris saint germain and marseille both came through without mishap
against fifth division opposition
paris saint germain eased through against aubervilliers and earned home
tie next time out against similarly lowly opposition evian thonon gaillard
marseille beat trelissac and will be away against either compiegne or fellow
first division side lens in the next round which will be played on janauary rd
and th
football defensive disasters cost juve in milan thrashing
rome jan afp
defensive horror shows at three corners saw ac milan humiliate juventus at
turin stadio olimpico and all but end their rivals serie title hopes and
leave coach ciro ferrara job on the line
the victory meant milan moved to within eight points of leaders inter milan with
game in hand and the milan derby to come in two weeks time
victory for the rossoneri in that would ensure the champions come under much
greater pressure than they have in their previous four title triumphs
juve are points back and have lost six of their last eight matches in all
competitions while they are also out of the champions league
fans protested after the second goal and some clashed with police afterwards
outside the ground but ferrara remained defiant
it clear that the was fair result this is very difficult time for
us he admitted
but honestly don think my job is at risk totally concentrated on it
it not up to me to make decisions my energies need to be concentrated on the
team and trying to overcome this moment
understand the fans disappointment it understandable because we re not
getting results it has to be up to us to change these things
alessandro nesta and ronaldinho brace settled the affair but all three goals
were due to juve inept defending at corners
milan coach leonardo denied the old lady of turin had made life easy for his
team though
honestly it was very difficult especially in the first first half when we
needed some time to get organised he said
we struggled but we didn give up many chances we didn create lot but we
conceded even less
the second half was perfect we managed to hold the ball pass it quickly and
we gave juve problems
it was an unsurprisingly tentative start from both teams but juve playmaker
diego tried to spark the game into life on minutes as he cut in from the left
and curled right foot shot just wide of the far post
however the old lady fell behind on minutes after defensive disaster
andrea pirlo corner was poor and sent in low to the near post but christian
poulsen left it felipe melo missed it goalkeeper alex manninger was caught
unawares leaving nesta whose marker zdenek grygera had stopped the simple task
of tapping home from two yards out at the back post
juve did belatedly react but it was centre back giorgio chiellini their best
player whose shot was straight at goalkeeper dida after his central defensive
partner fabio cannavaro weak effort fell to him
milan though finished the half on high as manninger parried thiago silva
long range strike before ronaldinho header from david beckham corner was
deflected behind
juve failed to exert much pressure after the break despite the introduction of
alessandro del piero on the hour mark and chiellini was proving their most
dangerous threat from set pieces without actually troubling dida
the win was secured on minutes as another unimpressive pirlo corner found
ronaldinho six yards wider than the near post but his flicked header skimmed off
paolo de ceglie head and beat manninger at his front post
two minutes from time beckham took short corner and then crossed from the
right with juve hapless defensive again missing the ball and surprised
ronaldinho tapping home at the back post from six yards
in earlier games napoli extended their unbeaten run under coach walter mazzarri
to games following home victory against sampdoria that boosted their
growing challenge for top four finish
german denis second half goal earned the southerners three points that leaves
them fourth in the serie table just goal difference behind juventus and
point above as roma
they have not been beaten since october league games and one cup match
when former sampdoria boss mazzarri took over from the sacked former italy coach
roberto donadoni
mazzarri refused to get carried away though
we ll add up the points at the end of the season this league is very balanced
it the details that will make the differences he said
french goalkeeper sebastien frey made two crucial second half stops to help
fiorentina beat bari in florence and go sixth
football french cup draw
paris jan afp
draw for the french cup round of on sunday
compiegne or lens marseille
amiens or auxerre saint ouen aumone or sedan
thiers or nancy plabennec
la grande motte or villefranche saone st etienne or lorient
beauvais agen
toulouse pontivy or brest
raon etape vesoul
quevilly or st quentin angers
marquette us or mulhouse guingamp
saint louis neuweg or sochaux le mans
vannes grenoble or montpellier
paris sg evian thonon gaillard
monaco lyon
avranches or saumur rennes
boulogne or colmar lille
bordeaux ajaccio
matches to be played january and
darts adams takes second world title
london jan afp
martin adams claimed his second world darts title on sunday as he beat fellow
englishman dave chisnall in the british darts organisation bdo version
of the event phil taylor had won his th title when he won the pdc last
sunday
the year old previously champion in was and then up only to
see comeback specialist chisnall level at but he held his nerve when up
to take the title on what is record th successive appearance
its great to have the cheque but its the world title that we come here for
said adams
dave game is all about not letting go like dog with bone
wouldn mind making it three titles next time round
chisnall who had come from behind in both the quarter finals and semi finals
beating the top seed and then the reigning champion said it had been great
experience but that adams just had that extra touch of class
he adams was world class and just didn miss much said the year old
chavez asks venezuela tv to make socialist soap operas
caracas jan afp
venezuelan president hugo chavez said sunday he has asked film producers to make
socialist soap operas with government help if needed because there too
much capitalism on television
while ago was in cuba and they broadcast soap operas there not capitalist
soap operas but with social content socialist soap operas chavez told
group of filmmakers and scriptwriters guested on his weekly radio and television
show alo presidente
going to ask that we make socialist soap operas in venezuela instead of
capitalist ones
the firebrand leftist leader offered government help to producers following his
advice
we can also make good movies he added not capitalist movies that are poison
and incite our children to take drugs and even push them into crime
in chavez opened villa del cine filmmaking center outside caracas that
produces full length and short films and documentaries
no plan to send troops to yemen obama says
washington jan afp
president barack obama says he has no intention of sending us troops to fight
militants in yemen and somalia and that al qaeda activities are still centered
along the afghanistan pakistan border
have every intention of working with our international partners in lawless
areas around the globe to make sure that we re keeping the american people
safe obama said in people interview to be published friday the magazine
released transcript sunday
never rule out any possibility in world that is this complex in
countries like yemen in countries like somalia think working with
international partners is most effective at this point
have no intention of sending us boots on the ground in these regions he
added
recent strikes on al qaeda positions in yemen including cruise missile attacks
were reportedly led by the united states which has vowed to boost its economic
and military aid to sanaa london and washington have already announced plans to
fund counter extremism police in the country
the top us military officer chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral
michael mullen acknowledged in cnn interview sunday that the united states was
providing some support to yemen efforts to strike al qaeda militants but
insisted that sanaa led the operations
thinly stretched us military has deployed large troop contingents to iraq and
afghanistan
the number of us troops in afghanistan where obama has vowed to recenter the
us war against al qaeda militants who have also sought refuge in neighboring
pakistan is set to triple under his watch from levels reaching some
later this year
washington has urged yemen to crack down on al qaeda after the local franchise
of osama bin laden network said it was behind narrowly avoided christmas day
bombing aboard us bound airliner
but the impoverished arabian peninsula country already faces litany of
challenges including water shortage dwindling oil reserves shiite
rebellion in the north and movement for autonomy in the south
somalia is also the focus of us counterterrorism efforts where an embattled
transitional government faces relentless attacks from extremist shebab militants
and their hezb al islam allies
the central government asserts little control over the country located along key
shipping routes to oil fields in the middle east
international navies are battling to keep key shipping lanes in the gulf of aden
and indian ocean free from pirates who are broadening their area of operation
we ve known throughout this year that al qaeda in yemen has become more
serious problem and as consequence we have partnered with the yemeni
government to go after those terrorist training camps and cells there in much
more deliberate and sustained fashion obama said
the same is true in somalia another country where there are large chunks that
are not fully under government control and al qaeda is trying to take advantage
of them
he insisted that the border region between afghanistan and pakistan remains the
epicenter of al qaeda their leadership and their extremist allies
us officials have said they are seeking to boost military and intelligence
cooperation with yemen
yemen does not want to have american ground troops there and that good
response for us to hear certainly said general david petraeus the head of us
central command which oversees region encompassing the middle east the gulf
the horn of africa and central asia
of course we would always want host nation to deal with problem itself we
want to help we re providing assistance he told cnn
petraeus who returned from trip to yemen said washington planned to more
than double its economic aid to yemen this year to million dollars or more
but us officials have insisted the total aid amount has not yet been determined
though the figure pales in comparison to the billions of dollars washington has
poured into afghanistan the general stressed other allies were providing aid
including saudi arabia which has reportedly allocated two billion dollars and
the united arab emirates which pledged million dollars to sanaa
football mesmerising messi hat trick sends barca top
madrid jan afp
lionel messi scored sensational hat trick as champions barcelona nudged real
madrid off the top of the table crushing tenerife away on sunday for their
first victory of
barca scored three times in destructive nine minutes with ballon or winner
messi scoring two of them before clinching his hat trick with
nonchalant curler late in the second half to join valencia david villa on
goals at the top of the goalscoring charts
it was complicated for us at the beginning but we scored some quick goals and
that changed things said messi am delighted with my three goals and more
importantly the team won however it is bit unfair on tenerife
real madrid had leapfrogged barca with home win over real mallorca earlier
on sunday but pep guardiola side responded to move back to the summit two
points ahead of real
barcelona next challenge is at sevilla in the second leg of the last kings
cup tie in which they trail from the first leg
madrid had moved top of the spanish league for the first time since the end of
november with goals from esteban granero and gonzalo higuain overcoming mallorca
as they maintained their flawless home record with ninth consecutive win
when real madrid are on song we are difficult to stop said granero nicknamed
the pirate am happy to get on the scoresheet and that we beat difficult
rival in testing conditions
we just have to carry on like we are doing and barcelona will have to slip up
at some stage
however real stay at the top was brief as barca recovered from shaky start
to put tenerife to the sword with messi so inspirational that even the home
tenerife fans were applauding him at the end
carles puyol was also on target with an ezequiel luna own goal completing the
scoring after great footwork from pedro rodriguez
it was tough on tenerife who lost the last time they hosted barcelona in the
top flight back in
tenerife alejandro alfaro could have had hat trick in the opening quarter
hour hitting the crossbar and forcing victor valdes into action
barca had been quiet but bojan krkic ghosted past his man in the th minute and
cut back for messi to score
tenerife were aggrieved and it got worse for them as barca scored twice in two
minutes
minute before the break messi curled in devilish free kick and puyol used
the pace of the ball to glance in header
on the chime of half time andres iniesta sublime pass released the effective
bojan who set up tap in for messi and lead they didn deserve
thierry henry smacked the post early in the second half before messi showed why
he is the best player on the planet curling in brilliantly from yards as if
he were still in training session
freezing temperatures and snow in the spanish capital saw some real fans at home
but for the players gloves and undergarments were the order of the day
kaka returned for real in his first appearance since injuring his groin at the
end of november and almost scored on his return
mallorca had won at real last season but got off to nightmare start
conceding after just seven minutes
higuain cut inside and curled beautiful shot into the top corner with his left
foot that gave the goalkeeper no chance
substitute granero volleyed in expertly minutes after the break to clinch the
points
valencia lie six points behind real in third after making it seven wins from
nine on the road defeating bottom side xerez on sunday
barcelona and real madrid have high number of points and in past seasons we
would be top or close to them with the points tally we have said valencia
coach unai emery
spanish internationals juan mata david silva and carlos marchena were all on
target to clinch victory at xerez and boost confidence for thursday last
king cup match at deportivo la coruna
deportivo are four points behind valencia in fourth after home victory
over osasuna on sunday thanks to juan rodriguez goal
phs pi
football portuguese league table
lisbon jan afp
portuguese league table after sunday matches played won drawn lost goals
for goals against points
sporting braga
benfica
fc porto
sporting lisbon
nacional
vitoria guimaraes
uniao leiria
rio ave
maritimo funchal
academica coimbra
naval
pacos de ferreira
vitoria setubal
olhanense
leixoes
belenenses
football portuguese league results
lisbon jan afp
portuguese league results on sunday
olhanense zequinha pacos de ferreira arthur
academica coimbra lito sougou naval
fc porto radamel falcao garcia bruno alves uniao leiria diego
gaucho ronny
played saturday
maritimo funchal vitoria guimaraes sereno
sporting lisbon tonel leixoes
rio ave benfica saviola
played friday
sporting braga vandinho andre leone nacional
playing monday
belenenses vitoria setubal
football defensive disasters cost juve in milan thrashing
rome jan afp
defensive horror shows at three corners saw ac milan humiliate juventus at
turin stadio olimpico and all but end their rivals serie title hopes and
leave coach ciro ferrara job on the line
the victory meant milan moved to within eight points of leaders inter milan with
game in hand and the milan derby to come in two weeks time
victory for the rossoneri in that would ensure the champions come under much
greater pressure than they have in their previous four title triumphs
juve are points back and have lost six of their last eight matches in all
competitions
alessandro nesta and ronaldinho brace settled the affair but all three goals
were due to juve inept defending at corners
milan coach leonardo denied the old lady of turin had made life easy for his
team though
honestly it was very difficult especially in the first first half when we
needed some time to get organised he said
we struggled but we didn give up many chances we didn create lot but we
conceded even less
the second half was perfect we managed to hold the ball pass it quickly and
we gave juve problems
it was an unsurprisingly tentative start from both teams but juve playmaker
diego tried to spark the game into life on minutes as he cut in from the left
and curled right foot shot just wide of the far post
however the old lady fell behind on minutes after defensive disaster
andrea pirlo corner was poor and sent in low to the near post but christian
poulsen left it felipe melo missed it goalkeeper alex manninger was caught
unawares leaving nesta whose marker zdenek grygera had stopped the simple task
of tapping home from two yards out at the back post
juve did belatedly react but it was centre back giorgio chiellini their best
player whose shot was straight at goalkeeper dida after his central defensive
partner fabio cannavaro weak effort fell to him
milan though finished the half on high as manninger parried thiago silva
long range strike before ronaldinho header from david beckham corner was
deflected behind
juve failed to exert much pressure after the break despite the introduction of
alessandro del piero on the hour mark and chiellini was proving their most
dangerous threat from set pieces without actually troubling dida
the win was secured on minutes as another unimpressive pirlo corner found
ronaldinho six yards wider than the near post but his flicked header skimmed off
paolo de ceglie head and beat manninger at his front post
two minutes from time beckham took short corner and then crossed from the
right with juve hapless defensive again missing the ball and surprised
ronaldinho tapping home at the back post from six yards
in earlier games napoli extended their unbeaten run under coach walter mazzarri
to games following home victory against sampdoria that boosted their
growing challenge for top four finish
german denis second half goal earned the southerners three points that leaves
them fourth in the serie table just goal difference behind juventus and
point above as roma
they have not been beaten since october league games and one cup match
when former sampdoria boss mazzarri took over from the sacked former italy coach
roberto donadoni
mazzarri refused to get carried away though
we ll add up the points at the end of the season this league is very balanced
it the details that will make the differences he said
we ve got to keep working on those details without setting goals that are too
high too soon
so that how we ll go forward because that the right attitude to obtain
results
french goalkeeper sebastien frey made two crucial second half stops to help
fiorentina beat bari in florence and go sixth
romania captain adrian mutu had cancelled out paulo barreto opener in the
first period before substitute jose castillo grabbed the winner as both teams
finished with men
palermo are level on points with fiorentina after uruguayan forward edison
cavani penalty gave them win over coach less atalanta
top democrat vows to stay in senate
washington jan afp
embattled senate democratic leader harry reid vowed sunday that he would not
resign amid calls from republicans that he step aside following impolitic
remarks on race
senator reid will stay in his position as majority leader and will run for
reelection his office said in statement released late sunday
as the leader in the fight to pass the voting rights act and legislation
banning hate crimes senator reid has long record of addressing issues that
are important to the african american community his republican critics who are
looking to politicize the issue can say the same
the statement was released as republicans on sunday demanded senate reid resign
for remarks cited in new book in which he says that the united states is
ready to embrace black presidential candidate like obama because he is
light skinned african american with no negro dialect unless he wanted to
have one
since the remarks which critics charged were racially insensitive were
disclosed the top senate democrat has been contrite reportedly making phone
calls to numerous black lawmakers and officials and expressing his personal
regret to president obama who issued statement on saturday accepting his
apology
but republicans decrying the remark as indicative of closet liberal racism
among democrats called on the democratic leader to step down
racism and racist conversations have no place today in america said
republican national committee chairman michael steele speaking sunday to nbc
television meet the press program
it confirms to me mind set that is out of step with where america is today
said steele who himself is african american
from my perspective whether he steps down today or retire him in november
