either way he will not be the leader in the republican official said
the senator office however said reid remains focused on the legislative
agenda and 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 mali make miracle recovery to draw with angola
luanda jan afp
mali made miraculous recovery to pull back from four goal deficit to hold
angola to draw in the opening game of the africa cup of nations here
on sunday
the hosts appeared set for the best possible start when first half double from
flavio armado and penalties from gilberto and manucho had them celebrating
famous victory
with only minutes on the clock mali looked down and out
but double from seydou keita and contributions from frederic kanoute and
mustapha yattabare gave them an improbable draw
angola coach manuel jose said this draw tasted like defeat to me this is
one of the most bitter pills ve ever had to swallow in all the matches of my
long career
football in africa is learning on the road we have the skills but we were
little naive
it makes the next match little more complicated the public deserved win
angola skipper kali added we have to raise our heads so sad and sorry
there no explanation for letting go of such big lead
but we ve got to give good response in our next match
mali coach stephen keshi who lifted the title with nigeria as player in the
didn know whether to laugh or cry
it was little difficult to believe we might come back ve got mixed
feelings happy with draw but upset with my team
this nations cup curtain raiser began with minute silence in memory of the
victims of friday deadly gun attack on the togo team coach in cabinda
the silence immaculately observed by the capacity crowd turned to
something much louder seconds after kick off when mali goalkeeper mahamadou
sidibe had to look lively to deal with flavio shot from the left
the angolan striker only made the starting xi after shrugging off injury but
keita was on the bench after missing the eagles warm up games with thigh
problem
angola were forced into an unscheduled change of personnel in the nd minute
when aderito carvalho was stretchered off and replaced by djalma campos
mali coach stephen keshi sent barcelona midfielder keita into the fray sooner
than expected when le mans forward modibo maiga limped out of contention
this was the first ever match at the november stadium built by the chinese
and ressembling smaller version of beijing birds nest
and the chicks nest burst into life in the th minute when flavio raced on to
gilberto angled metre freekick from the left to put the hosts in front
with low powerful header
one minute from the break flavio got his double another fine header set up by
fullback jose malbina alberto
that prompted the wife of angolan head of state jose eduardo dos santos to jump
off her seat and execute very un first lady style jig
mali multi million pound strikeforce led by sevilla kanoute had proved
strangely impotent in the first half
they looked more purposeful force after the interval with only angola keeper
carlos fernandes charge out of his box stopping mali captain mahamadou diarra
shot
gilberto then struck from the spot after he was brought down in the box by
mamadou samassa
the al ahly midfielder proved cool customer as he converted but was then
ordered to have second go by egyptian referee essam abdel fatah which he duly
struck past sidibe
manucho got angola fourth also from the spot after another foul on gilberto
but then angola crumbled
keita began the comeback after scramble for the ball in the box following
mistake by fernandes
then kanoute struck with classy header with keita producing volley for his
double and yattabare grabbing highly unlikely point for the eagles
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after the weekend matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
deportivo la coruna
sevilla
real mallorca
getafe
athletic bilbao
sporting gijon
villarreal
atletico madrid
racing santander
espanyol
osasuna
almeria
valladolid
tenerife
malaga
real zaragoza
xerez
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 summit crushing tenerife on their own patch 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
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
clashes in somalia kill at least
mogadishu jan afp
clashes between pro government forces and islamist rebels on sunday over control
of town in central somalia killed at least people officials and elders
said
government allied forces claimed to have taken the town after the fighting
heavily armed pro government ahlu sunna wal jammaa fighters and local clan
militants launched an offensive against the rebel controlled town of beledweyn
some kilometres miles northwest of mogadishu
the offensive led to the heavy exchange of machine gun and anti aircraft fire
getting help from ahlu sunna wal jammaa fighters our forces clashed with the
enemy who controlled the city in the past several weeks yusuf ahmed hagar
local clan militia commander said by phone
we lost four men and killed more than of them during the clashes we
captured the town and the rebel militants fled
rebel commander in the region contacted by afp denied his forces were
defeated but confirmed the clashes saying more than people were killed
the allied apostate militants attacked our bases in the city and we fought them
fiercely sheik hidig mohamoud said
we are still controlling parts of the town and there are more than people
killed so far most of the dead are apostate militants
abdulahi moalim adan local elder said the fighting divided the town and was
among the heaviest in recent weeks
the town is divided in two parts controlled by the two sides he said
the pro government militants who attacked the city pushed the rebels back to
the west saw the dead bodies of eight people most of them civilians and
friends told me there were several dead bodies outside the city
local resident abdurahman ali said the islamists took positions near the bridge
that divides the town and both sides exchanged gunfire
radical somali islamists who have vowed to oust the government have carried
out relentless attacks since may killing hundreds of civilians and displacing
thousands of others
rugby union clermont go top as they edge toulouse in thriller
paris jan afp
perennial chokers clermont went top of the top standings on sunday after
beating toulouse in thrilling encounter
clermont times beaten finalists in the championship final were behind for
most of the match in toulouse the hosts having scored two first half tries by
shaun sowerby and france winger vincent clerc
however minutes from time the visitors who rested several of their first
choice stars including aurelien rougerie struck with their only try of the
match by tasesa lavea which was converted by morgan parra
toulouse had their chances to win the match but the mercurially gifted frederic
michalak failed with last gasp penalty
clermont moved top courtesy of better points difference than previous leaders
castres while defensive bonus point saw toulouse move into third also on
better points difference above defending champions perpignan who have game in
hand
france international fly half lionel beauxis kicked points as stade francais
got welcome victory over another out of form french rugby giant biarritz
at the stade de france on saturday
beauxis was in imperious form as he converted the only try of the match by
centre mathieu bastareaud while biarritz former french international dimitri
yachvili kicked of his side points in what was scrappy encounter
on saturday castres golden run came to an abrupt halt as they lost away at
improving montpellier who gained the scalp of stade francais days ago
on friday perpignan had returned to winning ways after poor run with
win over racing metro
the catalan side bounced back from their recent european cup exit as they handed
racing metro second straight loss the club having last weekend seen nine
match winning streak ended by bourgoin
stade francais stormed out of the blocks and took the lead in the first minute
bastareaud refused to be denied when he took the ball metres out and despite
being brought to ground by three biarritz defenders he climbed to his feet and
burrowed his way over the line through another three biarritz players
beauxis converted to make it
biarritz reduced the deficit to in the th minute as yachvili converted
penalty and added second to pull to within point of the hosts but beauxis
made it shortly afterwards with penalty and then added another in the
th minute
beauxis stretched the lead to points when another biarritz infringement
handed him an easy penalty which he gratefully accepted to make it
the impeccable beauxis added another penalty shortly after the break while
yachvili made no mistake after an infringement by prop rodrigo roncero
yachvili further reduced the deficit with another penalty to make it in
the rd minute as stade indiscipline threatened to throw victory away but
beauxis added two more penalties while the visitors fly half julien peyrelongue
dropped goal
it has been bit hot and bit tense this week admitted bastareaud
we have to continue to pull together and work hard to get sixth place he
added referring to making the top six which at least gets them into the play
offs for the championship semi finals
in other matches toulon rebounded from their humbling last weekend by
clermont to beat montauban scoring two tries and with england star jonny
wilkinson scoring eight points with the boot
brive good run continued and took them further away from the relegation zone
as they followed up last sunday victory over perpignan with victory
england international back jamie noon scoring the second of the visitors tries
away at albi who look almost certain to be relegated
nba banned arenas gets thumbs up from teammate
washington jan afp
even as the washington wizards went to great lengths to erase all traces of
gilbert arenas from the verizon center one teammate gave nod to his suspended
nba teammate on sunday
deshawn stevenson took the court for pregame warmups with the words agent and
zero written in red on tape wrapped just above his shoes as the wizards
prepared to play the new orleans hornets
agent zero is nickname for washington gregarious playmaker who was
suspended indefinitely by the nba on wednesday in the wake of an incident
involving unloaded guns that he brought to the wizards arena and stored in his
locker
arenas remains under investigation by authorities over the firearms and nba
commissioner david stern was clearly angered that arenas appeared to be taking
the situation lightly
in suspending arenas stern said he was not currently fit to take the court
nba rules forbid players from bringing guns to league facilities or when
travelling on league business
four other wizards players have been fined for making light of the situation
prior to game last week
the wizards have removed all arenas related merchandise from the arena and
edited him out of the pregame video
they also displayed new giant banner on the facade of the arena replacing one
that had featured arenas with one that touts the team community service
but stevenson said he felt moved to show support for his absent teammate
he still part of the team right stevenson said after the hornets beat
the wizards he still part of the team he my brother so going
to stick to him through rough times it like my little tribute
football spanish league results collated
madrid jan afp
collated spanish league results on sunday
sporting gijon castro getafe
xerez calvo valencia mata silva marchena
espanyol verdu marques real zaragoza arizmendi
deportivo la coruna rodriguez osasuna
malaga weligton athletic bilbao llorente pen
real madrid higuain granero real mallorca
tenerife barcelona messi puyol luna og
saturday
valladolid atletico madrid jurado forlan reyes aguero
sevilla romaric racing santander canales
villarreal nilmar almeria corona pen
football french cup results
paris jan afp
french cup round of results on sunday
lattes angers
versailles beauvais
bompchamp les laval guingamp
plabennec nice
trelissac marseille
paris saint germain aubervilliers
played saturday
chauray agen
ajaccio cannes
vannes troyes after extra time
vannes win on penalties
seclin boulogne
laval vesoul aet
saint dizier raon etape
les herbiers toulouse
monaco tours aet
monaco win on penalties
strasbourg lyon
bordeaux rodez
rennes caen
le mans valenciennes
postponed matches
compiegne lens
saint louis neuweg sochaux
marquette mulhouse
saint ouen aumone sedan
colmar lille
pontivy brest
la grande motte villefranche saone
saint etienne lorient
grenoble montpellier
thiers nancy
rearranged dates for postponed matches
jan
amiens auxerre
jan
avranches saumur
quevilly saint quentin
played friday
pau evian thonon gaillard
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
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
it was just deserts from game napoli largely bossed against free falling samp
the early season pace setters now in the bottom half
cristian maggio was twice denied by the goalkeeper and sent third effort wide
while denis who had replaced the injured ezequiel lavezzi in the first half
had goal harshly ruled out for offside
but minutes from time denis beat fiorillo to lofted cross from hugo
campagnaro to head home the winner
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
social democrat josipovic set to win croatia presidency exit polls
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic pledging to lead croatia into the european union
and crack down on corruption was set for landslide win in presidential run
off elections sunday exit polls showed
josipovic won percent of the vote according to exit polls by rtl and nova
private television stations released immediately after voting ended
partial official results expected to encompass vast percentage of the votes
will be announced by the electoral commission at midnight gmt in recent
elections exit polls closely mirrored the official outcome
josipovic lecturer in criminal law and classical music composer who has
enjoyed an untarnished political career vowed if elected president to wage an
uncompromising fight against corruption and to achieve zagreb goal of
joining the eu in
this was definitely referendum for croatian citizens whether we want
european modern croatia or another one mirando mrsic the head of josipovic
campaign team said in reaction to the exit poll results
the rival candidate populist zagreb mayor milan bandic ran on largely
similar platform but managed to secure only percent of the vote according
to the exit polls
commentators said the race between the bookish law professor and the outspoken
and devout catholic mayor had polarised croatians who felt they had to choose
between civil left or nationalism playing with right wing sentiments
modern or conservative croatia
josipovic election is certainly an important step towards boosting of ties
between zagreb and brussels radovan vukadinovic an international relations
expert told afp
he will try to make croatia country that can serve as an example to others in
the region that are aspiring to join the eu
the process of eu integration of the region thus gets an important new
dimension and provides possibility to develop even better ties with europe
he told afp
of the six republics that made up yugoslavia before it collapsed in series of
wars in the bosnia croatia macedonia montenegro serbia and slovenia
only the latter is an eu member
the fight against corruption is key challenge if croatia which joined nato
last year wants to succeed in its bid to join the european bloc and put the
trauma of the war further behind it
several investigations are under way into alleged graft at state run firms more
than dozen officials have already been detained
josipovic who would be croatia third president since its independence in
has also promised to try to help pull the country economy out of
recession
unemployment here is running at around percent and zagreb forecast
contraction of up to percent in its economy for its external debt is
meanwhile nearly percent of gross domestic product
for all his campaign pledges the day to day running of croatia is largely the
preserve of conservative government led by prime minister jadranka kosor as
the president has limited powers observers say the president is unlikely to do
much to boost the economy
josipovic election was also hailed by croatian serb leader milorad pupovac
josipovic is the man that croatia needs to continue the fight against
corruption reform the judiciary and economy join the eu and settle relations
with the neighbours notably serbia pupovac was quoted by local media as
saying
ties between croatia and serbia have gradually improved since the war
during which the belgrade regime backed serb rebels
nfl ravens run roughshod over patriots
foxboro massachusetts jan afp
the baltimore ravens ran riot from the very first play on sunday and ran over
perennial contenders new england in the first round of the nfl playoffs
ray rice exploded up the middle for an yard touchdown on the opening play to
set the tone for the ravens who booked second round clash with indianapolis
new england superstar quarterback tom brady turned the ball over three times
on the first four possessions including fumble on the fourth play of the game
that baltimore turned into touchdown for lead after less than five
minutes
brady also matched playoff career worst with three interceptions as he lost
postseason contest at gillette stadium for the first time
the patriots had won their last home playoff games at gillette and at foxboro
stadium since their last defeat in
the patriots who won three super bowl titles from were perfect
at home in the regular season but were hearing jeers from their home fans as
they fell adrift in the first quarter
brady the nfl comeback player of the year after his return from serious knee
injury was of for yards with two touchdown passes and three
interceptions
the patriots trailed at halftime after which they received the kickoff
brady shortly threw his third interception which dawan landry returned yards
to set up billy cundiff yard field goal that made it
brady then threw his second touchdown pass to julian edelman who was in for
injured receiver wes welker covering yard
the patriots defense however couldn stop the ravens runners with
left baltimore willis mcgahee ran three yards for lead
the trio of rice mcgahee and le ron mcclain gained yards on the ground
rice leading the way with rice ran for two touchdowns and mcgahee and
mcclain one each
the ravens who lost the afc championship game to eventual super bowl champions
pittsburgh last season will go to indianapolis next weekend seeking to avenge
regular season loss to the colts on november
in sunday national conference game the arizona cardinals hosted the green bay
packers in rematch from the final day of the regular season
football italian serie table
rome jan afp
italian serie table after sunday late match played won drawn lost goals
for against points
inter milan
ac milan
juventus
napoli
as roma
fiorentina
palermo
parma
cagliari
