threatened the customs bloc prospects
cricket kallis century revives south africa
cape town south africa jan afp
jacques kallis hit calm chanceless century to keep south african hopes alive
on the first day of the third test against england at newlands here on sunday
kallis made not out as south africa recovered from for five to reach
for six at the close of day which had started with fast bowler makhaya ntini
dropped from the team in move certain to hasten his retirement as test
cricketer
it was crucial innings by kallis for team under pressure after losing the
second test in durban by an innings and runs to go down in four match
series
he shared three half century partnerships as south africa clawed their way back
into contention after poor start
south africa slumped to for three before kallis and ab de villiers put on
for the fourth wicket but then off spinner graeme swann took two wickets in two
balls to plunge them to for five
but wicketkeeper mark boucher hit an aggressive and helped kallis add for
the sixth wicket before dale steyn partnered south africa senior batsman in
an unbeaten seventh wicket stand of
it was kallis rd test century his sixth at newlands and his third in
successive tests against england at the ground
kallis reached his century shortly before the second new ball was due when he
hit full toss from part time spinner kevin pietersen to the wide mid off
boundary for his th boundary he had faced balls
always enjoy batting with jacques said boucher next door neighbour of
the veteran all rounder
his defence is so good and he so calm he hungry for runs and he worked
hard on his fitness now the hard work is paying off hungry jacques kallis is
always dangerous sign for the opposition
england bowler james anderson joined the praise for the south african batsman
asked whether he had bowled against more difficult opponent anderson said
probably not he very patient and he plays the ball very late so he is in
position even the ball is reverse swinging
rain delayed the start of play by half an hour and andrew strauss decision to
bowl first paid an early dividend when anderson had ashwell prince caught behind
for nought off the fourth ball of the match
south africa could have been two down three balls later when graeme smith on
one edged graham onions first delivery into the midriff of swann at second
slip
but swann could not hold the chance although regular second slip paul
collingwood was passed fit to play he was fielding at fine leg to prevent
further damage to dislocated left index finger
smith and hashim amla put on for the second wicket before amla was leg before
wicket to onions for smith made before being caught behind off anderson
off the first ball he faced after lunch
shortened morning had been played under overcast skies but the sun came out
after lunch and kallis and de villiers batted brightly adding runs off
balls
swann man of the match in the first two tests ended run third wicket
stand between kallis and de villiers when he had the latter smartly caught at
short midwicket by strauss for
jp duminy then suffered his second successive first ball dismissal when he
pushed forward tentatively and edged catch to wicketkeeper matt prior
boucher was in sparkling form as he made off balls before he was leg
before wicket to broad
with the clouds again sweeping over the ground steyn provided surprisingly
capable support until bad light stopped play balls after the second new ball
was taken
veteran fast bowler makhaya ntini was dropped from the south african team and
replaced by friedel de wet
britain to introduce body scanners at airports
london jan afp
british airports are going to introduce body scanners in bid to tighten up
security following the failed us airliner plot prime minister gordon brown said
sunday
he told bbc television that the authorities were acting quickly in the wake of
the plot by an al qaeda linked nigerian aboard detroit bound airliner with
body scanners already on order
people will see gradually being brought in the use of full body scanners he
said
they will see checks for explosive traces that will be done on hand luggage
transit passengers will also be checked as well as transfer passengers
we will do everything in our power to tighten up on the security that is
essential
we have recognised that there are new forms of weapon that are being used by
al qaeda so we ve got to respond accordingly
we have found that there is new form of explosive that is not being
identified by ordinary machines we have got to go further our first duty is to
the security of the people of this country
brown said he hoped it would not lead to longer queues at airports
spokesman for airport operator baa said now that the government has given
the go ahead we will introduce full body scanners as soon as practical
it is our view that combination of technology intelligence and passenger
profiling will help build more robust defence against the unpredictable and
changing nature of the terrorist threat to aviation
baa owns and operates london heathrow london stansted glasgow edinburgh
aberdeen and southampton airports
the netherlands announced wednesday that body scanners would be used on all
flights from amsterdam schipol airport to the united states
cricket axed ntini faces end of test career
cape town south africa jan afp
makhaya ntini was dropped from the south african team to face england on sunday
in move which could hasten the end of the black fast bowler landmark test
career
ntini did not travel to the ground after being told that he was not in the
team for the third test at newlands the ground where he started his test
career against sri lanka seasons ago
although the team was not announced publicly until shortly before the toss the
players were informed of the selection on saturday and ntini was given the
option of returning home according to team spokesman michael owen smith
ntini axeing had been widely anticipated after he performed poorly in the
first two tests against england
in the calendar year he took only wickets in six tests at an average of
experts believed that loss of pace had reduced his effectiveness
teammate mark boucher who made on sunday to help south africa close on
in their first innings said he was saddened by the decision to drop ntini
the fast bowler and boucher played in tests together with boucher assisting
in of ntini test wickets with catches behind the stumps
it sad day said boucher but he would not be drawn into speculation about
whether his long time teammate would return to the test side
not selector he said
speculation about the future of man described by both captain graeme smith and
coach mickey arthur as one of south africa iconic cricketers was fuelled by
report in the london sunday telegraph which claimed ntini was set to join
english county middlesex as kolpak player which would preclude him from
playing international cricket
the sunday telegraph claimed ntini intended to announce his retirement from
international cricket and that he had signed pre contract agreement with
middlesex
owen smith said he was unaware of ntini reaching an agreement with middlesex
he is contracted to cricket south africa which means he cannot sign any
contracts without csa agreement he said
ntini has had special status in south african sport as the first black african
to play test cricket for the country although three others have also won test
caps ntini remains the only black african to hold down long term place in the
team
at his best ntini was able to bowl tirelessly at high pace he has taken
test wickets at an average of second only to south african record holder
shaun pollock who took
ntini has taken ten wickets in match on four occasions the most by any south
african and claimed the best match figures in south african test history when
he took for against the west indies in port of spain in
the decision to drop ntini was not taken lightly in country where political
considerations are an unavoidable reality
it sensitive issue in south africa smith said in his captain pre match
press conference on saturday when asked about the debate surrounding ntini
place
rugbyu mermoz in six nations scare after shoulder injury
brive france jan afp
perpignan centre maxime mermoz is in doubt for the start of france six nations
campaign after suffering shoulder injury in his team loss to brive in
the top on sunday
the five time capped mermoz was taken to hospital for tests after the game but
it is feared that he could be forced to sit out france february opener
against scotland
football leeds stun manchester united as chelsea cruise
london jan afp
third tier leeds united produced the shock of the third round by knocking record
times winners manchester united out of the fa cup with victory at old
trafford on sunday
leeds the league one leaders who are places below english champions
manchester united won thanks to jermaine beckford th minute goal
but fa cup holders chelsea who lead the premier league by two points from
manchester united cruised into the fourth round draw with thrashing of
second division watford later on sunday at stamford bridge
defeat was the first time manchester united manager sir alex ferguson had lost
in the third round the stage at which teams from england top two divisions
enter the knockout tournament since he arrived at old trafford years ago
not since when beaten by third tier bournemouth had manchester united
lost at this stage of the competition
victory was also leeds first win at old trafford since
their goal came after jonny howson superb yard pass over the head of wes
brown found striker beckford and he outpaced the defender before sliding the
ball left footed into the far corner and beyond goalkeeper tomasz kuszczak
the preparation for the game was very good but shocked by the
performance said ferguson
we didn start right and leeds did start right the year old added
they fought like tigers and we expect that with any team coming to old
trafford for an fa cup tie it disappointment
this loss was not what united wanted ahead of wednesday league cup semi final
first leg tie against local rivals manchester city and ferguson said we have
to get this result out of our system as quickly as possible
leeds manager simon grayson hailed his outstanding side after they produced
one of the great fa cup shocks
full credit to the players who were outstanding today but it what they ve
been like all season he said
chelsea were in front by the nd minute thanks to daniel sturridge john
eustace own goal and florent malouda deflected shot
england midfielder frank lampard made it in the th minute with yard
strike and four minutes later year old striker sturridge had his second and
chelsea fifth goal
sunday all second tier championship clash between sheffield united and qpr
ended in draw
jay simpson gave qpr the lead but it lasted just six minutes with richard
cresswell equalising for the blades
arsenal were in action later on sunday away to premier league rivals west ham
while wolves faced league one side tranmere rovers in the weekend final third
round tie after the match between notts county and non league forest green was
postponed because of frozen pitch
croat ex pm considers return after party poll failure
zagreb jan afp
croatia former prime minister ivo sanader said sunday he might return to
politics after the first round exit of his party the croatian democratic union
hdz in last month presidential election
sanader who unexpectedly retired from politics in july criticised the
leadership of his successor as prime minister jadranka kosor
in the first round of the presidential vote the hdz recorded its worst result
since it was founded in sanader said
as of today have decided to fully activate my role as honorary president of
the hdz with all the duties and rights that entails he said
the hdz presidental candidate andrija hebrang failed to make it through to the
second round run off in the presidential election garnering just percent of
the vote in the december first round
but while criticising kosor leadership sanador also acknowledged that he had
to share some of the blame for having withdrawn from the political scene
retiring completely from politics was mistake and am partly responsible for
the result in the presidential election he said
sanader still had two years of his term as prime minister left when he stepped
down and had also served as the party president
he said sunday he might return as deputy in the croatian parliament when
moratorium imposed by local laws expires on january
the opposition social democrat candidate ivo josipovic and the mayor of zagreb
milan bandic standing as an independent will contest the presidential run off
vote on january
rallying dakar crash driver pulls out
la rioja argentina jan afp
germany mirco schultis and swiss teammate ulrich leardi whose car
accidentally ploughed into group of dakar rally spectators killing female
fan didn start sunday second stage
the duo vehicle came off the track and smashed into the spectators who are
believed to have strayed from designated safe viewing area near the town of
rio cuarto around km from buenos aires on saturday
sonia natalia gallardo who suffered serious head pelvic and stomach
injuries in the incident died in cordoba hospital while four others were
hurt
over people are believed to have been killed in the gruelling race since its
inception in three died in when the event was switched to south
america from its traditional african home
schultis and leardi smashed into group of fans who were in non authorised
sector private area said julio cesar berrocal the cordoba police chief
three vehicles came around corner and two of them tried to get round but the
dust cloud kicked up by them prevented the third schultis and leardi
from seeing clearly and they came off the track
schultis was interviewed by police after the accident
the latest death will raise more questions over security in the race widely
regarded as the world most dangerous motorsports event
after the three deaths in which involved french motorcyclist pascal terry
and two men in support lorry extra measures were introduced for
five public zones were set up along the route of the first stage which were
planned to provide safe and secure viewing area for spectators
in all there are such areas set aside on the event stages
the organisers and local authorities appeal once again to the people to show
the greatest care and respect the public zones said race source
football scottish premier league table
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league table after sunday matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
rangers
celtic
hibernian
dundee utd
hearts
aberdeen
motherwell
st johnstone
st mirren
hamilton
kilmarnock
falkirk
lava flows ravage national park forest in drcongo
goma dr congo jan afp
lava flowing from volcanic eruption in eastern dr congo was gathering pace and
set to destroy up to hectares acres of forest in virunga national park
by late sunday vulcanologists said
the goma vulcanological observatory which has been monitoring the eruption of
nearby mount nyamulagira early saturday said the pace of destruction would
increase as it hit steeper ground
from monday the speed will increase because the territory starts to slope
whereas it had been flatlands before the observatory director karume katcho
told afp
he said metre wide swathe of lava is burning the forest we estimate that
up to hectares acres of the area will be burnt after today
officials said the eruption was concentrated in sparsely populated area
though wildlife habitats were under threat
the volcano stands kilometres miles from the provincial capital goma
which it last threatened in
virunga national park is unesco world heritage site and located on chain of
active volcanoes including nyamulagira it is home to around of the world
last mountain gorillas but these are located further east of the volcano
near the border with rwanda
the national park also contains large numbers other species including
elephants hippopotamus and buffalo
the ash and volcanic fibres from the eruption are harmful to animals as they can
pierce their stomachs and intestines but so far the chimpanzee population in
the risk zone has not been affected wildlife officials said
football scottish premier league results collated
glasgow jan afp
collated scottish premier league result on sunday
celtic mcdonald rangers mcculloch
hibernian stokes hearts smith
played saturday
dundee utd aberdeen mulgrew
st mirren innes kilmarnock
postponed
falkirk st johnstone frozen pitch
motherwell hamilton safety reasons
football english fa cup results st update
london jan afp
english fa cup results on sunday
chelsea sturridge eustace og malouda lampard watford
manchester united leeds beckford
sheffield united cresswell qpr simpson
playing later
tranmere wolverhampton gmt
west ham arsenal gmt
postponed frozen pitch
notts county forest green
played saturday
aston villa delfouneso cuellar carew pen blackburn kalinic
blackpool ormerod ipswich colback garvan
bolton swaibu og lee cahill davies lincoln
everton vaughan cahill baines pen carlisle hurst
fulham zamora swindon
huddersfield west bromwich dorrans wood
leicester king guessan swansea cotterill
middlesbrough manchester city benjani
millwall grabban derby commons
milton keynes dons morgan burnley alexander pen fletcher
nottingham forest birmingham
plymouth newcastle
portsmouth boateng coventry bell
preston brown sedgwick parkin pen williams og carter
colchester
reading church liverpool gerrard
scunthorpe hayes barnsley
sheffield wednesday hill og crystal palace danns andrew
southampton lambert luton
stoke parslow og fuller etherington york barrett
sunderland malbranque campbell barrow
torquay brighton crofts
tottenham kranjcar defoe keane pen peterborough
wigan zogbia mccarthy sinclair hull geovanni
postponed all frozen pitches
accrington stanley gillingham
brentford doncaster
bristol city cardiff
alpine skiing in form aubert takes second slalom race
zagreb jan afp
french skier sandrine aubert won her second world cup race of the season here on
sunday as she won the women slalom for her fourth career victory in the
discipline
the year old who was fourth after the first leg beat home austrian kathrin
zettel by hundreths of second while germany susanne riesch was third
hundreths of second adrift for her second ever podium position
zettel had led after the first leg ahead of compatriot marlies schild but whilst
the latter crashed out on the second run the former had to be content with her
sixth podium placing of the campaign
victory for aubert who won in the swedish resort of are and then finished
second in linz in austria last tuesday saw her move to the top of the slalom
standings
it like that this sport said aubert
there are good and bad days certain among us had the luck today sunday
others didn
as the leaders were coming down on the second leg thought was going to
win added aubert who collected euros cheque for the win which is the
richest prize on offer on the circuit
aubert said that the more success she had the less pressure she felt heading
towards february olympic games in vancouver
the more am closer to winning and on the podium the better feel because it
means can compete against the best she said
can be contender for victory every time and for me that is exciting
however by contrast when am little behind that is when feel some
pressure and don feel so good
now it is vital to manage the races that are coming up and to handle the
pressure without pushing too hard when it comes to leading the standings and
the crystal globes
germany maria riesch older sister of susanne went top of the overall world
cup standings after finishing fourth at the expense of american lindsey vonn
who was disqualified
berlin plans new body scanners for summer report
berlin jan afp
germany is planning to introduce new generation of body scanners at the
country airports this summer research minister annette schavan told german
newspaper sunday
we have very hopeful we can present the results of this research for whole
new generation of body scanners this summer the conservative cdu minister
told the bild am sonntag
wolfgang bosbach specialist in interior security matters for the cdu told
another paper the neue osnabr cker zeitung he hoped tests could begin in
around six months
if successful the first machines could be installed in airports month later
he added
security experts think body scanners would have caught the year old nigerian
umar farouk abdulmutallab before he boarded the us airliner he is accused of
having tried to blow up on christmas day
us officials have charged abdulmutallab with trying to destroy us bound
northwest airlines flight out of amsterdam on december
investigators say he tried to blow up the plane over detroit with explosives he
had smuggled aboard in his underwear
dutch authorities announced on wednesday that they would be using full body
scanners at amsterdam schipol airport from where abdulmutallab flight left
within three weeks for all us bound flights
nigeria has said it will also be introducing such scanners
france joins europe flu vaccine sell off
paris jan afp
france has joined other european countries in selling off millions of its
emergency swine flu vaccines after buying far more than needed to fight the
outbreak the government said sunday
we started with plan for two dose vaccinations but since one dose is
sufficient we can start to re sell part of the stock french health ministry
official told afp
like some other european countries france has witnessed less demand than
expected after spending million euros billion dollars on vaccines for
the virus
france bought million doses almost one and half for every member of the
population but so far only about five million people are recorded as having
been vaccinated since the programme launched in october
the government took the decision to sell some of its stock after european
medical authorities said that one off vaccination was enough to protect
against the virus
the health ministry said qatar had already bought doses and egypt was
negotiating to buy two million france is also in discussions with mexico and
ukraine it added
germany also said last month it was looking to sell off vaccines even though its
full order of million doses was not due to be delivered until march only
about five percent of the population had been vaccinated in germany
germany reported requests for vaccines from afghanistan and central european
countries including ukraine where france is now competing with it
the netherlands announced in november that it would sell million of the
million vaccines it ordered to countries with shortage of them judging its
own flu scare to be past
spain health minister trinidad jimenez was quoted as saying in the daily el
pais on sunday that madrid expects to buy total of about million doses
little more than third of its earlier estimate of million
the world health organisation said last month that the virus was peaking
in much of western europe as the disease progressed into central europe and
through parts of asia
german authorities said moldova kosovo mongolia and the maldives had
approached them asking for vaccines to be donated as aid
the who said last week that swine flu has killed at least people
worldwide with the biggest share of victims in the united states and canada
though it was now declining in north america
in france the opposition socialists health spokesman jean marie le guen called
the government strategy fiasco saying in statement that despite its
exaggerated spending france still had very low rate of vaccination
disease specialist marc gentilini former president of the french red cross
also criticised what he called france extravagant and costly mass
vaccination campaign
preparing for the worst wasn necessarily preparing correctly he told afp
us britain shut yemen embassies over al qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
the united states and britain promptly closed their embassies in yemen on sunday
after threats from an al qaeda offshoot while vowing to fight yemeni extremists
linked to failed us airliner bombing
us president barack obama on saturday accused the yemen based al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula or aqap of arming and training nigerian suspect who
targetted detroit bound northwest airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the foiled attack and called for strikes on
embassies in yemen
there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against
target inside of sanaa possibly our embassy us homeland security and
counterterrorism adviser john brennan said sunday
so the decision was made to close the embassy we re working very closely with
the yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions the white
house adviser said on cnn
earlier the us embassy posted statement on its website saying the closure was
in response to ongoing threats by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula to
attack american interests in yemen
britain followed suit with spokeswoman for the foreign office in london
confirming its sanaa embassy had been closed for security reasons
yemeni government official earlier told afp the british embassy was closed
for security reasons and out of fear of possible al qaeda reactions but he
stressed there were no direct al qaeda threats
spain meanwhile decided to restrict public access to its sanaa embassy for
security reasons diplomatic source said after the online edition of el mundo
newspaper reported the mission would close on monday and tuesday
the spanish embassy in yemen remains open and operational but access is
restricted for security reasons the spanish source told afp
fears grew after aqap urged muslims on monday to conduct an all out war
against western targets in the impoverished arabian peninsula country
we call upon every muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist
in expelling the apostasies from the arabian peninsula by killing every
crusader who works at their embassies or other places declare it an all out war
against every crusader on mohammad peninsula on land air and sea it said in
statement
london and washington meanwhile agreed to fund yemen special counter terrorism
unit special force which in the past has received us training and
assistance
brennan described the move as determined and concerted effort but stressed
washington will not open up new front in yemen by sending in troops to help
the authorities battle islamist militants
we re not going to let al qaeda continue to make gains in yemen because we need
to take whatever steps necessary to protect our citizens there as well as
abroad he told fox news
he also hailed the yemeni government for making real progress against al qaeda
and said washington was providing everything they ve asked for
in the past month al qaeda has take number of hits number of al qaeda
leaders in yemen are no longer with us brennan said
yemeni forces launched raids on suspected al qaeda targets on december and
killing more than islamist militants defence ministry newspaper said
plot to bomb the british embassy was also foiled
britain is due to host an international meeting on combating extremism in yemen
on january
yemen has been recognised like somalia to be one of the areas where we ve got
to not only keep an eye on but we ve got to do more british prime minister
gordon brown said
yemen the ancestral homeland of al qaeda chief osama bin laden is
grappling with insurgents in the north and the south and has been rocked by
several deadly anti western attacks
