andreas kofler aut
wolfgang loitzl aut
thomas morgenstern aut
rallying fretigne lands second dakar moto stage
la rioja argentina jan afp
france david fretigne of yamaha won the second stage of the motorcycling
category on sunday at the dakar rally km timed stage from cordoba to la
rioja
compatriot david casteu of sherco retained the overall race lead after coming in
second on the day sec adrift
football beckford goal dumps manchester united out of fa cup
manchester england jan afp
jermaine beckford first half goal secured memorable victory for leeds
united at old trafford here on sunday and ended two of sir alex ferguson proud
manchester united fa cup records
the veteran manager had never lost in the third round and never been knocked
out by team from lower division in seasons of fa cup football but the
league one leaders places below their hosts ensured both records
disappeared along with united interest in the tournament for another season
defeat also meant united had lost in the third round of the fa cup for the first
time since being beaten by bournemouth in
the intense rivalry between manchester united and leeds ensured this was an out
of the ordinary tie even before the dramatic events unfolded
the travelling fans who had made the journey over from west yorkshire
generated an atmosphere all too often lacking at old trafford and those
supporters did not have long to wait to have something to cheer
leeds goal came in the th minute and was created by magnificent yard
pass from jonathan howson who having won the ball halfway inside his own half
down the right found beckford
the prolific forward appeared to have miscontrolled the ball for moment but
managed to make decisive touch and roll the ball beyond wes brown and the dive
of goalkeeper tomasz kuszczak
old trafford was stunned apart from the delirious corner of the ground housing
the visiting supporters and the sense of disbelief continued two minutes later
when howson cross from the right hand by line found the unmarked luciano
becchio who should have done better than head over
ferguson had promised strong team and few changes from the line up that blew
aside wigan in the premier league in midweek but eventually opted for
seven changes and relatively inexperienced side
it looked dangerous gamble and thankfully for the united manager he still
had wayne rooney on the field for the in form england forward looked his
team best if not only route back into the tie
in the th minute rooney was sent scurrying down the right and he appeared to
have successfully lobbed keeper casper ankergren only for full back jason crowe
to recover and make magnificent goal line clearance
there was also growing air of malevolence on the field and booking for
brown for foul on becchio
then came touchline confrontation between gary neville and leeds manager simon
grayson over whether united should return possession to leeds from throw in
following an injury added fuel to the fire
there was more of the same after the restart united appealing for penalty
after howson challenge on danny welbeck and melee between both sets of
players after collision between brown and michael doyle
but there was also some pulsating football being played with ankergren required
to save from welbeck and dimitar berbatov in quick succession although ferguson
before the hour was up brought on ryan giggs and antonio valencia in an attempt
to rescue the situation
michael owen would soon also follow them into the fray as the situation became
ever more dire for the premier league champions
pair of chances fell to rooney either of which should have brought an
equaliser but in the th minute he shot over after owen had completely
miskicked eight yards out then six minutes later fired wastefully over from
valencia pull back
yet the opportunities were starting to come leeds way also
beckford really should have put the tie beyond all doubt in the th minute when
he sent low drive whistling beyond kuszczak right hand post
more unlucky was leeds substitute robert snodgrass whose th minute yard
free kick struck the crossbar and flew to safety
in frantic finale owen glanced header just wide and ankergren saved
superbly from rooney with fabio missing the ricochet but the third tier side
were ultimately full value for their upset
ski jump schlierenzauer takes third leg of four hills
innsbruck austria jan afp
austrian gregor schlierenzauer the defending world cup champion won the third
leg of the four hills ski jump event on sunday adding to his win at garmisch on
friday
schlierenzauer won at his home venue for the first time leaping and
metres for points he soared past his rivals swiss simon ammann who
jumped and for points and finland five time winner janne
ahonen who scored points with leaps of and
the win was the perfect early birthday present for schlierenzauer coming just
four days before he turns
he had started out with poor showing last tuesday at oberstdorf where
blaming an upset stomach he could only place ninth
but after seeing off compatriot wolfgang loitzl and ammann at garmisch he was
again bang on form
another austrian crowd favourite andreas kofler who triumphed at oberstdorf
was fourth on sunday after jumping and for points while
titleholder loitzl was sixth
going into wednesday final event at bischofshofen kofler has wafer thin
points lead over schlierenzauer and points over loitzl
zambian leader fires minister
lusaka jan afp
zambian president rupiah banda has fired minister in his cabinet government
official said sunday but without giving any explanation for his removal
president of the republic of zambia sunday revoked the appointment of hon
gabriel namulambe mp as minister of science technology and vocational
training with immediate effect said presidential spokesman dickson jere in
statement
it is believed the sacking comes after namulambe who is from the same tribe as
the late president levy mwanawasa recently accused banda of abandoning the
legacy of the late leader by sidelining politicians who hail from the area where
mwanawasa came from
however namulambe said that he was not bitter about his removal from the
ministerial position
am not bitter do sound bitter am sure my removal has brought about
smiles to those that have been calling about my resignation
am happy that served under his administration cannot say much but
will issue statement at later stage namulambe told afp
in october banda told opponents who wanted to challenge his nomination as the
presidential candidate for the ruling party movement for multiparty democracy
ahead of the polls to resign
dubai financial uncertainty overshadows tower opening
dubai jan afp
dubai was preparing sunday to inaugurate the world tallest tower symbol of
the gulf emirate unbridled ambitions amid ongoing fears about financial
catastrophe
the city state which borrowed heavily to finance its grandiose projects is
striving to restructure its mountain of debt and face serious crisis in its
once booming real estate sector
some observers now appear more confident about dubai ability to navigate its
way out of the crisis after many predicted bankruptcy when it requested debt
repayments standstill for its largest group dubai world in late november
dubai was bailed out with last minute lifeline of billion dollars from
neighbouring emirate abu dhabi which enabled dubai to pay its imminent debt
we are much more confident about the situation of dubai now after abu
dhabi support as well as the comprehensive restructuring plan than we were
one month ago said mahdi mattar chief economist at shuaa capital
the debt story is not as bad as the market initially thought when investors
were assuming the worst he told afp
dubai world began negotiations with its creditors in late december with the hope
of reaching an agreement over restructuring debt of billion dollars owed by
its troubled subsidiaries
the talks followed dubai world payment of billion dollars in maturing
bonds owed by its real estate arm nakheel thanks to abu dhabi help
but the emirate which has little oil resources has to deal with total debt
burden amounting to around billion dollars according to estimates
its fortunes have turned around as the global financial crisis dried up global
finance which was crucial to feed its rapid economic growth mainly in real
estate
in dubai where percent of the population are expatriates percent of the
work force is real estate and construction based said saud masud senior real
estate analyst at ubs bank in dubai
he estimated drop of eight percent in dubai population which was reportedly
around two million before the crisis while he expected two percent drop in
this decrease in population is expected to deepen the decline in property prices
in dubai which dived percent in he said
there is over supply as more houses are being handed over with population
outflows of percent over and handovers of roughly units
during the same period we would not be surprised to see residential over supply
of percent by end of he said
this deterioration has triggered an percent drop in projects in compared
with the previous year
big projects have been delayed indefinitely if investors don pay
developers they in turn will struggle to pay contractors he said
vacant villas and apartment blocks make now up part of dubai landscape while
the most grandiose projects have been put on hold including one kilometre
mile high tower expected to dwarf dubai completed burj dubai whose
final height is more than metres feet
but dubai debt crisis does not mean the emirate will sink in the desert sands
analysts agreed
dubai will not be wiped off the map it is very important centre and model
for the rest of the middle east said masud
dubai infrastructure is unique in the middle east it is regional
financial and tourist hub the challenge is how to come out of the downturn by
diversifying the economy and finding other levers of growth than real estate
he added
mattar agreed that dubai has built an infrastructure second to none in the
region positioning the emirate as the regional service hub
as oil prices remain at these levels and the global economy recovers the
situation of the whole region is on growth recovery path plus for dubai
he added
the tower opening ceremony kicks off at pm gmt featuring fireworks
and light show it is held on the day sheikh mohammed bin rashed al maktoum
took office as the ruler of dubai in
body of fifth british hostage to be handed over iraq
baghdad jan afp
the body of the sole remaining briton of five kidnapped in baghdad in may
by shiite militants will be handed over in the coming days iraq said on sunday
the transfer of alan mcmenemy corpse will bring an end to two and half
year ordeal that has seen several hundred suspected insurgents including the
leader of the group behind the kidnappings released in an apparent deal
we expect them to deliver the body within the next few days in order to close
the file iraqi government spokesman ali al dabbagh told afp referring to the
british bodyguard
foreign office spokeswoman in london told afp our position is unchanged we
have believed for some time that alan been killed and his immediate family
have been told our views
we continue to urge those holding alan to return his body immediately she
said we re in close contact with the iraqi authorities and we re doing
everything we can to try and secure swift return to the uk
mcmenemy was one of four security guards for peter moore computer
consultant who was released unharmed on wednesday by the league of the
righteous breakaway shiite militia months after the kidnapping
all four of his bodyguards also britons have since been killed
the bodies of three alec maclachlan jason swindlehurst and jason
creswell were handed over to british officials last year
some commentators said deal may have been done to free moore after league of
the righteous leader qais al khazaali was recently transferred from us to iraqi
custody
the foreign office denied any deal was done saying the united states
transferred khazaali into iraqi custody under the terms of bilateral
agreement
khazaali brother laith was released in june around the same time two of the
bodies were handed over to britain while around detainees were freed in
september when third body was transferred
qais al khazaali meanwhile was among detainees handed over to the iraqi
government last month
moore returned to britain on friday and said in statement released by the
foreign office he was delighted to have returned to the uk and to have been
reunited with my family
am looking forward to spending the coming days and weeks catching up on all
the things ve missed over the past two and half years he added
would therefore be grateful if we could be given the space and time we need
to start to get to know one another again
the five were kidnapped from the finance ministry in baghdad in may by
some league of the righteous gunmen
us regional military commander general david petraeus said on friday that moore
spent at least part of his time in captivity in iran citing american
intelligence
our intelligence assessment is that he moore certainly has spent part of the
time at the very least in iran part of the time that he was hostage he
told reporters in baghdad while on visit to the iraqi capital
that is based on an intelligence assessment and obviously ve not had
chance to hear it certainly not to talk to him but nor to hear anything that
he has said
british prime minister gordon brown said however there was no direct
evidence moore was held inside iran
british newspaper the guardian has reported that iran revolutionary guards
corps led the kidnap operation and took the five to iran within day of their
abduction
ve talked to peter and we didn talk about that brown told bbc television
we don have direct evidence from the foreign office of that if evidence
becomes available obviously we ll share it with the people
what happened to peter and the trouble that he had over two years and more
are something that are great problem for us because of the others who didn
survive and the other one who we still don have information about
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
sunday graphics
yemen al qaeda attacks
major attacks committed by the yemen branch of al qaeda over the last decade
slug us yemen qaeda unrest
mm wide
available gmt
fujimori factfile
factfile on former president of peru alberto fujimori whose year sentence for
human rights abuses was upheld on sunday
slug peru trial politics fujimori
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available gmt
turkey train crash
map locating bilecik province in turkey where two trains collided on sunday
killing one person and injuring others
slug turkey rail crash
mm wide
available gmt
dakar spectator killed map
map locating rio cuarto where spectator is killed in the opening of the dakar
rally
slug auto moto rally dakar
mm wide
available gmt
major sporting events worldwide
graphic showing the major sports events taking place across the world this year
slug sports calendar
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available now
also available
pakistan lakki marwat attack mm and mm
pakistan waziristan attack mm
journalists killed in mm
china shaolin temple map mm
football african nations cup mm
paris hong kong
tel
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor denis barnett
tel
top stories
us britain shut yemen embassies over al qaeda threat
pakistan faces backlash after latest bombing
iran in new threat over uranium swap deal
us yemen qaeda unrest thlead wrap
sanaa
the us and britain promptly close their embassies in yemen after threats from an
al qaeda offshoot while vowing to help the country that hosted the suspect from
failed christmas day bombing of us airliner
words gmt by hammoud mounassar file picture
pakistan unrest rdlead wrap
peshawar pakistan
pakistan faces furious backlash after suicide bomber struck volleyball
match killing people as the latest violence left former provincial
minister and seven others dead
words gmt by lehaz ali picture
iran nuclear politics wrap
tehran
iran says the west has given it until the end of january to accept uranium
swap deal stressing it will press on with plans to produce higher enriched
nuclear fuel if there is no agreement
words gmt by farhad pouladi
middle east
mideast diplomacy palestinian wrap
cairo
palestinian president mahmud abbas arrives in egypt as part of regional tour
for talks on efforts to relaunch peace talks with israel amid lingering
divisions over jewish settlement expansion
words gmt by samer al atrush
britain iraq hostage ndlead wrap
baghdad
the body of the sole remaining briton of five kidnapped in baghdad in may
by shiite militants will be handed over in the coming days iraq says
words gmt by assad abboud
uae dubai architecture tower economy lead focus
dubai
dubai prepares to inaugurate the world tallest tower symbol of the gulf
emirate unbridled ambitions amid ongoing fears about financial catastrophe
words gmt by acil tabbara picture video graphic
europe
britain politics lead
london
british prime minister gordon brown admits to underdog status in this year
general election but pledges to not stop fighting to win it
words gmt
health flu france vaccine ndlead
paris
france has joined other european countries in selling off millions of its
emergency swine flu vaccines after buying far more than it needed to fight the
outbreak the government says
words gmt by anne chaon video
americas
us attacks nigeria newseries wrap
washington
there was no smoking gun that could have led us intelligence agencies to
thwart an attack by an al qaeda linked nigerian man aboard us bound airliner
at christmas top white house security adviser says
words gmt by michael mathes
asia
afghanistan unrest politics ndlead wrap
kabul
afghan president hamid karzai suffers new blow to his authority with the
rejection by parliament of most of his cabinet nominees further prolonging
political crisis in the war ravaged country
words moved by lynne donnell picture
china weather snow ndlead
beijing
freezing front sweeps over much of northern china with snowstorms snarling new
year traffic and air travel some schools set to close and some of the lowest
temperatures in decades forecast for the next few days
words gmt picture
football leeds stun manchester united in huge cup shock
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
fallen giants leeds the league one leaders who are places below english
champions manchester united won thanks to jermaine beckford th minute goal
and then denied their hosts second in the premier league an equaliser
it was the first time manchester united manager sir alex ferguson had lost in
the third round of the fa cup 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 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
united did threaten and after leeds keeper casper ankergren had advanced
quickly to block wayne rooney initial shot jason crowe had to clear off the
line from the england striker
ankergren then produced another good block to deny danny welbeck early in the
second half
just short of the hour mark united manager sir alex ferguson made double
substitution with veteran forward ryan giggs replacing gabriel obertan and
striker antonio valencia coming on for danny welbeck
but still leeds denied the home side and with minutes left ferguson sent on
michael owen his final substitution only to see the england striker scuff
shot from inside the box moments later
rooney then fired way over the crossbar and with minutes left beckford
could have made it only for his shot to whistle past the far post
leeds substitute robert snodgrass then hit the crossbar and in the five minutes
of stoppage time ankergren saved from rooney
spain tightens security at embassy in yemen
madrid jan afp
spain is to restrict public access to its embassy in yemen for security reasons
diplomatic source said sunday though it will not close the mission at
present
madrid announcement came after the united states and britain closed their
embassies in sanaa following threats from local branch of al qaeda which
claimed responsibility for the failed christmas day attack on us airliner
the spanish embassy in yemen remains open and operational but access is
restricted for security reasons the spanish diplomatic source told afp
earlier sunday the online edition of the newspaper el mundo said spain had
decided to close its embassy in sanaa on monday and tuesday quoting embassy
sources
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula urged attacks on westerners in the region
calling for the killing of every crusader who works at their embassies or other
places
london and washington have agreed to help yemen in its fight against extremism
by funding the country counter terrorism unit special force which in the
past has received us training and assistance
no smoking gun over bomb suspect terror bid us official
washington jan afp
us agencies are scouring intelligence to learn more about the man suspected of
trying to bomb us airliner but there was no smoking gun that signaled he
was would be terrorist white house official said sunday
president barack obama counter terrorism advisor john brennan said there were
several bits and pieces of intelligence gathered in the run up to the botched
christmas day bombing and that any human or systemic failure lay in not putting
together those pieces of larger puzzle
there was no smoking gun there was no piece of intelligence that said this guy
is terrorist and is going to get on plane none whatsoever brennan told
fox news sunday as part of round of talk show interviews
it was failure to integrate the bits and pieces of information
us authorities have charged nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab with
boarding us bound northwest airlines flight out of amsterdam on christmas day
and trying to blow up the plane over detroit with explosives he had smuggled
aboard in his underwear
the terror scare prompted obama to order review of intelligence and security
operations to see where there were any breakdowns that may have allowed
abdulmutallab to get on the plane
the president is very determined to make sure we identify what the problems
were and take corrective actions immediately brennan said
among the pieces of intelligence gathered the official said were statements
from the suspect father umar mutallab who recently went to us officials with
concerns about his son religious radicalization
it is believed that the information provided by mutallab was instrumental in
getting his son name placed in terrorist database with other names
abdulmutallab name was not however placed on no fly list an element that
has rankled obama critics who say not enough is being done to thwart attacks
we also had snippets of intelligence that came in that didn refer
directly to umar farouk abdulmutallab but had little bits and pieces of
information that we now know in hindsight related to mr umar farouk
abdulmutallab brennan said
we need as system to make sure we can put the pieces together so we take
every step possible to prevent the individuals from getting on the plane
ski jump schlierenzauer takes third leg of four hills
innsbruck austria jan afp
austrian gregor schlierenzauer the defending world cup champion won the third
leg of the four hills ski jump event on sunday adding to his win at garmisch on
friday
schlierenzauer won at his home venue for the first time leaping and
metres for points as the year old soared past his rivals swiss simon
ammann who jumped and for points and five time winner finn
janne ahonen who scored points with leaps of and
african president zuma set to marry his fifth wife
johannesburg jan afp
south african president jacob zuma is set to marry his fifth wife in
traditional ceremony at his rural village in the province of kwazulu natal the
presidency said in statement sunday
the traditional wedding of president jacob zuma and tobeka madiba tomorrow
january is private family ceremony said the statement
the sunday times and independent newspapers reported that zuma homestead in
nkandla was hive of activity this week as he prepared to tie the knot with
madiba on monday
most of the things are only happening from sunday we are expecting the
arrival of number of guests and dignitaries
there is obviously lot of dancing and singing at the moment people are
happy but tomorrow monday is the big day the independent said citing
source close to the family
monday wedding ceremony will be the traditional one where the bride madiba
will be introduced to the elders as well to the ancestors two years after zuma
paid the ilobolo dowry
madiba who has two children with year old zuma has attended official
functions as one of the country first ladies and has been quoted in the media
as thobeka madiba zuma
polygamy is legally recognised in south africa
according to biography on zuma prepared by his party the african national
congress the president has three wives including madiba but details on their
marriage remained vague
meanwhile zuma is also reportedly preparing to take on sixth wife
earlier this week an umbondo exchange of gifts ceremony was held signalling
that he had paid ilobolo dowry for his latest fiancee bongi ngema according
to the sunday times
when zuma was inaugurated as head of state in may speculation was rife about
who would be the first lady
he attended the ceremony with his first wife sizakele khumalo whom he has known
for years and married in
zuma is also married to nompumelelo ntuli zuma whom he married in in
lavish ceremony
one of his earlier wives kate mantsho zuma committed suicide in
in he divorced nkosazana dlamini zuma but she remains in his inner circle
as she is currently home affairs minister
football leeds stun manchester united in huge cup shock
london jan afp
third tier leeds united produced major fa cup upset by knocking record
times winners manchester united out of this season competition with
third round win at old trafford on sunday
jermaine beckford th minute goal gave former english giants leeds the
leaders of league one and places below english champions united their first
victory at old trafford since
football english fa cup result
london jan afp
early english fa cup result on sunday
manchester united leeds beckford
playing later gmt unless stated
chelsea watford
sheffield united qpr
