pool
toulouse
cardiff
sale
harlequins
pool
leinster
london irish
scarlets
brive
note six pool winners and two berst runners up qualify for the quarter finals
urgent meeting of world powers on iran ends inconclusively
new york jan afp
representatives of six major powers ended meeting in new york saturday to mull
response to iran nuclear defiance without reaching agreement
spain sees steep fall in african migrants arriving by sea
madrid jan afp
the number of migrants arriving in spain by sea fell by percent in
compared with interior minister alfredo perez rubalcaba said saturday
attributing the drop to better police work
total of people were intercepted in the past year after attempting to
reach the spanish coast or the canary islands compared with in
according to official figures
the financial crisis has had an effect on illegal immigration from latin
america but the drop in the numbers of small boats from africa is above all
due to the work of the police to the repatriations and the cooperation with
countries of origin such as algeria mauritania senegal and mali rubalcaba
told reporters
secretary of state for immigration consuelo rumi spoke earlier this week of the
end of long cycle referring to the recent downward trend in immigration
spain received about legal immigrants last year compared to in
and in rumi said on wednesday
the drop in the number of new arrivals comes as spain has seen sharp rise in
unemployment especially among immigrants as the global credit crunch worsened
correction underway in its key property sector
renault seeks to reassure sarkozy on french production
paris jan afp
renault chief carlos ghosn assured french president nicolas sarkozy on saturday
that production of the new clio line would not be entirely transferred to turkey
as the government had feared
france number two carmaker renault has come under heavy pressure from the
government to keep jobs at home following press reports about planned shift in
clio production from flins outside paris to bursa in turkey from
after meeting of around an hour ghosn told sarkozy that renault would keep
using the flins factory and gave assurances that part of the clio iv
production there was guaranteed sarkozy office said in statement
ghosn said that renault will keep the site use and activity continuing
production there of combustion vehicles while developing the production of
electric vehicle sarkozy office said
the government will also make million euro loan at favourable rate to
help turn flins into major european site for electric vehicle production and
make million euro loan to build battery factory at the site
the elysee statement made no mention of what renault work might be done in
turkey or the exact breakdown
eu pushes for deeper carbon emissions cuts
seville spain jan afp
the eu on saturday stood by its offer to move to percent cut in carbon
dioxide emissions by despite the failure of last month un climate summit
to secure legally binding deal
european environment ministers taking part at an informal meeting in seville
said keeping the proposal on the table would inject momentum into the deflated
international climate talks after the failure of december copenhagen summit
we definitely think we should maintain the percent offer we think it is
very very important it has always been conditional offer but it is very
important signal that it is maintained british energy and climate change
minister ed miliband told reporters
the european union had agreed ahead of the climate talks in denmark to cut
carbon dioxide emissions by percent over the next decade from levels and
to deepen those cuts to percent if other nations followed suit
but the offer failed to inspire other nations to raise their targets for
emissions cuts as had been hoped
the united states and canada have both proposed reducing their carbon emissions
by just percent over levels while australia plans percent cut
the climate summit ended with deal that set the aim of limiting warming to two
degrees celsius degrees fahrenheit but did not set legally binding targets
to reduce the emissions of gases that scientists say are heating up the world
atmosphere to dangerous levels
the roughly nations which signed on to the accord have until the end of the
month to declare their official carbon reduction commitments to the united
nations
spanish climate change secretary of state teresa ribera whose country holds the
rotating eu presidency said the bloc was not looking for other developed
nations to table the same emissions cuts figures but wanted to see comparable
effort on their part
italy and poland oppose raising the bloc proposed emissions cuts due to
concerns that this will put their companies at competitive disadvantage
but france like britain backs keeping the possibility of deepening the
proposed cuts on the table
it is not question of going to percent blindly nobody would accept that
we will go to percent depending on the commitments that are published by
other developed nations said french environment minister jean louis borloo
belgian climate minister paul magnette said raising the eu target to
percent could give european firms first mover advantage in the change to
green economy which could lead their peers in india china and the united states
to follow their example
by staying with our percent target we might take the risk of losing the
opportunity for major industrial change he said
british climate campaign group sandbag said the bloc could easily go further
since its emissions levels in were already percent below levels
according to the latest figures from the european environment agency the eu
body which advises on the environment
data for is expected to show further reduction because of the recession
now is not the time to sit back and wait europe must lead by example
percent cut by is easier to achieve than ever sandbag said in
statement
the so called copenhagen accord was brokered by the four biggest greenhouse gas
emitters in the developing world brazil china india and south africa and
the united states the biggest emitter in the developed world
britain and several other eu nations hope the copenhagen accord can still be
transformed into legally binding climate change deal at fresh summit in
mexico at the end of the year
alert
meeting of world powers on iran ends inconclusively
corrected radical yemen preacher awlaqi under qaeda protection report
sanaa jan afp
radical imam anwar al awlaqi who may have links to the failed christmas day
attack on us airliner is living in yemen shabwa province under the
protection of al qaeda his father said in comments published on saturday
my son is alive in the southern shabwa province one of the main strongholds
of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula said nasser al awlaqi in an interview with
the weekly yemen post
he now probably has some al qaeda members protecting him because they are from
the same tribe and not because he is an al qaeda member he said
anwar al awlaqi us yemeni preacher in his late has been linked by
washington to the alleged attempt by nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab to blow
up us airliner on december as well as the november shooting rampage at
fort hood texas that killed people and wounded
anwar is moderate muslim he believes in the principles of islam he is not
an extremist his father said
why does the government of america want to kill my son he asked if he did
anything wrong they should put him on trial even in absentia
in an interview with the washington post in november the younger awlaqi said he
had blessed the fort hood shooting and that it was permissible under islam
because it was against military target
on january yemen deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs
rashad al aleemi said that abdulmutallab hid in the shabwa area in wadi
rafadh where he met awlaqi
but awlaqi father however said aleemi claim was nonsense
rugby union european cup results
paris jan afp
collated european cup results on saturday
pool
treviso ita munster irl
pool
gloucester eng biarritz fra
pool
leicester eng viadana ita
clermont auvergne fra ospreys wal
pool
stade francais fra bath eng
pool
cardiff blues wal sale eng
pool
leinster irl brive fra
played friday
pool
glasgow sco newport gwent dragons wal
pool
ulster irl edinburgh sco
playing sunday
pool
northampton eng perpignan fra
pool
toulouse fra harlequins eng
pool
scarlets wal london irish eng
football everton hand city boss mancini first defeat
liverpool england jan afp
everton handed roberto mancini his first defeat as manchester city manager with
an impressive victory at goodison park on saturday
mancini had won his first four matches after replacing mark hughes as city chief
last month but the italian impressive start came to an abrupt halt on
merseyside
south africa midfielder steven pienaar put everton ahead and france striker
louis saha penalty on the stroke of half time put the hosts in complete
control
former inter milan coach mancini was unable to inspire second half revival and
city chasing champions league spot slipped to fifth in the table below
fourth placed tottenham on goal difference
there was more to concern mancini than just the result as he hauled off brazil
forward robinho who had only come on as first half substitute following yet
another lacklustre display from city record signing
mancini recalled paraguay striker roque santa cruz in place of zimbabwe
benjani mwaruwari while everton boss david moyes brought in sylvain distin and
diniyar bilyaletdinov for australia defender lucas neill who has agreed to join
galatasaray and leon osman
but mancini plans were disrupted in the eighth minute when santa cruz who has
been troubled by knee problems limped off and was replaced by brazil forward
robinho
city threatened first when martin petrov cut in from the flanks and tested tim
howard with fierce drive that the american goalkeeper parried away
everton now unbeaten in six matches were soon into their stride and
bilyaletdinov forced city keeper shay given into action with header from
landon donovan cross
donovan making his home debut after his move from la galaxy came close to
scoring himself in the th minute when he clipped the ball beyond given and
narrowly wide of the far post
bilyaletdinov saw his close range effort turned over the top by given as everton
piled on the pressure and pienaar made the breakthrough in the th minute after
pablo zabaleta challenge on saha
pienaar who scored sublime goal at arsenal last week stepped up and curled
the free kick beyond given
craig bellamy went close for city before everton added second goal in first
half stoppage time
city defender micah richards tugged saha shirt and referee andre marriner
adjudged the foul worthy of penalty saha held his nerve to calmly convert the
penalty for his th league goal of the season
mancini brought on benjani to give carlos tevez more support at half time but
the change had little effect
with city struggling to establish any momentum mancini took out his
frustrations on robinho and substituted the substitute with shaun wright
phillips coming on in the nd minute
by then everton were almost home and dry but they still went in search of
third goal
marouane fellaini got on the end of pienaar corner in the th minute and
given reacted superbly to tip his header onto the post
then australia midfielder tim cahill almost completed mancini misery as he
struck the crossbar
kuwait needs security not money from iraq fm
kuwait city jan afp
kuwait is not asking its former occupier iraq to repay multi billion dollar
debt but only for assurances on security and good neighbourly ties the kuwaiti
foreign minister has said
what we need from iraq is security and assurances we don want money which is
the last thing on our mind sheikh mohammad al sabah told al qabas newspaper in
an interview due to appear on sunday
let me be very clear we have not asked iraq to repay the debt said sheikh
mohammad according to an advance copy of the interview received by afp
kuwait loaned iraq an estimated billion dollars during the iraq
iran war
iraq new leaders have repeatedly urged oil rich arab countries to cancel
baghdad debt mostly comprised of gulf support during the war with iran
sheikh mohammad called on iraq to help create the atmosphere conducive that
could allow the kuwaiti parliament to write off the debt
we want iraq to be good and safe neighbour said the kuwaiti minister who
complained that some iraqi mps still praise former leader saddam hussein for
invading the oil rich emirate
the emirate is also owed around billion dollars in war reparations by
baghdad but sheikh mohammad said compensation has its own international
mechanism
last september the kuwaiti foreign minister said his country is considering
proposal by un secretary general ban ki moon for it to invest the billions of
dollars of unpaid compensation inside iraq in joint ventures
iraq has already paid billion dollars in reparations to individuals
organisations companies and governments around half of which was paid to
kuwait
kuwait is also demanding maintenance of land border marks return of property
stolen during the invasion repatriation of remains of prisoners of war and
demarcation of maritime borders
iraqi forces invaded and occupied kuwait in august before they were driven
out by us led international coalition seven months later
the issue is not financial there are deep concerns among large section of
kuwaitis about policies of the new iraq sheikh mohammad said
he said kuwait was concerned over lawlessness in southern iraq possible
sectarian conflict that could spill over to kuwait and al qaeda militants moving
into kuwait from iraq
yemen confirms qaeda chiefs deaths captures militants
sanaa jan afp
yemen confirmed on saturday the deaths of six senior al qaeda figures in an air
strike as its security forces pressed ahead with crackdown on the group by
arresting three suspected militants
the interior ministry said al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap military
boss qassem al rimi died when missile hit his vehicle in the eastern part of
saada province on friday
also killed were ayed al shabwani ammar al waili saleh al tais egyptian
ibrahim mohammed saleh al banna and an unidentified sixth person the ministry
said in statement on its website
there had been conflicting reports about the identities of those killed when
warplane targeted three vehicle convoy with one report on friday saying that
waili and tais had escaped
rimi was among people who had made daring escape from state security
prison in sanaa in february that left the yemeni government red faced and
he was on list of wanted suspects
banna also known as abu aymen al masri was said to be an ideologist of the
group
meanwhile the defence ministry announced the arrest on saturday of three
suspected al qaeda members in the northern area of alb near the border with
saudi arabia
it named them as ahmed al razehi yasser al zubai and ahmed al heemi and said
they were wearing military fatigues and had guns and explosives
saturday arrests were the latest in series of blows since late december
when the government launched its latest campaign against al qaeda
on tuesday security forces killed abdullah mehdar said to be the group
kingpin in shabwa province east of the capital
provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi said dozens of fighters including
saudis and egyptians who had fled afghanistan were holed up in shabwa
among them he said were current aqap chief nasser al wahaishi his saudi
number two saeed ali al shehri and radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi
yemen post newspaper reported on saturday that the radical us born awlaqi who
may be linked to the botched christmas day plane bombing of us bound airliner
is living in south yemen under al qaeda protection
my son is alive in shabwa province awlaqi father nasser told the newspaper
he now probably has some al qaeda members protecting him because they are from
the same tribe and not because he is an al qaeda member
anwar is moderate muslim he believes in the principles of islam he is not
an extremist his father added
aqap has claimed responsibility for the failed december attack on northwest
airlines plane
washington has confirmed the al qaeda franchise in yemen was behind the attack
and said that it trained the alleged nigerian assailant umar farouk
abdulmutallab
yemeni officials also announced last week the capture of mohammed al hanq and
two other militants believed to be behind threats against western interests in
sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days
yemen is under us pressure to clamp down on al qaeda and analysts say that the
government in the impoverished state is keen to show the world it can crush al
qaeda militants on its own
yemen wants to avoid foreign military intervention targeting al qaeda said
adel al ahmadi yemeni specialist on the group
yemen is trying to say that it can accomplish the mission on its own and just
needs logistical assistance and political support to consolidate its regime
in the face of local adversaries
for sanaa the successive and successful strikes carried out since december
prove that logistical and intelligence assistance is more effective than direct
intervention by foreign forces said analyst said ali obeid al jamhi
the council of yemeni clerics warned on thursday of jihad or holy war if there
is any foreign military intervention in the country
an international conference on yemen will be held in london on january
it our duty to help yemen kuwait foreign minister sheikh mohammad al
sabah told al qabas newspaper in an interview to be published on sunday
they al qaeda are trying to convert yemen into centre for the export of
international terrorism and we must confront them
football german league table
berlin jan afp
german league table after saturday late match played won drawn lost goals
for goals against points
bayer leverkusen
bayern munich
hamburg
schalke
borussia dortmund
werder bremen
eintracht frankfurt
hoffenheim
vfl wolfsburg
mainz
borussia gladbach
vfb stuttgart
vfl bochum
cologne
freiburg
hanover
nuremberg
hertha berlin
football magnificent seven boosts chelsea title push
london jan afp
chelsea reasserted their credentials as premier league title favourites on
saturday with demolition of sunderland that manager carlo ancelotti hailed
as their best performance of the season
manchester united who have played game more than the leaders remained one
point off the pace after win over burnley at old trafford
but it was another frustrating day for liverpool who conceded last minute
equaliser at stoke and wasted an opportunity to close the gap on manchester city
and tottenham in the battle for top four places
with city going down to defeat at everton their first loss since roberto
mancini took over as manager last month spurs were able to edge them out of the
champions league qualifying places thanks to goalless draw at home to hull
chelsea were irresistible at stamford bridge where nicolas anelka and frank
lampard both scored twice on an afternoon when they might easily have reached
doube figures
florent malouda ashley cole and michael ballack also found the net with
boudewijn zenden and darren bent providing consolation efforts for steve bruce
outclassed side
ancelotti was delighted to see his side prove they could thrive in the absence
of didier drogba michael essien john mikel obi and salomon kalou all of whom
are away at the african cup of nations
ve always said we have fantastic squad and today we have done good job
the italian said
there were no such fireworks at old trafford where the manchester united
faithful had to wait until the th minute before dimitar berbatov broke
burnley resistance
wayne rooney th goal of the season and substitute mame biram diouf first
for the club made sure that brian laws first match in charge of burnley ended
in defeat
second half goal from sotirios kyrgiakos had looked like it would be enough to
ease the pressure on liverpool manager rafael benitez following the club fa
cup exit to championship side reading earlier in the week
but the defensive frailty that has hampered liverpool throughout the campaign
was exposed again in the th minute when robert huth scrambled in an equaliser
after the visitors had failed to clear corner
having been denied what appeared to be clear penalty in the first half
liverpool suffered further frustration when dirk kuyt headed against the post in
the fifth minute of injury time
it feels like defeat admitted kuyt we aren playing the best football at
the moment but thought we fought really hard for this result and to concede
in the last minute and even miss great chance in the last minute is
unbelievable
the draw left liverpool languishing in seventh place although the failure of
tottenham and manchester city to win limited the damage for benitez men
city had begun life under mancini with four straight wins but they flunked their
first serious test at goodison park
steven pienaar free kick and louis saha penalty earned everton thoroughly
deserved victory and lifted david moyes side into the top half of the table
for the first time this season
wigan pulled away from the relegation zone with win at fellow strugglers
wolves in match both teams ended with ten men
wolves defender richard stearman received second yellow card when he conceded
first half penalty marcus hahnemann saved hugo rodallega spot kick but
wigan made their numerical advantage count though james mccarthy on the hour
the numbers were evened up when wigan midfielder hendry thomas was ordered off
shortly afterwards but charles zogbia made sure of the points for the
visitors
football stuttgart down wolves leverkusen regain top spot
berlin jan afp
vfb stuttgart kept their unbeaten record under coach christian gross with
victory over wolfsburg on saturday to seal their first bundesliga win since
september
former tottenham hotspur boss gross took over after markus babbel was sacked
last december and having put his side in the champions league last gross
recorded his first bundesliga win and it came against the defending champions
this was stuttgart first win in games and goals by robert hilbert and pavel
pogrebnyak put the home side up before wolfsburg striker edin dzeko pulled
goal back on minutes
dzeko who was linked to manchester united before the winter break then hit the
post with five minutes left only to see forward partner grafite fire over the
bar as the guests pushed for the equaliser
but substitute timo gebhart put the result beyond doubt with an th minute goal
to put stuttgart th in the league while wolfsburg are now ninth
the win will buoy gross side with stuttgart set to face defending european
champions barcelona in the last of the champions league next month
earlier bayer leverkusen came from behind to beat mid table mainz and
reclaim top spot after bayern munich had temporarily taken charge
bayern win over hoffenheim on friday had given them one point advantage
but leverkusen regained pole position and hit back after conceding an early goal
when mainz defender tim hoogland put his side into an early lead
leverkusen began the fight back when czech defender michal kadlec netted their
first after minutes before swiss international midfielder tranquillo barnetta
scored second just four minutes later to make it
rising star toni kroos then volleyed home the third from directly in front of
goal on minutes before mainz pulled back consolation goal through defender
niko bungert on minutes
but swiss striker eren derdiyok made sure leverkusen go back to the top with
their fourth goal on minutes
the result leaves leverkusen two points clear but schalke have the chance to
claim second spot if they can beat second from bottom nuremberg on sunday
bottom side hertha berlin got their off to great start as they enjoyed
win at hanover in what was only their second win since the opening day of
the season
polish midfielder lukasz piszczek netted in the th minute to get the capital
club on the way before brazil raffael made it after minutes
greek striker theofanis gekas then slotted home third with minutes
remaining and it could so easily have been but berlin ramos had his late
penalty saved
berlin are still three points from nearest rivals nuremberg and eight points
from escaping the bottom three but the win will have boosted their confidence
hamburg are third after their win at home to freiburg as germany midfielder
marcell jansen and croatia striker mladen petric scored either side of half
time
werder bremen are sixth after their defeat at eintracht frankfurt their
fourth straight league defeat
on friday germany striker miroslav klose came off the bench to help bayern beat
hoffenheim after argentina centre back martin demichelis had opened the
scoring for munich in the first half
more cash pours in for haiti quake victims
paris jan afp
funding for haiti reached at least million dollars saturday the un said as
the world responded to call for more aid for victims of the devastating quake
believed to have killed tens of thousands
the sum includes money pledged by individuals firms nations and international
organisations the united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian
affairs said on its website
us president barack obama on saturday brought together his white house
predecessors republican george bush and democrat bill clinton for joint
appeal for more funds
we stand united with the people of haiti who have shown such incredible
resilience and we will help them to recover and to rebuild obama said
know lot of people want to send blankets or water just send your cash
added bush
in britain the national disasters emergency committee coordinating donations to
organisations said individual contributions had leaped by ten million pounds
in hours to million million euros
this is almost twice the million pounds released so far by the british
government
queen elizabeth ii has also made donation though the amount has not been
revealed
in the netherlands the government said it was releasing four million euros
million dollars to match the amount already paid by dutch people into joint
account opened by humanitarian organisations
we are also giving one million euros to the united nations and million to the
red cross foreign ministry spokesman kees jaap ouwerkeek told afp
in turkey which has lost tens of thousands of people in earthquakes the
foreign ministry said ankara was sending one million dollars euros in
cash as well as rescuers and relief supplies
even mineral rich but conflict ridden democratic republic of congo said saturday
it was chipping in with million dollars in the wake of the un appeal for
more funds
at the other end of the scale the tiny principality of monaco said it had taken
euros from its emergency funds which would also be sent via the un and
the international federation of the red cross
in geneva the red cross said that it has raised its funding appeal by ten fold
to million swiss francs million dollars million euros to help
survivors of the earthquake
the funds are expected to help the population over three years with an
immediate focus on cutting the risk of water related diseases said the
international federation of red cross and red crescent societies
the un said friday that it was launching an appeal for million dollars from
donors following tuesday magnitude quake that is thought to have killed an
estimated people
there were estimates that some three million people third of the population
had been affected
