michael claassens was on hand to beat the france fly half who was playing at
fullback to the ball and claim try which was duly converted
bath narrowed the deficit further two minutes into the second half when fijian
fly half nicky little landed penalty to make it and neither side were
able to add to their respective totals on bog like pitch in match played in
the pouring rain
we made the match lot more complicated than we should have done bemoaned
stade co coach didier faugeron
we had the match in our hands and we allowed our adversaries to get back into
it at point where think they were about to put their hands up in
surrender
china launches orbiter for navigation system state media
beijing jan afp
china launched an orbiter into space early sunday the latest stage in the
development of its own satellite navigation system state media said
the orbiter launched at about am gmt saturday was the third
orbiter that china has launched for its beidou navigation system xinhua news
agency said
the orbiter will join another two already in orbits to form network which
will eventually have total of satellites capable of providing global
navigation service to users around the world around
according to plan the beidou system will provide navigation time signal and
short message services in the asian and pacific region around
the launch took place from the xichang satellite launch centre in southwestern
sichuan province
state media have previously said beidou will enable military and civilian users
from china to find their way anywhere in the world removing the dependence on
foreign systems
the beidou navigation system is seen as rival not just of the us developed
global positioning system gps but also the european union galileo
positioning system and russia global navigation satellite system glonass
football rangers open nine point lead over celtic
glasgow jan afp
rangers extended their lead at the top of the scottish premier league to nine
points on saturday after nacho novo secured win over hamilton while celtic
were held by basement side falkirk
walter smith side laboured for long periods at new douglas park before spanish
star novo finally broke the deadlock with minutes left
rangers captain david weir said we never played well enough in the first half
but thought in the second half we improved and delighted for nacho
getting the goal
smith made three changes to the side held to draw by hamilton in the
scottish cup last sunday
kenny miller and lee mcculloch were both suspended and kris boyd was sidelined
after undergoing groin surgery with novo kevin thomson and maurice edu coming
in
celtic fell behind when the bairns took th minute lead after some poor
defending allowed carl finnigan to rifle shot past artur boruc
the hoops drew level through georgios samaras just before the break and despite
piling on the pressure in the second half falkirk held on for their first point
at celtic park since
celtic will feel aggrieved they weren awarded second half penalty with two
strong appeals against falkirk side that also held the glasgow giants to
draw earlier in the season
my overriding emotion is one of disappointment but couldn question their
desire or effort to get the three points celtic boss tony mowbray said
we give credit to falkirk for coming here and defending so well
bairns coach eddie may said it was big point for his basement battlers
absolutely delighted to come here and take point off team that will
either win the league or will be second he said
mowbray made five changes to his team allowing south korean ki sung yeung to
make his debut
stephen mcmanus was partnered by darren dea after he completed his loan spell
with reading
bottom club falkirk made strong start and pedro miguel pele header from
corner in the third minute had to be cleared off the line by andreas hinkel
run from aiden mcgeady almost resulted in the opener after ten minutes but his
shot from the edge of the box flew just wide of robert olejnik post
marc antoine fortune came close with powerful header after he rose highest in
the box to connect with ki floated free kick
but poor defending allowed falkirk to take th minute lead
long ball was knocked on by enoch showunmi to finnigan at the edge of the box
and after brushing off dea challenge he calmly slotted his left foot shot
past boruc
the polish keeper kept his team in it minutes later when he pulled off superb
save low to his left to stop ryan flynn shot from yards going in just
as it looked falkirk would take the lead into the break celtic drew level
through samaras in the th minute
marc crosas slipped pass to him down the left channel and the greek striker
rifled an angled shot past olejnik from just inside the box
china captain zheng zhi should have done better when he sent his header off
target from hinkel cross while olejnik then had to be at his best to produce
fingertip save to keep out ki superb free kick from yards out
celtic were appealing for penalty when zheng overhead kick appeared to hit
falkirk defender arm in the box but the referee waved away their protests
falkirk won free kick in dangerous position at the edge of the box but
substitute jack compton sent his effort well over the bar
the hoops were again screaming for penalty when fortune went down under the
challenge from brian mclean but his appeals were ignored
elsewhere craig brown got his first win as interim manager of motherwell as they
defeated jimmy calderwood kilmarnock dundee united beat hibernian and
hearts also won against st mirren
football benin made to pay the penalty by nigerians
benguela angola jan afp
nigeria defeated benin on saturday here at the ombaka stadium to get their
africa cup of nations campaign back on track after loss to egypt in their
opening group match
the super eagles netted the match winner after minutes from the penalty spot
through everton striker yakubu aiyegbeni after romuald boco handled goal bound
header by osaze odemwingie
the goal atoned for yakubu miss earlier in the first half when put through on
goal by kalu uche after minutes the big striker drilled his shot from inside
the box inches away from target with goalkeeper rachad chitou beaten
this was nigeria third win in as many nations cup clashes with their
neighbours and it moves the eagles to second place in the group with group
leaders egypt and mozambique to play later on saturday
nigeria kicked off this west african derby but the first half chance fell to
benin striker razak omotoyossi in the third minute inside the box with the
nigerian goal at his mercy but he hesitated to allow the eagles clear for
corner
otherwise it was rather cautious start by nigeria and benin after the first
minutes of play as there was hardly much to choose between the two teams
benin packed their defence and began to cling on to their lives as the game wore
on and nigeria launched wave after wave of attacks
however the eagles attacks were slow and predictable and so allowed their
opponents to clear their lines
stephane sessegnon brought the crowd at the ombaka stadium to its feet in the
th minute when he let fly from about metres but the crossbar came to the
rescue of nigerian goalkeeper vincent enyeama
four minutes after the break nigeria would have doubled their lead through
bolton defender danny shittu but his shot from free kick was somehow scrambled
to safety by chitou
and at the other end of the pitch it was battle of attrition between
omotoyossi and nigeria skipper joseph yobo
omotoyossi would win this when an injured yobo was forced to limp out of the
game in the nd minute after clash with the combative fc metz striker
sessegnon scuffed his shot in the rd minute and moments later nouhoum kobena
saw his shot from yards come off the nigerian crossbar as benin mounted their
own pressure for an equaliser
in the nd minute nigeria were denied second goal through substitute obinna
nsofor after chitou saved off the feet of the malaga striker after he was put
through on goal by the dashing obasi
both teams then created chances but they could not put the ball in the back of
the net before angolan referee martins de carvalho blew the final whistle
yemen must be helped to confront qaeda kuwait
kuwait city jan afp
foreign minister sheikh mohammad al sabah has urged help for yemen to prevent it
becoming centre for al qaeda adding that the organisation has fighters from
different nations in the country
it our duty to help yemen we want to help yemen safeguard the security of
the gcc states and yemen own security also the kuwaiti minister told al
qabas daily in an interview due to appear in sunday edition
there is already security cooperation in the exchange of intelligence
information sheikh mohammad said adding that reports say that members of al
qaeda in yemen already hail from nationalities
kuwait the current president of the six nation gulf cooperation council gcc
will join the london conference on january to discuss ways to help yemen the
minister said
he said that the deteriorating economic situation in yemen is directly
encouraging extremism
they al qaeda are trying to convert yemen into centre for the export of
international terrorism and we must confront them sheikh mohammad said
yemen has been fighting an all out war on al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
aqap which admitted responsibility for the botched attack on us airliner on
christmas day
on saturday sanaa confirmed the deaths of six top al qaeda members in an air
strike including aqap military boss qassem al rimi
last week al qabas quoted an unnamed security source as saying that western
intelligence has warned gcc states that al qaeda in yemen has been training to
attack shipping including oil tankers
the energy rich gcc accounts for just under one fifth of world crude oil
supplies and is also an important source of natural gas
together with neighbouring iran and iraq the gcc holds around two thirds of
proven global oil reserves gcc states alone hold more than percent of the
world crude reserves
cricket south africa on top as england officials toil
johannesburg jan afp
south africa fast bowlers struck three times in england second innings as
the home team pushed for series levelling victory on the third day of the
fourth and final test at the wanderers on saturday
england were reeling at for three when bad light stopped play still runs
short of avoiding an innings defeat
morne morkel had alastair cook caught at first slip by graeme smith in the
fourth over and dale steyn produced superb delivery which swung away late and
caused jonathan trott to edge catch to ab de villiers at third slip
after brief stoppage for bad light the players came back for long enough for
new cap wayne parnell to trap england captain andrew strauss leg before wicket
south african wicketkeeper mark boucher who struck an aggressive to set up
declaration on for seven said his team were quietly confident
there is bit more in this wicket than in the two games where we couldn
manage win he said
we don know what the weather is going to do but we believe we have the
bowling attack to take seven more wickets even if we have to chase hundred
runs to win we ve got the batsmen to do that
for the third successive day rain and bad light severely curtailed play but
south africa late strikes set them up to square series which they trail
after the frustration of two drawn games in which england were nine wickets down
in their second innings
england have saved two tests so we re not too comfortable in the changing room
but we ve had them under pressure for five or six days and pressure eventually
gets to players said boucher
england bowler ryan sidebottom admitted england had not performed well but said
we ve shown over the last months that that we fight well as unit we ve
got to fight really hard and show character
sidebottom stuart broad and graeme swann claimed early wickets on saturday to
reduce south africa advantage but ab de villiers and boucher shared an
attacking century partnership to put the hosts back on top
de villiers rode his luck to make before thunderstorm hit the ground
minutes after lunch but the storm passed and south africa were able to take
giant strides towards win
boucher hit his runs off balls falling five short of his sixth test century
when he top edged sweep against swann and was caught at deep backward square
leg
it was the second time in the day that swann had taken wicket with the first
ball of spell and the th time in as many test matches that he had struck in
the first over of spell
but swann was out of luck when he twice won appeals against de villiers from
umpire tony hill only for the decisions to be overturned on review
to add to england miseries with the review system they wasted review when
swann sought leg before wicket decision against boucher then saw de villiers
get away with what seemed clear inside edge to wicketkeeper matt prior off
ryan sidebottom
because england had used up both their reviews including the controversial
review of the decision that saw graeme smith escape dismissal on friday they
could not seek to get steve davis not out decision reversed
england used up one of their second innings batting reviews when strauss tried
unsuccessfully to challenge hill lbw decision shortly before play ended for
the day
de villiers and boucher put on for the sixth wicket scoring at four runs an
over after hashim amla jacques kallis and jp duminy were dismissed early in
the day
meanwhile the international cricket council icc said they will launch
formal investigation into the controversy over the television review system that
erupted on friday
icc chief executive haroon lorgat said letter of complaint had been received
from the england and wales cricket board ecb and an investigation would be
held
england complained after television umpire daryl harper failed to overturn not
out decision against south african captain graeme smith on friday because harper
allegedly failed to turn up the sound on an audio feed from the stump
microphone
str dj
football moyes accuses city over lescott deal
liverpool england jan afp
everton manager david moyes claims manchester city broke rules and showed no
class during their successful attempt to lure joleon lescott from goodison park
earlier this season
the england defender moved to eastlands for million pounds million
euros following protracted and often tense negotiations between the clubs in
august
moyes is clearly still furious about city conduct and in his programme notes
for saturday clash with city which lescott missed through knee injury he
said there is no doubt manchester city treated us with little respect and
broke rules in the transfer of joleon lescott
found it very difficult to accept that club with so many similarities to
everton should suddenly start acting with no class
it was not so long ago that city were very similar in financial terms to most
teams
but then couple of changes of ownership at the club saw things change quickly
for them with that comes great deal of expectation
istanbul launches year as european cultural capital
istanbul jan afp
istanbul on saturday launched year of art events as it becomes one of three
cultural capitals of europe for feting the event with concerts street
shows and firework displays
several museums were to stay open until midnight while guests will attend
reception hosted by turkish president abdullah gul and prime minister recep
tayyip erdogan along with ministers from some european countries
istanbul which once served as the capital of the roman byzantine and ottoman
empires has been designated by the european union as cultural capital along
with the german city of essen and the hungarian city of pecs
the first turkish city to be given the title istanbul hopes to attract up to
million extra visitors with around cultural events as well as seize the
occasion to reaffirm its european anchor
the accolade has political dimension for turkey whose eu accession
negotiations since are opposed by some member states notably bloc
heavyweights france and germany
founded by roman emperor constantine in under the name of constantinople
istanbul has grown into sprawling metropolis of some million people
spreading over dozens of kilometres on both sides of the bosphorus strait
separating europe and asia
the agency responsible for the events istanbul selected about
projects two thirds of which are related to historical heritage and the
remaining to arts events
the programme will feature the opening in july of the museum of innocence
conceived by nobel literature laureate orhan pamuk the exhibition from
byzantium to istanbul from september to november the european universities
theatre festival in may and concert by irish rock band in september
beset by logistical challenges haiti relief presses on
washington jan afp
with many nations vying to get urgent relief into horror struck haiti after the
devastating earthquake us officials acknowledged saturday it was critical to
better coordinate the massive influx of aid
although the aid operation was picking up steam it was still not reaching many
of the survivors desperately scrambling for badly needed food and water four
days after the massive quake
some simply stopped waiting taking part in massive exodus out of the
devastated capital
as us troops tried to unblock the aid logjam donor nations were squabbling over
what haitian official described as major coordination problems at the
airport in port au prince now under us control and operating at its maximum
capacity of takeoffs or landings per day
french argentine peruvian and mexican flights were just some of many aircraft
filled with rescuers and supplies that were turned back at the country main
port of entry which has only one runway and whose control tower was destroyed
in the temblor
french secretary of state for cooperation alain joyandet said france had
formally protested us handling of the aid flights after french aircraft
carrying field hospital was prevented from landing on friday
peru finally sent tonnes of aid by land on saturday from santo domingo after
its two aircraft carrying the load were turned back two days in row
haitian authorities were not being informed when planes arrive so when they
land there is no one in charge said michel clancy haitian government
official who heads committee in charge of coordinating water and food
distribution
the amount of flights coming in has been tremendous said tim callaghan
senior regional adviser for the us agency for international development usaid
they are working as hard as they can to bring in all the aircraft and do it
safely
but challenges at the airport were only one part of the problem
once supplies arrived there were also major setbacks to delivering them to
those in need
the coordination piece in my opinion is huge and we must continue to work very
close ly with the international community donors and the government of haiti
to again identify priorities and get these supplies out as quickly as we can
in coordinated effort callaghan told reporters
the effort is not just getting supplies in but it getting that out quickly
it communicating to everyone where it going it providing security in the
areas where the distributions are to ensure that relief items are provided in
timely fashion to assist the haitian people
the united states was participating in coordination meetings every morning with
other donors and non government organizations and food rations were being
delivered to distribution points
armed looters were meanwhile scavenging through the ruined capital of port au
prince insecure even in the best of times and now filled with the stench of
rotting corpses as sense of despair set in among exhausted survivors
there was no longer functioning police force
water purification tablets delivered late friday should be able to produce up to
liters gallons of water for distribution in containers
according to callaghan
more water supplies were being brought in from the dominican republic located
on the eastern half of the hispaniola island it shares with haiti
the united states was also providing daily rations individual
packages of calories of food for survivors until un backed world food
program plan swings into play
helicopters from the aircraft carrier uss carl vinson had already made trips
delivering water and ready to eat meals by midday saturday
the usns comfort us hospital ship was on its way to haiti from baltimore
maryland while five international clinics were operational
callaghan said us urban search and rescue teams and over firefighters had
fanned out to work around the clock to rescue people still trapped under the
rubble in massive effort he said would continue at least through sunday
they were being assisted by medical teams from countries
but in sign of the challenge it can take more than hours to free
single person from beneath slab of concrete the us teams had only managed
to recover haitians and americans by early saturday
national security council chief of staff denis mcdonough said tons
tonnes of relief supplies had arrived in haiti so far and that the us navy and
coast guard were looking for ways to reopen ports destroyed in tuesday massive
magnitude quake in order to ship in more materials
the white house has already pledged million dollars in aid to its southern
neighbor
clinton flies to haiti to boost aid effort
aboard us air force plane jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton flew to haiti on saturday highlighting an
urgent bid to clear logistics hurdles and find creative ways to deliver aid to
quake hit haitians
clinton the highest ranking foreign official to visit haiti since the massive
temblor struck on tuesday said she would meet president rene preval to ask how
the united states can help tackle fuel shortages and other problems
the chief us diplomat who met preval during visit to port au prince in april
last year told reporters traveling with her that she wanted to listen to him
to be sure we are as responsive as we need to be
clinton who later switched planes at coast guard air station borinquen in
puerto rico and is running about minutes behind schedule without
confirmation on her arrival time in the haitian capital noted fuel was running
out and that the government could not access fuel stored at the severely
damaged main port
but the most pressing needs like food and water were beginning to be met she
said
the haitian president whom she said lost family members in the quake and
clinton were to meet later saturday at port au prince airport the hub of the
massive international relief operation that is just getting under way
some critics had complained that aid was piling up at the airport it not
fair it not fair she replied saying it is getting out
clinton and rajiv shah her director of the us agency for international
development said the un world food program had begun setting up food and water
distribution centers at points across the capital
we re looking to expand that shah said
he understood some of those points were already working roads had been cleared
and the us military is prepared to provide security at these sites as well as
transport supplies to them
clinton made clear that the brazil led un force deployed for years in the
country with wide knowledge and local informants was responsible for security
we are working to back them up but not to supplant them she said
she said the us military was also trying to establish helicopter landing zones
for some aid deliveries but had to drop the plan when it realized haitians would
mob the site each time and make it dangerous to land
she said the united states was also planning to ship aid outside the capital as
haitians were beginning to trickle out to the less damaged areas of the country
the other thing we re trying to do is get our helicopters outside the
immediately affected area outside of port au prince because people are leaving
the city the chief us diplomat said
they are seeking medical help they are trying to get to relatives she added
the countryside is relatively unaffected we re trying to get ahead of the
curve here
she noted that number of injured haitians managed to reach hospital about
miles outside the capital but it is now full of patients
clinton said state department officials had asked the us military whether
supplies could be parachuted to haitians but heard they won do that they
don think that good idea it too dangerous
you can do that in rural areas in urban areas it causes riots and causes
injuries to people she said noting that packages could fall on crowds
clinton said the haitian government the sovereign entity has until now given
the us government and others measure of leeway to meet emergency needs the
government says the highest priority is to save lives she noted
however she said it will help if the haitian parliament issues an emergency
decree something expected to be debated early saturday because it would give
the government enormous authority to impose curfews and other measures
or as will be likely in many cases the government will delegate tasks to the
us and others she said
philip crowley clinton spokesman said there were hopes to make the northern
city of cap haitien operational as container port which would give the
country second port but he gave no details
clinton said only that the united states would be able to get the main port in
port au prince working but gave no details about how that would happen
meanwhile clinton was flying in with food and toiletries for us embassy
staff her plane was also carrying cases of military food rations and
cases of water
in switching to an airforce transport plane in puerto rico clinton was due to
pick up supplies for the haitian people
shah said the united states had just flown from miami to haiti three sets of
water purification systems that can produce liters of clean water per
day one is being set up at the argentine hospital
there are also plans to send soon another six such systems from dubai and
country in latin america
when clinton leaves haiti later she will take with her total of american
citizens who had been living in haiti some of them to jamaica and others to the
united states officials said
football africa cup of nations nigeria benin
benguela angola jan afp
result of africa cup of nations group match here on saturday
nigeria yakubu pen benin
urgent football nigeria beat benin in africa cup of nations
benguela angola jan afp
nigeria beat benin in an africa cup of nations group match here on
saturday
alert
football nigeria beat benin in africa cup of nations
golf schwartzel poised for back to back european victories
johannesburg jan afp
south african charl schwartzel fired seven under par on saturday to take
four stroke lead after three rounds of the joburg open here
the pre tournament favourite lies on under par for the metre royal
johannesburg and kensington course as he seeks back to back european tour
victories having won the africa open in east london last weekend
german martin kaymer was the last winner of consecutive tournaments on the
european circuit topping the french open and scottish open leaderboards within
eight days last july
clinical putting took the south african clear of the field as he succeeded with
birdie attempts from various distances including footer at the penultimate
hole
there is lot at stake for the world number as top ranking would earn
him automatic entry to the first major of the year the us masters in augusta in
april
schwartzel year old from vereeniging south of johannesburg holds his
four shot advantage over former ryder cup star darren clarke of northern
ireland who carded on the par layout
clarke hero of the ryder cup triumph over the united states at the club
in ireland played solidly with three putts on the ninth the only serious
blemish
south african hendrik buhrmann returned during round delayed several
times by bad weather to occupy third place four shots adrift of four time
european tour winner schwartzel
leaderboard dominated by home golfers has another four alex haindl james
kamte hennie otto jaco van zyl on alongside danny willett from england
another englishman paul broadhurst spaniard alejandro canizares and first
round pace setter neil schietekat who opened with are among five players
on
david lynn of england who held one shot halfway lead over schwartzel after
rounds of and imploded with three over and appears out of contention
for first prize in the million euro event
the stoke based golfer who has only the klm open title to show for
plus european tour appearances fell apart on the back nine taking
strokes to complete it
football forest boost championship promotion push
london jan afp
nottingham forest boosted their championship promotion push with win over
reading while the new managers at preston and sheffield wednesday enjoyed mixed
fortunes on saturday
with leaders newcastle and third placed west bromwich albion meeting at st
james park on monday billy davies forest had chance to cement their place
in the automatic promotion places
they did just that by defeating reading side who arrived at the city ground in
bouyant mood after their shock fa cup win over liverpool in midweek
paul anderson brought reading back down to earth when he put forest ahead in the
th minute and robert earnshaw added second for the hosts in the st minute
forest keeper lee camp saved brian howard th minute penalty in an incident
that saw forest defender nicky shorey sent off
substitute jimmy kebe scored deep into injury time but it wasn enough to stop
forest moving within two points of newcastle and four points clear of albion
darren ferguson suffered losing start to his reign as preston boss as bristol
city claimed victory at ashton gate
ferguson son of manchester united manager sir alex left peterborough in
acrimonious circumstances earlier this season
early goals from danny haynes and liam fontaine gave him nightmare start
before chris brown pulled goal back for preston
louis carey headed home after the break to increase city lead and evander sno
rubbed salt into ferguson wounds with late fourth goal before ross wallace
injury time consolation for the visitors
