late monday to indonesian rupiah from and to
philippine pesos from
the greenback also declined to singapore dollars from and to
thai baht from while remaining flat at taiwan dollars
football benin out to shock mighty egyptians
benguela angola jan afp
the africa cup of nations group game between egypt and benin here on wednesday
will match the continent heavyweights up against the underdogs who are fired
up to get their first ever win in the competition
the squirrels are third in group with point from two matches but still have
chance of progressing to the next round if they shock the african champions
and second placed nigeria lose to mozambique
we have not given up yet because we still have match to play and if we get
the results we wish for we could still remain in the tournament we will fight
till the end said benin coach michel dessuyer
benin have already pulled off shock result in the qualifiers when they pipped
the black stars of ghana at home in september courtesy of late winner by
youngster mohammed aoudou
six time champions egypt on the other hand will be hoping to extend new
record of going unbeaten in matches in the championship since the
tournament where they last lost to bitter regional rivals algeria
the previous record of games without defeat was held by cameroon who
achieved this record between and
the pharaohs are top of group after they recorded maximum points from their
first two matches against nigeria and mozambique
they thus became the second team after the ivory coast to reach the last eight
in angola and as result coach hassan shehata will give several fringe players
run out against the squirrels on wednesday
shehata has disclosed that first choice goalkeeper essam el hadary will along
with several other key players like al ahly central defender wael gomaa be
rested and so afford him an opportunity to assess the likes of enppi midfielder
abdelaziz tawfik and moatasem salem from ismaila
the egypt coach has bemoaned the lack of quality goalkeepers in the country
even suggesting that foreign goalkeepers be banned from the domestic
championship so that young home grown goalkeepers get better chance to come
through
skipper ahmed hassan will also be in action for his th cap to equal the
all time egyptian record of caps set by striker hossam hassan
two strikes in as many matches as second half substitute have thrown the
spotlight on al ittihad midfielder mohamed gedo nagy here in benguela
he is now likely to start against benin team who will be missing their
biggest star stephane sessegnon of paris saint germain through suspension
dessuyer will most probably play either the dimunitive arnaud seka or pascal
angan in place of sessegnon
seka is the shortest player at angola standing at only about metres
he was the crowd favourite when he came on as late substitute against nigeria
while angan is year old attacking midfielder who plays his club football in
morocco
last year both teams clashed in friendly in cairo with egypt running away
winners benin goal was scored by their nigerian born striker razak
omotoyossi
the team leading scorer in the qualifiers with eight goals from matches
omotoyossi was again on target in the opening group game at the ombaka stadium
against mozambique as the squirrels failed to defend two goal lead to draw
top officials were disappointed even though this was the west africans first
point ever at the nations cup so much so that they ordered four coaches from the
country under and under team down to angola to assist frenchman dessuyer
for the match they lost to nigeria
experienced goalkeeper rachad chitou was forced out of the match against nigeria
through injury but he is expected to be fit in time for this match after he
resumed training on monday evening in catumbila
tennis australian open results day two th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day two of the australian open at melbourne park here tuesday
denotes seeding
men singles
st round
jarkko nieminen fin bt nick lindahl aus
tomas berdych cze bt robin haase ned
evgeny korolev kaz bt daniel brands ger
igor kunitysn rus bt jose acasuso arg
louk sorenson irl bt lu yen hsun tpe
marin cilic cro bt fabrice santoro fra
gael monfils fra bt matthew ebden aus
nikolay davydenko rus bt dieter kindlmann ger
fernando verdasco esp bt carsten ball aus
feliciano lopez esp bt pablo cuevas uru
stanislas wawrinka sui bt guillermo garica lopez esp
thomaz bellucci bra bt teimuraz gabashvilli rus
marsel ilhan tur bt sebastien grosjean fra
john isner usa bt andreas seppi ita
ivan sergeyev ukr bt dudi sela isr
viktor troicki srb bt nicolas lapentti ecu
rainer schuettler ger bt sam querrey usa
james blake usa bt arnaud clement fra
lukasz kubot pol bt mischa zverev ger
julien benneteau fra bt david guez fra
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt horacio zeballos arg
women singles
st round
ana ivanovic srb bt shenay perry usa
sandra zahlavova cze bt coco vandeweghe usa
aravane rezai fra bt sania mirza ind
marion bartoli fra bt rossana de los rios par
ekaterina makarova rus bt virginie razzano fra
angelique kerber ger bt olga govortsova blr
nadia petrova rus bt edina gallovits rou
katie brien gbr bt patricia mayr aut
sara errani ita bt klara zakopalova cze
samantha stosur aus bt xinyun han chn
tamarine tanasugarn tha bt sesil karatantcheva kaz
polona hercog slo bt yuliana fedak ukr
barbora zahlavova strycova cze bt regina kulikova rus
serena williams usa bt urszula radwanska pol
vania king usa bt dominika cibulkova svk
casey dellacqua aus bt anastasiya yakimova blr
sorana cirstea rom bt olivia rogowska aus
kaia kanepi est bt chan yung jan tpe
carla suarez navarro esp bt ayumi morita jpn
football amodu faces rival for nigeria world cup coach post
lubango angola jan afp
shuaibu amodu faces the man who could succeed him as coach of nigeria when they
play mozambique in key africa cup of nations game at tundavala stadium on
wednesday
reports have linked mart nooij from the netherlands with the awesome task of
leading nigeria against argentina greece and south korea at the world cup
in south africa
and if mozambique win the group match and qualify for the quarter finals at
the expense of nigeria amodu seems certain to be sacked while the shares of
nooij will inevitably soar
pressure on amodu heightened after loss to defending champions egypt in
their first match before surviving win or quit ultimatum as yakubu aiyegbeni
penalty delivered laboured victory over benin
nigerian football officials have told the coach nothing less than nations cup
semi finals place will do although he was fired ahead of the world cup
despite finishing third at the african tournament the same year
nooij caught the eye of nigeria after his mambas snakes were unlucky to be
held in maputo and lost to stoppage time goal in abuja when the countries met
in nations cup qualifiers
before heading south to mozambique the dutch coach had major impact at youth
level in the west african state of burkina faso leading the national team to
the world championship for the first time
egypt who face benin in the other group fixture to be staged at the same time
in benguela have maximum six points from two outings and are certain of
quarter finals slot
the other three countries remain in contention to join the pharaohs with twice
champions nigeria favoured because draw will suffice while benin and
mozambique must win to have any chance of surviving the mini league cull
although collecting solitary point from possible six and lying bottom of the
standings mozambique have impressed during their fourth appearance at the
biennial african football showcase
they came from two goals behind to draw with benin and matched egypt for
minutes before second dario khan own goal in as many games gifted the title
holders lead they doubled via late volley
we made it very hard for egypt despite giving away soft goal that forced us
to chase the game otherwise it would have been lot more difficult for the
reigning champions to beat us said nooij
but nigeria midfielder and man of the match against benin osaze odemwingie is
convinced his team mates will emerge victorious and reach the knockout phase as
they seek first african title since beating zambia years ago in tunis
we lacked confidence against egypt in our first game but were much more relaxed
when beating benin and believe we will deliver an even better performance on
wednesday promised the moscow based star
mozambique are team we know having played them twice last year and am
confident we will give our best display so far in angola win the match and
advance to the last eight
football africa cup of nations group scenarios
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations title holders egypt are assured of quarter finals place
whatever happens in final group matches on wednesday
but any country from nigeria benin or mozambique could join the pharaohs in
the knockout phase of the first biennial african football showcase to be hosted
by portuguese speaking country
here are scenarios facing the four teams as they prepare for the last fixtures
that pit egypt against benin in benguela while nigeria confront mozambique in
lubango
egypt
draw against benin will clinch top place and benguela quarter final against
the group runners up they must fancy their chances having won friendly
in cairo when the countries last met
nigeria
draw will assure them of second place because even if benin shock egypt and
finish level on four points with their west african neighbours nigeria would
finish runners up on head to head rule
benin
to finish second they must spring upset of tournament and defeat six time
champions egypt while hoping mozambique shock nigeria to leave minnows level on
points and head to head record and forcing other criteria to come into play
mozambique
can reach quarter finals for first time if they overcome nigeria and egypt win
or draw should benin defy the odds and triumph goal difference goals scored
or disciplinary records would determine who advances to last eight
standings
played won drawn lost goals for against points
egypt qualified
nigeria
benin
mozambique
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
fixtures
times gmt
jan
at benguela
benin egypt
at lubango
mozambique nigeria
previous results
jan
at benguela
egypt nigeria
benin mozambique
jan
nigeria benin
egypt mozambique
criteria to separate teams with same poihts
head to head record
goal difference on final standings
goals scored on final standings
group disciplinary record yellow and red cards
indonesian prosecutor seeks death for corruption fighter
jakarta jan afp
indonesian prosecutors on tuesday requested the death sentence for former chief
corruption fighter antasari azhar who is on trial for the alleged murder of his
rival in love triangle
prosecutor cirus sinaga told the south jakarta district court azhar had
participated in the act of persuading others to carry out premeditated murder
and should be given the death sentence
the sacked corruption eradication commission kpk chief has denied any role in
the march gangland style shooting of businessman nasrudin zulkarnaen saying he
is the victim of conspiracy to discredit the commission
estonian man fined in singapore for air rage
singapore jan afp
an estonian man who drunkenly punched an air steward and tried to kiss fellow
passenger on singapore airlines flight has been fined court official said
tuesday
vadim beljanin was ordered to pay singapore dollars us on
monday after admitting being drunk and endangering the safety of the aircraft on
flight from frankfurt to singapore last month
beljanin ship engineer attempted to kiss fellow passenger damaged the
television monitor in front of him and punched an air steward in the face before
being subdued local media reported the plane was diverted to dubai
the straits times said that as the estonian could not pay the fine he will
serve nine weeks in jail
beijing chocolate theme park set to open
beijing jan afp
tourists in beijing are already enjoying the snowy winter wonderland inside the
city bird nest stadium but next week they will be able to enjoy another
kind of wonderland one made of chocolate
workers were putting the final touches on chocolate theme park on the olympic
green near the stadium featuring life size replicas of the terracotta warriors
and section of the great wall ahead of its january th opening
even though chocolate in china is not as popular as it is in western countries
we hope to promote the chocolate culture and market in china zheng yaoting
general manager of the firm running the park told the global times
the square metre square foot chocolate wonderland will
feature five temperature controlled indoor areas and two outdoor sites where
chocolate items will be on display the newspaper reported tuesday
children will also be able to learn how to make chocolate and taste their
creations with their parents organisers said
previous reports said major sweets makers from europe would participate in the
project hoping to break into potentially lucrative market but no names were
revealed
organisers say they hope to attract one million visitors to the park before it
closes in april when the weather will begin to get too warm it will reopen
next january with all new displays
australia urges quick end to qantas case
sydney jan afp
australia urged vietnam tuesday to expedite the case of two qantas executives
banned from leaving the country over fuel hedging losses at budget carrier
jetstar pacific
foreign minister stephen smith said he met with the vietnamese ambassador last
friday to express australia keen interest in the questioning of jetstar
pacific chief operating officer daniela marsilli and chief financial officer
tristan freeman
freeman and marsilli were prevented from returning to australia on december
because of an investigation by vietnamese authorities into fuel hedging at
jetstar pacific
but smith said it was obvious to him that the pair were not the focus of the
probe
we ve made it clear to the vietnamese authorities that the sooner the
investigation concludes and the sooner the australians are able to return to
australia then the better we ll all be smith told reporters
he said the ambassador had conveyed canberra concerns to the vietnamese
government
also relayed the substance of my conversation to qantas added smith
understand qantas executives remain in direct contact with vietnamese
authorities as they should
jetstar pacific losses reached record billion dong now more than
million dollars in and vietnamese media said the state audit agency had
concluded there was lack of management supervision over efforts to hedge
petrol costs at the airline
qantas bought percent of pacific airlines in and turned it into low cost
carrier jetstar pacific later increasing its stake to percent vietnam
government is the largest shareholder
fuel hedging is common among airlines seeking to lock in the lowest future
prices for fuel but carriers have lost millions in recent years thanks to
rollercoaster global oil prices
indian minister slams un body on glacier research
new delhi jan afp
india environment minister slammed the un top climate body in comments
published tuesday claiming its doomsday warning about himalayan glaciers was
not based on scientific evidence
the controversy focuses on reference in the intergovernmental panel on climate
change ipcc landmark report that said the chances of himalayan glaciers
disappearing by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
the ipcc claim that glaciers will vanish by was not based on an iota of
scientific evidence minister jairam ramesh told the hindustan times
the ipcc has to do lot of answering on how it reached the figure which
created such scare
on monday the ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri told afp that the panel would
review the figure
ramesh said he felt vindicated after repeatedly challenging the ipcc work on
glaciers he believes there is no conclusive scientific evidence linking
global warming to the melting of glaciers
in november ramesh backed study by indian scientists which supported his
view prompting pachauri to label his support arrogant
the nobel winning ipcc is already under attack over hacked email exchanges which
skeptics say reflected attempts to skew the evidence for global warming
the new row has boosted climate skeptics who have questioned scientific
evidence behind global warming in the past and are on roll after scandal
last month dubbed climategate
emails from scientists at britain university of east anglia top centre for
climate research were leaked and seized on by sceptics as evidence that experts
twisted data in order to dramatise global warming
ramesh conceded to the hindustan times that most glaciers are in poor state
but said they were receding at different rates and few were even advancing
tennis davydenko says federer nadal dominance over
melbourne jan afp
russian dark horse nikolay davydenko has heralded new era in men tennis
saying much improved depth meant the grand slam dominance of roger federer and
rafael nadal was over
from the french open through to last year wimbledon the swiss and the
spaniard virtually monopolised grand slam titles winning of the events
with the only aberration novak djokovic win here in
the top two men in the world have also met each other in eight grand slam finals
since
however spain juan martin del potro broke through in last year us open and
davydenko said the face of men tennis was finally changing
he pointed to robin soderling appearance in the final of the french open and
american andy roddick reaching the decider at wimbledon while scotland andy
murray was finalist at the us open
it always talk about federer nadal federer nadal he said tuesday after
breezing through his first round match at the australian open
but who knows now
if you see wimbledon it was roddick del potro was us open the game is
changing now the top guys are pretty hard to play
you see soderling was in the final of paris it not always federer and nadal
in finals
it starting to change in tennis it not only nadal and federer anymore
the comments by davydenko who is yet to reach grand slam final but is looming
as real contender in melbourne on the back of some impeccable early season
form echoed similar sentiments from djokovic earlier this week
the world number three said he felt he had closed the gap on federer and nadal
in recent times since aligning with new coach todd martin
the last five six years the dominance was obvious from federer nadal he
said
they ve been winning all the grand slams they ve played but now in the last
two years or so the things are changing little bit
it good for the sport and it good for us the group of the players that is
trying to catch up with federer and nadal we have more belief that we can win
grand slam
seven policemen hurt in indian kashmir attacks spokesman
srinagar india jan afp
seven indian policemen were injured in two separate attacks by suspected muslim
militants in revolt hit kashmir police said tuesday in the latest of series
of attacks this month
six policemen were hurt when their vehicle hit roadside bomb planted by
militants on bridge in southern pulwama district late monday police
spokesman said
the powerful explosion also damaged police jeep and part of the bridge the
spokesman said adding that earlier policeman was injured in gun attack by
militants on foot patrol in the same district
kashmir had been relatively stable in recent months but indian police have
reported spike in violence over the past two weeks
earlier this month indian commandos stormed hotel in kashmir main city
srinagar and killed two gunmen who had been holed up in the guesthouse for
nearly hours civilian and policeman were also killed during the siege
attacks and clashes have continued since the siege
the insurgency erupted in against indian rule of the muslim majority region
and has claimed more than lives according to an official count
korea to restrict tv adverts for junk food
seoul jan afp
south korea tuesday announced curbs on television advertising for junk food in
bid to cut obesity and promote healthy eating among children
advertising of food high in fat sugar and salt will be banned from all tv from
pm to pm the health ministry said and will also be prohibited during
children programmes shown at any time
the restrictions will apply to hamburgers pizzas instant noodles chocolate
and other candies and ice cream
the ban to be enforced this month or in early february applies to high
calorie low nutrient food snacks and sweets ministry official in charge of
food safety told afp
official data showed more than one third of ads aired during children tv
programmes were for food mostly for sweets instant noodles and soft drinks
consumer groups have called for stricter measures to protect children from junk
food saying one out of five children in south korea is overweight
in march last year the ministry banned the sale of junk food and drinks in
schools and their neighbourhoods in bid to tackle the growing problem of child
obesity
vietnam appeals court upholds activists jail term
hanoi jan afp
an appeals court in vietnam on tuesday upheld jail sentences for three pro
democracy activists convicted under law which human rights activists say
criminalises peaceful dissent
the supreme people court in hanoi confirmed four year sentence against pham
van troi poet and three year sentences issued to former teacher vu van hung
and another poet tran duc thach court official told afp
foreign journalists were not allowed to monitor the proceedings
all three were convicted last october at separate trials for propaganda against
the state under penal code article
troi was found guilty of espousing multi party system hung who testified
that he wanted his little voice to help improve society was jailed for
hanging out banner calling for political reform
think they could have reduced their sentences it completely possible
said luu vu anh their lawyer
an appeal for six other activists convicted under article in the northern
port city of haiphong in october is to begin on thursday their families and
lawyers said
the six including writer nguyen xuan nghia were convicted of displaying
democracy banners distributing leaflets and campaigning on the internet
after the trials the united states embassy said it was deeply disturbed by
the nine convictions despite vietnam international commitments to uphold human
rights
the embassy said it was also concerned about the case of writer tran khai thanh
thuy who was beaten and arrested after publicly expressing support for the
activists
she is still detained and is to be tried on january in hanoi on charge of
intentionally injuring or harming the health of person family member said
the crime is punishable by jail term
separate high profile trial is to begin on wednesday in southern ho chi minh
city human rights lawyer le cong dinh french educated computer expert nguyen
tien trung and two other activists are accused of activities aimed at
overthrowing the communist government
they could face the death penalty if convicted
us computer brands may be gone in years acer founder
taipei jan afp
us computer brands may be gone in years time due to an inability to produce
the low priced pcs the market demands the taiwanese founder of computer maker
acer was quoted as saying tuesday
the trend for low priced computers will last for the coming years said stan
shih high tech entrepreneur and founder of the island leading personal
computer brand according to the taipei based commercial times newspaper
but us computer makers just don know how to put such products on the
market us computer brands may disappear over the next years just like
what happened to us television brands
acer outperformed us based dell as the world second largest computer vendor
last year and is likely to replace hewlett packard also of the us as the no
vendor in according to taipei based industry publication digitimes
tennis no nonsense serena powers on in australia
melbourne jan afp
no nonsense defending champion serena williams powered into the australian open
second round on tuesday where she was joined by in form russian nicolay
davydenko
williams who is searching for her th grand slam singles title to put herself
alongside billie jean king as one of the all time greats demolished pole
urszula radwanska
the four time champion here usually slow starter at grand slams had her
right thigh heavily strapped which she said was to support her hamstring
just supportive and preventive she said
williams broke radwanska twice in the first set and three times in the second on
her way to comfortable victory that will make her rivals sit up and take
notice
the scoreline seemed to be easy but it was long match out there said the
american well not long but it was tough points so was just happy to get
it over with
sister venus the sixth seed makes her entrance later tuesday against czech
lucie safarova
on blustery but dry day with organisers trying to clear backlog of matches
unable to finish due to rain on monday eighth seed jelena jankovic also
progressed with an easy win over romania monica niculescu
fellow serb and th seed ana ivanovic was another motoring through
ivanovic former world number one overcame some late serving jitters to beat
american shenay perry as she struggles to get her career back on track
despite the late lapse she was happy with her form
yeah it was very good she said was pleased with the way played and
very happy to have victory because she had lot of matches already and she
dangerous opponent
beaten in the final here by russian maria sharapova who was knocked out on
monday the year old is keen to put disappointing behind her having
battled injuries and indifferent form
she has slipped down the rankings to be outside the top for the first time in
five years
other women staying alive included australian th seed samantha stosur who
struggled past chinese qualifier han xinyun in three sets french th seed
marion bartoli and th seed aravane rezai who beat india sania mirza
davydenko known as mr invisible for having such low public profile was the
first top man into the second round tuesday dropping just four games in his
rout of germany dieter kindlmann
having won the atp world tour masters in london at the end of last year and then
beating rafael nadal in the final of the qatar open this month he is seen as
strong contender
know can win mostly before losing against these top guys but now can
beat everyone it good feeling said the russian
davydenko is scheduled to meet roger federer in the quarter finals with the
swiss playing russia igor andreev later tuesday while third seed novak
djokovic takes on spain daniel gimeno traver
other top names going through were french th seed gael monfils who wrapped
his rain delayed match against australian matthew ebden
spanish ninth seed fernando verdasco was another staying in the hunt after
tough four set encounter with australian carsten ball winning
but there was heartache for veteran frenchman fabrice santoro the first
player to participate in grand slam tournaments in four decades who fell
to th seeded croat marin cilic
tennis santoro the magician plays his final trick
melbourne jan afp
french veteran fabrice santoro said he had no regrets as he made his final
farewell to grand slam tennis at the australian open on tuesday
santoro and still ranked retired last november and only decided this
month that he would play at melbourne park to become the first player to compete
in grand slam tournaments in four decades
