mix only sometimes drink clear vodka sometimes mixed with red bull to
give me little boost in night club or disco
because if drink only vodka go straight to sleep
he said irina was great asset because she was able to identify flaws in his
game even he not aware of especially when he loses
which thankfully for davydenko as he enjoys an match winning streak is not
often these days
because he not quite ready to employ her as coach just yet
maybe in the future
china southern says will buy airbus
shanghai jan afp
china southern airlines said thursday it had agreed to buy airbus jets
and expects to return to profit in due to falling fuel costs and
strengthening passenger demand
the catalogue price for each aircraft is million dollars but the actual
payment will be significantly lower the nation biggest carrier by fleet size
said in statement
under the agreement signed wednesday the planes are due to be delivered from
to the carrier said in statement to the shanghai stock exchange
the acquisition will increase capacity thus enhancing the competitiveness and
core competence of the group it said
china southern said it would return to profitability for after posting
net loss of million yuan million dollars in
the carrier did not give specific figures for earnings in the preliminary
announcement it is due to release its full financial results in april
shanghai listed shares of china southern ended the morning session up
percent at yuan compared with percent dip in the benchmark shanghai
composite index
hong kong shares down percent by break
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares fell percent by the break on thursday after china reported
surging inflation in the december quarter stoking fears of further credit
tightening by beijing
the benchmark hang seng index shed points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
taiwan accuses oil firm of massive overpricing
taipei jan afp
taiwan top government watchdog thursday accused the island largest oil
company of massive overpricing and urged it to return hundreds of million of
dollars to consumers
state run cpc corp is suspected of overcharging billion taiwan dollars
million us since august via floating pricing system for fuel the
control yuan watchdog said in statement posted on its website
the cpc should examine its floating pricing system and return the money it has
been overcharging it said
it did not specify how the company should return the money control yuan
officials were not immediately available for comment
the watchdog accused cpc of not accounting for local currency appreciation after
it charged an extra taiwan dollars per litre of unleaded petroleum on
average over the month period the statement said
taiwan does not have any oil resources of its own and is dependent on imports
from the middle east and west africa
the cpc controls around percent of taiwan petroleum market with the rest
going to formosa petrochemical corp
the economic ministry which supervises the company promised to review the
system but insisted in statement that the company pricing had reflected the
currency appreciation
nba top draft pick griffin has knee surgery
los angeles jan afp
blake griffin should be able to resume basketball drills in three or four
months the doctor who operated on the los angeles clippers number one draft
selection said wednesday
doctor neal elattrache repaired griffin patellar tendon and excised patellar
fragment the clippers said
this is rare problem it was the first time that we ve had to do anything
like this elattrache said at staples center before the clippers nba game
against chicago
blake had stress fracture at the bottom of the kneecap in october he pulled
that off for it to pull off like that is bit of rare problem but the
fragment did not involve any of the joint surface and that big
determining factor
the quality of his patellar tendon also looked quite good elattrache said
so the two things that we would have been concerned about having some trouble
getting him back or having long term problems neither of those things was
there
griffin who was selected first overall by the clippers in last year nba
draft will be on crutches for three weeks but is expected to be able to train
in time for off season workouts
would hope that in three or four months that he should be strengthened enough
that we should be able to get him into some basketball drills elattrache said
griffin broke his kneecap in the clippers last pre season game in october
he had been been running on treadmill without much pain as part of his
rehabilitation earlier this month but began to experience pain when completing
jumping exercises
tennis fourth seed wozniacki stays on track with easy win
melbourne jan afp
fourth seed caroline wozniacki of denmark moved quietly into the third round of
the australian open with an impressive win over german julia goerges on
thursday
nato to create top civilian afghan post report
kabul jan afp
nato is planning to create top civilian post in afghanistan the wall street
journal reported thursday amid calls for improved political and development
coordination in the country
it said britain ambassador in kabul is the front runner for the job which
could be announced to coincide with an international conference on the future of
afghanistan to be held in london on january
the new appointee would head the civilian pillar of the us led coalition work
here directing the flow of funds and aid to the provinces and if necessary
bypassing corrupt afghan institutions the paper said in its report from
kabul
un chief ban ki moon earlier this month called for the appointment of top
civilian official within the nato led international security assistance force
isaf to help the coordination of political and development efforts with the
war now well into its ninth year
the journal said the new position would be civilian counterpart to us general
stanley mcchrystal the top commander for the us and nato troops in
afghanistan
another international troops are expected to arrive in afghanistan over
the next few months as part of the strategy to counter the escalating taliban
insurgency
the journal said the civilian coordinator would help enact the so called
civilian surge helping the reconstruction of areas that have been cleared of
insurgents
final decision has yet to be made but the paper said the plan to appoint
british ambassador mark sedwill was backed by the united states and was likely
to be endorsed by its allies
the new appointee would have greater authority than nato current senior
civilian representative in kabul fernando gentilini of italy who was expected
to leave kabul after the london conference the report said
karl eikenberry the former us ambassador to afghanistan had been considered
for the nato post but european and canadian allies were opposed to complete
americanisation of the afghan campaign the newspaper reported
tennis ninth seed zvonareva smashes benesova at open
melbourne jan afp
russia ninth seeded vera zvonareva smashed czech iveta benesova to
move into the third round of the australian open on thursday
nba sixers dalembert returns from haiti
philadelphia pennsylvania jan afp
samuel dalembert rejoined the philadelphia ers wednesday after brief trip to
his native haiti where he checked on relatives and assisted in earthquake
relief efforts
the philadelphia center and haiti native landed at philadephia international
airport less than an hour before the sixers met portland in an nba contest
he arrived at the arena minutes before tip off but got the nod to start
dalembert scored points with rebounds his sixth double double in his past
eight games
he great person he doing lot for his country and lot for his
teammates ers teammate allen iverson said he got lot on his shoulders
but he carrying the load
dalembert travelled to haiti with project medishare he had been excused from
tuesday practice to make the trip in the wake of the earthquake last week that
devastated the caribbean nation
he has donated dollars to relief efforts and filmed public service
announcement seeking aid donations
the sixers fell to the trail blazers who were able to overcome the early
departure of brandon roy with thigh injury
andre miller had points and jerryd bayless added of his in the fourth
quarter for portland
tennis baghdatis fights back to win five setter
melbourne jan afp
unseeded former finalist marcos baghdatis of cyprus advanced to the third round
of the australian open with battling win over
spanish th seed david ferrer on wednesday
tennis australian open results day four nd update
melbourne jan afp
results from day four of the australian open at melbourne park here thursday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
nikolay davydenko rus bt illya marchenko ukr
novak djokovic srb bt marco chiudinelli sui
nicolas almagro esp bt benjamin becker ger
denis istomin uzb bt michael berrer ger
juan monaco arg bt michael llodra fra
alejandro falla col bt marcel granollers esp
women singles
nd round
agnieszka radwanska pol bt alla kudryavtseva rus
gisela dulko arg bt ana ivanovic srb
carla suarez navarro esp bt andrea petkovic ger
victoria azarenka blr bt sefanie voegele sui
li na chn by agnes szavay hun
caroline wozniacki den bt julia goerges ger
vera zvonereva rus by iveta benesova cze
shahar peer isr bt tsvetana pironkova bul
corrected iranian champ seeks to revive old persian chess glory
tehran jan afp
iranian chess grandmaster morteza mahjoob who holds the world record for the
most number of simultaneous matches is bent on reviving old persia passion
for the ancient game
chess was outlawed for nearly decade after the islamic revolution that
overthrew the shah sidelining iran from the international chess map
the year old mahjoob one of seven iranian international grandmasters five
men and two women has worked to reverse this and promote this sport
nationwide he told afp
this fueled his bid to break the record for simultaneous games when he played
opponents in tehran enghelab sports complex last august in feat
monitored by fide the world chess federation
had less than five seconds for each move while each competitor had
minutes for his or hers and had to walk more than meters yards for
each round
it actually took hours from am until am the next day and given
the high temperatures that month it was quite challenge he said
though mahjoob was really worried he won games and broke the record
recorded in the guinness book of records confirmed dave jarrett of fide in an
email this sidelined bulgarian grandmaster kiril georgiev who set the world
record only six months months earlier playing opponents
now filipino international grandmaster rogelio antonio will try to break
mahjoob score in april by playing simultaneous matches at ninoy aquino
stadium in manila according to organisers
the attempt was to have taken place this weekend but organisers said it had been
postponed
but mahjoob is undaunted always knew that this record would some day be
broken but did not expect it would be this fast if sidelined by antonio he
said he is already working to regain the world record again during the coming
summer
don know how many more players but hopefully one hundred more he said
meaning simultaneous games
mahjoob trained for more than year for last august event including an
exhaustive physical fitness regime in this kind of competition as well as
having trained mind one has to be in good physical shape
but his real start came as youngster when he saw his first game
chess was outlawed in because it was thought to encourage betting which is
forbidden in islam but in the islamic republic founder ayatollah
ruhollah khomeini issued fatwa or islamic religious decree permitting chess
as long as no gambling was involved
the game driven underground made vigorous comeback
one day went to park near my home to get notebook from my friend and
saw two grown ups playing chess on bench mahjoob told afp
to kill time gazed at them moving their pieces around the board and it was
there and then that learnt chess asked one of them if could play
told him had just learnt it by watching him but the man let me play and
beat him in my first game
was then and it made me realise that had potential in chess he
recalled
mahjoob won grandmaster status in and today ranks in fide list of
active world players and among active asian players he runs two chess
schools with dozen coaches and trainees
both his website and that of the iranian chess federation feature picture of
khomeini hand written fatwa it paved the way for iran progress in the
world of chess mahjoob said
the country which had no grandmasters and only three international masters
prior to the revolution now ranks on fide list of the top chess
countries and has some residents playing competitively according to
national chess officials
budding champions and chess classes abound both privately and in city hall run
cultural centres competitions are held on every level from national down to
local schools and state run television broadcasts key games also showing women
players in islamic dress
mahjoob father of three year old girl and married to chess coach has been
wooed by neighboring united arab emirates to train their national team even
more so since his world record but says he not interested
like any athlete love to reach the summit said mahjoob who cites
legendary russian grandmaster garry kasparov as role model
would love to become the world chess champion
tennis frustrated ivanovic puts brave face on loss
melbourne jan afp
former finalist and world number one ana ivanovic put on brave face after she
flopped out of the australian open on thursday insisting her game will come
good again
the serbian pin up lost to experienced argentinian gisela dulko
with her error riddled performance far cry from when she lost the
australian open final and won the french open
the th seed recovered from down to take the first set against the th
ranked dulko but struggled with her serve and eventually succumbed
it hard and it hurts but it process she said after failing to get past
the second round for the sixth time in her past seven tournaments
think just have to be patient it will take some time
she had all sorts of problems on the serve countless times aborting her service
action after an errant ball toss and faced break points nine of which dulko
converted
her disappointing exit came as she tries to rejuvenate her career after battling
indifferent form and injuries last year
she slipped down the rankings to be outside the top for the first time in
five years finishing the season at with her best performances the fourth
round at wimbledon and roland garros
ivanovic conceded her ball toss was major problem against dulko but was
philosophical saying she was striking the ball better than ever and her game
was on the right track
do feel better on the court and playing much better and feel like my
old self she said
am striking the ball better than ever but there are still some areas that
are not there for me to rely on in moments need them the most
just have to sort of keep my head up and try to improve and work there are
things working on
the serve is big part of that progress and feel it been going well at
times but it just not consistent like would like it to be
it just might just take some time and have to accept that although it
hard
ivanovic who said niggling injuries ruined her also said she was guilty
of putting overwhelming pressure on herself and not playing on instinct
think when actually let go of emotions and what have to do that when
play my best she said that when instincts overtake lot
have to work on it and that something ll always struggle with
ivanovic had break point in the second set to go ahead and serve for the
match but dulko staved off the challenge and then won three straight games to
turn the match
although ivanovic fended off five match points in the third set dulko finally
prevailed after two hours and minutes
ivanovic clashed with australian umpire kerrilyn cramer over line calls several
times although she was unlucky to be on the wrong end of poor call to hold
serve in the fifth game of the deciding set
the error helped dulko hold serve to lead and all but sealed the serbian
fate and she was broken again in the next game as the year old took an iron
grip on the match
it was the first time dulko has advanced beyond the second round here in seven
attempts
general slams critics of dutch model in afghanistan
tirin kot afghanistan jan afp
brigadier general marc van uhm has blunt response for critics who say dutch
troops have avoided fighting taliban insurgents in afghanistan uruzgan
province
this is bullshit he told afp in an exclusive interview at kamp holland in
the provincial capital tirin kot as his government debates pulling out of
afghanistan at the end of july
any country that takes over and other international forces in afghanistan
would do well to emulate the dutch emphasis on winning hearts and minds over
killing insurgents van uhm said
his comments come against the background of build up of forces that will lift
us and nato troop levels to over by the middle of the year nearly
nine years after the us led invasion toppled the taliban
the hardline islamists have staged comeback mounting an increasingly
aggressive and deadly insurgency against president hamid karzai government and
international forces
we did fight the taliban we have lost soldiers here we have many wounded
said van uhm the brother of dutch military chief peter van uhm whose son was
killed by roadside bomb in uruzgan in
he said the nature of the fighting since the dutch took the lead role in the
southern province in had changed as the taliban learned that when you are
engaging my troops you will not win
they now attacked indirectly through roadside bombs and suicide bombers across
the province which is about the size of the netherlands with population of
about
we do go out we go out often we fight against them and their way of doing
their fight has changed marc van uhm the commander of dutch forces in the
province said
the insulting charge of avoiding the fight has been made by critics of the so
called dutch model which stresses the three ds of defence development and
diplomacy
but the tactics which van uhm said he would rather describe as the uruzgan
model because other foreign forces including the australians were involved
have mostly won international respect
nato international security assistance force isaf is itself adopting the
uruzgan scheme the general said
the strategy now is not about killing taliban anymore it about protecting
the people and we protect the people with three integrated approach
the dutch civil representative in task force uruzgan michel rentenaar who was
present at the interview played down the dutch role saying other nations were
working along similar lines though he added we may be little ahead of the
curve
let face it anybody who can read history book knows we are not going to
win this militarily only
if you can take away the grip the taliban has on the population by giving
people little bit of hope for the future by bringing some development then
you ve probably won the fight without shot
the general said most fighters grouped under the name taliban were young guys
who don have job and the taliban pays them to fight for them
they are not ideological they are just fighting us to get money if we were
able to provide them jobs enable them to make living another way they don
have to fight
reflecting similar view karzai office said sunday the president would
announce new plan to make peace with insurgents offering them economic
incentives to stop fighting
karzai intended to announce the plan before conference with afghanistan
international backers in london on january his spokesman waheed omar told
reporters
rentenaar veteran diplomat who has served in several hotspots including iraq
said the taliban had already lost their grip in some areas where troops had
secured zones and pushed them to the outskirts
this is known as an ink spot approach in which key areas are secured first
and development projects put in place after negotiations with local leaders
the ink spots are then linked to create one large taliban free zone
neither the general nor rentenaar would comment directly on the political
wrangling in the hague over the future of dutch troops in afghanistan
rentenaar said that while the dutch government had announced it would no longer
be the lead nation in uruzgan as of august it was still in the process of
deciding what form if any its involvement would take
all options are still on the table it is very clear that the netherlands
government has said it has multi annual commitments to development in uruzgan
and so we are not leaving in that sense he said
the netherlands has total of troops in afghanistan with in
uruzgan
nato and the united states have troops in the country with another
being deployed over the course of this year
figure queen leads korea largest winter games squad
seoul jan afp
south korea is pinning hopes on figure skating sensation kim yu na to broaden
its challenge beyond speed skating at next month winter olympics the korean
olympic committee said thursday
the year old world champion will lead the country largest ever winter
olympics squad of men and women who will compete in skating skiing
biathlon bobsled and skeleton at the february games in vancouver
we hope yu na will bring the country first gold outside of speed skating
said koc spokesman kim tae hyung
we ve been struggling to diversify our entry into the winter games
as part of the effort bobsled team is making its debut after the four man team
qualified for the olympics for the first time
yu na dubbed the figure queen by south korean media has dominated her
discipline for the past two seasons by combining stunning jumps and artistry
she scored points in the world championships in los angeles in march last
year the first time the point mark has ever been topped
south korea ranked seventh at the turin winter olympics with six golds
three silvers and one bronze all from speed skating events
its hopes in vancouver are more modest the spokesman said it expects to take
home five golds one in women figure skating three in men speed skating
and one in women speed skating
china has emerged as strong competitor in the women short track speed
skating where we won three golds in the past he said this time we expect
to win only one or two at best
south korea was asia strongest competitor in turin good showing in
vancouver could boost bid by the northeastern town of pyeongchang to host the
winter olympics in
pyeongchang lost out to vancouver for the games and to sochi in russia for
south korea bobsledders are determined to make their mark despite
difficulties that yonhap news agency compared to the jamaica team in the
movie cool runnings
there are just four of them and they have only two sleds for international
competitions the agency reported last month they must fly to salt lake city in
utah to train since there is no sledding course in south korea
and when competing in europe they hurtle down the chutes on borrowed sleds
because they lack the money to ship their own back and forth it said
mystery shrouds pakistani scientist in us trial
karachi jan afp
she has been dubbed lady al qaeda by us media but the pakistani family of aafia
siddiqui on trial in new york insist she is moderate muslim more interested
in flowers and animals than wielding weapons
their description of loving mother daughter and good neighbour fond of
tending her rose garden clashes with us prosecutors description of an islamic
extremist who grabbed gun and opened fire on us soldiers and fbi agents
whether she deceived her family about her extremist views radicalised during
long unexplained disappearance or really is the woman they say she is is
mystery that may perhaps be explained on the stand in new york
on the opening day of the trial tuesday prosecutors described the us educated
neuroscientist as would be terrorist who in july grabbed an american
soldier rifle at an afghan police station and opened fire
the year old has repeatedly disrupted the proceedings complaining that the
court is unfair on tuesday she was ordered out of the court after her
outbursts
in the upmarket gulshan iqbal neighbourhood of pakistan biggest city
karachi her frail year old mother ismat siddiqui thumbs through an old
family photo album and defends the girl smiling from the pages
she loves people animals and flowers she wouldn hurt anything alive how
can she try to kill us soldiers ismat siddiqui told afp
she was good muslim and at the same time she was good human she would help
people in distress and never thought of killing an insect how can she be
accused as terrorist and member of al qaeda
ismat sits on spacious veranda overlooking the manicured lawn of the large
family home where her daughter spent some of her childhood before attending the
prestigious mit university in massachusetts
siddiqui elder sister fowzia doctor recalled her sibling childhood love
of animals and academic excellence
she was religious but not religious fanatic she was crazy about roses and
she had planted different varieties of roses in our little garden garden
where pakistani police now guard the family
she had four pet dogs one of them remember was called shaggy she was
brilliant in all respects she was an excellent student and brave mother
said fowzia
neighbour year old trader mohammad hashim described siddiqui as nice
girl decent and caring girl
however different picture emerged in the new york courtroom
according to us prosecutors siddiqui was arrested by afghan police on july
in the provincial city of ghazni with notes on her referring to mass
casualty attack and target lists including new york most famous landmarks
the next day while being held at the local police station she allegedly
grabbed an assault rifle belonging to one of several us servicemen and fbi
agents who had come to interrogate her
she opened fire missed and was shot by one of the us soldiers prosecutors
allege defence lawyers will argue that there is little direct physical evidence
that she shot at the americans
how siddiqui ended up in afghanistan that day is one of many mysteries
siddiqui was living in karachi with her family when she vanished along with her
three children in march year later she featured on us list of
people suspected of al qaeda links
she is also said to have married relative of plotter khalid sheikh
mohammed although her mother denies this
some human rights activists and lawyers have speculated that siddiqui was in
secret us custody all those years long incarceration that damaged her mental
health and led to hallucinations of her dead or missing children
the us military has denied this saying the allegation is unfounded and she
may have gone underground in the missing years judge ruled in july that
siddiqui was mentally fit to stand trial
while two of siddiqui children are missing one presumed dead her
year old son mohammad ahmed now lives with the family in karachi
he has yet to fully recover from the mental trauma of languishing in an afghan
jail ismat siddiqui said glancing fondly at the shy boy who sits nearby
holding placard it reads release my mom
mystery shrouds pakistani scientist in us trial
karachi jan afp
she has been dubbed lady al qaeda by us media but the pakistani family of aafia
siddiqui on trial in new york insist she is moderate muslim more interested
in flowers and animals than wielding weapons
their description of loving mother daughter and good neighbour fond of
tending her rose garden clashes with us prosecutors description of an islamic
extremist who grabbed gun and opened fire on us soldiers and fbi agents
whether she deceived her family about her extremist views radicalised during
long unexplained disappearance or really is the woman they say she is is
mystery that may perhaps be explained on the stand in new york
on the opening day of the trial tuesday prosecutors described the us educated
neuroscientist as would be terrorist who in july grabbed an american
soldier rifle at an afghan police station and opened fire
the year old has repeatedly disrupted the proceedings complaining that the
court is unfair on tuesday she was ordered out of the court after her
outbursts
in the upmarket gulshan iqbal neighbourhood of pakistan biggest city
karachi her frail year old mother ismat siddiqui thumbs through an old
family photo album and defends the girl smiling from the pages
she loves people animals and flowers she wouldn hurt anything alive how
can she try to kill us soldiers ismat siddiqui told afp
she was good muslim and at the same time she was good human she would help
