the hague civil court starts hearing case against anglo dutch oil giant
shell and its nigerian subsidiary for pollution in the niger delta caused by oil
leaks
thursday february
berlin film festival begins to
brussels informal european summit with ten year economic growth plan climate
change and aid to haiti on the agenda
cape town south african president jacob zuma gives state of the nation address
tehran iran celebrates st anniversary of the islamic revolution triumph
friday february
vancouver canada winter olympics open to
saturday february
cairo start of trial of three people alleged to have killed six copt christians
and muslim policeman in gun attack in the southern egyptian town of nagaa
hammadi
harare national union government marks first year in office
jeddah saudi arabia jeddah economic forum to
khartoum start of campaigning for april general elections in sudan the first
multi party poll since
sunday february
cairo start of trial of group of islamists alleged to have carried out an
attack on copt jeweller in cairo
hanoi vietnamese begin to celebrate tet their most important annual festival
tuesday february
pyongyang north korea celebrates th birthday of leader kim jong il
wednesday february
cairo trial resumes of an egyptian coptic christian man accused of kidnapping
and sexually assaulting year old muslim girl
thursday february
beirut austrian foreign minister michael spindelegger visits
czech foreign minister jan kohout visits
brasilia ruling workers party picks presidential candidate
zagreb croatian president ivo josipovic sworn in
monday february
jerusalem court is to start hearing testimony in the trial of former prime
minister ehud olmert on graft charges
motorola offers baidu search on china smartphones
san francisco jan afp
motorola said thursday that china buyers of its android driven smartphones can
opt for local search engine baidu instead of google the internet giant behind
the mobile software platform
users will be able to select their search experience from number of
providers including baidu and others with whom motorola has signed strategic
agreements motorola said in release
google has vowed to stop filtering search results as required by law in china
and may be forced to pull out of that country as result
motorola announced the new feature on android handsets along with the launch
of china smartphone application store called zhi jian yuan translated to
place for apps wisdom in english
by providing them choice in their applications and services motorola is
letting consumers in china customize the way they experience the power of the
mobile internet china telecom said in release
the shop apps service and the search capabilities through baidu will be
available pre loaded on android handsets or as over the air updates by china
new year day in mid february according to motorola
we want phones to reflect our lifestyle and our choices china unicom said in
release
the ability to pick our own search sites our own chat services our own games
and to craft our own mobile experience is helping china unicom deliver on the
promise of
motorola is working closely with carriers in china and ecosystem partners such
as baidu to provide suite of smartphone services including email maps and
search according to motorola mobile devices vice president christy wyatt
football fighting fit klose keeps the pressure on at bayern
berlin jan afp
germany miroslav klose plans to fire both his country and bayern munich to
success in the coming weeks as the german giants look to keep up the pressure on
bundesliga leaders leverkusen
the year old the top scorer at the world cup scored his first german
league goal of the season in last weekend win over hoffenheim which leaves
bayern two points behind leverkusen
but saturday clash at his former club bremen promises to be battle royal
and although he is set to start on the bench klose looks sure to be used by
bayern coach louis van gaal
munich have scored goals in their last five league matches and the return of
the killer instinct in front of goal has sent the club off on an impressive
winning run as they are now league games without defeat
mario gomez five goals in the last six games and ivica olic four in the last
five have claimed regular status up front but now klose is pushing hard to win
back his place in the starting line up
my goal is to become regular again as fast as possible he said having
suffered string of injuries including ankle surgery and sprained elbow which
hampered his autumn
provided fit and avoid injury be picked to play at bayern and for
germany because when fit the best he said with the world cup in
south afria now five months away
with three quality strikers fighting for two places at bayern klose intends to
carry the fight to germany gomez and croatia olic
but klose may have to be patient in terms of his first start since mid november
as van gaal reaffirmed his faith in gomez and olic after the hoffenheim game
won change anything for the trip to bremen he said
bayern are expected to welcome back midfielder franck ribery but will be up
against tough bremen midfield which includes rising germany stars mesut oezil
and marko marin
ribery has been out of action with troublesome knee injury since october and
is expected to play some role in the clash against sixth placed bremen
both bayern and second placed schalke who are at bochum on saturday have the
chance to take top spot in the league with leaders leverkusen travelling to play
hoffenheim on sunday
bottom side hertha berlin are looking for their second straight win at home to
moenchengladbach having finally broken their winless run at hanover last
weekend
friday
freiburg vfb stuttgart
saturday
werder bremen bayern munich
vfl bochum schalke
mainz hanover
nuremberg eintracht frankfurt
hertha berlin borussia gladbach
borussia dortmund hamburg
sunday
vfl wolfsburg cologne
hoffenheim bayer leverkusen
football german league table
berlin jan afp
german league table ahead of the weekend matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
bayer leverkusen
schalke
bayern munich
hamburg
borussia dortmund
werder bremen
eintracht frankfurt
hoffenheim
wolfsburg
mainz
borussia gladbach
vfb stuttgart
vfl bochum
cologne
freiburg
hanover
nuremberg
hertha berlin
football fighting fit klose keeps the pressure on at bayern
berlin jan afp
germany miroslav klose plans to fire both his country and bayern munich to
success in the coming weeks as the german giants look to keep up the pressure on
bundesliga leaders leverkusen
the year old the top scorer at the world cup scored his first german
league goal of the season in last weekend win over hoffenheim which leaves
bayern two points behind leverkusen
but saturday clash at his former club bremen promises to be battle royal
and although he is set to start on the bench klose looks sure to be used by
bayern coach louis van gaal
munich have scored goals in their last five league matches and the return of
the killer instinct in front of goal has sent the club off on an impressive
winning run as they are now league games without defeat
mario gomez five goals in the last six games and ivica olic four in the last
five have claimed regular status up front but now klose is pushing hard to win
back his place in the starting line up
my goal is to become regular again as fast as possible he said having
suffered string of injuries including ankle surgery and sprained elbow which
hampered his autumn
provided fit and avoid injury be picked to play at bayern and for
germany because when fit the best he said with the world cup in
south afria now five months away
with three quality strikers fighting for two places at bayern klose intends to
carry the fight to germany gomez and croatia olic
but klose may have to be patient in terms of his first start since mid november
as van gaal reaffirmed his faith in gomez and olic after the hoffenheim game
won change anything for the trip to bremen he said
bayern are expected to welcome back midfielder franck ribery but will be up
against tough bremen midfield which includes rising germany stars mesut oezil
and marko marin
ribery has been out of action with troublesome knee injury since october and
is expected to play some role in the clash against sixth placed bremen
both bayern and second placed schalke who are at bochum on saturday have the
chance to take top spot in the league with leaders leverkusen travelling to play
hoffenheim on sunday
bottom side hertha berlin are looking for their second straight win at home to
moenchengladbach having finally broken their winless run at hanover last
weekend
friday
freiburg vfb stuttgart
saturday
werder bremen bayern munich
vfl bochum schalke
mainz hanover
nuremberg eintracht frankfurt
hertha berlin borussia gladbach
borussia dortmund hamburg
sunday
vfl wolfsburg cologne
hoffenheim bayer leverkusen
football scottish premier league table
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league table ahead of the weekend matches played won
drawn lost goals for goals against points
rangers
celtic
dundee utd
hibernian
hearts
motherwell
aberdeen
st mirren
st johnstone
hamilton
kilmarnock
falkirk
dutch telethon raises mln euros for haiti
the hague jan afp
dutch telethon received nearly million euros million dollars in
donation pledges to help quake struck haitians organisers said thursday
the government of the netherlands will contribute double the amount pledged
during the telethon said development and cooperation minister bert koenders
who took part in the day long event on dutch radio and television stations
international solidarity that what haiti deserves prime minister jan peter
balkenende who made telephone pledge and also appeared on the telethon was
quoted as saying by the anp news agency
last week magnitude earthquake killed at least people according to
haitian government officials and left hundreds of thousands homeless
football whittaker wants to be rangers spearhead
glasgow jan afp
steven whittaker has told rangers manager walter smith he can be the answer to
the ibrox club striker crisis as they prepare to face hearts at ibrox on
saturday
the utility man struck double in extra time at ibrox on tuesday to sink
hamilton scottish cup hopes
the win booked their place in the last of the competition but came at price
with forwards nacho novo and kenny miller both limping out with injuries
and with top scorer kris boyd already out following hernia operation and
steven naismith still struggling for fitness it leaves smith with few options up
front
it means youngsters john fleck or andrew little could partner kyle lafferty who
has shaken off flu bug although novo has fighting chance of making
saturday clash
however whittaker who has struck eight goals this season says he could fill in
up front in game that could see rangers open up point lead at the top
in my younger days played up front whittaker said
played off the front two when was youth player but then gradually
worked my way wide to either right left or full back
have filled in at various positions before for rangers it nice for other
people to chip in with some goals myself included now creeping up towards
double figures and hopefully can reach that before the end of the season
especially with some of the strikers injured
hearts who have recovered from poor start to the season to occupy fifth spot
could welcome back marius zaliukas and jose gonclaves from injury but craig
thomson is out following surgery
tony mowbray takes his celtic side to perth to take on st johnstone on sunday
the hoops boss has come under fire following his side draw with bottom
club falkirk last weekend which saw celtic slip nine points behind rangers
although they have game in hand
mowbray is still without scott brown shaun maloney daniel fox and top scorer
scott mcdonald through injury and captain stephen mcmanus is also struggling
however central defenders jos hooiveld and thomas rogne could be in line to
make their debuts and ki sung yeung will look to add to his impressive first
showing against falkirk
elsewhere on saturday interim motherwell manager craig brown will be hoping his
side can bounce back from their scottish cup defeat to first division side
inverness caledonian thistle as they take on st mirren at fir park
aberdeen welcome former manager jimmy calderwood now in charge of kilmarnock
back to pittodrie for their clash with the ayrshire side
hibernian will be aiming to regain third spot from dundee united as they welcome
hamilton to easter road
fixtures gmt unless otherwise stated
saturday
aberdeen kilmarnock hibernian hamilton motherwell st mirren
rangers hearts
sunday
falkirk dundee united st johnstone celtic
tennis safina races into open last
melbourne jan afp
russian dinara safina raced into the fourth round of the australian open with
the second seed and runner up thrashing england elena baltacha
friday
us state department clerk sentenced for passport peeking
washington jan afp
us state department file clerk on thursday was sentenced to months
probation for illegally accessing dozens of confidential passport applications
of movie actors professional athletes and other celebrities
the employee susan holloman was also ordered by the judge in the case to
perform hours of community service
holloman file assistant at the state department bureau of consular affairs
admitted that between february and december she repeatedly logged on
to the department secure computer database and viewed passport applications
belonging to some celebrities and their families
she acknowledged to prosecutors that she had no reason to access the passport
applications other than idle curiosity state department press release
said
computer passport files contained photograph of the applicant and personal
data including the applicant full name date and place of birth current
address telephone numbers parent information spouse name and emergency
contact information
the state department said that the files are protected under law by the us
privacy act
holloman is the ninth department worker to plead guilty to snooping into
celebrities passport records with all of the employees sentenced so far
receiving several months probation and community service
in amid the us presidential campaign season the state department revealed
that its employees had inappropriately accessed passport files belonging to
prominent presidential hopefuls though there was no indication thursday of
whether holloman had been involved in those breaches
state department snoopers reportedly pulled up files belonging to hillary
clinton and barack obama who were vying for the democratic presidential
nomination as well as that of senator john mccain the republican nominee
football french giants out to avoid cup slip up
paris jan afp
french title rivals bordeaux and lyon can take break from their league
exertions this weekend as the former look to avoid potential banana skin in
the french cup while lyon have an awkward trip to monaco
with an eight point cushion in the league after their midweek come from behind
win over bottom club grenoble bordeaux boss laurent blanc was thursday happily
admitting he didn even have transfer window wish list though maybe
joker to cover an injury would be good thing
with last champions league pair of encounters against olympiakos to look
forward to home round of loss saturday to second division ajaccio would
not exactly torpedo bordeaux season
the club have won the trophy three times compared to record ten for
marseille
marseille themselves are now out of the champions league as well as the cup
meaning their priority is hacking away at an point gap in ligue as they try
to land first trophy of any description in years
bordeaux should be at full strength save for keeper cedric carrasso who injured
wrist against marseill last week
we aren going to take any risk with him said blanc
veteran ulrich rame will stand in between the posts
lyon travel down to monaco on sunday with coach claude puel urging them on after
wednesday recovery from going behind at lorient
swede kim kallstrom scored brace in recovery which brought win and
puel on thursday pronounced himself very happy with the way the group showed
this healthy reaction to going goal down and showed their true colours
puel will be particularly keen for win at monaco having previously coached the
riviera side leading them to the league title at the start of the millennium
paris saint germain mired in midtable following their home loss this week to
monaco will only hope that third division evian do not heap further misery upon
them
coach antoine kombouare admits that we are not talking about europe but an
eighth cup success would prove tonic
kombouare says if his men play as they did in losing to monaco however
they have no chance
we could have played for three hours and not scored he lamented
with the bad weather having made mess of the previous round several round of
matches remain to be played hence saumur will get the ball rolling in the
round of on friday before saturday and sunday see mixture of both rounds
together
round of fixtures
friday
saumur rennes
saturday
beauvais agen
quevilly angers
bordeaux ajaccio
raon etape vesoul
sunday
mulhouse guingamp
paris sg evian
monaco lyon
round of matches
saturday
grenoble montpellier
colmar lille
st ouen aumone sedan
compiegne lens
st louis neuweg sochaux
pontivy brest
sunday
thiers nancy
st etienne lorient
football french giants out to avoid cup slip up
paris jan afp
french title rivals bordeaux and lyon can take break from their league
exertions this weekend as the former look to avoid potential banana skin in
the french cup while lyon have an awkward trip to monaco
with an eight point cushion in the league after their midweek come from behind
win over bottom club grenoble bordeaux boss laurent blanc was thursday happily
admitting he didn even have transfer window wish list though maybe
joker to cover an injury would be good thing
with last champions league pair of encounters against olympiakos to look
forward to home round of loss saturday to second division ajaccio would
not exactly torpedo bordeaux season
the club have won the trophy three times compared to record ten for
marseille
marseille themselves are now out of the champions league as well as the cup
meaning their priority is hacking away at an point gap in ligue as they try
to land first trophy of any description in years
bordeaux should be at full strength save for keeper cedric carrasso who injured
wrist against marseill last week
we aren going to take any risk with him said blanc
veteran ulrich rame will stand in between the posts
lyon travel down to monaco on sunday with coach claude puel urging them on after
wednesday recovery from going behind at lorient
swede kim kallstrom scored brace in recovery which brought win and
puel on thursday pronounced himself very happy with the way the group showed
this healthy reaction to going goal down and showed their true colours
puel will be particularly keen for win at monaco having previously coached the
riviera side leading them to the league title at the start of the millennium
paris saint germain mired in midtable following their home loss this week to
monaco will only hope that third division evian do not heap further misery upon
them
coach antoine kombouare admits that we are not talking about europe but an
eighth cup success would prove tonic
kombouare says if his men play as they did in losing to monaco however
they have no chance
we could have played for three hours and not scored he lamented
with the bad weather having made mess of the previous round several round of
matches remain to be played hence saumur will get the ball rolling in the
round of on friday before saturday and sunday see mixture of both rounds
together
round of fixtures
friday
saumur rennes
saturday
beauvais agen
quevilly angers
bordeaux ajaccio
raon etape vesoul
sunday
mulhouse guingamp
paris sg evian
monaco lyon
round of matches
saturday
grenoble montpellier
colmar lille
st ouen aumone sedan
compiegne lens
st louis neuweg sochaux
pontivy brest
sunday
thiers nancy
st etienne lorient
football spurs seek cup boost as leeds plot another upset
london jan afp
harry redknapp determination to avoid humiliating fa cup exit at the hands
of leeds united will have only increased following tottenham midweek premier
league defeat to liverpool
the spurs manager has made no secret of the fact top four finish and place
in next season champions league is his side number one priority
but redknapp is also well aware of the glory successful cup run can bring
having guided portsmouth to victory in the competition in the only time
the trophy hasn been won by one of english football big four since
the manager is well aware of the dangers posed by leeds following the league one
club stunning third round victory over manchester united at old trafford
and tottenham disappointing defeat at anfield game that saw spurs
concede for the first time in six games will undoubtedly have provided simon
grayson side with boost
redknapp was left frustrated by the liverpool loss and highlighted the
importance of his side responding positively
we have to pick ourselves up now because we have lot of big games coming up
he said we ve been on good run and just because we ve lost one game doesn
mean we re out of it
we ve made massive strides this time last year we were fourth from bottom and
only out of the bottom three on goal difference we ve come long way since
then
but the manager conceded the absence of the injured aaron lennon weakened his
side and his assessment of liverpool approach provided leeds with clear
indication of how they should fashion their game plan
we like to play but they wouldn allow us to play redknapp added we had
decent spell at the start of the second half we could have scored but overall
we were disappointing
we missed aaron lennon he the one player with the pace to go at people and
open teams up and we lacked that little bit of spark and pace
lennon is again expected to be unavailable with groin problem meaning he will
miss out on the chance to face his former club
spurs have also shown an alarming tendency to slip up at home in the league this
season with stoke and wolves pulling off unexpected wins while struggling hull
left with point last weekend
that record won have gone unnoticed by grayson who knows the memorable victory
at old trafford has increased both hope and expectation in west yorkshire
it another great game for us and once again we are the big underdogs said
the young manager but that was the case in the previous round and look what
happened
we can go there and relax and enjoy it give it our best shot and see what
happens we ll just try and repeat all the good things we did at manchester
united
that unwanted legacy of that victory is that leeds have failed to win any of
their three subsequent games
but grayson appetite for the competition is undiminished despite leeds
battling to return to the championship
in every game we play in we go out to win and this will be no different he
added we want to get as far as we can in the competition irrespective of the
fact we are challenging for promotion at the same time
but it big ask for us tottenham have some fantastic players and think
they have the strongest squad they ve had for long long time
people are talking about them finishing in the top four so that shows you how
good they are
football chelsea seek boost at expense of fergie junior
preston england jan afp
carlo ancelotti promise to deliver success with style will face its latest
challenge when the italian chelsea side travel north to face championship
outfit preston north end on saturday
at stake for both sides is place in the fa cup fifth round and for preston
the chance to pull off one of the most memorable results in the club recent
history
ancelotti though will be looking for more than mere victory after setting
his side the daunting challenge of maintaining the outstanding form they showed
in last weekend demolition of sunderland
that victory came immediately after the thrashing of preston
championship colleagues watford in the third round of the competition
and as if the visit of ancelotti free scoring side wasn daunting enough
for north end chelsea are likely to head to deepdale nursing sense of
grievance after being toppled from their position at the head of the premier
league table by arsenal this week
arsene wenger side moved ahead on goals scored following their defeat of
bolton
and while chelsea still have game in hand on their london rivals the shift in
