paris jan afp
two time champions munster and the team that beat them in the european cup
final northampton will be sick of the sight of each other after they were drawn
to play each other in the last eight of this year edition on sunday
saints lead the irish giants on head to head meetings the last victory
being in their first pool match this season but will be facing mammoth task
in trying to become only the second ever side after leicester to triumph at
munster thomond park fortress in the tournament history
munster edged them in the second pool clash in limerick on friday
french side biarritz may be struggling in the top domestic championship but
their european cup campaign carried on in triumphant fashion on sunday when they
ensured they hosted quarter final after beating scottish outfit glasgow
in their pool two clash
biarritz beaten by munster in the final joined defending
champions leinster and munster in being guaranteed home quarter final in
draw that features four french sides for the first time since the
edition
however their feat this time round is more impressive as back in
english clubs boycotted the tournament
this comes after they already faced each other in their pool this campaign with
northampton england sole survivor from the seven teams that started out
though two time champions leicester are appealing after ospreys had players
briefly on the pitch during their clash saturday winning their first match
biarritz are likely as in previous years when they have played at home in the
last eight to host the match against ospreys the only welsh side left in the
competition over the spanish border in san sebastian
ospreys have reached their third successive quarter final but will be hoping to
reach the last four for the first time and keep alive hopes of becoming the
first welsh side to lift the trophy
so poor is the welsh record that cardiff are the only side to ever reach the
final and that was the inaugural one when they lost to toulouse
leinster who played out nerve tingling draw with london irish on
saturday at twickenham which was enough to see northampton progress at the
latter expense will host clermont who will be real danger to the irish
side if they maintain their present form into april
three time champions toulouse displaced fellow french side clermont as the
fourth host when they beat english side sale later on sunday in their pool
five match
toulouse who have won six of the seven quarter finals they have hosted losing
just to leinster in will play fellow top side stade francais whose
unimpressive campaign in an uninspiring pool saw them still top the table
despite being beaten by edinburgh in their final match on saturday
we know stade francais they drew at our place in this season championship
and are extremely capable of beating us conceded toulouse manager guy
noves
and should we progress we will play either the champions leinster or the big
favourite for the competition clermont this is really tough draw for us
stade flamboyant president max guazzini who has yet to taste european glory
despite investing millions into the club was relieved to have ended drought
in terms of making the knockout stages
that is three years since we were last in the quarter finals therefore we have
no reason to complain about an away draw said guazzini
it not going to be easy toulouse are huge team as we saw in their win
over sale on sunday they have already previously won the european cup
we are at home to them at the stade de france on march in the championship
month before the european match that will be quite something
there are no italian sides in the last eight both viadana and treviso finished
bottom of their respective pools though the latter did beat french champions
perpignan in their first meeting
however once again the two best runners up spots in the quarter finals went to
sides in the italians pools which will inevitably lead to the debate about the
fairness of the qualifying rules being re opened
the matches are due to be played from april
obama debut state of the union moment of truth
washington jan afp
barack obama will seek to corral panicked democrats and win back disaffected
voters this week in the debut state of the union address of presidency dragged
down by crushing economic gloom
suddenly obama is at turning point after republicans snatched away the
democratic super majority in the senate and with his own party now viewing
november mid term congressional elections with sense of doom
the state of the union address beamed simultaneously on us television networks
and cable news stations offers president his best annual chance to bypass the
media and speak directly to americans
with quarter of his term expired obama will step up in the house of
representatives on wednesday night saddled by diminished approval ratings
averaging around percent and with his health reform plan on life support
with unemployment at percent obama bond with the us public is frayed and
he is losing his hold on crucial independent voters
the speech for him is going to have to be reset second chance to make
first impression said kareem crayton political science expert at the
university of southern california
washington is reverberating from the shock republican victory in late liberal
lion edward kennedy senate seat last week which traumatized democrats and is
testing ties between obama and his own party in congress
the defeat took democrats below the magic seat barrier needed to thwart
republican senate blocking tactics in the senate leaving obama chances of
passing his ambitious agenda in serious doubt
republicans have no incentive to cooperate seeing their win in massachusetts as
vindication of their total opposition to obama health care plan and broader
agenda
democratic senator robert menendez of new jersey urged republicans to now shrug
off the party of no label pinned on them by critics and contribute to
formulating workable solutions for americans
no doesn create job no doesn create health care insurance for
anyone no doesn help senior citizen with their prescription drug
coverage it time to begin to say yes to move the country forward menendez
told abc television this week program
observers will watch obama speech for signs that he is trimming his ambitions
or tacking to the political center to chase independent voters dismayed by the
slow pace of the change he promised
he has already acknowledged american anger and frustration over recovery
benefits failing to trickle down to the middle class while banks and finance
firms are again piling up huge profits
on friday in possible preview of next week address he posed as champion
of the working man vowing an all out fight to create jobs though his policy
options for doing so seem limited
so long as have the privilege of serving as your president ll never stop
fighting for you he told an ohio town hall meeting
obama feted campaign manager david plouffe meanwhile warned democrats
against bed wetting in washington post article sunday
this will be tough election for our party and for many republican incumbents
as well instead of fearing what may happen let prove that we have more than
just the brains to govern that we have the guts to govern
white house advisers hit the talk show circuit sunday insisting the obama
administration was not seeking to turn over new leaf by bringing plouffe back
in
no we re not hitting reset button white house senior adviser valerie
jarrett told nbc meet the press
all seats in the house of representatives are up for grabs in november
along with third of the senate seats
mid term elections usually wound first term presidents but the key to this
cycle may lie in which party best exploits the ugly public mood
so obama is repeatedly slamming wall street and seeking to insulate himself
from popular rage over government bailouts of the finance sector as it wallows
in bloated bonus payments
brookings institution scholar thomas mann said obama must wednesday offer
spirited defense of his health reform plan blame republicans for the economic
blight he inherited and say how he will ease the pain
he needs to be aggressive with the financial community and his unified
ideological republican opposition and indicate clearly what he is prepared to
fight for and lose reelection for
the president also faces pressure to sketch viable way forward for his health
plan with some democrats thinking of splitting the measure up in incremental
chunks world away from the historic triumph obama has in mind
israel to resume pension payments to gaza residents
jerusalem jan afp
israel will resume paying pensions and social benefits to some eligible
gaza strip residents for the first time since hamas seized control of the
territory its defence ministry said sunday
the national insurance benefits and pension payments which are estimated at
approximately two million shekels dollars euro month will
be transferred to the palestinian authority according to list of about
beneficiaries the ministry said in statement
israel severed all contact with gaza strip banks after hamas drove out forces
loyal to western backed palestinian president mahmud abbas in june fearing
the money would go the coffers of hamas
the move effectively ended social payments to those palestinians who had earned
benefits working in israel
to circumvent dealing with gaza banks israel would give the money to the
palestinian authority in ramallah which would then transfer it to gaza the
statement said
the decision to resume the payments was humanitarian gesture it added
israel and egypt have sealed gaza off from all but vital goods since the
islamist movement seized power
bin laden wording indicator of upcoming attack monitor
washington jan afp
osama bin laden word choice in the latest audio message attributed to him is
seen as possible indicator of an upcoming attack by his al qaeda network
us monitoring group warned sunday
intelcenter us group that monitors islamist websites also said that manner
of the release and the content of the message showed it was credible that it
was new release from the saudi extremist
the osama bin laden audio message released to al jazeera on january
contains specific language used by bin laden in his statements in advance of
attacks intelcenter said in statement
the group said it considered the language possible indicator of an upcoming
attack in the next months
this phrase peace be upon those who follow guidance appears at the
beginning and end of messages released in advance of attacks that are designed
to provide warning to al qaeda enemies that they need to change their ways or
they will be attacked the group said
in statement carried by al jazeera television bin laden praised the nigerian
man who allegedly tried to blow up us airliner approaching detroit on
christmas day
he warned the united states that god willing our attacks against you will
continue as long as you maintain your support to israel
intelcenter said the audio statement appears to be exactly what it purports to
be an audio message from bin laden
the manner of release content of message and other factors indicate it is
credible and new release from bin laden it said
the center said similar language attributed to bin laden was made in march
condemnation of cartoons depicting the prophet mohammed which was followed
by an attack on the danish embassy in islamabad on june
the phrase also was used in bin laden april european truce offer
which was followed by al qaeda attacks in london in july according to the
intelcenter which said the month lapse could be explained by the
difficulty in actually putting an attack into operation
audio releases were bin laden normal vehicle for statements with video
statements having been very rare since the september attacks on the
united states that killed almost people intelcenter said
consequently audio messages are the rule not the exception and thus
speculation as to health or anything else merely because the message is in audio
form and not video does not hold up to analytical scrutiny it added
bin laden has million dollar bounty on his head and has been in hiding for
the past eight years he is widely believed to be holed up along the remote
mountainous border between pakistan and afghanistan
he last made public statement when he was quoted on september by the site
intelligence group monitoring service as urging european countries to withdraw
their forces from afghanistan
football city cruise into fa cup fifth round
scunthorpe england jan afp
manchester city eased into the fa cup fifth round with win over
championship strugglers scunthorpe at glanford park here on sunday
roberto mancini side were able to avoid the same fate as arsenal manchester
united and liverpool who have all crashed out already even though city boss
fielded weakened team ahead of wednesday league cup semi final second leg
against united
martin petrov put city ahead early on before paul hayes equalised for the hosts
goals from nedum onuoha and sylvinho looked to have killed the tie but dedryk
boyata own goal gave scunthorpe hope before unsettled brazil star robinho got
on the scoresheet to set up home tie against stoke
mancini made eight changes to the team that defeated united in the league cup
first leg in mid week
that meant return to the starting line up for robinho despite reports that the
former real madrid forward wants to leave city to join his brazilian formative
club santos
robinho cost city club record million pounds sum that could pay
scunthorpe annual four million pounds wage bill for nearly decade
how scunthorpe boss nigel adkins former physiotherapist who moved into the
manager chair would love the kind of riches city abu dhabi owners have
lavished on their club
the financial gulf between the clubs could hardly have been any wider and the
gap looked set to be equally vast on the pitch as mancini men took control in
the early stages
city had already thrashed scunthorpe in the league cup earlier this season
at eastlands and they moved ahead in the third minute here
robinho played his part in the goal with succession of step overs followed by
pass wide to petrov but it was the bulgarian who deserved all the credit as
he jinked past garry thompson before unleashing ferocious rising shot that
gave joe murphy no chance
scunthorpe lying only one place above the championship relegation zone could
have been shattered by that early setback but they settled back down and twice
came desperately close to equalising
cliff byrne had glorious chance when he surged onto gary hooper deep cross
however the scunthorpe captain couldn keep his header down and from virtually
on the goal line he planted his effort onto the crossbar
with city defence creaking hayes went close as he sneaked onto rob jones
flick and stabbed just wide from close range
hayes had served notice of his ability to trouble city back four and he
underlined the point by firing scunthorpe back into the match in the th
minute
when hooper hooked the ball back into the penalty area after scunthorpe corner
was half cleared hayes seemed to be in an offside position but the flag stayed
down and he took full advantage to blast volley past stuart taylor
city finally began to rediscover some attacking rhythm and regained the lead in
first half stoppage time
stephen ireland chipped delicate pass over two scunthorpe defenders and onuoha
timed his run perfectly to flick low shot beyond murphy
sylvinho increased city lead in the th minute when he unleashed stunning
left foot strike that flashed by murphy from yards
scunthorpe earned lifeline in the th minute when grant mccann floated in
corner which dropped for byrne to shoot home via deflection off boyata
but robinho ended their hopes of replay when he collected petrov pass and
fired home in the th minute
football english fa cup fifth round draw
london jan afp
draw for the english fa cup fifth round made on sunday
th rnd
wolves or crystal palace aston villa
manchester city stoke
derby birmingham
bolton tottenham or leeds
chelsea cardiff
fulham notts county or wigan
reading west brom
southampton portsmouth
ties to be played on the weekend of february and
obama regroups after bruising week
washington jan afp
president barack obama is regrouping after bruising week top white house
aides sunday outlining his plan to reinvigorate his stalled domestic agenda and
revitalize his demoralized democratic party
obama senior advisor david axelrod said that the president mid course
correction will start by focusing on lowering the soaring percent
unemployment rate the issue most on the minds of us voters
middle class people are getting killed in the economy they are working harder
and harder for less axelrod told cnn state of the union program
many have lost their jobs there is sense of economic insecurity out there
he said adding that the white house plans to do everything that we can in the
short run to stir job creation and to see the economy grow
to help re craft his sagging image and hone his message obama has called in
reinforcements in the form of david plouffe the aide credited with devising his
successful insurgent presidential campaign
the white house makeover comes after week in which democrats saw their
supermajority in congress evaporate doubly painful blow because the us
senate seat lost to republican rising star scott brown was one that had been
occupied for over four decades by democratic party icon ted kennedy
kennedy had been one of obama key mentors and champion of the health reform
pushed by the president
and in setback of historic proportions during what was arguably the toughest
week of obama year old presidency the supreme court decreed that corporations
could dip freely into their general funds to finance political campaign ads
ruling seen as huge victory for republicans who are seen as more likely to get
funding from big business and lobby interests
combative obama last week pledged to never stop fighting as he forges ahead
on his health care overhaul and ramped up his efforts to reconnect with
liberal base that has felt estranged and neglected
meanwhile plouffe acknowledged in an opinion piece sunday in the washington
post that the administration had resounding wakeup call from brown
election and conceded that democratic candidates could face white knuckled
ride in november upcoming mid term legislative elections
but that is no reason to back off the president reform agenda plouffe
declared
more than ever he said congress needs to pass meaningful health insurance
reform package without delay americans health and our nation long term
fiscal health depend on it
he added politically speaking if we do not pass it republicans will
continue attacking the plan as if we did anyway and voters will have no ability
to measure its upside
meanwhile white house spokesman robert gibbs told fox news sunday that obama is
ready for what promises to be an even more hostile political climate than he has
faced in his first year in office
that why he ran for president to make some very tough decisions said
gibbs who noted that some of those tough decisions will be outlined in obama
first ever state of the union speech to congress and the us public on wednesday
what the president will outline in the state of the union are several things
including continuing to take the steps that are necessary to provide an
environment where the private sector once again can start hiring people he
said
plouffe agreed that the issue of unemployment will take center stage
we need to show that we not just are focused on jobs but also create them he
said
democrats must create strong foundation for long term growth by addressing
health care energy and education reform
finally he added the white house needs to do better job trumpeting its
successes starting with the achievement reversing what could have been
catastrophic economic downturn
in future elections it will be clear to all that instead of another great
depression democrats broke the back of the recession with not single
republican vote in the house he wrote in the post
and he admonished democrats who sometimes have been labeled as lacking
fortitude when it comes to taking tough decisions to stiffen their spines for
the political battles ahead
no bed wetting the democratic strategist wrote
instead of fearing what may happen let prove that we have more than just the
brains to govern that we have the guts to govern he said
football africa cup of nations quarter final angola ghana
luanda jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations quarter final at november stadium on
sunday
angola ghana gyan
teams
angola
carlos fernandes jose mabina alberto rui marques stelvio cruz ricardo job
carlos kali alonso capt fernando chara costa felisberto gilberto
amaral nsimba ze kalanga baptista zuela santos enoque giulherme
djalma campos flavio amado mateus manucho alberto
coach manuel jose por
ghana
richard kingson capt samuel inkoom isaac vorsah hans adu sarpei lee addy
emmanuel badu andre ayew ibrahim ayew kwadwo asamoah agyemang opoku
asamoah gyan matthew amoah haminu draman eric addo
coach milovan rajevac srb
referee mohamed benouza alg
yellow cards ayew mabina amoah opoku
football goal shy valencia frustrated in tenerife
madrid jan afp
valencia missed the chance to move level on points with second placed real
madrid following frustrating draw at promoted tenerife on sunday
valencia had scored nine goals in their last three matches but could not find
the breakthrough against tenerife and now trail real by two points in third
having played one game more
tenerife had their chances too but had to be content with point although it is
not enough to move them out of the relegation zone
it was frantic game with both sides going for the throat and it was chances
galore with david silva the main culprit for valencia while alejandro alfaro
missed tenerife best openings
valencia sit five points ahead of real mallorca who reclaimed fourth spot with
draw at espanyol on sunday
an th minute penalty from borja valero salvaged point for mallorca who go
above deportivo la coruna on goal difference
in other matches villarreal got back to winning ways with victory over
struggling real zaragoza at el madrigal
the hosts went three goals up inside the first minutes with spanish
international full back joan capdevila brazilian forward nilmar and giuseppe
rossi on target
zaragoza came back with two goals in the final quarter hour to ensure nervous
few minutes for villarreal before ariel ibagaza wrapped up the game with
fourth on minutes
despite the win villarreal are still down in ninth seven points off the desired
european places
zaragoza are second from bottom and coach jose aurelio gay has not tasted
victory in his five league matches in charge
elsewhere bottom side xerez still can get their points total into double
figures losing at home to osasuna with javier camunas netting the winner
seven minutes from time
xerez have eight points from their first games in their first ever season in
the spanish top flight and need miracle in the second half of the season to
stay up
later on sunday real madrid host malaga at the santiago bernabeu looking for
th consecutive home win in the league to cut barcelona eight point cushion
at the summit
real lost at athletic bilbao last time out and can afford to start
slipping up at home after barca beat valladolid on saturday
things can happen quickly in football and we just have to concentrate on
improving away from home and staying on track at home said french midfielder
lass diarra
we don need to be worried about what barcelona are doing
barcelona have become only the fifth side to go the first half of the season
unbeaten and no spanish side has ever gone an entire game season without
losing
the two other madrid based sides getafe and atletico madrid lock horns in
derby at the coliseum alfonso perez in sunday late match
atletico have won three league games on the spin but are notoriously
unpredictable and getafe midfielder javi casquero admits he does not know what
to expect
we don know which atletico we are going to come up against explained
casquero however they deserve our utmost respect because they have some top
quality players
football robinho say city ready to allow santos loan move
brasilia jan afp
brazilian winger robinho revealed on sunday english premiership side manchester
city are ready to agree to loan move to santos where he began his career in
his homeland
the club city considered the best thing for now was to loan me out club
officials have already told me that robinho told local brazilian radio
station
robinho has struggled to impress since joining season and half ago from real
madrid for british record million pounds having been in earlier
negotiations with chelsea
the year old laconic style has seen him fall out with city bosses and new
manager roberto mancini earlier this month hauled him off in defeat by everton
having earlier sent him on from the bench
mancini also recently said that robinho would play some games and not others
but in world cup year the player is hoping to show his value to his country
it would be exceptional to return to play for santos this would help me in
terms of the world cup said robinho
santos is my home know everyone there
football fuller sends arsenal crashing out of fa cup
london jan afp
arsenal became the latest member of the premier league elite to suffer an
early exit from the fa cup as ricardo fuller double strike inspired stoke
win over the gunners in the fourth round on sunday
manchester united humbled by league one leeds and liverpool shocked by
reading both perished in the third round and arsene wenger much changed side
were condemned to an equally chastening defeat at the britannia stadium
after claiming that arsenal remain vulnerable to physical opponents fuller
underlined his pre match jibe by heading the hosts into the lead after
seconds
the gunners defence including debutant sol campbell failed to deal with rory
delap trademark long throw and fuller nipped in front of hesitant goalkeeper
lukasz fabianski to head home from close range
wenger team drew level in the nd minute when denilson shot trickled past
thomas sorensen after deflecting off two stoke defenders
but fuller who had scored twice against arsenal last season proved thorn in
their side yet again in the th minute
mamady sidibe crossed from the right and jamaican international fuller escaped
campbell attentions to head past fabianski
dean whitehead ensured arsenal would suffer their first defeat in matches
when he turned in matthew etherington cross with four minutes to play
wenger insisted he had no regrets about his team selection as arsenal have so
many key league games coming soon wanted to win this game and don regret
the team picked did not have much choice he said
if you look at our schedule it simply that you cannot always play with the
same eleven
if you rotate and you don win it your fault can only stand up and say
that the team that picked
in the day other game manchester city eased into the last with win
over championship strugglers scunthorpe at glanford park
city under strength side took the lead in the third minute when bulgaria
midfielder martin petrov smashed blistering strike past joe murphy
the underdogs hit back in the th minute when paul hayes took advantage of
debatable offside decision to volley home
nedem onouha restored city lead in first half stoppage time with low strike
after stephen ireland delicate chipped pass opened up the scunthorpe defence
brazilian defender sylvinho seemed to have put city in complete control when he
launched fabulous long range effort past murphy in the th minute
scunthorpe refused to go quietly and city young defender dedryck boyata gave
them hope in the th minute when he deflected cliff byrne shot into his own
net
any hopes of replay were extinguished in the th minute when robinho ran onto
petrov pass and shot into the roof of the net to mark what could be the
unsettled brazilian final appearance for city
football ghana into semis as angola cup party ends in tears
luanda jan afp
ghana destroyed angola africa cup of nations dream with quarter final
win over the hosts here on sunday to keep them on course for fifth title
asamoah gyan first half goal put the black stars into the semi finals where
they will face the winner of monday match in lubango between zambia and
nigeria
as severely depleted ghana side marched on in search of their first
continental crown in years angola rued not putting away number of clear cut
chances not least manucho shot over the woodwork approaching the interval
angola made two changes from the side that qualified for the last eight with
goalless draw against algeria defender stelvio returning from suspension and
three goal hero flavio back from injury to join manucho up front
ghana missing raft of star players including michael essien made one
alteration from their last run out mathew amoah making way for qatar based
midfielder opoku agyemang
minute silence for the victims of the haiti earthquake preceded this first
ever competitive meeting between the two west african states
angola president jose eduardo dos santos sporting the team scarf eased into
his seat just in time to watch ghana andre ayew booked in the opening seconds
for foul on mabina
with the stakes high an understandably nervy opening saw ghana defender lee addy
twice inadvertently try to lob his own keeper captain richard kingson
on minutes the largely partisan crowd fell silent as udinese kwadwo
asamoah conjured up neat pass to release gyan down the right the rennes
striker racing by angola skipper kali to shoot past keeper carlos fernandes
