technically he is also very good and has the physical characteristics to be
able to cope with the premier league
he another player who has been scouted abroad by ian evans and
delighted we ve been able to bring him in
whether wolves can field guedioura in their squad to play liverpool on tuesday
will depend upon the speed with which the player receives his international
clearance
football cup chokers ivory coast mystifed at algeria loss
luanda jan afp
not for the first time didier drogba and his ivory coast teammates turned up at
the africa cup of nations wearing the mantle of favourite only to flatter to
deceive
in the elephants suffered shattering penalty defeat to egypt in the
final in cairo
two years later in ghana they came up short once again to the egyptians losing
to the defending champions in the semi finals
fast forward to angola and the ivory coast were sent packing yet again by
side from north africa this time algeria proving their nemesis with sunday
extra time quarter final loss in cabinda
algeria coach rabah saadane summed up the disbelief at this latest africa cup of
nations disappointment when he said wasn surprised by my team but more
by the decline of the ivory coast side
ivory coast coach vahid halilhodzic was mystified at his multi millionaire
stars latest example of choking
great teams do not let lead few minutes before full time slip like
that said the bosnian born former yugoslavian international who was suffering
his first competitive defeat since taking over ivory coast in
he added it is unacceptable we had opportunities to kill off the match before
that and we are all really stunned we came here with great hopes and as is
always the case ivory coast has failed to deliver
it is imperative that everyone assumes their responsibility for this me to
start with
we have five or six really good players but we lost every duel it is not
physical problem it is mental one do not have all the answers but am
ashamed with regard to how we played and apologise to the ivorian public who
really believed in us
is the problem physical or psychological it cannot be physical because when
you are one goal up with only one minute left you just sit back and clinch
victory algeria deserve their victory
drogba and his teammates would be wise not to look at the local press in
abidjan with headlines like huge disappointment broken dream sunk
revealing the country mood
elephants fennecs the end of illusions wrote une fraternite matin
le patriote pointed the finger at chelsea star drogba
who said this generation wasn dead our attack was handicapped by below par
didier drogba and midfield lacking in imagination
one sponsor though was looking on the bright side and to better peprformance
in south africa
the best is yet to come stated full page ad in intelligent
nr ak
britain insists afghan aid not be siphoned off by corruption
brussels jan afp
british foreign secretary david miliband stressed monday the need to stop
international aid to afghanistan being lost to corruption three days ahead of
major conference on the country in london
stressing the civil efforts as much as the military efforts in insurgency
wracked afghanistan miliband said it was absolutely key that the money is not
siphoned away in corruption and extortion
thursday conference is important for providing political counterpart to
the military strategy he told reporters at talks with his eu counterparts in
brussels while admitting that no one pretends that conferences win wars
the london meeting is chance for the international community to mobilise its
civilian efforts alongside its military efforts miliband added more troops
will not win this war on their own
he underlined that money is important but money has to be spent in an
effective way
the best way to do that according to miliband is through afghan mechanisms
and it needs to be spent at local level not just national level
miliband said he would meet with afghan president hamid karzai in istanbul on
tuesday ahead of the london talks
re elected in bitterly disputed circumstances in november karzai is struggling
to keep hold on his country in the face of resurgent taliban
according to leaked draft of the london meeting communique international
forces face up to five more years battling the taliban
there are currently some international troops stationed in afghanistan
under us and nato command they are enduring daily losses from the taliban
militia as they have been since the invasion of us forces in
swedish foreign minister carl bildt arriving for the eu meeting said it was
premature to start speaking of an exit date for the troops in afghanistan
we should look at gradual transitions from an engagement where the overwhelming
emphasis is military to an engagement where it is primarily civilian
commitment he said
any talk of an exit strategy in afghanistan plays into the hands of the
taliban he added
families hope for best but fear worst in lebanon plane crash
beirut jan afp
families of passengers on board an ethiopian airlines plane that crashed in
flames into the sea off lebanon on monday huddled at beirut airport hoping for
the best but fearing the worst
as grim faced officials played down expectations that any of the passengers
and seven crew may have survived the crash relatives gathered in the vip
lounge some weeping softly some wailing unconsolably some making frantic
phone calls
prime minister saad hariri who declared monday national day of mourning
arrived at the airport to offer comfort to the families
we are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from
this tragedy hariri told reporters there we are working to find the black
box that will tell us what really happened on the plane
parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number of other ministers and
deputies also rushed to the airport
one woman was sobbing and screaming why why as other anguished relatives
fainted and had to be carried out of the airport lounge by red cross volunteers
another woman said she had lost all hope of finding her husband who was one of
those on board ethiopian airlines flight when it crashed into the sea off
the town of naameh shortly after takeoff at am gmt monday
he my life they won find him know it they won find him she wailed
as her mother hugged her
one woman wearing black headscarf cried out to her missing father you re
good man you don deserve this why did you do this to us god
young boy named ali comforted his mother who tearfully asked him repeatedly
if he had any news of his father who was also on board not yet he replied
another year old gently helped his mother sip glass of water in corner
where she had nearly collapsed in tears
one couple gave up after few hours of trying to get any information on
family member
the officials here aren telling us anything at least if we go home the
television will tell us something they said as they left the lounge
one of the anguished relatives suddenly announced that he had news of survivors
bringing stampede of families rushing towards him calling out inshallah
god willing
but their hopes were quickly dashed by official reports that no survivors had
been found
women some grasping binoculars could be seen nervously pacing along beach
south of the airport near the crash site looking out into the murky waters
empty seats from the aircraft luggage and other personal belongings washed up
near the shore and were gathered by rescue officials
mp yassine jaber told local television that around passengers on board came
from his southern hometown nabatiyeh
defence ministry official said the boeing exploded into four pieces before
crashing investigators were trying to determine whether lightning had hit the
jet
witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea after taking
off in stormy weather
one employee of gas station near the site of the crash said he heard an
explosion and saw huge ball of fire as the plane crashed
another witness said it was like the whole sea lit up
investigators were trying to determine whether lightning had hit the jet
this is painful tragic event we are sparing no efforts in trying to find
survivors president michel sleiman said ruling out foul play
our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of those on board
among the passengers were two children aged three and two local television
producer and the wife of france ambassador to lebanon marla sanchez pietton
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
beijing mayor warns over city development
beijing jan afp
beijing mayor warned on monday of extremely serious contradictions between
protecting the capital environment and maintaining rapid economic growth and
development
guo jinlong made the statements in his annual report to the city legislature
during which he called for percent increase in consumption and an
percent increase in investment
there still exist lot of difficulties and problems concerning the economic
and social development of the capital guo said according to the report posted
on the city government website
the contradictions between the population resources and the environment are
extremely serious making the demands of transforming faster our mode of
development and adjusting the economic structure even more urgent
beijing air pollution has long been listed as among the worst in the world
amid boom in private automobile sales with the city regularly shrouded in an
acrid haze
the city economy expanded by percent in while urban per capita
income grew by percent to yuan dollars guo said
average living standards in beijing improved in with per capita gross
domestic product topping dollars for the first time official data showed
friday
guo urged greater investment in the city public transport network and more
spending on environmentally friendly vehicles and buses to address beijing
traffic congestion and air pollution
we must earnestly implement measures to control air pollution guo said
adding that the capital would target days of at least fairly good air
quality in down from days in
addressing beijing chronic water shortages guo said the city would aim to
reduce water consumption in on per capita basis
siemens preferred bidder for record german train order
berlin jan afp
germany rail operator deutsche bahn monday said it had selected industrial
giant siemens as its preferred bidder for multi billion euro dollar
contract to deliver record trains
siemens is our preferred bidder in this tender process even in economically
difficult times the modernisation of our fleet has the highest priority for
us said deutsche bahn chief ruediger grube in statement
we aim to push this process forward quickly in the next few months continued
grube adding the tender was the biggest investment in vehicles in the history
of deutsche bahn
for its part siemens welcomed the announcement but warned that tough
negotiations lay ahead
this decision is an important step but we have not yet reached our goal now
the real talks begin said hans joerg grundmann head of the firm transport
division
afghan pakistani presidents meet for security summit
istanbul jan afp
the presidents of afghanistan and pakistan meet in turkish sponsored talks here
monday to discuss closer cooperation against taliban insurgents and improve ties
poisoned by the insecurity plaguing their rugged border
the meeting between hamid karzai of afghanistan and asif ali zardari of pakistan
comes days before london conference aimed at promoting afghanistan
development where the afghan leader will unveil plan to pay off the
insurgents
turkish president abdulah gul will host the istanbul summit that will also be
attended by military and intelligence chiefs from afghanistan and pakistan
joint declaration is expected to be issued at the end of the meeting
gul met karzai in face to face meeting earlier monday and was to hold
similar meeting with zardari before the three leaders opened the summit there
were no press statements
the istanbul meeting is the fourth round of fence mending talks since held
under the auspices of turkey the sole muslim member of nato which is using its
traditionally close ties with both countries to mediate
ties between kabul and islamabad have been strained as pakistan northwestern
tribal regions became stronghold for extremists who fled afghanistan after the
us led invasion toppled the hardline taliban regime in late
afghanistan says much of its insurgent violence including attacks on us and
nato soldiers is planned in pakistan and has accused its neighbour of not
doing enough to curb the militants
afghan and us officials suspect pakistan powerful military is sponsoring the
afghan taliban preparing for the day us troops leave so islamabad can exercise
influence over taliban government to offset regional superpower india
on tuesday gul is also hosting gathering in istanbul of countries
neighbouring afghanistan to discuss ways to help the war ravaged country achieve
stability security and prosperity
the meeting will be attended by karzai zardari and senior officials from iran
china tajikistan and turkmenistan turkish government official said
several countries and international organisations will send observers among
them british foreign secretary david miliband
the meeting aims to encourage countries to tackle problems in their own region
rather than giving the lead to the west and underline the need to back up the
military struggle against the taliban with economic and social measures the
official said on condition of anonymity
there cannot be more important strategy than winning the minds and hearts of
the afghan people he said sometimes drilling simple water well for
instance can be more valuable in the eyes of the people than costly project
turkey has some soldiers stationed in afghanistan and takes part in
several restructuring projects as well as role in training afghan police
in meeting late sunday turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan agreed
with karzai on providing three month training course for afghan police and
military the anatolia news agency reported
following the istanbul meetings karzai will fly on to berlin and then to london
for major international conference that will focus on fighting corruption
improving security achieving good governance and reconciliation with taliban
fighters
at the gathering karzai will present an ambitious western backed reconciliation
package aimed at tempting fighters away from their taliban masters by offering
money and jobs to draw them back to civilian life
tennis federer destroys hewitt now for davydenko
melbourne jan afp
roger federer emphatically extended his dominance over long time rival lleyton
hewitt to cruise into the australian open quarter finals on monday
the swiss top seed was at different level to the big hearted australian nd
seed in their th meeting as he rolled out win in one hour
minutes
federer further underlined the gulf with hewitt as he claimed his th straight
victory but his next opponent nikolay davydenko has beaten the time grand
slam champion at their last two meetings
it looms as federer first major challenge in the year opening grand slam
nikolay one of the good return players in the game he moves extremely well
and makes it hard federer said
in for good match for sure favour my chances in best of five set
match we ll see how it goes
for davydenko part federer will be the obvious favourite in their match
he always for me the favorite he said but when on the court try to
change my mind if feel have chance to win set and the next set then
realise that what did against him in our last two matches
federer was typically gracious in victory saluting hewitt with their rivalry
stemming back to their junior playing days
always think the matches are extremely tough physically and mentally very
challenging federer said
you re always going to be caught up in quite tough match against him and even
though the scoreline predicts something else had to really dig deep and come
up with some amazing shots to beat him
was really able to press on the offensive serve well when had to and
moved well overall extremely happy
there was just one momentary spark to fire up the willing home crowd when hewitt
broke federer service for the only time in the eighth game of the third set
but the swiss great unleashed sensational forehand cross court volley to
immediately break back in the next game
it lifted his imposing record over former world number one hewitt to
hewitt last victory against federer came seven years ago in davis cup tie
here when federer led two sets to love and in the third before the
australian stormed back to win in five sets
monday victory was federer st at the australian open with just seven
defeats
the last time he failed to reach the quarter finals at grand slam was at the
french open where he lost in the third round to brazilian gustavo kuerten
federer did as he pleased against hewitt rifling two service breaks in the
opening set in the fourth game of the second set and two more in the final set
the australian looked incapable of stopping the flow of winners off federer
racquet and his serve was under constant pressure
federer hit winners of them off the forehand and just unforced
errors
it ended hewitt th consecutive australian open campaign and he is yet to get
beyond the fourth round in five years since he was losing finalist here to
russian marat safin in
it always disappointing when you lose in grand slam hewitt said
but he played special tennis he hit the ball extremely clean and just
couldn get into his service games which made it tough
ran into the best player right at the moment would say he obviously the
benchmark
fiat forecasts net profit of up to million euros in
milan jan afp
italian automaker fiat on monday forecast net profit of between million
and million euros in and recorded operating profit of
billion euros
the automaker announced net loss of million euros billion dollars in
compared with profit of billion euros the previous year
attackers fire shots at islamist leader oslo home police
oslo jan afp
unidentified attackers fired shots overnight at the oslo apartment of mullah
krekar the founder of radical iraqi kurdish islamist group ansar al islam
norwegian police said on monday
one person krekar son in law year old british national was lightly
injured in the attack when bullet hit him in the hand
krekar has lived in norway for nearly years he and four other people
were in the fourth floor apartment when the attack occurred
investigators said they had no concrete leads yet
we don know who is behind this attack nor the motive oslo police official
grethe lien metlid told reporters
just before the shots were fired from nearby balcony someone tried to break
into the apartment
we ve opened an inquiry into attempted murder metlid said
police said in statement two people were seen leaving the scene after the
shooting but it is too early to say whether they are linked to the incident
police were alerted to the attack at am gmt which took place in
working class neighbourhood of eastern oslo where krekar has lived with his
family since
the whole family is shaken krekar lawyer brynjar meling told television
news station tv nyhetskanalen
in the past there were threats from nationalist circles that could be related
to his activities in northern iraq he said
krekar whose real name is fateh najmeddin faraj admits that he co founded
ansar al islam in but insists he has not headed it since may
he and the group figure on united nations and us lists of terrorist groups or
individuals
according to the former us administration of president george bush ansar al
islam served as link between ex iraqi leader saddam hussein and al qaeda
disputed claim partly used to justify the us led invasion of iraq in
neighbour of krekar told afp he heard three shots fired at the apartment
lots of police arrived quickly and took the entire family away under heavy
security he said
krekar has been living under risk of deportation since after norwegian
authorities ordered him expelled claiming he posed threat to national
security
while norway court system has upheld the ruling norwegian law however
prevents him from being deported to iraq where he risks the death penalty
krekar has often supported the insurgency in iraq comparing the us occupation
of the country to the nazi occupation and has also described al qaeda chief
osama bin laden as good muslim
cricket tendulkar dravid tons put india in command
dhaka jan afp
sachin tendulkar cracked his th test century and rahul dravid his th hundred
as india tightened the screws on bangladesh in the second and final test on
monday
tendulkar made and dravid before retiring hurt to help india post
massive in their first innings at stumps on the second day in reply to
bangladesh modest total of
the visitors were runs ahead with five wickets in hand
dravid was struck on the helmet while avoiding bouncer from paceman shahadat
hossain bowling with the second new ball he hit fours in his ball
knock
india batting might was on view throughout the day as they scored after
resuming at for no loss with all of their top order batsmen making sizeable
contributions
gautam gambhir and virender sehwag put on for the opening wicket
before tendulkar and dravid consolidated their team position with run
stand for the third wicket
gambhir also equalled west indian viv richards world record of scoring half
century in successive tests
tendulkar who scored century in the last test was caught by imrul kayes at
mid wicket off left arm spinner shakib al hasan his ball knock contained
one six and fours
shakib took his second wicket when he had murali vijay caught by mohammad
mahmudullah at mid on but india had already gained big lead at that stage
it was disappointing day for bangladesh who not only struggled to take
wickets but also failed to make the most of the chances that came their way
tendulkar was let off on by raqibul hasan at gully off seamer rubel hossain
before reaching his half century with firmly driven four off shahadat
he offered difficult chance immediately after completing his half century when
he tried to upper cut shahadat but raqibul failed to latch on to the ball at
point
dravid was on when he edged short pitched delivery from rubel into the
slips where junaid siddique took superb catch but it was ruled no ball
bangladesh removed both the openers in the first session with short pitched
deliveries but had to wait for more than session for the next success as
tendulkar and dravid batted with determination
gambhir aiming to equal australian don bradman world record of scoring
century in six successive tests was caught behind while fending off rising
delivery from paceman shafiul islam
gambhir hit nine fours in his solid ball knock for his th half century in
tests
sehwag fell soon after reaching his st test half century when he gloved
rising ball from shahadat to wicket keeper mushfiqur rahim
he added just to his overnight score of hitting eight fours in his
ball knock
india lead the series after their run win in the opening test in
chittagong
tennis hewitt admits he can touch federer
melbourne jan afp
former world number one lleyton hewitt admitted monday he has no idea how to
beat roger federer after the swiss champion destroyed him for the th straight
time
federer cruised through their australian open fourth round match
with hewitt failing to beat his fellow year old in streak stretching back
to
the australian two time grand slam winner has taken just five sets off the
current world number one in that time
hewitt said he felt like he was hitting the ball well against federer and played
good enough to beat most people but was left clueless as to how to bridge the
gap on one the greatest players the game has seen
from my point of view did everything right he said
prepared exactly the way that wanted to prepare for the australian summer
and gave percent every time again
ran into the best player right at the moment would say not sure right
at the moment how to beat federer
if knew would still be out there
hewitt said he felt like there was nothing he could do to blunt federer game
such was his form
he played special tennis he said he hit the ball extremely clean and
just couldn get into his service games which made it tough
felt like he was putting the ball on dime every time
everyone says it wasn an absolutely great year for him last year and he still
won two grand slams and lost in two finals in five sets in the other two
he obviously the benchmark
hewitt said he was disappointed to bow out to federer while players that he
believes he can beat are still in the tournament without saying who he meant
the way hit the ball tonight still think could have taken lot of other
guys still left in the draw he said
that probably little bit more frustrating
there had been rumours hewitt was struggling with recurrence of hip problem
but he dismissed any injury talk
us allies discuss ways to transform haiti in wake of quake
montreal jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton and foreign ministers from host of
countries convene in montreal monday to hash out plans for the reconstruction of
haiti nearly two weeks after killer earthquake
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive canadian prime minister stephen
harper and officials from the united nations will attend the emergency talks
canada is eager to assert its role in coordinating the emergency response to the
january disaster which left more than dead and hundreds of thousands
of others homeless hungry and wounded
together with the government of haiti we need to roll up our sleeves and begin
to lay the groundwork for the enormous task ahead we must and we need to arrive
at common understanding and commitment on certain basic principles of
responsibility accountability and long term engagement canada foreign
minister lawrence cannon said
french foreign minister bernard kouchner founder of the international charity
doctors without borders will also participate in the six hour closed door
discussions
the ministers will discuss how to streamline the delivery of food water drugs
and medical supplies to the swelling number of people living in makeshift camps
around the shattered capital of port au prince
speaking here sunday bellerive urged haitians living abroad to actively
participate in rebuilding the country
there is no other solution today but the haitian diaspora integration in the
reconstruction effort he said
washington has taken frontline role in the disaster relief effort sending in
thousands of troops and rescue teams and now anchoring hospital ships offshore
to treat injured haitians
television and internet images of the destitute and dying as the able bodied
search amid the tangled steel and concrete rubble of the capital have
triggered worldwide outpouring of donations
donor countries wish to use the groundswell of support for haiti as an
opportunity to transform country that has historically faced grinding poverty
political corruption and bloodshed
diplomats have raised the possibility of kind of marshall plan for the island
nation similar to the us led postwar reconstruction of europe which would take
decades and require colossal commitment of resources and money
experts have warned that hundreds of thousands of haitians will be living off
foreign aid and in temporary housing for years to come as rebuilding the country
may take years thousands have been left disabled
in ottawa cannon spoke of canada intention to fully support prime minister
jean max bellerive commitment to move beyond reconstruction to rebuild new
haiti
the conservative government is keen to shore up political support for canada
role in assisting haiti as it faces growing protests at home for its decision to
prorogue parliament until march while it deals with the haiti crisis
prime minister stephen harper is fully engaged in the humanitarian response to
this devastating earthquake and has set in motion rapid comprehensive and
determined disaster relief effort on behalf of the government of canada cannon
said
foreign ministers and officials from brazil chile peru uruguay mexico costa
rica the dominican republic japan and spain are also expected to participate
in monday meeting along with officials from the european union the
organization of american states the inter american development bank the world
bank and the international monetary fund
japan said monday it would pledge million dollars in aid to haiti and deploy
as many as peacekeepers to the un mission there
venezuela nicaragua and bolivia leftist regimes that criticized the presence
us troops on haiti soil are not attending the conference but their foreign
ministers met in caracas sunday to discuss their own assistance program
the montreal talks are expected to lay the groundwork for full fledged donors
conference on haiti in the coming weeks
tennis hewitt admits he can touch federer
melbourne jan afp
former world number one lleyton hewitt admitted monday he has no idea how to
beat roger federer after the swiss champion destroyed him for the th straight
time
federer cruised through their australian open fourth round match
with hewitt failing to beat his fellow year old in streak stretching back
to
the australian two time grand slam winner has taken just five sets off the
current world number one in that time
