by AFP

Agence France-Presse

Stories from by AFP

Catania and Roma finish off game with draw
by AFP

ROME: Catania and Roma played out the final 25 minutes of their abandoned Serie A clash yesterday morning but could add no further to the score and the game finished 1-1.

The biggest drama in fact came from nearby volcano Mount Etna erupting, spewing out volcanic ash and causing the nearby Catania airport to be closed, leaving the Giallorrossi stranded on Sicily after the game.

Originally played on January 15 the game had been called off after 65 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

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Juve stun Milan to put one foot in final
by AFP

ROME: Juventus have one foot in the Italian Cup final after Martin Caceres scored a brace to hand them a 2-1 win over AC Milan in the semifinal first-leg at the San Siro yesterday morning.

Italian youth international Stephan El Shaarawy replied for the hosts but it wasn’t enough.

The victory maintained the Serie A leaders’ unbeaten run this season in league and cup.

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Maria breezes into quarterfinals
by AFP

PARIS: Beaten Australian Open finalist Maria Sharapova made a winning start at the WTA Paris Open yesterday, beating South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers 6-3, 6-1 to reach the last 16.

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Big shoes to fill
by AFP

PERTH: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said there were positive signs for the team after he resumed the role following the sudden departures of both their ex-skipper and coach.

Jayawardene, whose second stint as captain started with a four-wicket tri-series loss to India in Perth, admitted it was tough to take over after the turbulence of the last two weeks.

Tourney hit by goal shortage
by AFP

LIBREVILLE: Goals have been a scarce commodity with just five in the last five showpiece games at the biennial tournament.

And three of those came when hosts Tunisia edged Morocco in 2004 for a maiden title, with a solitary goal in two others and another couple settled by penalty shootouts following 120 barren minutes.

A glance at the 26 matches that crowned the best national football team on the continent shows an alarming dip in goals with the first 13 producing 42 and the second 13 only 18 for an overall 2.3 average.

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Malaysia sees record trade in 2011
by AFP
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia posted record trade activity in 2011 as China became the country's largest export market, helping blunt the impact of global economic weakness.
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Bollywood legend Bachchan to undergo surgery
by AFP
MUMBAI: Veteran Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan (pic) will undergo surgery later this week after suffering a bout of "abdominal pain", the actor revealed on his blog on Thursday.

Bachchan, 69, called the surgery "not too complicated" but did not disclose its precise nature. The operation is set for Saturday morning.
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Probe finds NZ quake building sub-standard
by AFP
WELLINGTON: An office block that collapsed, killing 115 people, including 65 foreign students, in last year's Christchurch earthquake did not meet building standards, an official report found Thursday.
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N. Korea unveils huge carving for late Kim
by AFP
SEOUL: North Korea has unveiled a massive carving 120 metres wide across a natural rockface to mark next week's birthday of late leader Kim Jong-Il, according to state media.
Australia boatpeople bill tops A$1 billion
by AFP
SYDNEY: Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on Thursday defended a steep rise in the cost of Canberra's mandatory detention of asylum-seekers, saying a surge in boatpeople arrivals had stressed the system.

Bowen said the near-quadrupling in the government's four-year contract with private detention centre provider Serco from A$280 million to more than A$1 billion (RM3.2 billion) reflected the opening of 10 new facilities to meet demand.
Thais split by fierce royal insult law debate
by AFP
BANGKOK: Abused in the street and shunned by her family, a Thai teenager will answer a police summons this week over claims she insulted the revered monarchy amid vehement debate about the kingdom's lese majeste law.

Abhinya Sawatvarakorn, 19, who faces possible arrest Saturday after being accused of making critical comments on Facebook two years ago, is the latest symbol of the ferocity of feeling around the issue in the deeply divided nation.
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Tai chi improves balance in Parkinson's patients
by AFP
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Rooney 'gutted' as Capello quits England
by AFP
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Lady Gaga world tour to kick off in Seoul
by AFP
WASHINGTON: American pop diva Lady Gaga Wednesday unveiled the first dates for her upcoming world tour which she has dubbed the Born This Way Ball and will kick off in Seoul.
 
She is expected to do 110 shows this year following on the success of her smash hit Born This Way, and revealed the dates and locations of an initial 11 concerts.
 
The eccentr
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Juve stun Milan to put one foot in final
by AFP
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1960s stars Beach Boys to appear at the Grammys
by AFP
Brain stimulation may boost memory, study shows
by AFP
WASHINGTON: California scientists said Wednesday they may have found a way to stimulate a part of the brain so that it forms memories more easily.
 
Someday, the process might be used to make a neuroprosthetic device, or thinking cap, that people could turn on when they need to remember new information, or it may even help people with dementia restore their memories.
 
But those possibilities, while intriguing, are far off in the future, said researchers at the University of California Los Angeles whose study on seven epilep
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From lauded to lame duck – Capello's downfall
by AFP
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Capello quits as England manager
by AFP

LONDON: Fabio Capello resigned as manager of England on Wednesday following the Football Association's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy, the FA confirmed.

In a remarkable twist to one of the most dramatic days in English football history, Capello's resignation was confirmed just hours after his likely successor – Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp – was cleared of tax evasion charges.

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Groupon fails to turn profit as revenue grows
by AFP
SAN FRANCISCO: Daily deals site Groupon on Wednesday issued its first earnings report as a publicly traded company, saying it failed to turn a profit despite revenue nearly tripling from a year earlier.
 
Groupon's stock price plunged more than 7% to US$22.85 a share in after-hours trading that followed re