Coleman defends Bale move

Chris Coleman: Naming Bale on bench was 'mind games'

 

Wales boss Chris Coleman admitted that Gareth Bale was never going to feature in the World Cup qualifying defeat to Macedonia.

 

Coleman raised eyebrows when he named Bale on the bench despite the Real Madrid midfielder not having played any football since July.

The world-record signing watched from the dugout as his team-mates slipped to a 2-1 defeat, and Coleman revealed afterwards that the decision to name Bale as a substitute was an attempt at mind games.

Coleman insisted Bale was not fit enough to play any part, and that his presence was merely a ploy to unsettle opposition number Cedomir Janevski.

When asked if he considered bringing Bale on to try and salvage a draw in the late stages, a tetchy Coleman replied: "What part of he's not fit are you not listening to? Why bring him on if he's not fit?

"You think I would not have used him if he was fit? I don't mind what other people think. What I look at is the opposition. If I'm the opposition manager and Bale is on the bench, maybe it would affect his thinking.

"If he was fit he would have played. I spoke to him, he is not ready. Simple. I haven't conned the supporters to say he might play. If there was a chance he would have played, but there wasn't. We can't take the risk."

Coleman was angered further when questioned about losing his passport earlier this week, which delayed his arrival in Skopje until late on Thursday.

Asked if he was planning to apologise over the incident, Coleman said: "To who? What are you talking about? What you don't know is what we do day to day. All the work had been done. If we'd won you wouldn't make much out of it, but you will because we lost and that's up to you."

On the match, Coleman insisted his team were unfortunate to leave Skopje empty-handed after having the better of much of the encounter.

He said: "The pitch was not great and didn't help the way we play, but we stuck at it and were probably beaten by the pitch at the end of the day. They can feel very lucky to get three points.

"Sometimes when you lose and you deserve to lose then at least you can go back and think you could do better but for large periods of the game we were on top and taking the game to Macedonia and had a lot of opportunities."

Coleman was also disappointed with the performance of Swiss referee Sascha Kever, who he thought was too lenient in his treatment of the home side.

He continued: "Nowadays the rules are you can't pull shirts - I'm 60 yards away from both boxes and I can tell you there were a lot of shirts being pulled.

"The referee is closer than I am, why can't he see it? There were a few incidents we weren't happy with at all, one or two bad challenges that on another day are red cards.

"But we got on with it, we didn't come for one point, we came for three. We took the game to them and we came away with nothing. Unfortunately sometimes in football you don't always get what you deserve."

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Nigeria Boko Haram gunmen 'tracked and killed'

 

Militant attacks have continued despite the military offensive

 

About 50 Islamist militants have been killed in north-eastern Nigeria after the military raided Boko Haram camps, army spokesman Sagir Musa has said.

Troops tracked gunmen who attacked two towns on Wednesday and Thursday, reportedly killing 20 people.

Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state across Nigeria, has waged a deadly insurgency since 2009.

In May, Nigeria declared an emergency in three north-eastern states in order to battle the militants.

'Invaded from nowhere'

 

"Troops pursued the terrorists to their camps and destroyed them with air support," Lt-Col Musa said on Friday in Maiduguri - the state capital of Borno state where Boko Haram was founded.

The operation began on Wednesday after gunmen attacked Gajiram, about 75km (46 miles) north of Maiduguri, when it was crowded with traders for market day.

Boko Haram at a glance

 

Buildings were burnt and 15 people died in the market, said residents who fled to Maiduguri.

"Many traders and pupils in the school, including a few council workers at the secretariat complex, took to their heels for safety... We were shocked and terrified," a Gajiram resident told Nigeria's Guardian newspaper.

A further five people were killed by gunmen early on Thursday in Bulabilin Ngaura, a small town about 35km south-east of Maiduguri.

"They invaded the village from nowhere. They just opened fire… they killed only five people going to mosque for prayers," a Bulabilin Ngaura resident told Nigeria's Leadership paper.

Boko Haram has not commented on the camp raids or town attacks.

Last month, the army said it had killed Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau but this has not been confirmed and the militants' attacks have continued.

Since the state of emergency was declared, the military has encouraged the formation of vigilante groups to help tackle the Islamists.

In recent weeks, these vigilantes have been the target of attacks.

Observers says it appears Boko Haram is taking revenge against such groups, adding weight to fears that the vigilante groups may trigger an escalation of the violence.

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Australia election: Abbott poised for victory

The BBC's Jon Donnison: "If the polls are to be believed, then this is Tony Abbott's race to lose"

Exit polls in Australia suggest Tony Abbott's Liberal-National coalition is on course for a decisive election win, as voting ended in the eastern states.

One poll forecast that the opposition coalition would secure 97 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives.

The campaign has been dramatic, with Kevin Rudd replacing Julia Gillard as prime minister and Labor party leader just weeks from the polls.

The economy, asylum and the carbon tax have been key election issues.

Mr Rudd called the election after ousting Julia Gillard in a leadership challenge in June, amid dismal polling figures that showed Labor on course for a wipe-out.

Under Mr Rudd, Labor initially saw its figures improve significantly. But Mr Abbott, who enjoyed the strident support of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, then broadened the gap again.

The Newspoll exit poll, released just over an hour before polling closed in the east of the country, gave the coalition 53% to Labor's 47% on a two-party basis (votes for the two main parties after both primary votes and preferences are distributed).

Another poll put the two-party figure at 52%-48% in the coalition's favour.

More than 14 million people were expected to vote in Saturday's election. Polling has now closed in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

Polls close later in Western Australia because of the time zone difference.

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Syria crisis: Russia and US 'no closer'

 President Barack Obama gives a news conference

The US and Russia have not bridged their differences over the issue of possible military action in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin says.

Mr Putin said it was "counter-productive" to destabilise the situation in the Middle East.

His comments came in a news conference on the final day of the G20 summit in St Petersburg.

US President Barack Obama had been pushing for support among leaders at the G20 for a US strike on Syria.

The US government accuses President Bashar al-Assad's forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August.

Mr Assad has blamed rebels for the attack. China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a UN Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal.

Mr Putin said the discussions about Syria on Thursday evening had gone on well past midnight.

He added that he had a one-to-one meeting with Mr Obama in which they had discussed Syria.

Both men had listened to the other's position but had not agreed, he said.

Also speaking at the end of the summit, Mr Obama said there was a "unanimous" view that chemical weapons had been used in Syria.

He also said most leaders present at the summit thought it was most likely that the regime of President Assad was responsible.

However, Mr Putin described the use of chemical weapons as "a provocation on the part of the militants who are expecting to get support from outside".

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South African gold miners return to work

Most of the 80,000 South African gold miners who have been on strike since Tuesday have returned to work after a new pay offer, union officials say.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman said workers for four of the seven companies had accepted the offer of an 8% rise.

The NUM had been demanding 60%, while employers had offered 6% - the same as the current annual rate of inflation.

South Africa's gold industry is one of the biggest in the world.

But it has been in decline in recent years, while the platinum sector is still recovering from violence during last year's strikes.

Power cuts

 

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told the AFP news agency that the remaining workers were still being briefed about the latest offer.

"This may possibly mark the end of the strike," he said.

Mine owners had warned that a long strike could lead to gold mines closing and thousands of jobs being lost, following a fall in the price of gold.

They say that their production costs have increased as they have had to dig ever deeper to extract gold.

For many years, South Africa was by far the world's largest gold producer but it is now the fifth biggest, with just 6% of world production.

However, mining is still the most important sector in South Africa's economy.

The NUM represents about 64% of South Africa's 120,000 gold miners.

South Africans were shocked last year when police shot dead 34 platinum miners during an unofficial strike called by a rival union, which accused the NUM of being too close to the ANC government.

South Africa has already been hit by strikes in the vehicle manufacturing and construction industries.

Some electricity workers have also gone on an unofficial strike, leading to severe power cuts in the biggest city, Johannesburg.

An extra generator has been installed near the home of former President Nelson Mandela, who arrived there on Sunday after almost three months in hospital.

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South-east PDP backs Jonathan, Tukur

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South East zone has passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, describing last Saturday’s purported split of the party as regrettable.

In a statement issued on Friday and signed by the National Vice Chairman for the South East Zone, Col. Austin Akobundu (rtd), the party requested all aggrieved members to shield their swords and work for a united PDP that will always deliver the mandate of the people.

The statement reads, “The PDP South East Zone hereby places its implicit and unreserved vote of confidence on the leadership of the Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan-led Federal Government and the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP.

“We regret the incident that trailed our Special Convention last Saturday at the Eagles Square, Abuja where some of our members staged a workout and wish to advise those aggrieved members to yield themselves to the on-going re-conciliatory measures for an amicable resolution of the standoff.

“The PDP as a large family is bound to have some altercations because of the different shades of opinions and interests. However, the ability to resolve the crisis as swiftly as it arises is what makes a party a truly national one.

“The PDP as a democratic organization maintains internal democracy and also gives room for resolution of grievances whose scope had been raised to the highest pedestal of party politics to accommodate elders and critical Stakeholders in the PDP since last Saturday.”

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President Jonathan in Kenya

 

 FROM LEFT: PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN; PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA OF KENYA; FIRST LADY DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN AND WIFE OF THE KENYAN PRESIDENT, MAGARETH, DURING THE STATE VISIT OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN TO NAIROBI

 

 

PRESIDENT JONATHAN ON STATE VISIT TO KENYA

 

 

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN (M), HIS WIFE, DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN AND OTHER OFFICIALS ARRIVING AT THE JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

 

 

FROM LEFT: GOV. PETER OBI OF ANAMBRA; CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON AVIATION, SEN. HOPE UZODIMMA; NIGERIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER TO KENYA, AMB. AKIN OYATERU; PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN AND FIRST LADY, DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN, DURING A MEETING WITH THE NIGERIAN COMMUNITY IN KENYA

 

 

MEMBERS OF THE NIGERIAN COMMUNITY IN KENYA DURING THEIR MEETING WITH PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN

 

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