Russia plans ceremony to sway sceptical world

Russia plans ceremony to sway sceptical world

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

Russia on Friday officially opens in Sochi its first ever Winter Olympics with the ceremony attended by many of heads of state and aimed at impressing a sceptical world with an unforgettable spectacle.

 

With a hard act to follow after show-stopping Summer Olympics opening ceremonies 2012 in London, Russia is expected to pull out all the stops to give the world an evening to remember.

 

The ceremony starts, with symbolic timing, at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) in the spectacular new Fisht Stadium on the shores of the Black Sea and will mark the beginning of one of the most controversial Olympics in recent history.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has spearheaded the Sochi Games from the bid in 2007, will be at the ceremony along with over 40 other heads of state and leaders.

 

These will include Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych who is facing a protest uprising at home.

 

Their appearance will also pave the way for several days of behind-the-scenes diplomacy at the Olympics where the Kremlin hopes to strengthen ties with key allies in an informal setting.

 

Russia is expected to spare little expense in the ceremony, details of which have been kept under wraps but which is expected to show the world a history of Russian culture and power.

 

"The ceremony will be one of the most exciting and visual ever," the head of the Sochi Organising Committee Dmitry Chernyshenko told reporters.

 

"This is a theatre with a 40,000 seat capacity" he said of the Fisht stadium.

 

"It can allow the realisation of any creative thought."

 

Some of Russia’s most decorated cosmonauts -– including Sergei Krikalev who was famously stranded in space on the Mir station when the USSR collapsed -- will raise the Russian flag to the top of the stadium.

 

However, who will light the Olympic cauldron is a closely-guarded secret, with Putin insisting it is the choice of the organising committee and not for him to interfere.

 

Russia’s team will be led out by flag-bearer Alexander Zubkov, a bobsleigh pilot and one of the most respected sportsmen in the country who has represented Russia at every Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002.

 

There have been persistent rumours that the Russian female pop duo Tatu –- hugely popular a decade ago -- will be involved in the ceremony in some form.

 

Although heterosexual in real life, the two girls made heavy use of lesbian schoolgirl imagery in pop videos and their name can translate as “This girl loves that girl.”

 

Their involvement could be seen as a riposte -– albeit somewhat warped –- to Western allegations that Russia is intolerant of homosexuality.

 

'We answered the question'

 

For many elder Russians, the ceremony may bring a pang of nostalgia for the 1980 Moscow Summer Games which are still remembered fondly in particular for the cute mascot Misha the bear.

 

But it remains to be seen whether the Sochi opening ceremony will shift the cloud of controversy which is still hanging over the Games.

 

However Russian officials insist the country is ready to hold a great show and has every right to be the host of the 22nd Winter Games.

 

"The main question people asked was whether we would manage it," said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

 

"The answer is clear -- we have implemented the biggest investment project in recent Olympic history."

 

(Agence France -Presse, 7 Friday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Prime Minister David Cameron to announce extra sports aid for pupils until 2020

Prime Minister David Cameron to announce extra sports aid for pupils until 2020

 

Prime Minister to announce £150m-a-year fund for state primary schools will be extended until 2020 to secure the legacy of the London Olympics

 

[caption id="attachment_11851" align="alignnone" width="620"] (Prime Minister Cameron’s announcement has been endorsed by leading figures from the London Games, including Mo Farah and Johnnie Peacock (Photo: GETTY IMAGES))[/caption]

 

Children at state primary schools will have extra money for sport and physical education guaranteed for the rest of the decade, Prime Minister David Cameron will say on Thursday.

 

A £150-million-a-year fund will be extended until 2020 to secure the legacy of the London Olympics, the Prime Minister will announce.

 

Prime Minister Cameron originally promised, last year, that primary schools’ head teachers would be given extra cash to fund PE lessons and other sporting activities for two years.

 

Officials say that the money is worth £9,250 to the typical primary school with 250 pupils, enough to pay for a teacher or coach to oversee sporting activities two days a week.

 

Ministers say the money should allow heads to maintain or increase activities which have been reduced in some schools.

 

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers warned in December that schools were being forced to “sideline” art, music and physical education in the race to meet government targets for literacy and numeracy.

 

The original scheme was launched after The Telegraph began its Keep the Flame Alive campaign in the summer of 2012, calling for greater support for school sport after the Games.

 

Prime Minister Cameron’s announcement has been endorsed by leading figures from the London Games, including Mo Farah and Johnnie Peacock, who both won athletics gold medals.

 

Prime Minister Cameron said: “Sport is so important because it encourages children to be active, lead a healthy lifestyle, make friends and, of course, have fun. But quality school sport has benefits that spread right across the curriculum and beyond – it develops confidence and a sense of achievement, it teaches young people how to rise to a challenge, and nurtures the character and skills that will help them get on and succeed in life.

 

“It’s an important part of our long-term plan to deliver the best schools and skills for young people. That is why I am committing to guarantee the primary school sports funding until 2020.”

 

Farah, who won two gold medals in 2012, said that school sport had been vital to many professional sporting careers.

 

Prime Minister said: “The help I got at school was a key part of how I got to where I am today and so it can make a big difference.”

 

Lord Coe, the Tory peer who oversaw the London Olympics, said: “I am delighted that the Prime Minister has made this commitment to continue to invest in school sport until 2020.

 

“We wanted to use London 2012 to inspire a generation to choose sport, and ensuring that children get a positive and engaging experience in primary school of physical education and sport is key to this. A long-term commitment to continue this funding can only help to achieve this.”

 

As well as funding PE lessons, money will be available to pay for initial teacher training to produce a generation of primary teachers specialising in PE.

 

English primary schools will be able to apply for a share of an £18 million fund to adapt their grounds and make them suitable for sport.

 

--The Princess Royal has complained that glitzy Olympic opening ceremonies are marginalising the athletes.

 

She told fellow members of the International Olympic Committee that the balance had swung too far from the days when the ceremony only involved competitors.

 

(The Telegraph, 5 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Pissarro and Picasso records broken at London auction

Pissarro and Picasso records broken at London auction

 

London (AFP)

 

A Paris street scene painted by Camille Pissarro sold for £19.9 million ($32.1 million, 24 million euros) at a London sale on Wednesday, almost five times the previous record for the Impressionist master at auction.

 

The Danish-French painter's "Boulevard Montmartre, Matinee de Printemps", widely considered to be one of the most important Impressionist works to come up for sale in the last decade, went under the hammer at London's Sotheby's auction house.

 

The 1897 painting, an elevated view of a typical spring scene on the famous Paris thoroughfare, was originally owned by Jewish industrialist Max Silberberg, who was based in Breslau.

 

The painting was restituted to his family in 2000.

 

"It is an honour to be entrusted with offering the greatest work by Camille Pissarro ever to appear at auction –- a work that encompasses such a richly painted canvas and a supremely elegant composition," said Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Department Europe, prior to the sale.

 

"The appeal of these extremely desirable attributes to discerning collectors is enhanced by the painting's history of having been housed in a collection as important as Max Silberberg's," she added.

 

The auction also saw the highest price for a Vincent Van Gogh painting at auction in the British capital for 25 years when a bidder fought of competition from six rivals to secure "L'Homme est en mer" for £16.9 million.

 

The work features a woman cradling a baby as she sits next to a fire.

 

Record prices were also achieved for a print by Cubist master Picasso and for a work on paper by Swiss sculptor, painter and draughtsman Alberto Giacometti.

 

Two weeks of London auctions kicked off on Tuesday, when paintings by Picasso, Rene Magritte and Juan Gris pushed a sale at Christie's to a record for London of nearly £177 million.

 

Gris's still-life "Nature Morte a la Nappe a Carreaux" ("The Checked Tablecloth") led the way, selling for £34.8 million to smash the world auction record for the Spanish artist.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 5 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

France and Germany rebuild ties but EU waits for old axis

France and Germany rebuild ties but EU waits for old axis

 

Brussels (AFP)

 

With France and Germany apparently patching up their economic differences, their decades-old axis could retake its place at the heart of Europe, but analysts are waiting for actions to back up the rhetoric.

 

French President Francois Hollande's recent promises of economic reform have been welcomed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition as a step away from socialist policies towards Berlin's austerity-minded approach.

 

The eurozone's two biggest economies have meanwhile launched a series of measures to jumpstart stalled ties after the financial crisis exposed major differences in approach to budgetary discipline and growth.

 

"There is a chance this is a real one (rapprochement)," Janis Emmanouilidis of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre think tank told AFP.

 

"Each side knows that they have to interact with each other for many years to come."

 

Paris and Berlin have struggled to reconcile their policies on recovering from the eurozone debt crisis ever since Hollande took office in 2012 promising to spend France's way out of trouble.

 

The previously strong bond between Merkel and Hollande's centre-right predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy -- dubbed "Merkozy" -- has been replaced by a lack of communication, exacerbated in 2013 by Merkel spending months building a new left-right coalition after elections.

 

But earlier this month Berlin warmly welcomed what Hollande called "social democratic" reforms to spur the beleaguered French economy.

 

They included 50 billion euros ($68 billion) in public spending cuts and a 30-billion-euro reduction in corporate payroll charges.

 

Since then it has been a veritable love-in between the former foes.

 

Germany offered logistical support to the French operation in the Central African Republic, while their foreign ministers are considering joint trips to some of Europe's troubled neighbours.

 

'Franco-German phoenix'

 

"It's a social-democratic convergence which reconciles supply-side reforms with a reduction in social inequality," said Claire Demesmay, of the German Council on International Relations.

 

Emmanouilidis said there was time for Germany and France to find common ground on changing the EU's treaties to strengthen joint economic governance in the 28-nation bloc.

 

But the negotiations would be "complex" and there were also a host of differences on technical issues such as banking union, the financial transactions tax and others.

 

The two leaders also face different situations at home.

 

The main problems in France are youth unemployment, competitiveness and the bloated state, whereas Germany faces issues with internal consumer demand.

 

Others were more sceptical that the relationship between France and Germany could return to the heady days when they effectively built the European Union together.

 

"I'm not sure how much rapprochement there actually is between France and Germany," Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, a eurosceptic think-tank based in London, told AFP.

 

"One senior German told me recently that they are far more worried about France than about Italy."

 

One EU official was cautious.

 

"The rebirth of the Franco-German phoenix is a recurrent phenomenon," the source added on condition of anonymity.

 

"For citizens, words have to be translated into lasting actions."

 

But Persson said the relationship was still "relevant and important for Europe."

 

"In the grand scheme of things it is good that France and Germany get on," he said.

 

Britain and other northern European countries could in particular benefit from the alliance, despite appearances to the contrary.

 

Prime Minister David Cameron has been wooing Germany in a bid to win support for his quest to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU before putting the new terms to a national referendum in 2017.

 

But close ties between Merkel and Hollande would not necessarily scupper this, particularly as there is appetite for treaty change from Berlin.

 

"A Franco-German axis on the whole is more open to reform than the sum of its parts," Persson said.

 

"It could therefore be more sympathetic to the UK's reform agenda."

 

(Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Wenger eyes swift Arsenal return to summit

Wenger eyes swift Arsenal return to summit

 

London (AFP)

 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants his side to apply pressure on their Premier League title rivals by reclaiming top spot with victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

 

The Gunners lost their place at the summit of the table to Manchester City following their mid-week 2-2 draw at Southampton.

 

While Arsenal dropped points at St Mary's last Tuesday, City were rampant in a 5-1 mauling of Tottenham Hotspur 24 hours later.

 

But Wenger hopes his men can get back to winning ways immediately at the Emirates Stadium against Tony Pulis' resurgent outfit.

 

That will restore a two-point advantage for the Gunners over nearest rivals City, who host third-place Chelsea on Monday.

 

"That's our target," Wenger said.

 

"Can you win the next game if you give absolutely everything? Yes, so let's do it.

 

"It is a great opportunity for us to win our game and respond to our draw at Southampton.

 

"At the moment they (City) are on fire. But I believe we have just to focus on our own run because if you look at the schedule, if we are consistent we have a good chance to do it.

 

"You cannot speculate on any weakness in Man City in the coming months. So let's focus on us, and our strengths, in the coming months.

 

"It is the way we can do, if we keep the consistency and manage to win the big games -- one of them will be Man City at home (on March 29).

 

"Of course that will be very important. Of course they had an impressive win, and a great quality game as well at Tottenham.

 

“But if you analyse it well, this game could have turned as well. All the turning points went in their favour. If they had not gone ahead, you are not sure they would have won the game."

 

Arsenal have suffered a major injury blow, with Aaron Ramsey ruled out for up to six weeks with a recurrence of a thigh problem.

 

The Wales midfielder has been one of the stand-out performers for the Gunners this season, scoring 13 goals for the north Londoners in all competitions.

 

He will miss crunch league fixtures in February against Liverpool and Manchester United, the FA Cup fifth-round clash with Brendan Rodgers's men, and the mouth-watering Champions League last 16 first-leg tie against Bayern Munich.

 

"He finished training normally, came in and had pain. We checked in on the scan and is was a recurrence of his muscle problem," Wenger said.

 

"Why did it happen? Have we not been cautious enough? We have respected the procedures. Maybe we should have been a bit more cautious, but it was not obvious."

 

Wenger reacted to Ramsey's injury by bringing in Sweden international midfielder Kim Kallstrom from Spartak Moscow on a short-term loan deal.

 

Improving Palace have lost only twice in their last six matches under new manager Pulis, who has seen his side climb to 14th place in the table.

 

The south London club brought a raft of new players to the club before the January transfer window closed on Friday.

 

Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, centre-back Scott Dann and midfielders Joe Ledley and Tom Ince all arrived at Selhurst Park, while Jason Puncheon's loan move from Southampton was turned into a permanent transfer.

 

"Obviously it was good business done by the football club and we just hope it gels as quick as necessary to get us the points to keep us in the Premiership (Premier League)," Pulis told Sky Sports.

 

"The important thing was getting competition, and also getting cover. There's almost a third of the season to go, and we needed that.

 

"What we've got to do now is get them into the groove as quickly as we can."

 

(Agence France-Presse, 2 Sunday February 2014 The Roman)

 

London Eye

London Eye

 

[caption id="attachment_11657" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Leon Neal)[/caption]

 

 

New Year's glow

 

The London Eye is lit in red and gold to celebrate the Julius New Year in London.

 

(AFP - Leon Neal)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Russia economy chief says dire 2013 was 'low point'

Russia economy chief says dire 2013 was 'low point'

 

Moscow (AFP)

 

Russia's economy chief said on Friday that the country had survived the worst of its sharp growth slowdown and was now on the path toward a cautious recovery.

 

But new data revision showed the $1.9-trillion (1.4-trillion-euro) economy expanding by an even worse than expected 1.3 percent in 2013 -- the second-worst performance of Vladimir Putin's 14 years in power and just a quarter of the Kremlin's target.

 

And a precipitous ruble selloff that has sliced seven percent off the currency's value this month and showed few signs of halting on Friday put Putin under still further pressure despite the upbeat forecast.

 

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev rallied to Putin's relief by proclaiming the worst phase of Russia's growth slump over now that agriculture and industry were both picking up steam.

 

"It seems to me that we passed the low point somewhere around the third quarter of 2013," Ulyukayev told a ministerial meeting.

 

Russia's economy grew by 3.4 percent in 2012 and had been clipping along at a seven-percent pace during Putin's first two terms as Kremlin chief between 2000 and 2008.

 

Fitch Ratings on Friday attributed the downshift to a "decline in investment and the inventory cycle" and forecast an expansion rate of 2.0 percent this year -- below the world average and lagging most other big emerging market states.

 

Investor mistrust of Russia's economic reform efforts contributed to the ruble being swept up in a selloff of emerging market currencies at the end of last week.

 

The Russian currency -- subject of two devastating post-Soviet devaluations that forced many to question the wisdom of market economics -- was trading down 0.3 percent against the euro at 47.60 rubles and not far off its historic low.

 

The dollar was worth 35.25 rubles -- up 0.7 percent and once again approaching a five-year high it had set on Wednesday.

 

Russia's Central Bank this year reduced its market interventions as it proceeds with the planned introduction of a fully-convertible ruble exchange rate by the start of 2015.

 

Its First Deputy Chairwoman Ksenia Yudayeva gave the Moscow market a further fright on Wednesday by telling The Wall Street Journal that stress tests showed Russian banks being able handle a 30-percent ruble decline.

 

"Politically, devaluation is an understandable move," said Moscow's Higher School of Economics professor Nikolai Petrov.

 

"We have a large budget deficit (of 0.5 percent of gross domestic product) and there are not enough funds to fulfil Putin's election promises of 2012," Petrov told AFP.

 

"The government consciously took this step."

 

Capital flight risk

 

But economists attribute at least some of the ruble's troubles to a deteriorating current account balance that is being hurt by a steady outflow of foreign investor cash.

 

Capital flight reached $63 billion (46.5 billion euros) in 2013 and the government had hoped to see the figure shrink to $25 billion this year.

 

Yet First Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach said that investors' recent turn against emerging markets could result in up to $35 billion leaving Russia in the first three months of the year alone.

 

He added that recent ruble weakness may translate into more expensive imports that push inflation above its annual target rate of 4.8 percent.

 

The delicate balancing act between a loosening of ruble controls and the fight against nagging inflation prompted the Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina to stress on Thursday that the ruble free-float plan "did not provide for a complete end to intervention."

 

The comment suggests that some authorities are alarmed by the pace of the ruble's deterioration and are now prepared to pursue currency support measures for longer than planned.

 

"The Central Bank appears to be increasingly concerned about the extent of the recent fall," Capital Economics said in a research note.

 

The London-based consultancy estimated that the Central Bank had bought about $5 billion (3.7 billion euros) worth of rubles on the Moscow Exchange in January -- a fraction of the $40 billion a month it was selling during the worst of Russia's 2008-2009 financial crisis.

 

"With some $500 billion in (gold and hard currency) reserves, it can stomach intervention on this scale for some time," Capital Economics said.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

I hacked Daniel Craig's phone, says journalist

I hacked Daniel Craig's phone, says journalist

 

(AFP)

 

[caption id="attachment_11553" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Actor Daniel Craig poses during a photocall for the James Bond film "Skyfall", in Paris on 25 October 2012 The Roman (AFP/File, Eric Feferberg))[/caption]

 

London — A former News of the World journalist told a British court on Tuesday how he used phone-hacking to find out about an affair between James Bond star Daniel Craig and the actress Sienna Miller.

 

Dan Evans, who has pleaded guilty to hacking at Rupert Murdoch's now defunct tabloid and its rival the Sunday Mirror, said his then editor Andy Coulson knew what he was doing and advised him on how to cover his tracks.

 

Evans was giving evidence at the trial of Coulson, Coulson's predecessor as editor Rebekah Brooks, and the News of the World's ex-managing editor, Stuart Kuttner, who all deny conspiring to hack phones.

 

On Monday, Evans told London's Old Bailey court how he was recruited from the Sunday Mirror in 2004 to the News of the World because of his hacking skills -- and Coulson knew this when he hired him.

 

Continuing his evidence on Tuesday, the 38-year-old described how he hacked the voicemail of Bond star Craig.

 

"I heard a female voice saying 'Hi, it's me. Cannot speak, I'm at the Groucho (club) with Jude'," Evans said.

 

He then checked the number and found it belonged to Miller, who at that time was dating actor Jude Law.

 

Evans put together a story with another News of the World journalist who could corroborate the information, and took it to Coulson, the court heard.

 

Evans said he was told by Coulson to make a copy of the recorded message, put it in a padded envelope and take it to reception so it would look like it had been dropped off anonymously at the newspaper.

 

Then another journalist picked it up with "mock surprise", saying, "look what I've found", Evans said.

 

Evans confronted Craig with the story, which he denied, causing the story to be held for another week.

 

It eventually ran in October 2005 after it was "approved" by Jude Law's spokesperson, the court heard.

 

Evans used two unregistered "burner" phones for hacking, for which he claimed work expenses, the court heard.

 

The hacking came to an abrupt end when the paper's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were arrested in August 2006, Evans said.

 

"There was a palpable sense of shock (at the paper). I proceeded to start getting rid of all the evidence I could possibly get my hands on," he recalled.

 

Mulcaire and Goodman were jailed for hacking in 2007.

 

Evans was caught when later, "in a moment of panic", he used his own phone to hack the voicemail of designer Kelly Hoppen, Sienna Miller's stepmother.

 

The interception was traced to his number.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 30 Thursday January 2014 The Roman)

Energy giant Shell posts sliding 2013 profits

Energy giant Shell posts sliding 2013 profits

 

London (AFP)

 

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday posted a 39-percent slump in annual net profits, two weeks after shocking the market with a profit warning.

 

Earnings before taxation dived to $16.371 billion last year, compared with $26.712 billion in 2012, the London-listed company confirmed in a results statement.

 

The Anglo-Dutch energy major also outlined plans to sell off $15 billion of assets over the next two years and slash capital expenditure.

 

Shell shocked investors earlier this month with its first profit warning in a decade, blaming high exploration costs, pressures across the oil industry and disruption to Nigerian output.

 

The group confirmed Thursday that profit on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis or current-cost accounting -- which strips out changes to the value of oil and gas inventories -- sank to $16.7 billion from $27.2 billion.

 

CCS profit plunged 70 percent to $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter, or three months to December, compared with $7.4 billion in the same part of 2012.

 

"Our momentum slowed in 2013. We must improve our financial results, achieve better capital efficiency and continue to strengthen our operational performance and project delivery," said chief executive Ben van Beurden in the earnings release.

 

He added: "Our overall strategy remains robust, but 2014 will be a year where we are changing emphasis, to improve our returns and cash flow performance."

 

Van Beurden revealed that the group would increase the pace of asset sales to $15 billion in 2014-2015.

 

Capital spending will also be reduced to $37 billion in 2014, from $46 billion in 2013.

 

The group also confirmed that CCS profit excluding one-off items sank to $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $5.6 billion.

 

Shell's 2013 performance was also hit by higher depreciation, lower upstream volumes and weak industry conditions in downstream oil products.

 

This month's surprise profits warning and dire results mark a disappointing start to van Beurden's tenure as chief executive.

 

The Dutch national took over from Peter Voser on January 1.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 30 Thursday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

 

[caption id="attachment_11444" align="alignnone" width="512"] (Photo AFP - Carl Court)[/caption]

 

Parapluie

 

Une touriste devant Buckingham Palace, à Londres.

 

Umbrella

 

A tourist at Buckingham Palace in London.

 

(AFP - Carl Court)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 29 Wednesday January 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 30 Thursday January 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Drinks giant SABMiller toasts rising Q3 sales

Drinks giant SABMiller toasts rising Q3 sales



London (AFP)



British drinks firm SABMiller reported rising sales in the third quarter of its financial year as business in emerging markets offset a poor performance in Europe, in a statement released Tuesday.



Sales grew by four percent in the three months to the end of December, compared with the outcome in the same period of the previous fiscal year, said a trading update from the maker of Grolsch and Peroni Nastro Azzuro beers.



In Latin America and Africa, sales rose by five percent and eight percent respectively.



Revenues grew six percent in Asia Pacific and by seven percent in South Africa.



However, North American revenues added just one percent, while Europe posted a six percent decline on the back of challenging market conditions.



"Growth in the third quarter was driven by our emerging market businesses where we are successfully targeting new consumers ... across our brand portfolios," said chief executive Alan Clark in the statement.



Total beverage volumes meanwhile grew two percent in the reporting period, with lager volumes rising one percent and soft drinks volumes gaining seven percent.



SABMiller, which is listed in London and Johannesburg, produces well-known beer brands including Foster's, Grolsch, Miller Lite, Peroni Nastro Azzuro and Pilsner Urquell.



The group had announced in December that its chairman and former chief executive Graham Mackay had died following an illness.



South African national Mackay, 64, had stepped down as chief executive last April after undergoing surgery for a brain tumour.



(Agence France-Presse, 21 Tuesday January 2014 The Roman)

End postcode lottery of cancer care, say MPs

End postcode lottery of cancer care, say MPs

 

Cancer care in the UK is a postcode lottery with regional divides leaving many people facing lengthy waits to be diagnosed and unable to access treatment, a new report has warned.

 

(By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent)

 

MPs have called on the NHS to end the postcode lottery of cancer care which sees five times as many patients in some areas waiting more than two weeks to see a specialist.

 

A report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer has highlighted the disparity in treatment across Britain.

 

In some areas thousands more people are waiting more than two weeks to be referred to specialists.

 

MPs condemned the ‘national disgrace’ of late diagnosis and criticised the variation in accessing radiotherapy and cancer drugs.

 

Chair John Baron said: “It is a national disgrace that a quarter of all cancers are first diagnosed as late as A&E – late diagnosis makes for poor survival rates.

 

“We need to redouble our efforts at every level to promote earlier diagnosis – cancer’s magic key – so that our survival rates catch up with other countries.

 

“Our concern is that the NHS will take its eye off the ball whilst the new structures bed down.

 

“This must not happen. Our report reflects concerns across the cancer community, and is a call to arms for NHS England to raise its game on behalf of cancer patients.”

 

Figures show that people’s chances of being diagnosed early and surviving various forms of cancer differ significantly across the country, with a gulf between affluent parts of London and the Home Counties and the rest of Britain.

 

Premature cancer mortality rates are more than twice as high in Liverpool – 157 deaths per 100,000 people below the age of 75 – as they are in Kensington and Chelsea, west London, where fewer than 78 people die early.

 

People living in the North East have more than double the chance of being sent for a targeted form of radiotherapy than those living the South West.

 

There was a wide regional variation in urgent referral rates between, ranging from under 800 referrals per 100,000 in areas of London to nearly 3,500 per 100,000 population in the North East and East Anglia.

 

The report authors said: “Where a person lives should not determine whether or not they see a specialist to have potential cancer symptoms investigated.

 

“NHS England should set out how it will work to improve equitable access around GP ordered diagnostic tests.

 

“The APPGC feels there is an unacceptable variation across the country with regards to accessing services and treatments such as radiotherapy and cancer drugs.”

 

For more than a decade, NHS guidance has stated that 95 per cent patients who visit their family doctor with key signs of cancer should be referred to a specialist within two weeks.

 

NHS figures show that on average, just 46 per cent of patients in England who were diagnosed with cancer in 2011/12 were given a two week “urgent referral” by their GP.

 

In one in six surgeries, family doctors failed to make an urgent referral in at least two thirds of cases.

 

At some practices, just one in ten patients who went on to be diagnosed with cancer was referred within two weeks.

 

A study of 22,000 cancer suffers in June found that some patients were almost three times as likely to have been referred by family doctors for investigative procedures than others.

 

More than a quarter of people diagnosed with cancer see their GP three times or more before being referred to a specialist.

 

MPs said doctors should receive financial incentives to detect cancer earlier.

 

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Every single patient in the NHS has a right to the very best care, irrespective of where they live, to ensure that they have the highest chance of surviving cancer.

 

“We are committed to improving cancer survival and mortality rates across the country.

 

Our Cancer Strategy set out our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014/15 and is backed with more than £750 million including over £450 million to achieve early diagnosis.”

 

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s study of 35 countries found last month that only Poland has worse survival for all three cancers.

 

Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "This report highlights the cancer community’s concerns about how cancer services are faring in the new NHS and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer is right to be anxious.

 

“In the last week we have seen new figures showing how much catching up we have to do if we are to be average in Europe, let alone the best.

 

"Giving GPs the right tools to diagnose cancer, making the right treatment more available and getting aftercare right so people stay well all need relentless focus.

 

“We cannot afford to take our eye off cancer when we are only just beginning to see improvement.”

 

(The Telegraph, 10 Tuesday December 2013 The Roman)

 

The world best 1 doctor for cancer is in Great Britain.

 

Many news about cancer are in The Telegraph Science news.

 

(R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 13 Friday December 2013 The Roman)

 

 

Le prince William, pop star d'un soir aux côté de Bon Jovi et Taylor Swift Their Royal Highness Prince William, a pop star in the night side of Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift

Le prince William, pop star d'un soir aux côté de Bon Jovi et Taylor Swift

 

[caption id="attachment_10311" align="alignnone" width="512"] (Le prince William (d) chante avec Jon Bon Jovi (c) et Taylor Swift (g) lors d'un gala de charité à Londres, le 26 novembre 2013 le Roman (Pool/AFP, Dominic Lipinski)) (Their Royal Highness Prince William (R) sing with Jon Bon Jovi (C) and Taylor Swift (L) at a charity gala in London, 26 November 2013 The Roman (Pool/AFP Dominic Lipinski))[/caption]

 

Londres — Le prince William s'est improvisé pop star mardi soir en poussant la chansonnette aux côtés de Jon Bon Jovi et Taylor Swift lors d'un gala de charité à Londres, esquissant même quelques timides déhanchements.

 

William, deuxième dans l'ordre de succession au trône, est monté sur scène avec la chanteuse de country Taylor Swift pour rejoindre Bon Jovi qui interprétait à la guitare son tube "Livin' On A Prayer".

 

La performance royale a été accueillie par des applaudissements nourris du public réuni ce soir-là au palais de Kensington pour une soirée de gala de l'association d'aide aux sans-abri Centrepoint, dont William est le parrain.

 

Le prince, 31 ans, costume noir et noeud papillon, a chanté avec entrain les refrains au micro, se tenant le reste du temps les mains serrées devant lui, marquant le rythme de légers mouvements de tête et de jambes.

 

En cours de performance, le jeune homme a même tapé dans les mains de Taylor Swift, qui dans sa robe crème, montrait plus d'exubérance.

 

"Des nuits comme ça arrivent une fois dans une vie", a déclaré Bon Jovi au public.

 

Le chanteur américain s'est vu remettre un prix par le prince William pour son action en faveur des pauvres et des sans-abri, dans le cadre de sa Soul Foundation créée en 2006.

 

Copyright © AFP 2013. Tous droits réservés.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 27 mercredi novembre 2013 le Roman)

 

 

Their Royal Highness Prince William, a pop star in the night side of Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift

 

London - Their Royal Highness Prince William has improvised pop star Tuesday night pushing the song along with Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift at a charity gala in London, even sketching some timid gyrations.

 

Their Royal Highness Prince William, second in line of succession to the Throne, took the stage with country singer Taylor Swift to join Bon Jovi on guitar who played his hit "Livin' On A Prayer".

 

Royal performance was greeted with applause fed public meeting that evening at Kensington Palace for a gala evening of charity for homeless Centrepoint, which Their Royal Highness Prince William is patron.

 

The prince, 31 years old, black suit and bow tie, sang with gusto the chorus at the microphone, holding the rest of the time hands clasped before him, marking the rhythm of slight movements of the head and legs.

 

During performance, the young man even typed in the hands of Taylor Swift, who in her cream dress, showed more exuberance.

 

"Nights like this happen once in a lifetime," said Bon Jovi to the public.

 

The American singer was awarded a prize by Their Royal Highness Prince William for his work for the poor and homeless, as part of his Soul Foundation was created in 2006.

 

Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 27 Wednesday November 2013 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. tohiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 27 Wednesday November 2013 The Roman)

 

News: Novac Djokovic

News: Novac Djokovic

 

[caption id="attachment_9903" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Glyn Kirk)[/caption]

 

Urschrei

 

Urschrei: Tennis-Star Novak Djokovic aus Serbien macht seiner Freude nach seinem Sieg über den Spanier Rafael im ATP-Finale in London Luft.

 

Primal Scream

 

Primal Scream: Tennis star Novak Djokovic of Serbia makes his joy after his victory over the Spaniards Rafael in ATP finals in London air.

 

(AFP - Glyn Kirk)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 14 Thursday November 2013 The Roman)

(Edited and Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 14 Thursday November 2013 The Roman)

 

 

News: Novak Djokovic

News: Novak Djokovic

 

[caption id="attachment_9874" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Glyn Kirk)[/caption]

 

Best one

 

Le Serbe Novak Djokovic porte le trophée du Masters de Londres après sa victoire en finale face à l'Espagnol Rafael Nadal, le 11 novembre 2013.

 

 

Holding the trophy

 

Serbia's Novak Djokovic poses with the Brad Drewett Trophy after beating Spain's Rafael Nadal in the singles final on the eighth day of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London.

 

(AFP - Glyn Kirk)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 12 Tuesday November 2013 The Roman)

(Edited: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 13 Wednesday November 2013 The Roman)

 

 

Nadal ready to go for broke in Djokovic showdown

Nadal ready to go for broke in Djokovic showdown

 

London (AFP)

 

Rafael Nadal has warned defending champion Novak Djokovic to expect a ferocious battle as the Spaniard bids to win the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time on Monday.

 

World number one Nadal swept aside Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals on Sunday to book just his second appearance in the final of the prestigious season-ending event at London's O2 Arena.

 

The 13-time Grand Slam champion lost his only previous Tour Finals championship decider to Federer in 2010.

 

After spending seven months battling to recover from knee tendinitis, Nadal made a blistering return this year which has so far brought him 10 titles, including the French and US Opens, as well as top spot in the year-end world rankings.

 

With just one more match left before he can head home for a well-earned rest in Manacor, Nadal is determined to play at his most aggressive in his latest showdown with Djokovic, who will be looking for a third Tour Finals crown after beating Swiss seventh seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3.

 

"For me every match means a lot and every tournament means a lot, but it's true that this tournament is special and I never had the chance to win here," Nadal said.

 

"So it will be great if I have the chance to finish the year with a victory. But I know a lot of work remains and probably the most difficult one is still to come.

 

"I think if I don't play my best tomorrow, I don't have a chance. I need to play more aggressive."

 

Nadal took just 79 minutes on Sunday to extend his dominance over Federer to 22 wins from their 32 meetings.

 

And with Djokovic not playing his semi-final until Sunday evening, Nadal was asked whether he may have an advantage with his extra recovery time.

 

"The final is tomorrow evening so it's not going to affect anything. If you had the final tomorrow afternoon, probably the player who is going to win tonight is going to be in a little bit worse position than me," Nadal said.

 

"But that's not the case. The winner will have a chance to sleep well in the morning."

 

Fittingly, after a season dominated by Nadal and Djokovic, the top two in the world rankings get the chance to face off the final tour prize this year.

 

Between them they have won three of the four Grand Slams in 2013, as well as 13 other titles.

 

Djokovic won their last clash, but Nadal holds a 22-16 edge over their 38 meetings, including a victory in the US Open final in September.

 

"The most important thing is on the toughest surface for me to play, I have been able to win four matches against top-eight players," Nadal said.

 

"Now there remains the last match. I hope to be ready for that. I know it's going to be a difficult one and I need to play my best match to have a chance."

 

Djokovic had little trouble setting up the dream finale as he brushed aside Wawrinka in one hour and 24 minutes to extend his winning run to 21 matches since the US Open.

 

"It's going to be a great final," he said.

 

"I hope all the crowd will enjoy it because we definitely do on the court.

 

"It's always a thrilling competition between me and Rafa. Let's say we know each other quite well. There'll be no secret between us on the court. The better will win."

 

(Agence France-Presse, 11 Monday November 2013 The Roman)

 

Her Majesty The Queen to attend Festival of Remembrance

Her Majesty The Queen to attend Festival of Remembrance

 

[caption id="attachment_9802" align="alignnone" width="400"] (The Field of Remembrance pays tribute to servicemen and women who died in conflict (BBC))[/caption]

 

Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness Duke of Edinburgh are due to attend the Festival of Remembrance later, as part of a three-day commemoration of Britain's war dead.

 

The event at the Royal Albert Hall honours those who fought and died in conflicts past and present.

 

This year's festival also marks the 70th anniversaries of the Battle of the Atlantic and the Dambuster raids.

 

On Sunday there will be Remembrance services and on Monday a two-minute silence to mark Armistice Day.

 

A television audience of 5.2m is expected to watch the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, which will feature performances by singer James Blunt, Katie Melua, the tenor Alfie Boe and new group, the Poppy Girls.

 

As well as Her Majesty The Queen and Their Royal Highness Prince Philip, other members of the Royal Family are expected to attend, including Their Royal Highness The Earl and Countess of Wessex.

 

'Moving and engaging'

 

Tributes from performers will be interspersed with real-life stories from some of the former and serving forces personnel the Royal British Legion helps every year.

 

The Poppy Girls, an all-girl group picked from a search for talent among forces families, will be performing their new single The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye) which is raising money for the Poppy Appeal.

 

The Royal British Legion's director general, Chris Simpkins, said: "The festival will provide a moving and engaging show here in London and for viewers across the country, but more importantly it helps us to reach out to wider audiences and offer the public an opportunity to pay their respects, and remember those who, in past and present conflicts, have made sacrifices in the course of duty."

 

Before the festival, there will be a short ceremony where the former South Steps at the Royal Albert Hall will be renamed Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Steps.

 

The Cenotaph in central London will be the focus of the national service of Remembrance on Sunday, while a two-minute silence will be held at 11:00 GMT on Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of World War One.

 

Ahead of this weekend's events Their Royal Highness Prince Henry and Their Royal Highness Prince Philip visited the Field of Remembrance outside Westminster Abbey to pay their respects and observe a two-minute silence.

 

On Saturday morning, Commando 999 raised money for the "Royal Marines Family" by attempting to break the world speed march record.

 

They tried to carry kit and weapons weighing over 40lbs (18kg) 26.2 miles (42km) through central London in under four hours 19 minutes to commemorate the Royal Marines' 350th birthday.

 

The Royal Marines were quicker than previous attempts but did not beat the record as one man had to pull out half a mile before the end.

 

They completed the race around London in four hours, 17 minutes and 21 seconds.

 

They raised more than £20,000 to help Royal Marines who have been affected mentally and physically by war.

 

It was to be followed by a group of 50 veterans and serving marines speed marching a half-marathon, before a wreath is laid at the Royal Marines' memorial.

 

(BBC, 9 Saturday November 2013 The Roman)

 

News: Rafael Nadal

News: Rafael Nadal

 

[caption id="attachment_9787" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Carl Court)[/caption]

 

Win

 

Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates beating Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych during their group A singles match at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London on November 8, 2013. Nadal won 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

 

(AFP - Carl Court)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 9 Saturday November 2013 The Roman)

(Edited and Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 9 Saturday November 2013 The Roman)

 

Le ténor Roberto Alagna dit avoir retrouvé "une nouvelle jeunesse" The tenor Roberto Alagna said they found “A new life"

Le ténor Roberto Alagna dit avoir retrouvé "une nouvelle jeunesse"

 

Le célèbre ténor franco-italien Roberto Alagna, 50 ans, dit avoir retrouvé une "nouvelle jeunesse" et confesse que sa passion pour l'opéra lui a servi de thérapie dans les moments difficiles, dans une interview à l'AFP.

 

"On dit que l'on chante bien quand on est triste, mais moi je crois que l'on chante mieux quand on est heureux", souligne l'artiste dès le début de l'entretien au Metropolitan Opera de Manhattan, accompagné de sa partenaire, la chanteuse soprano polonaise Aleksandra Kurzak, 36 ans et enceinte de plusieurs mois.

 

"C'était dur pour moi de passer le cap des 40 ans", raconte-t-il, reconnaissant avoir alors vécu "une petite dépression".

 

"Mais 50 ans c'est plus facile. Je me sens en forme. Peut-être l'histoire du nouveau bonheur, le fait d'attendre un bébé. Je ressens une sorte de jeunesse nouvelle et de sérénité", dit-il.

 

"C'est comme un nouveau départ".

 

D'ailleurs, "on le sent dans ma voix. Elle est jeune, elle a de la lumière, elle est brillante. Tout le monde me dit ça", insiste le ténor d'origine sicilienne.

 

Né en 1963 à Clichy-sous-Bois, dans la banlieue de Paris, Roberto Alagna a déjà une fille, Ornella, la vingtaine, issue de son premier mariage.

 

Le bonheur et l'enthousiasme retrouvés du chanteur montrent qu'il est parvenu à laisser derrière lui les souffrances de sa séparation avec la soprano roumaine Angela Gheorghiu, sa deuxième épouse, avec qui il a formé durant des années un couple mythique de l'opéra.

 

Leurs noces avaient été célébrées en grande pompe en 1996 au Met par le maire de New York de l'époque, Rudolph Giuliani.

 

Pour Roberto Alagna, l'opéra a été "le fil conducteur" des membres de sa famille.

 

"Tout le monde a chanté dans ma famille. C'est grâce à l'opéra et au chant qu'ils ont supporté toutes les difficultés de l'immigration, de la pauvreté, de la situation économique, de la situation privée. Et moi aussi", confie l'artiste, qui a connu des moments durs, dont la mort de sa première femme Florence Lancien, décédée d'une tumeur au cerveau en 1994.

 

"L'opéra m'a tout donné"

 

"L'opéra pour moi c'est presque une thérapie. L'opéra m'a tout donné. C'est l'opéra qui m'a permis de m'affirmer, de gommer ma timidité, d'affronter le monde, de pouvoir me connaître moi-même. J'ai eu de gros problèmes de santé que j'ai aussi pu surmonter grâce à cette passion pour le chant", insiste-t-il.

 

"Si je n'avais pas eu cette passion, je serais déjà mort".

 

Aujourd'hui, Roberto Alagna se sent capable de chanter pendant au moins encore dix, voire vingt ans, et il est convaincu que les critiques et le public seront avec lui.

 

Le ténor interprète actuellement au Met le peintre Cavaradossi dans "La Tosca" de Puccini, aux côtés de la soprano américaine Patricia Racette.

 

En décembre, il chantera dans "Carmen" de Bizet à la Royal Opera House de Londres.

 

La présentation de "Tosca" samedi au Met sera retransmise dans le monde entier dans le cadre d'un programme comprenant 1.900 cinémas de 64 pays.

 

Selon l'artiste, cette initiative du Met s'inscrit dans la "période extraordinaire" que vit l'opéra.

 

"L'opéra n'a jamais été aussi populaire (...) grâce aux DVD, aux festivals dans le monde entier, à la musique dans toutes les publicités et les films", estime l'artiste, qui a commencé sa carrière dans des cabarets avant de remporter le concours Pavarotti de 1988 à Philadelphie.

 

Il rejette ainsi les clichés d'un opéra "élitiste" ou "inaccessible", expliquant que, comme dans toute discipline, il s'agit d'une question "d'apprentissage".

 

Sa vie est intimement liée à celle du Met, où il a commencé en 1996 avec "La Bohème".

 

Roberto Alagna admet toutefois être "plus nerveux" aujourd'hui qu'avant: "Plus tu atteins un certain niveau, plus on va te critiquer, plus les gens attendent un miracle".

 

Le ténor, qui mène aussi une carrière de chanteur populaire, regrette enfin "qu'avec cette crise économique mondiale, on trouve beaucoup d'excuses pour fermer plein de choses" et de lancer "une sonnette d'alarme: +n'abandonnons pas la culture+".

 

(Le Point, 9 samedi novembre 2013 la Roman)

 

 

The tenor Roberto Alagna said they found “A new life"

 

The famous tenor Franco-Italian Roberto Alagna, 50, said he found a "new youth" and confesses that his passion for the opera he has served as therapy in difficult times, in an interview with AFP.

 

"They say they sing well when you're sad, but I think they sing better when we are happy," said the artist at the beginning of the interview at the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan, with his partner, the Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak singer, 36 years and several months pregnant.

 

"It was hard for me to pass the age of 40," he says, while acknowledging that he lived "a small depression."

 

"But 50 years is easier. I feel fit. Perhaps the story of the new happiness, is expecting a baby. I feel a new kind of youth and serenity," he said.

 

"It's like a new beginning."

 

Moreover, “We feel it in my voice. She is young, she has a light, it is brilliant. Everybody says to me," insists the Sicilian tenor.

 

Born in 1963 in Clichy -sous -Bois, a suburb of Paris, Roberto Alagna already has a daughter, Ornella, twenties, after his first marriage.

 

Happiness and enthusiasm found the singer show that it is able to leave behind the pain of his separation from the Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu, his second wife, with whom he has trained over the years a golden couple of opera.

 

Their nuptials were celebrated with great pomp at the Met in 1996 by the mayor of New York at the time, Rudolph Giuliani.

 

Roberto Alagna, the opera was "the common thread" of his family.

 

"Everyone in my family sang . Thanks to opera and singing they have endured all the difficulties of immigration, poverty, the economy, the domestic situation. And I also, "says the artist, who has known hard times, including the death of his first wife Florence winds down, died of a brain tumor in 1994.

 

"Opera has given me everything"

 

"Opera for me it's almost therapy. Opera gave me everything. This is the opera that has allowed me to assert myself, to erase my shyness to face the world, to know myself. I had major health problems that I have also been able to overcome with this passion for singing," he insists .

 

"If I had not had this passion, I 'd be dead."

 

Today, Roberto Alagna feels able to sing for at least another ten or twenty years, and he is convinced that the critics and the public will be with him.

 

Tenor currently interpreter Met the painter Cavaradossi in "Tosca" by Puccini, alongside American soprano Patricia Racette.

 

In December, he will sing in "Carmen" by Bizet at the Royal Opera House in London.

 

The presentation of "Tosca" at the Met on Saturday will be broadcast around the world as part of a program involving 1,900 theaters from 64 countries.

 

According to the artist, this initiative is part of the Met 's "special period" that saw the opera.

 

"The opera has never been more popular (...) through the DVD, festivals around the world, music in all advertisements and films," said the artist, who began his career in cabarets before winning the Pavarotti competition in Philadelphia in 1988.

 

He rejected the clichés of "elitist" opera or "unreachable", explaining that, as in any discipline, it is a matter of "learning."

 

His life is closely linked to the Met, where he began in 1996 with "La Boheme".

 

However, Roberto Alagna admits "more nervous" today than before : "The more you reach a certain level, the more one will criticize you, most people expect a miracle."

 

The tenor, who also has a career as a popular singer, finally regrets "with the global economic crisis, there are many excuses to close a lot of things" and launch "an alarm bell : +do not give up culture+".

 

(Le Point, 9 Saturday November 2013 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 9 Saturday November 2013 The Roman)

 

 

News: Roger Federer

News: Roger Federer

 

[caption id="attachment_9773" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Glyn Kirk)[/caption]

 

Extra-terrestre

 

Le Suisse Roger Federer entre sur le court lors des Masters de Londres avant d'affronter Richard Gasquet.

 

Extra-Terrestrial

 

Switzerland's Roger Federer on the court during the Masters in London before facing Richard Gasquet.

 

(AFP - Glyn Kirk)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 8 Friday November 2013 The Roman)

(Edited and Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 8 Friday November 2013 The Roman)