By Alex Osei-Boateng


ACCRA Jordan 5s Premium Bordeaux , Sept.12 (Xinhua) -- The Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Black Stars coach James Kwasi Appiah have agreed to mutually part ways, the association said in an official statement here on Friday.


The two parties met on Friday morning to reach the agreement on the departure of Appiah.


Lawyers of the two parties will meet next week to decide on the severance package for Appiah, based on the contract of his appointment, the statement said.


"The GFA wishes to thank Appiah for his diligent service to the country as the coach of the Black Stars for the past two years. We wish him every success for the future," the GFA said.


The Executive Committee of the GFA resolved to fire Appiah just within 24 hours of leading the Black Stars to a vital win over Togo in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.


The ex-Ghana captain had signed a new two-year deal worth 25,000 U.S. dollars after masterminding the country's qualification to the 2014 World Cup.


The public approval ratings of the Ghana coach is low after what some sports analysts described as "high profile" failures in the last African Cup and at the World Cup in Brazil.


Appiah previously served as an assistant coach from 2008 to 2012 and led the Black Stars to the semi-finals of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals in South Africa.


The FA is already looking for a swift replacement, with former trainer Milovan Rajevac in the lead to get the job for the second time.


Ghana is currently chasing a place at the next African Cup, after beating Togo 3-2 last Wednesday to go second in Group E behind Uganda.

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AMMAN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres apologized to King Abdullah II of Jordan in a phone call over the killing of a Jordanian judge by an Israeli soldier last week, state-run Petra news agency reported Monday.


During the phone call, Peres reportedly voiced his deep regret over the incident and said Israel is committed to a joint investigation of his death with Jordan.


Last week,Raed Zeiter, a 38-year-old Jordanian judge, was on his way to visit his Palestinian family in Nablus when he was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Bridge terminal connecting Jordan to the West Bank.


Conflicting reports on the incident have triggered tensions between Israel and Jordan.


The Israeli Defense Forces said that Zeiter tried to grab a soldier's weapon, adding that the soldier ""felt his life was in danger."" Zeiter was first shot in his lower torso and then shot again after he allegedly attacked a soldier with an iron rod.


But Jordanian media quoted a witness as saying that a soldier pushed Zeiter, which led to a quarrel that ended with the soldier shooting and killing the judge. The witness said that Zeiter never tried to steal the soldier's weapon.

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WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Oklahoma City Thunder survived a tough battle against the Houston Rockets with a 106-98 victory.


The Thunder snapped the five-game winning streak of the opponents and at the same time ended the two-game losing run of their own.


The Thunder top scorer Kevin Durant made 42 points. All-Star guard Russell Westbrook scored 24 points on 6-14 shooting, along with four rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Power forward Serge Ibaka added 12 points and 16 rebounds.


James Harden scored a team-high 28 points for the Rockets. Chandler Parsons made 19 and Dwight Howard contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.


The Rockets would next face the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.

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MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Most Russians want President Vladimir Putin to remain in office, while some are ready to support any successor backed by Putin, a poll showed Wednesday.


According to the poll conducted by the Moscow-based Levada Center on Aug. 18-22, 60 percent of the 1,600 Russians surveyed in 48 regions said they would vote for Putin if a presidential election took place on the nearest weekend.


The poll also showed 67 percent of the respondents answered positively to the question "Do you want Putin to head Russia after 2018?"


Meanwhile, 18 percent of the surveyed were ready to support an imaginary presidential candidate made up by the Levada Center, who said Putin backed this candidate.


With inherent restrictions in sociological surveys, it's safe to say that the poll can indicate only one thing, namely absolute trust in Putin and his policies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.


Russia will hold a presidential election on March 18, 2018. Putin has yet to announce whether he will run for a new term.


Putin, 64, was elected as Russian president in 2000 and re-elected in 2004. He became president again in 2012 after serving as prime minister for four years. He was also Russia's prime minister from 1999 to 2000.


In 2012, Russia extended its presidential term from four years to six years.


The Levada Center is a Russian non-governmental research organization that regularly conducts sociological polls.


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