The Group Leaders ‘Argentina’ faced the former European champions in a game that could spell the end of the World Cup for the Greeks. The Argentineans on the other hand are firmly perched on top of Group B, with their progress into the next round of the world cup almost certain.
Messi became the youngest Captain in Argentinean history, leading his team at the age of 22. The Argentinean coach, Diego Maradona, rang the changes and rested players like Carlos Tevez and Mascherano for this match. Upfront he brought in Sergio Aguero and Diego Milito, in what looked like a very formidable side despite the changes. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel made two changes by bringing back Giorgos Samaras instead of Fanis Gekas and introducing defender Vangelis Moras.

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2008 was something of a vintage year for popcorn-munchers. But is there a 2009 film that can equal the colossal success of The Dark Knight? Which hot franchises will step up to fill the spaces left by Batman, Bond and Indy?

We’ve taken a look through the studio schedules and picked out the most promising prospects for the coming year. History tells us that when times are tough, box office takings boom. Here’s our selection of the best films Hollywood has to offer us in 2009.

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Greed takes a rest next year as a nation battered by the recession lowers its expectations and settles for smaller cars, smaller houses and an appreciation of all things local, or so says Richard Watson, a professional adviser on future trends. Watson, a 48-year-old Briton who lives in Sydney, looked into the future for times2 a year ago and proved spot on when he foresaw a year dominated by loathsome bankers, contempt for high-earning CEOs and campaigns to protect local businesses.

Now he sees a sombre 2010 where loneliness and depression become preoccupying issues. Watson argues that prediction is about interpreting and illuminating the present. Some trends, he says, endure, not least the instinct to protect ourselves when we feel threatened and the extreme reaction to this — the rise of right-wing politics.

But as he casts his eye over 2010 it’s not all bad news — here at least we’re celebrating Watson’s belief that we can expect newsprint, magazines, novels and yes, paper, to live on as “slow media” becomes a watchword for 2010.

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E-cigarettes have been declared illegal by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA], their sale has been banned in one state and several countries, PayPal has stopped facilitating their sale, Facebook has reportedly dropped their ads, and now one county was banned their use wherever conventional smoking is prohibited.

Other restrictions and problems are on their way for e-cigarettes, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), who has been behind many of these steps to protect the public from this untested product. A letter from ASH helped trigger this latest restriction, one which will prevent the use of e-cigarettes in any public areas and workplaces where the smoking of conventional tobacco products is now prohibited.

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A family in Saudi Arabia is taking a “genie” to court, accusing it of theft and harassment, reports say.

They accuse the spirit of threatening them, throwing stones and stealing mobile phones, Al Watan newspaper said.

The family have lived in the same house near the city of Medina for 15 years but say they only recently became aware of the spirit. They have now moved out.

A local court is investigating. In Islamic theology, genies are spirits that can harass or possess humans.

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