laporta who has headed barcelona club since and was re elected president
in told the newspaper that we are nation that lacks state
it has already been shown that the spanish state has not resolved the problems
of catalonians whether they be economic social cultural or linguistic
those in favour of catalonian independence say the region which is heavily
industrialised and accounts for percent of spain gross domestic product
contributes far more to the spanish economy than it gets in return
the catalan language which was banned during the dictatorship of francisco
franco is widely used in the wealthy region
during the era of franco era who died in the club camp nou stadium was
one of the few places that catalan could be spoken freely
laporta said the region meets all the conditions to be great european
country spain includes good people who would let us leave in peace if
referendum favours independence he said
partial and unofficial referendum was held in catalonia in december
an overwhelming percent of those who voted said yes to the question do
you agree that catalonia become social democratic and independent state and
member of the european union
but only about percent of the region population of more than seven million
were called on to cast ballots by the organisers in selected towns and
villages and turnout was less than percent
france closes yemen embassy after al qaeda threats official
paris jan afp
france has closed its embassy in yemen after threats from local branch of al
qaeda the french foreign ministry said monday following similar move by the
united states and britain
on january our ambassador decided to no longer authorise public access to
the premises of our diplomatic mission spokesman bernard valero told
reporters
he said french citizens in the country had been warned to remain vigilant and to
limit their movements
yemeni forces have tightened security around the airport and foreign embassies
in the capital sanaa amid fears of strikes by an al qaeda branch linked to
botched attack on us airliner
the us and british embassies in sanaa have been shut since sunday for what they
said were reasons of security
us president barack obama has accused the yemen based al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap of arming and training nigerian accused of trying to blow up
detroit bound northwest airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on
embassies in yemen
tennis brisbane international results roundup
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the second day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
monday denotes seed
first round
men
richard gasquet fra bt jarkko nieminen fin
marc gicquel fra bt philipp petzschner ger
wayne odesnik usa bt arnaud clement fra
alejandro falla col bt jeremy chardy fra
harel levy isr bt michael llodra fra
thomaz bellucci bra bt juan ignacio chela arg
radek stepanek cze bt john millman aus
andy roddick usa bt peter luczak aus
women
roberta vinci ita bt sara errani ita
timea bacsinszky sui bt alla kudryavtseva rus
ana ivanovic srb bt jelena dokic aus
sesil karatantcheva kaz bt casey dellacqua aus
lucie safarova cze bt anna lena groenefeld ger
justine henin bel bt nadia petrova rus
anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus bt alisa kleybanova rus
agnes szavay hun bt peng shuai chn
aleksandra wozniak can bt galina voskoboeva kaz
daniela hantuchova svk bt ekaterina ivanova rus
france on the defensive over flu vaccine surplus
paris jan afp
the french government fought off monday criticism that it had poorly planned its
swine flu vaccine programme after it bought more doses than needed and announced
plans to sell surplus stock
france bought million doses of the vaccines for the virus expecting
to provide its population with two doses each but only five million people have
been vaccinated and one dose has been found to be sufficient
what would people be saying if the pandemic had been serious said foreign
minister bernard kouchner trained medical doctor after several opposition
politicians took swipe at the government
we are very happy that this virus turned out to be less virulent than we
thought he said
the minister cautioned that winter was not yet over and that there could still
be spike in illnesses that would prompt more people to turn up for their shot
qatar has bought doses and egypt is negotiating to buy two million
according to the health ministry france is also in discussions with mexico and
ukraine to buy some of its stock
socialist opposition spokesman benoit hamon said the government had provided
pharmaceutical companies with boon and that it was waging campaign of fear
mongering to try to liquidate the vaccine stock
president nicolas sarkozy government is trying to justify the fact that it
paid one billion euros to pharmaceutical companies who are the big winners in
this entire affair said hamon
swine flu has killed at least people worldwide with the biggest share of
victims in the united states and canada though it is now declining in north
america according to the world health organisation
total of people including children under the age of have died
from the virus in france and its overseas departments according to health
authorities
oil price kicks off with bang
london jan afp
oil began with bang on monday surging above dollars on expectations
of higher energy demand in the northern hemisphere winter and after russia cut
supplies to belarus traders said
oil is celebrating the new year as cold weather continues to grip the
northeast of america driving demand for heating oil said westhouse securities
analyst david hart
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
spiked as high as dollars per barrel level last seen on october it
later stood at up dollars
brent north sea crude for february won dollars to reach dollars in
london trading it had earlier touched high last witnessed on
december
short term direction stems from colder weather in the united states which is
supporting demand for winter heating fuels said analysts at the john hall
associates consultancy
the cold snap is expected to continue for some time yet they added in
research note to clients
freezing weather also gripped asia on monday as record snow disrupted air and
road travel grounding dozens of planes in china and south korea and forcing
schools to close in beijing
crude oil had vaulted above dollars per barrel in earlier trading on monday
energised by reports that russia had cut oil supplies to belarus other analysts
said
in this year first day of trading new york crude has gained another
dollars encouraged by reports of dispute between russia and belarus on oil
prices and transit fees which if it escalates could impact on supplies to
germany and poland said pvm analyst david hufton
prices have risen on concerns over the implications of russia move which has
been effective since new year eve
however spokeswoman for oil refineries in belarus denied on monday reports
that russia had cut oil supplies from january
the information on cutting supplies does not correspond to reality oil is
arriving both for transit and for refineries spokeswoman for oil processor
belneftekhim told afp
both of belarus oil refineries are working normally and russian oil is
arriving on schedule the spokeswoman marina kostyuchenko said
in conflicting report belarus oil industry source told the interfax news
agency that neither refinery was receiving russian oil on monday morning
media reports said russia had stopped supplies to belarus from december
with ongoing negotiations to restart deliveries hampered by tariff
disagreements
the incident is the latest in the energy dispute between the two nations over
tariff arrangements moscow also severed supplies to belarus in january
following similar row
football neill still wary of rovers in league cup semi
blackburn united kingdom jan afp
martin neill insists aston villa will not have an edge over blackburn in their
league cup semi final first leg despite victory in the first game of the
teams triple header
ahead of tuesday tie at ewood park villa knocked their premier league rivals
out of the fa cup with home win at the weekend
but rovers manager sam allardyce used fringe team in the fa cup and is
concentrating on the league cup tie
neill who made seven changes for the fa cup third round game is also
desperate to bring villa their first trophy since they lifted the league cup in
it won do us any harm winning the game and it is better to have won than
lost said neill whose side will face either manchester united or manchester
city at wembley if they win their two legged clash with rovers
but it different competition different matches and different set of
circumstances
it was good for confidence though and that important
we ve got big semi final to look forward to now everyone is talking about
it blackburn are saying it their biggest game for long long time
there are two games to be played and every single minute in these matches will
be vital
south african star benni mccarthy whose future at blackburn remains uncertain
could return to the rovers line up after he was one of nine changes for the game
at villa park
allardyce also has brett emerton available again after his recovery from groin
strain but fellow australian vince grella misses out with thigh injury and
senegal winger el hadji diouf is suspended after he was sent off for challenge
on habib beye at the weekend
swedish defender martin olsson was one of the players drafted in at the weekend
but the full back is sure that villa will face completely different
proposition in midweek
the youngster expects to drop back to the bench for the league cup tie but
admits that ewood park is buzzing at the prospect of the semi final with
allardyce more excited than anyone
olsson hopes blackburn solid home form which has seen them lose just twice in
all competitions at ewood park this season can give them an advantage from the
first leg and thinks cup success can boost them in the league
we changed around lot of players in the fa cup so most of them are rested for
the carling league cup game we had team that hasn been playing lot so
there will be six or seven new faces in the team
we just want to do our best we re playing so well at ewood park and if we keep
doing that we won have any problems in going through
it been while since we ve been in semi finals so of course it good and
everybody is up for it and the chance of going to wembley
the gaffer allardyce is probably talking about it the most all the players
are excited and they know we have the chance of going to the final and that will
help us in the premier league
kenya arrests rhino poaching ring
nairobi jan afp
kenyan wildlife rangers arrested men from an illicit game trade syndicate
suspected of killing year old white rhino and hacking off its horns the
head of the country wildlife service said monday
rangers mounted manhunt arrested the suspects and recovered the horns after
the female rhino was killed on december on private ranch in central kenya
if we lose one rhino as kenya that lot wildlife chief julius
kipng etich told reporters
the suspects were to be arraigned later monday before court in nairobi
kibera district wildlife service spokesman paul udoto told afp
the east african country which has the world third largest rhino population
around black and white rhinos suffered its worst year for rhino
poaching in when black and six white rhinos were killed
the illegal trade is driven by asian and middle eastern demand for ivory used in
traditional medicines for fevers convulsions and as an aphrodisiac
the horns mainly contain keratin susbstance also found in hooves nails and
hair and kipng etich derided its use as an aphrodisiac
it is myth people think that it is an aphrodisiac if you want similar
effect you could chew your nails or munch your hair
cricket bangladesh sri lanka one day scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
scoreboard after bangladesh innings against sri lanka in the triangular one
day series here on monday
bangladesh
tamim iqbal lakmal dilshan
imrul kayes samaraweera kulasekara
mohammad ashraful run out
raqibul hasan samaraweera lakmal
shakib al hasan welegedara lakmal
mushfiqur rahim lbw randiv
mohammad mahmudullah lbw randiv
naeem islam not out
abdur razzak not out
extras lb
total for seven wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes iqbal raqibul shakib
rahim mahmudullah ashraful
bowling kulasekara welegedara dilshan
lakmal randiv kandamby
pushpakumara
toss sri lanka
umpires enamul haque ban and ian gould eng
tv umpire nadir shah ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
powerful quake strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
about homes were destroyed or damaged when powerful magnitude
earthquake rocked the solomon islands on monday causing panic but no major
injuries disaster officials said
the national disaster management office said it was possible that thousands of
people could be homeless but an exact assessment could not be made until ground
parties were able to reach remote islands on tuesday
the us geological survey said the epicentre was kilometres miles from
the earthquake prone island town of gizo in the western pacific archipelago and
local officials said it triggered small tsunami
it was the largest of swarm of tremors centred on the area ignited by
magnitude quake on monday morning and with several strong aftershocks up to
magnitude over the following hours
there are homes that have been affected but not all have been totally
destroyed disaster management office spokesman julian makaa told afp after
officials took reconnaissance flight over remote islands near the epicentre
the average home in the solomon islands would house four to five people
patrol boat carrying water food and tarpaulins was dispatched from the
capital honiara for the worst affected areas of rendova island and marova lagoon
about kilometres miles away makaa said
the earthquake caused small wave and few people suffered minor injuries as
they ran away from the shore in panic makaa said
the disaster management office had also received radio reports that some
tourists received minor injuries on the conservation island of tetepare and
there were houses destroyed at marovo lagoon both near rendova
patrol boat will be sent to the area with water food and tarpaulins as
precaution makaa said adding residents on the outer islands have been warned
to remain alert for sea and tide fluctuations as aftershocks continue
an magnitude earthquake in the same area nearly three years ago killed
people destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands
the hawaii based tsunami warning centre said the latest earthquake was powerful
enough to have been destructive along coasts near the epicentre but there was no
wider threat
no tsunami threat exists for other coastal areas in the pacific although some
other areas may experience small non destructive sea level changes lasting up
to several hours the centre said in bulletin
gizo on ghizo island is the second largest town in the solomon islands with
population of around
it is about kilometres northwest of honiara which lies on the island of
guadalcanal where residents said they felt shakes but there was no damage
geoscience australia seismologist clive collins said the main quake which was
estimated at magnitude by australian seismologists was probably about
kilometres from the nearest land
further south in earthquake prone new zealand tremors of and were
recorded over the past hours there was another earthquake of off the
coast of tonga but there were no reports of damage
like much of the pacific the solomons regularly experiences large earthquakes
and lies on the pacific ring of fire which generates most of the world major
tremors
gizo harbour lost most of it wharves and jetties in the quake and
subsequent tsunami which was officially put at five metres high but with some
reports of metre high wall of water
on september last year devastating tsunami swept along coasts in the
pacific islands of samoa and tonga killing people and wiping out entire
villages
villages and resorts in samoa american samoa and northern tonga were flattened
by the giant waves generated by the massive earthquake the strongest in
nearly century
france closes yemen embassy after al qaeda threats official
paris jan afp
france has closed its embassy in yemen after threats from local branch of al
qaeda the french foreign ministry said monday following similar move by the
united states and britain
on january our ambassador decided to no longer authorise public access to
the premises of our diplomatic mission spokesman bernard valero told
reporters
he said french citizens in the country had been warned to remain vigilant and to
limit their movements
record snow brings travel misery in china south korea
beijing jan afp
planes were grounded and thousands of schools were forced to close as the
heaviest snow in over six decades blanketed beijing and seoul on monday with
temperatures plummeting across much of asia
one person was killed and at least two others were missing in the mountains of
central japan after heavy snow
with temperatures falling in several asian countries indian officials said over
people had died in cold snap that has gripped parts of the north and
prompted authorities to shut thousands of schools and dole out firewood
parts of china experienced heavy snow flurries with the capital beijing
recording its heaviest daily snowfall in nearly six decades on sunday the state
xinhua news agency reported
the central meteorological administration reported that up to centimetres
inches had fallen on beijing and tianjin over the weekend while skies were
clear in the capital monday more snow was expected in northeast china
at beijing international airport where nearly flights were cancelled
or delayed on sunday workers had cleared the runways and the situation was
returning to normal an airport spokesman told afp
more than flights were nevertheless delayed and two dozen cancelled as of
early monday the spokesman said adding that workers needed to de ice the snow
covered planes that were stuck at the weekend
don remember ever seeing such heavy snowfall in the city one female
beijinger surnamed zhou told the china daily
in the south korean capital seoul centimetres inches of snow was
measured the most precipitation the nation has seen in day since tracking
began in according to the korea meteorological administration
the blanket of thick snow forced the cancellation of dozens of domestic flights
and about international flights were delayed airport officials said
traffic was chaotic forcing the late start of cabinet meeting with ministers
stuck in the wintry mess
with road traffic snarled up seoul underground system laid on extra trains
but encountered problems due to technical malfunctions the yonhap news agency
reported
one man fell from the roof of seoul badminton court and died while clearing
snow one of numerous weather related accidents police said
the city government said it was mobilising civil servants and
vehicles to remove snow from all major roads and streets
in beijing and surrounding areas up to highways were closed or only partially
open the china news service reported inner city roads remained icy and covered
with snow
more than volunteers were deployed to keep order at crowded bus stops
xinhua quoted song jianguo head of the beijing traffic management bureau as
saying
more than schools in beijing and tianjin were forced to shut their doors
on monday giving more than million students an extra day of new year
holiday state media reported
with beijing in deep freeze temperatures were expected to drop to minus
degrees celsius three fahrenheit on monday or tuesday the coldest in the
capital in decades the china daily reported
in northern heilongjiang province the mercury had already plummeted to minus
celsius the paper said
farther east in japan police said they had found the body of climber on mount
hodaka in central gifu prefecture it was not immediately clear if it was the
body of one of three climbers who went missing there at the weekend
another party of seven were rescued safely after becoming stranded on mount
terachi also in gifu prefecture due to the heavy snow he said
the south korean weather office said snow also fell in north korea with at
least eight centimetres reported in the western port of haeju
tennis sharapova ready for fight at australian open
hong kong jan afp
russian maria sharapova said monday she was fit and ready to take on the world
best at the australian open later this month after long lay off due to
shoulder injury
sharapova the former world number one who crashed out of beijing in october in
third round loss to china peng shuai had arthroscopic surgery over year
ago on her right shoulder and was out of action until may last year
you realise how fortunate you are to get back she told reporters in hong kong
ahead of an exhibition tournament that starts wednesday in the southern chinese
city
keep getting stronger ready for the challenge in australia mentally
and physically
sharapova currently ranked th in the world described taking break from
tennis as frustrating
obviously stepped away because had to
it was frustrating very frustrating and boring but there is no better
healer than time
sharapova will lead team russia alongside world number nine vera zvonareva and
two time men grand slam winner yevgeny kafelnikov in the hong kong tennis
classic this week
the hong kong tournament features four teams with three players each in singles
and mixed doubles play
american star venus williams argentine gisela dulko and retired champion
michael chang will head up the americas side in hong kong
china zheng jie and thailand paradorn srichaphan are leading team asia
pacific alongside ayumi morita of japan
danish teenage sensation caroline wozniacki now the world number four
belarussian victoria azarenka and retired six time grand slam winner stefan
edberg lead team europe at the tournament which wraps up saturday
we have the best cast of players ever to take part in this tournament said
ian wade president of the hong kong tennis patrons association
paradorn the world former number nine has been hampered by wrist
problems for several years but did not rule out return to the pro circuit
wasn sure which direction to go enjoy life after tennis or make come
back he said
would like to make come back if could
yemen tightens security around embassies airport
sanaa jan afp
yemeni forces have tightened security around the airport and foreign embassies
in sanaa officials said monday amid fears of strikes by an al qaeda branch
linked to botched attack on us airliner
security forces meanwhile shot dead two suspected al qaeda members in an
operation north of the capital on monday tribal source said
the stricter security measures come as us authorities announced intensifying
airport checks on passengers travelling from or via terror linked
countries including yemen
the us and british embassies in sanaa have been shut since sunday for what they
said were reasons of security while france on monday announced it was shutting
its mission in the yemeni capital
the japanese foreign ministry said consular services had been suspended at its
embassy in yemen but the mission was conducting other business as usual
the german foreign ministry confirmed security had been tightened at its mission
in sanaa but that the embassy remained open
yemeni officials asking not to be named told afp on monday that security had
been tightened outside all embassies in the capital
us president barack obama has accused the yemen based al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap of arming and training nigerian accused of trying to blow up
detroit bound northwest airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on
embassies in yemen
yemeni security official told afp that police measures were intensified on
the road to the airport following the closure of the us embassy
these measures are preventive in case of any attacks by al qaeda in the
country mainly as the road to sanaa airport is vital he told afp requesting
anonymity
security had already been tight around the us embassy which was the target of
car bomb in september that killed people outside the complex
yemeni authorities have in recent weeks intensified operations against al qaeda
in the impoverished arabian peninsula state killing more than islamist
militants in two raids on december and
tribal source requesting anonymity said security forces hunting suspected al
qaeda member mohammed ahmed al hanq clashed on monday with his bodyguards near
arhab kilometres miles north of sanaa on monday
two of hanq company including his son and his nephew were killed and three
others were wounded in the firefight while he managed to escape the source
added
obama counter terrorism advisor john brennan warned sunday of possible attacks
by al qaeda in yemen
there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against
target inside of sanaa possibly our embassy he said
brennan said washington plans to take whatever steps necessary to protect us
citizens in yemen and described as determined and concerted effort plan by
london and washington to fund yemen special counter terrorism unit
yemen has been highlighted by washington transport security administration
tsa as one of terror linked countries to which enhanced airline passenger
screening would be applied
the tsa said on sunday that all passengers flying into the united states from
abroad will be subject to random screening or so called threat based screens
it further mandated that every individual flying into the us from anywhere in
the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism
or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced
screening
among the affected countries are yemen cuba iran sudan syria afghanistan
libya nigeria pakistan and somalia
magnitude aftershock strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
strong aftershock struck near the solomon islands in the western pacific on
monday hours after powerful magnitude earthquake rattled the area
seismologists said
the us geological survey said the latest quake was measured at depth of about
kilometres miles and struck about kilometres from the town of gizo at
gmt
the earlier quake destroyed or damaged about homes spreading panic but
causing no major injuries disaster officials said
the national disaster management office said it was possible that thousands of
people could be homeless but an exact assessment could not be made until ground
parties were able to reach remote islands on tuesday
dubai to inaugurate world tallest skyscraper
dubai jan afp
blazing fireworks and dazzling lights will mark the inauguration monday of the
world tallest tower burj dubai which the gulf emirate hopes will polish an
image tarnished by its crippling debt woes
the needle shaped concrete steel and glass tower described by its developer as
vertical city as it dwarfs existing skyscrapers boasts new limits in design
and construction
emaar properties the partly government owned developer has maintained the
suspense over the final height of the skyscraper saying only that it exceeds
metres feet
but it revealed on monday that the tower will have over floors only of
which will be inhabited while the remaining floors will be for services
burj dubai has total built up area of million square feet including
million square feet of residential space and over square feet of prime
office space emaar said
this amounts to apartments and floors of office space served by
lifts
hotel carrying the georgio armani logo will also occupy part of the tower
dubai ruler sheikh mohammed bin rashed al maktoum will inaugurate the tower at
gmt in ceremony that is set to feature dazzling laser lights and
fireworks show in addition to choreographed water display by the dubai fountain
that stretches metres long at the feet of the tower
bill baker structural and civil engineer and partner in chicago based
skidmore owings and merrill som which designed the tower said burj dubai
has set new benchmark
we thought that it would be slightly taller than the existing tallest tower of
taipei emaar kept on asking us to go higher but we didn know how high
we could go he said
we were able to tune the building like we tune music instrument as we went
