term of the situation now created and the steps to be taken said slotboom
the lack of solution for icesave is unacceptable
an earlier hold up in implementing the icesave compensation scheme had
threatened to complicate iceland bid to join the european union
on thursday ratings agency standard amp poor rewarded the decision by
iceland parliament to approve the bill with an announcement that it had raised
its outlook on iceland credit standing to stable from negative
the agency said it was also maintaining its long and short term bbb minus
rating on the country foreign currency debt
tennis qatar open tennis results st update
doha jan afp
results from the nd day of the qatar open here on tuesday denotes seeding
st round
andreas seppi ita bt oscar hernandez esp
steve darcis bel bt guillermo garcia lopez esp
rafael nadal esp bt simone bolelli ita
lukasz kubot pol bt karim maamoun egy
benjamin becker ger bt daniel koellerer aut retired
afghan minibus bomb kills taliban officials
kunduz afghanistan jan afp
fourteen militants were killed in afghanistan increasingly war torn north when
explosives detonated prematurely in mini bus bomb being rigged by taliban
fighters officials said tuesday
fourteen taliban placing explosives into minivan for terrorist activities
were killed yesterday evening when the bomb went off said abdul rizaq yaqubi
police chief of northern kunduz province
the bomb exploded while they were working to build car bomb he added
the incident happened near kunduz city in the north where taliban linked
violence has increased steadily after expanding from the traditional heartland
in the south as afghanistan insurgency reaches an eight year high
kunduz governor mohammad omar confirmed the incident and the casulties
cricket smith amla punish england in heat
cape town south africa jan afp
graeme smith and hashim amla punished england bowlers in scorching heat as
south africa built commanding lead on the third day of the third test against
england at newlands on tuesday
south africa were for two in their second innings at the close an overall
lead of
smith muscled his way to his th test century finishing the day with not
out he shared second wicket stand of with hashim amla who made
it was easily south africa best day of the series and with two days remaining
they were in strong position to push for series levelling victory
smith and amla took advantage of the best batting conditions of the match and
england struggled as the temperature reached in the shade on the field
there was nowhere for england to hide from the sun which blazed out of
cloudless sky or smith powerful stroke play
after watchful start the left handed smith attacked all the bowlers but was
particularly aggressive against off spinner graeme swann man of the match in
the first two tests although swann was again england most successful bowler
taking two for in overs
amla scored most of his runs against the faster bowlers and was particularly
prolific in the area behind point as he made his runs off balls hitting
fours
amla had moved ahead of smith at tea scoring to the captain but smith
launched ferocious onslaught after the interval and had taken his score to
when amla was out caught off bat and pad at short leg off swann
even when england thought they had smith wicket they were foiled on he
was given out leg before wicket by umpire tony hill when he missed sweep
against swann
he asked for television review and was reprieved when replays showed he had
been struck more than out from the stumps beyond the reliable prediction
range and it also appeared the ball was going over the stumps
one ball after crashing graham onions through the covers to reach ball
century smith played loose shot against the fast bowler and edged the ball to
wicketkeeper matt prior smith kicked his bat in annoyance and started to walk
but prior immediately acknowledged that the ball had bounced shortly before
reaching him
smith needed only another balls to go from his century to
the day started well for south africa when they needed just six overs to take
the last three england wickets for runs it gave south africa lead of
runs
fast bowler morne morkel took wickets off successive balls in the first over of
the day to complete his second five wicket haul in tests he finished with five
for
morkel had the right handed swann and the left handed james anderson caught at
first slip by south african captain graeme smith off fast lifting deliveries
prior hit boldly to take his overnight score from to before he was bowled
off bottom edge when he shaped to pull dale steyn who had figures of four for
smith and ashwell prince put on for the first wicket in the second innings
before prince was leg before wicket to off spinner swann seventh ball of the
innings
prince survived one review successfully winning the reversal of leg side
caught behind decision made by umpire daryl harper off the bowling of anderson
when he had five replay showed the ball had glanced off his pad with the bat
not near the ball
but there seemed little point to his second call for review when he prodded
forward to swann and was given out by umpire tony hill he looked palpably out
and this was confirmed by replay
cricket south africa england scoreboard
cape town jan afp
scores at close of play on the second day of the third test between south africa
and england at newlands on tuesday
south africa first innings
england first innings overnight
strauss boucher morkel
cook prince morkel
trott steyn
pietersen and steyn
collingwood lbw morkel
bell duminy kallis
prior steyn
broad steyn
swann smith morkel
anderson smith morkel
onions not out
extras lb nb
total overs min
fall of wickets strauss trott pietersen
collingwood cook bell broad swann
anderson
bowling morkel de wet nb steyn kallis
harris duminy
south africa second innings
prince lbw swann
smith not out
amla cook swann
kallis not out
extras lb nb pen
total wkts overs
fall of wickets prince amla
to bat de villiers duminy boucher steyn morkel harris
de wet
bowling anderson onions swann broad
pietersen trott
match position south africa lead by runs with nine wickets remaining in the
second innings
toss england
umpires daryl harper aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire aleem dar pak
match referee roshan mahanama sri
jordan says no proof balawi was cia suicide bomber
amman jan afp
senior jordanian official said on tuesday that there was no proof that
jordanian humam khalil abu mulal al balawi was as has been claimed the suicide
bomber who killed eight people at cia base in afghanistan
the official who declined to be identified also said balawi had provided
jordanian intelligence with valuable information
there is no proof that humam was actually the author of the attack especially
given that taliban websites claim that it was an afghan the official added
earlier jihadist websites said balawi was triple agent who duped western
intelligence services for months before turning on his handlers
the jordanian intelligence services believing the bomber to be their double
agent took him to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding al qaeda
number two ayman al zawahiri the websites and western intelligence agents
cited by us media said
but instead he blew himself up at forward operating base chapman in khost
province near the pakistani border killing seven cia agents and his jordanian
handler top intelligence officer and member of the royal family
the jordanian official said balawi had been interrogated by intelligence
officers around year ago because of suspicions about his activities but the
probe found nothing and he was freed
humam left jordan and traveled to pakistan to continue medical studies that he
had begun in turkey from pakistan he contacted the jordanian authorities by
mail and provided security information of extreme value that allowed us to
abort terrorist operations that would have threatened the security of jordan
he added that contact had been maintained with balawi in the interest of the
security of jordan
press watchdog demands release of jailed iranian journalist
vienna jan afp
press watchdog group tuesday called for the immediate release of journalist
critical of the iranian president economic policies who has been whip lashed
and sentenced to some seven years in jail
it is unacceptable that the iranian authorities are responding to criticism in
the media by arresting journalists and handing down prison sentences said
anthony mills of the international press institute in statement
the crackdown on the media must end immediately and the journalists imprisoned
simply for doing their job must be freed said mills press freedom manager at
the vienna based institute
the watchdog has highlighted the case of bahman ahmadi amoui who was jailed
during massive crackdown on reformists and critical journalists in the wake of
the disputed june election which saw president mahmoud ahmadinejad re elected
amid allegations of poll fraud
amoui was sentenced to seven years and four months in jail plus lashes
according to the sentence made public on monday by opposition websites which
did not specify the charges against the journalist
amoui who has been in jail since june was an editor in leading economic
paper sarmayeh which was shut down by the authorities in november
iran has put about people in the dock suspected of acting against national
security by inciting or taking part in street protests which erupted after the
election
several reformist politicians and journalists have been sentenced to jail terms
although some have been released on bail pending appeal
on saturday the appeals court upheld six year jail term handed down to ahmad
zeidabadi prominent reformist journalist who has to serve his sentence in
remote town more than kilometres miles from tehran
tennis atp chennai open results
chennai india jan afp
results from the dollar atp chennai open tennis tournament here on
tuesday denotes seed
st rd
robby ginepri usa bt robin soderling swe
somdev devvarman ind bt rainer schuettler ger
thiemo de bakker ned bt rajeev ram usa
michael russell usa bt prakash amritraj ind
lukas lacko svk bt lu yen hsun tpe
michael berrer ger bt santiago ventura esp
marcel granollers esp bt james ward gbr
robin haase ned bt yang tsung hua tpe
dudi sela isr bt denis istomin uzb
croatian leader to visit kosovo
zagreb jan afp
croatian president stipe mesic will visit kosovo on friday in one of his last
visits abroad before his mandate expires next month his office announced
tuesday
mesic is to travel to pristina to discuss bilateral ties and the situation in
the region with his counterpart fatmir sejdiu according to statement from the
croatian presidency
the croatian leader who is to step down on february after serving two five
year mandates will be declared an honorary citizen of pristina the statement
added
he is also expected to address the kosovo parliament and visit some croatian
soldiers serving with the nato led peacekeeping force there
kosovo ethnic albanian dominated parliament unilaterally declared independence
from serbia on february
croatia recognized the territory independence month later in all
countries including the united states and most european union members recognize
kosovo independence
zagreb move threatened its delicate ties with serbia which have been gradually
improving
during the war in croatia belgrade gave political and military
support to ethnic serb rebels who opposed the former yugoslav republic
independence
japan govt accepts finance minister resignation kyodo
tokyo jan afp
japan prime minister accepted his finance minister resignation offer because
of poor health despite earlier asking him to stay at the helm of the world
number two economy kyodo news said tuesday
during talks earlier in the day prime minister yukio hatoyama had said he
wanted hirohisa fujii to stay in the cabinet but the government eventually
decided to accept fujii resignation as he was adamant kyodo said citing
ruling party lawmaker who spoke on condition of anonymity
fujii was admitted to hospital on december due to high blood pressure
and fatigue saying he was exhausted after weeks of hard work on the national
budget for the next financial year
the veteran lawmaker was picked by incoming premier hatoyama in september to
steer asia biggest economy out of its worst recession in decades returning to
post he held briefly in the early
japan economy returned to growth in the second quarter of after severe
year long recession but renewed deflation and weak domestic demand are major
concerns for policymakers
since being admitted to hospital fujii has resumed some of his duties but said
he would respect the advice of his doctors about whether to return to work full
time
the finance minister had been expected to return to hospital after attending
cabinet meeting tuesday and his regular press conference on wednesday was
cancelled finance ministry spokesman said
hatoyama met fujii earlier in the day to discuss his health and had told
reporters he wanted him to remain in the key cabinet position
he fujii told me that he was undergoing tests in hospital and that his
doctors had yet to reach final conclusion hatoyama said
he has been carrying on and want him to carry on further it is matter of
course it was not that persuaded him to stay on he said
earlier in the day fujii declined to comment on whether he might step down
saying he was still waiting for test results
the doctors decision will come soon he said at press conference after
regular cabinet meeting will respect the doctors decision
asked whether he would consider leaving his post if the test results were not
positive fujii said the question was too hypothetical to answer
one of the few members of the current cabinet with previous government
experience fujii had planned to retire from politics but was persuaded by
hatoyama to stay on to pursue an agenda of slashing public sector waste
law graduate of the elite university of tokyo fujii spent more than years
with the finance ministry before turning his hand to politics winning seat in
parliament for the first time in
his resignation would be another setback for hatoyama who has seen sharp drop
in his approval ratings since he took office in september with polls indicating
voters worry he lacks leadership
ruling party lawmakers have named deputy prime minister naoto kan yoshito
sengoku state minister in charge of administrative reform and senior vice
finance minister yoshihiko noda as possible successors to fujii according to
kyodo
in an indication of lingering economic concerns japan business leaders warned
tuesday the economy was unlikely to recover until the second half of this year
as the nation faces being overtaken by china as the world second largest
economy
in late december china said the country economy grew by percent in
up from previously announced figure of nine percent moving closer to
overtaking japan as the world second largest economy
britain blasted by winter chill
manchester england jan afp
freezing temperatures and heavy snow gripped northern england and scotland
tuesday stopping transport links and major football fixtures and closing three
airports and hundreds of schools
britain brought in extra gas supplies from continental europe to meet
percent rise on normal seasonal use the bbc reported
prime minister gordon brown said there are always difficulties when we have
long spell of bad weather
in northwest england heavy snow blocked roads and triggered accidents while
manchester and liverpool airports reopened after closing one truck driver was
killed in motorway collision in manchester
the snow wiped out both league cup semi final first legs with wednesday
manchester derby between city and united and blackburn match against visitors
aston villa postponed
the weather also brought filming to halt on two of britain top television
soap operas
shooting was suspended on manchester based coronation street while
spokeswoman for emmerdale said percent of cast members didn make it in
in yorkshire leeds bradford airport had to close because of the conditions
before re opening while some train services between leeds and london were
cancelled
in scotland where temperatures plunged to minus degrees celsius five
degrees fahrenheit in places flights were delayed at aberdeen and glasgow
airports while train services were disrupted from glasgow to edinburgh and
london
voicing the frustration of travellers norman baker transport spokesman for the
opposition liberal democrats party asked why is it that the british transport
system comes near to collapse at the first sign of snowflake
hundreds of schools were closed in scotland wales and northern england as
teachers struggled to get into work and parents kept their children at home
the snow and icy conditions were expected to move southwards towards london
later in the day
weather forecasters predicted up to centimetres of snow could fall in places
overnight
stephen davenport senior meteorologist at meteogroup said should conditions
continue in similar vein then by march we might just be looking back at one of
the coldest winters of the last years
elsewhere in europe temperatures plunged to minus degrees celsius in parts
of germany
parts of brittany and normandy in northwestern france were given overnight
snowfall warnings with the snow likely to cause traffic problems and hinder
businesses in the area said meteo france
this cold snap will be lengthy the service said
in switzerland slight delays were reported at geneva airport while zurich
airport saw delays on flights coming from paris charles de gaulle and
amsterdam
end in sight for chile copper mine strike
santiago jan afp
striking copper miners in chile began voting tuesday on proposal by the the
world biggest mining concern codelco which could end their one day walkout
workers at two codelco mines chuquicamata and mina sur which together account
for four percent of the world copper production went on strike monday
demanding percent pay hike as copper prices hit month peak at more
than dollars per tonne
the proposal from government owned codelco presented to an emergency meeting of
rank and file workers was given good chances of approval
an overwhelming majority of people want to accept the offer said union leader
jaime graz head of three unions that backed the strike
voting got underway at am gmt and was expected to last until around
gmt labor officials said
codelco was offering percent wage hike and bonus payment of
dollars with the contract to last months
codelco produces around million tonnes of copper per year and employs
workers
union leaders said percent of the work force at the two mines took part in
the labor action
the miners demands came as the price of copper which fell significantly during
the global economic crisis increased sharply in recent months amid renewed
demand from china the world largest copper consumer
since early last year copper prices have rocketed by more than percent
spurred upward by signs of global economic recovery after the steep worldwide
downturn
chile had copper output of some million tonnes in and was estimated
to have produced similar amount last year accounting for about one third of
global production
nestle takes giant us pizza slice leaves cadbury to kraft
zurich jan afp
swiss food giant nestle bit off big slice of the huge pizza market in north
america on tuesday announcing the purchase of kraft foods pizza business for
billion dollars billion euros
kraft said it would use the entire proceeds from the deal to improve its bid for
cadbury the british confectionary business which has consistently fended off
its suitor
nestle cash rich and takeover hungry meanwhile said it was not in the running
for cadbury quashing rumours it could after monday massive billion dollar
deal to sell its alcon eye care operation to pharma giant novartis
meanwhile cadbury famous for its chocolate bars said it saw no improvement in
kraft bid which values the company at around billion dollars
kraft has once again missed the point despite this tinkering the kraft offer
remains unchanged and derisory with less than half the consideration in cash
cadbury spokesman said
in twist to events billionaire investor warren buffett holding company
berkshire hathaway said tuesday that it opposed plan by kraft to raise the
cash needed to buy cadbury via new share issue
berkshire hathaway which said it is likely the largest shareholder in kraft
with stake of percent said it had voted no on kraft proposal to
authorise the issuance of up to million shares to fund the acquisition
under its revised bid kraft offered cadbury shareholders an additional partial
cash alternative of pence per cadbury share in place of some of the new
kraft foods shares that they would have otherwise received
the original bid by kraft included pence in cash and new kraft foods
shares valuing cadbury at about billion pounds
however the value has since fallen to around billion pounds billion
euros billion dollars due to drop in kraft share price and
weakening us dollar
explaining its revised offer kraft said it was response to the desire
expressed by some cadbury security holders to have greater proportion of the
offer in cash and because kraft foods shareholders have expressed desire for
kraft foods to be more sparing in its use of undervalued kraft foods shares as
currency for the offer
the us group said it believed its share price has been depressed due to short
term factors which would dissipate once the uncertainty surrounding its offer
for cadbury is resolved
meanwhile nestle stand on cadbury means that it would have enough firepower
to do further acquisitions said bank vontobel analyst claudia lenz
buying kraft frozen pizza business should boost the group frozen food
business in north america lenz said making point taken up by nestle chief
paul bulcke
this frozen pizza business greatly enhances nestle frozen food activities in
north america bringing together selection of great us and canadian brands
industry leading amp research and development and excellent route to
market capabilities which complement our existing ice cream direct store
delivery bulcke said
with total sales of around three billion swiss francs nestle will become the
world leader in the attractive fast growing frozen pizza category he added
the united states is the biggest pizza market in the world with sales of about
billion dollars nestle said in statement
with estimated sales of billion dollars in kraft foods was the leader
in the frozen pizza category and had enjoyed double digit growth in the us and
canada over the last four years it added
analysts from bank wegelin viewed the purchase as positive move for nestle
this pizza deal will not kill investors appetite for the stock as the frozen
food sector is taking on an immensely important role in today society it
said
us intel operations in afghanistan under fire
washington jan afp
us counter terrorism efforts in afghanistan were under intense scrutiny tuesday
after an al qaeda double agent killed seven cia officers and top military spy
chief slammed intelligence failings in the country
major general michael flynn the top nato and us military intelligence chief in
afghanistan said us led forces in afghanistan were so starved of accurate
intelligence many say their jobs feel more like fortune telling
his scathing criticism comes as the central intelligence agency investigates
last week attack at base in khost eastern afghanistan in which seven us
agents and jordanian officer were killed
jihadist websites boasted tuesday the suicide bomber was an al qaeda double
agent who tricked western intelligence services for months before turning on his
handlers
jordanian intelligence services had brought him to eastern afghanistan hoping he
would help hunt down elusive al qaeda number two ayman al zawahiri the
websites and western intelligence agents cited by us media said
but instead he blew himself up at forward operating base chapman killing eight
including his jordanian handler top intelligence officer and member of the
royal family
the deaths of the seven agents marked the cia worst single loss of life since
the bombing of the us marine barracks in beirut in
flynn said radical changes were needed in afghanistan to help an intelligence
gathering operation which still finds itself unable to answer fundamental
questions about the environment in which we operate and the people we are trying
to protect and persuade
us intelligence officers and analysts can do little but shrug in response to
high level decision makers seeking the knowledge analysis and information they
need to wage successful counterinsurgency said flynn report released by
washington think tank
failure to understand who the local afghan powerbrokers are and ignorance of
local economics and landowners had contributed to hazy knowledge said the
report on the website of the center for new american security
flynn who has long career in intelligence gathering including tours in iraq
acknowledged the report co authored by advisor marine captain matt pottinger and
paul batchelor of the defense intelligence agency was unconventional
released monday the report will raise eyebrows in washington and among allies
as the us ramps up the war against deadly taliban led insurgency in
afghanistan
the khost attack is blow to cia services wiping out years of intelligence work
in the notoriously complex afghan conflict riven by tribal and religious
rivalries
both jihadist websites and western intelligence agents cited by us network nbc
news identified the bomber as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi alias abu dujana
al khorasani
balawi was arrested in late and recruited as double agent by the
jordanian intelligence services but in reality continued to work for al qaeda
they said
the bomber allegedly was sent by ayman zawahiri himself to conduct the attack
and claimed he had information on zawahiri bruce riedel former cia officer
told afp adding that the information had not been unconfirmed
balawi ran blog http abudujanakharasani maktoobblog com on which he posted
calls for jihad but persuaded the jordanians it was just cover
he spent months traveling between afghanistan and pakistan and fed the
americans the information that the mujahedeen wanted them to receive the ana
muslim am muslim in arabic website boasted
balawi was taken to the cia base in khost because he claimed to have urgent
information about zawahiri the website said
he then pretended to detail plans for mooted operation on piece of paper and
asked the agents to gather round to look before blowing himself up the website
said
nbc news said his handler in afghanistan captain in the jordanian
intelligence services identified by the jordanian state news agency petra as ali
bin zeid was killed in the attack along with seven cia officers
the report has not been confirmed in jordan although king abdullah ii queen
rania and virtually the whole royal family turned up at his funeral
spain unveils eu presidency art installation
brussels jan afp
spain unveiled giant lighting sculpture on tuesday that will hang from the
atrium of the european union headquarters building in brussels where leaders and
ministers decide on bloc policies
madrid artist daniel canogar said his undulating traversias installation
by metres feet represents the thousands of people passing
under it each weekday whether striking eu staff diplomats or journalists
spain culture minister angeles gonzales sinde was also on hand and laid out
madrid cultural agenda for its six months at the head of the bloc stressing
greater digitalisation as well as social and economic potential
year ago the czech republic unveiled controversial work that played on
national stereotypes among the eu countries which annoyed bulgaria by
depicting it as squat toilet
wall street sputters after big rally
new york jan afp
wall street shares struggled tuesday day after big rally to open the new
year as traders paused and awaited data offering clues on the pace of economic
recovery
the dow jones industrial average drifted down points percent to
at gmt after jump of percent on monday to kick off
