separate agreements were reached with former aig chairman maurice greenberg and
former chief financial officer howard smith
the fraud case dates back to and well before aig neared
meltdown in mortgage securities it had insured leading to government rescue
of some billion dollars
un death toll in haiti quake now at spokesman
united nations jan afp
forty nine un staffers are now confirmed dead in the devastating haiti quake and
more than are unaccounted for un spokesman martin nesirky said wednesday
the number of confirmed dead is at this point and we have more than
unaccounted for but as we stressed before the number of people unaccounted for
is likely to go down because we were able to account for people for example as
communications have improved he told press briefing
he stressed that the number of unaccounted for including staff who were at home
when the disaster struck leveling the headquarters of the un mission in haiti
minustah has been going down
nesirky also confirmed that total of people have been rescued by
international teams from the debris of collapsed buildings in haiti
the january earthquake which marks the worst disaster in the un history
may have killed total of between and people in haiti
wednesday new earthquake with magnitude of shook the impoverished
caribbean nation jolting celebrations for miracle survivors ranging from
three week old baby to an elderly woman who were hauled out after seven days
under the rubble
football africa cup of nations group final standings
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group final standings on wednesday played won drawn
lost goals for against points
egypt qualified
nigeria qualified
benin
mozambique
football leading africa cup of nations scorers
lubango angola jan afp
leading africa cup of nations scorers after final group matches on wednesday
flavio amado ang seydou keita mli
emad moteab and mohamed gedo nagy egy mateus manucho alberto ang
frederic kanoute mli jacob mulenga zam russell mwafulirwa maw osaze
odemwingie ngr
football campbell action adds to pompey problems
london jan afp
cash strapped portsmouth found themselves under attack from former player on
wednesday when they confirmed they were being sued for over one million pounds
by sol campbell
the former england defender now at arsenal has alleged he is owed million
pounds million dollars in unpaid image rights and bonuses by the club he
captained to fa cup glory in
portsmouth spokesman said on wednesday the matter is being dealt with by our
lawyers
confirmation of campbell move came just day after premier league basement
club portsmouth bid to have winding up petition from british tax authorities
struck out was rejected by judge
portsmouth had argued the value added tax portion of its huge tax bill was too
high by as much as million pounds million dollars
but judge guy newey found against portsmouth at london high court and ruled
tax collectors her majesty revenue and customs hmrc could proceed with their
legal action
meanwhile portsmouth chief executive peter storrie appeared in court on
wednesday over fraud allegation
storrie has been accused of cheating the public revenue between july
and november over the signing on fee for midfielder amdy faye from
french club auxerre to portsmouth
storrie spoke to confirm his name during the preliminary hearing in london but
the charge was not put to him and he was not asked to enter plea
the case was adjourned until april but the trial proper is more than year
away after judge peter testar set date of may
storrie is alleged to have arranged for the fee to faye to be paid via the bank
account of an agent willie mckay in order to conceal its true nature and
purpose thereby causing failure on the part of the club to operate paye
pay as you earn and account for income tax and national insurance
contributions in respect of that fee
storrie who has said he will defend himself in the strongest possible terms
against the charge was given unconditional bail
pompey have been facing off field problems since before the start of the season
with the protracted sale of the club from alexandre gaydamak to sulaiman al
fahim hampering the south coast side ability to bring in new players
al fahim was only in charge for matter of weeks before selling on to saudi
businessman ali al faraj who has struggled to cope with the club debts
portsmouth have three times this season failed to pay their players on time and
last week saw the premier league divert seven million pounds in television
revenues to other clubs owed transfer fees by the south coast side
so concerned are the premier league they have placed portsmouth under transfer
embargo
but the club bit back on monday by threatening league chiefs with arbitration
proceedings saying they had agreed payment scheduled with other clubs
as well as storrie former pompey manager harry redknapp now at tottenham and
former chairman milan mandaric now at leicester all face individual tax
evasion resulting from their time at fratton park
portsmouth four points adrift at the foot of the table are at home to top
flight rivals sunderland in the fourth round of the fa cup on saturday
new adoptions in haiti must stop british charities
london jan afp
all new adoptions of children separated from their families by the catastrophic
earthquake in haiti must be halted immediately three leading british charities
said wednesday
save the children world vision and the british red cross want an immediate
moratorium on new adoptions of children following last week quake until
extended efforts have been made to trace and reunite them with their families
they say that if adoptions are not stopped there could be risk of families
being broken up forever the quake is said to have killed between and
people
taking children out of the country would permanently separate thousands of
children from their families separation that would compound the acute
trauma they are already suffering said jasmine whitbread save the children
chief executive
world vision chief executive justin byworth added children should not be
leaving haiti at this stage except with surviving family members or if adoptions
already in process have full required legal documents
countries including france and canada have fast tracked adoption processes to
allow hundreds of haitian children to be settled with new families
france has been notably cautious with foreign minister bernard kouchner saying
the country must not be accused of kidnapping and processing being sped up for
children who were already in the process of being adopted
in sensitive case in six members of french aid charity were convicted
of trying to traffic to france chadian children who they said were refugees
from the war in darfur
football egypt cruises to record with victory over plucky benin
benguela angola jan afp
six time champions egypt defeated benin wednesday here at the ombaka stadium
on wednesday to extend their unbeaten run in the africa cup of nations to
games and qualify for the last eight of this year competition
the victory also meant that the pharaohs finished top of group with the
maximum nine points and will face the second placed team in group in one of
the quarter finals on monday
egypt are also on course for an unprecedented seventh nations cup title
while skipper ahmed hassan won his th cap against benin to tie the egyptian
record for most international appearances
egypt who rested key stars like ahmed fathi and wael gomaa took the lead
after only seven minutes through an audacious effort by ahmed al mohammadi
the highly rated enppi defender swung shot from about metres to catch benin
goalkeeper yoann djidonou off his line and sail into the top right corner of the
net
the defending champions doubled their advantage in the rd minute when the
referee adjudged that emad motaeb bundled the ball over the goalline rebound
after ahmed raouf header from yards out crashed against the post with the
benin goalkeeper beaten
egypt continued to cruise and would have increased their lead in the th
minute but raouf diving header from inside the yard box flew straight at
goalkeeper djidonou for him to make an easy save
benin who kicked off this game man short after striker razak omotoyossi
was ordered to be more properly dressed also had few chances in front of goal
in the first half
sleek passing by the pharaohs appeared to cause all sorts of trouble for
the squirrels from benin with hassan at the heart of the egyptian attacks
on resumption benin fought for an equaliser but it was egypt who could
have scored again in the th minute when hassan long through ball set up
raouf who darted into the box only for djidonou to get his foot to the ball
motaeb was constant danger against benin and moments later he again came
close when al mohammadi swung another cross into the benin area but his marker
shut him out
in the th minute substitute mohammed aoudou tested the reflexes of the
durable essam el hadary in goal for egypt when he rose above the defence to
power free kick from the right flank towards goal only for the ismailia
goalkeeper to tip the ball for corner
omotoyossi would have reduced the deficit in the th minute but he flashed
his angled shot from inside the box wide as el hadary dived to avert danger
egyptian substitute mohamed zidan was denied goal in the th minute by the
benin goalkeeper who scrambled his low shot for corner
and five minutes later djidonou again rose to the occasion to deny hosny
abdrabou motaeb hassan and then mohamed nagy as egypt went in search of more
goals
sam pi
rallying monte carlo rally results
monte carlo jan afp
results from the first day of the monte carlo rally the opening round of the
intercontinental rally challenge here on wednhesday
mikko hirvonen fin ford fiesta hr min sec kris meeke
gbr peugeot at juho hanninen fin skoda fabia nicolas
vouilloz fra skoda fabia bastien ogier fra peugeot
bruno magalhaes por peugeot toni gardemeister fin abarth
grande punto st phane sarrazin fra peugeot
franz wittmann aut peugeot guy wilks gbr skoda fabia
retirement robert kubica pol renault clio
stage winners hirvonen ss ss ogier ss ss
football egypt cruises to record with victory over plucky benin
benguela angola jan afp
six time champions egypt defeated benin wednesday here at the ombaka stadium
on wednesday to extend their unbeaten run in the africa cup of nations to
games and qualify for the last eight of this year competition
the victory also meant that the pharaohs finished top of group with the
maximum nine points and will face the second placed team in group in one of
the quarter finals on monday
egypt are also on course for an unprecedented seventh nations cup title
while skipper ahmed hassan won his th cap against benin to tie the egyptian
record for most international appearances
egypt who rested key stars like ahmed fathi and wael gomaa took the lead
after only seven minutes through an audacious effort by ahmed al mohammadi
the highly rated enppi defender swung shot from about metres to catch benin
goalkeeper yoann djidonou off his line and sail into the top right corner of the
net
the defending champions doubled their advantage in the rd minute when the
referee adjudged that emad motaeb bundled the ball over the goalline rebound
after ahmed raouf header from yards out crashed against the post with the
benin goalkeeper beaten
egypt continued to cruise and would have increased their lead in the th
minute but raouf diving header from inside the yard box flew straight at
goalkeeper djidonou for him to make an easy save
benin who kicked off this game man short after striker razak omotoyossi
was ordered to be more properly dressed also had few chances in front of goal
in the first half
sleek passing by the pharaohs appeared to cause all sorts of trouble for
the squirrels from benin with hassan at the heart of the egyptian attacks
on resumption benin fought for an equaliser but it was egypt who could
have scored again in the th minute when hassan long through ball set up
raouf who darted into the box only for djidonou to get his foot to the ball
motaeb was constant danger against benin and moments later he again came
close when al mohammadi swung another cross into the benin area but his marker
shut him out
in the th minute substitute mohammed aoudou tested the reflexes of the
durable essam el hadary in goal for egypt when he rose above the defence to
power free kick from the right flank towards goal only for the ismailia
goalkeeper to tip the ball for corner
omotoyossi would have reduced the deficit in the th minute but he flashed
his angled shot from inside the box wide as el hadary dived to avert danger
egyptian substitute mohamed zidan was denied goal in the th minute by the
benin goalkeeper who scrambled his low shot for corner
and five minutes later djidonou again rose to the occasion to deny hosny
abdrabou motaeb hassan and then mohamed nagy as egypt went in search of more
goals
sam pi
security scare at munich airport man flees police
munich germany jan afp
parts of munich airport were sealed off on wednesday after laptop tested
positive for the possible presence of explosives and its owner fled into
secured area police said
an explosives scanner at the german airport alerted personnel as the man went
through security at around pm gmt but instead of stopping he ran
into restricted area police said
the fourth floor of the airport terminal two used for flights within germany
and europe passport free schengen area was evacuated and all docked planes
were stopped the man was still at large
police were unable to comment on his nationality spokesman cautioned that the
scanner could have been set off by chemicals such as perfumes and that the man
may simply have been in hurry to catch his plane
it is not percent clear that there were in fact explosives spokesman
berti habelt of the federal police told news channel tv
the explosives detector was alerted by laptop and as result should have
been checked again but at this point the male passenger left the security area
into secured area as result we had to seal off and clear the fourth floor
of terminal two searches are still taking place for this person
in the meantime we have examined security camera footage at the moment we
cannot give any information about this person he said
airports around the world have been on high alert since nigerian man was
arrested and accused of trying to blow up an airliner over the united states on
december with explosive chemicals concealed on his person
umar farouk abdulmutallab pleaded not guilty in us court on january to
six charges including attempted murder of people on board the plane and
trying to use weapon of mass destruction he faces life imprisonment
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula militant islamist group active in yemen and
saudi arabia claimed it was behind the botched attempt to blow up the northwest
airlines jet as it landed in detroit
germany which has never suffered an attack by islamist extremists has so far
resisted pressure to install body scanners at its airports of the kind that
experts say would have detected abdulmutallab explosives
amid concerns about the implications for health and privacy as well as efficacy
in detecting explosives the government has said that more research is needed
and is conducting tests which it hopes to complete later this year
dutch airport schiphol said on january that it planned to install new full
body scanners in addition to already in place to cover all us bound flights
in the coming months
abdulmutallab boarded in lagos and changed at schiphol to connecting flight
bound for detroit
football african cup of nations quarter finals line up
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations quarter finals line up times gmt
sunday
at luanda
angola ghana
at cabinda
ivory coast algeria
monday
at benguela
egypt group runners up
at lubango
group winners nigeria
football odemwingie strikes twice as nigeria reach last eight
lubango angola jan afp
russia based osaze odemwingie scored just before and after half time as nigeria
beat mozambique on wednesday and reached the africa cup of nations quarter
finals
the wide midfielder from lokomotiv moscow was given time and space in the final
minute of the opening half at tundavala stadium in this southern angola town to
rifle low shot past goalkeeper joao rafael at his near post
and the veteran of four nations cup campaigns scored far simpler goal two
minutes into the second half as he tapped in cross from captain yakubu
aiyegbeni
memorable match for odemwingie was completed midway through the second half
when everton striker yakubu was substituted by injury troubled obafemi martins
and the matchwinner became skipper of the super eagles
victory for nigeria and an equally predictable triumph for defending
champions egypt over benin in benguela at the same time brought predictable
climax to group of the biennial african football showcase
egypt topped the table with nine points after comfortable victories over all
three mini league opponents as they seek record third consecutive nations cup
title having won at home in and in ghana two years ago
nigeria recovered from opening match loss to egypt with wins over the
minnows to collect six points while benin and mozambique brought up the rear
with solitary point each on the final standings
who the pharaohs and the super eagles face in january quarter finals will
be decided on thursday when gabon cameroon tunisia and zambia fight to finish
first and second in group
egypt will face the pool runners up at ombaka stadium in benguela early next
monday with nigeria remaining in lubango to face the group winners later and
surprise packets gabon occupy top spot after two rounds
nigeria needing draw to clinch last eight place looked the more
threatening side in the opening half at sparsely populated seat stadium
and chinedu obasi missed sitter midway through
the germany based striker last minute inclusion in the squad headed at
rafael from few metres when seemingly certain to break the deadlock in match
that seldom rose above the pedestrian
mozambique pushed the ball around impressively and martinho paito mucana stung
the hands of nigeria goalkeeper victor enyeama with long range effort that
brought good parried save
martins completed the scoring five minutes from full time when he pounced on
rebound to drive the ball low into the far corner after rafael failed to grasp
close range mikel shot
us fines buffett general re for helping aig fraud
washington jan afp
us officials wednesday announced million dollar settlement with insurance
firm general re controlled by investor warren buffett for its role in
fraudulent accounting practices including scheme to help aig
the securities and exchange commission said it sued general re for accounting
schemes involving aig and another insurance company prudential financial to
manipulate and falsify their reported financial results
gen re one of the largest reinsurance firms agreed to pay million dollars
to settle the sec charges
in addition in non prosecution agreement announced today by the department of
justice in connection with related criminal investigation of gen re
transactions with aig gen re agreed to pay million dollars to us postal
inspection service consumer fraud fund
the company also agreed to pay million dollars through civil class action
settlement to aig injured shareholders
gen re previously forfeited to the government around million dollars in fees
it earned for its participation in the scheme with aig
according to officials gen re reinsurance firm that provides insurance to
commercial insurers arranged to sell financial products to aig and prudential
for the sole purpose of enabling those companies to manipulate their accounting
results and mislead investors said sec regional director andrew calamari
the sec previously charged aig with securities fraud and improper accounting
and the company settled the charges by paying more than million dollars
separate agreements were reached with former aig chairman maurice greenberg and
former chief financial officer howard smith
ice hockey czech olympic captain elias has concussion
newark new jersey jan afp
new jersey left wing patrik elias captain of the czech republic team for the
vancouver winter olympics was placed on the national hockey league injured list
wednesday with concussion
devils general manager lou lamoriello said elias who has scored goals in
games this season was examined by neurologist and will be re examined later
this week
elias was injured saturday when checked in the chin by colorado defenseman ryan
wilson
the czech squad won olympic gold at the nagano winter olympics the first
to use active nhl talent thanks to league shutdown and defeated russia to
capture the bronze medal at the turin winter olympics
the devils have wins in games to lead the nhl atlantic division
dutch mp in court over anti islam comments
amsterdam jan afp
dutch far right lawmaker geert wilders made his first court appearance wednesday
on charges of inciting racial hatred against muslims insisting on his right to
speak out about islamisation
know that sometimes use harsh words wilders who has famously compared
the koran to hitler mein kampf told the amsterdam district court
have nothing against muslims have problem with islam and the
islamisation of our country
the year old mp creator of the controversial anti islam film fitna appeared
before panel of judges wednesday to work out the modalities for his hate
speech trial for which no date has been set
he told the court sitting amid heavy security that freedom in the netherlands
is under threat
free people are duty bound to express themselves against any ideology which
threatens that freedom contended wilders asking the court to acquit him
the lawmaker who believes his trial is political process stands accused of
five counts of religious insult and anti muslim incitement for describing islam
as fascist religion and calling for the banning of the koran
he is also charged for having stated that moroccan youths were violent for
calling for dutch borders to be closed to all non western immigrants and for
advocating an end to what he terms the islamic invasion
wilders who faces up to one year in jail if convicted was welcomed at the
court by about supporters some of whom had come from belgium and germany
freedom of expression yes islamisation no read banner displayed by the
group
wilders lawyer bram moszkowicz argued that the court had no jurisdiction over
his client as the supreme court was the competent authority for allegations
involving misconduct by an mp
mr wilders has always made his statements in his capacity as public
representative of his party for freedom which has nine out of
parliamentary seats said moszkowicz
but prosecutor birgit van roessel said that expressing his opinion in the media
or through other channels is not part of an mp duties
lawmakers only enjoy immunity for comments made in parliament she added
the tribunal will rule on february on whether it is competent to hear the
case
fitna wilders minute film was called offensively anti islamic by un
secretary general ban ki moon after its screening in the netherlands in
prompted protests in much of the muslim world
prosecutors had initially declined to charge wilders citing freedom of speech
when it dismissed dozens of complaints over the film and variety of public
utterances
but an appeals court last january ordered prosecutors to put the mp on trial
saying politicians should not be permitted to make statements which create hate
and grief
the prosecuting authority said through spokesman wednesday it had not yet
decided on its strategy and may well seek wilders acquittal at the end of the
trial
wilders under hour surveillance following death threats does not believe
he said anything wrong his lawyer insisted in court
the only freedom he thought he still had was to be able to say what he thinks
but even that freedom is now at risk of being taken away
mpa mlr mjs
football africa cup of nations nigeria mozambique
lubango angola jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match at tundavala stadium on
wednesday
nigeria odemwingie martins mozambique
urgent football nigeria and egypt reach africa cup of nations quarter
finals
lubango angola jan afp
nigeria and egypt reached the africa cup of nations quarter finals on wednesday
with nigeria beating mozambique here and egypt beating benin in
benguela in their respective group matches
alert
football egypt and nigeria reach africa cup of nations quarter finals
anti jewish swearing not necessarily racist argentine court
buenos aires jan afp
spitting out anti jewish insults at someone is not necessarily incitement to
racism and can simply be invective that escapes anti discrimination laws an
argentine court ruled wednesday
the verdict handed down by buenos aires federal appeals court immediately
stirred up public debate with representatives of argentina strong
jewish community fiercely protesting
the court delivered its judgement in case in which the plaintiff accused the
defendant of hurling anti jewish insults at him that he claimed was crime
under an argentine anti discrimination law
the swearing included the phrases jewish son of bitch ll kill you
you re con man like your family and all jews and hitler should have
killed all of you
appeals judge eduardo guillermo farah said in his ruling that the content of
these declarations however despicable they may be was way certainly
unfortunate to express discontent within business relationship
as such he said the behavior of the aggressor is not in violation of the law
which called for stiff sentences against anybody convicted of inciting
persecution or hatred against another person on basis of race religion
nationality or political ideology
argentine jewish community the largest in latin america immediately hit
out at the verdict
it shameful judgement the head of the delegation of argentine israelite
associations aldo donzis said it worrying because this verdict shows that
the courts don care about this issue at all
julio schlosser the secretary general of the argentine israelite mutual
association amia said even if these words were not followed by acts of
violence they could lead to events that we thought eradicated
the groups highlighted recent anti jewish acts in buenos aires including the
desecration of six tombs in jewish ceremony last month and bomb attacks in
against israel embassy and in against amia building that killed
more than people
white house gatecrashers keep quiet in congress
washington jan afp
us couple who crashed president barack obama first state dinner leaving the
white house red faced refused on wednesday to answer congressional
committee questions about the incident
on the advice of my counsel respectfully assert my right to remain silent
and decline to answer your question tareq salahi told the committee invoking
his constitutional rights against self incrimination
his wife michaele did the same in the hearing before the house of
representatives homeland security committee
the couple made no statement and refused to take questions from reporters
the salahis made headlines after they attended the early portion of the november
dinner honoring indian prime minister manmohan singh despite apparently
lacking either an invitation or proper secret service clearance
the salahis boasted of turning up at the list event on their joint facebook
page with the message honored to be at the white house for the state dinner in
honor of india with president obama and our first lady
the two reportedly aspiring reality tv stars were even photographed with
president barack obama
united nations defends haiti aid response
port au prince jan afp
the united nations defended wednesday its emergency aid programme in the quake
devastated haitian capital saying that some food was getting to the desperate
despite massive challenges
it is one of the most complex situations that we have ever had to deal with in
many years nicholas reader chief spokesman of the un office for the
coordination of humanitarian affairs told reporters in haiti
it took some time but we are getting there now he added
david orr spokesman for the un world food program said food deliveries had
begun to reach many of the estimated one million people left homeless and hungry
by last week devastating quake
as of the end of today the world food program and its partners have reached
more than beneficiaries with approximately one million rations of food
he said
many of the refugees sleeping rough in ad hoc camps around port au prince and
the surrounding region complain that the international aid mission has been slow
to reach them and looting has broken out
orr said problems of communication had made it difficult to reach out to the
population to reassure them that aid is on the way
football juventus confirm candreva signing
rome jan afp
juventus on wednesday confirmed the signing of italy midfielder antonio candreva
from udinese following complicated three way negotiations
the year old has signed on loan until the end of the season with an option to
