sofia jan afp
manchester united striker dimitar berbatov was voted thursday bulgaria best
football player of his sixth win of the title over the years the
bulgarian football union announced
total of bulgarian journalists and sports officials took part in the poll
this year with supporting the year old bulgarian national team captain
for the title
berbatov had also won the poll in and
aston villa captain stilian petrov came in second followed by terek grozny
midfielder blagoy georgiev
alert
us soldiers to begin arriving thursday in haiti pentagon
masked attackers raid greek justice minister office
athenes jan afp
around masked attackers armed with sticks broke into the office of junior
greek justice minister in broad daylight on thursday police source said
roughing up staff and destroying equipment
the incident happened at george katsifaras office in central athens around
midday police said
last month the same office was hit by home made bomb blast which only caused
limited damage
police have blamed anarchists for series of similar attacks that have targeted
the offices of politicians and government ministers in recent months none of
which have caused any injuries
olympics rogge vows to root out vancouver dope cheats
lausanne switzerland jan afp
olympic chief jacques rogge on thursday warned doping cheats that he was ready
to root them out at the winter games in vancouver
the international olympic committee chief said everything was in place for
successful winter olympics next month and cautioned that he would not let doping
problems spoil the sporting occasion
we re very optimistic at the ioc for the success of the upcoming games mainly
because the fundamentals are so good rogge told journalists citing great
local support the location preparations and canadian enthusiasm for winter
sports
these games will leave great legacy
however rogge also pointed to high profile clampdowns at the last two winter
games in salt lake city and turin to signal that the ioc would not hesitate to
act on suspicions of doping
very clearly we have zero tolerance policy for doping rogge reiterated
outlining an array of weapons to trace the cheats
this is going to be the strategy unannounced out of competition testing
targeted testing that means according to the information we get from
grassroots level very crucial information
if we see an athlete disappearing and then reappearing at very late period
we ll try to know why he added
if at certain moment we see an athlete augmenting his performance in way
that we believe is not very natural if in the various blood controls we see
something suspicious we are again are going to target this or that athlete
samples taken in anti doping tests would also be kept for eight years for
subsequent testing if new doping methods come to light following policy
implemented in beijing he added
the turin winter olympics were marred by doping scandal that led to
lifetime ban on six austrian cross country skiers and biathletes
rogge insisted that he had asked for the italian police raids that netted
advanced medical equipment used syringes blood bags and performance enhancing
drugs in austrian team residences in northern italy during the event in february
germany japan pledge joint efforts on climate disarmament
tokyo jan afp
japan and germany agreed thursday to work together on climate change nuclear
disarmament and rebuilding afghanistan during tokyo visit by foreign minister
guido westerwelle
germany top diplomat who is also deputy chancellor met japan prime
minister yukio hatoyama and foreign minister katsuya okada at the start of an
asia tour that will also take him to china
disarmament is the central issue of our times westerwelle told reporters
germany wants it japan wants it too the question now is what we can achieve
together on the international stage
he said tokyo and berlin must take united stance to prevent the possibility of
nuclear armed iran
okada later told joint press briefing if iran holds nuclear weapons that
would be very grave issue as we would not be able to stop the trend of nuclear
proliferation in the world
the japanese foreign minister added that if talks with iran failed and if the
international community decides to put sanctions on iran japan would not
hesitate in joining the sanctions
hatoyama in his talks with westerwelle stressed the importance of cooperation
between japan and germany as non nuclear armed nations in that share the same
value said japanese foreign ministry statement
on climate change hatoyama said the copenhagen accord reached last year was not
satisfactory while westerwelle also spoke of the need for binding
international agreement the statement said
on afghanistan okada told the press conference we agreed that there are areas
where japan and germany can cooperate in helping afghanistan
both sides agreed to cooperate in building hospital in northern afghanistan
and discussed the need to boost police training and payments and to build up key
sectors of the country infrastructure
schools roads water energy all this must be developed in order to bring
self sustaining security to afghanistan said westerwelle
the german foreign minister said both sides also discussed stepping up their
long standing bids for permanent seats on the un security council saying that
the forum should better reflect the world of the st century
westerwelle took his posts after his free democrats formed coalition
government with the conservative party of chancellor angela merkel in october
the tokyo ministerial meetings were the first since the new governments took
power in tokyo and berlin
cape town beaches re open after deadly shark attack
cape town jan afp
south africa tourist magnet cape town re opened thursday all beaches closed
after zimbabwean holidaymaker was killed by massive shark at the height of
the summer holiday season
but the city urged bathers to take precautions by swimming in groups and
remaining only waist deep in water warning of increased shark sightings in the
area
although the beaches have been declared safe both shark spotting and
lifesaving services will continue said the statement adding that sea rescue
disaster and law enforcement officials remained on alert
this is season during which increased numbers of shark sightings are
reported it said
stunned beach goers watched the great white tear into the man on tuesday at the
popular fish hoek beach
we saw the shark come back twice phyllis mccartain told the cape times
newspaper
it had the man body in its mouth and his arm was in the air then the sea
was full of blood she said
the beaches were closed wednesday after witnesses reported seeing four metre
long foot great white shark swimming near rocks on the side of the beach
you ve got to be stupid to get in the water right now fish hoek resident
eddie roth told the sapa news agency after spotting the giant on wednesday
we heard there was shark and we came to take look when we got to the
beach we saw four metre great white swimming very close to the rocks it was
just beyond the kelp
eight sharks were sighted near fish hoek on friday and saturday by the city
shark spotters service which has recorded sightings over six years
latin american aid flows to devastated haitian capital
sao paulo jan afp
haiti desperate pleas for help were starting to be answered thursday by latin
american nations many of which were already part of un assistance mission in
the impoverished country
argentina brazil chile and peru all sent tons of aid including food water
and medical and rescue teams after receiving confirmation that the airport in
haiti capital port au prince though damaged could receive flights
the cargoes were just initial responses more assistance was already being
planned
brazil preoccupied with also supplying the more than troops it has
deployed to haiti as part of the un peacekeeping force it commands was looking
at flying in tons of powdered milk beans and rice in coming days
so far brazil has already delivered more than tons of food and water and
flown in rescue team with dogs to locate the hundreds of haitians and un
workers believed trapped in the rubble of houses hospitals hotels and offices
brazil and argentina were both on thursday sending field hospitals to tend the
multitudes of injured in port au prince
at least three haitian hospitals collapsed during the quake leaving an
argentine staffed facility as the main medical outpost in the city hopelessly
overflowing with casualties until more help arrives
argentine officials said they were also coordinating with the swiss based
international telecommunications union to send satellite telephone gear to haiti
to permit voice and data transmissions
the lack of land based and cellular telephone communications in port au prince
in the wake of the temblor has severely hampered rescue efforts and prevented
clear picture emerging of the scope and scale of the disaster
another tons of aid and rescue personnel were sent from chile early
thursday officials said
we hope these rescue teams will fulfill crucial task from what we have seen
in the media with haitian citizens searching for family members in the rubble
with their hands said juan gabriel valdes chilean diplomat who used to head
up un peacekeeping efforts
peru sent two military aircraft on thursday with another tons of aid mainly
medicine food and tarpaulins said prime minister javier velasquez who was to
personally hand over the shipment to haitian authorities
the planes were immediately to return to peru to pick up medical staff field
hospital and rescue team to also go to haiti he said
urgent ecb chief calls greek eurozone expulsion absurd hypothesis
frankfurt jan afp
european central bank president jean claude trichet said thursday that talk of
greece being expelled from the nation eurozone because of its fiscal problems
was an absurd hypothesis
aid agencies warn of major logistic challenge in haiti
geneva jan afp
un and aid agencies warned thursday that they faced major logistic challenge
in getting essential relief to survivors of haiti deadly earthquake
some aid is being handed out with world food programme spokesman charles
vincent saying people in some districts of the flattened haitian capital
port au prince should receive food later thursday
obviously it drop in bucket but it start he said adding that once
roads are cleared distribution would also start in other areas
most of the population have not had food for the whole day yesterday and today
as result certain insecurity is feared
the scale of devastation caused by tuesday magnitude quake means the wfp
has been unable to gain access to its warehouses and vincent said he was unsure
if they had been damaged or looted
elisabeth byrs who is spokeswoman of the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs warned that relief agencies faced major logistic
challenge on the ground
while the airport at port au prince was functioning its control tower was still
down she said
un experts are trying to get the control tower operational by the end of the
day byrs added and others have been sent to reestablish communications which
have been cut off
communications is still the greatest handicap for everybody according to the
wfp vincent
hopefully over the next few days communications will be restored
earlier the international organisation for migration appealed for tents to
shelter homeless survivors and said it was was gearing up to distribute vital
supplies
what we need is tents tents and more tents we need large or individual tents
whatever is available and financial support quickly vincent houver the iom
chief of mission in haiti said in statement
the organisation said it would provide tarpaulins plastic sheeting jerry cans
and water containers from stocks already in the impoverished vountry to help
some families
haiti prime minister has warned the death toll could top while
president rene preval said could have been killed
football czech midfielder jarosik signs for zaragoza
prague jan afp
czech midfielder jiri jarosik signed an month contract with spanish top
flight side real zaragoza on thursday the international sport management ism
company which brokered the deal said
capped times for his country the year old former sparta prague cska
moscow chelsea birmingham and celtic player had spent the last two seasons at
russian first division side samara where his contract has expired
our company has offered him contract at zaragoza who needed defensive
player of his type ism head pavel paska said on the ism website
jarosik who has won titles in four leagues turned down three and half year
offer from sparta
instead the prague side on thursday signed former player libor sionko on two
and half year contract from fc copenhagen club officials told reporters
winger sionko also notched up nine goals in appearances for the czech
republic he returned to his former team only day after finishing his contract
with copenhagen
alert
ecb president trichet says greek euozone expulsion an absurd hypothesis
wai bmm
obama asks bush to help with haiti relief official
washington jan afp
former us president george bush will join former president bill clinton to
help lead the us relief effort in response to the earthquake that devastated
haiti an official close to bush said thursday
bush president barack obama predecessor will join president clinton in
helping with disaster relief after the catastrophe the official who spoke on
condition of anonymity told afp
the official announcement was expected to come from the white house
the united states has launched massive aid operation including specialists
coast guard cutters helicopters transport planes and the uss carl vinson
aircraft carrier along with marines deployed
the usns comfort floating military hospital and team of doctors and medical
supplies was also readying to sail from the us east coast to haiti
the white house declined to comment on the request to bush and clinton but said
that obama would make new statement on the unfolding us relief effort for
haiti later on thursday
obama is due to speak from the diplomatic room of the white house at am
gmt
on wednesday obama ordered swift coordinated and aggressive effort to save
lives in haiti following the murderous quake as massive us aid mission
swung into action using troops naval forces aircraft and rescue teams
football whelan wants benitez sacked after cup exit
london jan afp
pressure was growing on beleaguered liverpool manager rafael benitez on thursday
as former captain ronnie whelan called for him to be sacked following the team
embarrassing fa cup exit
the spanish boss found himself in an unwelcome spotlight after wednesday
third round replay loss at home to championship strugglers reading at anfield
benitez in charge at anfield since was booed along with his players after
their extra time defeat
the result is serious blow to benitez hopes of ending liverpool four year
wait for trophy and means the spaniard must win the second tier european club
competition europa league if he is to secure the club first piece of major
silverware since the fa cup triumph against west ham
former republic of ireland midfielder whelan who made appearances for the
reds is longstanding critic of the benitez regime and believes the club must
now change direction even if it means anfield great kenny dalglish taking charge
in caretaker capacity until the end of the season
the way liverpool have been playing they have not been good they have lost
of the last games whelan told bbc radio five live on thursday
he benitez should have gone long time ago they have got to do it now the
year old added
do they bring in someone until the end of the season kenny dalglish is back at
the football club could he do it until the end of the season and see what
happens
it was only last year that benitez signed contract extension that is set to
keep him with liverpool until and doubts remain over whether even if they
wanted to sack him the club would be willing to afford the multi million pounds
pay off they would have to give the spaniard
meanwhile benitez said there was nothing new about criticism as far as he was
concerned
for three months everyone was talking about me at the end as manager you
have to be disappointed but then move forward and think about stoke on
saturday he said
we are frustrated but you have to carry on everyone is disappointed
benitez was already under pressure before wednesday game after the team
champions league exit and their faltering premier league campaign which sees
them points behind leaders chelsea in the title race
but losing to reading has again put his position back in the spotlight ahead of
saturday tricky away game at stoke city
and their task at the britannia stadium this weekend could be made more
difficult after star players steven gerrard and fernando torres were both forced
off with injury against reading
they are the two players who can create something out of absolutely nothing
they can produce bit of magic jason mcateer another former liverpool and
republic of ireland midfielder told lfc tv
you just look around the team and when those two are not there who is going to
create that bit of magic where is that bit of leadership and quality
reading did need late penalty to force an equaliser but sealed deserved
extra time victory through shane long header and mcateer said liverpool could
have no complaints about the result
sometimes you just can defend that kind of performance it was poor
liverpool just didn really create anything and to be fair the better team won
on the night
britain apologises to thalidomide victims
london jan afp
the british government issued long awaited apology thursday to victims of
half century old thalidomide drug scandal and confirmed million pound
million dollar million euro package to help them
total of survivors of the drug which caused children to be born with
physical deformities after their mothers took thalidomide for morning sickness
during pregnancy are eligible for support
know many thalidomiders have waited long time for this health minister
mike brien told the house of commons using the term for victims of the drug
at the end of the
the government wishes to express its sincere regret and deep sympathy for the
injury and suffering endured by all those affected when expectant mothers took
the drug thalidomide between and he said
we acknowledge both the physical hardship and the emotional difficulties that
have faced both the children affected and their families as result of this
drug and the challenges that many continue to endure often on daily basis
thalidomide was banned in britain in after its effects including stunted
limbs brain damage and other problems were highlighted notably by media
campaigners
thalidomide campaigner guy tweedy described the government apology as
absolutely wonderful
highly delighted and so glad that it actually came years too late but
never mind it an apology not just to thalidomide victims but to the parents
and parents who lost their children in the early days he said
but he lamented some will not be around to hear the apology from the
government
the million pound funding package was announced last month but tweedy said
the formal apology means as much in some ways as the money adding it
big day
merkel euro entering very difficult phase due to greek problems
berlin jan afp
german chancellor angela merkel believes the euro faces very difficult phase
with greece budget crisis putting the eurozone under huge huge pressures
comments published thursday showed
the greece example is putting us under great great pressures questions are
being asked that are anything but trivial merkel said according to the
transcript of comments made at an event on wednesday
who is going to tell the greek parliament could you please pass another
pension reform not sure they would be very impressed if germany gave the
orders the german parliament certainly wouldn if greece did that to us
merkel said
as result the euro is in very difficult phase for the coming years
greece on thursday unveiled blueprint for spending cuts aimed at solving
debt crisis that has shaken the eurozone with the government due to present the
plan to the european commission on friday
afghan market suicide bombing kills army general
kandahar afghanistan jan afp
suicide bomber targeted crowded market in restive district of southern
afghanistan on thursday killing up to civilians in the deadliest attack in
four months
the bombing in the dihrawud district of uruzgan province comes as attacks by the
hardline taliban militia escalate with violence spreading to regions that have
so far been relatively peaceful
this was suicide bomber on foot who detonated himself at the gate of money
exchange market said afghan army general abdul hameed commander of national
forces in uruzgan
up to now civilians have been killed and wounded
provincial police chief juma gul hemat had earlier said civilians were
killed
in early september people were killed by suicide bomber outside mosque
in eastern afghanistan and at least died in an attack in kandahar in august
days after the fraud tainted presidential election that returned hamid karzai to
power
nato international security assistance force isaf said the latest attack was
near forward operating base hadrian and that its troops had helped evacuate the
dead and treat the injured
initial reports indicate at least afghan civilians have been killed and
wounded in the blast it said in statement adding bomb disposal team
rushed to the scene and had recovered large amount of opium
karzai office issued statement condemning the brutal attack
the enemies of afghanistan carried out terrorist attack among residents of
dihrawud while they were going about their daily business leaving many families
bereft
their act proves their ignorance of the sacred religion of islam and their
hostility towards the afghan people karzai said in the statement
un figures published on wednesday showed that more than civilians were
killed in making it the deadliest year for ordinary afghans since the
us led invasion
in another attack in the neighbouring province of helmand one of the most
violent regions in the country police officer was killed and five others were
injured nato and afghan authorities said
there was no immediate claim of responsibility but both attacks bore the
hallmarks of the taliban who are waging an intensifying insurgency to overthrow
karzai western backed government
in the helmand attack suicide bomber blew up an explosives packed car
killing one police officer and injuring five others including four police
officers and civilian nato and afghan officials said
according to initial reports one afghan police officer has been killed and four
wounded in suicide vehicle ied strike in musa qala isaf said
the statement was referring to improvised explosive devises crude bombs that
have become the pivot of the taliban arsenal and are now responsible for up to
percent of foreign troops deaths military intelligence officials say
the district chief of musa qala abdul salem confirmed the attack
afghan civilians caught in the cross fire between insurgents and afghan and
western troops bear the brunt of the violence now in its ninth year
the united nations released report on wednesday that found civilian casualties
rose percent in over the year before
it said that civilians were killed in the war in making it the
deadliest year for ordinary afghans since the us led invasion toppled the
taliban regime from power in
it said percent of the deaths were caused by taliban attacks while
international troops and afghan security forces were responsible for percent
there are international troops in afghanistan fighting the insurgency
under us and nato command figure set to rise to by august
afp middle east news summary
nicosia jan afp
top middle east stories on thursday
attacks yemen
sanaa yemen council of clerics called for jihad if foreign troops join the
war on al qaeda in the impoverished arabian peninsula country as the government
vowed to eradicate the extremists
iran unrest nuclear
tehran iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad said zionist methods were used
in the bombing of top atomic scientist as angry mourners chanting anti us and
anti israeli slogans buried the slain professor
iran opposition politics release
tehran iran has released so called mournful mothers who were arrested for
protesting the death or disappearance of their children in post election unrest
an opposition website reported
iraq unrest trial
baghdad an iraqi court sentenced to death men including al qaeda militants
over devastating truck bombs in baghdad that killed more than people in
august and dealt harsh blow to the government
mideast israel turkey diplomacy
jerusalem the israeli media slammed the government handling of diplomatic
row with turkey in which it humiliated ankara ambassador and then retreated
with public apologies
kuwait france energy nuclear economy
kuwait city kuwait and france signed cooperation agreement for the peaceful
use of nuclear energy officials said
skorea energy nuclear jordan
seoul south korean consortium has signed contract to build jordan first
atomic research reactor following landmark billion dollar deal with the
united arab emirates officials said
uae rights torture amnesty
dubai rights group amnesty international has sharply criticised the acquittal
of united arab emirates sheikh accused of torture and rape calling the
verdict very questionable
uae dubai un
dubai the gulf emirate of dubai said that it is fully prepared to host the
united nations headquarters an idea floated by us magazine forbes
russian car sales plunged pct in industry data
moscow jan afp
car sales plunged percent in russia last year compared to data from the
association of european businesses in russia aeb showed thursday
reversing years of rapid growth total sales of new passenger cars and light
trucks dropped to million units in roughly the same level the market
was at in the aeb said in statement
foreign auto makers were among the biggest losers with toyota sales falling by
percent hyundai by percent and ford by percent it said
russia largest carmaker avtovaz which has slashed thousands of jobs amid the
global economic crisis sold percent fewer of its lada cars
before the crisis hit in late russia was one of the fastest growing auto
markets in europe and foreign car manufacturers flocked to set up production
lines and retail networks in the country
but the economic slowdown triggered an unprecedented crisis in the russian auto
industry as consumers tightened their belts and sales dived
the government has resorted to an array of schemes to boost car consumption in
recent months including an incentive for people to trade in their old cars akin
to the so called cash for clunkers programme in the united states
us retail sales drop unexpectedly in december
washington jan afp
us retail sales unexpectedly fell in december the critical holiday shopping
season government data showed thursday
the commerce department said adjusted retail sales were billion dollars
decline of percent from november instead of the consensus analyst forecast
of rise of percent
on month basis sales rose hefty percent from december near the
height of the global financial crisis
for all of retail sales an indicator of the spending that drives two
thirds of the country economic activity were down percent from
eurozone crisis brews as ecb holds rates
frankfurt jan afp
the eurozone faced its worst internal crisis as european central bank governors
met here thursday with financial woes in greece and other countries eclipsing
move to leave interest rates unchanged
with the bank main rate locked at record low of percent the focus of
analysts attention was fixed on how ecb president jean claude trichet would
field questions on the greek debt crisis during his monthly press conference
ecb chief economist juergen stark warned athens last week not to count on
rescue by european union partners but analysts from italian lender unicredit
said the central bank president comments would probably be more nuanced
the ecb will never openly support bailout but trichet will probably sound
less explicit than stark they wrote
calyon bank analyst daragh maher said that while greek prime minister george
papandreou insists the country will not need outside help many will wonder
quite where the ecb stands were the pm to be proven wrong
direct assistance by eurozone members to greece would violate rules on which the
single currency is based but observers widely expect some kind of help in the
end
analysts said the question then becomes what about the zone other members
where trouble has been laid bare by the international financial crisis
if investors start looking at outstanding bonds of ireland italy portugal and
spain and concern spreads lack of confidence would be quite costly
barclays capital economist thorsten polleit told afp after the rate decision was
announced
the credit rating agency moody warned this week that portugal economy is
also at risk of slow death unless it becomes more competitive and efficient
moody said its assumptions about those countries that will be able to restore
their economic and fiscal health and those that will not be able to will be
tested this year
