beijing
freezing front sweeps over much of northern china with snowstorms snarling
road and air traffic schools set to stay closed and some of the lowest
temperatures in decades forecast in coming days
words moved picture
afghanistan unrest politics ndlead wrap
kabul
afghan president hamid karzai suffers new blow to his authority with the
rejection by parliament of most of his cabinet nominees further prolonging
political crisis in the war ravaged country
words moved by lynne donnell picture
croat ex pm considers return after party poll failure
zagreb jan afp
croatia former prime minister ivo sanader said sunday he might return to
politics after the first round exit of his party the croatian democratic union
hdz in last month presidential election
sanader who unexpectedly retired from politics in july criticised the
leadership of his successor as prime minister jadranka kosor
in the first round of the presidential vote the hdz recorded its worst result
since it was founded in sanader said
as of today have decided to fully activate my role as honorary president of
the hdz with all the duties and rights that entails he said
the hdz presidential candidate andrija hebrang failed to make it through to
the second round run off in the presidential election garnering just percent
of the vote in the december first round
but while criticising kosor leadership sanador also acknowledged that he had
to share some of the blame for having withdrawn from the political scene
retiring completely from politics was mistake and am partly responsible for
the result in the presidential election he said
sanader still had two years of his term as prime minister left when he stepped
down and had also served as the party president
he said sunday he might return as deputy in the croatian parliament when
moratorium imposed by local laws expires on january
croatian president stipe mesic was critical of the former premier
announcement
as much as the departure of mr sanader had surprised everyone and most people
thought that it was inappropriate and harmful for croatia so this return to the
public arena is in certain manner also inappropriate he said on national
radio
he said the presence of around deputies alongside sanader when he made his
announcement at press conference sent certain message
the opposition social democrat candidate ivo josipovic and the mayor of zagreb
milan bandic standing as an independent will contest the presidential run off
vote on january
eritrea says attacked by ethiopia
addis ababa jan afp
eritrea accused arch foe ethiopia on sunday of launching attacks along their
disputed border but said its troops had driven off the assault killing
ethiopian soldiers and capturing two
the eritrean foreign affairs ministry said soldiers from ethiopia ruling
tigrai people liberation front tplf had attacked on friday in the zalambesa
area ethiopian officials denied the claims
in the early morning hours of january st tplf soldiers launched
successive attacks in the zalambesa front and were swiftly driven back the
ministry said in statement on its website
zalambesa lies in the centre of the contested frontier over which neighbours
fought brutal war in the late
ten of their soldiers were killed and two captured leaving six ak
automatic rifles machine gun and communication equipment the statement
said
the ethiopian government denied the claims
there was never an incursion from our side it diversionary tactic by the
eritrean regime to deflect attention from its domestic problems spokesman
shimelis kemal told afp
an eritrean rebel group earlier this week claimed they carried out raids against
government positions while another movement said it was prepared to launch
attacks after the united nations imposed an arms embargo and other tough
sanctions on asmara
the eritrean government has become internationally outlawed and is bankrupt
the rebel claims indicate growing discontent from within the country shimelis
added
ethiopian prime minister meles zenawi tplf party is the main member of the
ruling coalition and was close ally of the eritrean government before it fell
out prior to the border war
about people died in the border conflict many in brutal world
war style trench warfare
un backed boundary commission charged with demarcating the border has handed
the disputed town of badme to eritrea but addis ababa has refused to recognise
the ruling
in august the hague based eritrea ethiopia claims commission ordered asmara to
pay million dollars in damages sustained during the conflict decision
asmara has pledged to comply with
urgent avatar tops billion dollars fastest ever movie tracker
los angeles jan afp
hollywood blockbuster avatar surged to box office haul of more than one
billion dollars globally on sunday faster than any other movie in history an
industry tracker reported
alert
avatar tops billion dollars worldwide fastest ever movie tracker
danish attack suspect also allegedly targeted clinton report
copenhagen jan afp
man charged with attempting to kill danish cartoonist over his muslim
prophet mohammed caricatures was also involved in an alleged plot against us
secretary of state hillary clinton danish newspaper reported sunday
but one danish diplomat played down the report
the online edition of politiken newpaper said that the year old man charged
with having tried to kill cartoonist kurt westergaard late friday had also been
involved in plot against clinton in kenya
clinton visited kenya last august
their report said kenyan police had arrested the suspect in and had held
him for seven weeks the kenyan press had linked his arrest with plot againt
clinton the paper added
this connection has been confirmed to politiken by intelligences source the
article added
the newspaper noted that statement saturday from the danish intelligence
service pet had said of the suspect he is also suspected of having been
involved in terror related activities during his stay in east africa
the suspect who allegedly broke into westergaard home with an axe in bid to
kill him because of caricature he had drawn of the prophet mohammed which
sparked deadly protests in the muslim world has not been named by the danish
authorities
approached by politiken bo jensen the danish ambassador to kenya would
neither confirm or deny that the suspect charged in denmark was the same person
the previous year in kenya
but jensen told the danish news agency ritzau the man arrested in kenya had been
picked up because his papers were not in order
kenyan officials had not confirmed he was involved in any plot against clinton
he added it just story in newspaper
danish intelligence approached by afp refused to comment on the story
power failure disrupts air traffic in spain canaries
madrid jan afp
power failure at the air traffic control centre in spain canary islands on
sunday disrupted flights at the eight airports serving the archipelago the
country airport authority said
total of flights that were scheduled to leave the popular tourist
destination were grounded while others were delayed but aircraft approaching
the islands were able to land aena said
it said flights elsewhere in spain and in latin america were also affected
due to its location in the atlantic ocean the canary islands is major
crossroads for air traffic between europe and latin america
aena did not indicate the cause of the power failure which lasted for about
minutes
italian pasta industry summoned over price fixing
rome jan afp
the italian government on sunday summoned the pasta industry to explain its
pricing as part of an investigation into suspicions that cartel has driven up
the cost of italy favourite food
the economic development ministry mr price the guarantor of price
surveillance had called the industry to closed door meeting on january
ministry statement said
the producers of pasta are summoned to mr price over the fixing of the retail
price of pasta compared to the wholesale price and the cost of the raw
materials the statement said
mr price who is roberto sambuco had called in the industry after observations
over the past year had revealed evidence of problems with the growth of retail
prices of pasta it said
dozen organisations were called to the meeting including pasta manufacturers
and millers covering the industry entire production and commercial network
on december italian police raided top pasta makers barilla and de cecco as
well as the pastamakers union as part of an enquiry launched in by the
state prosecutor office after complaints from consumer associations
in consumer watchdogs called for pasta strike to protest price hikes
the prosecutor office suspects five companies amato barilla de cecco
divella and garofalo of having formed cartel to push up prices
in february last year italy antitrust authorities fined pasta manufacturers
million euros million dollars accusing them of collaborating in
cartel that operated from october to march
between may and may pasta prices jumped by percent according to
the antitrust authority it was also around that time that the cost of the main
ingredient of the food wheat shot up
italians on average eat kilogrammes pounds of pasta year per capita
by far the highest consumption in the world according to the association of
pasta manufacturers of the european union
wh aide cites yemen cleric ties to two attacks
washington jan afp
radical yemeni cleric who was in contact with the suspected us army base
shooter may also have ties to the failed attack on us bound plane at
christmas top white house aide said sunday
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan accused the
cleric anwar al awlaqi of trying to instigate terrorism due to his alleged
links to the two events
think what we are clear about is that mr awlaqi was in touch with alleged
fort hood shooter major nidal hasan and there are indications that he had
contact direct contact with alleged christmas day bomber umar farouk
abdulmutallab brennan said on cnn
mr awlaqi is problem he clearly part of al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula he not just cleric he is in fact trying to instigate terrorism
president barack obama on saturday accused the yemen based al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula or aqap of arming and training nigerian suspect
abdulmutallab who targeted detroit bound northwest airlines jet on christmas
day
the new york times has previously reported that abdulmutallab told fbi agents
that he was connected to the al qaeda affiliate by radical yemeni cleric whom
he contacted online
the us born awlaqi also exchanged emails with hasan an army psychiatrist who
has been charged with killing people in november shooting rampage at the
texas military base
the cleric has told the washington post he blessed the act and said it was
permissible under islam because it was form of jihad or holy war
us intelligence agencies intercepted emails between the fort hood suspect and
awlaqi who is now in yemen but was leader of the dar al hijrah mosque outside
washington attended by hasan and two hijackers of the september
attacks
in my mind major hasan carried out this attack it was inspired think by
some of the rantings and the rhetoric of individuals like al awlaqi said
brennan
what we need to do now is to make sure that we can identify other individuals
or other activities of mr al awlaqi so we can stop it before it comes through
football english fa cup fourth round draw
london jan afp
draw for the fourth round of the english fa cup made here on sunday
th rd draw
southampton ipswich
reading or liverpool burnley
millwall or derby brentford or doncaster
bristol city or cardiff leicester
stoke arsenal
notts county or forest green rovers wigan
scunthorpe manchester city
west bromwich albion plymouth or newcastle
everton nottingham forest or birmingham
accrington stanley or gillingham fulham
bolton sheffield united or queens park rangers
portsmouth or coventry sunderland
preston chelsea
aston villa brighton
tranmere or wolves crystal palace
tottenham leeds
ties to be played on the weekend of january
playing tuesday january
postponed rd rd ties gmt
accrington stanley gillingham
brentford doncaster
bristol city cardiff
rd rd replays
birmingham nottingham forest
coventry portsmouth
derby millwall
playing wednesday january
rd rd replays gmt unless stated
liverpool reading gmt
newcastle plymouth
nigerian family to attend plane plot suspect arraignment source
kano jan afp
the family of nigerian man accused of trying to blow up us airliner as it
approached detroit on christmas day plans to attend his arraignment in court
this week family source said sunday
umar farouk abdulmutallab the son of wealthy nigerian banker who is
currently being held in federal prison in michigan is due for arraignment in
federal court in detroit on friday
the family has finalised all arrangements to fly to detroit in the us to attend
the trial of umar farouk which begins on january from information available
to us the family member who requested anonymity told afp
lined up for the trip is the father umar abdulmutallab the mother aisha and
other family members the source said by telephone from abdulmutallab home
state of kaduna in northern nigeria
they fly out within the week but can tell you the day because the family
would want it to be secret for now said the source
according to the us prosecutors charges year old abdulmutallab tried to
bring down the northwest airlines airbus using device containing the
explosive petn also known as pentaerythritol
he was tackled by fellow passengers after the device caught fire and the flight
crew was able to douse the flames using fire extinguisher
days after the botched attempt his family promised full cooperation with
security agencies in their investigations
football english fa cup fourth round draw
london jan afp
draw for the fourth round of the english fa cup made here on sunday
th rd draw
southampton ipswich
reading or liverpool burnley
millwall or derby brentford or doncaster
bristol city or cardiff leicester
stoke arsenal
notts county or forest green rovers wigan
scunthorpe manchester city
west bromwich albion plymouth or newcastle
everton nottingham forest or birmingham
accrington stanley or gillingham fulham
bolton sheffield united or queens park rangers
portsmouth or coventry sunderland
preston chelsea
aston villa brighton
tranmere or wolves crystal palace
tottenham leeds
note tranmere wolves in progress
football leeds stun manchester united in cup shock chelsea cruise
london jan afp
third tier leeds united produced the shock of the third round by knocking record
times winners manchester united out of the fa cup with victory at old
trafford on sunday
leeds the league one leaders who are places below english champions
manchester united won thanks to jermaine beckford th minute goal
arsenal who ve lifted the fa cup times were themselves minutes away from
third round exit against premier league and london rivals west ham after
alessandro diamanti had put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half time
but two goals in five minutes from teenage midfielder aaron ramsey and striker
eduardo stunned the upton park faithful as arsenal won
fa cup holders chelsea who lead the premier league by two points from
manchester united cruised into sunday fourth round draw with thrashing
of second division watford at stamford bridge
defeat was the first time manchester united manager sir alex ferguson had lost
in the third round since he arrived at old trafford years ago
not since when beaten by third tier bournemouth had manchester united
lost at this stage
victory was also fallen giants leeds first win at old trafford since
their goal came after jonny howson superb yard pass over the head of wes
brown found striker beckford and he outpaced the defender before sliding the
ball left footed into the far corner and beyond goalkeeper tomasz kuszczak
the preparation for the game was very good but shocked by the
performance said ferguson
we didn start right and leeds did start right they fought like tigers and
we expect that with any team coming to old trafford for an fa cup tie it
disappointment
this loss was not what united wanted ahead of wednesday league cup semi final
first leg tie against local rivals manchester city and ferguson said we have
to get this result out of our system as quickly as possible
leeds manager simon grayson hailed his outstanding side after they produced
one of the great fa cup shocks
full credit to the players who were outstanding today but it what they ve
been like all season he said
chelsea were in front by the nd minute thanks to daniel sturridge john
eustace own goal and florent malouda deflected shot
england midfielder frank lampard made it in the th minute with yard
strike and four minutes later year old striker sturridge had his second and
chelsea fifth goal
sunday all second tier championship clash between sheffield united and qpr
ended in draw
jay simpson gave qpr the lead but it lasted just six minutes with richard
cresswell equalising for the blades
premier league wolves face league one strugglers tranmere rovers in the
weekend final third round tie after the match between notts county and non
league forest green was postponed because of frozen pitch
yemen repatriations to continue white house
washington jan afp
the united states will continue to repatriate guantanamo detainees to yemen
country menaced by the al qaeda terror network despite the christmas airliner
attack white house official said sunday
president barack obama counterterrorism adviser john brennan said yemeni
nationals not transferred to us soil for trial or detention would be sent home
we haven you know stopped the process as far as dealing with them brennan
told cnn referring to the roughly yemeni detainees who remain at the us
naval base in guantanamo bay cuba
many of them are going to be prosecuted either in us civilian courts or in
military tribunals he added
some of these individuals are going to be transferred back to yemen at the
right time and the right pace and in the right way
seven yemeni detainees have already been sent home by the obama administration
including six in december several others were repatriated during george
bush administration
brennan statements fall in line with obama pledge to shutter the war on
terror detention center set up by his predecessor
guantanamo has been used as propaganda tool by al qaeda and others brennan
stressed we need to close that facility and we re determined to do that
the botched jetliner attack by man suspected of receiving al qaeda training in
yeman has refocused attention on the policy
and on saturday obama for the first time accused al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap yemen based cell of osama bin laden group of targeting
the northwest plane carrying people as it neared detroit on christmas day
the president said washington was working closely with yemen government to
snuff out al qaeda leaders and members there
brennan insisted the christmas attack was unique incident that doesn
change the situation on the ground in yemen one bit
we know that al qaeda is out there we know we have to be mindful of that and
we know that we have to take our steps with those detainees in manner that is
not going to put our citizens at risk
three us senators warned last week of possible security disaster if washington
transferred detainees back to yemen without guarantees from sanaa that they will
not return to the battlefield
the senators including republican john mccain defeated by obama in the
presidential election said said ali al shihri whom they described as aqap
longstanding deputy was held in guantanamo but released in
brennan said washington was very pleased with how sanaa handled the first
yemeni national sent home from guantanamo about eight weeks ago
we had close dialogue with the yemeni government about the expectations we have
as far as what they re supposed to do when the detainees go back several
detainees were put in custody immediately brennan told fox news sunday
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after sunday afternoon matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
sevilla
deportivo la coruna
real mallorca
getafe
athletic bilbao
villarreal
sporting gijon
atletico madrid
valladolid
osasuna
racing santander
almeria
espanyol
tenerife
malaga
real zaragoza
xerez
football lillo celebrates almeria debut as xerez lose again
madrid jan afp
new almeria coach juanma lillo enjoyed winning start on sunday as his side
clinched crucial win over relegation rivals xerez
substitute jose ortiz bernal netted an th minute winner just three minutes
after coming on to gift lillo debut win after taking over from axed mexican
hugo sanchez
almeria move three points above the relegation zone while basement boys xerez
slide towards relegation lying eight points from safety with just one win all
season
struggling malaga were left frustrated as they twice surrendered the lead to be
pegged back at sporting gijon and stay third from bottom
at the other end of the table deportivo la coruna missed the chance to move
level on points with fourth placed sevilla who lost at atletico madrid on
saturday with draw at real zaragoza
deportivo trail sevilla by two points and must now prepare for wednesday first
leg last kings cup match at valencia
for new zaragoza coach jose aurelio gay who lost his first match against
real madrid it was first point in charge although they stay second from
bottom
in other matches getafe made it five wins from the last six wins with late
javi casquero goal sealing victory over valladolid
getafe are now just point behind depor in seventh and have still not drawn
game this season
later on sunday real madrid can move level on points with barcelona with
victory against osasuna in pamplona
barcelona dropped their first home points of the season in draw with
villarreal on saturday and real are now just three points behind
brazilian kaka has been out for month with groin strain and coach manuel
pellegrini has left him out of the squad for the osasuna trip but stressed the
playmaker was over his injury
luckily kaka feels well he trained normally this week but he isn quite
ready to play yet said pellegrini he has recovered from his injury
along with madrid real mallorca have the only other perfect home record and put
that to the test with match against athletic bilbao
mallorca can move level on points with sevilla with win but bilbao are no
pushover
it will be hard against one of our rivals said mallorca striker aritz aduriz
we will have to work hard to beat them and continue our run of wins at home
football eduardo caps arsenal fightback to sink hammers
london jan afp
arsenal staged dramatic late fightback to reach the fa cup fourth round with
win at london rivals west ham on sunday
arsene wenger side were heading out at the first hurdle with minutes to
play at upton park as they laboured to recover from alessandro diamanti first
half strike
but the gunners finally found enough rhythm in the closing moments to equalise
through aaron ramsey before eduardo capped their fightback by heading in the
winner that justified wenger decision to make five changes ahead of
wednesday crucial league game against bolton
defeat was harsh on west ham who deserved their lead and could have been out of
sight well before arsenal late revival
victory over bolton will take arsenal to within one point of premier league
leaders chelsea so wenger fielded much changed team with fran merida jack
wilshere carlos vela mikael silvestre and lukasz fabianski handed rare starts
unlike wenger west ham boss gianfranco zola had no option but to send out
weakened side scott parker and carlton cole were injured while mexican striker
guillermo franco served suspension so the italian gave first starts to
england under forward frank nouble and teenage defender fabio daprela
leeds remarkable victory over manchester united earlier on sunday encapsulated
the drama that the cup can still produce despite all its detractors
but even the magic of the cup and visit from one of the big four didn
seemed to appeal much to west ham fans
faced with the prospect of watching two below strength teams in freezing
conditions they ignored their club pre match appeals to turn out in force and
left some sections of the stadium unusually empty
it was arsenal who made the brighter start and robert green was tested when
james tomkins carelessly gifted possession to eduardo and he rifled in low
snap shot that the england goalkeeper pushed away for corner
arsenal dominance was short lived however as zola side working tirelessly
to deny the gunners time on the ball took control of midfield
diamanti appealed for penalty when his powerful effort hit thomas vermaelen on
the arm but the contact appeared accidental and referee mark clattenburg
ignored the striker claims
junior stanislas went close for the hammers with dipping free kick that just
cleared fabianski crossbar before diamanti curling effort drew good stop
from the polish keeper
vermaelen shot wildly over after green spilled cross and the hammers made
arsenal pay for their erratic display in first half stoppage time
valon behrami played superb defence splitting pass to diamanti who ran clear
on goal before sliding low shot under fabianski weak attempted save
zola team are hovering precariously just above the relegation zone but they
were easily matching arsenal and stanislas went close to increasing their lead
with fierce long range effort that fabianski kept out at full stretch
wenger searching for way to reignite his side fire sent on samir nasri and
abou diaby for the last minutes
the changes proved decisive diaby almost made an immediate impact as he surged
onto eduardo backheel and looked certain to score but green saved well from
close range and then recovered quickly to make an equally good stop to deny alex
song from the rebound
at last arsenal looked more formidable proposition they pushed west ham back
and equalised in the th minute when song and vela played in ramsey who kept
his composure to lash fine finish past green
the momentum was with wenger team now and eduardo ensured there would be no
need for replay when he met vela cross with header that looped over green
into the top corner with seven minutes left
football arsenal late show downs west ham
london jan afp
arsenal kept their fa cup hopes alive by coming from behind with two late goals
to beat west ham in thrilling third round london derby tie at upton park
here on sunday
with just minutes to go the gunners times fa cup winners were behind to
their premier league rivals after alessandro diamanti had put the struggling
hammers points behind their visitors ahead on the stroke of half time
but in the th minute aaron ramsey equalised with fierce shot from close
range after the year old wales midfielder had been neatly played in by carlos
vela
and five minutes later arsenal had the lead when eduardo rose high to power in
header which hammers keeper robert green could only palm into the net
