northern ireland minister shaun woodward told the bbc what happened yesterday
was without question unfortunate it was distraction but what we know this
morning is that this is party that wants gordon brown as leader
brown lagging around points behind the main opposition conservatives in the
polls and expected to lose power this year has faced repeated rumours of
threat to his struggling leadership since succeeding tony blair in june
in june last year brown fended off nascent leadership plot after several
government ministers quit in quick succession and one james purnell urged him
to step down
commentators agreed thursday that brown appeared to have seen off the latest
attempt to unseat him despite receiving only lukewarm public backing from
some of his key cabinet ministers
foreign secretary david miliband who reportedly considered standing against
brown in took seven hours to issue statement which failed to mention
brown by name commentators noted
the times described miliband statement as less than wholehearted while the
guardian said it was both later and less full throated than anything offered by
fellow cabinet members
the bbc reported wednesday that six cabinet ministers had been prepared to
support coup but straw among those named on thursday denounced the report
as sub standard journalism
defence secretary bob ainsworth was also alleged to be among those backing the
plotters but spokesman denied this the prime minister has bob full
support he said adding mr ainsworth had no part in this so called plot
in their letter to all labour lawmakers hoon defence secretary when britain
joined the invasion of iraq in and former health secretary hewitt said
the party was deeply divided over whether brown should be leader
many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this
question is affecting our political performance they wrote
the letter gained early support from handful of persistent brown critics but
no major labour figure backed the move and hoon admitted late wednesday that it
had failed
had hoped that labour mps would recognise over many many months now they
have been unhappy about the leadership he told the bbc but admitted it was an
opportunity that labour mps by and large have not taken
peter mandelson business secretary and brown effective deputy said the plot
had blown through the corridors of westminster parliament and out of the
window
the timing of the row could hardly be worse for brown he and conservative
leader david cameron effectively started election campaigning this week after
the christmas break even though ballots are not expected until may
brown himself has still not commented on the plot
but cameron said the fresh labour infighting showed that the government was
deeply divided
this is incredibly depressing for the country he told bbc radio
we cannot go on like this we ve got to have an election and change of
government he said adding if ever there was time when our country needed
strong leadership and united government it is today
seven killed in iraq blasts targeting anti terror chief
ramadi iraq jan afp
co ordinated bombings targeting local anti terror chief and his family
shattered four homes early thursday morning in the western iraqi town of heet
killing seven people
lieutenant colonel walid al heeti was initially thought to be among those who
died in the blasts which hit the town kilometres miles west of the
anbar provincial capital ramadi at around am gmt but police later
said he had survived
his brother died not walid we thought walid died but he has survived
said lieutenant ezzadine adil the officer in charge of the investigation into
the bombings
his brother his name is saad died walid house was destroyed in the
bombing his walid mother and wife were killed
the toll is seven killed his brother four women baby and policeman
six others were wounded in the blasts
attackers planted explosives around the bedrooms of four houses in the town
according to lieutenant colonel fadhil nimrawi the head of heet emergency
response unit
nimrawi had earlier said that walid al heeti had died in the blasts
the four houses were in different neighbourhoods across the centre of heet and
no vehicles are being allowed in or out of the town as part of ramped up
security
nimrawi added that several people had been arrested in connection with the
attack but declined to specify how many citing security reasons he added that
security forces were still looking for other people they suspected of being
involved in the bombings
heeti is one of the leaders of campaign against al qaeda in mostly sunni anbar
which helped dramatically reduce the terror network presence in the province
iraq biggest
several cities in anbar were used as insurgent bases in the aftermath of the us
led invasion of
but since local sunni tribes have sided with the us military and iraqi
authorities daily violence has dropped dramatically as al qaeda fighters have
been ejected from the region
thursday attacks were the latest in string of bombings against targets
symbolising the government or the state in recent months indicating shift in
tactics by insurgents as the overall level of violence drops nationwide
on december co ordinated bombings near government offices in ramadi which
were blamed on al qaeda killed people and wounded the anbar provincial
governor
earlier that month the head of salaheddin province anti terror squad and at
least three of his bodyguards were among five people killed by suicide bomber
in tikrit the predominantly sunni hometown of executed iraqi dictator saddam
hussein
co ordinated vehicle bombings in baghdad in august october and december
meanwhile killed nearly people in all
bank of england keeps key rate at percent
london jan afp
the bank of england said thursday it was keeping its key interest rate at
record low level of percent and maintaining credit easing plans as britain
officially remains in recession
the bank of england monetary policy committee today voted to maintain the
official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at percent the boe
said in statement
the committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases
totalling billion pounds financed by the issuance of central bank reserves
markets will have to wait until january when minutes of the central bank
latest meeting are published for reasons behind the widely expected
announcements
the bank nine member monetary policy committee mpc unveiled its decisions
following two day meeting
official data due later this month is forecast to show britain exited record
recession in the fourth quarter of
in bid to tackle britain sharp downturn the bank of england decided in
march to slash its key lending rate to percent
also in march the boe began its extraordinary policy of pumping billions of
pounds worth of newly created money into the british economy as it struggled
against the worst global downturn since the
britain central bank had in november decided to pump out another billion
pounds of cash in renewed attempt to boost lending and lift britain out of its
longest recession on record
november decision took the boe so called quantitative easing qe programme
to total of billion pounds billion euros billion dollars
to date the boe has made billion pounds available it said on thursday
while the project is expected to end by next month
under qe the british central bank has purchased bonds from commercial
institutions to try and boost lending to businesses and individuals which have
seen funds dry up as result of the credit crunch
although britain has yet to follow the eurozone france germany japan and the
united states out of recession sparked by the global financial crisis the
country is forecast to have exited recession between october and december
nigerian bomber met radical muslim cleric
sanaa jan afp
nigerian charged with trying to blow up passenger jet on christmas day met
radical muslim cleric accused by the united states of instigating terrorism
yemen deputy prime minister said thursday
the latest details of umar farouk abdulmutallab links to radical groups came
hours after us grand jury indicted the year old on six counts over the
plane bombing plot narrowly averted as the jet came in to land at detroit
the united states was to release new report on intelligence failures
surrounding the failed bomb attempt on thursday
yemen deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs rashad al
aleemi said abdulmutallab had met anwar al awlaqi us yemeni cleric who has
also been linked to the killing of people at texas military base by an army
major
the nigerian hid in shabwa area in wadi rafadh where he met awlaqi and mohammad
omair who was killed in the air raid on wadi rafadh the deputy prime minister
said
yemeni jets staged an air raid on december on wadi rafadh in shabwa
province about kilometres miles east of sanaa officials said
suspected al qaeda militants were killed
aleemi added investigations had shown that explosives found on abdulmutallab
came from nigeria and not from yemen as previously reported
the united states has accused awlaqi of terrorist links and said that nidal
hasan the army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead people at the fort hood
base in november had also been in contact with the cleric
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
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan told cnn last
week
the new york times has reported that abdulmutallab told investigators he was
connected to an al qaeda affiliate by radical yemeni cleric whom he contacted
online
as abdulmutallab was charged by court in detroit us attorney general eric
holder said that worldwide hunt was on for those who had helped the alleged
bomber
this investigation is fast paced global and ongoing and it has already
yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads holder
said in statement
he vowed that anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be
brought to justice using every tool military or judicial available to our
government
grand jury indicted abdulmutallab on six counts arising from the attempt to
blow up the jet packed packed with passengers and crew on flight from
amsterdam to detroit
michigan district court documents accused him of carrying concealed bomb of
high explosives inside his clothing on northwest airlines flight
if convicted of trying to use weapon of mass destruction abdulmutallab faces
life imprisonment the department of justice said attempted murder charges
carry maximum sentence of years while two charges of possession and use of
firearm or destructive device carry mandatory years prison term
president barack obama has sharply rebuked intelligence and security services
for missing series of red flags which could have unmasked the plot earlier
that not acceptable and will not tolerate it he said in an unusual
public dressing down of the intelligence services after meeting on tuesday
obama was even more explicit during the meeting an official said quoting the
president as calling it screw up that could have been disastrous
red faced top officials have admitted mistakes were made and the white house
will thursday release an unclassified version of report into the intelligence
failures
think you ll see tomorrow that this is failure that touches across the full
waterfront of our intelligence agencies said white house spokesman robert
gibbs
the united states has ordered even tougher airport security since the bomb plot
and dozens of names have been added to us no fly lists
the measures include new restrictions on flights and passengers coming from
countries including nigeria and yemen the united states has radically changed
its security since the september attacks
cricket bangladesh india one day scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
scoreboard after bangladesh innings against india in the triangular one day
series match here on thursday
bangladesh
tamim iqbal gambhir sreesanth
imrul kayes kohli nehra
mohammad ashraful jadeja
shakib al hasan run out
raqibul hasan harbhajan
mushfiqur rahim jadeja yuvraj
mohammad mahmudullah not out
naeem islam not out
extras lb nb
total for six wickets overs
fall of wickets iqbal ashraful shakib kayes
rahim raqibul
bowling nehra nb sreesanth nb zaheer
harbhajan yuvraj jadeja sehwag
toss bangladesh
umpires enamul haque ban and ian gould eng
tv umpire sharfuddoula shahid ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
tennis brisbane international results st update
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the fifth day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
thursday denotes seed
quarter finals
men
radek stepanek cze bt wayne odesnik usa
women
ana ivanovic srb bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
andrea petkovic ger bt daniela hantuchova svk
justine henin bel bt melinda czink hun
kim clijsters bel bt lucie safarova cze
deadly cattle plague set to be wiped out world farm agency
paris jan afp
cattle disease that has been curse for millennia is likely to be declared
eradicated next year thanks to global vaccination campaign the world
paramount veterinary agency said on thursday
rinderpest also called cattle plague can wipe out entire herds of cattle and
buffalo inflicting economic disaster and malnutrition in villages in poor
countries
but an arduous effort to vaccinate animals against the virus that causes the
disease is bearing fruit the head of the world organisation for animal health
known by its french acronym of oie said in paris
we are very close to wiping out rinderpest around the world the oie
director general bernard vallat said comparing the achievement in veterinary
terms to the eradication of smallpox among humans
this disease has been historic curse for humanity it has been around since
the dawn of time vallat said
in nearly half of the oie rollcall of countries still had
rinderpest tally that has fallen in to
assessments are underway for these remaining countries of which somalia is the
most problematic but hopes are high that the oie will be able to declare the
disease eradicated at meeting in he said
vallat said key question was where virus samples would be stored to be used
for research purposes and as source for vaccines if the disease ever
rebounded
two or three high security reference laboratories are being considered he
said
samples of smallpox virus continue to be held in us and russian labs raising
fears in some quarters that they could be stolen or used to make bioterror
weapon
hopefully it won be the same for rinderpest said vallat
the pathogen that causes rinderpest is member of the paramyxoviridae family of
virus
sheep and goats are susceptible to the virus but are much less affected by it
compared to cattle the symptoms among animals are fever diarrhoea and
dehydration often leading to death within to days there is no risk for
humans
tennis belgians clijsters and henin reach semis
brisbane australia jan afp
star belgian duo kim clijsters and justine henin were both forced to three sets
before winning their quarter finals at the brisbane international on thursday
clijsters beat czech lucie safarova while earlier in the day henin
outlasted seventh seeded hungarian melinda czink
top seed clijsters now faces german surprise packet andrea petkovic for place
in saturday final and henin plays third seed ana ivanovic of serbia
clijsters needed four match points to finally see off safarova who looked all
at sea as she surrendered the first set in just minutes
but the czech came out with all guns blazing in the second blasting winners
from all over the court and forcing clijsters into host of errors taking the
set in three minutes less than she lost the first
in an intriguing third set clijsters broke in the fifth game and held on for
the win
she said while she was able to dominate the first set it was different story
after that
felt like in the second set even before had the chance to work my way into
the rally she already hit winner most of the time clijsters said
thinking back on it now maybe should have taken little more risks at
times but think the difference for her in the first set to the way she played
in the second was so big it kind of surprised me at the time
henin match followed similar pattern to clijsters as she won the first set
comfortably lost the second then fought off tenacious czink to claim the
third
henin needed six match points and shade over two hours minutes to book her
place in the final four
love these kinds of situations especially after not during the match she
said
henin said she had recovered well from playing three matches in row
feel better today much better than yesterday henin said
it was long match and mentally it was very difficult but physically feel
much better
am an old woman of she joked
came here to play matches and that what have done so no complaints
ivanovic survived her own second set meltdown to squeeze past russian anastasia
pavlyuchenkova
the third seed looked set to wrap up the quarter final in under an hour when she
led in the second set only for pavlyuchenkova to come storming back
the russian had set point in the tie break but couldn take advantage and
relieved ivanovic was able to close the match out in two
ivanovic said she was confident ahead of her clash with henin
she playing really good and she seems to be in good shape so it going to be
good test for me whatever happens just going to try and enjoy it the
serb said
unseeded german andrea petkovic stunned fourth seed daniela hantuchova in
straight games
petkovic who beat eighth seed iveta benesova in the first round broke her
slovak opponent three times to reach the semi finals
the political science student was refreshingly honest about playing clijsters
kim is known for her strengths and not too many weaknesses but ll try to
find some the year old said
not scared will just try to play my game and we ll see what happens
if she kills me she kills me if not we ll see
acd elw
truckers jam slovak capital in toll protest police
bratislava jan afp
around truckers snarled up the slovak capital bratislava on thursday by
blocking key street in protest at new toll system which they deem flawed and
expensive police said
the protest started at am gmt when the truck drivers blocked both
lanes of roznavska street connecting the motorway and the city centre police
spokesman frantisek peczar told afp
several buses and trolley buses got trapped in the traffic jam the passengers
had to get off and continue by foot added peter kavecky spokesman for
bratislava transport authority
the launch of the new electronic road toll system on january has caused
traffic jams at slovak borders with foreign truckers being delayed for hours as
they try to use the new system which they say is expensive sometimes faulty
and difficult to understand
al qaeda says cia attack revenge for drone killings
kabul jan afp
al qaeda hailed the suicide bombing that killed seven cia agents in afghanistan
as revenge for the deaths of top militants in us drone strikes in pakistan
islamist websites said on thursday
jordanian doctor said to have been triple agent blew himself up at us
military base in khost near the pakistani border on december the deadliest
attack against the cia since
the afghan taliban claimed responsibility day later pakistani taliban
commander subsequently claimed his faction carried out the attack to avenge the
drone attacks that killed its founder baitullah mehsud last august
the head of al qaeda in afghanistan mustafa abu al yazid said the bomber wrote
in his will that the attack was revenge for our righteous martyrs and named
several top militants killed in drone attacks in pakistan
yazid described bomber humam khalil abu mulal al balawi mission as an epic
breakthrough in penetrating both american and jordanian intelligence said
islamist websites
the slain militant masterminds named in the message included mehsud who was
blamed for wave of deadly attacks notably the december killing of former
prime minister benazir bhutto
also named was abu saleh al somali described as part of al qaeda core
leadership and responsible for plotting attacks in europe and the united states
he was killed in drone strike near the afghan border last month
us media described the us base in khost as key anti terror facility that
oversaw the drone strikes targeting al qaeda and taliban on the pakistani border
and as centre for recruiting and debriefing informants
balawi blew himself up at forward operating base chapman during meeting with
the cia killing seven agents and his jordanian handler who was senior
intelligence officer and member of the royal family
jihadist websites have 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 reportedly took him to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding
al qaeda number two ayman al zawahiri
the al qaeda statement surfaced after another round of us strikes killed
militants including four foreigners in north waziristan on wednesday
washington has made pakistan front line in the war on al qaeda and the eight
year conflict against the taliban in afghanistan pinning success on dismantling
militant sanctuaries along the porous border
us senator john mccain visiting afghanistan on thursday praised the drone
attacks for knocking al qaeda and other extremist groups off balance
think it should continue think it an important tool in our overall
strategy and we can claim measurable success in carrying out those operations
he told reporters
strikes by unmanned us spy planes have soared since president barack obama took
office they have killed more than people since august inflamed anti
americanism and prompted extremists to vow revenge
drone attacks are radicalising other people who may not have supported the
taliban rahimullah yusufzai tribal affairs expert told afp
maybe local militants targeted by drones are not big threat to america but
in the future they could become threat as they could see america as their big
enemy he added
although the pakistani government which depends on us assistance officially
opposes the operations public criticism has lessened considerably since mehsud
was killed and analysts say they have islamabad tacit approval
intelligence experts said it was possible the base let its guard down in
searching the bomber because he was coveted informant
it was the deadliest incident for the cia since when eight agency
employees were killed by islamist militants who bombed the us marine barracks in
beirut killing americans and french
the united states is increasingly reliant on the cia and other covert forces to
pursue its strategic goals
cia and special forces were at the forefront of the us led invasion of
afghanistan that overthrew the taliban extremist regime after the september
attacks
year smart card bug turns germans back to cash
berlin jan afp
german shoppers hit by year computer bug that bit million bank cards
fell back this week on popular and proven means of payment cash
ines klem for instance said she would withdraw between to euros
dollars on regular basis to be sure to have no more problems
klem had tried to buy food and found herself with full basket and no way to
pay for it after her bank card failed to work as normal problem that at one
point hit roughly one quarter of all german bank cards
everyone was looking at me at the check out she said
paul rohr added that his bank immediately gave me another card to get
cash with while kaiser supermarket manager uwe werner said to be safe
people are paying in cash something they often do early in the month
the problem stems from series of computer chips unable to cope with the
changeover to the year leaving millions of germans starting the new year
unable to withdraw cash or to pay with plastic in shops
the situation has since improved at cash distributors with bank staff
reprogramming software to read the card black magnetic strips but that is
temporary and less secure solution and shop payments are still subject to some
glitches
the german hde retail trade association said flawed cards had posed problems for
about percent of one million retail point of sale terminals in the country
worst hit were holders of cards issued by germany dominant public sector
savings banks and cooperative banks but clients at private lenders postbank and
commerzbank clients also had problems
sometimes cashiers get cards to work by wrapping them in plastic film before
inserting them into the payment terminal klem noted practice discouraged
thursday by the german credit association zka which warned it could damage the
card and cash machines
the problem was reminder of the feared bug of decade ago that had
governments businesses and individuals expecting the worst at the turn of the
millennium in the end everything went smoothly
this time around german banks hope to reprogramme the defective cards via
automated teller machines to avoid the cost of replacing them estimated at
million euros
the french firm gemalto major supplier of bank cards said it and german
clients were making extensive joint effort to develop corrective process
that avoids the replacement of the affected cards
the savings and regional bank association dsgv has estimated meanwhile that the
situation should be back to normal by monday
germans trying to make purchases abroad have also experienced difficulties as
europe works towards harmonised electronic payment system with the single euro
payments area sepa network that covers countries
the stuttgarter zeitung newspaper quoted claus jousten head of western union in
germany as saying we have seen marked increase in transactions with
clients who want cash for business or holiday trips
back in berlin the situation is not extreme said kerstin haertel at the
thalia bookstore chain before adding there are always problems with cards
central bank study found germans prefer to pay in cash anyway with almost
percent of all transactions handled that way compared with about percent for
all bank cards combined
at least killed in south sudan violence un
juba sudan jan afp
at least people have been killed and wounded in the remote troubled
wunchuei region of warrap state in southern sudan over the past week senior
un official said on thursday
clashes apparently between rival tribal groups occurred some time since the
beginning of the year but reports emerged only after un security team visited
the remote area by aircraft two days ago
local sources on the ground said that at least people had been killed
wounded and head of cattle had been stolen said lise grande the un
deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator in south sudan
grande said military team of un peacekeepers had left thursday by vehicles to
ascertain the exact situation on the ground
this is matter of deep concern grande told afp
the dead were from the dinka people common in the area local sources suggested
that rival group from the nuer people were responsible but the report could
not be immediately confirmed
clashes between rival ethnic groups in south sudan erupt frequently often
sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources while others are
retaliation for previous attacks
however string of recent raids has shocked many with an apparent sharp
increase in attacks on women and children as well as the targeting of
homesteads
in september more than people including south sudanese troops were killed
in weekend clashes in the jonglei state after nuer raided dinka village where
the troops had base
more than people have died and have been displaced in inter tribal
violence across southern sudan since january according to the united nations
which says the rate of violent deaths now surpasses that in the war torn western
region of darfur
the united nations has warned that poor rains and food insecurity could spark
further clashes with tensions rising as pastoralist cattle herders move their
animals into areas controlled by rival groups
southern officials have accused khartoum of arming ethnic groups to destabilise
the region khartoum denies the allegation
north south tensions remain high with sudan still divided by the religious
ethnic and ideological differences that fuelled year civil war which ended
in peace deal
under that deal the south has six year transitional period of regional
autonomy and takes part in unity government until referendum on self
determination
vietnam police tear gas beat catholics over cross priest
hanoi jan afp
several vietnamese catholics were injured when police used electric prods and
fired tear gas in dispute over crucifix priest said thursday
the incident occurred early wednesday in dong chiem parish about kilometres
