the us marshals service in detroit told the detroit free press
in continued sign of the heightened vigilance two alleged associates of an
afghan immigrant accused of planning attacks in new york around the anniversary
of the september attacks last year were arrested friday
dismissing criticism that his administration has been too soft on terror obama
said thursday that the united states was at war with al qaeda
but he vowed americans would not be forced into adopting siege mentality
obama said the plot was not the fault of single individual or organization
but rather systemic failure across organizations and agencies
but he added am less interested in passing out blame than am in learning
from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer obama said
ultimately the buck stops with me as president have solemn responsibility
to protect our nation and our people and when the system fails it is my
responsibility
despite signs that no heads will roll in the immediate aftermath of the security
breakdown obama top anti terror official john brennan offered personal mea
culpa
told the president today let him down told him that will do
better he said in statement
obama blamed us spies for not aggressively chasing down the al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap group that planned the attack and then failing to
properly analyze the intelligence
then the intelligence that was known was not properly filtered through the us
terror watchlist system allowing abdulmutallab onto the plane
to remedy the failures obama said he ordered more careful follow ups on
intelligence leads quicker sharing and better analysis of reports among the
clandestine community and improvements to watchlist procedures
tennis venus williams dismisses talk of retirement
hong kong jan afp
american venus williams on friday dismissed speculation she is mulling
retirement as the seven time grand slam champion gets set to play in the
australian open later this month
know have so much more to give she told reporters after an exhibition
match in hong kong
there no timeline for retirement if playing well as long as keep
playing well ll stay
the american struggled for much of losing her wimbledon crown to sister
serena and then crashing out of the beijing open in october prompting
speculation that she may be considering departure from the game
williams was in strong form on friday though as she overpowered zheng jie with
victory over her chinese opponent
zheng ranked in the world took an early lead in the first set but
williams powered back to overtake the year old chengdu native
williams continued the pressure in the second set blasting zheng with her
powerful serve
every game was battle williams said
there are so many things zheng does well
earlier friday japan ayumi morita beat year old argentine gisela dulko
and in tiebreak
the hong kong tournament features four teams with three players each
representing russia europe the americas and asia pacific in singles and
mixed doubles play
the tournament which wraps up saturday comes before the australian open on
january the first grand slam of the season
skiing vonn in control with third straight downhill win
haus im ennstal austria jan afp
lindsey vonn of the united states made it three in row when she bounced back
from bone bruise to win the women world cup downhill race here on friday
the reigning world champion and two time world cup winner clocked min sec
to finish sec ahead of swede anja parson the world champion and
germany maria riesch
the year old american also overtakes riesch in the overall world cup
standings after the race which replaced the postponed event at val isere
france in mid december
this win gives me back my confidence said vonn who suffered bone bruise to
her left arm after falling heavily in the giant slalom in lienz ten days ago
already know where can do better was good at the top but lower down
made some mistakes going to look at that again on video
it was the th victory for vonn and her fourth since october
she has the chance to pull further ahead in the second downhill on saturday and
sunday super here
riesch admitted she paid for her mistakes
was faster than lindsey over some sections but it wasn perfect race
said the german
satisfied with this podium not too worried about how many points
lost
lindsey is still tough to beat in the downhill for it to work everything has
to be perfect for me and she has to make mistakes
former ski queen parson finds herself on the podium again for the first time
this season
it good start in the downhill for the new year said the former world
champion in the discipline good start before the winter games
today the battle was at the bottom of the piste also made mistakes think
can go even faster
italy had two skiers in the top six with nadia fanchini fourth and daniela
merighetti joint sixth with france marie marchand arvier
austria failed to feature after maria holaus injured her right ankle in training
with their top finisher andrea fischbacher in eighth as elisabeth gorgl set just
the rd time
amnesty urges israel to release or try three palestinians
jerusalem jan afp
human rights group amnesty international urged israel on friday to release or
fairly try three palestinian jailed for protesting against the west bank
separation barrier
the three two of whom are held without charges may be prisoners of
conscience held for legitimately voicing their opposition to the fence wall
amnesty said in letter to defence minister ehud barak
these men have all been involved in campaigning against the building of this
construction much of it on the land of the occupied west bank and we fear that
this is the real reason for their imprisonment said malcolm smart the
director of amnesty middle east and north africa programme
if this is the case they must be released immediately and unconditionally
jamal juma coordinator of the stop the wall campaign has not been charged with
any offence since his arrest on december and has not had access to his
lawyer
he is held under israeli military law which applies to the occupied west bank
as someone who holds jerusalem id card according to israeli law his case
should be handled under the country civil not military legal system the
london based human rights watchdog said
mohammed othman is also held without charge since september he was arrested
upon his return from norway where he met activist groups and campaigned against
the wall amnesty said
abdullah abu rahma who heads popular committee against the wall in the west
bank village of bilin was arrested on december
he has been charged with incitement stone throwing and possession of arms the
latter for collecting spent cartridges and tear gas grenades used by israeli
forces to disperse anti wall protesters
these three men are all well known for their defence of the human rights of
palestinians in the unlikely event that there are genuine grounds to prosecute
these men they should be charged with recognisable criminal offences and
brought promptly to trial in full conformity with international fair trial
standards said smart
israel says the barrier helps prevent attacks against its citizens
palestinians call it an apartheid wall and the international community say
the parts built west bank rather than along its border with israel are illegal
according to un figures israel has so far completed kilometres miles
of its planned kilometre mile barrier network of walls barbed wire
fences trenches and closed military roads
when completed percent of the wall will have been built inside the west
bank leaving percent of the territory and palestinians between the
barrier and the green line
alert
ailing interim chief of guinea junta awaited in dakar senegalese presidency
us loses jobs in december
washington jan afp
the us economy lost jobs in december while the unemployment rate held at
percent the government said friday in report dashing hopes of
turnaround in the ailing labor market
the labor department report on nonfarm payrolls was disappointment to those
hoping for growth in jobs which is critical to recovery from recession
the figure was far worse than the consensus expectation for no change in overall
employment levels and came amid wide array of predictions ranging from steep
losses to modest gains
but in revising data for prior months the report showed net gain of
jobs in november instead of loss of previously reported
ugandan minister breaks ranks over anti gay bill
kampala jan afp
ugandan minister on friday opposed bill which could see homosexuals punished
with death throwing doubt over the legislation which has drawn widespread
international condemnation
investment minister aston kajara said the country already had sufficient
legislation against homosexuality and the anti homosexuality bill was not
needed
the government position is that the existing provisions in our penal code
against homosexuality are strong enough and that this new bill is not
necessary kajara told afp
the penal code already sufficiently covers this issue
but ethics minister james nsaba buturo staunch supporter of the bill who has
in the past said homosexuals can forget about human rights dismissed kajara
as not representing the government on the issue
would be the right person to speak for government on this issue not mr
kajara buturo told afp
the bill already before parliament would impose the death penalty for
aggravated homosexuality applicable in cases of rape of minor by person
of the same sex or where one partner is hiv positive
it would also criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and could penalise
an individual who knowingly rented property to homosexual
homosexuality is already illegal in uganda punishable by life imprisonment in
some instances
the penal code identifies carnal knowledge against the order of nature as an
offence
widespread condemnation by rights groups and western nations have been heaped on
the legislation which some analyst say is damaging to president yoweri
museveni government
this anti gay bill has done as much damage to museveni as the accusation in the
that idi amin kept the skull of his enemies in the fridge said angelo
izama an analyst with kampala based think tank fanaka kwa wote
izama was referring to uganda ruthless dictator who ruled uganda from to
consequently it is going to reflect in the usual mistakes that museveni makes
around election time like the jailing of opponents harassment of the media or
beatings and torture he added
the united states and the european union have called on kampala to scrap the
bill criticising is as setback to human rights
but buturo has repeatedly stressed uganda sovereignty
nobody nobody nobody has the right to think for ugandans nobody has the
right to impose their values on sovereign state he told reporters last
month
okello oryem junior foreign minister said on friday that uganda would not
bow to external pressure
we are not going to accept intimidation from anybody if any country who claims
to be one of uganda friends threatens to withdraw aid we will tell them they
can keep their aid he told afp
the time of threatening to give aid or not give aid is over
other observers said that uganda has failed to acknowledge the diplomatic
repurcussions of the legislation
think generally there has been serious failure to appreciate the foreign
policy implications of this bill said busingye kabumba law lecturer at
kampala makerere university
in uganda we have semblance of democracy not full democracy so all sorts
of ministers can shout about how foreigners should stay out of uganda
business
at the end of the day everyone knows it all comes down to one man the
president
urgent portugal mps approve gay marriage
lisbon jan afp
the portuguese parliament on friday approved at first reading bill to legalise
gay marriage but rejected proposals to allow same sex couples to adopt
urgent us loses jobs in december
washington jan afp
the us economy lost jobs in december while the unemployment rate held at
percent the government said friday in report dashing hopes of
turnaround in the ailing labor market
alert
us loses jobs in december unemployment holds at percent
alert
portuguese parliament approves gay marriage bill
german bank card glitch resolved retailers say
berlin jan afp
new year technical glitch which rendered million german bank cards
unusable for shopping payments has been resolved the country retail
association said on friday
consumers can now use their ec debit cards at retail checkouts again with no
problems the hde said the last remaining payment terminals should be
reconfigured today with only few isolated exceptions
the problem which initially also left card holders unable to use cash machines
was caused by microchips in about quarter of all cards in circulation in
germany being unable to cope with the changeover to
the hde said many retailers had been able to get round the problem by letting
customers use their cards and sign for purchases instead of using pin many
consumers also resorted to cash
german travellers might still experience problems abroad however
iberdrola wins bid for british wind farn
madrid jan afp
spanish energy group iberdrola renovables said on friday it had won joint bid
with sweden vattenfall to build one of the biggest winds farms in the world
in britain
the amount of the deal was not disclosed but the spanish business paper
eleconomista said it could be about billion euros billion dollars
iberdrola renovables made the bid through its affiliate scottishpower
renewables
the wind farm which would have an energy capacity of megawatts would be
built in the north sea off the eastern county of east anglia iberdrola
renovables said in statement
iberdrola renovables and vattenfall have formed joint venture company to
build the project
italian official public deficit jumps to percent of output
milan jan afp
italy public deficit grew to percent of gross domestic product in the
third quarter compared with percent months year earlier the national
statistical institute istat said on friday
over the first nine months of the year the deficit rose to percent of gross
domestic product gdp compared with percent year earlier
european union rules put the ceiling for state welfare and local authority
deficts at percent of output and say that in times of growth countries
should move into surplus
during the economic crisis several countries have increased their annual public
deficits far above this limit and in some cases the national debt had also
shot up
istat said that fall in tax revenues and an increase in spending as result
of the crisis explain the jump in the public deficit
in the third quarter tax revenues fell by percent on month comparison
and spending increased by percent whilst over the first nine months of the
year revenues reduced by percent and spending was up by percent
the primary balance which excludes interest payment and debt redemption was
positive in the third quarter percent of gdp but negative over the first
nine months percent
the figures are gross therefore highly variable from one quarter to the next
and the calculations are not exactly the same as those notified to the european
commission because they do not include so called swap operations involving
financial instruments
the latest forecast by the italian government foresees public deficit of
percent of gdp in from the percent in in it should be
percent
according to the forecast italian public deficit should come back under the
percent limit in
in order to raise tax revenues the government has adopted tax amnesty measure
on capital assets concealed abroad
so far the amnesty has allowed the repatriation or regularisation of billion
euros which has brought nearly billion euros to state coffers
swine flu toll reaches who
geneva jan afp
swine flu has killed at least people worldwide since it first emerged in
mexico in march the world health organisation said friday
the latest data posted by the un health agency marked an increase of deaths
from the previous update published nine days ago
the americas continues to report the biggest number of casualties with at least
deaths while in europe at least people have died from the
virus
europe jobless recovery laid bare
brussels jan afp
the human cost behind europe jobless recovery was laid bare on friday with
data showing that one in every workers across the continent core euro
currency area is now unemployed
new figures released on friday by the european union for november showed
that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the countries that use the
euro hit miserable percent
some more people than in the previous month were therefore left without
their own income just weeks from christmas
the data was released alongside confirmation that europe exited recession in the
third quarter of with percent eurozone growth and downwards adjusted
percent growth across the eu nations as whole
but the potential for unemployment to act as drag on that nascent recovery was
also thrown into sharp focus by the fact that spain rate has now hit
shocking percent one in five who won be splashing much at january
sales there
experts have repeatedly expressed fears of double dip recession on the iberian
peninsula
that would act as further weight on an economic region already troubled by
unfavourable exchange rates for exporters against the dollar and the de facto
pegged chinese yuan as well as an unsustainable inability by most countries to
balance their books
by way of illustration trade figures also released on friday showed that china
has surpassed euro powerhouse germany as the world leading exporter for the
first time
meanwhile analysts also cite real risk that action to slash greece massive
public deficit will only trigger severe contraction in its economy there
people getting back into work is the last thing that happens after economies re
configure to get over the pain of recession
as if to underline the problem the world biggest brewer belgium based
anheuser busch inbev announced on friday it plans to cut percent of its
strong workforce across europe
these workers will join more than three million people have fallen out of the
eurozone workforce over the past months and almost five million more
across the world biggest open trading bloc
an estimated million men and women across the eu which also takes in
non euro and recession mired britain as well as eastern industrial powerhouse
poland and where the unemployment rate was percent were out of work going
into the festive period of those million were in the euro economy
male unemployment rose much more sharply over the past year than female
unemployment with youth unemployment having increased at similar rate by
almost third
more than one in five among the under age group are now out of work
howard archer of ihs global insight analysts said that the numbers will likely
rise significantly still despite being held down to an extent with
government jobs support in number of countries most notably in germany
fall in euro retail sales for the same period underlines the difficulty for
policymakers given fears abound for stretched households across the continent
over the impact of rising credit repayments when interest rates begin to rise
the bank of england left its key interest rate at record low percent on
thursday and archer added that european central bank rates would also need to
be kept down at percent until at least late
all told he said we suspect that the eurozone recovery could well lose
momentum for time in before growth starts to gradually pick up again
football big spending real to stay out of transfer market reports
madrid jan afp
real madrid has no plans to replace injured brazilian defender pepe or any
others players during the mid season transfer window spanish media said
friday
the club management told coach manuel pellegrini that he could not expect any
new signings this month the marca sports newspaper said
real has notably rebuffed interest from jonathan cicero moreira of brazilian
side cruzeiro who is keen to move to the spanish capital
the club will not let others leave either this winter such as argentine gago
who has sparked interest from boca junior and juventus
spanish media recently noted that dutch striker ruud van nistelrooy who has
been largely sidelined this season had received the green light to leave this
winter perhaps to liverpool
under chairman florentino perez who took over last summer real has spent
million euros on star signings including cristiano ronaldo kaka karim benzema
and xabi alonso
pepe regular in real starting line up since he joined the club from porto
in underwent surgery last month to repair ligament damage on his right
knee and he is expected to be out for six months
skiing vonn wins world cup downhill
haus im ennstal austria jan afp
lindsay vonn of the united states made it three in row when she won the
women world cup downhill race here on friday
the reigning world champion and two time world cup winner clocked min sec
to finish sec ahead of swede anja parson the world champion and
germany maria riesch
this win gives me back my confidence said vonn who suffered bone bruise to
her left arm after falling heavily in the giant slalom in lienz ten days ago
already know where can do better was good at the top but lower down
made some mistakes going to look at that again on video
the year old american also overtakes riesch in the overall world cup
standings after the race which replaced the postponed event at val isere
france in mid december
it is the th victory for vonn and her fourth since october
she has the chance to pull further ahead in the second downhill on saturday and
sunday super here
former ski queen parson finds herself on the podium again for the first time
this season
italy had two skiers in the top six with nadia fanchini fourth and daniela
merighetti joint sixth with france marie marchand arvier
austria failed to feature after maria holaus injured her right ankle in training
with their top finisher andrea fischbacher in eighth as elisabeth gorgl set just
the rd time
two men arrested in ny bomb plot probe law enforcement
new york jan afp
two alleged associates of an afghan immigrant accused of planning attacks in new
york around the anniversary of the september attacks last year were arrested
friday law enforcement officials said
the two men were arrested by federal bureau of investigation agents early
friday fbi spokesman richard kolko told afp
the pair are associates of najibullah zazi who was accused of buying
chemicals and planning bombing spree to coincide with the anniversary of the
attacks that killed nearly people said law enforcement source who
asked not to be identified
the two men arrested were named as adis medunjanin and zarein ahmedzay
they were arrested by the fbi joint terrorism task force in new york as the
result of an ongoing investigation kolko said
nbc television reported that the pair had been under surveillance since zazi was
arrested for the alleged plot medunjanin bosnian immigrant was arrested
after crashing his car while being pursued by the fbi the report said
ahmedzay is taxi driver nbc reported
details of the charges against the two were not immediately announced they were
expected to be brought before judge in brooklyn later friday
zazi who is being held without bail in brooklyn has been charged with
conspiracy however so far no one else has been charged with co conspiracy in
preparing attacks
zazi father and an imam living in queens new york have both been charged with
lying to the fbi
zazi allegedly traveled to pakistan and received training from group linked to
al qaeda
prosecutors say he had carried bomb making instructions in laptop and had been
shopping for large quantities of chemicals found in beauty products that could
have been the ingredients for explosives
football african nations cup group squads
luanda jan afp
official african nations cup group squads with shirt numbers ahead of january
tournament in angola
angola black antelopes
goalkeepers joao luis mamona petro luanda wilson alegre recreativo
caala carlos fernandes rio ave por
defenders jose mabina alberto and jamuana alexandre petro enoque
giulherme santos yehenda dias caires fernandes sagrada esperan
rui marques leeds eng stelvio cruz uniao leira por carlos kali
alonso clubless
midfielders fernando chara costa ricardo job and david magalhaes
petro felisberto gilberto amaral al ahly egy zuela santos kuban
krasnodar rus aderito dede carvalho clubless nsimba ze kalanga
baptista dinamo bucharest rom djalma campos maritimo por
strikers flavio amado al shabab ksa johnson macaba recreativo
libolo pedro mantorras manuel benfica por arsenio cabungulu
primeiro agosto mateus manucho alberto real valladolid esp capt
algeria desert foxes
goalkeepers lounes gaouaoui aso chlef faouzi chaouchi entente
setif mohamed zemmamouche mouloudia alger
defenders abdelkader laifaoui and slimane raho setif madjid
bougherra rangers sco rafik halliche national madeira por antar
yahia bochum ger nadir belhadj portsmouth eng samir zaoui chlef
reda baabouche mouloudia
midfielders karim ziani wolfsburg ger rafik saifi al khor qat
yassine bezzaz strasbourg fra khaled lemmouchia setif hassan yebda
portsmouth eng djamel abdoun nantes fra yazid mansouri
lorient fra capt
strikers mourad meghni lazio ita karim matmour borussia
moenchengladbach ger abdelkader ghezzal sienne ita hamer bouazza
blackpool eng abdelmalik ziaya setif
mali eagles
goalkeepers mahamadou sidibe omonia cyp oumar sissoko metz fra
soumaila diakite stade malien
defenders adama tamboura helsingborg swe bakary soumare boulogne
sur mer fra souleymane diamoutene bari ita ousmane berthe jomo
cosmos rsa abdoulaye maiga stade malien
midfielders seydou keita barcelona esp mahamadou diarra real
madrid esp capt bakaye traore nancy fra samba sow lens fra
el hadj traore nice fra mohamed sissoko juventus ita abdou traore
bordeaux fra lassana fane al merreikh sud
strikers mamadou bagayoko nice fra mamadou samassa
valenciennes fra frederic kanoute sevilla esp modibo maiga le
mans fra moustapha yattabare clermont fra tenema iaye
nantes fra mamadou diallo le havre fra
malawi flames
goalkeepers simplex nthala mtl wanderers swadick sanudi
dynamos rsa charles swini escom utd
defenders ivis kafoteka and maupo msowoya escom allan kamanga
dynamos rsa peter mponda black leopards rsa capt james sangala
primeiro agosto ang moses chavula nathi lions rsa harry nyirenda
wanderers
midfielders peter mgangira and hellings mwakasungula silver strikers
robert ng ambi black leopards rsa davie banda red lions
jospeh kamwendo orlando pirates rsa peter wadabwa thanda royal
zulu rsa jacob ngwira carara kicks rsa
strikers chiukepo msowoya desportivo muculmana moz esau kanyenda
kamaz rus russell mwafulirwa ifk norrkoping swe atusaye nyondo
carara kicks rsa jimmy zakazaka bay utd rsa victor nyirenda
escom
muslim cleaning woman called security threat in italy report
rome jan afp
muslim cleaning woman employed in provincial government office is security
threat and should be sacked local official of italy anti immigrant northern
league was quoted as saying friday
alessandro savoi the northern league leader on the trento provincial council
made the demand in letter to the council chairman giovanni kessler the
daily repubblica reported
get these islamists out of our offices the letter was quoted as saying
there is sensitive information on our desks and they can put their hands on
anything
he called on kessler to change the company contracted to clean the offices to
one that did not employ muslims but kessler ruled out any discrimination in
hiring staff the report said
racist incidents including attacks are increasing in italy in the view of
analysts who tend to put the blame on politicians particularly those of the
northern league partner in prime minister silvio berlusconi right wing
government
airline bomb plot strains us nigeria ties
lagos jan afp
us security measures in the wake of failed bomb attack on an american airline
have revealed cracks in relations between the us and nigeria one of its
