government and the sunni arab former elite
saleh al mutlak leading sunni mp and persistent critic of maliki shiite
dominated government is among those who have been barred but maliki has denied
that sunnis were being targeted ahead of the election
ahead of biden trip iraqi foreign minister hoshyar zebari stressed its
importance and told afp the vice president was here to salvage the electoral
process
if there are delays in publishing the final candidates list it will affect
the us withdrawal process also he said
blinken however said the timeline for the us withdrawal all combat troops
are scheduled to leave the country by august ahead of complete military
pullout in remained on track
the election row sparked flurry of contacts by biden in recent days aimed at
brokering compromise notably through talabani who is kurd
biden proposed that the disqualifications be deferred until after the election
and that those candidates who have been barred condemn and disavow the baath
party and undertake to act through democratic means talabani said
elections chief faraj al haidari told afp more candidates could yet be barred
from the ballot with the defence and interior ministries publishing lists
naming individuals who have criminal records or false diplomas
biden has repeatedly voiced concern about lingering feuds between iraq shiite
sunni and kurdish communities causing obstacles to political progress
on friday iraq government said the disqualified candidates would have to
denounce saddam regime and its crimes in order to reintegrate into society
without specifically offering reinstatement on ballot papers
the baathists must declare their innocence and condemn the crimes and
failings of saddam hussein regime and the baath party government spokesman
ali al dabbagh said
rugbyu european cup results
paris jan afp
results of european cup pool matches on friday
pool
munster irl northampton eng
perpignan fra treviso ita
playing saturday kick offs in gmt
pool
viadana ita clermont fra ospreys wal leicester eng
pool
bath eng ulster irl edinburgh sco stade francais fra
pool
brive fra scarlets wal london irish eng leinster irl
playing sunday
pool
biarritz fra glasgow sco dragons wal gloucester eng
pool
harlequins eng cardiff wal sale eng toulouse fra
rugbyu european cup results
paris jan afp
results of european cup pool match on friday
pool
munster irl northampton eng
perpignan fra treviso ita
playing saturday kick offs in gmt
pool
viadana ita clermont fra ospreys wal leicester eng
pool
bath eng ulster irl edinburgh sco stade francais fra
pool
brive fra scarlets wal london irish eng leinster irl
playing sunday
pool
biarritz fra glasgow sco dragons wal gloucester eng
pool
harlequins eng cardiff wal sale eng toulouse fra
basketball cleveland west breaks finger
cleveland ohio jan afp
the cleveland cavaliers suffered another injury blow on friday learning that
point guard delonte west had broken finger on his shooting hand in an nba
victory over the los angeles lakers
west broke the ring finger on his left hand in thursday night game which he
was starting in place of mo williams williams is sidelined for at least one
month with sprained left shoulder suffered in tuesday game against toronto
the cavaliers said west would miss game against oklahoma city on saturday but
they don know how long he will be out
doctors won be able to evaluate west injury fully until the swelling
subsides
west broke his finger scrambling for loose ball in the fourth quarter of
cleveland victory it was cleveland second triumph over the reigning
nba champions in less than month
daniel gibson whose minutes have dwindled recently will take over point guard
duties until west returns
the last couple of weeks ve been hoping to catch some minutes and it looks
like now got my wish gibson said just want to go out there and have fun
that going to be my biggest thing just enjoy the moment you get these
opportunities and when they come you just want to take advantage of them
cavs coach mike brown said general manager danny ferry and his staff were
talking about signing another point guard in the meantime gibson will get help
from lebron james and anthony parker
we may have to do it by committee said brown who added that the team must
consider several scenarios one is how long is he west going to be out for
the second one is knock on wood what if gib goes down nobody thought that
delonte would go down in the game after mo
rugby union gara makes valiant saints pay the penalty
paris jan afp
two time european cup champions munster ensured they host one of the quarter
finals on friday when they edged out pool one rivals northampton to reach
the last eight for remarkable th time in row
ireland fly half ronan gara kicked all their points while saints will at least
take away defensive bonus point which puts them in good position to make the
quarter finals as one of the two best runners up depending on the weekend
other results
munster took the lead in the third minute through gara calmly slotting over
penalty
munster veteran flanker alan quinlan who will be later this year and
saints flying winger and former rugby league star chris ashton were having
great old tussle with the older man coming off the worse when ashton clipped
him
northampton were uncowed by the antagonistic home support and traded blow for
blow and tackle for tackle with munster but their only real attempt at scoring
came in the th minute when shane geraghty made lame attempt at drop goal
gara had the chance to extend the lead shortly before the half hour mark but
his penalty from just inside northampton half fell short former all black
bruce reihana though made no mistake for the visitors from metres out and
levelled the match in the st minute
however fine incisive run by gara brought another penalty to the hosts
after northampton player dove in too early to break down the attack just
metres from the line gara had no problem in converting the penalty to give
munster lead at the break
reihana was unable to repeat his long distance effort three minutes into the
second half as his metres attempt went well wide
however geraghty who was having curates egg of match levelled in the
th minute with penalty redeeming himself after making terrible hash of
previous effort
gara restored munster lead in the th minute with penalty from in front
of the posts though skipper paul connell was testing pointe patience with
series of verbal exchanges though the frenchman made it clear who was in
charge with retort of we do it my way
however pointe and connell titanic struggle mirroring that of the two
teams saw the british and irish lions captain yellow carded on the hour mark for
hands in the ruck
despite northampton though twice opting to take five metre scrum with
connell off instead of kicking for goal it was heroic scrummaging by the
hosts that saw them win one against the head and clear the immediate danger
incredibly it was the irish province that scored with gara adding another
penalty when ashton was penalised and if the roar for the score was deafening it
was outdone in volume by the return of the talismanic connell
geraghty went off to be replaced by another rugby league convert in stephen
myler who made the last five minutes nervy one for the hosts as he landed
penalty to make it and whilst they may not have won the bonus point
could prove to be as good as victory
britain raises terror threat level minister
london jan afp
britain raised its terror threat level from substantial to severe on friday
suggesting that an attack is highly likely home secretary alan johnson said
the change comes just weeks after failed plane bombing in the united states
and days ahead of two major international conferences on yemen and afghanistan
in london on wednesday and thursday
the joint terrorism analysis centre has today raised the threat to the uk from
international terrorism from substantial to severe johnson said
this means that terrorist attack is highly likely but should stress that
there is no intelligence to suggest than an attack is imminent
in television statement shortly afterwards johnson refused to say whether the
change in the threat level to the fourth in five level scale was linked
to the failed detroit plane bombing on december
we never say what the intelligence is and it would be pretty daft of us to do
that he said adding it shouldn be thought to be linked to detroit or
anywhere else for that matter
he said the jtac unit within the mi domestic intelligence agency looks at
all factors and no one should draw any assumptions from this
the increased threat level meant that britain would put more resources in we
heighten the state of vigilance he added
in statement issued by his office johnson insisted the threat level which
has been made public on mi website since august was kept under
constant review
the terrorism analysis centre makes its judgments based on broad range of
factors including the intent and capabilities of international terrorist groups
in the uk and overseas he added
johnson said britain continues to face real and serious threat from
international terrorism and urged the public to remain vigilant and report any
suspicious activities to the authorities
the threat level was last at severe on july when it was downgraded to
substantial suggesting an attack remains strong possibility
prime minister gordon brown on wednesday reiterated the threats britain faced as
he unveiled new security measures sparked by the attempt to blow up us
airliner flying into detroit which has been claimed by al qaeda
we know that number of terrorist cells are actively trying to attack britain
and other countries he told lawmakers in the house of commons
brown said the crucible of terrorism was based on the afghan pakistan border
but noted how the failed detroit attack also highlighted the threat posed by
militants in yemen
the alleged bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab had reportedly trained in yemen
he had also studied in london for three years as an undergraduate
britain has organised meeting to strengthen international support for yemen in
its efforts against al qaeda to take place in london on wednesday the day
before high level conference on afghanistan
there have been numerous attempted attacks on britain in recent years as well
as the successful one on july when four suicide bombers attacked the
london transport system killing themselves and others
since the threat levels have been made public they have twice briefly been
raised to the top critical level meaning an attack was expected imminently
the first time was on august after series of arrests linked to
plot to down transatlantic airliners and the second on june at the
time of failed attacks in london and glasgow
the two lower threat levels are moderate indicating an attack is possible but
not likely and low meaning that an attack is considered unlikely
afp world news agenda
hong kong jan afp
what coming up around the world
us chinese forces expected to join haiti aid effort
recovery efforts after nigeria violence
us vice president biden tries to defuse iraq row
port au prince more us and chinese military forces are expected to arrive in
haiti to aid the survivors left destitute by the january quake haiti quake
jos nigeria survivors of inter religious violence that killed hundreds of
people pick up the pieces of their lives after calm is restored in the nigerian
flashpoint city of jos nigeria unrest religion
baghdad us vice president joe biden seeks to defuse row over disqualified
candidates for iraq march general election relating to their alleged links to
saddam hussein regime iraq vote
cape town cape town green point stadium and the peter mokaba stadium in
northern polokwane hold their first football matches test runs for the world
cup safrica stadiums fbl wc
new delhi india tightens airport security following tip off from western
intelligence services about possible attacks india security airline travel
tokyo political strongman ichiro ozawa secretary general of the ruling
democratic party of japan submits himself to questioning by prosecutors in
funding scandal which has rocked the centre left government japan politics
scandal
tunis tunisian journalist taoufik ben brik vocal critic of president zine el
abidine ben ali begins an appeal against his conviction and six month prison
sentence for assaulting woman tunisia media rights
washington the us television network links up for telethon for haiti hosted
by george clooney gmt haiti quake us telethon
president barack obama gives his weekly internet and radio address us
politics
afp
turks uighurs killed by afghan drone attack website
kabul jan afp
an attack by western drone aircraft in afghanistan killed militants of
turkish and chinese uighur origin turkish militant website was quoted as
saying on saturday
the islamist website quoted by the us based site intelligence group which
monitors such sites said the attack took place on january
the nato military force said it had no record of such an attack on that day but
announced few days earlier on january that militants had been killed
by missiles from drone aircraft in the southern province of helmand
fifteen mujahideen brothers were martyred allah willing on january in
afghanistan as result of bombardment from an occupying infidel crusader army
spy plane the website said
thirteen of our fifteen martyrs who did jihad within the ranks of the turkistan
islamic party were uighur and two of them were turks it said
the january announcement by the nato led international security assistance
force was unusual because drones are rarely used to attack targets in
afghanistan while they are frequently deployed in pakistan
greek farmers end bulgarian border blockade
thessaloniki greece jan afp
protesting greek farmers ended five day blockade at the main borderpost
between greece and bulgaria friday police said but maintained nearly other
roadblocks
long lines of trucks that had been stalled on either side of greece promahonas
border post since sunday began moving after the farmers met with bulgarian prime
minister boyko borisov police official said
the farmers had decided to let the traffic through as gesture of goodwill
after the meeting which was at borissov request and held just inside
bulgarian territory the greek news agency ana said
sofia had on thursday called on the european commission to intervene to reopen
the route saying similar protest year ago and cost bulgarian transporters
million euros million dollars
the greek government has already rejected the farmers demands for thousands of
euros in state support to counterbalance falls in prices for produce including
wheat cotton and milk
they are also seeking price cuts on fertilisers pharmaceutical products and
seeds rebate on the cost of electricity and fuel and three year freeze on
their debts to the greek agricultural bank
the protesters maintained about other roadblocks in greece traffic has also
been interrupted at border crossings with albania macedonia and turkey as well
as second one with bulgaria
greek prime minister george papandreou on friday criticised the action which
comes as the debt stricken country battles recession and major financial
crisis
meeting the farmers demands would be criminal for the greek people
papandreou said in parliamentary debate adding the action was damaging the
country already dented international image
miami schools open doors to haitian children
miami jan afp
schools in southern florida are opening their doors to children arriving from
quake stricken haiti and setting up special programs to help them adapt
authorities here said friday
miami officials are expecting an influx of haitians from the ravaged country
and the miami dade county school district has designated schools to receive
new students coming to the united states most of them from families with dual
us haitian citizenship
by wednesday some haitian children had been admitted to schools in the area
according to the county education department
there no question that haitian children will come to south florida the only
question is when they will arrive and how many there will be said alberto
carvalho miami dade school superintendent
carvalho said new student arrivals from haiti would follow program focusing
first on literacy and cultural transition
authorities in miami said they were working with federal authorities to ensure
that students could be enrolled in area schools as quickly as possible and in
the correct classes even if they had lost their identification papers in last
week disastrous magnitude earthquake
the school district said it will seek federal government assistance to ensure it
can adequately address the educational psychological and social needs of its
newest students
football german league table
berlin jan afp
german league table after friday match played won drawn lost goals for
goals against points
bayer leverkusen
schalke
bayern munich
hamburg
dortmund
werder bremen
eintr frankfurt
hoffenheim
vfl wolfsburg
mainz
vfb stuttgart
gladbach
vfl bochum
fc cologne
sc freiburg
hanover
nuremberg
hertha berlin
painting in leonardo da vinci row to auction in new york
new york jan afp
painting that once triggered major art world row after being mistakenly
identified as the work of leonardo da vinci will go on auction in new york this
week
no one really knows who painted la belle ferronniere and it will go on the
block at sotheby on thursday listed as by follower of leonardo da vinci
the oil painting depicting richly dressed woman looking out over her left
side is estimated to sell for to dollars an absolute bargain
compared to an authentic da vinci
it clearly not by leonardo although there was huge amount of controversy
said george wachter co chairman of sotheby old master paintings department
if it was an authentic leonardo it would be worth more than million
dollars
experts haven always been that confident
in la belle ferronniere provoked one of the art world most heated
debates and almost brought foremost international expert to his knees
french american couple had sold the painting said by french expert to be
da vinci for the then princely sum of dollars to kansas museum
however renowned specialist sir joseph duveen immediately declared the picture
no more than skillful copy he was sued by the owners and although the jury
was unable to reach verdict duveen was required to pay compensation
it was not until that da vinci specialist finally ended the mystery
ruling that the painting was executed in the mid th century more than
century after the italian genius had died
football german league result
berlin jan afp
german league result on friday
sc freiburg vfb stuttgart marica
playing saturday
vfl bochum schalke hertha berlin borussia monchengladbach werder bremen
bayern munich mainz hanover nuremberg eintracht frankfurt borussia
dortmund hamburg
playing sunday
vfl wolfsburg fc cologne hoffenheim bayer leverkusen
motorola files us complaint against blackberry maker rim
washington jan afp
us mobile phone maker motorola filed complaint friday with the us government
alleging patent infringement and unfair trade practices against the canadian
maker of the blackberry device
the complaint against canada based research in motion rim said the blackberry
maker infringed on motorola patents in key technology areas including wi fi
access and power management
these patented technologies are important to motorola as they allow for more
comprehensive connectivity better user experience and lower product costs
motorola said in announcing the complaint filed with the international trade
commission quasi judicial arm of the commerce department
motorola called for an itc investigation that could potentially lead to an
ordering banning some importation of some blackberry devices which are widely
used in the united states
jonathan meyer senior vice president of intellectual property law at motorola
accused rim of delay tactics in lawsuit that is pending in the courts
motorola had no choice but to file complaint with the itc to halt rim
continued infringement he said motorola will continue to take all necessary
steps to protect its research and intellectual property which are critical to
the company business
court case involving the two tech giants is pending in the us courts with
complaints filed in by each firm accusing the other of misappropriating
technology
dow plunges more than points for second straight day
new york jan afp
the dow blue chip index plunged more than points for second straight day
on friday amid concerns over us president barack obama bank revamp plans and
doubts on federal reserve chief ben bernanke renomination
the dow jones industrial average slumped points percent in final
trades to posting its third straight triple digit loss
the nasdaq composite tumbled points percent to and the
standard amp poor index dropped points percent to
provisional close of
sarkozy urges common position ahead of climate meet
paris jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy friday urged monthly meetings of nations to
better prepare for december climate conference in mexico after the failure to
get binding treaty in copenhagen
france would like regular monthly meetings of the group of to be held from
march in new york or in bonn at the ministerial or sherpa level to flesh out
proposals and we can then arrive in cancun with an efficiently prepared
agenda he said
it would be wise to follow double negotiations those of the nations
because they alone can involve the entire international community and that of
the which has demonstrated its efficiency he said while presenting his
new year wishes to diplomatic community
last month marathon talks yielded the copenhagen accord non binding
document crafted by small group of countries that account for around
percent of world carbon emissions
the accord was written by couple of dozen leaders on the final day of the
talks as the two week meeting hamstrung by textual wrangles and finger
pointing faced collapse
the copenhagen accord set broad goal of limiting global warming to two degrees
celsius fahrenheit but did not specify the staging points for achieving
this goal or year by which greenhouse gas emissions should peak
instead countries are being urged to identify what actions they intend to take
either as binding curbs on emissions or voluntary action twenty eight billion
dollars in aid have been pledged by rich countries for
mauled by the experience the un forum is due to resume in the coming months
culminating this year with ministerial level meeting in mexico in december
the main lesson from copenhagen is that it is no longer possible to negotiate
with following the same procedures sarkozy said adding that the heads of
state had been presented with an absolutely unreadable text when they arrived
in the danish capital
the french leader also said the united nations should either expand its security
council or risk being overtaken
wish to warn that if the united nations is not able to take necessary
decisions quickly then infomal forums like the group of will assume this
responsibility for want of anything better he said
catwalk shows move over for film and web
paris jan afp
catwalk shows as we knew them appear to be moving over for film and the web
with menswear shows in paris and milan this month increasingly offering live
streaming twitter feed and even film
cult couture designer yves saint laurent on friday unveiled its autumn winter
collection with film from cult photographer bruce weber featuring eye stopping
boys some nicely tailored clothes and lot of female nudity
titled ain nothin like the real thing with marvin gaye singing the seven
minute black and white movie kicking off the ysl collection premiered on youtube
and facebook
likewise the grand old house of dior on saturday launches its autumn winter
mens lines with giant catwalk show viewable live on the net at dior homme
urgent dow plunges more than points for second straight day
new york jan afp
the dow blue chip index plunged more than points for second straight day
on concerns over us president barack obama bank revamp plans and doubts on
federal reserve chief ben bernanke renomination
guantanamo detainee fate rests with us judges analysts
washington jan afp
year after president barack obama ordered guantanamo closed the prison
remains intact and some detainees appear set to be locked up indefinitely
but civilian judges still have the final say over their detention analysts say
justice department led task force has recommended that the prisoners be
held indefinitely because they are too dangerous to release and evidence against
them is insufficient for criminal trial the washington post reported friday
the president ordered the prison closed within year soon after his
inauguration but the deadline has slipped and detainees remain at the war
on terror prison in southwest cuba
in may obama warned that some detainees would be held without trial and last
month the government acquired prison in rural illinois to accommodate them
since june supreme court decision federal judges in washington have
had the final say on whether guantanamo prisoner can be determined to be an
enemy combatant
in the absence of clearly defined guidelines the judges themselves are the
architects of law for the detainees
obama move to not seek additional legislative authority for detentions at
guantanamo bay cuba combined with congress lack of interest in the task
means that for good or for ill judges must write the rules governing military
detention of terrorist suspects said brookings institution study
the study on habeas corpus released friday written by legal experts benjamin
wittes robert chesney and rabea benjamin noted there was endemic confusion
among judges dealing with the prisoners
some detainees freed by certain district judges would likely have had the
lawfulness of their detentions affirmed had other judges who have articulated
different standards heard their cases the study found
each judge wrestles in his or her own way with key questions such as whether
someone can be deemed an enemy combatant if they were an active member of al
qaeda or if they only provided material support
the george bush administration gave us four definitions the obama
administration gave us another definition noted us district court chief judge
royce lamberth last month during conference
most of us have adopted one definition but have one renegade judge that
got another definition he said
inconsistencies should diminish as more cases reach the top us courts on appeal
and precedents are set down the researchers added
what appears clear however is that federal judges whether appointed by
democrat or republican president have overwhelmingly cleared inmates of
terrorism charges in only nine of the cases examined so far have prisoners
remained in detention
the justice department led task force divided up the remaining guantanamo bay
detainees into three main groups the washington post said identifying who
should be prosecuted in federal or military courts at least who can be
either immediately or eventually released and the or so to be held without
trial
we re still moving forward and in much more deliberate and less haphazard
manner than was the case before an administration official pledged according
to the newspaper
human rights organizations and legal experts have long criticized obama for
keeping prisoners locked up indefinitely
one of the most shameful chapters of american history was to have been brought
to close with the shuttering of the prison at guantanamo bay said anthony
romero executive director of the american civil liberties union
but just as important as closing the prison quickly is closing it right and
that means putting an end to the illegal policy of indefinite detention without
charge or trial
he argued in statement that the obama administration should not create
