only then the old feeling will be completely back can wait to be back
there
and schumacher says testing of mercedes gp car has gone better than expected
with his first drive in the formula one car set to take place next month
the test was super can tell the difference said schumacher
we have been handicapped bit because of the wet weather in the first two
days but on the third day we could do lot and even simulate race on slicks
it went better than had expected
immediately felt well in the car it was as if never was gone
the year old said he has signed three year deal to race with mercedes
because he wants to win the world championship again having linked up with ross
brawn who orchestrated the pits in each of his seven world championship wins
signed because we want to achieve something together said the german
the set up we have here is pretty unique with ross and his world
championship winning team with the knowhow of mercedes with the best engine at
the moment and we want to use that
we have clear aim we want to win the championships
that what we will fight for from the beginning
that is my personal standard too
despite repeatedly saying he would never return to formula one during the years
of his retirement schumacher has explained his decision to return to the track
couldn imagine my return before last year he said
after my retirement at the end of was very happy felt relieved like
had been freed
enjoyed that feeling because especially in the last years of racing
formula one had demanded great deal from me
it was not just the racing that loved during all the time but all those
things which relate to living under constant observation
it was extremely good for me to to be quiet for the last three years
it really is as if my batteries are fully recharged
my energy is back completely
really notice how motivated am because so much look forward to this
competition it is about time to start this whole thing again
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on wednesday
us company banking earnings bofa
new york bank of america posted loss of million dollars in the fourth
quarter of and said repayments of government aid boosted the loss for
shareholders to billion dollars
japan airline company distress jal
tokyo japan airlines sought to reassure the travelling public that it will keep
flying despite declaring bankruptcy as its share price dropped to new record
low of just two us cents
haiti quake imf public aid
washington imf chief dominique strauss kahn called for multilateral aid plan
for earthquake devastated haiti on the scale of the us marshall plan that
rebuilt europe after world war ii
britain us food company takeover cadbury kraft brown
london british prime minister gordon brown pledged to do everything we can to
secure jobs at chocolate maker cadbury the day after it accepted takeover bid
from us giant kraft foods
france economy public debt eu pact
paris france public debt will be lower than expected this year but will still
hit record percent of gross domestic product the government said
finance economy imf
hong kong the head of the imf said asia may need to erect temporary capital
controls among other measures to guard against the risk of new economic bubbles
as speculative money floods into the region
eu us economy eurozone productibity indicator
brussels productivity in the euro nations fell last year due to the
recession but continued to rise in the united states narrowing the
transatlantic gap the conference board economic institute said
us it company media newspapers internet nytimes
washington the new york times announced that it will begin charging online
readers of the newspaper at the beginning of next year
early queen remains unearthed in germany experts
london jan afp
the remains of one of an early queen and member of the english royal family are
believed to have been unearthed in germany archaeological experts said
wednesday
near complete skeleton discovered wrapped in silk in tomb in magdeburg
cathedral in northern germany is thought to be that of eadgyth granddaughter of
alfred the great said the british and german experts
the bones were found during wider research project at the german cathedral in
said professor mark horton of the department of archaeology and
anthropology at bristol university southwest england
it was known that she was initially buried at the monastery of mauritius in
magdeburg and if bones were to be found they would have had to have been moved
to this later tomb
it was however thought that this tomb was most likely cenotaph he said in
statement revealing details of the find
but when the lid was removed lead coffin was discovered bearing queen
eadgyth name and accurately recording the transfer of her remains in
inside the coffin nearly complete female skeleton aged between and was
found wrapped in silk
eadgyth was the sister of king athelstan and the granddaughter of alfred the
great she was given in marriage to otto the holy roman emperor in and
bore three children before her death in at the age of
if confirmed as her the magdeburg find would be the oldest member of the
english royal family whose remains have survived
her brother king athelstan is generally considered to have been the first king
of england after he unified the various saxon and celtic kingdoms following the
battle of brunanburgh in
harald meller of the landesmuseum fur vorgeschichte in saxony anhalt said we
still are not completely certain that this is eadgyth although all the
scientific evidence points to this interpretation
in the middle ages bones were moved around as relics and this makes definitive
identification difficult he added quoted by bristol university
now some small samples are being brought to the university of bristol for
further analysis to try to confirm the identification
if we can prove this truly is eadgyth this will be one of the most exciting
historical discoveries in recent years said horton
figure skating flawless plushenko on top at europeans
tallinn jan afp
olympic champion yevgeny plushenko proved he has lost none of his charisma as he
marked his international return with flawless men short programme to lead at
the european figure skating championships here on wednesday
the competition is the first major event since the year old retired four
years ago because of knee injuries after claiming gold at the turin olympics
but he showed he is ready to defend his olympic title by setting new world
record in the men short programme mark which he set in turin to lead
three time winner brian joubert of france by points going into friday
free skate final
visibly relaxed plushenko opened with quadruple toeloop triple toeloop
combination in his programme to concierto de aranjuez following up with
triple axel and triple lutz as he nailed all his required elements
and he warned can skate better believe me
the skater from st petersburg scored points bettering his previous record
by and putting him closer to sixth european title
joubert making his return after foot injury ruled him out of the grand prix
final gave strong performance to rise by safri duo but was technically
lacking compared to the russian
the frenchman doubled the toeloop in his opening quadruple triple toeloop
combination to score
france yannick ponsero is sitting third with as two time world champion
stephane lambiel of switzerland is in fifth
lambiel was also returning to international competition after retiring because
of thigh injury but he was lacking technically doubling his opening triple
axel and stumbled out of the following quadruple toeloop jump
since his return plushenko has competed in the cup of russia and the national
championships but wednesday was his first international event and he admitted he
was pleased with the result
finally skated clean today in the other competitions made mistakes he
said skated very good today so happy with the result and the feeling
but the important competition is vancouver this is like preparing for the big
day
the short programme counts for third of the marks with the remainder coming in
the free skating final
us intel chiefs admit failure in christmas attack
washington jan afp
the us counter terrorism system collectively failed in not stopping
christmas day attack on us bound airliner two top intelligence chiefs
acknowledged wednesday
national intelligence director dennis blair and michael leiter head of the
national counter terrorism center made the joint admission at congressional
hearing on the attack which was foiled by passengers and crew on the jet
the young nigerian charged in the attack umar farouk abdulmutallab should not
have stepped on that plane the counterterrorism system failed and told the
president we are determined to do better blair and leiter said
they acknowledged missing numerous red flags that should have alerted the
authorities to the alleged bomber
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula militant islamist group active in yemen and
saudi arabia claimed it was behind the botched attempt to blow up the northwest
airlines jet as it landed in detroit with people on board
blair and leiter said the security services had strategic intelligence that
the group was planning an attack yet did not insist that the watchlisting
criteria be adjusted
in addition the intelligence community analysts did not understand the
fragments of intelligence on what turned out later to be mr abdulmutallab so
they did not push him onto the terrorist watchlist they said
taking full blame for the incident blair and leiter said we are taking
fresh and penetrating look at strengthening both human and technical
performance
the united states on tuesday officially designated aqap terrorist organization
in legal bid to cut financial support for the group and its leaders nasir al
wahishi and said al shihri
biathlon world cup win for neuner
anterselva italy jan afp
magdalena neuner of germany won the women biathlon world cup race here on
wednesday
she covered the kilometres in mins secs to head german sweep of the
podium with second place going to kati wilhelm and third place to andrea henkel
two jewellers assailant killed in baghdad heist
baghdad jan afp
two jewellers and an assailant were killed in an attempted robbery and gun
battle with police on the streets of the iraqi capital on wednesday an interior
ministry official said
he said the jewellers were killed when their stores were attacked in the bunuk
district of northern baghdad
one assailant was killed and another was wounded in subsequent shoot out with
police the source said without saying how many attackers there were four
other people were also wounded but no goods were stolen
crime has been on the rise in iraq as the level of insurgent violence dips
in mid december kurdish speaking robbers in military camouflage entered the
largest bank in the northern city of kirkuk pretending to be hunting would be
suicide bomber before making off with thousands of dollars
eight police guards were killed in massive bank heist in the iraqi capital
last july the pre dawn raid on branch of al rafidain bank saw the robbers
make off with million dollars but the sum was later recovered
corrected un deeply concerned about health system in gaza
gaza city jan afp
the united nations on wednesday said it was deeply concerned about the
deterioration of the health care system in the gaza strip due to israeli
closures of the hamas ruled territory
year after israel devastating offensive in gaza the borders of the
impoverished territory remain mostly sealed preventing hundreds of patients
each month from leaving to receive timely advanced care officials said
we are deeply concerned about the current health system in gaza and in
particular its capacity and ability to deliver proper standards of health care
to the people of gaza un humanitarian coordinator max gaylard said
this adverse situation is not like haiti haiti has been destroyed by an
earthquake he told reporters at gaza main al shifa hospital the
circumstances here are entirely man made and can be fixed accordingly
israel tightened sanctions on gaza in june after the islamist hamas
movement seized power sealing the territory of million people off from all
but vital humanitarian aid and strictly limiting travel into and out of gaza
the israeli military would not immediately comment on the un allegations but has
said in the past that it is allowing humanitarian needs to be met while putting
pressure on hamas which won legislative elections but is blacklisted as
terrorist group by the west
the world health organisation who says the embargo has led to shortages of
certain drugs delayed or prevented the entry of vital equipment and spare
parts and kept doctors and nurses from pursuing advanced training
gaza has reasonably decent health care system quite sophisticated health
care system it not if you like third world country in this respect said
tony laurance the who head for the palestinian territories
but you cannot run system of this kind modern health care system in
isolation from the international community
the lack of certain kinds of advanced care meanwhile forces hundreds of gazans
to seek passage to israel each month for treatment there or in third countries
but many are denied or receive no response
in december there were applications for advanced care with percent of
applicants declined and patients died while waiting for israeli permits in
according to the who
if that happened in my country in the uk in europe in israel if an
individual who needed urgent treatment was unable to get out because of
bureaucratic obstacle it would be scandal laurance said
here it happens to or people every month
one such patient was fidaa hijjy an year old woman diagnosed with hodgkins
disease who applied for permit to be treated in israel on three occasions last
autumn but did not receive any response
she died on november two days after her last missed appointment at an
israeli hospital
the day of the funeral we got call from the palestinian liaison office saying
the israelis agreed that we should make fourth appointment amal hijjy one
of her relatives told reporters
said there no need to make another appointment because the girl died
yesterday she said
suspect arrested in killings of eight in us police
washington jan afp
police on wednesday arrested man suspected of shooting to death eight people
in the southern state of virginia
the suspect christopher speight surrendered without incident to police
after being cornered in woods west of the historic town of appomattox police
statement said
at est gmt this morning christopher speight walked in the
security perimeter and turned himself in without incident charges are pending
he was taken into custody and is being debriefed police statement said
police had launched massive manhunt in central virginia after discovering
seven bodies at rural home and another victim nearby
more than sheriff department deputies police officers and state troopers
worked through the night to find speight cordoning off section of the woods
where he was hiding
the shooting suspect on tuesday fired at helicopter called in to aid with the
search at least four shots hit the craft forcing it to make an emergency
landing officials said
the incident began unfolding around noon on tuesday when deputy from the
appomattox sheriff office responded to an emergency call about an injured man
lying on country road
when the deputy arrived on scene the deputy heard several gun shots molnar
said
the male subject was transported by med flight state police helicopter to
lynchburg general hospital where the man later died police said
officers who stayed at the scene found four bodies outside nearby home and
three bodies inside the residence
the victims were male and female according to police who did not give motive
for the attack although local media reported the wife and the son of the
suspect were among the dead
meanwhile the washington post reported wednesday that male teenager was among
the fatalities and said the shootings appeared to have been triggered by
family argument
the daily wrote that samuel carter an official on the appomattox county board
of supervisors said he understood that man had shot and killed his wife and
his son during dispute
carter said he was not aware of any history of trouble in the family
the post reported that before daybreak on wednesday police authorities closed
appomattox county four public schools and local christian academy
one nearby resident told the daily that law enforcement officers told us to
stay locked inside and that some houses were evacuated
the office of newly inaugurated virginia governor robert mcdonnell described the
shootings as horrific tragedy according to statement carried by the
washington post
the shooting came less than two years after virginia was rocked by the fatal
shooting of people at virginia tech by student gunman seung hui cho
appomattox small town in the south of the state is best known as the venue
for the surrender of confederate general robert lee that ended the us civil
war
pope summons irish bishops over child sex abuse scandal
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi has summoned irish bishops to the vatican in february to chart
way forward over child sex abuse scandal that has shaken ireland
spokesman said wednesday
the february meeting will address the aftermath of revelations that church
authorities covered up for paedophile priests in the mainly catholic country for
some three decades
the pope already met on december with ireland two most senior roman
catholic churchmen primate of all ireland cardinal sean brady and dublin
archbishop diarmuid martin following shock government report on the scandal
in the dublin archdiocese ireland biggest
the pope said then he shared the outrage betrayal and shame felt by so many of
the faithful in ireland over these heinous crimes catalogued in the report
issued in late november
one priest admitted to sexually abusing over children while another
accepted that he had abused on fortnightly basis over years
four bishops have so far resigned following the report which revealed that
church leaders did not report abuse to police as part of culture of secrecy
and determination to avoid damaging the reputation and assets of the church
the scandal caused deep pain and outrage in ireland and sparked crisis of
confidence in church leadership
brady at the funeral of his predecessor cardinal cahal daly earlier this month
said the shameful revelations had brought the church in ireland to defining
moment in its history
the irish bishops conference said in dublin on tuesday that they would hold an
extraordinary meeting friday to continue debate over the revelations
the bishops will also be preparing for pope benedict xvi address by way of
pastoral letter to the faithful of ireland the bishops conference said in
statement
the vatican said in december that the pope would address pastoral letter to
irish catholics setting out way forward
the vatican watching news agency media said the letter would be handed to the
bishops during their visit in february
britain guardian newspaper said the text was to be read out to irish catholics
on february the first day of lent the christian season of penance
reflection and fasting leading up to easter
dublin archbishop martin said criminal behaviour by clerics must be investigated
and prosecuted at christmas eve mass in dublin
no words of apology will ever be enough for the hurt caused he said adding
that the church must honestly and brutally recognise what had happened
renewal must begin with accepting responsibility for the past criminal
behaviour must be investigated and pursued he said
cardinal claudio hummes who heads the vatican congregation for the clergy
also said last week that paedophile priests should be prosecuted
we have to follow through with determination even through ordinary legal
channels he told the vatican newspaper osservatore romano
human rights abusers turn on activists in report
new york jan afp
human rights defenders from russia to sri lanka were themselves targets of
vicious abuses in human rights watch said wednesday in its annual world
report
hrw executive director kenneth roth introduced the page report by saying
abuses against defenders of human rights represented backlash by governments
feeling the pressure
attacks on rights defenders might be seen as perverse tribute to the human
rights movement but that doesn mitigate the danger roth said under
various pretexts abusive governments are attacking the very foundations of the
human rights movement
the report highlights the daylight kidnapping and murder of natalia estemirova
who investigated abductions torture and illegal executions in chechnya most
of them by russian and russian installed chechen forces
her murder came after prominent human rights lawyer stanislav markelov was
shot dead in central moscow and was followed by the murder of two charity
workers in chechnya and the gunning down of an opposition and civic activist in
neighboring ingushetia
other countries where human rights monitors were murdered included afghanistan
burundi kenya and sri lanka hrw said
authoritarian countries such as mynamar and china also saw repression while
eritrea north korea and turkmenistan were so abusive that no domestic human
rights movement can function hrw said in statement launching the report
in addition to violent attacks countries including china and iran used the
disbarment of lawyers faked criminal charges or as in russia and azerbaijan
libel laws to silence dissent hrw said
sudan and china in particular regularly close human rights groups while iran
and uzbekistan openly harass and arbitrarily detain rights defenders
another government singled out is israel where human rights defenders have
experienced more hostile climate than ever before after documenting abuses
committed by israel as well as hamas
hrw also criticized the united states saying that despite president barack
obama pledge to close guantanamo bay and end torture washington is
maintaining military commissions for some terrorist suspects
that and continuing to hold suspects indefinitely without charge or trial
risk perpetuating the spirit of guantanamo roth said
he called for prosecution of all those who have ordered facilitated or
carried out torture and other ill treatment he said
roth said the only hope for human rights defenders in dangerous countries is
international support
governments that support human rights need to speak out to make respecting
human rights the bedrock of their diplomacy and of their own practices roth
said
hrw also decried what it called concerted attack on the international criminal
court icc following the issuing of war crimes arrest warrant against sudan
president omar al bashir whose forces are accused of atrocities in darfur
instead of applauding the icc for taking action to redress the mass murder and
forced displacement the african union resolved in july not to cooperate in
executing the arrest warrant hrw said
human rights watch also highlighted
china harsh crackdown on ethnic violence in the uighur majority xinjiang
province
cuba where the switch from fidel castro to his brother raul in has had
little effect on cuba dismal human rights record cuba remains the one
country in latin america that represses virtually all forms of political
dissent
the democratic republic of congo where the government and rebel forces were
responsible for dramatic increase in violence against civilians the report
said at least civilians were slaughtered over women and girls were
raped and more than one million people were forced to flee
iran crackdown following the june presidential election where
ordinary protestors and prominent opposition figures faced detention without
trial harsh treatment including sexual violence and denial of due process
iraq where conditions in iraq remain extremely poor especially for
displaced persons religious and ethnic minorities and vulnerable groups such
as women and girls and men suspected of homosexual conduct
israel and gaza where civilians were the targets of military assaults
particularly in the intense israeli assault on gaza year ago
wells fargo posts strong profits after wachovia takeover
new york jan afp
us banking giant wells fargo reported strong profits for following its
integration of smaller rival wachovia and repayment of billion dollar
taxpayer bailout
wells fargo posted net income of billion dollars in the fourth quarter on
record revenue of billion dollars up an annualized percent from the
third quarter
for the full year wells fargo said it had net profit of billion dollars on
record revenue of billion dollars
the financial results partly reflected the california based bank takeover of
wachovia on december making wells fargo the fourth largest bank by
assets in the united states the bank said it had trillion dollars in assets
at the end of
for shareholders fourth quarter income was million dollars mainly due to
the aid repayment and dividends under the federal troubled asset relief program
tarp
earnings per share of eight cents in the fourth quarter surprised most analysts
who on average had forecast net loss of one cent
the bank announced in december it had repaid the us treasury billion
dollars in preferred shares purchased under the tarp rescue and paid dividend
of million dollars
the bank said that average checking and savings deposits rose to billion
dollars in the fourth quarter percent increase from the prior quarter
the final three months of the year showed continued signs of positive turn in
credit quality and almost all major loan categories had relatively flat or
declining losses with the exception of commercial real estate the bank said
for the fourth quarter of and for the full year we delivered significant
value for our customers communities shareholders and country said john
stumpf chairman and chief executive of wells fargo
stumpf said the merger with wachovia which essentially doubled the size of
wells fargo has already generated tremendous synergies
rights report pillories african leaders over icc
nairobi jan afp
african leaders have sent their people an alarming message by siding with
sudanese president omar al beshir over his victims human rights watch hrw
said in its annual report wednesday
the page review of human rights in the world criticised african governments
for blocking justice mechanisms and warned that rights activists were
increasingly threatened
the new york based watchdog hailed the march international criminal court
icc arrest warrant against beshir for war crimes and crimes against humanity
in sudan strife wracked darfur region as major development
but in an introduction entitled the abusers reaction intensifying attacks
on human rights defenders organisations and institutions it also deplored
the african union decision to stand by beshir
one would have wanted african leaders to applaud the move after all the world
had dithered for more than five years as the people of darfur faced mass murder
and forced displacement the report said
unfortunately some african leaders seemed less troubled by the slaughter of
ordinary african people than by the audacious prospect that sitting african
leader might actually be brought to justice for these horrendous crimes it
said
the nadir came during the african union summit held in july in sirte
libya hrw said the au led by some of the continent worst autocrats
began accusing the court of unfairly targeting africans in reality these
leaders were cynically trying to protect one of their own
human rights watch which reviewed the status of human rights in around sub
saharan countries also highlighted government obstruction or misuse of justice
mechanisms at national level
the report dedicated to alison des forges former hrw africa senior adviser
and leading expert on rwanda genocide who died in us plane crash last
year took swipe at rwanda over its local gacaca courts
rwanda has employed its informal gacaca courts form of popular justice
devoid of many fair trial guarantees to falsely accuse government critics of
complicity in the genocide hrw said
ironically these steps taken in the name of national reconciliation have
undermined the formation of independent civil society groups that could bridge
ethnic divides and ease ethnic tensions it added
human rights watch also slammed kenya key western ally in africa which has
failed to introduce reforms demanded by the international community following
deadly post election violence in
the report said incidents of extrajudicial killings and excessive use of force
by police and military continued unchecked in
there were also renewed reports of systematic torture and mistreatment of
civilians during disarmament operations it added
the report also singled out ethiopia which it said was on deteriorating
human rights trajectory as parliamentary elections approach in
abuses by the military lengthly pre charge detention and legal provisions
restricting political freedom go unpunished and unnoticed by foreign donors keen
not to jeopardise security cooperation it said
the watchdog deplored yet another year of violence against civilians by all
belligerents in the democratic republic of congo and situation in somalia
which it said was so dangerous that open human rights monitoring is virtually
impossible
new york times to begin charging online readers in
washington jan afp
the new york times announced wednesday that it will begin charging online
readers of the newspaper at the beginning of next year
the new approach referred to as the metered model will offer users free
access to set number of articles per month and then charge users once they
exceed that number the new york times co said in statement
the times co did not announce any pricing for full access to the newspaper
website or how many articles would be available for free
it said the paid model will be introduced at the beginning of and will
enable nytimes com to create second revenue stream and preserve its robust
