credibility of europe single currency because of it being the biggest economy
in the nation eurozone
state spending to battle historic recession will push germany deficit close
to percent this year more than double the percent limit set out in the
european union growth and stability pact schaeuble said
we are going to once again respect the limit of percent schaueble vowed
adding that the deficit must be reduced in stages starting in
greece has come under intense eu and financial market pressure to deal with
massive deficit of almost percent of output and huge debt that threaten the
credibility of regulations that underpin europe single currency
making buzz french roads to help honey bees
paris jan afp
france is to sow nectar bearing flowers on the sides of roads in an experiment
aimed at helping the honey bee hit by an alarming worldwide decline the
ministry of sustainable development said on tuesday
more than kilometres miles of roadside will be sown in the coming
months launching three year test that could be extended to the country
kilometer mile network of non toll roads it said
more than percent of our food is provided by pollinating insects including
bees protecting them also means ensuring our survival ecology secretary
chantal jouanno said
bee hives in parts of north america europe and asia have been struck by
mysterious ailment dubbed colony collapse disorder ccd
at normal times bee communities naturally lose around five percent of their
numbers but in ccd third half sometimes even percent of the
insects can be wiped out
the suspected culprits include blood sucking mite called varroa single
celled fungal parasite called nosema cerenae that causes bee dysentery and
pesticides used in fields that are pollinated by bees
other explanations include poor nutrition that mega farms stripped of
hedgerows and wild flowers and spreading suburbs with their concrete roads
and lawns are depriving bees of decent diet
football portsmouth court tax challenge fails
london jan afp
premier league crisis club portsmouth moved nearer administration on tuesday
when their bid to have winding up petition from british tax authorities struck
out was rejected by judge
cash strapped portsmouth had argued the value added tax vat portion of its
huge tax bill was too high by as much as million pounds
but judge guy newey found against portsmouth at london high court and in
favour of tax collectors her majesty revenue and customs hmrc
court spokesman said at the high court today tuesday mr justice newey
dismissed an application from portsmouth football club limited for winding up
petition to be struck out
further hearing to consider hmrc winding up petition will take place in due
course
that hearing is now expected on february and the outcome could send bottom
of the table pompey step closer to becoming the first premier league club to
enter administration
doping team sports must play by whereabouts rule wada
lausanne switzerland jan afp
world anti doping chiefs insisted on tuesday that all team sports without
exception must play by rules obliging some athletes to announce their
whereabouts for out of competition testing
there has been no exception for any federation said world anti doping agency
wada director general alan howell
world football governing body fifa had raised qualms about the revised world
anti doping code introduced for all sports early last year claiming that
footballers should be granted special treatment
the rulebook requires that designated athletes in all sports should give notice
of their whereabouts for one hour day days year to ensure that doping
control officials can carry out random out of competition testing
howell said misunderstanding with fifa over the whereabouts requirement had
been cleared up in series of meetings through
no other team sports had directly asked wada for exemptions he added
and if we received one we would say no howell added
wada is about to review the record of all sports in the fight against doping
including football with conference with international federations due in
lausanne in april to discuss the issue
sports federations will also be able to ask for changes to the anti doping code
for another revision due in
after the meetings last year fifa ended up announcing that football was
studying the introdction of the biological passport for players although it was
long term project
howell said fifa and wada were working on testing the inclusion of steroid
profile in the passport which currently keeps permanent record of an
athlete blood and urine parameters to detect any suspicious changes
we are asking fifa in this instance for access to some of the major football
teams in europe howell explained at wada media seminar
citi suffers billion dollar loss in final quarter
new york jan afp
battered financial giant citigroup said tuesday it suffered net loss of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of resulting in full year loss of
billion dollars
citigroup said its fourth quarter revenues were billion dollars or
billion dollars excluding repayment of government bailout loan down from
billion dollars in the prior quarter
the quarterly result amounted to loss of cents share in line with
forecast by wall street analysts
citi last month repaid some billion dollars to the us government as part of
program to emerge from massive bailout
asian stars to bookend th berlin film festival
berlin jan afp
top asian directors will open and close the berlin film festival next month as
the star studded event celebrates its th anniversary organisers said tuesday
the curtain will rise on chinese film maker wang quan an apart together
tuan yuan on february world premiere that will kick off the day
competition for the golden bear top prize
in statement the festival described the year old wang who focuses on the
plight of china rural poor as one of the most important chinese auteur film
makers of the younger generation
he took home the golden bear in for tuya marriage tuya de hunshi an
unconventional love story about herdswoman and her two husbands set in the
grasslands of mongolia
apart together is period drama about soldier forced to flee mao forces
for taiwan in who reunites with the love of his life decades later
the berlinale main programme will wrap up on february with screening of
about her brother otouto by japanese master yoji yamada after the
ceremony to hand out the top prizes
it is the first contemporary drama in decade for yamada who is best known for
his samurai trilogy and has been guest of the berlin festival six times
about her brother will screen out of competition
the berlinale ranks second after cannes among europe top cinema showcases
highlights this year are to include the ghost writer by roman polanski who
has been completing the film while under house arrest in switzerland awaiting
possible extradition to the united states on charges of unlawful sex with
year old girl
the picture stars ewan mcgregor and pierce brosnan who are expected in berlin
alongside leonardo dicaprio with martin scorsese new thriller shutter island
and bollywood heartthrob shah rukh khan appearing in my name is khan
football real eyeing teenage ace canales report
madrid jan afp
real madrid is hoping to sign much coveted year old offensive midfielder
sergio canales from fellow primera liga side racing santander spanish
newspapers said tuesday
real director of football jorge valdano discussed the move on monday with
the chairman of santander francisco pernia the as and marca sports newspapers
said
the spanish giants have proposed that the player whose contract ends in june
remain on loan at santander for the next two seasons as said
marca said canales who has been in fine form scoring five goals in eight
league games this season has also had talks with english premier league sides
chelsea arsenal and manchester city
survivor tells court of nazi death camp horrors
munich germany jan afp
one of the few remaining survivors of sobibor said tuesday he still has
nightmares about the nazi death camp as he appeared as witness in the trial
of alleged guard john demjanjuk
can get it out of my head said thomas blatt whose parents and
brother were among the people estimated to have perished there during
world war ii this is the price paid for getting out
he said that he was unable to place demjanjuk at the camp in occupied
poland but that only ukrainians like mr demjanjuk guarded us
it was years ago that is long time my memory isn that good now blatt
told the court in munich southern germany but he said he remembered being
faced with death every second
ukrainian born demjanjuk was deported from the united states last may and has
been on trial since november accused of being an accessory to the murder of
jews during his alleged time at sobibor in
there are no living witnesses able to positively identify demjanjuk but the
prosecution says it has an ss identity card proving he was at the trawniki
training camp for guards and that he was transferred to sobibor
prosecution lawyers are using testimony from survivors to prove that if
demjanjuk was guard at the camp then he would have played an active role in
the mass killing that took place
demjanjuk whose family says he is gravely ill and who appeared in court on
stretcher denies the charges but has so far declined to address the court
the trial likely to be the last major case dealing with the war crimes during
the nazi regime is due to last until at least may
football mali protest over angola algeria non match
luanda jan afp
mali have lodged an official protest over what they describe as the complete
non match between angola and algeria which knocked them out of the africa cup
of nations
the hosts and algeria played out goalless draw on monday to send both sides
into the quarter finals from group at the expense of mali
angola finished top on five points with algeria second on four
stephen keshi side finished level with algeria after beating malawi on
monday but were squeezed out having lost to the desert foxes last week
angola and algeria went at each other throats in an open first half at the
november stadium but when news filtered through from cabinda that mali were
fully in control the second half turned into dreary affair with neither team
prepared to take any unnnecessary risks
that attitude incensed the mali team who have written to organisers the
confederation of african football caf to officially complain
we are lodging vehement protest against the behaviour of the algeria and
angola teams the mali football federation president boubacar thiam wrote in
the letter copy of which has been seen by afp
in fact the second half of this game was total non match the two sides
systematically refusing to play in order to maintain the score at which was
sufficient for qualification
he continued this anti sporting behaviour is contrary to the ethics and the
fair play policy put forward by fifa and caf must condemn it with the utmost
vigour
it does disservice to african football and to the game in general
we hope that caf will take the necessary disciplinary measures
thiam cites as precedent for his protest similar incident at the africa cup
of nations youth championships in match against cameroon and egypt who were
made to replay match after scoreless draw
the notion that monday draw had been arranged by angola and algeria before
kick off was strongly denied by algeria coach rabah saadane and angola captain
kali
saadane told monday post match press conference don accept at all that
this was fixed match and that we had some sort of agreement with the angolan
team to play for draw
kali was aksed if he had had any contact with his opposite number algeria
captain yazid mansouri to as journalist put it arrange draw
kali shook his head dismissively replying it wrong to insinuate that met
the algerian captain to talk about fixing this game journalists in angola
insinuate lot of things and bring up lot of negative points it wrong
had no contact with the algerian captain
saadane was algeria assistant at the world cup when algeria were victims of
the infamous draw between austria and the then west germany which saw those two
neighbours progress to the second round at the expense of the algerians
under fire bulgarian eu commission nominee pulls out
strasbourg jan afp
bulgaria eu commission nominee rumiana jeleva withdrew tuesday amid
allegations of incompetence and financial irregularities causing headache for
commission chief jose manuel barroso
her decision solves one problem for barroso as he puts team of policy
commissioners together for his second five year term in office but is blow to
his bid to get the cabinet up and running by february
jeleva also offered her resignation as bulgaria foreign minister an offer
which prime minister boyko borisov refused to accept
please accept my resignation from all the posts that currently hold and
undertake the necessary action to withdraw my candidature for eu
commissioner jeleva wrote in resignation letter to borisov
she had come under fire from members of the european parliament during
confirmation hearing last week over both her competence for the post of eu
humanitarian aid commissioner and allegations of gaps in her declaration of
financial interests
sofia swiftly proposed world bank vice president kristalina georgieva as its
nominee for the eu executive arm in bid to avoid diplomatic fall out
barroso took note of jeleva withdrawal in statement without passing
judgement on her credentials for the post
he welcomed the swift reaction of the bulgarian government to this situation
adding that the process of putting together his new commission team should now
continue and be concluded at the earliest opportunity
commission spokesman said the timetable was largely up to the european
parliament which must vet all would be commissioners
the new team was already delayed last november due to problems in ratifying the
eu reforming lisbon treaty
it is now technically impossible for the eu parliament to give its blessing to
the new commission on january as scheduled
the row over jeleva could also open pandora box for the commission as it
split the parliamentary groups along political lines
the socialist group in the eu assembly the second biggest bloc and which led
the criticism against jeleva said her decision to withdraw was inevitable
after such poor performance in the parliamentary which highlighted her
incompetence this outcome was both inevitable and predictable said leader
martin schulz
jeleva own political family in the parliament the centre right european
people party epp has complained about witch hunt amid allegations her
husband has mafia links and that she failed to declare involvement in bulgarian
firm global consult
hope that the political groups who have been attacking mrs jeleva and her
family with unfounded and slanderous allegations since her nomination to the
commission was announced will cease this hostile and aggressive behaviour
said epp chairman joseph daul
the conservative meps have spoken of the possibility of tit for tat campaign
against socialist eu commissioner perhaps slovakia maros sefcovic accused
of anti roma statements in
barroso who has begun second five year term in office said he would meet the
proposed replacement georgieva as soon as possible
over the last week and half the parliament has grilled all commissioners to
be while jeleva was not the only one to face grilling it was clear she posed
the biggest hurdle to barroso new executive team coming into being
several european deputies criticised her for giving vague answers or worse to
questions on her area of competence during the her hearing on january
report by the parliament legal experts did not reveal any problems with her
last financial declaration though it did suggest problems with versions she
lodged while member of the assembly from
however by then the focus had switched firmly to her ability to hold down the
humanitarian and crisis aid portfolio which will take in the eu response to
the massive earthquake in haiti
amnesty urges angola against crackdown in cabinda
johannesburg jan afp
amnesty international on tuesday urged angola not to use the deadly shooting on
togo football team as reason to crack down on activists in the troubled
province of cabinda
five people have been arrested since the january shooting by separatist
guerrillas which killed two members of togo squad as they entered cabinda to
compete in the africa cup of nations
amnesty international calls on the government to ensure that this deplorable
incident is not used as an excuse to violate the rights of citizens in cabinda
through arbitrary arrests and detentions or any form of cruel inhuman or
degrading treatment said erwin van der borght the group africa director
since the shooting angola has arrested well respected lawyer francisco luemba
former priest raul tati professor belchior lanso former police officer pedro
fuca and chevron employee jose zefarino pauti according to activists
all are being held in cabinda prison and are believed to be accused of
crimes against state security
amnesty international called on angola to ensure that thorough and impartial
investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attacks is carried out in
accordance with international human rights standards the statement said
those found to be responsible for the attacks should be brought to justice in
trial meeting international human rights standards for fair trial it added
the separatist front for the liberation of the enclave of cabinda flec has
been fighting for cabinda independence for more than three decades and
despite peace deal in continues to wage low level attacks in the
province
most danes against reprint of mohammed cartoons poll
copenhagen jan afp
vast majority of danes agree with the danish media decision to refrain from
reprinting controversial caricatures of the prophet mohammed after recent
attack against one of the cartoonists poll showed tuesday
total of percent agree with the decision some percent disagree and
percent are undecided the ramboell analyse institute poll published in
newspaper jyllands posten showed
the daily is the same one that originally published the caricatures of
mohammed in september that were considered offensive by many muslims and
sparked violent protests worldwide as well as string of death threats
year old somali man residing in denmark is accused of breaking into the
home of one of the cartoonists kurt westergaard on january and threatening
to kill him with an axe and knife
westergaard drew the most controversial of the cartoons depicting mohammed
wearing turban in the shape of bomb he was badly shaken by the attack but
was unharmed
this is massive rejection of the reprinting of the caricatures and can be
explained by the fact that danes consider the threats of violence and
repercussions and the attack against kurt westergaard as real stig harvard
media and sociology researcher at the university of copenhagen told the
newspaper
meanwhile majority of danes percent continue to support jyllands
posten decision to publish the cartoons in the name of freedom of
expression
some percent say it was bad idea and percent had no opinion
the ramboell analyse poll questioned people from january to
guinea chooses interim prime minister
ouagadougou jan afp
coup wracked guinea on tuesday named opposition figure jean marie dore as
interim prime minister under deal aimed at leading the country out of
month political crisis
dore will be tasked with leading the beleaguered west african state to
presidential elections in six months time and restoring democratic government
derailed by december coup
jean marie dore has been designated prime minister said idriss cherif
spokesman for interim junta leader general sekouba konate
he said konate would sign decree formalising dore appointment on tuesday in
conakry
union leader rabiatou serah diallo and junta figure general mamadouba toto
camara were named as deputy prime ministers in the power sharing transitional
government source close to the junta told afp
the source said sekouba and moussa dadis camara the junta leader who is
recuperating from an attempt to kill him last month had jointly agreed on the
choice of dore as prime minister
an agreement signed on friday paved the way for unity government led by
prime minister to be chosen from the forces vives coalition of opposition
parties trade unions and civil society members
the opposition had been divided over the choice of dore who had enough backing
from the majority of political parties to edge out diallo who was supported by
labour unions and civil society groups
dore is spokesman for the forces vives coalition while diallo is general
secretary of the national confederation of guinean workers
cherif said dore had been chosen as prime minister not only for his experience
but also for his knowledge of guinean politics
he will lead government whose mission notably will be the pursuit of the
transition with road map
the government will be composed of members designated by the cndd
national council for democracy and development the junta by the
opposition and from the four regions of guinea he said
under friday accord in burkina faso capital ouagadougou elections are to be
held within six months and junta chief camara will keep out of guinea politics
in official speak remain in convalescence
the accord mediated by burkina faso president blaise compaore is seen as
historic chance for guinea to move towards democracy after more than half
century of autocratic regimes
the plan signed in ouagadougou stipulates that the authorities during the
transition junta members and active personnel in the defence and security
forces can play no part in the planned election
but the mention of active personnel implies that soldiers who have left the
army can be candidates
sekouba the defence minister has taken over the day to day running of the
military government from camara
camara was shot in the head by an aide de camp in december after what some said
was dispute over bloody crackdown on an opposition rally in september in
which more than people were shot dead
camara launched coup etat on december within hours of the death of
long time dictator general lansana conte
rugbyu attoub banned for weeks for gouging
london jan afp
stade francais prop david attoub has been hit with mammoth week ban from
rugby union for gouging after what the disciplinary chief who imposed the
penalty labelled the worst act of contact with the eyes that have had to deal
with
the ban which has been backdated to start on december means as things
stand attoub cannot play rugby again until april ruling him out of the
remainder of the current european season and most of next term campaign
it is the second most severe suspension to have been handed out for gouging
offence in the professional era exceeded only by the two year ban handed to
richard nones prop with french club colomiers in
attoub was cited for gouging ulster lock stephen ferris during stormy
european cup clash on december in belfast that the irish province won
eye gouging is regarded as one of the worst acts of foul play in the man game
and the international rugby board irb the sport global governing body have
instructed disciplinary authorities to come down hard on those found guilty of
the offence
judge jeff blackett the disciplinary supremo at england rugby football union
rfu who heard attoub case said it was the irb directive and the player
previous history of gouging which included suspension for contact with the
eye eye area in european match in the season that saw him impose
penalty which has the potential to end the forward career
blackett who found attoub guilty of the offence on friday but only passed
sentence when the disciplinary hearing reconvened on monday determined his
action was in the top end in the level of seriousness for an offence of contact
with the eye eye area
in statement issued on tuesday blackett said this is the worst act of
contact with the eyes that have had to deal with it is case of deliberate
eye gouging
the initial hearing on december was adjourned until january to allow for
more evidence to be gathered after doubts were cast on the veracity of
photographs which showed the incident
but blackett ruling made clear he accepted the images were genuine and he
delivered damning indictment of attoub conduct
when he was shown the incriminating photographs and asked to explain what he
saw or what was happening he replied that he did not know blackett said he
refused to accept the possibility that his finger was in the eye
it was this evasiveness which satisfied me that his account was less than
truthful and that he knew that he had deliberately attacked the eyes of an
opponent but was trying to evade responsibility
the ban follows week ban given to attoub team mate and scrum half julien
dupuy who also gouged ferris in the same match
dupuy who began the year as starter in the french international lineup
appealed but his ban was only cut by week
the severity of the punishments handed out to the stade duo follows crackdown
in part caused by the furore over the mere eight week ban on south africa
flanker schalk burger for gouging british and irish lions wing luke fitzgerald
during last year second test in pretoria
max guazzini the club president of paris based stade francais said attoub
would appeal against his ban
rugby union traditionally operates policy of universality when it comes to
disciplinary punishments meaning ban in one tournament is applied to all
competitions
however after dupuy appeal hearing last week guazzini said he intended to
try to have the scrum half ban reduced still further at least in domestic
terms through the french rugby federation ffr and the national rugby league
lnr
guazzini could now take similar course of action in attoub case having
labelled dupuy suspension as totally unjustified
tennis australian open results day two collated
melbourne jan afp
results from day two of the australian open at melbourne park here tuesday
denotes seeding
men singles
st round
jarkko nieminen fin bt nick lindahl aus
tomas berdych cze bt robin haase ned
evgeny korolev kaz bt daniel brands ger
igor kunitysn rus bt jose acasuso arg
louk sorenson irl bt lu yen hsun tpe
marin cilic cro bt fabrice santoro fra
gael monfils fra bt matthew ebden aus
nikolay davydenko rus bt dieter kindlmann ger
fernando verdasco esp bt carsten ball aus
feliciano lopez esp bt pablo cuevas uru
stanislas wawrinka sui bt guillermo garica lopez esp
thomaz bellucci bra bt teimuraz gabashvilli rus
marsel ilhan tur bt sebastien grosjean fra
john isner usa bt andreas seppi ita
ivan sergeyev ukr bt dudi sela isr
viktor troicki srb bt nicolas lapentti ecu
rainer schuettler ger bt sam querrey usa
james blake usa bt arnaud clement fra
lukasz kubot pol bt mischa zverev ger
julien benneteau fra bt david guez fra
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt horacio zeballos arg
marc gicquel fra bt simone bolelli ita
santiago giraldo col bt tommy robredo esp
florent serra fra bt jurgen melzer aut
roger federer sui bt igor andreev rus
marcel granollers esp bt robin soderling swe
david ferrer esp bt frederico gil por retired
juan monaco arg bt ernests gulbis lat
jo wilfried tsonga fra bt sergiy stakhovsky ukr
illya marchenko ukr bt carlos moya esp
marcos baghdatis cyp bt paolo lorenzi ita
tommy haas ger bt simon greul ger
antonio veic cro bt daniel koellerer aut
stefan koubek aut bt rajeev ram usa
alejandro falla col bt marcos daniel bra
taylor dent usa bt fabio fognini ita
janko tipsarevic srb bt ryan harrison usa
michael llodra fra bt martin vassallo arguello arg
albert montanes esp bt oscar hernandez esp retired
lleyton hewitt aus bt ricardo hocevar bra
ivan dodig cro bt juan carlos ferrero esp
jan hajek cze bt robby ginepri usa
victor hanescu rom bt juan ignacio chela arg
benjamin becker ger bt grega zemlja slo
michael berrer ger bt kristof vliegen bel
denis istomin uzb bt jeremy chardy fra
stephane robert fra bt potito starace ita
novak djokovic srb bt daniel gimeno traver esp
marco chiudinelli sui bt marinko matisevic aus
donald young usa bt christophe rochus bel
nicolas almagro esp bt xavier malisse bel
mikhail youzhny rus bt richard gasquet fra
women singles
st round
ana ivanovic srb bt shenay perry usa
sandra zahlavova cze bt coco vandeweghe usa
aravane rezai fra bt sania mirza ind
marion bartoli fra bt rossana de los rios par
ekaterina makarova rus bt virginie razzano fra
angelique kerber ger bt olga govortsova blr
nadia petrova rus bt edina gallovits rou
katie brien gbr bt patricia mayr aut
sara errani ita bt klara zakopalova cze
samantha stosur aus bt han xinyun chn
tamarine tanasugarn tha bt sesil karatantcheva kaz
