the white house race democrat john kerry the other massachusetts senator
kirk and senate republican minority leader mitch mcconnell according to
schedule released by his office
tennis new aussie hope blasts open organisers
melbourne jan afp
australia great new hope bernard tomic has blasted australian open organisers
for scheduling him to play until am thursday saying it may have cost him
giantkilling scalp
the year old who has emerged as star in the making pushed big serving
th seeded croat marin cilic all the way in marathon five setter which went
almost four hours before fatigue caught up with him
tomic said it was ridiculous that player of his age was forced into that
timeslot primarily to satisfy australian television audiences
to finish at that time it tough he said
look have no excuses but think if have played during the day which
requested it could have been all changed think should have won
after am am for year old to go out and play it difficult for the
people requested to play during the day and it didn happen think it
ridiculous
his whinge put the spotlight back on late night matches at the opening grand
slam of the season which came to the fore in when lleyton hewitt finally
beat marcos baghdatis at am the latest finish in open history
hewitt was so wiped out he lost in the next round
tomic match started about pm on wednesday pushed back after justine
henin took almost three hours to beat fifth seed elena dementieva on rod laver
arena
the australian teen complained that in no other sport would competitors be
forced to play at such an hour
two koreas fail to agree in talks on joint venture
seoul jan afp
talks between north and south korea about their joint business venture ended
without agreement early thursday when the communist state sought early
negotiations on pay rises for its workers seoul official said
the meeting about the future of the kaesong industrial estate just north of the
heavily fortified border went ahead despite last week threats by pyongyang to
break off all contacts with seoul
talks went on late into the night but no date was set for their next meeting
said seoul unification ministry spokesman chun hae sung
the two sides were unable to narrow their differences despite extended
discussions yonhap news agency quoted him as saying soon after the meeting
ended at kaesong
chun said the north stuck to its demand that wage increases be on the agenda at
the next meeting south korea says other matters including easier cross border
access to kaesong and housing for north korean workers should be handled first
kaesong the last reconciliation project still functioning was designed to
bring together the north cheap but skilled workforce and the south capital
and expertise
around north koreans work at south korean funded plants producing
cookware textiles electronics and other light industrial goods
but the estate has often been hit by political tensions in june pyongyang
stunned seoul by demanding wage rise to dollars month for its workers
from around dollars currently
it dropped that demand last september in the latest of series of peace
overtures after months of tensions it was unclear what increases the north is
now seeking
analysts say the north hit harder by international sanctions following its
nuclear and missile tests last year seems willing to promote economic exchanges
with the south despite an angry broadside last friday
its national defence commission the country top decision making body
threatened to cut all dialogue and cooperation unless the south apologises for
an alleged contingency plan to handle regime collapse in the north
the commission also warned of holy war against the south should there be any
attempt to carry out the plan
south korean media has reported the existence of the contingency plan but it
has not been confirmed by the government
washington asks eu to install body scanners at main airports
toledo spain jan afp
washington will try to convince the eu to install body scanners at its main
airports for use by us bound passengers at talks in spain on thursday but
european officials are seeking privacy safeguards before agreeing to the
measure
us homeland security secretary janet napolitano is attending an informal meeting
of interior ministers in toledo to try to strike deal deemed crucial
following last month failed bomb plot on flight from amsterdam to detroit
the talks come just one day after part of munich airport was closed for three
hours due to major alert sparked by man running away from security check
when his laptop tested positive for possible explosives which has fueled
concerns over airline safety
given the reservations expressed across europe for the measure napolitano will
try to rally the support of key interior ministers such as france brice
hortefeux at the gathering whose support could prove to be decisive european
official told afp
france and italy plan to try out the expensive scanners which produce images
that show any concealed items but also reveal the passengers intimate bodily
curves to security staff
britain and the netherlands have already installed the devices but other
nations such as germany and spain are more cautious and number have said
they want the eu to adopt bloc wide stance
at toledo we are going to listen to sound out the capitals and the measures
which are adopted should provide guarantees for fundamental rights spanish
secretary of state for security antonio camacho said ahead of the meeting
napolitano wants quick response from europe but has taken care not to seem to
be imposing the measure on the bloc
but spanish interior minister alfredo perez rubalcaba whose country holds the
rotating presidency of the eu said decision would not be taken on the use of
the scanners at the meeting in toledo
the scanners will be part of general discussion on air security we will not
take an immediate decision he told reporters late on wednesday
if the detroit attack showed us anything it is that airplanes continue to be
the target of islamic terrorists he added
year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab has been accused of trying to
detonate bomb on the flight to detroit and has been charged with the attempted
murder of people he has pleaded not guilty
the us request has the backing of the eu anti terror coordinator gilles de
kerchove
am in favour of the body scanners as long as there are rules in place it
useful very useful even for detecting cases such as the detroit case where
someone hid explosives around his private parts which were not searched by
hand he said earlier this month
the outgoing european commissioner in charge of justice and security france
jacques barrot will seek guarantees from napolitano that the images taken by
the scanners are immediately destroyed
the full body scanners which the united states has accelerated the use of at
its airports are equipped with memories and have the capacity of transferring
images to other devices according to online privacy group electronic privacy
information center
our need for privacy connot justify invasion of privacy our citizens are not
just objects but they are human beings the incoming eu justice commissioner
viviane reding told the european parliament last week
two koreas fail to agree in talks on joint venture
seoul jan afp
talks between north and south korea about their joint business venture ended
without agreement early thursday when the communist state sought early
negotiations on pay rises for its workers seoul official said
the meeting about the future of the kaesong industrial estate just north of the
heavily fortified border went ahead despite last week threats by pyongyang to
break off all contacts with seoul
talks went on late into the night but no date was set for their next meeting
said seoul unification ministry spokesman chun hae sung
the two sides were unable to narrow their differences despite extended
discussions yonhap news agency quoted him as saying soon after the meeting
ended at kaesong
chun said the north stuck to its demand that wage increases be on the agenda at
the next meeting south korea says other matters including easier cross border
access to kaesong and housing for north korean workers should be handled first
kaesong the last reconciliation project still functioning was designed to
bring together the north cheap but skilled workforce and the south capital
and expertise
around north koreans work at south korean funded plants producing
cookware textiles electronics and other light industrial goods
but the estate has often been hit by political tensions in june pyongyang
stunned seoul by demanding wage rise to dollars month for its workers
from around dollars currently
it dropped that demand last september in the latest of series of peace
overtures after months of tensions it was unclear what increases the north is
now seeking
analysts say the north hit harder by international sanctions following its
nuclear and missile tests last year seems willing to promote economic exchanges
with the south despite an angry broadside last friday
its national defence commission the country top decision making body
threatened to cut all dialogue and cooperation unless the south apologises for
an alleged contingency plan to handle regime collapse in the north
the commission also warned of holy war against the south should there be any
attempt to carry out the plan
south korean media has reported the existence of the contingency plan but it
has not been confirmed by the government
muslim anger over us military jesus scopes
washington jan afp
muslim groups reacted angrily wednesday after it emerged that the us military in
iraq and afghanistan were using rifle sights inscribed with coded biblical
references
the company producing the sights which are also used to train afghan and iraqi
soldiers under contracts with the us army and the marine corps said it has
inscribed references to the new testament on the metal casings for over two
decades
the british ministry of defense meanwhile announced it had placed an order for
of the gunsights with trijicon but added it had not been aware of the
significance of the inscriptions in decision criticized by the opposition
liberal democrat party
the muslim public affairs council mpac called on us defense secretary robert
gates to immediately withdraw from combat use equipment found to have
inscriptions of biblical references after it emerged that trijicon has contracts
to supply over of the sights to the us military
the pentagon sought to defuse the brewing controversy saying it was disturbed
by the reports
if determined to be true this is clearly inappropriate and we are looking into
possible remedies commander darryn james pentagon spokesman told afp
the codes were used as part of our faith and our belief in service to our
country trijicon said
as long as we have men and women in danger we will continue to do everything
we can to provide them with both state of the art technology and the never
ending support and prayers of grateful nation company spokesman said on
condition of anonymity
the move appeared to be direct violation of us central command general order
issued after the us led invasion of iraq that strictly prohibits
proselytizing of any religion faith or practice
whistleblower group that first alerted abc news to the issue this week warned
the practice was putting troops in harm way by raising fears of christian
proselytizing in muslim majority nations home to militants resentful of us
military presence
this is the worst type of emboldenment of the enemy that you can imagine
military religious freedom foundation founder and president michael mikey
weinstein said in an interview
weinstein former white house legal counsel in ronald reagan administration
said his group would submit filing in us federal court in kansas city
missouri by february in related case
having biblical references on military equipment violates the basic ideals and
values our country was founded upon mpac washington director haris tarin said
in statement
worse still it provides propaganda ammo to extremists who claim there is
crusader war against islam by the united states he added
the shocking revelation raises fresh fears of christian fundamentalism seeping
through the us military ranks
it got to stop it wrong on million levels said weinstein this is
massively endangering the lives and well being of our members of the military
his foundation he added represents nearly troops the bulk of them
christians
muslim american soldier who declined to be named due to fears of persecution
said he was ashamed and horrified by the writings on the gunsights of
weapons he used during deployments in iraq and afghanistan
there are many other soldiers who feel as do many are protestant and
catholic and they fear reprisal just as much as do for trying to stand up to
the christian bullies in uniform who outrank us he said in letter dated
january and addressed to weinstein and his foundation
according to photographs seen by afp the coded inscriptions include jn an
apparent reference to john then spake jesus again unto them saying am
the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but
shall have the light of life
trijicon defense contractor founded by devout christian glyn bindon vows on
its website to follow biblical standards it says make america great
new york times to begin charging web readers in
washington jan afp
the new york times in move that will be closely watched by other newspapers
suffering from plunging print advertising revenue announced wednesday it will
begin charging online readers 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
the times co did not announce pricing for full access to the newspaper
website which currently draws more than million unique visitors month or
how many articles would be available for free
the paid model will be introduced at the beginning of times co
statement said while the newspaper reported it would begin in january
print subscribers to the times will continue to have free online access to
nytimes com once the metered model is in place
like other newspapers and magazines in the united states the times has been
grappling with declining print advertising revenue falling circulation and the
migration of readers to free news on the internet
dan kennedy an assistant professor of journalism at boston northeastern
university said the move was expected and something the times needed to try
over the past year or so it become increasingly clear that advertising alone
may never support the heavy infrastructure of traditional newspaper website
kennedy told afp
increasingly people have been thinking about various ways for readers to pick
up more of the share
kennedy said that while other struggling newspapers will be watching the times
efforts to get readers to pay online don think it ends up being very
valid test or experiment for the industry as whole
they re likely to be far more successful with this than other newspapers might
be because when it comes to mainstream journalism the times is the gold
standard he said there are lot of people who would pay for access to the
times
times co chairman and publisher arthur sulzberger said times readers are very
loyal and will pay for our award winning digital content and services
the new york times experimented with pay wall in charging for access to
columnists and other content with system called timesselect but abandoned the
move two years later
times co president and chief executive janet robinson said the latest bid to
charge online is driven by our desire to achieve additional revenue diversity
that will make us less susceptible to the inevitable economic cycles
the news corp owned wall street journal and long island newsday are currently
the only major us newspapers charging readers for full online access but
number of other publishers are also considering the move
britain financial times uses similar metered system to that being proposed
by the times and news corp chairman rupert murdoch has announced plans to begin
charging online readers of all of the newspapers in his vast stable
other newspaper publishers have been reluctant to take the step fearing it would
drive readers to free news sites and result in loss of revenue from online
advertising
an article in the times about the move attracted hundreds of comments and emails
from readers and the newspaper said those who insisted they would not pay
outnumbered those who said they would
readers who read exclusively on line need to pony up said gmnickles of
reno nevada
charging for online access will be mistake said reader named stan from
new jersey the times tried this before and it failed this attempt will do so
as well
besides the flagship newspaper the times co owns the international herald
tribune the boston globe other daily newspapers and more than websites
the times co last year sought to sell the money losing boston globe and carried
out series of job cuts in its more than strong newsroom
the times co also completed sale leaseback deal for part of its manhattan
headquarters last year in move aimed at raising cash to pay down its debt and
received million dollar loan from mexican billionaire carlos slim
the times is also seeking buyer for its percent stake in new england
sports ventures which owns the boston red sox baseball team and their iconic
stadium fenway park
times co shares lost percent on wall street on wednesday to close at
dollars
google conscience hits chinese communism
san francisco jan afp
google style capitalism with conscience is butting heads with china brand of
communism
google has vowed to stop bowing to chinese online censorship that came as
legal condition when the california technology firm tailored search engine for
that country in
the impetus for the stand was china spawned cyber espionage that recently
targeted google and other firms
filtered results were being delivered wednesday at google cn as google awaited
an audience with chinese officials to discuss how if at all the search engine
could operate uncensored
the question is if google cn shuts down what that means broadpoint amtech
analyst ben schachter told afp
don think we ve seen anything this out in the open before how it plays out
remains to be seen
google has trodden carefully partly for the sakes of workers in china since it
made public on january wave of sophisticated cyberattacks that originated
in that country
its stance has been scrutinized to the extent of fueling speculation that it is
simply justifying exiting china market where it has failed to shine
china search engine baidu reigned supreme in that country in november with about
percent of the market while google had percent according to industry
tracker comscore
analysts suspect that google decision runs deeper than current market share
given the value of having stake in china booming market
if you are going to be worldwide technology provider you can cut off the
largest single population said silicon valley analyst rob enderle of enderle
group
stockholders who turn to google for answers should peruse an owners manual
letter that founders sergey brin and larry page published online when the
company went public in
google is not conventional company brin and page said we do not intend to
become one
the founders promised that they would stick to the values google developed as
private firm they started in stanford university dormitory
don be evil brin and page wrote echoing the company unofficial motto
we believe strongly that in the long term we will be better served as
shareholders and in all other ways by company that does good things for the
world even if we forgo some short term gains
google battled the us department of justice in federal court in to prevent
unbridled access to search results being sought to help revive child online
protection act deemed unconstitutional
the decision to filter china search results in order to do business there
reportedly caused much consternation at google
google executives reasoned at the time that internet freedom would eventually
blossom in china
china is huge market but it is market that comes with strings said
interpret analyst michael gartenberg
what is unclear about the stated departure is are the rules not working for
google or is the market not panning out the way they ve expected
internet rights activists praise google decision suggesting scrutiny shift to
firms staying silent about cyberattacks
security experts place the number of targets at more than and so far only
google and adobe have revealed they were attacked
cyber spies that struck at google were after source code and email accounts of
human rights activists according to the internet firm
google is considering shutting down the china search engine but could maintain
research and sales facilities in that country
analysts will be watching google earnings report on thursday for indications
of plans in china
most of the hundreds of millions of dollars google makes annually in china
might go unaffected by pullout since it comes from online advertising posted
outside that country
the main cost to google from china exit is expected to be in future
opportunities google on wednesday delayed the china release of two mobile
telephones based on its android software
companies launching devices or services in china might shun working with google
to avoid problems with the government
chinese officials have showed no sign of yielding and maintain that companies
doing business in that country must follow local law
at the end of the day google may not lose that much in china because it may
turn out there wasn much in china for them to begin with said gartenberg
pulling out lets them take the high ground and evoke the don be evil
mantra
imf chief seeks marshall plan for ravaged haiti
washington jan afp
imf chief dominique strauss kahn urged wednesday multilateral aid plan for
earthquake ravaged haiti like the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe after
world war ii
my belief is that haiti which has been incredibly hit by different things
the food and fuel prices crisis then the hurricane then the earthquake
needs something that is big the managing director of the washington based
international monetary fund said
not only piecemeal approach but something which is much bigger to deal with
the reconstruction of the country some kind of marshall plan that we need
now to implement for haiti he said referring to the us initiative launched in
to rebuild war ravaged western europe
the international community is gearing up for coordinated drive to help
rebuild the poorest country in the western hemisphere even as the primary focus
remains on rescue and relief efforts after the massive magnitude earthquake
on january
officials fear as many as people were killed in the quake that reduced
most of the haitian capital port au prince to rubble and impacted an estimated
three million people one third of the country population
haitian officials said tuesday that people were injured and million
were left homeless
the urgency today is to save the people the urgency in some weeks will be
the reconstruction strauss kahn said
the imf last thursday promised an interest free loan of million dollars in
initial emergency funds to the haitian government to support essential
activities and finance urgent imports
the imf loan has drawn criticism for adding to the debt burden of haiti the
poorest country in the western hemisphere
the most important thing is that the imf is now working with all donors to try
to delete all the haitian debt including our new loan the former french
socialist finance minister said
strauss kahn recalled that the imf had no immediate way to make grant
if we succeed and sure we will succeed even this loan will turn out
to be finally grant because all the debt will have been deleted and that
the very important thing for haiti now
the imf and the world bank classify haiti among heavily indebted poor
countries eligible for debt forgiveness the caribbean nation was granted
billion dollars in debt relief last june
more than billion dollars has been pledged in aid funding for haiti
according to united nations data and the idea of marshall plan appeared to
be gaining traction
denis brien head of irish telecommunications firm digicel and haiti biggest
foreign investor said recently that he was working alongside former us
president bill clinton on such plan to rebuild quake ravaged haiti
obviously we need foreign direct investment but on wider front we need
marshall plan brien said
canada will host donors conference monday in montreal to discuss haiti
reconstruction efforts and prepare for donors meeting in march
the donors summit to help the former french colony had been proposed by french
president nicolas sarkozy who will also deliver the opening address at the th
annual meeting of the world economic forum wef next week in davos
switzerland
organizers said the haitian crisis would be major theme at the five day
meeting opening wednesday expected to draw leaders from more than
countries including clinton
we want to use davos to solicit commitments of our partners members and
constituents in the form of practical help for relief of the continued pain of
haiti people and particularly for the reconstruction of haiti klaus schwab
wef founder and executive chairman said wednesday
we hope that we can present major common effort to the world community
showing true corporate global citizenship in davos he said
the rebuilding of haiti which already was in dire straits before the horrific
earthquake poses tough challenges not least notoriously weak rule of law
that could result in wasted aid dollars
the caribbean nation ranks among the top most corrupt countries in the world
according to transparency international
asked how resources should be prioritized in order to rebuild the country
strauss kahn said we need to work with the government to see exactly how
from their point of view and from our point of view things can be done
hundreds evacuated as california battered by storm
los angeles jan afp
hundreds of homeowners in fire ravaged areas were ordered to evacuate across
california wednesday as powerful storm battered the region triggering
warnings of flash floods and mudslides
the storm the third to hit into the region since monday was expected to dump
up to inches of rain in some areas by thursday raising fears of landslides
in hilly regions denuded of vegetation by last year wildfires
authorities issued evacuation orders to around homes in the los angeles area
deemed to be threatened by landslides
los angeles county fire department chief michael freeman said residents and
public officials were involved in race against mother nature
and if she wins the race there no way we can assure that firefighters as
well equipped and as trained as they are will be able to get into your
neighborhood and make rescues freeman said
los angeles police department chief charlie beck meanwhile urged homeowners
threatened by landslides to act as soon as they were ordered to evacuate
if los angeles police officer comes to your door and tells you to leave
leave beck told news briefing
we re not asking you to leave because we think your lawn going to get dirty
we re not doing it because your carpet going to get wet
we re doing it because your life is at risk
los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa meanwhile warned that the combination of
vegetation denuded hillsides and torrential rain could create repeat of the
la conchita mudslide which left people dead and buried homes
this storm the rain that about to come created situation where we could
be looking at la conchita type mudslide villaraigosa warned
this is not hyperbole here we re asking people to cooperate to take this
seriously
the severe weather buffeted planes flying throughout the region including two
los angeles bound passenger jets which were struck by lightning
both planes southwest airlines flights from oakland and sacramento were
rattled by lightning before they came into land at bob hope airport in the los
angeles suburb of burbank spokeswoman marilee mcinnis said
flight attendant on one of the flights complained of pain in her arm and was
treated in hospital but there were no reports of further injuries
both planes were taken out of service for inspection but suffered no visible
damage in the high voltage blasts
imf chief seeks marshall plan for ravaged haiti
washington jan afp
imf chief dominique strauss kahn urged wednesday multilateral aid plan for
earthquake ravaged haiti like the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe after
world war ii
my belief is that haiti which has been incredibly hit by different things
the food and fuel prices crisis then the hurricane then the earthquake
needs something that is big the managing director of the washington based
international monetary fund said
not only piecemeal approach but something which is much bigger to deal with
the reconstruction of the country some kind of marshall plan that we need
now to implement for haiti he said referring to the us initiative launched in
to rebuild war ravaged western europe
the international community is gearing up for coordinated drive to help
rebuild the poorest country in the western hemisphere even as the primary focus
remains on rescue and relief efforts after the massive magnitude earthquake
on january
officials fear as many as people were killed in the quake that reduced
most of the haitian capital port au prince to rubble and impacted an estimated
three million people one third of the country population
haitian officials said tuesday that people were injured and million
were left homeless
the urgency today is to save the people the urgency in some weeks will be
the reconstruction strauss kahn said
the imf last thursday promised an interest free loan of million dollars in
initial emergency funds to the haitian government to support essential
activities and finance urgent imports
the imf loan has drawn criticism for adding to the debt burden of haiti the
