carlisle
gillingham
exeter
oldham
brighton
leyton orient
tranmere
wycombe
stockport
note southampton deducted points for entering administration
league two
rochdale
bournemouth
rotherham
shrewsbury
notts county
dagenham and redbridge
aldershot
bury
chesterfield
morecambe
accrington stanley
crewe
bradford
port vale
burton albion
northampton
barnet
macclesfield
torquay
hereford
cheltenham
lincoln city
grimsby
darlington
ground staff strike disrupts flights at geneva airport
geneva jan afp
ground staff striking at geneva international airport saturday caused delays on
some flights during one of the airport busiest weekends of the year an
airport spokesman told the swiss agency ats
the strike by dnata and swissport affects the runway and baggage handling
sectors but the impact so far has been limited to few delays and longer
waiting times for baggage collection due to transfers of other airport staff
but if the strike continues it will disrupt one of the busiest weekends of the
year for the airport spokesman bertrand stampfli said
the chartered flights terminal is the most affected and stampfli said some
flights will have to take off without passengers luggage
dnata and swissport launched their strike action following calls from unions to
demand collective work convention specifically for airport businesses wage
increases and and better work organisation
tennis abu dhabi exhibition tournament results
abu dhabi jan afp
results of the capitala world tennis championship exhibition tournament here on
saturday
final
rafael nadal esp bt robin soderling swe
rd place
roger federer sui bt david ferrer esp
football scottish premier league table
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league table after saturday matches played won drawn
lost goals for goals against points
rangers
celtic
hibernian
dundee utd
hearts
aberdeen
motherwell
st johnstone
st mirren
hamilton
kilmarnock
falkirk
croatian banker arrested in corruption scandal
zagreb jan afp
croatian police said they arrested at the border saturday top former banker
wanted for alleged high risk lending at top state owned banks in scandal that
saw six other people detained last week
josip protega former president of the state controlled postanska banka hpb
was arrested at the bregana borderpost with slovenia while returning to croatia
police said in statement carried by the hina news agency
local media reported that he had been at an austrian ski resort when the six
others were detained on wednesday taking his holidays despite police summons
police later issued an international warrant for his arrest
along with two other former directors of the bank and four clients protega is
accused making high risk credit loans under political pressure that amounted to
at least million kuna millions euros million dollars
they are suspected of criminal activity related to risk management an
interior ministry statement said this week
protega headed the bank from late to august last year when he was
dismissed
fighting corruption is one of the key conditions for croatia to satisfy if it is
to succeed in joining the european union by
football english league results
london jan afp
english football league results on saturday
league one
hartlepool oldham
wycombe norwich
postponed both frozen pitches
leyton orient yeovil
walsall charlton
league two
bournemouth northampton
bradford cheltenham
chesterfield shrewsbury
grimsby bury
postponed all frozen pitches
darlington port vale
hereford crewe
macclesfield morecambe
rochdale rotherham
football schalke sign brazilian striker edu
gelsenkirchen germany jan afp
brazilian striker edu signed for his third german club on saturday as he joined
high flying schalke from korean outfit suwon blue wings
the year old signed three and half year contract with schalke who are
second in the championship point behind bayer leverkusen
edu previously played for bochum and mainz scoring five goals in
appearances
the german league resumes in mid january after its traditional winter break
rallying casteu wins dakar motorcycling opening stage
cordoba argentina jan afp
france david casteu on sherco won the opening motorcycling stage of the
dakar rally on saturday km timed stage from buenos aires to here
casteu just egded out compatriot and ktm rider cyril despres the and
champion while race favourite marc coma of spain on another ktm was
seconds off the pace
spain jordi viladoms on ktm chile francisco lopez on an aprilia and
french yamaha rider david fretigne made up the top six
football scottish premier league results
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league results on saturday
dundee utd aberdeen mulgrew
st mirren innes kilmarnock
postponed
falkirk st johnstone frozen pitch motherwell hamilton safety reasons
playing sunday
celtic rangers gmt hibernian hearts gmt
afghan parliament rejects most of karzai cabinet nominees
kabul jan afp
afghanistan parliament showed its teeth saturday by rejecting the majority of
president hamid karzai nominees for cabinet posts state television showed
of nominees only seven were approved in secret ballot by more than
parliamentarians in process that appears to have undermined the president
authority
of the nominees introduced to parliament seven have succeeded in getting
your vote of confidence parliamentary speaker mohammad yunus qanoni said after
counting finished
the seven ministerial nominees who won approval included those who had been
approved by karzai supporters in the international community as competent and
clean technocrats
those rejected included warlord ismail khan nominated for the post of water
and energy minister widely seen as reward for supporting the president during
the fraud tainted august presidential election
also rejected surprisingly was the only woman nominated to cabinet post
incumbent women affairs minister husn banu ghazanfar who lost out by two
votes
karzai had been hoping to finalise his cabinet before an international
conference in london on january to discuss the future of the country
the position of foreign minister the th cabinet post will not be filled
until after the conference which will be attended by the outgoing incumbent
rangin dadfar spanta parliamentary spokesman hasib noori said
kabul university law professor nasrullah stanikzai said the high number of
rejections showed karzai had not thoroughly considered his list before
presenting it to parliament last month
the high rate of rejections will have negative effect on those ministries
which are without leadership and policy in the lead up to the london
conference stanikzai told afp
on the other hand the high rate of rejections shows that parliament has risen
above internecine considerations that have plagued afghan politics in the past
such as tribal issues and ethnic divisions
ministries without approved ministers would be run by deputy ministers until
nominees were approved he said
approved were defence agriculture interior finance education culture and
mines and industries
under the constitution rejected nominees cannot be put forward again for the
same post parliamentary spokesman noori said adding parliament will begin its
day winter recess on january leaving little or no time for karzai to
present fresh list
karzai choices were seen as the first test of his commitment to building
clean and accountable government and eradicating the corruption that blights
afghanistan and helps to fuel taliban insurgency
western leaders have made it clear the billions of dollars in military and
development assistance that pour into afghanistan now depend on concrete action
against corruption
karzai cabinet choices appeared to reflect the need to please his western
backers while at the same time giving nod to sector of his domestic
supporters regarded as odious to washington london and other nato capitals
western diplomats said however that pressure had also come from afghan
supporters who had expected to be rewarded in age old fashion for supporting
him during the election process
the most notorious warlords abdul rashid dostum and mohammad mohaqiq leaders
of two minority ethnic groups who supported karzai in the election and were
expected to be rewarded with high office were not nominated
the international community deploys troops to fight an increasingly
bloody taliban led insurgency
up to more troops are due to arrive over the course of backed by
thousands of civilians as the war strategy turns from battleground tactics to
development and aid
separately afghanistan independent election commission iec confirmed
saturday that parliamentary elections will take place on may
commenting on reports the polls could be delayed because of fraud problems that
plagued the august presidential election the iec said security budget and
timing requirements had been met with the help of the international community
rallying casteu wins dakar motorcycling opening stage
cordoba argentina jan afp
france david casteu on sherco won the opening motorcycling stage of the
dakar rally on saturday km timed stage from buenos aires to here
tennis nadal starts on winning note with gulf victory
abu dhabi jan afp
rafael nadal got his year off to winning start when he defeated robin
soderling in the final of the capitala world tennis championship
exhibition tournament here on saturday
soderling had beaten nadal in their two previous atp tour meetings ending the
spaniard reign in the french open and then dumping him in the world tour
finals in london and he was the more aggressive of the two in the opening
stages
it very important to start the season on winning note and because haven
won tournament for over six months said nadal whose last trophy came in may
nadal also paid tribute to soderling despite the two having enjoyed stormy
relationship in the past
he good competitor and has lot of potential it normal that he should
be in the world top
nadal had the first two break points of the final at only for the big swede
to pull through thanks to some big first serves
nadal then also saved two set points from down in the following game
before forcing the tie break which he comfortably won on the back of some
typically stunning defensive work
soderling needed to save another break point to avoid going down in the
second before levelling at
but two games later he handed nadal two more break points with weak volley at
the net and the former world no banked the second of these when the swede hit
wide
the door was wide open for nadal but soderling belied the tournament
exhibition status by digging deep to break back in the following game before
levelling at
the swede then saved three match points two games later with an angled volley to
get to but nadal was by now well on top and he finished off the tiring
swede at
nadal next heads to nearby doha where he will open the atp regular season as
second seed to roger federer while soderling travels to chennai in india where
he will be the top seed
federer took third place here beating spain david ferrer
italian banks face first class action lawsuits report
rome jan afp
an italian consumer rights group has launched class action lawsuits over
overdraft charges that could cost two banks up to billion euros nine
billion dollars italian media reported saturday
the cases are the first to be brought under new law permitting class action
suits in italian courts and follow an inquiry by the country antitrust
authority published in december
this found that in some cases bank overdraft fees were times higher than
under an old system which was abolished several months ago with the aim of
lowering charges
the codacons customer rights association filed cases against the unicredit and
intesa san paolo banks on friday in rome and the northern city of turin
respectively
in its complaint codacons said intesa san paolo and unicredit should each pay
their customers at least billion euros in compensation
as many as million citizens could be affected and each could claim
euros giving an overall total of billion euros carlo rienzi the head of
codacons told the cnrmedia com website
two other consumer organisations adusbef and federconsumatori have also
announced collective legal action against banks
the new law allows collective lawsuits against any unfair commercial practice
from august onwards
unlike the us system the italian law only allows for compensation to the
victims there is no provision for imposing punitive damages against
companies
rienzi said he was confident of winning the cases against the banks but said
the new law would be more effective if it allowed punitive damages
pakistan suicide car bomb kills
peshawar pakistan jan afp
investigators sifted through rubble saturday after suicide car bomber
detonated his explosive filled vehicle in crowd watching volleyball game in
northwest pakistan killing at least
friday bombing marked bloody start to for pakistan which has seen
surge in attacks blamed on the taliban in recent months as islamist fighters
avenge military operations aimed at crushing their northwestern strongholds
the huge blast in the village of shah hasan khan in bannu district bordering
the taliban stronghold of south waziristan was pakistan deadliest in more
than two months
it caused the collapse of more than houses some with families inside
the entire nation is against terrorists prime minister yousuf raza gilani
said their agenda is foreign their agenda is to destabilise the government
deteriorate law and order and create fear and panic
we have the ability and resolve to eliminate terrorists he said adding that
help would come from the international community
us secretary of state hillary clinton vowed her country would continue
supporting pakistani people in their efforts to chart their own future free
from fear and intimidation
catherine ashton the european union new foreign policy chief said she was
shocked by news of the attack
in this difficult moment the eu reaffirms its support for the government and
the population of pakistan ashton said
in the village resident riaz ahmad said pieces of human flesh and dried blood
could still be seen on the ground and people were sifting through rubble
searching for dead and injured
the bomber drove pick up vehicle packed with kilograms pounds of
explosives onto the site of the volleyball match and detonated
five more people died overnight in the government main hospital in lakki
marwat town raising the death toll to district police chief mohammad ayub
khan told afp blaming militants who were targeted in military operation in
bannu last year
six children and five paramilitary soldiers were among the dead
the volleyball tournament was organised by peace committee which had supported
government operation to expel militants from the area
it was the highest death toll from suspected militant strike since massive
car bomb on october killed people in crowded market in peshawar the
northwestern provincial capital
ramzan bittani year old driver told afp that he had left the match to
take call
as was listening saw huge blue and white flash followed by an ear
piercing blast when was able to figure out what had happened saw bodies
and smoke all around my hand was fractured he said
anwer khan student said that he had just stepped out of his house when
he saw the black pick up speeding up towards the spectators
giant flame leapt towards the sky there was bright light everywhere just
like flash and then very huge blast shook everything two pellets hit my
forehead and blood started flowing khan said
many of the injured complained about facilities at the lakki marwat hospital
there are no medicines and bedding available the government should take note
of the situation taj alam labourer with shoulder injury told afp
he said that locals had brought beds from their houses for the injured
security has plummeted over the past two and half years in pakistan where
militant violence has killed more than people since july
elsewhere local taliban commander and his four companions were killed in an
exchange of fire with troops in kolachi village kilometres miles west
of the northwestern town of dera ismail khan on friday
obama blames al qaeda affiliate for airliner attack
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us president barack obama saturday for the first time accused an al qaeda
affiliate of arming and training young nigerian man for failed suicide
mission to blow up us airliner
in his weekly radio and video address obama promised to hold the group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to account for the attack declaring the
united states was at war with far reaching network of violence and hatred
the president vacation in his home state of hawaii has been interrupted by the
ramifications of the failed attack on northwest airlines jet heading for
detroit on christmas day
obama has reviewed preliminary results of probes he has ordered into the attack
and said details were becoming clear about the year old nigerian suspect umar
farouk abdulmutallab
we know that he traveled to yemen country grappling with crushing poverty
and deadly insurgencies obama said in his address posted on the white house
website early saturday
it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula trained him equipped him with those explosives
and directed him to attack that plane headed for america
us officials previously had not said publicly that the attack was the work of
al qaeda though had noted there was linkage with the terror group
aqap on monday claimed the failed december jet bombing in statement picked
up by us monitors
abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up the plane as it approached detroit
from amsterdam by setting off explosives stitched into his underwear the
attempt failed when the detonator did not set off the explosives as planned
instead igniting fire which was put out by passengers and crew
obama said that because of past attacks by the al qaeda affiliate he had even
before the christmas day attempt stepped up us cooperation with insurgency
scarred yemen
training camps have been struck leaders eliminated plots disrupted he said
in the address
and all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on christmas must
know you too will be held to account
with the focus of the west trained on alleged terror havens in yemen british
prime minister gordon brown on friday called for an international meeting on
combating extremism in the country
brown office said the meeting would take place in london january running
in parallel with conference on afghanistan which is expected to be attended
by senior ministers or leaders from over nations
on saturday yemen welcomed the initiative it step in the right direction
that will mobilize international support for yemeni development and its efforts
to battle unemployment and the effects of poverty the saba news agency quoted
an official yemeni spokesman as saying
and spain intends to use its six month presidency of the european union to
reinforce coordination against terror threats el pais newspaper reported
saturday citing government officials
but as such support began to coalesce it was overshadowed saturday by news that
danish police shot and wounded an axe wielding man linked to radical somali
islamists who tried to break into the home of cartoonist notorious for his
drawing of the prophet mohammed
the year old somali national was close to the somali shebab movement and al
qaeda which was responsible for the attacks in the united states the
internal security service pet said
the man was charged saturday with attempted murder of cartoonist kurt
westergaard and policeman
that attack came as obama put the northwest bombing attempt in context of the
wider threat from terrorism following complaints from some republicans that he
has not adopted the war on terror formulation of predecessor george bush
he noted it was almost year since he came to office and delivered his
inaugural address
on that day also made it very clear our nation is at war against far
reaching network of violence and hatred and that we will do whatever it takes
to defeat them and defend our country even as we uphold the values that have
always distinguished america among nations
angered by how narrowly tragedy was averted in country still scarred by the
september attacks obama was spending the weekend poring over
preliminary reports of two probes he demanded into the christmas attack
the president plans to meet heads of intelligence agencies and relevant
departments tuesday in washington to discuss the findings
afp middle east news agenda
nicosia jan afp
duty editor simon martelli
news desk
middle east news agenda for sunday
iran gives powers ultimatum to accept uranium deal
tehran iran gives the west an ultimatum to accept uranium swap deal saying
it will produce its own nuclear fuel for tehran reactor otherwise iran
nuclear politics
cairo palestinian president mahmud abbas arrives in cairo ahead of talks on
monday with egyptian president hosni mubarak aimed at reviving the middle east
peace process mideast conflict diplomacy
jerusalem israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to give details of his
recent talks with egyptian president hosni mubarak at weekly cabinet meeting
picture
sanaa tracking developments after shiite rebels in north yemen announced their
readiness for talks if the government halts the military offensive it launched
in august yemen unrest rebels
sanaa jizan saudi arabia tracking developments on the yemeni saudi border
after yemeni rebels said they would withdraw from saudi territory if riyadh
halts attacks on their fighters yemen unrest saudi
tehran monitoring after opposition leader mir hossein mousavi proposed ways to
resolve iran political situation having said he is ready to sacrifice his
life in his campaign to overturn the disputed re election of president mahmoud
ahmadinejad iran politics opposition
sudan islamists name presidential candidate
khartoum jan afp
leading islamist dissident hassan al turabi said on saturday that his popular
congress party has nominated deputy chief abdullah deng nial to run for the
sudanese presidency in april
nial is the second candidate announced so far against president omar al beshir
who has ruled sudan since coup and is wanted by the international
criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the darfur region
abdullah ali ibrahim university professor has said he will also contest the
elections as an independent
other candidates are expected to put themselves forward ahead of the january
registration deadline
the sudan people liberation movement the ruling party in south sudan has yet
to confirm whether or not it will field candidate but is expected to do so
this week
the party leader salva kiir who is sudanese vice president and leader of
autonomous south sudan had previously said he would run in the election
afghan parliament rejects most of karzai cabinet nominees
kabul jan afp
afghanistan parliament showed its teeth on saturday by rejecting the majority
of president hamid karzai nominees for cabinet posts state television showed
of total of nominees only seven were approved in secret ballot by more
than parliamentarians in process that appears to have undermined the
president authority
of the nominees introduced to parliament seven have succeeded in getting
your vote of confidence parliamentary speaker mohammad yunus qanoni said after
the counting finished
the seven ministerial nominees who won approval included those who had been
approved by karzai supporters in the international community as competent and
clean technocrats
those rejected included warlord ismail khan nominated for the post of water
and energy minister widely seen as reward for supporting the president during
the fraud tainted august election
also rejected surprisingly was the only woman nominated to cabinet post
incumbent women affairs minister husn banu ghazanfar who lost out by just two
votes according to the televised count
karzai had been hoping to finalise his cabinet before an international
conference in london on january to discuss the future of the country
the position of foreign minister the th cabinet post will not be filled
until after the london conference which will be attended by the outgoing
incumbent rangin dadfar spanta parliamentary spokesman hasib noori said
kabul university law professor nasrullah stanikzai said the high rejection rate
showed karzai had not thoroughly considered his list before presenting it to
parliament last month
karzai did not think clearly enough about the list he was presenting he was
under lot of pressure said stanikzai
the high rate of rejections will have negative effect on those ministries
which are without leadership and policy in the lead up to the london
conference he told afp
on the other hand the high rate of rejections shows that parliament has risen
above internecine considerations that have plagued afghan politics in the past
such as tribal issues and ethnic divisions he said
ministries without approved ministers would be run by deputy ministers until
nominees were approved he said
approved were defence agriculture interior finance education culture and
mines and industries
under the constitution rejected nominees cannot be put forward again for the
same post parliamentary spokesman noori said adding that parliament will begin
its day winter recess on january leaving little or no time for karzai to
present fresh list
karzai choices were seen as the first test of his commitment to building
clean and accountable government and eradicating the corruption infesting every
level of life in afghanistan and helping to fuel taliban insurgency
western leaders have made it clear that the billions of dollars in military and
development assistance that pour into afghanistan now depend on concrete action
against corruption
karzai cabinet choices appear to reflect the need to please his backers while
at the same time giving nod to sector of his domestic supporters regarded as
odious to washington london and other nato capitals
western diplomats said however that pressure had also come from afghan
supporters who had expected to be rewarded in age old fashion for supporting
him during the election process
the most notorious warlords abdul rashid dostum and mohammad mohaqiq leaders
