berlin main train stations
the girl also suffered second and third degree burns to her face and chest
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
top stories
haiti aid operation shifts focus to survivors
obama vows to take on banks
us envoy meets palestinian leader abbas
port au prince aid operations in haiti shift their focus to providing food
shelter and medicine to survivors as some search teams start to leave following
the january quake picture graphic video haiti quake
washington reaction to president barack obama plans to limit the size and
scope of us banks and financial firms in new offensive against wall street
excesses laid bare by the financial crisis us economy politics banking
regulate
ramallah west bank us middle east envoy george mitchell meets palestinian
president mahmoud abbas on regional trip to further efforts to restart the
peace process mideast us diplomacy
other agenda items
abuja nigerian court to rule in case brought by lawyers seeking to force
ailing president umaru yar adua to properly hand over executive powers to his
deputy until he is well enough to return to office nigeria politics
damascus hamas sponsored meeting remembering israel devastating offensive in
gaza which ended just over year ago mideast conflict gaza hamas memorial
elyria ohio president barack obama goes to ohio to talk about the economy and
jobs at time of painfully high unemployment us politics economy obama
geneva us secretary for homeland secretary janet napolitano discusses airline
security with airline chiefs at the international air transport association
iata gmt us attacks transport airline security iata
kabul developments after afghan president hamid karzai says he plans to use
funds from the international community to pay for the resettlement and salaries
of taliban fighters in an attempt to draw them back to civilian life
afghanistan unrest
kuru karama nigeria the death toll mounts in nigeria troubled central
plateau state after inter religious clashes picture nigeria unrest religion
london british prime minister gordon brown appearance at the iraq war inquiry
is brought forward to before this year general election britain iraq
military politics inquiry
washington sentencing of james wilbur fondren who was found guilty in
september of spying for china gmt us china espionage court
the house financial services committee weighs in on the explosive issue of
bonuses and other compensation for top bank executives us finance banks
sony ericsson loss shrinks
stockholm jan afp
mobile phone maker sony ericsson reported smaller than expected quarterly loss
on friday and said ongoing restructuring would only yield results in mid in
the face of fierce competition for smartphones
in the october to december period the world fifth biggest cell phone maker
saw its net loss shrink to million euros million dollars from
million year earlier but for the full year the shortfall swelled from
million euros in to million in
sales plunged from billion euros in to billion in with
volumes dropping from million units sold to million
sony ericsson chief executive bert nordberg said the positive effects of
restructuring programme undertaken year ago were expected to be seen as of the
third quarter
will still be challenging as the full benefit of cost improvements will
not impact results until the second half of the year however we are confident
that our business is on the right track he said in the earnings report
the quarterly loss was the company sixth straight quarter in the red but it
was better than analyst forecasts of loss of million euros
the ericsson share was up percent at kronor on the stockholm stock
exchange in mid morning trading
sales in the quarter plunged by percent from the same period year ago to
billion euros up however by three percent from the third quarter
the swedish japanese joint venture the first of the big phone makers to present
its earnings report has cut thousands of jobs in the past year as it struggles
amid competition from apple and research in motion the makers of smartphones
iphone and blackberry
the recent recession hit the mobile phone industry and sony ericsson hard in
the company is basing its new strategy on entertainment applications
we will continue to focus on returning the company to profitability by
establishing sony ericsson as the communication entertainment brand based on an
exciting portfolio of mid and high end products nordberg said
sony ericsson strongest features are its camera and music applications
according to analysts
its average selling price per unit was euros compared to euros year
earlier and higher than its traditional competitors nokia samsung and lg
the group said it expected slight growth in the global handset market in
media group blasts order to leave haiti airport
miami jan afp
press freedom group on thursday denounced the us military decision to evict
members of the media camped at port au prince airport
the inter american press association called on the military to rescind the order
evicting reporters from an area that has become the focal point for the arrival
of aid to the country
since haiti was struck by massive earthquake on january some reporters
have favored the airport which is now run by the us military as camp
because of its reliable power supply
the group president alejandro aguirre called on the military to allow
reporters to do their job without interruption
bomb attack targets sri lanka opposition ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
key opposition activist in sri lanka was targeted at home by bomb attack
blamed on the ruling party on friday as violence escalated ahead of next week
presidential election
the pre dawn blast destroyed car and severely damaged the home of tiran alles
wealthy businessman and key ally of the opposition presidential candidate
sarath fonseka he and his family escaped unhurt
heard huge explosion and as came out of my room saw the house on fire
alles told afp pointing the finger at the ruling party for the attempt on his
life they were obviously trying to kill me
the attack came amid tightened security as sri lankans prepare to go to the
polls tuesday to choose between president mahinda rajapakse and his former army
chief fonseka
the opposition alleged alles had been targeted because fonseka campaign had
released photograph of rajapakse eldest son namal with tamil rebel leader
at london nightclub
rajapakse reputation as war hero president is staked on his victory over the
tamil tiger rebels last year who were wiped out in huge government offensive
after years of fighting
since the photograph showed some sort of link between the president family
and the tamil tigers alles had been receiving death threats the spokesman
said even yesterday we complained that he could be targeted
alles said forensic experts were going through the wreckage of his car and house
at colombo nawala quarter but he did not expect an impartial inquiry from the
police
charred debris was strewn over the frontyard of the fire damaged house and the
roof had partially collapsed
don expect anything from the investigation alles said they will try to
kill me before the election
alles campaigned for rajapakse victory in the november election but fell
out when few dissidents were sacked from the government
since his fall from grace within the rajapakse administration alles had worked
with the opposition and was partly credited with arranging for fonseka to come
forward as common opposition candidate
fonseka and opposition leader ranil wickremesinghe visited the bombed home
the attackers are believed to have come in van and carried out the attack and
fled police official at the scene said adding that no arrests had been
made
previous elections have been marred by major violence
the tamil tigers assassinated an opposition candidate in and another was
wounded in similar suicide bombing in they also enforced tamil boycott
of the vote
there have been no suicide bombings in the latest campaign but police say at
least four people have been killed and hundreds wounded as supporters of the two
main candidates clash across the country
the police have received more than complaints of election related violence
the attack came despite stepping up of security across the country following
orders from rajapakse to ensure violence free vote
international concern over escalating election related violence has poured in
with united nations chief ban ki moon on thursday expressing alarm over the
increasing number of violent incidents and killings
ban urged all parties and their supporters to show restraint and refrain from
violence to adhere to the electoral laws and rules and to avoid provocative
acts throughout the election period and its aftermath
the independent election commissioner dayananda dissanayake was quoted as saying
wednesday that he had stopped giving directives to the police and public
officials who disregarded his orders for conducting free and fair vote
rajapakse called the vote two years ahead of schedule to benefit from the
government defeat of the separatist tamil tiger rebels after decades of ethnic
warfare on the island
but he faces surprise rival to power in fonseka the former general who led
the troops to victory in may
football ferdinand in united comeback
manchester jan afp
rio ferdinand will play his first match in almost three months when manchester
united entertain hull on saturday united boss sir alex ferguson revealed in an
announcement that will be equally welcome news for england manager fabio
capello
the centreback last featured for united in defeat at liverpool on october
and has since been battling complex back injury which had led some to question
whether the year old would be fit for england world cup campaign at the end
of the season
rio has been training very well in the last few weeks ferguson told his
regular friday press conference he will play tomorrow
the scot added this is the time to bring him back we have gone through the
whole situation with him in terms of enough training and endurance work
it is big boost because the defence has been the weakest part of our game
this season
at various times we have lost ferdinand nemanja vidic edwin van der sar john
shea it has been rough time so to get them back can only be good for us
oil prices edge higher
london jan afp
oil prices rose slightly on friday with gains capped by weak energy demand in
the united states and worries over the strength of china economy the world
biggest energy consuming nations traders said
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery climbed cents
to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march gained cents to dollars
barrel
the us department of energy doe on thursday said that gasoline or petrol
reserves in the world biggest economy increased by stronger than expected
million barrels in the week ending january striking two year high
it also said refineries operated at percent of capacity last week their
lowest rate in at least two decades apart from the immediate aftermath of
hurricane
the doe report was not very bullish price supportive the refineries
capacities were down at around percent and that was their lowest in the two
decades said anz bank oil analyst serene lim
however us crude stocks fell barrels according to the doe report
confounding expectations of large gain of million barrels
meanwhile moves by china the world second biggest energy consumer to slow
down its roaring economy also weighed on oil prices
think people are very concerned about what the chinese government would do
next to curb the consumption demand growth said lim
china economy expanded percent in the december quarter and by percent
for the whole of
scores more bodies recovered after nigerian clashes
kuru karama nigeria jan afp
volunteers recovered scores more bodies in nigeria troubled central plateau
state as the death toll from inter religious clashes rose and the army was
ordered to step up security
scores of bodies were picked up from streets houses and open water wells in
kuru karama village some kilometres miles south of state capital jos
the epicentre of four days of muslim christian clashes
many of the victims had been thrown into drinking water wells in the outlying
village the leader of muslim aid team said
so far we have retrieved bodies but many more are still in the wells and
afraid we may have to sand fill them because the bodies have decomposed so
bad that the flesh disintegrates when we try to bring them out ibrahim tanimu
told afp
tanimu team piled the bodies into waiting vans late thursday
thousands of troops patrolled the streets of jos and surrounding towns on
friday manning checkpoints and stopping and searching vehicles
vice president goodluck jonathan pledged in an address late thursday that the
ringleaders responsible for the violence would be brought to justice
the federal government is determined to secure convictions of the perpetrators
of this crime no matter how highly placed he said
jonathan ordered the military to take over the security of the affected regions
as well as in neighbouring areas where reprisals were feared
have today ordered the army to lead the security forces to take over the
entire security of the affected areas including those areas that are considered
prone to risk he said
the state government has given no official death toll from the violence which
broke out on sunday but religious leaders and medical workers said they had
counted around bodies by wednesday
thousands of troops had deployed in the city and by late wednesday had relaxed
hour curfew to allow people to replenish depleted food and water supplies
collect bodies and bury the dead
ninety eight victims were buried in mass grave in the central city on
thursday
machete and gun wielding gangs stoked by religious zealots began fighting in jos
on sunday after christian landowner said muslim builder was encroaching on
his land
the violence later spread to small towns and villages on the outskirts of jos
the capital of plateau state
many people killed in the violence were hacked to death with machetes others
simply shot according to the international committee of the red cross
local rights body the civil rights congress crc said most of the weapons
used in the killings were primitive such as bows and arrows machetes and axes
we have observed that primitive weapons kept in houses after the last violence
in were used said the crc head shehu sani
use of guns was very minimal most likely by security agents in attempts to
enforce peace suggested sani
jos has been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose million people
are divided almost equally between followers of the two faiths an estimated
people were killed in religious clashes in the city in
jonathan said the miltary have the overwhelming mandate to arrest the
situation urgently
the vice president in his first broadcast to the nation since he has begun
filling in for president umaru yar adua vowed to have all responsible for the
violence brought to justice
yar adua has been hospitalised in jeddah for heart ailment since november
leaders of both faiths claim the fighting had little to do with religion but
reflected the failure of the political leadership to address ethnic differences
the red cross said people had been forced to flee many of them taking
refuge in military barracks churches and mosques around the city
british pm to face iraq inquiry before election chairman
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown has agreed to appear at britain iraq war inquiry
before elections due by june rather than afterwards as previously expected the
probe chairman said friday
john chilcot had originally scheduled brown appearance after the election to
avoid it being used for party political purposes but said he had offered brown
the chance to appear before the national polls as matter of fairness
the prime minister replied to me this morning to say that he will be happy to
agree dates from range we have proposed over the next two months he said
british pm appearing at iraq probe before poll official
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown will appear at britain public inquiry into the
iraq war before general election expected in few months its chairman
confirmed friday
brown was initially told by the chilcot inquiry he would not be called before
the country goes to the polls tipped to be on may in bid to keep party
politics out of the investigation
but that has now changed after intense pressure from political opponents this
means the iraq war during which brown was finance minister and tony blair
premier could now become key issue on the campaign trail
inquiry chairman john chilcot said he had decided to offer brown the chance to
appear at the inquiry ahead of the election as matter of fairness if he
wished to take it up
the prime minister replied to me this morning to say that he will be happy to
agree dates from range we have proposed over the next two months he said in
short statement before hearings started friday
in letter released by downing street at the same time from brown to chilcot
the premier wrote offered to give my evidence at any time you have proposed
range of dates in the next two months
will be happy to agree date that is to the convenience of the inquiry
although the main opposition conservatives who are well ahead in opinion polls
also backed the conflict brown could face attacks after ex defence secretary
geoff hoon accused him of depriving the armed forces of funds in the run up to
the invasion during his evidence to the probe tuesday
blair former communications chief alastair campbell told the probe last week
that brown was one of the key ministers his boss consulted in the run up to
war
brown could be questioned in late february or early march just weeks away from
the election the poll must be held by june and although no date has officially
been confirmed all indications point to may
he has publicly insisted he has nothing to hide and wednesday told lawmakers
he had to written to the investigation to stress he was willing to give
evidence
am happy to give evidence about all the issues that inquiry chairman john
chilcot puts forward and am happy to satisfy the public of this country
about our government commitment to the security of this country he said
conservative foreign affairs spokesman william hague praised the decision to
call brown to give evidence
it is only right that the prime minister has been called to give evidence to
the chilcot inquiry before the general election he said
the inquiry and the british public need to hear the full facts from everyone
involved and as finance minister at the time he clearly has questions to
answer
the chilcot inquiry was announced by brown in june honouring pledge that the
run up to and conduct of the conflict would be examined once british troops
pulled out
brown predecessor blair faced intense public hostility after backing then us
president george bush in the invasion his popularity plummeted and he
stepped down in after ten years in office handing over to brown
major demonstrations are expected in london when blair makes his hotly
anticipated appearance before the inquiry on january
on thursday jack straw foreign secretary at the time of the invasion said he
never wanted to take military action and only reluctantly came around to the
idea
he said that while he came to believe it was the only option faced with iraq
continued defiance of the united nations over its weapons programme it was the
most difficult decision have ever faced in my life
russia regrets iran rejection of nuclear deal lavrov
moscow jan afp
russia regrets that iran has apparently rejected un brokered nuclear fuel
exchange deal to ease the standoff over its atomic programme foreign minister
sergei lavrov said on friday
we regret that iran as far as we can see does not consider it possible to
agree to the formula that it was offered lavrov told news conference
under the plan iran would hand over most of its stocks of low enriched uranium
in return for the supply by france and russia of nuclear fuel enriched to the
higher level required for tehran research reactor
russia veto wielding permanent un security council member is one of the few
major powers to have close relations with iran
our aim is clear we want that the international community does not have any
doubt on the peaceful nature of the iranian nuclear programme added lavrov
he noted that the un security council had the capacity to study further
measures on iran but once again did not come out explicitly in support of
further un sanctions against the country
acting with logic of punishing iran is not sober approach he said
western diplomats said this week that iran had effectively rejected proposal
put forward by six major powers in talks in vienna brokered by the international
atomic energy agency the un nuclear watchdog
however iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki insisted iran did not reject
the principle of the nuclear fuel deal
amid increasing international frustration with tehran us secretary of state
hillary clinton vowed thursday that the united states will not be waited out
and not back down in the face of iran defiance
moscow capacity to provide technical help for the iranian nuclear drive is
seen by some analysts as giving it an unmatched power of leverage in tehran
russia is building iran first nuclear power plant in the southern city of
bushehr and the facility is due to finally come on line this year
the west suspects tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapon under cover of
its civilian nuclear energy programme russia has said there is no evidence to
support these accusations
most taiwanese say ma disappointment poll
taipei jan afp
more than three quarters of taiwanese believe president ma ying jeou has failed
to meet their expectations survey showed friday
about percent of people interviewed by global views magazine last
week deemed ma performance worse than expected while only percent
considered him better than they had predicted
the poll was conducted shortly after ma pro china party suffered fresh
setback in legislative by elections as local press warned the embattled leader
could face humiliating defeat in the presidential vote
ma who was elected in march saw his popularity rise to an all time high
of percent in the days after his landslide victory at the polls
his approval ratings have been sliding since then but took severe hit after
typhoon morakot in august as public anger swelled over his government
slow response to the deadly typhoon
various opinion polls have indicated that big chunk of taiwanese are critical
of ma crisis management skills
among the complaints is the way the government has handled an ongoing dispute
with the united states over beef imports
russia regrets iran rejection of nuclear deal lavrov
moscow jan afp
russia regrets that iran has apparently rejected un brokered nuclear fuel
exchange deal to ease the standoff over its atomic programme foreign minister
sergei lavrov said on friday
we regret that iran as far as we can see does not consider it possible to
agree to the formula that it was offered lavrov told news conference
under the plan iran would hand over most of its stocks of low enriched uranium
in return for the supply by france and russia of nuclear fuel enriched to the
higher level required for tehran research reactor
russia veto wielding permanent un security council member is one of the few
major powers to have close relations with iran
our aim is clear we want that the international community does not have any
doubt on the peaceful nature of the iranian nuclear programme added lavrov
he noted that the un security council had the capacity to study further
measures on iran but once again did not come out explicitly in support of
further un sanctions against the country
acting with logic of punishing iran is not sober approach he said
western diplomats said this week that iran had effectively rejected proposal
put forward by six major powers in talks in vienna brokered by the international
atomic energy agency the un nuclear watchdog
however iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki insisted iran did not reject
the principle of the nuclear fuel deal
amid increasing international frustration with tehran us secretary of state
hillary clinton vowed thursday that the united states will not be waited out
and not back down in the face of iran defiance
moscow capacity to provide technical help for the iranian nuclear drive is
seen by some analysts as giving it an unmatched power of leverage in tehran
russia is building iran first nuclear power plant in the southern city of
bushehr and the facility is due to finally come on line this year
the west suspects tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapon under cover of
its civilian nuclear energy programme russia has said there is no evidence to
support these accusations
tennis clijsters crashes but henin open dream lives on
melbourne jan afp
kim clijsters was left reeling from humiliating australian open exit friday
but fellow belgian justine henin kept her grand slam dream alive
hapless clijsters was hopelessly out of touch as she was thrashed in
just minutes by russia th seeded nadia petrova
the reigning us open champion was not the only top name to crash out with
former world number one jelena jankovic also sent packing
in contrast henin performed great escape act to claw back from set down to
squeeze past big serving russian th seed alisa kleybanova
she joined dinara safina andy murray juan martin del potro and andy roddick in
the last
men th seed gael monfils was another casualty as the frenchman succumbed
to american rd seed john isner
clijsters who came into the tournament on the back of winning the warm up
brisbane international said she was bewildered by the experience
the question is of course is why my coach my fitness coach are like how
can something like this happen she said
we haven changed anything really that the thing was completely off
the diminutive henin the champion at melbourne park was also staring at
defeat after losing the opening set and falling behind in the second to
kleybanova
but she drew on all her experience as seven time grand slam champion to bounce
back taking the second set and rattling through the third
following her ousting of fifth seed elena dementieva in the previous round
henin battling win proved once again she is still threat despite playing in
only her second tournament on her comeback from an month retirement
kind of survived little bit today she said
it was so difficult for me after the last match physically suffered
little bit in the last two days very happy that still in the
tournament
she next plays fellow belgian yanina wickmayer who beat italy sara errani
safina the second seed clocked rapid fire thrashing of england
elena baltacha in her first match on rod laver arena since she imploded during
last year final against serena williams
the russian took heart from winning return at the scene of one of her worst
days in tennis
didn have good memories of the last match played on rod laver arena for
sure she said am glad to be back and had to fight hard and make sure
won to forget the bad memories
she will next face maria kirilenko after the fellow russian outlasted italy
roberta vinci
while safina and henin powered on jankovic looked like spent force
she struggled to live up to her potential in and her big match credentials
were again found wanting but jankovic wasn overly concerned
it no big deal it only my second tournament of the year she said
just have to stay positive keep my head up high
on the men side scotland murray maintained his flawless form by advancing
with win over frenchman florent serra
the year old who next plays isner equalled his best performance here as he
takes aim at maiden grand slam title
happy to have won in three sets in all of the matches he said happy
to save as much energy as possible
roddick ground out win over tenacious spaniard
feliciano lopez
it sets up the american seventh seed four time semi finalist here with
fourth round clash against chilean th seed fernando gonzalez who beat kazak
evgeny korolev
del potro fired past german florian mayer
tennis australian open results day five th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day five of the australian open at melbourne park here friday
denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
andy roddick usa bt feliciano lopez esp
fernando gonzalez chi bt evgeny korolev kaz
andy murray gbr bt florent serra fra
john isner usa bt gael monfils fra
juan martin del potro arg bt florian mayer ger
women singles
rd round
dinara safina rus bt elena baltacha gbr
alona bondarenko ukr bt jelena jankovic srb
justin henin bel bt alisa kleybanova rus
yanina wickmayer bel bt sara errani ita
maria kirilenko rus bt roberta vinci ita
zheng jie chn bt marion bartoli fra
nadia petrova rus bt kim clijsters bel
fhockey pakistan will not boycott hockey world cup
islamabad jan afp
pakistan sports minister on friday ruled out boycott of the hockey world cup
in india as anger grows over the exclusion of the country cricketers from the
indian premier league
no pakistani player was bought by the eight indian clubs during an auction on
tuesday for the third edition of the league despite the pakistan team being the
reigning world champions in the twenty format of the tournament
the omission has triggered widespread protests in pakistan with effigies of ipl
