the new controversy focusses on reference in the ipcc landmark fourth
assessment report in that said the probability of glaciers in the himalayas
disappearing by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
at the weekend britain sunday times newspaper reported that this reference
came from the green campaign group wwf which in turn took it from an interview
given by an indian glaciologist to new scientist magazine in
there is no evidence that the claim was published in peer reviewed journal
cornerstone of scientific credibility it said
we will take view of this the ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri said in
comments broadcast on the cnn ibn network while the hindustan times also quoted
pachauri as saying we are studying the new evidence
in an interview with afp leading glaciologist who contributed to the fourth
assessment report described the mistake as huge and said he had notified his
colleagues of it in late months before publication
loss of the himalayan glaciers by would take two or three times the highest
expected rate of global warming said georg kaser of the geography institute at
austria university of innsbruck
this number is not just little bit wrong but far out of any order of
magnitude it is as wrong as can be wrong
to get this outcome you would have to increase the ablation ice loss by
fold you would have to raise temperatures by at least degrees celsius or
degrees fahrenheit
it is so wrong that it is not even worth discussing pointed it out
asked why his warning had not been heeded kaser pointed to kind of
amateurism among experts from the region who were in charge of the chapter on
climate impacts where the reference appeared
they might have been good hydrologists or botanists but they were without any
knowledge in glaciology he said
the fourth assessment report said that the evidence for global warming was now
unequivocal that the chief source for it was man made and that there were
already signs of climate change of which glacial melt was one
the massive publication had the effect of political thunderclap triggering
promises to curb greenhouse gases that had stoked the problem
kaser said the core evidence of the fourth assessment report remained
incontrovertible
am careful in saying this because immediately people will again engage in
ipcc bashing which would be wrong he said
but he acknowledged that the process of peer review scrutiny and challenge
which underpin the ipcc reputation had entirely failed when it came
specifically to the figure
the reference appeared in the second volume of the fourth assessment
report tome published in april that focussed on the impacts of climate
change especially on human communities
part of the problem said kaser was everyone was focussed on the first
volume published in february which detailed the physical science for
climate change
work on this volume was much more attractive to the community of
glaciologists and they had failed to pick up on the mistake that appeared in
the second he said
the question of glacial melt is vital one for south asia as it touches on
flooding or water stress with the potential to affect hundreds of millions of
lives
indian environment minister jairam ramesh has repeatedly challenged the ipcc
claims
the ipcc came under ferocious attack from climate skeptics last month ahead of
the un conference in copenhagen
emails from scientists at britain university of east anglia top centre for
climate research were leaked and seized upon as evidence that experts twisted
data in order to dramatise global warming
some of the thousands of messages expressed frustration at the scientists
inability to explain what they described as temporary slowdown in warming
pachauri has vowed to investigate the affair
canada condemns kabul attack
ottawa jan afp
canadian foreign minister lawrence cannon issued strong condemnation monday of
string of taliban attacks earlier in the day in the afghan capital kabul
canada vehemently condemns the violent attacks that occurred today in
afghanistan capital city of kabul cannon said in statement offering
condolences to the friends and families of those who were killed
these attacks clearly demonstrate that the insurgents in afghanistan have
absolutely no regard for the lives of afghans and are determined to prevent
afghans from living in peace and security and the afghan government from working
for its citizens
euronews plans persian turkish broadcasts
lyon france jan afp
the pan european television news channel euronews said on monday it planned to
start broadcasting rolling news in persian and in turkish this year
broadcasts in persian spoken in iran and afghanistan are planned by the end of
the year said the broadcaster based in the eastern french city of lyon turkish
broadcasts will start sooner on january
iranian authorities tightly monitor foreign language media in the country and
the bbc has accused them of trying to jam satellite broadcasts of its own
persian language service there
the two new services will be broadcast from lyon by satellite and cable as well
as online like the station existing channels in eight other languages which
include english french russian and arabic
this way we will be broadcasting in all the major languages of the europe
middle east and africa zone euronews president philippe cayla told afp
three injured as mass casualty scare trips alert
port au prince jan afp
three americans were treated for minor injuries monday after reports of mass
casualty triggered an alert that mobilized the aircraft carrier uss vinson
us military official said there was not mass casualty
there were six to american civilians being processed for evacuation due to
heat stroke and dehydration the official told afp three were treated for
minor medical injury
the official said there was an unconfirmed report of fatality as well but it
was unclear whether it was related to the heat stroke scare
earlier us officials confirmed cnn report that up to americans had been
hurt in mass causualty event
the vinson was put on alert to receive the injured but the ship later stood
down when the initial reports proved exaggerated
us commander putnam browne executive officer of the vinson told afp the ship
was later orders to stand down
for now nobody is expected to come aboard the ship he told afp
un chief seeks reinforcements for un mission in haiti
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon requested monday extra troops and police to boost his
battered mission in quake hit haiti as the world body death toll from the
disaster rose to with hundreds still unaccounted for
speaking to reporters after briefing the security council on his six hour visit
to the devastated haitian capital sunday ban said he had requested that the un
mission known as minustah be considerably beefed up
recommended that the security council boost the number of troops by
nearly percent increase for six months and that the number of un police
officers should rise by or percent he said
france un ambassador gerard araud said draft resolution to that effect
should be adopted by the member council in the coming hours
copy of the text obtained by afp endorsed ban reinforcement request and
said minustah will consist of military component of up to troops of
all ranks and of police component of up to
araud said the security council would also have to examine minustah mandate
to see what is necessary to adjust it to the new situation
he noted that paris had proposed an international conference on rebuilding the
haitian economy and said the talks should ideally be held in march after
preparatory meeting in montreal scheduled for next monday
the un mission in haiti known in minustah currently has roughly troops
police and about civilian personnel
it has been deployed since mid to help stabilize the impoverished caribbean
island nation of nine million people where officials fear the final death toll
for haitians could top
quarter of million more were injured and million left homeless in the
wake of tuesday magnitude quake
the disaster was also the worst ever in terms of fatalities for the un and ban
spokesman martin nesirky said un personnel were now confirmed dead and more
than are missing or unaccounted for
the heartbreaking things saw yesterday compel us to act swiftly and
generously ban said
the un chief said he got clear message from his encounter with haitians who
told him we need the united nations we need jobs we need food and water
he said the priority was to improve the coordination of the massive
international relief effort and unclog the bottlenecks to make sure that the aid
was reaching the people who needed it most
ban late sunday flew back from port au prince with the remains of his special
envoy to haiti hedi annabi and his brazilian deputy luiz carlos da costa both
killed in the quake
the un boss made the morale boosting visit to the haitian capital to show
solidarity with haitian quake victims and shell shocked local un staff
he visited the flattened minustah headquarters to praise the work of some
rescue workers battling to save as many lives as possible and to offer comfort
to the staff
in what ban called small miracle danish un civil affairs official was
pulled out from the ruins of the minustah main building by us rescue workers
just after he toured the site
jens kristensen emerged from debris of the un six story building where the
walls have become sarcophagus for so many without scratch on him
ban said he had good meeting with preval focusing on the need to save as many
lives as possible bring in emergency relief aid in the form of food water
shelter and medical supplies and better coordinate aid delivery
for small country like haiti this is tsunami like disaster ban told
reporters
football africa cup of nations quarter finals qualifiers
cabinda angola jan afp
qualifiers for africa cup of nations quarter finals in angola after final group
matches on monday
group angola algeria
group ivory coast
group egypt holders
note other four places to be decided after group fixtures between tuesday and
thursday
football rangers run fails to arouse smith
glasgow jan afp
rangers manager walter smith is adamant they have plenty to do if they are to
retain their scottish premier league title despite going nine points clear at
the top ahead of celtic last weekend
rangers victory away to hamilton their opponents in scottish cup fourth
round replay on tuesday combined with celtic draw against basement club
falkirk have left the reigning champions in an enviable position
but smith pointed out that rangers were seven points behind celtic at the same
stage in last season title race only to win the title on the final day of the
season
don think we are that far out in front in the league smith said on
monday it good headline to say you are nine points in front but celtic
still have game in hand so we would look at it as being six points in front
at this stage last season celtic were seven points in front of us so it
doesn mean much at this stage of the season
we have each other to play on two occasions never mind the rest of the games
it nice to be in that position but don think it means great deal at this
stage of the season
however smith added our players deserve great deal of credit for the way
they have handled the season
it not easy when you re involved in champions league games and you re not
doing well it not easy to keep level of consistency going
financial uncertainty hangs over ibrox with smith and his coaching staff
currently working without contracts as rangers search for new owner
but that will be of no concern to the gers when they face hamilton for the third
time in just over week
we are used to playing each other more often than most countries but three
games in ten days is asking bit much smith said think we will be bit
fed up with each other by the time we finish the game
luxembourg juncker returned as eurogroup head
brussels jan afp
europe longest serving leader jean claude juncker was given new
unanimous mandate on monday to guide the countries that share the euro out
of debilitating debt crisis
luxembourg prime minister juncker was elected president of the eurogroup for
two and half years his spokesman guy schuller told afp returned unopposed
by eurozone finance ministers at evening talks in brussels otherwise set to be
dominated by the greek crisis
the job is consolation prize for the year old after french president
nicolas sarkozy opposed his bid to land the post of first full time president of
the european union taken by belgium herman van rompuy at the end of last
year
but juncker in tray is arguably busier than at any time since he first took
the reins of the grouping in years after taking power at home with the
euro facing huge challenges amid massive internal imbalances
seemingly impenetrable deficit problems in athens intertwined with growing
fears over wider foreign exchange fluctuations driven by washington and beijing
have left markets asking tough questions of the eurozone future prospects
speaking on his way into the meeting juncker said shift in focus away from
purely budgetary matters was also required for the body which brings together
finance ministers from all eurozone nations and is now formally recognised under
the european union lisbon treaty
we will need to concentrate our efforts on structural politics linked to
respective competitiveness of member states throughout the eurozone he said in
reference to huge imbalances in economic productivity brought sharply into focus
during the recession
we will need to study closely the positions of all and will try to find
something more than just weak compromise
in letter to his peers beforehand juncker said the eurogroup had both to
identify individual priority issues for each of our member states and to
establish coherent framework for action to enhance the performance of the
entire eurozone economy
the principal obstacle to juncker re election vanished last week when italy
finance minister giulio tremonti ruled himself out of the running france
christine lagarde had also expressed interest in running had juncker secured
van rompuy job
but juncker still faces divisions over core policy strategies with franco
spanish move to promote stronger central economic governance opposed by germany
which fears for the independence of the european central bank in frankfurt
according to juncker entourage sarkozy impeded the inveterate chain smoker
eu presidency ambitions on the grounds he had not acted quickly enough when the
global financial crisis first hit home in
juncker reluctance to change luxembourg banking secrecy laws was also
factor and as finance ministers from the eu full member states gather on
tuesday to discuss an overhaul of bloc savings tax rules he faces growing
pressure to change his stance there too
football leading africa cup of nations scorers
cabinda angola jan afp
leading africa cup of nations scorers after matches on monday
flavio amado ang seydou keita mli
mateus manucho alberto ang frederic kanoute mli jacob mulenga zam
jamaica flagged ship evades pirates off yemen fifth fleet
manama jan afp
jamaican flagged ship managed to deter piracy attack off the coast of yemen
the us navy bahrain based fifth fleet said on monday
the miltiades motor vessel came under attack around nautical miles
kilometres southwest of yemen al mukalla port on sunday with the pirates
firing at the ship from skiff with ak rifles the fifth fleet said in
statement
the security team on board fired red flares and the ship undertook evasive
manoeuvres that caused the pirates to abandon the attack the statement added
the fifth fleet repeated its advice to mariners to employ defensive measures
when passing through the horn of africa the gulf of aden and the indian ocean
coalition naval forces deployed to the region are deterring and disrupting
pirate attacks however when vessels have practised self protection measures
the risk of being pirated has been greatly reduced
an international flotilla of warships has been patrolling the piracy plagued
gulf of aden one of the globe busiest maritime trade routes since
last year pirates carried out around attacks and captured vessels most
of them in the indian ocean
football africa cup of nations mali malawi
cabinda angola jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group match at chiazi stadium on
monday
mali kanoute keita bagayoko malawi mwafulirwa
mali mahamadou sidibe capt ousmane berthe souleymane diamoutene abdoulaye
maiga samba sow adama tamboura seydou keita mohamed sissoko lassana
fane mahamane traore mamadou diallo mamadou bagayoko frederic kanoute
modibo maiga
coach stephen keshi ngr
malawi swadick sanudi moses chavula james sangala peter mponda capt ivis
kafoteka chiukepo msowoya hellings mwakasungula joseph kamwendo peter
wadabwa atusaye nyondo davie banda russell mwafulirwa esau kanyenda
robert ng ambi
coach kinnah phiri
referee rajindraparsad seechurn mri
yellow cards mponda banda
us military leads surge in haiti relief effort
port au prince jan afp
vital aid and surge in us military personnel to haiti brought monday drip of
hope to despairing survivors still seeking basic supplies and security nearly
week after the killer earthquake
more than marines were to arrive monday aboard the amphibious ship uss
bataan tanya bradsher spokeswoman from us southern command told afp
boosting troop numbers to either in haiti or offshore
approximately troops were already on the ground as part of the
humanitarian response and in bid to provide desperately needed security to
back up those efforts
the surge comes six days after the magnitude quake devastated the city of
port au prince and surrounding areas leaving tens of thousands dead hundreds
of thousands homeless and countless injured
to back up relief for the thousands of wounded the us hospital ship comfort was
also expected to arrive tuesday
the armed military presence is certainly needed according to both top us
officials and aid agencies
pillaging led haitian police to open fire on looters in the capital on sunday
at least one man was killed shot in the head as looters ransacked
supermarket and violence flared
the unrest was stoked by the delay in supplies reaching hundreds of thousands of
people who have been without steady source of food or water since the quake
struck
incidents of violence and looting are on the rise as the desperation grows
warned the international committee of the red cross icrc
lieutenant general ken keen us commander of the joint task force in haiti told
reporters they need as many troops on the ground as possible adding that
there would be us troops in the area in the next few weeks
haitian president rene preval invited us presence into the country after the
earthquake which destroyed haiti seat of government and forced his cabinet to
work out of police station near the airport but some leaders in the region
still rejected what they see as an unnecessary incursion
venezuela populist president hugo chavez echoed fellow leftist nicaraguan
president daniel ortega on sunday by slamming washington and characterizing us
security efforts as an occupation
it appears they are militarily occupying haiti taking advantage of the
tragedy chavez said asking why send armed soldiers unless it is for
war
paratroopers from the us army nd airborne were monday busy fanning out
beyond their main hub at the port au prince airport setting off in waves of
navy seahawk helicopters to establish bases beyond the capital from which to
kickstart humanitarian operations
captain james mcpherson of the us coast guard acknowledged air relief was the
only way to make food and water deliveries before an alternative to boat drop
offs can be found
what we need to do to restore the port get cargo moving mcpherson told cnn
speaking of the city boat yard which crumbled in the earthquake spilling
huge cranes steel containers and other heavy equipment to the already shallow
bay
obviously ship can move multiple tons of cargo we need to do that for the
long term success of haiti we have to have that going he said
us military aircraft would be helping distribute some daily rations in
the coming days officials said
us southern command reported that us rescue and salvage vessel had arrived
monday and was to immediately begin coordinating joint diving effort for
assessing the port damage
engineers from the us army dive team and other specialists hoped to get
underwater surveying operations under way to identify obstacles that are
blocking the channels as well as confirm possible areas for unloading of
cargo military officials said
salvage operation would then follow to clear debris from those identified
pathways in huge undertaking expected to take many weeks if not months
pirates in pitched battle over ransom share out witnesses
mogadishu jan afp
somali pirates fought fierce gunbattle monday over the share out of multi
million dollar ransom within hours of the release of greek supertanker
witnesses said
machine gun fire echoed across the coastal village of harardhere and there are
dead bodies in the streets one witness told afp by telephone
harardhere resident husein warsame said the fighting had brought the village to
standstill there is no movement so far the pirates are exchanging heavy
machinegun fire inside the town and there are dead bodies in the streets
abdi yare member of pirate gang in the village told afp that two clans
were disputing the ransom split
have seen the body of one pirate and two injured so far but the casualties
could be far higher than that said another resident abdulahi haji mohamed
harardhere is known pirate lair kilometres miles north of the
capital mogadishu where the greek supertanker maran centaurus was held before
pirates released it earlier monday in exchange for reported nine million
dollars in ransom
seven million dollars was dropped onto the deck of the ship by plane while
another two million was handed over via bank transfer according to ecoterra
international which monitors piracy in the indian ocean
the metre foot supertanker with its multinational crew of was
on its way to the south african port of durban it was hijacked in the indian
ocean on november
football africa cup of nations mali malawi
cabinda angola jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match at chiazi stadium on monday
mali kanoute keita bagayoko malawi mwafulirwa
ukraine hospital blast leaves dead missing officials
lugansk ukraine jan afp
gas canisters exploded in ukrainian hospital on monday causing the collapse of
several floors of the building that killed seven people and left missing
officials said
four more bodies have been recovered the number of dead has now reached
seven lugansk local authority press spokesman said updating earlier
reports
the blast left gaping hole in the wall of the hospital in the eastern city of
lugansk kilometres miles east of kiev rescuers heard voices coming
from the rubble
prime minister yulia tymoshenko blamed lax safety rules for the explosion of
oxygen bottles in the intensive care unit of lugansk hospital number seven
several floors of the hospital collapsed said statement released by
tymoshenko office
tymoshenko who is in the midst of heated presidential election battle
arrived on the scene during the day
the emergency situations ministry said in statement that patients and
medical staff were in the hospital at the time of the explosion and that people
from undamaged parts of the building had been evacuated
the fate of people remains unknown olexander efremov member of the
ukrainian parliament told reporters at the scene after attending an emergency
meeting on the rescue efforts
one can hear voices under the rubble so the search is continuing efremov
said adding that the survivors could be trapped in room on the first floor
search dogs were waiting for the site to be partly cleared before they could
start work an afp journalist witnessed
local internet newspaper vostochny variant said the third and fourth floors of
the building had collapsed onto the second
lax adherence to safety rules makes such disasters relatively frequent in
ukraine and the former soviet union
in december people were killed after an oxygen canister explosion
partially destroyed an apartment block in the ukrainian black sea town of
yevpatoria
football africa cup of nations group final standings
cabinda angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group final standings on monday played won drawn
lost goals for against points
angola
algeria
mali
malawi
notes
algeria finish ahead of mali on head to head record
angola algeria qualify for quarter finals
football meaningless win for mali as they go out with malawi
cabinda angola jan afp
mali scored twice within three minutes of the kick off en route to an ultimately
meaningless victory over malawi in an africa cup of nations group match on
monday
hosts angola topped the mini league after goalless luanda draw with algeria
who finished level on four points with mali but reached the quarter finals
becuase of superior head to head record
frederic kanoute and seydou keita were the early scorers for the eagles and
mamadou bagayoko wrapped up the three points after russell mwafulirwa had
reduced arrears during the second half
mali lacked mamamadou diarra of real madrid and fellow midfielder bakary soumare
through suspension and made four changes from the team beaten by algeria
last wednesday
the opening goal came gift wrapped from long serving malawi goalkeeper swadick
sanudi one of numerous flames who earn their living performing in the south
african second division
he was far too casual in clearing james sangala back pass and wide awake
african footballer of year kanoute volleyed the ball with his right foot into
the far corner of the net
egyptian ayman mansour holds the record for the fastest nations cup goal
scoring seconds into group match against gabon at the tournament
hosted by tunisia
malawi were still reeling from the shock of conceding the quickest goal in this
nations cup when they found themselves two goals behind seconds after the
mauritian referee had signalled play to begin
if sanudi must shoulder most of the blame for the first goal he was faultless
for the second as barcelona midfielder seydou keita snatched his third goal of
the tournament
mali were awarded free kick outside and slightly right of the penalty area and
up stepped the midfielder to hammer the ball through gap in the defensive wall
and into the roof of the net
midfielder james kamwendo the sole south africa based malawian playing for
first division club turned his back to keita and jumped as the kick was taken
possibly obstructing the view of his goalkeeper
free kicks were proving problem for sanudi and his chin blocked lassana fane
effort minutes into first half that ended with mali still two goals ahead
russell mwafulirwa the giant striker who missed the loss to angola through
injury pulled one back on minutes by slamming loose ball into the net
after wild goalmouth scramble saw malawi come close three times
the same player should have equalised with minutes left as he lurked unmarked
at the far post when corner floated across but his downward header bounced
off the surface and flew over the crossbar
bagayoko put the result beyond doubt with late header before goalkeeper and
stand in captain mamamadou sidibe made point blank save to rob malawi of
second goal
russia arrests pro diver over river smuggling scheme
saint petersburg russia jan afp
russian authorities have broken up smuggling network that used professional
diver to swim with cigarettes across river to estonia the russian security
service said monday
the regional border security department of the fsb the successor to the
soviet secret service the kgb said the smugglers took the contraband across
the river narva which marks part of the border between the two countries
cigarettes packed in waterproof material were attached to the diver suit by
rope and he swam with them to estonia the fsb said in statement
russian and estonian border guards arrested five people including the year
old diver in connection with the investigation the fsb said
football africa cup of nations angola algeria
luanda jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match at november stadium here on
monday
angola algeria
teams
angola
carlos fernandes jose mabina alberto rui marques jamuana alexandre carlos
kali alonso capt fernando chara costa felisberto gilberto amaral
zuela santos dias caires djalma campos nsimba zekalanga baptista job
mateus manucho alberto johnson
coach manuel jose por
algeria
faouzi chaouchi madjid bougherra rafik halliche nadir belhadj abdelkader
laifaoui karim ziani hassan yebda yazid mansouri capt karim matmour
abdoun abdelkader ghezzal hamer bouazza meghni
coach rabah saadane
referee damon jerome rsa
