urge the international community to aid the island nation after it was battered
by hurricanes the previous year
tennis eleven fans thrown out of aussie open
melbourne jan afp
eleven people were thrown out of the australian open on monday for unruly
behaviour as hooliganism once again marred the opening grand slam of the season
the spectators were warned once by security for unruly behaviour and then
ejected after behaving in disruptive manner second time victoria state
police said in statement
security removed the spectators from melbourne park with the assistance of
police
police did not specify their nationality but earlier in the day group of
around chanting croats lit flares and made offensive and threatening gestures
as they marched enmasse to the tournament
the herald sun newspaper said one of its photographers was spat on and punched
as he photographed the chanting mob
racial tensions and trouble have marred the australian open in recent years with
serbs and croats among the worst offenders
some of the worst scenes were on the opening day of the tournament when
serbian and croatian fans wearing the national colours of the bitter balkan
rivals attacked each other with flagpoles bottles and boots
then in police used pepper spray to subdue rowdy elements of the crowd
watching match between konstantinos economidis of greece and chile fernando
gonzales
victoria police said monday that that would act swiftly to stem any anti social
behaviour at the open
waltz wins globe for inglourious basterds
beverly hills california jan afp
austria christoph waltz won the th golden globes best supporting actor award
here sunday for his role in quentin tarantino inglourious basterds
the year old vienna born actor had already scooped slew of top honors for
his performance as the sadistic nazi army officer in tarantino bloody world
war ii revenge fantasy
thank you very very much waltz said year and half ago was exposed to
the gravitational forces of quentin tarantino
he took my modest little world and with the power of his talent and his words
he flung it into his orbit dizzying experience
waltz beat out competition from established hollywood stars including matt
damon woody harrelson christopher plummer and stanley tucci
organized by the hollywood foreign press association hfpa the golden globes
are seen as an indicator of likely contenders at the oscars which take place on
march in hollywood this year
tennis australian open results day one
melbourne jan afp
results from day one of the australian open at melbourne park here monday
denotes seeding
men singles
st round
ivan ljubicic cro bt jason kubler aus
women singles
st round
dinara safina rus bt magdalena rybarikova svk
zheng jie chn bt peng shuai chn
anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus bt anastasija sevastova lat
torrential rains can quench australia big dry
parkes australia jan afp
torrential rains in australia have failed to quench the country big dry
decade long drought that has driven farmers to the wall and shows no signs of
abating
while the rains flooded many areas in recent weeks made parched rivers flow
again and even halted the iconic ghan cross country train large parts of the
hot dry country were left untouched
ken keith third generation sheep farmer near parkes in rural new south wales
was one of those bypassed by the deluge
it probably been the driest years ever in my memory anyway he said
last year was the third driest year for the previous years on this farm
north of parkes the rains flooded scores of towns the best falls for many
areas in decade but parkes saw only sprinkling just enough to raise
stubble of grazing crops
at keith farm fly blown ewe riddled with cancer had collapsed near the
herd meagre water supplies she ll have to be shot he said grimly
crouching over the animal
parkes is in the narrow band identified by the weather bureau as in serious to
severe drought where rainfall is among the lowest it has been since records
began
despite the christmas rains drought extended by one percentage point to nearly
percent of the eastern state of new south wales in january officials said
just five percent of the state is rated satisfactory
the recent rainfall events occur against backdrop of decade long rainfall
deficits and record high temperatures that have severely stressed water
supplies said rural affairs minister steve whan
though the big dry has eased slightly since the national climate centre
said percent of australia remained in drought mostly in the southeastern
states of new south wales and victoria and the island of tasmania
as long term drought it certainly the worst in the murray darling basin
since the meteorologist blair trewin told afp
the basin vast river system feeding into the heart of australian farming
country is at critical low with water levels at just percent of capacity
and distribution tightly controlled by the government
parkes has seen other droughts in and but never so relentless keith
says all but three of his farm dams are dry and he has to feed all his
sheep by hand because the grazing pastures are withered and useless
most people in the area are receiving government assistance and are heavily in
debt keith was forced to shrink his herd by one fifth last year and is
contemplating trucking his animals north to graze until matters improve
meanwhile parkes town dam is at just six percent capacity and the authorities
have stopped running water to some nearby smaller communities meaning some
farmers are having to bring in water by road
some farmers have sold up all their stock and turned their land to crops such as
wheat barley and canola high stakes gamble relying on good spring
rainfall
without nearby river for irrigation croppers lead precarious existence
anxiously praying for rains some have simply given up hope
there certainly people that have put their farms on the market and closed the
gates keith said think some are rethinking the future now
australia has just emerged from its hottest decade on record with events like
last february black saturday its worst ever wildfire disaster raising
fears the country is bearing the brunt of global warming
keith said many farmers had been forced to scale down and adopt more
conservationist approach in the face of climate change
however he feared for the future of farming in australia which has declined
from percent of gdp in the early to less than three percent worth
about billion dollars billion us year
keith family first started farming near parkes years ago at time when
more than percent of australians lived in rural areas since the
australia number of farms has nearly halved to
the disappointing part for me is that have three sons and and
all they have really experienced is drought low returns and they re looking to
careers in other areas he said gazing wearily at his yellowing paddocks
it shame the way things have gone that maybe it not going to go on to
the next generation
german us musical brings obama to the stage
frankfurt jan afp
us president barack obama stage version thrilled frankfurt audience
sunday with song in musical that opened far from the trenches of washington
politics in land still charmed by his message of hope and change
fascinated by obama spectator cornelia hirschfeld told afp half way
through hope the obama musical story
obama underscored his trademark theme with chorus of yes we can and sang
lover duet with his wife michelle in show producers hope to take one day to
the united states
so proud to represent president barack obama proud to be an american
actor jimmie wilson said afterwards it an honor can say much more than
that
actors playing obama republican opponants john mccain and sarah palin got
numbers of their own the latter singing ich bin ein pitbull pitbull
in musical that was uneven but which gained steam in the second act
set in chicago where obama worked as community organizer the plot portrays
how his message helps reconcile residents of multi cultural neighbourhood and
propels the young politician to the white house in
we showed lot of social movement and this is what the musical is about that
we have to keep positive spirit about the world in the end producer and
director roberto emmanuele said
author and composer randall hutchins insisted the show was not politically
motivated but acknowledged obama campaign inspired me to get back into the
electoral process
obama us approval ratings have fallen since he took office year ago but he
is popular in germany where percent saw him as their political role model in
november poll almost twice the number of the closest german politician
the rising us political candidate drew people to berlin event in july
and wilson who has performed all over germany in other shows says
they re big fans of president obama
in us quinnipiac university poll released last week voters were split
on whether obama first year was success or failure compared with percent
approval just after his inauguration
in frankfurt the show drew relatively young crowd which clapped drummed on
specially designed seats and gave performers standing ovation at the end
preferring strong classic gospel based numbers most of all
plans are being laid to take it to other cities around germany
leading roles there are actors and extras in all were played by us
performers including several impressive vocalists including boysie white who
plays community pastor named reverend white
he had no hint however of the controversy sparked by chicago pastor jeremiah
white whose remarks on jews forced obama to tackle questions of anti semitism
early in his campaign
the bi lingual show cost at least one million euros million dollars to
produce and if everything works fine we would like to plan tour in the
states as well patrick strese who acted as the show narrator told afp
emmanuele said funding had come from many sources explaining that our musical
is based on social politics and it was hard to find sponsors in the beginning so
we decided to do it on our own
the one off performance would benefit from longer run so actors could get into
their roles and parts of the script need work but one spectator roswitha
bauer said the show had done pretty good job of presenting obama story
hirschfeld brought her year old son david who said he will recommend the
performance to friends for the music and the dance but thought one scene in
which women head to spa to relieve the pressure of daily life was pretty
confusing
two other shows have already put the us president on stage obama on my mind
in london and obama the musical in nairobi
asked if the white house knew about this show director emmanuele said think
so but haven had message yet from them think will get one after
today hope so
the white ribbon wins globes foreign film prize
beverly hills california jan afp
austrian michael haneke the white ribbon drama set in german village on
the eve of world war scooped the golden globe award for best foreign language
film here sunday
the film winner of the palme or at last year cannes film festival beat out
competition from italian entry baaria chile the maid prophet
france and spain broken embraces
chosen by the hollywood foreign press association the golden globes are seen as
an indicator of likely contenders at the oscars which take place on march in
hollywood this year
qaeda wing denies six leaders killed in yemen site
hong kong jan afp
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap denied that six of its leaders were
killed in yemeni air strike last week according to statement published by
us monitoring group on monday
none of the mujahedeen were killed in that unjust and insidious raid rather
some brothers were slightly wounded the qaeda group said in statement on
jihadist forums site intelligence group reported
the yemeni government launched new offensive in late december against the
qaeda branch which claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of us
bound plane on christmas day
sanaa said on saturday that aqap military boss qassem al rimi died in friday
missile strike along with ayed al shabwani ammar al waili saleh al tais
egyptian ibrahim mohammed saleh al banna and an unidentified sixth person
there had initially been conflicting reports about the identities of those
killed when yemeni warplane targeted three vehicle convoy in the province of
saada
the agent yemeni government seeks through these pretenses to prove false
victory which it presents as gifts to us president barack obama and british
prime minister gordon brown and their allies in the london conference claiming
that it has the capability to eliminate the mujahedeen in the arabian
peninsula aqap said
brown is to host an international meeting on fighting extremism in yemen on
january which was called days after nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallah
allegedly tried to blow up christmas day flight from amsterdam to detroit
he is thought to have been trained in yemen the ancestral homeland of fugitive
al qaeda chief osama bin laden
aqap called on muslims to declare jihad against the infidels and their agent
helpers not only on the ground but in the sea and air as well noting the
presence of foreign warships in the gulf of aden the arabian sea and the red
sea according to the site statement
as they declared it to be an open war on the people of islam we must declare
an open war against the crusaders and their traitor helpers al qaeda said
yemen is under us pressure to clamp down on al qaeda and analysts say the
government in the impoverished state is keen to show the world it can crush the
militants on its own
rimi said to be aqap military chief and on list of most wanted suspects
was among people who escaped from state security prison in sanaa in
february that left the yemeni government red faced
banna also known as abu aymen al masri was said to be an ideologist of the
group
yemen on saturday also announced the arrest of another three suspected al qaeda
members near the border with saudi arabia following the capture earlier this
month of three militants believed to be behind threats against western interests
in sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days
the government in sanaa wants to avoid foreign military intervention
targeting al qaeda said adel al ahmadi yemeni specialist on the group
yemen is trying to say that it can accomplish the mission on its own and just
needs logistical assistance and political support to consolidate its regime
in the face of local adversaries
korean scientists develop walking robot maid
seoul jan afp
south korean scientists have developed walking robot maid which can clean
home dump clothes in washing machine and even heat food in microwave
mahru has human like body including rotating head arms legs and six
fingers plus three dimensional vision to recognise chores that need to be
tackled media reports said monday
the most distinctive strength of mahru is its visual ability to observe
objects recognise the tasks needed to be completed and execute them you bum
jae head of the cognitive robot centre at the korea institute of science and
technology told the korea times
it recognises people can turn on microwave ovens washing machines and
toasters and also pick up sandwiches cups and whatever else it senses as
objects
the institute took two years to develop mahru which is metres feet
tall and weighs kilograms pounds
it could also work with an earlier maid robot called marhu which moves on
wheels since both can be remotely controlled through computer server
you claimed mahru as the most advanced robot in terms of mimicking human
movements
apart from tackling chores researchers say it could also be used in conditions
too difficult or dangerous for humans but mass production for commercial use is
some way away
the science institute spends about about four billion won million dollars
every year on robot research it began receiving state funds for the project in
greying china getting old before getting rich
beijing jan afp
at nursing home in the suburbs of beijing year old ma shufan still
sprightly despite her advanced age is thrilled to have friends at her son
home she likely would spend her days alone
the best part having mah jong partners
this is much better than being with my children they have to go to work and
no one has the time to talk with me my son did not even have room for me
said the former school teacher
with more than million people over the age of and its ageing rate gaining
pace china is facing curious problem it is greying while still in
development challenge other economies have only had to face at more
advanced stage
the speed at which the number of elderly in china is increasing has alarmed both
the government and demographers about the future with the nation healthcare
system already straining and two thirds of rural workers without pensions
population ageing is going to be big social problem in china said wang
xiaoyan the founder of community alliance one of the few non governmental
organisations in china that addresses the needs of senior citizens
the first generation of parents affected by china population control policy
put in place in which the government says has averted million births
is now hitting age
the tens of millions of one child homes coupled with mass migration of students
and workers to urban areas has destroyed the traditional nuclear family model
instead ordinary chinese are coping with inverted pyramid four
grandparents and two parents all the responsibility of an only child
as result half of china over million people or roughly the
population of germany live in empty nests without their children who are
unable to assume responsibility for their ageing parents
this is why we have problems now said wu cangping an year old demographer
who still teaches at renmin university
children do not have enough money to take care of their parents we re getting
old before we are getting rich
the thorny problem of greying population has not escaped notice in the
corridors of power in beijing
authorities have put in place system effective this year that will give
pensions to percent of rural workers in recent years they have also been
raising healthcare allotments for the elderly
the government wants to allow percent of older people to receive family care
with welfare assistance six percent to receive state backed community care
services and the other four percent to move to nursing facilities
but the country retirement homes only have million beds enough
for barely more than quarter of the eight million it needs
today we need million more beds to fulfil demand said community
alliance wang
at the ren ai kindness love home where ma lives construction work is under
way soon more beds will be available major jump from the current on
offer according to director wang liwen
there are not enough nursing homes explained wang who has backlog of
admission applications
the residents of ren ai most of them former workers and farmers with tiny
pensions pay yuan dollars month to live in the home
says the parka clad wang in her chilly office
in the older parts of the home walls are crumbling and carpets are faded
she offers tour of the new windowless square metre square foot rooms
to be shared by up to three residents
if their pension is not high enough or if they don have one at all the
children pay but some older people have no children and no money and we take
care of them too
some old people think their kids have abandoned them the home director said
wu the demographer says he is confident that china will not experience the
same crisis over the ageing seen in some western countries
the government is now spending very little on care for the elderly and health
expenses but that trend is being reversed wu said
spending on the aged will not create budget crisis we have the means to
spend lot on the elderly
japanese stocks fall in morning
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices fell in morning trade on monday after wall street stocks
suffered their biggest drop of last week when investors ignored good
fourth quarter corporate earnings
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index fell points or
percent to the broader topix index of all first section shares
declined points or percent to
hunt for russia famed amber room leads to nazi bunker
kaliningrad russia jan afp
the mystery of russia famed amber room seized as the spoils of war by the
nazis has puzzled historians and experts since it disappeared in
sergei trifonov however believes he has solved the riddle and that the
treasure ornately carved panels of glowing amber formed from fossilized
resin lies underneath bunker in the russian enclave of kaliningrad
believe me or not it there metres down in the sub soil he said
pointing to the entrance of bunker that sheltered the nazi high command in the
last hours of the battle of koenigsberg
this place was built in february with two aims accommodating the
headquarters of general otto lasch and storing the treasures of koenigsberg
city under siege the historian turned journalist and lecturer argued
koenigsberg in what was then german east prussia is now kaliningrad the
capital of russia westernmost region of the same name
the nazis removed the treasure from palace that once belonged to empress
catherine the great outside saint petersburg after invading the soviet union in
once hailed as the eighth wonder of the world the trophy was brought here and
stored in the former castle of the teutonic knights in the centre of the city
but its subsequent fate remains unknown amid the turmoil of war and heavy
bombardment of the city by the allies
the red army seized the ruined city on april stalin triumphantly
annexed it and renamed it kaliningrad after leader of the supreme soviet
the amber room with its square metres of panelling was sighted in the
last month of the final attack after it had been disassembled and stored in
cases
after that it vanished
there are many theories about what happened next the panels may have been
destroyed by bombs secretly moved to germany or hidden in the maze of tunnels
under kaliningrad
to test his theory trifonov has begun to probe the soil under the bunker using
ground penetrating radar and pump out water he has already unearthed
brick lined room
the bunker is metres from the site of the castle demolished in
that sheltered the amber room its iron gate features viking symbols and
teutonic cross suggesting it wasn only for military use trifonov argues
sure that the amber room wasn taken away the theory that it is now in
germany doesn make sense he said
if that was so the germans would have found it
working alone with help from several sponsors trifonov says his supporters
include kaliningrad governor nevertheless not everyone takes his theories
seriously
he good storyteller who can prove anything said vladimir kulakov an
expert at russia institute of archaeology who has also dug in the soil under
the bunker in the search for the amber room
anatoly valuyev deputy director of kaliningrad history and art museum which
takes in the bunker was more circumspect
it good that people think that the treasure is there they have energy and
the museum gains from this he said citing the water being pumped out
we still hope that the amber room is somewhere in kaliningrad he said
there are plenty of underground sites left to explore if they don find it
here they ll look elsewhere
reconstruction of the amber room was opened at the catherine palace near saint
petersburg in
if the amber room is indeed in kaliningrad it may not be far from home
this region on the coast of the baltic sea is the world centre for amber
extraction its vast deposit represents percent of global supplies of the
sought after material
every year the state owned amber factory in the village of yantarny whose name
means amber in russian extracts to tonnes of amber in open cast mining
the most attractive or unusual specimens can hit price of euros
dollars per kilo
most of the amber is then exported in raw form usually to poland where it is
polished and turned into jewellery
meryl streep wins globe for julie amp julia
beverly hills california jan afp
hollywood icon meryl streep scooped record seventh win at the golden globes
here sunday for her portrayal of television chef julia child in julie amp
julia
the year old won in the best comedy actress category where she was also
nominated for it complicated
other nominees included sandra bullock for the proposal marion cotillard for
nine and julia roberts for duplicity
streep victory handed her record number of golden globe awards she had
previously been tied at six alongside jack nicholson and angela lansbury
afp features
paris jan afp
we will shortly move the following stories
highlights
hunt for russia famed amber room leads to nazi bunker
greying china getting old before getting rich
russia germany history mystery feature
kaliningrad russia
the mystery of russia famed amber room seized as the spoils of war by the
nazis has puzzled historians and experts since it disappeared in sergei
trifonov however believes he has solved the riddle and that the treasure lies
underneath bunker in the russian enclave of kaliningrad
words by valerie leroux graphic picture
china population society ageing feature
beijing
at nursing home in the suburbs of beijing year old ma shufan still
sprightly despite her advanced age is thrilled to have friends at her son
home she likely would spend her days alone
words by pascale trouillaud picture
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
qaeda wing denies six leaders killed in yemen site
hong kong jan afp
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap denied that six of its leaders were
killed in yemeni air strike last week according to statement published by
the site monitoring group on monday
none of the mujahedeen were killed in that unjust and insidious raid rather
some brothers were slightly wounded the qaeda group said in statement on
jihadist forums site reported
the yemeni government launched new offensive in late december against the
qaeda branch which claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of us
bound plane on christmas day
sanaa said that aqap military boss qassem al rimi died in missile strike in
the province of saada province on friday along with ayed al shabwani ammar al
waili saleh al tais egyptian ibrahim mohammed saleh al banna and an
unidentified sixth person
the agent yemeni government seeks through these pretenses to prove false
victory which it presents as gifts to us president barack obama and british
prime minister gordon brown and their allies in the london conference claiming
that it has the capability to eliminate the mujahedeen in the arabian
peninsula aqap said
brown is to host an international meeting on fighting extremism in yemen on
january which was called days after nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallah
allegedly tried to blow up christmas day flight from amsterdam to detroit
he is thought to have been trained in yemen
aqap called on muslims to declare jihad against the infidels and their agent
helpers not only on the ground but in the sea and air as well noting the
presence of foreign warships in the gulf of aden the arabian sea and the red
sea according to the site statement
yemen is under us pressure to clamp down on al qaeda and analysts say that the
government in the impoverished state is keen to show the world it can crush al
qaeda militants on its own
tennis safina powers into open second round
melbourne jan afp
russian dinara safina powered into the australian open second round with hard
fought straight sets win over the slovak republic magdalena rybarikova on
monday
the second seed trounced in the final last year by serena williams had her
work cut out as she battled double faults unforced errors and persistent
world number
the former world number one squandered early service breaks in both sets but
eventually overpowered the year old on the back of her aggressive
groundstrokes
she needed touch of fortune in the second set with rybarikova calling for
video review as the russian faced crucial break point in the eighth game
but the replay showed the safina shot just shaved the outside of the line
foiling the slovak attempt to level the scores at
safina who battled back problem at the end of last year held to lead and
then was able to close out the match easily on her following service game
at their only previous meeting safina had dropped just one game at the
french open but she was under pressure from rybarikova immediately staving off
break point in the fourth game of the match
it was typically emotional and spasmodic performance from the enigmatic
safina who chided herself for errors and looked pleadingly to her box each time
she made bad mistake
the year old beaten by elena dementieva in straight sets in sydney last
week made unforced errors and served nine double faults almost one per
game in only her seventh match since mid september
but she also showed the qualities that enabled her to get to number one in the
world last year despite failing to win grand slam title hitting winners
hong kong gold opens lower
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened lower monday at us dollars an ounce
