new products coming this year chrysler top sales executive fred diaz said
in statement
korean automakers were among the big winners of with kia and hyundai the
only brands besides japan subaru to post both market share and net sales
gains
hyundai share rose to percent from in as sales grew percent
to while kia share rose to points to percent as its sales grew
percent to vehicles
honda managed to beat chrysler to th place as its share rose points to
percent even as sales fell percent to million vehicles
nissan managed to increase its share by points to percent in while
sales fell percent to vehicles
new quakes rock solomon islands after tsunami
honiara jan afp
string of fresh earthquakes rocked the western solomon islands late tuesday
and early wednesday but there were no early reports of damage or casualties
officials said
the largest earthquake late tuesday had magnitude of followed by five
aftershocks measuring at least in the isolated region about kilometres
miles west of the capital honiara
the latest tremors followed series of quakes on monday with the largest one
of causing tsunami estimated at eight feet nearly metres high
the national disaster management office said tuesday around people
almost third of the population were believed to be left homeless on rendova
island due to earthquake and tsunami damage
solomon islands police commissioner peter marshall told radio new zealand
wednesday that no fresh damage had been reported from the quake
we feel we would have heard by now if had that been the case we have people on
the ground up there marshall said
there have been no reports of any additional injuries damage or deaths
there have been no deaths or major injuries reported from this week swarm of
quakes which followed tsunami in the same region in april that killed
more than people
disaster management office director loti yates said authorities were still
trying to make an assessment wednesday of the impact of the latest quakes
our officers were not able to carry out an immediate assessment last night
because of the obvious logistic problems with covering an area that is scattered
with islands yates said
rendova island bore the brunt of monday quakes with some coastal areas
inundated by the tsunami and hillsides scarred by large landslides
residents said the quake prompted people in coastal areas to flee for higher
ground with the memories of the disaster still fresh
on the nearby largely uninhabited island of tetepare foreign tourists were
evacuated from an eco tourism centre on monday none was reported hurt
rights groups slam obama halt of yemen transfers
washington jan afp
us human rights groups said us president barack obama decision tuesday to stop
the transfer of guantanamo inmates to yemen is unwise unjust and increases
resentment against the united states
continuing to detain individuals who have been cleared for release simply
because they come from certain country is unwise unjust and does absolutely
nothing to improve our security american civil liberties union attorney ben
wizner said in statement
obama decision he added will prolong shameful chapter in american history
without making americans any safer
in televised speech obama tuesday announced the temporary suspension of
transfers to yemen of freed prisoners held at the us detention facility in
guantanamo bay cuba following christmas day attempted bombing of us
airliner
the white house is under intense pressure from domestic critics not to send more
detainees back to yemen because of fears they will slip back into extremism in
the arab nation where obama says the thwarted bombing was planned
close to half of the detainees left at guantanamo bay are from yemen human
rights watch said many have been locked up without charge for up to eight years
and that have been cleared for release
obama decision hrw said in statement raises serious concerns about the
yemeni prisoners continued indefinite detention without trial
we understand that yemen poses very difficult problem for the
administration said hrw terrorism and counterterrorism researcher letta
tayler
but continuing to hold yemenis without charge only increases resentment against
the united states and hands al qaeda recruiting tool she added
human rights first president and ceo elisa massimino said the obama
administration should work closely with yemeni officials to address current
security concerns and to minimize risk before reinstating transfers there
obama renewal of promise to close down the guantanamo prison however was
applauded by the rights group
guantanamo undermines us national security interests massimino said
the events of the past two weeks should only strengthen the obama
administration resolve to close this facility immediately
if we allow terrorists to take our eye off of the ball in closing guantanamo
they win we should not be diverted from this national security imperative she
added
baseball all star pitcher johnson retires after seasons
phoenix arizona jan afp
five time cy young winner randy johnson who won more than games in his
career is retiring after glorious seasons in major league baseball
the left handed american who was nicknamed the big unit made the announcement
on tuesday
the year old johnson is time all star who six months ago became the th
pitcher in american baseball history to win games
getting the end result of the performance is what it was all about johnson
said there was learning curve for me for awhile worked hard was
fierce competitor and gave everything had
johnson won one world series championship with the arizona diamondbacks in
he threw two career no hitters including perfect game and ranks second in
career strikeouts
the ft in johnson finishes with career record of and
strikeouts
asked what his biggest career moment was johnson said it was playing in the
world series and sharing the co mvp honours with teammate curt schilling
did my part to get to the world series that was my crowning achievement he
said
only roger clemens has won more cy young awards six for the best pitcher in
baseball
wanted to go out on my terms johnson said definitely wanted to make the
decision wholeheartedly and that would stick to retirement didn want
to make hasty decision at peace with it
he captured his cy young awards in with seattle and from in
arizona
he compiled lifetime era with the expos mariners astros diamondbacks
yankees and giants his strikeout total is second to nolan ryan who
finished with
never thought was going to play this long johnson added one thing ve
always tried to tell the younger pitchers was how preparation and work ethic
have to be in order to go out and compete every fifth day
if you want longevity you have to stay healthy and do your work
court gives us broad powers to hold terror suspects
washington jan afp
us federal appeals court tuesday ruled that the government has broad powers to
hold terror suspects making it more difficult for guantanamo prisoners to
challenge their detention
it was the first habeas corpus ruling affecting detainees held at the us naval
base in cuba since the supreme court decided in june to allow guantanamo
bay prisoners to contest their detention in federal court based on the ancient
writ
but the high court did not specify the prisoners legal rights federal judges
have examined the cases of guantanamo prisoners so far of whom have been
cleared for release
in its decision the us court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit
set forth rationale for the indefinite detention of individuals seized in the
fight against al qaeda and the taliban
we reiterate that international law including the customary rules of co
belligerency do not limit the president detention power in this instance
the three judge panel said in its ruling
it said the government burden of proof in habeas cases is that the
preponderance of evidence makes given proposition more likely than not the
standard used in most civil cases
the appeals court judges upheld the continued detention of ghaleb nassar al
bihani yemeni citizen who once served as cook for the taliban in
afghanistan but claims he never took up arms against the united states and
international forces that invaded the country after the september
attacks
federal judge ruled in january that his detention was lawful
the appeals court judges unanimously rejected bihani contention that us law
does not authorize his detention and that procedural difficulties had hampered
his bid to challenge it
the ruling came as president barack obama suspended transfers of freed
guantanamo bay inmates to yemen following the botched christmas day attack on
us bound airliner
the administration is under intense pressure from domestic critics not to send
more detainees back to yemen because of fears they will slip back into
extremism in the arab nation where obama says the thwarted bombing was planned
al bihani was both part of and substantially supported enemy forces the
judges found al bihani detention is authorized by statute and there was no
constitutional defect in the district court habeas procedure that would have
affected the outcome of the proceeding
the judges found that bihani support for the th arab brigade
paramilitary group allied with the taliban that included al qaeda members was
enough to justify his seizure and detention
because al bihani was effectively part of the th brigade and sufficient
supporter of same his detention for the duration of the hostilities in which he
was captured is lawful they wrote
that decision went beyond past rulings of federal judges who have insisted more
on the notion of substantial support and have usually considered the fact that
some detainees have never fired weapons at us forces and coalition partners
jonathan hafetz an attorney with the american civil liberties union aclu
which represents some guantanamo prisoners criticized the court opinion as
setback to justice and the rule of law
bihani can appeal the decision to the full appeals court and then to the supreme
court
us airport shut in hazardous materials scare
los angeles jan afp
california airport was shut down tuesday after passenger carrying honey in
five sports drink bottles triggered security alert local media reported
flights in and out of meadows field airport in bakersfield approximately
miles kilometers north of los angeles were suspended for several hours
following the scare which began at around am gmt
however the airport was reopened after it was determined that no hazardous
materials were involved
local media reports said the bag at the center of the scare belonged to
year old agricultural worker traveling to milwaukee wisconsin to visit
relatives
police said three separate tests on the passenger bag and bottles had tested
positive for traces of explosives tnt and tatp
police could not explain why the tests came back positive for explosives and
could not immediately be reached for comment
transportation security administration staff were taken to hospital after
opening the bottles and becoming nauseous from fumes officials said both were
later released and were fine police said
we don know if that the nausea because there was something really going
on or if the employee was just nervous kern county sheriff department
spokesman michael whorf told local media
the alert came as us airports are on high alert following the thwarted december
bombing of northwest flight in detroit
obama rebukes spy chiefs over intelligence screw up
washington jan afp
an angry president barack obama lectured us spy chiefs tuesday on an
intelligence screw up that left us airliner carrying people open to
barely averted al qaeda attack on christmas day
in highly unusual public rebuke of the us clandestine community obama made
terse televised statement about the thwarted bombing after gathering agency
chiefs and national security aides at high stakes white house meeting
it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully
leveraged obama said suggesting that missed red flags before the attack
were more serious than originally thought
that not acceptable and will not tolerate it
obama was even more explicit during the meeting in the secure white house
situation room an official said calling for immediate repairs to the flawed us
homeland security system and not typical washington finger pointing
this was screw up that could have been disastrous the official speaking on
condition of anonymity quoted obama as saying in the meeting
we dodged bullet but just barely it was averted by brave individuals not
because the system worked the president said according to the official
nigerian suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab is accused of trying to bring
down the northwest jet outside detroit with explosives sewn into his underwear
passengers and crew sprung into action thwarting his attempted attack
republican lawmakers faulted the decision to place abdulmutallab and other
terror suspects into the criminal justice system rather than declare him an
enemy combatant liable to military justice
but obama spokesman robert gibbs insisted abdulmutallab spent number of
hours with fbi investigators in which we gleaned usable actionable
intelligence
obama also announced he would suspend transfers of guantanamo bay prisoners to
yemen after blaming an al qaeda affiliate in the arab country for plotting the
attack but vowed he would make good on his promise to close the camp
make no mistake we will close guantanamo prison which has damaged our
national security interests and become tremendous recruiting tool for al
qaeda obama said
white house spokesman robert gibbs said the decision could mean more prisoners
would be sent to thomson correctional center in illinois selected by the
administration to hold guantanamo bay inmates
obama said probes into the botched plot to blow up the airliner showed us
intelligence missed other red flags as well as the already revealed fact that
abdulmutallab was nigerian extremist who had traveled to yemen
he said us intelligence knew that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula wanted to
strike not only us targets in yemen but in the united states itself over the
holiday season
the bottom line is this the us government had sufficient information to have
uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the christmas day attack but our
intelligence community failed to connect those dots obama said
this was not failure to collect intelligence it was failure to integrate
and understand the intelligence that we already had
when suspected terrorist is able to board plane with explosives on
christmas day the system has failed in potentially disastrous way
obama promised that he would lay out further steps to safeguard aviation
security in the coming weeks including better integration of information and
enhanced passenger screening
he promised public summary of preliminary report into the intelligence
failures within days and demanded swift action to close the gaps
want specific recommendations for corrective actions to fix what went wrong
want those reforms implemented immediately so that this doesn happen again
and so we can prevent future attacks he said
the state department meanwhile said it had revoked more visas for people with
suspected ties to terrorism
many experts have expressed incredulity that abdulmutallab was able to travel on
valid us visa despite his suspected ties to extremists
obama high powered meeting included the heads of the cia the fbi the
national security agency and the national counterterrorism center as well as
secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates
baseball holliday resigns with cardinals
new york jan afp
matt holliday signed multi year contract reportedly worth million dollars
to remain with the st louis cardinals
st louis said tuesday they had agreed with holliday on seven year deal
subject to physical the major league baseball team is scheduled to make an
official announcement on thursday
holliday was traded to st louis from oakland six months ago and he helped lead
them to their first national league central title in three years
holliday deal dwarfs the other two major free agent signings of the offseason
pitcher john lackey signed five year million dollar contract with boston
and also on tuesday canadian outfielder jason bay inked four year million
dollar deal with the new york mets
china miners killed in fire missing govt
beijing jan afp
fire in coal mine in central china has killed miners authorities said
wednesday as rescuers searched for others still missing
the accident occurred on tuesday at the lisheng mine in the city of xiangtan in
hunan province the local government said in statement on its website nine
bodies were recovered late tuesday and the rest on wednesday
the government had earlier said it hoped to find the miners alive an
investigation has been launched into the incident
the coal mine authority in the county also named xiangtan ordered all mines
shut until further notice the statement said
china coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world with safety often
ignored in the quest for profits and drive to meet surging demand for coal
the source of about percent of the country energy
golf woods absence casts shadow over uspga season
los angeles jan afp
for an invisible man tiger woods casts quite shadow over the us pga tour
season
just when and where the embattled world number one will return from his
indefinite break from golf are questions looming over the season that opens
thursday with the sbs championship at kapalua
but the most intriguing question is how woods will perform when he does return
in the wake of the public relations nightmare that engulfed him at the end of
woods winner of tournaments worldwide closed the year with stunning fall
from grace admitting infidelity to wife elin who is reportedly set to divorce
him amid reports he had as many mistresses as major titles
many of woods fellow pros say they think he ll return quickly to the form that
saw him win six tour events and seven titles worldwide in capturing his
th player of the year award in years
in fact woods swept all of the big pga tour awards for although he didn
return to competition until february after months long layoff recovering from
knee surgery
but european ryder cup captain colin montgomerie said that after the lurid
headlines and sponsor defections woods won have the same mystique
there is no question there was an aura about tiger woods over this incredible
record he has not just in majors but in other world events that wall has been
split slightly and there are cracks montgomerie told the bbc
it was just what the pga tour already reeling from weak economy and sponsor
pullouts didn need to hear
commissioner tim finchem tried to put positive spin on the matter but he had
to admit the circuit is worse off without woods
we re in down economy it hard to sell and having the number one player in
our sport not play is not positive thing and it does hurt television ratings
finchem said it won be at the same levels without our number one player no
sport would be
finchem said he had no idea when woods would resume playing and his pursuit of
jack nicklaus record of major titles
his first shot at adding to his tally would come at the masters in april the
strictly controlled confines of augusta national might be more comfortable
place to make public return
but lengthy layoff would be poor preparation for major campaign so woods
might aim for doral and bay hill beforehand
two other majors are on courses where woods has triumphed before the us
open at pebble beach california and the british open at storied st andrews
with woods in limbo rival phil mickelson will try to build on strong finish
to season that included four victories
mickelson said after his victory in the wgc hsbc champions in november that he
was starting to play the best golf of my career
my short game is better than it ever been and going into not only am
excited about it but have very high expectations
and this year mickelson will play without the weight of worry that followed his
wife amy diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer in
woods absence may also see the spotlight trained on rising youngsters like us
tour rookie rickie fowler and young stars from overseas like japan ryo
ishikawa and notably northern ireland rory mcilroy
mcilroy is the youngest player to reach the top in the world rankings
he has joined the us tour and will play at least events along with at least
eight on the european tour
south korea yang yong eun who held off woods in the final round of the pga
championship to become asia first major champion will try to add to that
success
other well known names will try to rebound from disappointing seasons
ireland padraig harrington who won two major titles and pga player of the
year honors in didn win in but displayed solid form at the end of
the year that had him looking forward to
veteran vijay singh and up and coming american anthony kim are two more players
who will be trying to turn things around after winless campaigns
spain sergio garcia goes into the year nursing hand injury but european
order of merit winner lee westwood could make his presence felt in america as
well as at the ryder cup when europe host america in the matchplay showdown at
celtic manor in wales in october
while woods is the greatest imponderable of us tour players will also get
to grips with new rules limiting the depth and shape of grooves on irons that
will make it harder to spin and stop the ball especially out of the rough
with the new grooves stewart cink said the clubs just don have any
forgiveness like they used to
it going to affect everybody pretty much the same way he predicted it
change it quite different when anything other than perfect dry lie is
encountered
jetstar airasia form world first budget airline alliance
sydney jan afp
jetstar and airasia unveiled plans on wednesday to slash costs and ticket prices
by pooling some resources taking the first step in an alliance which could
transform the asian budget market
jetstar chief executive bruce buchanan said the non equity arrangement
described as world first between low cost airlines was expected to save
hundreds of millions of dollars in costs
by getting together and focusing on areas where we can actually reduce costs we
think it really exciting opportunity buchanan told reporters calling the
deal an important first step
we have identified many hundreds of millions of dollars of cost saving
opportunities and we think that is an exciting opportunity for us as we launch
this partnership going forward
jetstar subsidiary of australian flag carrier qantas will share parts and
ground and passenger handling services with malaysia airasia which is asia
biggest budget airline
they will also investigate jointly procuring new aircraft cooperate on buying
engineering and maintenance supplies and will carry each other passengers
stranded by breakdowns and other disruptions
qantas chief alan joyce said the deal would give both airlines an edge in the
competitive asian market
jetstar and airasia offer unmatched reach in the asia pacific region with more
routes and lower fares than their main competitors and this new alliance will
enable them to maximise that scale he said
jetstar operating aircraft is the world largest long haul budget carrier
while airasia leads the asian low cost market with planes servicing more than
destinations
golf woods absence casts shadow over uspga season
los angeles jan afp
for an invisible man tiger woods casts quite shadow over the us pga tour
season
just when and where the embattled world number one will return from his
indefinite break from golf are questions looming over the season that opens
thursday with the sbs championship at kapalua
but the most intriguing question is how woods will perform when he does return
in the wake of the public relations nightmare that engulfed him at the end of
woods winner of tournaments worldwide closed the year with stunning fall
from grace admitting infidelity to wife elin who is reportedly set to divorce
him amid reports he had as many mistresses as major titles
many of woods fellow pros say they think he ll return quickly to the form that
saw him win six tour events and seven titles worldwide in capturing his
th player of the year award in years
in fact woods swept all of the big pga tour awards for although he didn
return to competition until february after months long layoff recovering from
knee surgery
but european ryder cup captain colin montgomerie said that after the lurid
headlines and sponsor defections woods won have the same mystique
there is no question there was an aura about tiger woods over this incredible
record he has not just in majors but in other world events that wall has been
split slightly and there are cracks montgomerie told the bbc
it was just what the pga tour already reeling from weak economy and sponsor
pullouts didn need to hear
commissioner tim finchem tried to put positive spin on the matter but he had
to admit the circuit is worse off without woods
we re in down economy it hard to sell and having the number one player in
our sport not play is not positive thing and it does hurt television ratings
finchem said it won be at the same levels without our number one player no
sport would be
finchem said he had no idea when woods would resume playing and his pursuit of
jack nicklaus record of major titles
his first shot at adding to his tally would come at the masters in april the
strictly controlled confines of augusta national might be more comfortable
place to make public return
but lengthy layoff would be poor preparation for major campaign so woods
might aim for doral and bay hill beforehand
two other majors are on courses where woods has triumphed before the us
open at pebble beach california and the british open at storied st andrews
with woods in limbo rival phil mickelson will try to build on strong finish
to season that included four victories
mickelson said after his victory in the wgc hsbc champions in november that he
was starting to play the best golf of my career
my short game is better than it ever been and going into not only am
excited about it but have very high expectations
and this year mickelson will play without the weight of worry that followed his
wife amy diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer in
woods absence may also see the spotlight trained on rising youngsters like us
tour rookie rickie fowler and young stars from overseas like japan ryo
ishikawa and notably northern ireland rory mcilroy
mcilroy is the youngest player to reach the top in the world rankings
he has joined the us tour and will play at least events along with at least
eight on the european tour
south korea yang yong eun who held off woods in the final round of the pga
championship to become asia first major champion will try to add to that
success
other well known names will try to rebound from disappointing seasons
ireland padraig harrington who won two major titles and pga player of the
year honors in didn win in but displayed solid form at the end of
the year that had him looking forward to
veteran vijay singh and up and coming american anthony kim are two more players
who will be trying to turn things around after winless campaigns
spain sergio garcia goes into the year nursing hand injury but european
order of merit winner lee westwood could make his presence felt in america as
well as at the ryder cup when europe host america in the matchplay showdown at
celtic manor in wales in october
while woods is the greatest imponderable of us tour players will also get
to grips with new rules limiting the depth and shape of grooves on irons that
will make it harder to spin and stop the ball especially out of the rough
with the new grooves stewart cink said the clubs just don have any
forgiveness like they used to
it going to affect everybody pretty much the same way he predicted it
change it quite different when anything other than perfect dry lie is
encountered
golf clarke chases glory as africa open joins european tour
east london south africa jan afp
former ryder cup hero darren clarke of northern ireland heads strong africa
open field when the event joins the european tour circuit for the first time
thursday
dane thomas bjorn and englishman nick dougherty are other big names chasing
glory in the one million euro event at the links cum parkland east london golf
club
retief goosen twice us open champion pipped clarke for the africa open title
last year and other south africans will be trying to prevent european tour
hat trick for invaders this season
the second edition of the road to dubai european tour order of merit won by
englishman lee westwood last season began in south africa month ago with
victories for rising stars pablo martin and richie ramsay
spaniard martin won the alfred dunhill championship at leopard creek in the
eastern mpumalanga province and scot ramsay lifted the south african open after
play off against indian shiv kapur at pearl valley near cape town
prominent south africans in the strong east london field include richard
sterne winner of the dunhill and south african open tournaments fellow
former open champion james kingston and charl schwartzel
argentine angel cabrera fired course record on the intriguing par layout
at the africa open last year only to be upstaged by sterne who needed one
stroke less in the same tournament
clarke overcame the death of his wife to play pivotal role in the ryder
cup triumph over the united states at rain soaked club outside dublin and
craves another crack at the americans in wales this october
enjoyed playing in the africa open last year when finishing second behind
retief and really looking forward to this tournament clarke said after
practice round designed to brush off festive season cobwebs
competitors face raised tees narrow fairways and minute greens on an outward
nine adventure that drifts through indian ocean dunes and can be pleasant when
calm and perilous should the wind unleash its fury
the backward half may offer wider fairways amid indigenous bush but undulating
greens will test the best and there is blind tee shot on the final hole to
add spice
