vargas said in the statement
lopez de uralde and norwegian nora christiansen fooled security staff at the
danish parliament in copenhagen by drawing up to december gala dinner of
the un climate conference in limousine and wearing evening attire
there they unfurled banners reading politicians talk leaders act at the
entrance
two others greenpeace activists were also held over the incident
greenpeace spain last week delivered petition backed by people to the
danish embassy in madrid demanding their release
dead fish provoke alert around gulf of mexico
veracruz mexico jan afp
mexican officials issued vigilance alert tuesday after thousands of dead fish
washed up on the coast of the gulf of mexico
veracruz state governor fidel herrera issued the alert after fishermen reported
dead fish along several kilometers miles of beaches off eastern mexico
we have to determine if it was natural phenomenon or if it is more
generalized herrera told journalists adding that mexican marines had taken
samples from other coastal areas
investigators were studying the fish to determine the cause of the deaths said
aurora parissi director of veracruz state public health laboratory
they were also studying possible links to dead fish which appeared last month on
beaches in the mexican state of tamaulipas and the us state of texas both also
on the gulf of mexico
rallying gordon pips peterhansel to win dakar fourth stage
copiapo chile jan afp
american robby gordon won the fourth stage of the dakar rally cars category
tuesday km special stage from fiambala in northern argentina to copiapo
in chile
gordon driving hummer came in an astonishing one second ahead of bmw
stephane peterhansel of france the overall race leader
peterhansel held off qatari rival nasser al attiyah by min sec and spaniard
carlos sainz likewise of volkswagen by min sec
ktm rider marc coma won the fourth stage of the motorcycling category after
coming in min sec ahead of frenchman david casteu of sherco
another frenchman cyril despres of ktm who was third on the day min sec off
the pace retained his overall lead
urgent no more guantanamo transfers to yemen for now white house
washington jan afp
the white house said on tuesday it had decided not to transfer any more
guantanamo bay prisoners to yemen for now following plot to bomb us
airliner apparently planned in the arab country
us airport shut after hazardous materials found reports
los angeles jan afp
california airport was shut down tuesday after hazardous materials were
discovered in luggage at the facility media reports citing federal and local
officials said
fox news reported that flights in and out of meadows field airport in
bakersfield approximately miles kilometers north of los angeles had
been suspended following the alert at around am gmt
sean collins an officer with the kern county fire department told fox that the
alarm was raised after bag being handled by staff from the transportation
security administration tsa tested positive for an unknown material
two staff were feeling generally unwell from exposure to the substance and
were being treated at local hospital as precaution collins said
we are treating this very seriously just in case it may be situation that
it hazardous to anybody collins told fox we are taking every precaution
that is possible
deputy from kern county sheriff department told fox the adult male owner of
the bag in question had been taken into custody but did not give more
information
spokeswoman from the tsa did not immediately respond to requests for comment
urgent rallying gordon pips peterhansel to win dakar fourth stage
copiapo chile jan afp
american robby gordon won the fourth stage of the dakar rally cars category
tuesday km special stage from fiambala in northern argentina to copiapo
in chile
alert
white house no additional transfers for now of guantanamo detainees to yemen
afp gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
obama to unveil air security reforms
afghan cia bomber duped intelligence agencies
iceland leader refuses to sign bank bill
google unveils new smartphone
attacks world newseries wrap
washington
us president barack obama is set to unveil an initial series of reforms to
plug us intelligence and security gaps following botched terror attack on us
airliner as new details emerge about the would be bomber
words gmt
afghanistan unrest us jordan qaeda ndlead
washington
us counter terrorism efforts in afghanistan come under scrutiny after an al
qaeda double agent killed seven cia officers and military spy chief slams
intelligence failings in the country
words gmt
iceland britain netherlands politics banking thlead
reykjavik
iceland president refuses to sign an unpopular bill to compensate britain and
the netherlands over the failure of icesave bank threatening the survival of
the government and triggering anger in london and the hague
words gmt by svanborg sigmarsdottir
us it company telecom internet google rdlead
mountain view california
google unveils its new nexus one smartphone in direct challenge to
heavyweight apple iphone handsets
words gmt by glenn chapman
attacks us nigeria newseries lead
washington
us president barack obama will unveil new measures aimed at thwarting future
airborne terror attacks after seeking ways to plug us intelligence gaps in
meeting with spy chiefs
words gmt by stephen collinson
us attacks nigeria security airport diplomacy rdlead
abuja
nigerian foreign minister ojo maduekwe protests to the us ambassador to the west
african country over washington introduction of tighter screening for
passengers from nigeria
words gmt
us britain food retail company takeover kraft cadbury newseries
washington
us food giant kraft sweetens its hostile bid for cadbury with bigger cash
component but faces fresh rejection from the british confectioner and
resistance from its largest shareholder
words gmt
us auto company ford sales rdlead
chicago
ford motor co posts its first full year market share gain since as
december sales rise percent despite the economic downturn
gmt words by mira oberman
attacks yemen lead wrap
sanaa
the us embassy in yemen reopens after two day closure prompted by al qaeda
threats as us secretary of state hillary clinton warns unrest in the arab
country is threat to global stability
words gmt by hammoud mounassar picture graphic
germany banking it rdlead
frankfurt
more than million german bank cards are hit by new year software bug
that leaves owners empty handed at cash machines and unable to buy goods across
the country public and private banks say
words moved picture
britain iraq military politics inquiry ndlead
london
britain public inquiry into the iraq war resumes after the christmas break as
questions grow about the looming appearance by ex prime minister tony blair who
led the country into the controversial conflict
words moved by katherine haddon picture
sweden environment hunting animal
stockholm
sweden first wolf hunt in years comes to an end after hunters meet their
quota in just four days as ecologists blast the hunt as rushed and cruel and
criticize the government decision to allow the cull
words moved by marc preel picture and video
afghanistan unrest politics lead
kabul
the clock is ticking for afghan president hamid karzai to stitch together
cabinet before major conference on his country future as western allies
demand swift action on graft experts say
words moved by sardar ahmad file picture
japan economy politics fujii rdlead
tokyo
japan prime minister accepts his finance minister resignation offer because
of poor health despite earlier asking him to stay at the helm of the world
number two economy reports said
words moved by daniel rook picture
philippines politics massacre trial rdlead
manila
the prime suspect in the massacre of people in the volatile southern
philippines last year pleads not guilty to multiple counts of murder
words moved by jason gutierrez picture graphic
afp
fbi got actionable intelligence from airline suspect
washington jan afp
fbi interrogators were able to get actionable intelligence from interviews
with the year old nigerian suspected of trying to blow up us airliner the
white house said tuesday
abdulmutallab spent number of hours with fbi investigators in which we
gleaned usable actionable intelligence white house spokesman robert gibbs
said
umar farouk abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up northwest airlines
flight with explosives concealed in his underwear on december after flying
from lagos to the united states via amsterdam
republican critics have slammed the obama administration for dealing with
abdulmutallab through the civilian legal system rather than sending him for
military interrogation and prosecution as an enemy combatant
but gibbs defended the decision saying that the suspect had faced questioning
for number of hours from fbi interrogators
former italian intelligence chief could face trial reports
rome jan afp
prosecutors have called for the former head of italian military intelligence and
former secret agent to be tried over alleged illegal inquiries into
journalists and judges according to italian media reports tuesday
secret documents found in flat in rome show ex intelligence chief nicolo
pollari and former agent pio pompa misused resources to create dossiers on
journalists officials and judges according to the prosecutor in the central
city of perugia
the prosecutor office accuses pollari and pompa of misusing material and human
resources illegal possession of spying equipment and illegally entering
military facilities
this is about misappropriation involving the electricity supply and telephone
line minor offence their lawyer titta madia told the rai news television
channel
she said all her clients evidence would be protected by state secrecy rules
the documents came to light in during an inquiry into the kidnap of
egyptian cleric abu omar over which former cia agents and two italian
agents including pompa were convicted in november
state secrecy rules protected pollari who was head of italy secret military
intelligence service sismi at the time of the kidnap from prosecution
omar radical islamist who enjoyed political asylum in italy was snatched
from milan street in february in an operation coordinated by the cia and
sismi
he was allegedly taken to us military installation in northeastern italy then
flown to another us base in germany and on to cairo where he said he was
tortured
google unveils new smartphone
mountain view california jan afp
google on tuesday unveiled its new nexus one smartphone in direct challenge
to heavyweight apple iphone handsets
the touch screen device was billed by google as superphone and the next step
in the evolution of its android software
the internet giant worked with taiwanese electronics titan htc to make the nexus
one
think you will see it pushes the limits of what possible on smart phone
htc chief executive peter chou said as the smartphone was unveiled at google
headquarters in mountain view california
it is very thin and feels good in your hand he added
nexus one handsets are no thicker than pencils and no heavier than keychain
swiss army knives google engineer erick tseng said while demonstrating one of
the smartphones
it is great marriage of form and function tseng said it is really light
nexus one smartphones are built on the same android software that runs droid
smartphones that recently hit the market but feature innovations including
graphics according to tseng
google said it is launching in few minutes its own online store at which the
nexus one will be sold
nexus one smartphones will be sold at the google hosted web store for
dollars us unlocked without ties to telecom carrier
nexus one handsets will be offered at prices starting at dollars us if
paired with mobile service contracts in the united states
google has made strategic partnerships with telecom firm verizon in the united
states and vodaphone in europe
nexus one devices linked to service from verizon in the us and vodaphone in
europe should be available by mid year according to google
google said it will ship nexus one devices to buyers in the singapore hong
kong britain and the united states
tennis perfect starts for nadal federer
doha jan afp
roger federer and rafa nadal began impressively the road which most people hope
will lead the two tennis legends to their st meeting at the opening tournament
of the atp world tour the qatar open
federer the wimbledon and french open champion beat christophe rochus the
world number for the loss of only three games while nadal the australian
open champion gradually warmed to his task and eventually got well on top while
conceding just six games to simone bolelli ranked
the intensity of focus in both was marked but their perspectives were
apparently different while federer repeated that the year end world number one
spot would be another great goal to achieve nadal evaded suggesting there was
any such vision for himself
you like lot this thing he told questioner but for me it not
important if you win tournaments you will have your chance of being number
one
but am just trying to play well here if win have more chance of being
world number one but taking it day by day and so for me being number one
is not lot
the spaniard success against his italian opponent contained some
uncertain moments early on notably when was down in his opening service
game and down on his serve in the sixth game
but after nadal had averted all three potential setbacks twice with thumping
serves and once with trademark lurching leaping forehand he became more
confident
turning point came after bolelli whose flat hitting was often dangerous in
sudden ambushes missed point to reach then delivering contentious
double fault to drop serve for the first time
that happened when the baseline judge foot faulted him on second delivery
causing bolelli to stare at the official walk up and argue with the umpire and
then sit down muttering
afterwards nadal consolidated for broke again in the next game to grab the
set and began the second set with his momentum increasing it was minor
surprise that bolelli held nadal off till the sixth game before another break
came
by the end nadal was hitting the ball really well and certainly better than
last year when he was beaten in the quarter finals by gael monfils of france
played well in abu dhabi and had good rhythm when came here he
explained
federer played so well against rochus that it became evident from the moment
that he broke serve for that he was likely to trample all over his his
opponent
he took eight of the first nine games and managed one humiliating forehand pass
when rochus had good volleying opportunity from close in but still saw the
great man move smoothly to return it with thundering interest
the belgian made big fight to hold on to the third game of the second set and
was greeted with cheers after the ten minutes it took him to do it but it made
little difference
rochus problem was that skilful as he is federer was just as much so and
much more powerful too the impressive looking favourite soon hurtled out of
sight taking the last three games in row
feel like it could be great season federer said had break after the
us open and another one at the end of and ve come into this season
pretty refreshed
don often get chance to steamroller someone like that my movement was
explosive and nice and feel physically fine and mentally fresh
feel eager to do well and feel like ve got more titles in me he
concluded ominously
federer next plays evegeny korolev russian ranked just outside the top
nadal plays potito starace the former top italian
czech archbishop warns of europe islamisation
prague jan afp
outgoing prague archbishop and head of czech catholics miloslav vlk warned of
looming islamisation of europe in an interview published in prague on tuesday
europe has denied its christian roots from which it has risen and which could
give it the strength to fend off the danger that it will be conquered by muslims
which is actually happening gradually vlk said
if europe doesn change its relation to its own roots it will be islamised
the year old cardinal who was named prague archbishop by pope john paul ii
in added on his website www kardinal cz
he blamed immigration and muslims high birth rate for helping muslims to
easily fill the vacant space created as europeans systematically empty the
christian content of their lives
at the end of the middle ages and in the early modern age islam failed to
conquer europe with arms the christians beat them then vlk said
today when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which europe lacks
while muslims are perfectly armed the fall of europe is looming added the
cardinal
vlk who was persecuted by the former communist regime toppled in offered
his resignation as catholic bishop two years ago at age in line with
church rules but pope benedict xvi extended his term by two years then
vlk successor should be named this week according to czech media
chrysler sales down percent in december percent in
chicago jan afp
chrysler posted four percent drop in december us sales tuesday bringing total
sales down percent amid broad economic downturn and painful
restructuring under bankruptcy protection
the troubled automaker expressed optimism that sales would improve in and
announced new incentive program to lure customers to its showrooms
as we kick off the new year chrysler group continues to build momentum with
some of the best products in the marketplace and we are enthusiastic about the
new products coming this year fred diaz chrysler top sales executive said
in statement
our great chrysler jeep dodge and ram products are being recognized by
opinion leaders in the industry and consumers are responding in positive way
in the company will continue to earn the trust of consumers with exciting
high quality vehicles that are priced right
december sales fell to vehicles from year earlier sales
were down to from in
chrysler estimated that total us auto sales would be fall to million
vehicles in from million in
chrysler said it managed to reduce its industry levels by percent to
units representing day supply
the automaker announced plans to offer up to dollars cash back or zero
percent financing for almost all model year vehicles
chrysler chief sergio marchionne said last month that it will probably take up
to two years to determine whether the company elaborate turnaround plan is
actually working
irish police seize explosives after slovak security test
dublin jan afp
irish police said tuesday they had seized explosives smuggled into the country
as part of test of security procedures at slovakia bratislava airport
the slovakian interior ministry had conveyed its profound regret to irish
justice minister dermot ahern over the incident which comes amid heightened
security following the failed detroit plane bombing ahern office said
sections of inner city dublin were sealed off tuesday morning and homes and
businesses were evacuated as anti terrorist police units and the irish army bomb
disposal experts raided an apartment in dorset street
quantity of explosives thought to be grammes of research development
explosive rdx was seized in the raid
year old slovakian electrician who has worked in ireland for three years
was arrested under anti terrorist laws he was questioned for three hours but
was released without charge police spokesman said
the raid was launched after the slovakian authorities contacted police at dublin
airport the justice ministry said
it said the explosives were recovered from the luggage of passenger who had
flown back to dublin after his christmas holidays on saturday
the material was concealed without his knowledge or consent in the passenger
luggage as part of an airport security exercise by the authorities in slovakia
it said
rte state radio said the dublin package was one of eight pieces of contraband
planted by the authorities in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at
bratislava airport the other seven items were detected
police said they were in contact with law enforcement authorities in slovakia
regarding the matter and an investigation has been launched
garda police commissioner fachtna murphy has appointed detective chief
superintendent martin mclaughlin to establish the full background to this
incident the statement said
labour party opposition spokesman joe costello described the incident as an
extraordinary affair
this incident led to the closure of roads in the area the evacuation of
businesses and the lives and safety of residents could have been put at risk
he said
we also need to know what protest the government is going to make about this
breach of our security
airports across the world have stepped up their security checks after nigerian
man allegedly tried to set off bomb on us jetliner arriving at detroit
airport on december
urgent fbi got actionable intelligence from airline suspect
washington jan afp
fbi interrogators were able to get actionable intelligence from interviews
with the year old nigerian suspected of trying to blow up us airliner the
white house said tuesday
alert
airline bomb suspect provided actionable intelligence white house
rallying peterhansel wins dakar fourth stage
copiap chile jan afp
bmw stephane peterhansel of france won the fourth stage of the dakar rally
cars category on tuesday km special stage from fiambala in northern
argentina to copiapo in chile to retain his status as race leader
peterhansel held off qatari rival nasser al attiyah by min sec and spaniard
carlos sainz likewise of volkswagen by min sec
ktm rider marc coma won the fourth stage of the motorcycling category after
coming in min sec ahead of frenchman david casteu of sherco
another frenchman cyril despres of ktm who was third on the day min sec off
the pace retained his overall lead
death toll rises to in russian disco fire
moscow jan afp
disco fire in the russian town of perm has claimed its th victim emergency
services said tuesday cited by russian agencies
the lame horse restaurant and club went up in flames after fireworks set off
inside caught fire with the wooden decor and ceiling on the night of december
year old man died monday in specialist burns institute in moscow and
people still remain in hospital local branch of the russian ministry of
emergency situations said
those inside the club in perm kilometres miles east of moscow were
trapped as illegal construction had made the emergency exits inaccessible
rallying peterhansel wins dakar fourth stage
copiapo chile jan afp
stephane peterhansel of france won the fourth stage of the dakar rally cars
category on tuesday km special stage from fiambala in northern argentina
to copiapo in chile to retain his status as race leader
time not right for new iran sanctions chinese envoy
united nations jan afp
china un ambassador said tuesday that the time was not right for new sanctions
against iran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work and urged
more time for diplomatic solution
this is not the right moment for sanctions zhang yesui who chairs the un
security council this month told reporters
he stressed that current diplomatic efforts to find peaceful settlement still
need some more time and patience echoing view expressed by the chinese
foreign ministry in beijing
zhang said sanctions themselves are not an end and diplomatic solution
would be the best option
in beijing foreign ministry spokesman jiang yu meanwhile told reporters we
believe that dialogue and negotiation are the proper way to resolve the iran
nuclear issue
we still have room for diplomatic efforts and we hope all parties will adopt
more flexible and pragmatic policies to enhance the diplomatic efforts so as to
promote an early resumption of talks he added
the chinese statements came after the united states on monday said the door is
still open for iran to meet world demands on its nuclear aims but warned it
was discussing with its allies the next steps which could include sanctions
tehran has dismissed us set deadline of december to agree to un brokered
nuclear fuel swap deal and instead issued the west one month ultimatum
expiring january to accept counter proposal
cycling aussie davis signs for astana
paris jan afp
australian allan davis champion in last year tour down under has signed
two year deal with the astana team led by spanish star alberto contador the
team said tuesday
davis had spent the past two seasons with belgian team quick step
davis brother scott year older at has also signed for the kazakh outfit
for the season
football england set for pre world cup altitude camp in austria
vienna jan afp
fabio capello england squad will travel to austria for training camp at
altitude prior to the world cup in south africa the camp organiser said
tuesday
we have organised the camp in conjunction with the english football federation
fa said nikolaus pichler representative of the ifcs company which
organises training camps for professional teams in the region of styria
the team manager fabio capello be there with the team in irdning which he is
already familiar with he has already visited here with other teams such as as
roma and real madrid
the exact dates of england stay will be announced soon added pichler who
said he is negotiating with two other national teams interested in setting up
camp in styria
serbia and south korea have already booked stays for the end of may beginning of
june while germany and the netherlands are said to be considering the option
england who won their sole world cup in face the united states algeria
and slovenia in group in the opening round
seven of south africa world cup stadiums including the venue for the
final soccer city in johannesburg are at altitude
this has prompted many teams to prepare their players properly for the demands
of several thousand feet above sea level
lad pfe jd
us intel operations in afghanistan under fire
washington jan afp
us counter terrorism efforts in afghanistan were under scrutiny tuesday after an
al qaeda double agent killed seven cia officers and military spy chief slammed
intelligence failings in the country
major general michael flynn the top nato and us military intelligence chief in
afghanistan said us led forces were so starved of accurate on the ground
intelligence many say their jobs feel more like fortune telling
don want to say we are clueless but we are we re no more than
fingernail deep in our understanding of the environment one operations officer
said quoted in the report
flynn scathing criticism comes as the central intelligence agency cia
investigates last week attack at base in khost eastern afghanistan in
which seven us agents and jordanian officer were killed
jihadist websites boasted tuesday that the suicide bomber was an al qaeda double
agent who tricked western intelligence services for months
jordanian intelligence had brought him to eastern afghanistan hoping he would
help hunt down elusive al qaeda number two ayman al zawahiri the websites and
western intelligence agents cited by us media said
but instead he blew himself up killing eight including his jordanian handler
top intelligence officer and member of the royal family marking the cia worst
single loss of life since beirut bombing in
flynn said radical structural changes were needed in afghanistan to help an
intelligence gathering apparatus which still finds itself unable to answer
fundamental questions about the environment in which we operate and the people
