but this week has already seen the scheduled league cup semi final ties between
premier league teams blackburn and aston villa and manchester city and
manchester united postponed because of concerns the conditions would make it
hard for fans to get to the grounds and back home safely
similar issues have already forced the postponement of several of this weekend
lower league football matches and could yet affect premier league games as well
safety concerns were behind thursday announcement by london based harlequins
that their english premiership rugby union match at home to leeds on saturday
was being postponed because of fears supporters players and staff would be at
risk due to the icy conditions of the stadium concourse and the surrounding
area
saturday premiership matches between sale and saracens and bath and
northampton as well as sunday clash between newcastle and gloucester had
already been called off
horse racing has been badly affected by the cold snap with no national hunt
jumps meetings set to take place in britain until tuesday at the earliest
artificial all weather tracks have also fallen victim to the conditions
after thursday meetings at the south of london courses of lingfield and
kempton were both abandoned due to lack of ambulances
these are normally provided by the state run national health service but with
much of britain trying to ward off the effects of sub zero temperatures horse
racing has fallen down ambulance chiefs list of priorities
it such shame as the course is perfectly raceable said kempton clerk of
the course barney clifford
even cricket england national summer sport did not escape the cold on
thursday with south coast county sussex abandoning ceremony to mark the
demolition of the gilligan stand at their hove headquarters ground because of
the weather
nordic skiing tour de ski results
toblach italy jan afp
results from the fifth stage of the tour de ski series here on thursday
men
km classic
daniel richardsson swe min sec lukas bauer cze at sec
petter northug nor axel teichmann ger marcus hellner swe
matti heikkinen fin giorgio di centa ita dario
cologna sui alex harvey can jens filbrich ger
overall standings
petter northug nor hr min sec marcus hellner swe at sec
axel teichmann ger dario cologna sui daniel richardsson
swe matti heikkinen fin lukas bauer cze jean
marc gaillard fra giorgio di centa ita jens filbrich
ger
world cup overall standings after of events
petter northug nor pts marcus hellner swe matti heikkinen
fin dario cologna sui maxim vylegzhanin rus
women
km classic
justyna kowalczyk pol min sec aino kaisa saarinen fin at
petra majdic slo kristin stoermer steira nor vibeke
skofterud nor arianna follis ita alena sidko rus
yulia tchekaleva rus marthe kristoffersen nor katrin
zeller ger
overall standings
justyna kowalczyk pol hr min sec petra majdic slo at sec
arianna follis ita aino kaisa saarinen fin alena sidko
rus kristin stoermer steira nor marianna longa ita
riitta liisa roponen fin olga savialova rus
vibeke skofterud nor
world cup overall standings after of events
justyna kowalczyk pol pts petra majdic slo aino kaisa
saarinen fin marit bjoergen nor arianna follis ita
corrected boeing deliveries hit for
washington jan afp
boeing said thursday it delivered commercial aircraft in in line with
its forecast despite difficult economic conditions
the figure was in line with the company guidance of airplane
deliveries for the year and up from in year affected by strike
the commercial airplane backlog was airplanes down slightly from year
ago
overall net orders including cancellations fell to due to severe
economic challenges of carriers boeing said in statement
the boeing remained the biggest seller with deliveries for the year
boeing also said it had delivered of its aircraft and of its
along with eight jumbo jets
the company reiterated that it expects its first deliveries of its long delayed
dreamliner in the fourth quarter of
the year was not without its challenges but it also was year of exciting
achievements for our company and our industry said jim albaugh boeing
commercial airplanes president and chief executive
with signs of economic recovery emerging in we look forward to better
days ahead
boeing said it expects to provide commercial airplane delivery guidance
when the company releases year end earnings january
swedish suspect says he was middleman in auschwitz sign theft
stockholm jan afp
former swedish neo nazi suspected of involvement in the theft of the infamous
nazi german arbeit macht frei sign from auschwitz said thursday he was
middleman in the robbery
my role was to go get the sign in poland was the middleman and was supposed
to take care of the sale the man whose name was not disclosed told swedish
daily expressen
the paper referred to the man only as former nazi leader
the polish daily fakt identified the man as anders hoegstroem who in
founded the national socialist front swedish neo nazi movement he headed for
five years before quitting
another polish newspaper gazeta wyborcza referred in its article to anders
after leaving his party hoegstroem claimed he distanced himself from the
movement and joined an association called exit which helps youths quit far right
movements according to swedish media
polish prosecutors said wednesday they wanted to question three swedish
residents over the december theft of the death camp sign without revealing
their names
five poles have already been arrested
the men are charged with theft and damage and face up to years in prison
according to expressen the former nazi leader claimed the sign was to be sold
for several million kronor hundreds of thousands of euros dollars which was to
be used to finance bombings against the swedish parliament and government
but that was not something wanted to be involved in or carry out in any
way he told the paper
contacted the police immediately as soon as the sign was stolen and gave
them all the information had haven committed any crime was the one who
saw to it that the sign was found he added
police recovered the five metre foot metal sign which means work will
set you free in german on december in northern poland and arrested the
five polish men the sign had been cut into three pieces
the sign above auschwitz gateway has long symbolised the horror of the camp
created by nazi germany in occupied poland in and in operation until soviet
troops liberated it in
nordic skiing northug still in tour de ski driving seat
toblach italy jan afp
sweden daniel richardsson won the fifth stage of the tour de ski thursday as
overall world cup leader petter northug of norway reinforced his lead in the
event
richardsson claimed his first world cup podium when he dominated lukas bauer in
the men km classic the czech finishing behind with northug in third at
northug has already won three stages of the tour de ski which finishes this
sunday and currently leads sweden marcus hellner by sec in the event
standings
in the women km classic race overall world cup champion justyna kowalczyk
the winner of the opening stage won again in time of min sec to beat
finland aino kaisa saarinen by sec
slovenia petra majdic was third behind the overall world cup leader at
kowalczyk now takes the overall lead of the tour de ski from italian arianna
follis who finished sixth
inspired by the four hills ski jumping tournament and the tour de france bike
race the tour de ski comprises prologue and seven stages over days
linking germany and italy via the czech republic
stage winners add points to their overall world cup tally as opposed to the
points offered for traditional world cup wins the winner of the tour de ski
adds points to his overall world cup tally
the event ends this sunday in val di fiemme italy
tennis santoro set to make grand slam mark at aussie open
paris jan afp
veteran frenchman fabrice santoro announced thursday he would compete in the
australian open later this month making him the first player to participate in
grand slam tournaments in four decades
the year old ranked still in the world had announced his retirement
last november following the indoor tournament in paris
but he insisted his latest decision did not signal return to the atp circuit
this decision does not affect my announcement to retire as professional
player he said in statement
this is just very personal thing there is nothing else to it and it
certainly is not come back
santoro who has been training at roland garros for the past few days said his
intention was not to put away his racquets for good once he retired from the
circuit
tennis is my life my passion
my decision to retire did not mean was going to throw my racquets into
cupboard
and will continue to play in exhibition matches and doubles if feel am
still at good enough level to do so
nigeria offers us images of bomber at lagos airport minister
abuja jan afp
nigeria thursday offered to provide us investigators images of the suspected us
plane bomber going through security checks at lagos airport on december
justice minister michael aondoaaka told reporters that the images would prove
that security staff had done their job
we have visual information that shows our security agents did what they
were supposed to do the minister told journalists
nigeria government has demanded it be removed from us terror watchlist of
countries including iran iraq syria and afghanistan introduced this week
after security review ordered by president barack obama
aondoaaka said nigeria would not allow such single incident to rupture the
relationship and am very hopeful that with facts and what we are placing
before the us government they will rescind their decision
nigeria is not terrorist country nigeria will not cannot be on the list of
countries of interest because we have track record as peacekeeper added
the minister
we have nothing to hide aondoaaka said the young man came in he was
screened and it is there on the visual information he said pledging abuja
full cooperation with us investigators
he removed his shoes he first came he walked to the right tried to go to the
right screening machine then suddenly changed his mind and turned to the left
removed his shoes and entered it is there the minister said
aondoaaka said that security staff did all that was required under the law to
ensure that nigeria complies with international standards
have assured my colleague the attorney general of the us that we will give
full cooperation and all requests made related to the investigations will be
granted he said
we have taken steps to deal with this situation to pre empt any future
occurence of this situation in nigeria and elsewhere in the world
the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab was in transit at lagos having arrived
from accra in ghana before boarding flight to amsterdam and on to detroit
he was arrested after trying to set off bomb hidden in his underwear on us
northwest airlines flight as it approached detroit the following day
afghan suicide bomber kills eight in day of violence
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded others in an eastern afghan
town on thursday an official said hours after provincial governor survived
blast in nearby taliban hotspot
the bomber detonated his explosive filled jacket in front of branch of the
kabul bank in downtown gardez capital of paktia province said rohullah samon
spokesman for the paktia governor
this was suicide attack so far we know that eight people are dead but that
figure could change he said adding that the target appeared to be private
security convoy passing at the time
the head of security company was moving with his convoy when he was
attacked by suicide bomber wearing suicide vest samon said
the dead included the security company manager two of his guards butcher
two young girls and two other civilians
all were killed on the spot twenty four other civilians were wounded he
added
suicide attacks are hallmark of the taliban who are waging an increasingly
virulent insurgency aimed at toppling the afghan government in kabul and
destabilising the rest of the impoverished country
nato and the united states have troops deployed to help the government
fight the militants who are concentrated in the south and east of afghanistan
but are spreading their footprint further north and west
another troops are due to arrive in the country this year and the
taliban have vowed to match the international surge with one of their own
nato international security assistance force isaf said it was monitoring the
situation in gardez
the insurgents have again proven that they are the enemy of the afghan people
italian brigadier general luigi scollo was quoted in statement as saying
we strongly condemn these indiscriminate cowardly acts of murder
in recent weeks attacks have escalated with civilians bearing the brunt of
taliban tactics which also include remote controlled bombs
the militant group claimed responsibility for the gardez attack and also an
incident earlier thursday when bomb planted in rubbish bin wounded the
acting governor of the eastern province of khost and six other officials
shards of glass injured seven people including acting governor tahir khan
sabari the interior ministry said
purported taliban spokesman calling himself zabuhulla mujahid and speaking by
telephone from an undisclosed location told afp the militants were responsible
for both the gardez and khost attacks
we detonated the bomb that hit the meeting hall of the governor house in
khost he said later adding with reference to gardez we killed four people
and wounded three including the head of the security company
khost is on afghanistan southeastern border with pakistan and sees high rate
of taliban activity
seven cia agents were killed there in suicide blast on us military base at
the end of december in an attack al qaeda hailed as revenge for the deaths of
top militants in us drone strikes in pakistan
afghan government officials are regular targets of attacks by the taliban who
are trying to overthrow president hamid karzai fragile government
in the eastern province of nangahar students took to the streets to protest
against civilian deaths after an explosion there wednesday killed four children
and injured dozens of civilians and nine foreign soldiers
witnesses told afp that hundreds of students from nangahar university held
one hour protest during which they chanted death to obama death to america
and no more christian invasion in afghanistan
the nangahar governor spokesman ahmad zia abdulzai said wednesday blast
was caused by roadside bomb planted by taliban militants
isaf insisted it was not responsible for the explosion
we continue to believe these casualties were not caused by isaf operations
said major general michael regner
german industrial orders edge up in november data
frankfurt jan afp
german industrial orders in november edged up percent from the october much
less than expected provisional data showed on thursday as europe biggest
economy struggles to climb out of recession
economists polled by dow jones newswires had expected gain of percent
following decline in october that was revised to percent from an initial
figure of percent
on two month basis meant to smooth out exceptional spikes in the data
industrial orders fell percent in october and november from the august
september period the economy ministry said
the recovery process has lost momentum at the moment it added
germany is striving to pull out of its worst post war recession which is likely
to have seen the economy contract by around five percent in
the ministry noted that slumping demand in the auto sector was key factor in
the weaker trend
cash for clunkers scrapping bonus that boosted auto sales last year expired in
september and similar measures in many countries that import german cars are
also winding down
meanwhile the trend in demand for investment goods is not clear at the
moment the ministry said in reference to goods used to produce final products
sector in which many german companies specialise
officials pointed nonetheless to positive underlying trend in the
manufacturing industry
us gunman shoots three at power company
saint louis missouri jan afp
gunman stormed power company office here on thursday shooting at least
three people police said as local media reported at least one person had been
killed
officers were dispatched after reports of shooting spree at busy factory
near the center of the city and an interstate highway was shut down amid hunt
for suspect vehicle
we have reports of at least three people shot police spokeswoman said
adding the shooter was still at large
police said the attack took place on semple avenue an industrial area just
north of the city center and home to the local offices of the swiss swedish
engineering giant abb
there is large business at this location with numerous employees inside of
the building the police spokeswoman said the shooter is thought to be at
this location but he is currently unaccounted for
local media reported the gunman supposedly wielding an assault rifle entered
the offices of the power company shooting one man and forcing others inside to
scatter in panic
some employees had sought refuge on the the roof of the building to escape the
gunman and were talking to police the reports said
company supervisor reportedly told police the man was disgruntled worker who
may have recently been fired according to the st louis post dispatch
abb spokesman bob fesmire could not confirm whether the shooter was former
employee
we can confirm that there was shooting but the information is still
unclear he told afp
fesmire said there would normally be around people in the factory from the
start of the first shift at around am to am around the time the
shooting is thought to have taken place
but fesmire said there may have been fewer workers at the plant on thursday
thanks to snow blizzard and temperatures which plunged to degrees
faherenheit minus celsius which forced some colleagues to stay at home
by am local time television images showed heavily armed officers
congregated in the snow outside the factory
the plant is part of zurich based abb engineering business and makes power
transformers
german industrial orders edge up in november data
frankfurt jan afp
german industrial orders in november edged up percent from the october much
less than expected provisional data showed on thursday as europe biggest
economy struggles to climb out of recession
economists polled by dow jones newswires had expected gain of percent
following decline in october that was revised to percent from an initial
figure of percent
on two month basis meant to smooth out exceptional spikes in the data
industrial orders fell percent in october and november from the august
september period the economy ministry said
the recovery process has lost momentum at the moment it added
germany is striving to pull out of its worst post war recession which is likely
to have seen the economy contract by around five percent in
the ministry noted that slumping demand in the auto sector was key factor in
the weaker trend
cash for clunkers scrapping bonus that boosted auto sales last year expired in
september and similar measures in many countries that import german cars are
also winding down
meanwhile the trend in demand for investment goods is not clear at the
moment the ministry said in reference to goods used to produce final products
sector in which many german companies specialise
officials pointed nonetheless to positive underlying trend in the
manufacturing industry
tennis wawrinka sails into chennai open quarter finals
chennai india jan afp
third seed stanislas wawrinka of switzerland found early season form to cruise
into the quarter finals of the dollar atp chennai open here on thursday
the world number attacked consistently from the baseline to defeat the rd
ranked michael russell of the united states in an hour and minutes
wawrinka down in the second set reeled off four games in row to make it
before winning the match on his next service game
wawrinka will next play seventh seed michael berrer of germany for place in
the semi finals
berrer ranked th in the world overcame tough resistance in the first set
from number stephane robert of france before winning
fifth seed dudi sela of israel advanced to the last eight with
win over american kevin kim in an hour and minutes
sela quarter final opponent will be top slovakian lukas lacko who took out
robby ginepri of the united states
ginepri who stunned top seed robin soderling in the first round failed to
match the power play of the talented year old lacko who smashed aces to
his rival four
lacko lived up to his reputation as one of the most improved players on the
circuit where he started the previous year ranked and ended it at number
lacko said he was delighted to make his maiden appearance in the quarter final
of an atp tour event after making his mark in challenger events in the past
there is big difference between playing in the challengers and on the tour
he said to win two matches at the start of the year is very satisfying
in the first round against lu yen hsun of taipei relied more on baseline
game but against ginepri served much better hope continue to improve
danish central bank cuts key rate to percent
copenhagen jan afp
denmark central bank on thursday said it had shaved percentage points off
its benchmark interest rate to record low percent as the local currency
strengthened
the interest rate reduction is consequence of purchases of foreign exchange
in the market the bank said in statement
the money market rates in euro are very low and the spread to the equivalent
danish rates tends to strengthen the danish krone
the new lending rate will come into force on friday it said
the bank also cut the rate on certificates of deposit by points to
percent
lower interest rates mean lower returns for investors and so normally lead to
weakening in currency
denmark is member of the european union but is not part of the nation
eurozone where interest rates are set by the european central bank
the scandinavian country has fixed exchange rate policy with the euro that
allows the krone to fluctuate within percent range
iraq and iran to meet to draw border mottaki
baghdad jan afp
iraq and iran will begin talks next week to mark their borders both countries
said on thursday weeks after tehran took over disputed oil well in move
iraq prime minister called unjustified
nuri al maliki criticism of the iranian move came during talks between him and
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki during the latter one day visit
to baghdad
there will be meeting within week between the two countries about the
borders mottaki said at joint press conference with his iraqi counterpart
hoshyar zebari at the foreign ministry in central baghdad
he added that in the following weeks meetings would be held between technical
committees from the two countries to determine the land and maritime borders
separating the neighbours
mottaki visit follows spat between baghdad and tehran over iranian forces
takeover of an oil well along the contested kilometre mile frontier
on december iraq state owned south oil co said that about dozen iranian
troops and technicians had arrived at the field taken control of well and
raised the iranian flag they withdrew days later
mottaki conciliatory remarks he described the border as one of friendship
and love and peace contrasted sharply with maliki comments that iraq was
astonished by the unjustified step
any measures or decisions taken by only one side will not help to maintain
security and stability he said according to statement released by his
office
mottaki led delegation of around officials an afp journalist said on his
first visit to iraq since september and his talks were to focus on bilateral
security co operation and border issues
there are common interests between the two countries to fight terrorism and
provide security he told reporters at the news conference
this border it is border of friendship and love and peace and border of
collaboration where there is economic trade totalling five billion dollars
every year
the stand off between iraq and iran over the oil well raised regional tensions
and drove up international crude prices
well is in the fauqa field part of cluster of oilfields iraq unsuccessfully
put up for auction to oil majors in june the field has estimated reserves of
million barrels
though iraqi officials said last month that iranian forces remained on iraqi
territory after withdrawing from the field mottaki told reporters some orders
have been issued to the iranian forces to return to their original places
he said the oilfield offered an opportunity for joint investment
the border forces of the two countries returned to their places and after the
meetings of the technical committees everything will revert back to normal
the takeover was one of the most serious incidents between the two countries
since the us led invasion of iraq fought devastating war with
iran
zebari told lawmakers last month that iran has been violating iraq borders
since
tehran has often been accused by us military leaders whose forces still have
large presence in iraq of funding and training shiite militant groups and
undermining security in the conflict torn country
many leaders of shiite parties who were exiled to iran during the saddam era are
now in power in baghdad
european buyers push czech car output to record trade data
prague jan afp
czech car output rose to record in on the back of cash for clunkers
schemes abroad which helped offset the impact of the global economic crisis
trade association said on thursday
preliminary data from the association of automotive industries showed the
country car makers raised output by three percent from to some
units
our production was pulled up by support measures taken in many european
countries above all germany association director antonin sipek told afp
the czech republic whose economy relies heavily on its car makers who export
most of their output decided not to introduce similar scheme after much
wrangling and amid loud protests from producers
sipek said that official data on output at volkswagen unit skoda auto toyota
and peugeot citroen joint venture tpca and the czech plant of south korea
hyundai would be available in several days
preliminary information however suggested that skoda output at home dropped
as the company moved part of its production to factories abroad
on the other hand tpca and hyundai which focus on small and thrifty cars
popular with buyers amid the crisis both raised output last year
for next year we expect output roughly at the level of this year that is some
to units sipek said
czech lorry output slumped by percent to more than units while bus
production dropped percent the association said
separately the car importers association announced on thursday that czechs had
bought passenger and light utility cars in drop of percent
against
car registrations in all categories fell remarkably with the exception of
passenger cars the association said
skoda was the top selling make with units sold followed by ford on
volkswagen renault and hyundai
lorry sales tumbled percent to and motorcycle sales fell percent
to the association said
german re trial over asylum seeker who burned to death
berlin jan afp
campaigners seeking justice for an asylum seeker from sierra leone who burned to
death shackled to bed in police custody in germany in on thursday hailed
ruling ordering re trial
ouri jallow also known as oury jalloh died on january in dessau police
station in eastern germany after the mattress on the bed he was cuffed to in
cell caught fire
lawyer for his family has complained of wall of silence surrounding the
case
police said that jallow arrested after two women alleged he had harassed them
while drunk and shackled because he was violent set fire to the mattress
himself with cigarette lighter
in ruling that prompted outrage at the time regional court cleared in
december the policeman in charge of the station of causing bodily harm with
fatal consequences for not acting sooner after smoke alarm had gone off
but the federal appeal court ruled on thursday the fifth anniversary of
jallow death that the regional court failed to take into account that the
smoke alarm would have sounded as soon as the mattress cover caught fire
this would have occurred several minutes before the mattress stuffing became
engulfed in flames and killed jallow in less than seconds the court said in
statement
the accused the policeman would then likely have been able to prevent the
death if he had begun the necessary rescue actions as soon as he heard the
alarm the court said
the court also disputed the assumption of the regional court that the accused
