they want vice president goodluck jonathan to be formally recognised as acting
president given yar adua absence because of ill health
all we are asking is that the vice president be sworn in as acting president
nba president rotimi akeredolu told journalists outside the court
the vice president should be vested with the powers to act as the
president the vice president should act as president in the absence or in the
event of incapacitation of the president he said
falana said the year old yar adua was incapacitated and his lawsuit was
aimed at ensuring there was no vacuum in the nigerian presidency
nigerian law requires the president to write to both houses of the national
assembly explaining his absence or he is deemed to be otherwise unable to
discharge the functions of his office
yar adua office announced his departure to saudi arabia last november
without formally notifying the parliament
the year old president is being treated for heart condition in jeddah
hospital
justice minister michael aondoaaka said last week that yar adua was not
suffering from an infirmity that would render him permanently incapable of
discharging his functions
falana challenged aondoaaka who attended the court session to produce medical
reports to show that yar adua was medically fit for office
am saying the president is incapacitated he has been away now for days
he cannot perform the functions of his office if they said the president is
not incapacitated he justice minister should produce his current medical
reports falana said
bamidele aturu aliyu lawyer said the situation may degenerate into state
of anarchy if the court does not intervene and raised the spectre of military
takeover
we are doing this to forestall any military adventurism he warned
we are asking the court to declare that the absence of mr president for such
long time should constitute permanent incapacitation and for the court to make
mandatory order on the vice president to continue to discharge the functions of
the president of nigeria aturu said
judge dan abutu adjourned the hearing until january
urgent ford us auto sales up percent in december
chicago jan afp
ford motor co saw its us sales rise percent in december amid steady market
share gains the automaker said tuesday
alert
ford us auto sales up percent in december
britain denies strains over us intelligence sharing
london jan afp
britain did not pass any intelligence to the united states that would have
helped predict the christmas day attempted plane bombing minister said
tuesday denying reports of strains over the issue
the white house was reportedly angered by the suggestion by prime minister
gordon brown spokesman that britain had informed us authorities that the
suspected bomber had tried to contact radicals while studying in london
president barack obama ordered review of intelligence and security operations
following the alleged attack on december by umar farouk abdulmutallab in case
they missed evidence pointing to plot
would like to clarify that no information was either held by the uk or shared
by the uk with the us that indicated that abdulmutallab was about to attempt
terrorist attack against the us british home secretary alan johnson said in
statement to parliament on tuesday
he also denied there was any rift with the united states after the daily
telegraph newspaper quoted white house source as saying that brown
spokesman quotes were mistake
johnson said he had met jane lute the us deputy secretary of state for homeland
security earlier tuesday and she didn mention the issue adding that us
british relations were as strong as ever
abdulmutallab graduated in june from three year course at university
college london ucl with degree in engineering with business finance
he tried to re enter britain the following year but was denied visa in april
because the college he had applied to was considered bogus johnson said
adding that he was subsequently put on security watchlist
during his time at university in london johnson said abdulmutallab was known
to the security service but not as somebody engaged in violent extremism
adding that he believed he was radicalised after leaving britain
brown spokesman told an official briefing on monday that abdulmutallab had
tried to make contact with radicals while in britain and this information was
shared with the us authorities
however on tuesday he insisted that while the united states and britain
routinely shared intelligence there is absolutely no suggestion that the uk
passed any information to the us which they did not act on
european stocks close narrowly mixed
london jan afp
european stock markets closed narrowly mixed on tuesday as investors digested
solid gains made the previous day and waited for key us jobs data to give them
their next lead on still uncertain economic outlook dealers said
global markets began on positive note monday as investors counted on
continued recovery from the worst economic slump since the they said
corporate takeover action was feature with us food giant kraft selling its
north american pizza business to swiss peer nestle which on monday pocketed some
billion dollars from the sale of its alcon eye care unit to novartis
in london the ftse index of leading shares closed up percent to
points but in paris the cac slipped percent at points
and in frankfurt the dax was down percent to points
in new york investors were similarly wary after gains of percent on
monday with the blue chip dow jones industrial average down percent at
around gmt
traders are in wait and see mode they are waiting to see if there will be
follow through to monday big advance said patrick hare at briefing com
dealers said the market was awaiting friday report on us payrolls and
unemployment for better sense of the economic recovery few predict the
december report will show the first job gains in two years
most investors and consumers still see little tangible sign that the economy is
moving forward said fred dickson market strategist at da davidson amp co
we will get the next significant report on friday with the monthly employment
report
dickson said that if the data show jobs are being added we would expect nice
market reaction
momentum coupled with positive newsflow is helping to push the ftse to month
highs etx capital trader manoj ladwa said in the absence of any negative
lead the demand for equities is likely to remain solid
dealers said the lead from nestle novartis and kraft which is pursuing
britain cadbury helped sentiment overall with more takeovers expected in the
first quarter
paris notably held onto the key points level after breaching strong
resistance there on monday but volumes were thin
the market took breather after monday sharp gains said alice lhabouz of
turgot asset management adding that underlying sentiment seemed solid
elsewhere in europe amsterdam lost percent brussels rose percent
madrid added percent but swiss stocks shed percent with nestle down
percent and novartis off percent
earlier tuesday in asia tokyo benchmark nikkei index climbed percent
to finish at points after earlier touching the highest
level since october on the back of wall street overnight rally
cricket samaraweera fires sri lanka to victory
dhaka jan afp
thilan samaraweera smashed career best not out to guide sri lanka to
five wicket win over india in triangular one day series match here on tuesday
the middle order batsman hit fours in his ball knock for his second one
day hundred as sri lanka surpassed india with balls to spare in the
day night match for their second successive victory
samaraweera who has played tests but only one dayers before this game
added for the third wicket with skipper kumar sangakkara and for the
unfinished sixth with thissara perera who hit brisk ball not out
off spinner harbhajan singh kept up india hopes with three wickets including
that of sangakkara but samaraweera and perera held their nerve under pressure
to steer their team home
the spinner provided the crucial breakthrough when he had sangakkara caught by
suresh raina in the covers but there was no stopping samaraweera who continued
to dominate the indian attack with wide range of strokes
sangakkara also became the fifth sri lankan to complete one day runs
during his ball knock after sanath jayasuriya aravinda de silva marvan
atapattu and mahela jayawardene
the sri lankan skipper and man of the match samaraweera built on the efforts of
upul tharanga and debutant lahiru thirimanne who gave their side
healthy run start
left arm paceman chanaka welegedara earlier helped sri lanka restrict india
despite solid from yuvraj singh the sri lankan finished with his
maiden five wicket haul in six one day internationals
india put in to bat were struggling at following three wicket burst
from welegedara before yuvraj propped up the innings with run stand for the
fourth wicket with skipper mahendra singh dhoni
welegedara removed gautam gambhir eight virat kohli nine and virender
sehwag in his first spell before accounting for raina and zaheer khan
two in the second
sehwag smashed nine fours in his impressive ball cameo before being caught at
mid off by thirimanne off leading edge
yuvraj was more aggressive than his captain and reached his half century in
style lofting part time spinner thilina kandamby over long on for six
he fell in bid to step up the run rate caught in the deep off paceman perera
after hitting two sixes and six fours
ravindra jadeja and raina then helped india set challenging target with
run stand for the sixth wicket
each team will play four league matches before the top two qualify for the final
on january
obama democrats forge ahead on health care overhaul
washington jan afp
president barack obama and his top allies in the congress worked tuesday to map
the way to enacting sweeping overhaul of us health care by his annual marquee
state of the union speech now weeks away
obama and the democratic leaders of the senate and house of representatives were
to discuss their final drive to pass the legislation his top domestic priority
in talks at the white house set for pm gmt
the high stakes discussions at the dawn of mid term election year expected to
see an erosion of the democrats house majority aimed to chart the best way for
the two chambers to reconcile their rival versions of the bill and approve
final compromise that the president could sign into law
both bills aim to extend health care coverage to at least million americans
out of the million who currently lack it while banning abusive health
insurance practices and curbing skyrocketing us medical costs
passage would hand obama and congressional democrats huge victory ahead of
november elections that if history is any guide are likely to result in
sizeable republican gains in congress
with republicans locked in unyielding opposition to the plan obama and his top
legislative allies looked for ways to tamp down bitter intra democratic feuds
that still clouded the fate of the legislation
headline battle looms over the provision of government backed public
option to compete with private insurers core component of the house
version that senators stripped from their less expansive bill
another potential obstacle is the house bill tougher restrictions on federal
funds subsidizing abortions while pro choice lawmakers denounce the limits
some centrist democrats say they will withhold support without them
democratic house speaker nancy pelosi was to meet at pm gmt with
democratic committee chiefs in the house amid an insurrection on the party
left flank at the senate watered down version of the bill
later pelosi and democratic house majority leader steny hoyer were to attend
the white house talks in person while democratic senate majority leader harry
reid and his deputy senator dick durbin were to join by telephone
democrats say they want final passage before obama state of the union speech
which pelosi has suggested could slide to early february from its typical late
january date
the house approved its version of the bill on november the senate adopted its
version december
difficult work does remain obama communications director dan pfeiffer said in
post on the official white house blog
but the reality is that the two versions of reform legislation are vastly
similar built upon shared foundation that will provide stability and
security for americans with insurance affordable options for those without and
lower costs for families businesses and the government he added
according to media reports democrats may look to blunt republican delaying
tactics by skirting the traditional conference in which formally appointed
delegates from each chamber meet to work out final compromise
instead key lawmakers and top white house officials would put together final
plan from the house and senate version in informal talks sometimes known as
ping pong because the process can include the two chambers sending bills to
each other until final compromise is achieved
democrats have virtually no margin for error the senate christmas eve vote
rallied exactly the votes needed to pass the bill and some centrists have
said they will oppose any major changes
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
as nation the united states spends more than double what britain france and
germany do per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
german new car sales up percent in auto federation
frankfurt jan afp
german new car sales jumped percent in but began to slow in december
after cash for clunkers scrapping scheme expired figures released on tuesday
by the vda auto federation showed
through the year million vehicles were registered in germany the biggest
european car market which the vdik association of foreign auto manufacturers
said was the highest level since
in december however registrations fell five percent from the same month year
earlier to vehicles the first annual decline since february
sales of small cars in particular were boosted last year by car scrapping
premium worth total of five billion euros billion dollars part of
broad government stimulus programme aimed at pulling germany out of recession
the popular scheme ended in september
this year is thus set to see slower sales which vda forecast would fall to
between million
german auto production fell percent last year to million vehicles while
exports were down by percent the vda figures showed
exports have nonetheless begun to pick up and continued to progress in december
the association said gaining percent from december to units
total of percent of all cars produced in germany last year were sold abroad
and we expect this trend to continue in the coming months vda president
matthias wissmann was quoted as saying
urgent would be bomber likely had explosives before amsterdam
the hague jan afp
the nigerian who tried to blow up an amsterdam detroit flight on christmas day
probably possessed the explosives before reaching amsterdam schiphol airport
dutch prosecutors said tuesday
cricket smith amla make it south africa day
cape town south africa jan afp
graeme smith and hashim amla punished england bowlers in scorching heat as
south africa built commanding lead on the third day of the third test against
england at newlands on tuesday
south africa were for two in their second innings at the close an overall
lead of
smith muscled his way to his th test century finishing the day with not
out he shared second wicket stand of with hashim amla who made
it was easily south africa best day of the series and with two days remaining
they were in strong position to push for series levelling victory
it was special day to see graeme and the guys playing so well said south
african fast bowler morne morkel we needed day like today we ve been under
pressure
smith and amla took advantage of the best batting conditions of the match and
england struggled as the temperature reached in the shade on the field
there was nowhere for england to hide from the sun which blazed out of
cloudless sky or smith powerful stroke play
after watchful start the left handed smith attacked all the bowlers but was
particularly aggressive against off spinner graeme swann man of the match in
the first two tests although swann was again england most successful bowler
taking two for in overs
england will be able to call on the second new ball at the start of play on
wednesday but are still likely to have to score well in excess of to win or
bat through at least day and half to draw
our guys went about their business very honestly today said england coach
andy flower they toiled very well and south africa played very well
flower admitted that it would take major effort by england to preserve their
lead in the series going into the fourth and final test in johannesburg
starting on january
amla scored most of his runs against the faster bowlers and was particularly
prolific in the area behind point as he made his runs off balls hitting
fours
amla had moved ahead of smith at tea scoring to the captain but smith
launched ferocious onslaught after the interval and had taken his score to
when amla was out caught off bat and pad at short leg off swann
even when england thought they had smith wicket they were foiled on he
was given out leg before wicket by umpire tony hill when he missed sweep
against swann
he asked for television review and was reprieved when replays showed he had
been struck more than out from the stumps beyond the reliable prediction
range and it also appeared the ball was going over the stumps
one ball after crashing graham onions through the covers to reach ball
century smith played loose shot against the fast bowler and edged the ball to
wicketkeeper matt prior smith kicked his bat in annoyance and started to walk
but prior immediately acknowledged that the ball had bounced shortly before
reaching him
smith needed only another balls to go from his century to
the day started well for south africa when they needed just six overs to take
the last three england wickets for runs it gave south africa lead of
runs
morkel took wickets off successive balls in the first over of the day to
complete his second five wicket haul in tests he finished with five for
morkel had the right handed swann and the left handed james anderson caught at
first slip by south african captain graeme smith off fast lifting deliveries
prior hit boldly to take his overnight score from to before he was bowled
off bottom edge when he shaped to pull dale steyn who had figures of four for
obama to unveil new air security measures
washington jan afp
us president barack obama will tuesday unveil new measures aimed at thwarting
future airborne terror attacks after seeking ways to plug us intelligence gaps
in meeting with spy chiefs
day after returning to the white house after his hawaiian vacation obama will
also seek to project authority as political opponents try to shred his
credibility on national security while attacking his domestic program
the president will make public remarks focusing on an initial series of
reforms to the terrorist watch list system at pm gmt after the meeting
in the secure white house situation room an official said
last week obama lashed out at systemic failures in the us intelligence and
homeland security shield after year old nigerian with explosives sewn into
his underwear boarded northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit last month
officials said that us spy agencies and other government departments failed to
piece together bits of intelligence which might have prevented the attack
which obama has blamed on yemen based affiliate of al qaeda
critics complained that the administration got off to slow start in responding
to the attack early last week and obama is under political pressure to
demonstrate firm leadership after tuesday meeting
but source said that obama would not announce on tuesday any firings or
punitive action against individual officials blamed for personal failures over
the attack
the high powered meeting includes 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
obama is confronting the aftermath of the christmas day terror attack which was
thwarted by passengers and crew on the plane at the start of crucial
political year in the run up to mid term congressional elections in november
he must balance the renewed focus on national security with attempts to mend the
recession scarred economy and trim percent unemployment
republicans oppose the administration decision to treat the alleged attacker
of the northwest jet umar farouk abdulmutallab within the civil justice system
rather than prisoner of war
you can look at this as dealing with criminals as you would the guy who
robbed eleven you know where you re trying to hijack plane or bomb
plane or something like that said republican national committee chairman
michael steele
think the american people know full well what this is they view it as war
against terrorism they view terrorist as terrorist not as criminal
obama has commissioned two reviews into the christmas day attack which was
thwarted by passengers and crew and expects to get updates on preliminary
conclusions from his security officials on tuesday
the administration has already introduced sweeping new aviation security rules
for flights heading to the united states from abroad and has started to refocus
watch lists
there already been rescrubbing of all the different lists white house
spokesman bill burton said on monday
probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and
probably dozens were moved to different lists
abdulmutallab was able to board the plane to detroit even though he was expected
of extremist links and his father had raised concerns about his radicalization
with us diplomats and intelligence officials in africa
travelers flying to the united states from or via countries including iran
nigeria and yemen will undergo mandatory enhanced screening the new measures
drew protests from some of the countries singled out
it is unfair to discriminate against over million people because of the
behavior of one person said nigeria information minister dora akunyili
cuba official communist party daily granma blasted the measures as anti
terrorist paranoia
cuba is among four countries along with iran sudan and syria currently deemed
by the state department to be state sponsors of terrorism all are subject to
the rules as are the other countries of concern
europe anxious about body scanner privacy
paris jan afp
the european union demanded tuesday that privacy and health concerns over body
scanners be answered before it backs their mass introduction after the failed
christmas jet attack in the united states
eu security experts are to meet in brussels on thursday to discuss the emergency
measures ordered after nigerian tried to set off bomb on us jetliner
arriving at detroit airport on december us homeland security department
officials held talks in brussels on tuesday
spain transport minister said his country would not allow scanners without an
eu agreement though many countries around the world have already started body
pat downs and searches of carry on baggage on flights heading for the united
states
britain and the netherlands have said they will introduce scanners and germany
and italy support tougher security but the european union has insisted that
privacy concerns must be answered
the eu considers body scanners if they meet the health standards and security
standards as useful additional tool providing they do not contradict existing
european legislation an eu commission transport spokeswoman said
they should be considered additional to other security measures
in britain privacy campaigners said the scanner images amounted to virtual
strip searching and have called for safeguards against indecent images of
children getting onto the internet
spanish transport minister jose blanco said spain would not bring in additional
measures such as scanners without an eu agreement he stressed that any new
security measures must be compatible with the freedom and privacy of
individuals
the main health concerns are over the rays and electro magnetic waves given
off by the scanners but many health experts say the risk is minimal
italian foreign minister franco frattini said safety was more important than
privacy concerns over full body scanners which can see through clothing
it is the most reliable instrument frattini former eu justice
commissioner added even if scanners meant sacrifice for passenger privacy
the right to security is essential for all other freedoms
the united states has demanded compulsory extra security on all flights from
nations and random extra checks on flights from other nations
pakistan is one of the nations singled out however sultan hasan spokesman
for pakistan international airlines pia said there had been no resistance or
protests to the new security measures
in fact they are very cooperative as they realise that we do all this for
their own safety
lebanon is also on the list the arab language an nahar daily citing well
informed sources said the decision to place lebanon on the list was linked to
security at beirut airport which is in the southern suburbs controlled by the
muslim militant group hezbollah
brett henry vice president for marketing at asia leading air ticketing and
reservations firm abacus said the new security may cause inconvenience but it
would not deter travel to the united states
henry highlighted the drastic changes already made since the september
attacks in the united states by al qaeda
these measures may cause some hassle but they don change the fact that
commerce needs to go on and friends need to meet with friends and families with
families
at singapore changi airport many passengers agreed that the enhanced
screening would make travel more difficult briton john ras raised
questions about whether pat downs and body scans would prevent attacks
ras manager and frequent traveller to the united states said it pain
because it useless when travel get served wine in glass bottle with
nice knife and fork to eat my meals yet can take small scissors on my
flight
thailand said it was planning to deploy body scanners at bangkok suvarnabhumi
airport on top of other additional security
but airport general manager nirandra theeranartsin said only small number of
the passengers handled each day were from the countries targeted by
the united states and that there were few delays
so far the airlines have no complaints and they say the new security measures
are acceptable to them he said
in japan us bound passengers have been told to be at airports earlier
fortunately we experienced no significant delays said spokesman for japan
airlines the country biggest carrier
alert
would be bomber had explosives before amsterdam airport dutch prosecutors
britain denies strains over us intelligence sharing
london jan afp
britain did not pass any intelligence to the united states that would have
helped predict the christmas day attempted plane bombing minister said
tuesday denying reports of strains over the issue
the white house was reportedly angered by the suggestion by prime minister
gordon brown spokesman that britain had informed us authorities that the
suspected bomber had tried to contact radicals while studying in london
president barack obama ordered review of intelligence and security operations
following the alleged attack on december by umar farouk abdulmutallab in case
they missed evidence pointing to plot
would like to clarify that no information was either held by the uk or shared
by the uk with the us that indicated that abdulmutallab was about to attempt
terrorist attack against the us british home secretary alan johnson said in
statement to parliament on tuesday
he also denied there was any rift with the united states after the daily
telegraph newspaper quoted white house source as saying that brown
spokesman quotes were mistake
johnson said he had met jane lute the us deputy secretary of state for homeland
security earlier tuesday and she didn mention the issue adding that us
british relations were as strong as ever
abdulmutallab graduated in june from three year course at university
college london ucl with degree in engineering with business finance
he tried to re enter britain the following year but was denied visa in april
because the college he had applied to was considered bogus johnson said
adding that he was subsequently put on security watchlist
during his time at university in london johnson said abdulmutallab was known
to the security service but not as somebody engaged in violent extremism
adding that he believed he was radicalised after leaving britain
brown spokesman told an official briefing on monday that abdulmutallab had
tried to make contact with radicals while in britain and this information was
shared with the us authorities
however on tuesday he insisted that while the united states and britain
routinely shared intelligence there is absolutely no suggestion that the uk
passed any information to the us which they did not act on
football vieira set to leave inter says mourinho
rome jan afp
french midfield veteran patrick vieira is set to leave inter milan within days
amid reports of interest from manchester city coach jose mourinho said tuesday
asked what the chances were of the year old staying on mourinho told
reporters think they are very slim
earlier the times newspaper had reported that city were in talks over move
for vieira who has also had the rule run over him by lyon
vieira who has had shaky past three seasons at inter milan is desperate to
play for france at the world cup and is looking to play regular first team
football denied him in italy with stiff competition for starting places at
inter
manchester city manager roberto mancini who coached inter when vieira first
arrived following year with juventus said monday he was interested in taking
the former arsenal midfielder on loan till the end of the season
cricket broad in ball interference spotlight
cape town south africa jan afp
england fast bowler stuart broad was in the spotlight tuesday after television
pictures captured him appearing to put the spikes of his boot into the ball
during the third day play of the third test against south africa at newlands
south african team spokesman said there had been several queries from the
media following the showing of the footage
we have raised our concerns with the match referee and it will be up to him to
decide on any further action said media manager michael owen smith
england coach andy flower said he had not heard anything from match referee
roshan mahanama or the umpires
