jordanian handler says in video that the act he was planning was for revenge
words moved by taieb mahjoub file picture
americas
venezuela us netherlands diplomacy military ndlead
caracas
president hugo chavez says us military aircraft has entered venezuelan
airspace insisting that the governments of the united states and the
netherlands are behind what he described as provocative action
words moved
us it computer electronics ces
las vegas nevada
laptops notebooks netbooks smartbooks and now tablets and slates the
consumer electronics show has been coming out party this year for what are
being described as tablet and slate computers
words gmt by charlotte raab
us it internet robot sex
las vegas nevada
roxxxy the sex robot is having coming out party saturday in sin city in what
is billed as world first life size robotic girlfriend complete with
artificial intelligence and flesh like synthetic skin will be introduced to
adoring fans at the avn adult entertainment expo in las vegas
words gmt by glenn chapman
africa
violence angola togo fbl afr cabinda interview
luanda
angola may have underestimated the threat posed by separatist guerrillas who
killed one and injured nine in gun attack on togo football team ahead of the
african nations cup minister says
words gmt by cecile de comarmond
violence angola togo fbl afr focus
luanda
the african nations cup was meant to banish the ghosts of angola civil war
but instead the tournament plunges into tragedy with gun attack on the togo
team prompting calls for its cancellation
words moved graphic file pictures
asia
malaysia religion catholic church attack lead
kuala lumpur
malaysian church is firebombed in the fourth such attack in two days as the
prime minister vows to crack down on race crime amid an escalating row over the
use of the word allah by non muslims
words gmt picture
afghanistan unrest politics cabinet ndlead
kabul
afghan president hamid karzai new cabinet nominees are presented to parliament
in his second attempt to form functioning government and end drawn out
political crisis
words gmt by lynne donnell
three held over alleged bomb threat at london heathrow
london jan afp
three men were on saturday in police custody after being arrested by armed
police at london heathrow airport on suspicion of making bomb threat
officers boarded the emirates flight bound for dubai after verbal threat
was made to staff as the plane was taxiing shortly before take off late friday
london metropolitan police said
three men aged and were held but search of the plane which was
carrying passengers uncovered nothing suspicious the airliner has now been
handed back to emirates
they have been arrested on suspicion of making bomb threat police added
sky news television reported that the men arrested were english and appeared to
be drunk the airport the world busiest international air hubs remained
open during the incident
the aborted flight was expected to leave at gmt saturday emirates said in
statement the safety and security of all our passengers is paramount we
apologise for the inconvenience
the security scare came after umar farouk abdulmutallab allegedly tried to
detonate device stitched into his underwear on flight from amsterdam as it
landed in detroit in the united states on december
in court on friday he pleaded not guilty to six charges related to the
incident which has led to security being stepped at airports worldwide
extra security checks have been brought in following the alleged plot and full
body scanners are to be introduced at britain airports
heathrow will be the first to receive the devices before the end of the month
home secretary alan johnson has said
obama promises changes in us health care this year
washington jan afp
us president barack obama promised saturday that americans will see the effects
of health reform this year saying congress is on the verge of approving the
overhaul the nation health care system
now it ll take few years to fully implement these reforms in responsible
way obama said in his weekly radio address
but what every american should know is that once sign health insurance reform
into law there are dozens of protections and benefits that will take effect
this year
the us house of representatives and senate both passed sweeping health reform
proposals last year but their bills differ significantly
both measures aim to extend health care coverage to more than million out of
the million americans that lack it end abusive health insurance company
practices and curb soaring costs that take giant bites out of family and
government budgets
but the senate stripped out government backed public option plan to compete
with private insurers in order to win over the backing of handful of centrist
democrats without whom the bill would not have secured the votes needed to
pass in the seat body
the two versions of the plan will now have to be reconciled before final
approval
there are still disputes over how to pay for the plan and whether the overhaul
should create national exchange where americans could buy coverage or set
up exchanges on state by state basis
but obama expressed confidence that lawmakers were on the verge of passing
health insurance reform that will finally offer americans the security of
knowing they ll have quality affordable health care whether they lose their
job change jobs move or get sick
he said that after his signed the proposal into law uninsured americans with
pre existing illness or condition will be able to purchase coverage they can
afford
children with pre existing conditions the president added will no longer be
refused coverage and small business owners who can afford to cover their
employees will be immediately offered tax credits to purchase coverage
according to obama insurance companies will be required to offer free
preventive care to their customers
all told these changes represent the most sweeping reforms and toughest
restrictions on insurance companies that this country has ever known the
president concluded
that how we ll make healthier and more secure year for every american
for those who have health insurance and those who don
avalanche in caucasus kills four russian climbers
moscow jan afp
an avalanche in russia north caucasus region of kabardino balkaria killed four
mountain climbers russian news agencies cited local emergency officials as
saying saturday
rescuers were able to recover the bodies of three alpinists during the search
operations local emergency services spokesman kantimer davydov was quoted by
interfax as saying
the search is ongoing for fourth alpinist caught beneath the avalanche
nine person expedition was swept away by the avalanche friday while scaling
lower mount gedan tau peak of metres feet he said
the other five hikers survived davydov added
avalanches are common in the steep peaks of the northern caucasus which host
several winter resorts popular with russians despite instability due to low
level islamist insurgency in the region
counter terrorist operations from neighboring war torn chechnya are often
carried over into the region valleys
due to heightened avalanche risk with heavy snow fall this year authorities
have closed off the top of nearby mount elbrus europe the highest mountain at
metres feet
taiwan opposition scores fresh election win
taipei jan afp
taiwan main opposition party scored fresh election victory in legislative
by elections in three counties officials said saturday
the democratic progressive party dpp which favours independence from china
beat the ruling kuomintang kmt party in taoyuan taichung and taitung said
the central election commission
the outcome is critical as the dpp now holds seats or more than one fourth
of the seat parliament which will enable it to propose major bills such as
recalling the president or amending the constitution the dpp said
the public is dissatisfied with the ma ying jeou administration poor
performances and wishes to teach it lesson dpp spokesman tsai chi chang told
afp
the people also want to see more balanced parliament to check the ruling
party which has the majority with seats he said
it was the kmt second election setback in just two months since it took office
in may on china friendly platform
the dpp won control of an extra county while the kmt lost two in the december
polls to elect county chief and local mayors which were widely seen as mid
term test of president ma ying jeou
we will reflect on ourselves and remember the lesson we will continue to
reform the party kmt secretary general king pu tsung told reporters
ties with china were strained under the eight year rule of the dpp but improved
markedly since the kmt came to power
the self ruled island and china split in after civil war
the by elections were called after two kmt politicians were stripped of their
titles over vote buying while third kmt lawmaker was elected county chief
football wigan villa latest epl casualty of big freeze
london jan afp
saturday match between wigan and aston villa has become the sixth english
premier league fixture to be called off this weekend because of the freezing
conditions sweeping britain
the under soil heating at wigan dw stadium failed friday and engineers were
unable to fix the problem by the time referee stuart atwell made an early
morning pitch inspection saturday at the north west ground
atwell deemed the surface unplayable following overnight frost
friday saw several postponements with saturday scheduled premier league
matches between burnley and stoke fulham and portsmouth hull and chelsea and
sunderland and bolton as well as sunday fixture between liverpool and
tottenham called off
in all five cases the pitches were playable but concerns over issues such as
iced up streets surrounding grounds which pose safety risk for supporters led
clubs who generally follow advice from local police in making decision to
call off the games
now the only two premier league matches still set to be played on saturday are
birmingam home game against champions manchester united where win for the
visitors would see them leapfrog leaders chelsea at the top of the table and
arsenal fixture against everton
sunday premier league match between west ham and wolves is as yet also
unaffected by the weather as is monday encounter between manchester city and
blackburn rovers
wigan manager roberto martinez said we are devastated because the club has
worked so hard in these freak weather conditions to make the area surrounding
the stadium safe
the pitch has never been the problem until now
with much of britain blanketed in thick snow almost half this weekend
fixtures in england lower divisions have been called off and only handful of
matches have survived in scotland
all english premier league clubs are required to have under soil heating
but some question what is the point of installing the expensive systems which
make grounds playable in conditions that would once have been deemed unsafe if
matches are still going to be postponed for reasons beyond the clubs control
as has happened with most of this weekend fixtures
clubs are increasingly keen to make early decisions on call offs for fear some
supporters may have already embarked on long journeys as happened to bolton
fans who had travelled to london for midweek match at arsenal only for the
game to be postponed in late afternoon
nevertheless arsenal manager arsene wenger feels matches are being called off
too easily
personally know only the inside of the stadiums don know the
surroundings well enough but must say it is the price we pay for living in
society where everybody wants percent security wenger said friday
nobody accepts any risk any more and everybody is always guided by fear the
frenchman added
if one of people has an accident you feel very guilty and nobody
accepts anymore that the slightest insecurity could exist in our society and
that is why the games are postponed when there is no real need for it
iran ahmadinejad dismisses nuclear sanctions
tehran jan afp
iran president mahmoud ahmadinejad said on saturday that further un security
council sanction will not deter tehran from pursuing its controversial nuclear
programme
the hardliner also vowed that iran will not back down one iota in the face of
international pressures over the atomic work which the west fears may be
cover for weapons development despite iran persistent denial
they issued several resolutions and sanctioned iran they think iranians
will fall on their knees over these things but they are mistaken ahmadinejad
said in speech in southern iran carried live on state television
we are not interested in conflicts but you are continually demanding things
he said to world powers led by the united states which are seeking to curb
iran atomic ambitions
they should not think they can put up obstacles in iranians way assure
the people that the government will whole heartedly defend iran rights and
will not back down one iota he said
iran is already under three sets of un security council sanctions over its
defiance and refusal to suspend enrichment which lies at the heart of
international fears about its nuclear programme
the process that makes nuclear fuel can also be used to make the fissile core of
an atomic bomb
world powers gave iran until the end of to accept un brokered deal to
ship most of iran low enriched uranium leu abroad to be further refined into
reactor fuel by russia and france
but the deadline was ignored prompting talk of fresh sanctions against the
islamic republic
iran has in return insisted on its counter proposal of staged swap of leu for
nuclear reactor fuel
some western powers have dismissed iran proposal and asked tehran to accept
an offer made by the un nuclear watchdog the international atomic energy
agency which surfaced during talks in october between iran and permanent
security council members plus germany
but iran foreign minister manouchehr mottaki said that tehran was still
awaiting response from world powers on its proposal
we have sent them message which was well received mottaki was quoted
saying by fars news agency on saturday
we are waiting to receive practical response and then we will announce our
views he said
the iranian leadership has also drawn international condemnation over its
treatment of anti government protests triggered by ahmadinejad june
disputed re election
on saturday ahmadinejad dismissed criticism of iran over human rights as
game
they cannot break the people and the islamic republic by such pressure and
propaganda he said after inaugurating new aluminium plant in the southern
port city of bandar abbas
the us administration is reportedly crafting new financial sanctions targeting
the iranian entities and individuals most directly involved in the crackdown on
anti government protesters
citing unnamed us officials the wall street journal said on saturday that us
treasury department strategists had already been focusing on iran
revolutionary guard corps which has emerged as the economic and military power
behind supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei and ahmadinejad
national hockey league results
washington jan afp
national hockey league results and standings after friday games
friday january th results
tampa bay new jersey
carolina colorado
buffalo toronto
dallas ny islanders
columbus calgary
eastern conference
atlantic division
new jersey
pittsburgh
ny rangers
philadelphia
ny islanders
northeast division
buffalo
boston
ottawa
montreal
toronto
southeast division
washington
atlanta
tampa bay
florida
carolina
western conference
central division
chicago
nashville
detroit
columbus
st louis
northwest division
vancouver
calgary
colorado
minnesota
edmonton
pacific division
san jose
phoenix
los angeles
dallas
anaheim
note overtime losses ot are worth one point in the standings and are not
included in the loss column
saturday january th schedule
ny rangers at boston pm
ny islanders at phoenix pm
washington at atlanta pm
colorado at buffalo pm
chicago at minnesota pm
new jersey at montreal pm
anaheim at nashville pm
florida at ottawa pm
tampa bay at philadelphia pm
pittsburgh at toronto pm
calgary at vancouver pm
st louis at los angeles pm
detroit at san jose pm
all times are eastern
afp
malawi refused libyan plane to land report
blantyre jan afp
libyan plane carrying relief supplies for malawi quake victims was turned
away as tripoli has not informed local officials of its arrival malawian
minister said in newspaper saturday
the plane which diverted to neighbouring tanzania entered malawi airspace
two weeks ago without notifying aviation authorities transport minister
khumbo kachali was quoted by the nation newspaper
they said they were coming from libya they didn follow procedures malawi
was supposed to know we are poor yes but we are sovereign state he said
you just don fly into country like that it not accepted anywhere
he said malawi government was not aware of what the plane was carrying
how do you know it was aid for the earthquake victims the libyan government
was supposed to inform the malawi government he said
malawi closed its libyan embassy in tripoli soon after president bingu wa
mutharika assumed power in it had been opened in
libya and malawi enjoyed warm diplomatic relations when ex president bakili
muluzi was in power
muluzi often said his poor country would benefit economically because libya was
rich country
libyan leader moamer kadhafi visited malawi in at the height of the
diplomatic ties
series of quakes last month hit the uranium mining district of karonga in
northern malawi leaving four people dead over people homeless and
destroying homes
basketball nba results and standings
washington jan afp
results and standings after friday national basketball association games
friday january th results
toronto philadelphia
washington orlando
atlanta boston
memphis utah
minnesota indiana
new orleans new jersey
milwaukee chicago
dallas san antonio
miami phoenix
portland la lakers
denver cleveland
golden state sacramento
eastern conference
atlantic div pct gb
boston
toronto
new york
philadelphia
new jersey
central div pct gb
cleveland
milwaukee
chicago
detroit
indiana
southeast div pct gb
orlando
atlanta
miami
charlotte
washington
western conference
northwest div pct gb
denver
portland
oklahoma city
utah
minnesota
pacific div pct gb
la lakers
phoenix
la clippers
sacramento
golden state
southwest div pct gb
dallas
san antonio
houston
new orleans
memphis
saturday january th schedule
memphis at charlotte pm
atlanta at orlando pm
philadelphia at detroit pm
minnesota at chicago pm
indiana at oklahoma city pm
utah at dallas pm
new york at houston pm
denver at sacramento pm
all times are eastern
afp
palestinians say peace talks require full settlement freeze
ramallah west bank jan afp
the palestinians on saturday insisted on full israeli settlement freeze before
renewing peace efforts putting damper on us call to revive talks with no
preconditions
resumption of peace talks requires the complete halt of settlements in the
occupied west bank chief palestinian negotiator saeb erakat told afp
erakat also demanded that israel comply with its commitment under the peace
roadmap which calls for halt to all settlement activity including natural
growth and jerusalem
erakat also said negotiations should be picked up from the point they were left
when they broke down in december
so far there has been no reaction from the israeli government
on friday us secretary of state hillary clinton urged israelis and palestinians
to resume the peace talks without preconditions in washington latest bid to
return the sides to the negotiations table
clinton backed the key palestinian aim of creating state along the borders
that existed before the israeli arab war but said the lines would be
modified through mutually agreed land swaps presumably to account for some
israeli settlements that would remain
the palestinians have insisted the borders of their promised state encompass all
of their land israel occupied in including mostly arab east jerusalem
which israel later annexed in move not recognised by the international
community as their capital
resolving borders resolves settlements resolving jerusalem resolves
settlements the chief us diplomat told reporters after meeting jordanian
foreign minister nasser judeh in washington
we are working with the israelis the palestinian authority and the arab
states to take the steps needed to relaunch the negotiations as soon as possible
and without preconditions clinton said
the parties can reach solution that reconciles the palestinian goal of an
independent and viable state based on the lines with agreed swaps and the
israeli goal of jewish state with secure and recognized borders she said
president barack obama administration efforts to revive the peace talks have
so far been frustrated despite heavy pressure on israel the palestinians and
arab states to make positive gestures
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu announced in november partial
suspension of settlement activity in the west bank but not in occupied east
jerusalem as gesture ahead of the resumption of talks
the palestinians have nevertheless repeatedly insisted on full suspension of
settlement construction in all land occupied in
germany braces for blizzard as freezing europe shivers
berlin jan afp
europe faced weekend weather chaos with germany braced for blizzard and
authorities warned people to stock up on food and drinking water while britain
and france struggled to cope with heavy snow
germans were urged to buy enough food and medicines to last for up to four days
the government said all non essential travel should be avoided
flight operated by the carrier air berlin skidded off the runway at nuremberg
airport late friday and remained stuck in the snow disrupting traffic for more
than two hours company spokesman reto manitz said
traffic on the highway between germany and france was paralysed saturday
after french police blocked off the border road due to heavy snow german
traffic police said
what is being forecast for the weekend could lead to chaotic traffic conditions
and potentially leave large parts of germany completely paralysed the autoclub
europa warned
britain suffering its worst winter for three decades was forced to curb
industrial gas usage to save dwindling supplies
with much of the country already shivering through the worst spell of bad winter
weather for more than years further blanketing was expected in britain on
saturday and sunday
forecasters say up to centimetres seven inches could settle in the east
the conditions hit weekend sports games five english premier league football
matches were called off and five out of the six premiership rugby union fixures
were also cancelled
in london the serpentine outdoor swimming lake in hyde park was closed for the
first time in about years amid icy conditions
air travel was also being disrupted at london heathrow airport staff have
been working round the clock to keep the runways clear and predicted delays and
cancellations
the eurostar rail link between britain and continental europe said it was
operating two thirds of services due to the bad weather
twenty seven major companies in britain were ordered to halt using gas friday in
order to maintain overall supplies amid unprecedented levels of demand
in france significant snowfalls caused major delays to train services and
southern areas experienced electricity cuts
with more snow forecast authorities asked airlines to cut quarter of flights
