ireland power sharing tested as leader steps aside
belfast jan afp
northern ireland leader peter robinson has stepped down temporarily amid
scandal over his wife affair with teenager heaping fresh pressure on the
province strained political institutions
robinson will stand down for six weeks lawmakers were told monday as the
pressure finally got to the first minister after calls mounted for him to go
over financial allegations linked to the sex and politics row
as father and husband need to devote time to deal with family matters
drawn looking robinson said in televised statement his voice breaking
continue to contend have acted ethically and it is particularly painful at
this time of great personal trauma that have to defend myself from an
unfounded and mischievous allegation he added
enterprise minister arlene foster has taken over as acting first minister during
his absence the northern ireland assembly speaker said
robinson wife iris also top politician last week admitted having an
affair with then year old kirk mccambley and securing pounds
euros dollars from two wealthy developers to help him set up
cafe
she is currently receiving acute psychiatric treatment in belfast according
to her husband and is expected to quit her seats in the northern ireland
assembly and britain house of commons imminently
robinson has denied any knowledge of the deal which he would have had to report
to parliamentary authorities but there were calls for him to quit over the
weekend
the news came against an already tense backdrop in northern ireland with
lawmakers grappling to reach agreement on the final stages of the devolution
process the transfer of policing powers from london to belfast
disagreement over this issue had already fuelled concerns that power sharing
between robinson dup party and sinn fein who were foes during decades of
civil unrest in the province could break down
british prime minister gordon brown led appeals for lawmakers to concentrate on
politics as the sense of crisis mounted
urge all politicians in northern ireland whatever the turbulence of recent
events to remain focused on the business of government he said late monday
the british government northern ireland secretary shaun woodward added his
voice to calls to focus on the devolution process telling bbc television this
is not game the consequences of getting this wrong will be disastrous
he insisted peter robinson decision to temporarily step aside would not affect
talks to resolve the policing issue
but some see the collapse of the current power sharing arrangement on the
horizon
many now believe the dissolving of the dup sinn fein coalition to be
inevitable leading to fresh elections the times newspaper wrote tuesday
robinson conservative dup which is protestant and wants northern ireland to
remain part of britain has since shared devolved powers from london in an
administration with socialists sinn fein which is catholic and wants the
province to join the republic of ireland
there are fears of return to sustained violence in northern ireland where
three decades of civil unrest known as the troubles killed at least people
but was largely ended by the good friday agreement
last year two british soldiers and policeman were shot dead in attacks
claimed by dissident republicans
in the latest incident friday catholic police officer was seriously injured
after bomb exploded under his car as he drove to work
big miners sideline china in iron ore talks report
sydney jan afp
the world largest miners are pushing ahead with iron ore price negotiations
with japan while leaving their biggest customer china out in the cold report
said tuesday
the world top three iron ore producers brazil vale and anglo australian
companies rio tinto and bhp billiton have sidelined beijing from annual talks
to set benchmark contract price the financial times said
the companies plan to present take it or leave it price to chinese steel
mills once negotiations with japan are complete it said
as far as am concerned they chinese negotiators could come over to
australia if they want to talk an unnamed executive told the paper
the report comes one day after chinese authorities said they had concluded
commercial espionage probe relating to rio tinto executive stern hu but gave no
indication of whether the australian passport holder would face trial
hu and three other rio employees were arrested in shanghai in july during last
year iron ore talks prompting concerns within the industry about dealing with
the fast industrialising nation
bhp billiton and rio refused to comment on the article
we never discuss or provide commentary on pricing discussions spokesman for
rio told afp
japan two largest steelmakers nippon steel and jfe steel also refrained from
commenting since it matter of negotiations among private firms we are not
in position to comment said spokesman for jfe steel
annual iron ore pricing negotiations traditionally begin with japan around
november and take place alongside similar negotiations with china
india infosys reports drop in net profit
bangalore india jan afp
india second largest software exporter infosys posted tuesday smaller
than expected percent decline in consolidated net profit thanks to fresh
business from overseas clients
net profit for the nasdaq listed firm fell to billion rupees million
dollars during the three months to december from billion rupees year
earlier
revenues by indian accounting standards for the bangalore based outsourcer
fell percent to billion rupees it said in statement to the mumbai
stock exchange
infosys shares jumped percent or rupees to rupees in early
trade tuesday after the earnings were announced
deposed philippine leader says destined for fresh term
manila jan afp
joseph estrada returned to the philippine presidential palace tuesday for the
first time since he was deposed in bloodless coup in insisting destiny
would make it his again
the year old movie star who was convicted jailed and then pardoned for
corruption in was there for meeting of the advisory national security
council
the council was convened by president gloria arroyo and includes former filipino
leaders as well as her top security advisers
estrada who was deposed in bloodless military coup in january that
subsequently saw then vice president arroyo installed said he expected the
meeting to tackle security threats linked to the may presidential election
asked about his chances of succeeding arroyo estrada said that destiny
independent polls however show estrada will have tough time regaining the
post as he trails the two front runners benigno aquino and manny villar
estrada also faces possible disqualification because of provision in the
philippine constitution that states no former filipino leader can be president
twice though the state election monitor has yet to rule on whether or not he
should be excluded
nba bucks redd out for season skiles hospitalized
milwaukee wisconsin jan afp
milwaukee bucks michael redd has torn ligaments in his left knee forcing him to
end his season early for second consecutive year
the year old american redd suffered the injury in sunday loss to the
lakers he had an mri scan monday and doctors said surgery would be needed
in games this season redd was averaging points rebounds and
assists over minutes
redd suffered similar injury in january and had surgery four weeks later
he is in his th season with milwaukee and is fourth on the team all time
scoring list
also milwaukee coach scott skiles was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat
monday night shortly before the bucks game in phoenix against the suns
skiles was hospitalized for precautionary reasons team spokesman said
jim boylan coached the bucks in the absence of skiles who is in his second year
as the milwaukee coach
bolivia in nationalization deal with us british companies
washington jan afp
bolivia is negotiating deals with us british and local privately owned power
companies to nationalize three hydroelectric plants deputy electricity minister
miguel llangue said monday
we are close to preliminary agreement and we believe some of the negotiations
will conclude in he told the erbol radio network
bolivia is seeking to control three hydroelectric power plants guaracachi
subsidiary of british owned rurelec plc corani owned by us duke energy and
valle hermoso controlled by panamerican group of bolivian investors
president evo morales has repeatedly expressed his desire to nationalize the
three power plants which generate percent of the country electricity
llangue said bolivia is seeking at least percent control of the companies in
accordance with the country new constitution and pending new energy law that
will set socially just and economically viable electricity rates
the official said one of the three companies had already reached preliminary
agreement with the government but refused to disclose its name
morales bolivia first indigenous president and close ally of venezuela
leftist president hugo chavez has had his eye on the country natural
resources since he took office in he begins his second four year mandate
on january
electricity is the latest basic industry targeted for nationalization following
the oil metals and telecommunications industries
woman who saved anne frank diary dead at website
the hague jan afp
the woman who saved anne frank diary from the nazis miep gies died monday
after brief illness her website announced she was years old
gies was the last surviving and best known of the group who helped frank
family hide from the nazis she collected and hid the teenager diary after the
german secret police discovered their hiding place in an amsterdam office
building
anne died from disease at the bergen belsen concentration camp but her father
otto returned from auschwitz and gies gave him his daughter diary
the teenager memoir first published in became one of the most renowned
accounts of jews hiding from nazi persecution
born hermine miep santruschitz in vienna in she moved to the netherlands
at age according to biography published on her website www miepgies nl
in she began working for otto frank at his opekta trading company
at great risk to her own safety she helped bring food to the franks and another
family who went into hiding in secret annex of opekta office building from
until their discovery and arrest in
gies received numerous honours for her role including from israel yad vashem
holocaust memorial centre
tennis sydney international results st update
sydney jan afp
results from the third day of the sydney international wta atp tennis tournament
on tuesday denotes seed
women
second round
aravane rezai fra bt agnes szavay hun
dinara safina rus bt agnieszka radwanska pol
vera dushevina rus bt elena vesnina rus
serena williams usa bt maria jose martinez sanchez esp
dominika cibulkova svk bt svetlana kuznetsova rus
men
first round
benjamin becker ger bt juan ignacio chela arg
viktor troicki srb bt florent serra fra
evgeny korolev rus bt sam querrey usa
julien benneteau fra bt dudi sela isr
nba bucks redd out for season with another knee injury
milwaukee wisconsin jan afp
milwaukee bucks michael redd has torn ligaments in his left knee forcing him to
end his season early for second consecutive year
the year old american redd suffered the injury in sunday loss to the
lakers he had an mri scan monday and doctors say surgery will be needed
in games this season redd was averaging points rebounds and
assists over minutes
redd suffered similar injury in january and had surgery four weeks later
he is in his th season with milwaukee and is fourth on the team all time
scoring list
clinton seeks to defuse tension over air base
honolulu hawaii jan afp
secretary of state hillary clinton sought to defuse tension over the relocation
of us air base in japan as she arrived in hawaii monday for talks with her
japanese counterpart
the significance of our meeting is to reaffirm the centrality of our year
old alliance clinton told reporters on the plane taking her to honolulu the
first leg of new tour of asia
it provides stability for the region it is much bigger than any one
particular issue
yomiuri newspaper and other japanese reports said sunday that clinton and
foreign minister katsuya okada will make final arrangements tuesday for
statement stressing the crucial contribution of their alliance to global peace
the governments are preparing for the statement with which prime minister
yukio hatoyama and president barack obama will celebrate the th anniversary
and commit to further deepen the alliance japanese defense minister toshimi
kitazawa said in comments reported by jiji press
the security treaty signed on january has formed the bedrock of the
post war japan us alliance under which pacifist japan relies on massive us
military presence to guarantee its security
tokyo relations with its most important ally have hit turbulence over the
controversial futenma air base which hatoyama has suggested should be moved off
the southern island of okinawa or even outside japan altogether
the center left hatoyama who took power in september has pledged to review
past agreements on the us military presence including plans to shift futenma
within okinawa and to deal with washington on more equal basis
joseph nye former assistant secretary of defense urged the obama
administration to be patient with the hatoyama government and not allow
second order issue to threaten our long term strategy for east asia
in commentary in the new york times last week nye said the two countries
will miss major opportunity if they let the base controversy lead to bitter
feelings or the further reduction of american forces in japan
the best guarantee of security in region where china remains long term
challenge and nuclear north korea poses clear threat remains the presence of
american troops which japan helps to maintain with generous host nation
support nye wrote
kurt campbell the us assistant secretary of state for asia and pacific affairs
said clinton and okada would discuss security concerns over the nuclear
ambitions of both north korea and iran
they will also talk about china rising power as well as the military junta in
myanmar
clinton will visit the uss arizona memorial in pearl harbor which commemorates
the americans who died in the japanese surprise attack on december that
brought the united states into world war ii
clinton will then tour the south pacific
she will arrive in port moresby on thursday to discuss economic development and
efforts to combat climate change it will be the first visit to papua new guinea
by us secretary of state since madeleine albright visited in
on friday clinton will travel to auckland new zealand to discuss range of
diplomatic economic and security related issues campbell said
she will then head to melbourne and canberra australia on sunday
in canberra clinton and us defense secretary robert gates will hold the th
australia united states ministerial consultations with their counterparts
foreign minister stephen smith and defense minister john faulkner
in both new zealand and australia clinton will likely discuss the countries
troop contributions to afghanistan
making her fourth tour of asia since becoming the chief us diplomat year ago
clinton said the united states intends to exercise influence in asia for
another century and serve as stabilizing force against china rising power
on her first trip since taking office in february last year clinton visited
japan indonesia south korea and china she later traveled to india and
thailand in july then singapore and the philippines in november
one of my goals was to signal that the united states is back in asia clinton
said recalling her first trip abroad
there was general sense on the part of our allies and partners in the region
that we were withdrawing she added
but people want to see that the united states is fully engaged in asia so that
as china rises there is presence of the united states as force for peace
and stability as guarantor of security
figure skating south korea kim gearing up for olympic challenge
winnipeg canada jan afp
south korean figure skating star kim yu na is no longer considered totally
unbeatable heading into next month olympic winter games and her canadian coach
brian orser considers that good thing
reigning world champion kim looked invincible and sure bet for the games
gold medal in her first grand prix competition of the season in paris she
soared above the field with highest ever women total score of points
miscues few weeks later at skate america and at last month grand prix final
in tokyo however allowed her rivals to think maybe they could outdo kim under
the olympic rings in vancouver
still she did win those two events despite slumping scores that were some
points off her best
her first grand prix was great and she had good short and good long
programme since then but she also been beaten in the short and the long as
well which think is good orser said in telephone interview from toronto
think it would be tough for her to go to the olympics completely unbeatable
that what everybody was saying she unbeatable but she not she is
beatable
this way she trains accordingly and she ll be competitive that the spirit
you have to have added orser who won olympic silver in and in in
calgary where he co starred with brian boitano in the battle of the brians
the first week in january marked the beginning of what orser called the home
stretch in kim olympic season training plan
she is training really really well and really really hard that exactly
what she needs and what we re focussing on
the expectation is that kim like her coach will claim an olympic medal but
orser says she will not be following in his footsteps when it comes to carrying
her nation flag in the opening ceremonies on february
the plan is for kim to fly from her training base in toronto on friday the th
and do one practice on saturday sunday and monday ahead of the women short
programme on tuesday
orser who led canadian athletes into the olympic stadium in resplendent
in his white fringed red overcoat and white stetson hat said he doesn know if
kim was even considered for the flag bearer honour since the korean olympic
committee knew she intended to keep training in toronto during the first week of
the games
she likes to stay put and go in as late as possible if we went out for the
first week think it would be distracting for her she needs to stay focussed
she ll watch it on television she cool with that she doesn feel like
she really missing anything orser added
orser whose foray into the coaching world began with his mentoring kim in
will spend much of the next days travelling to and from or in spokane
washington where his promising american students adam rippon and christina gao
will compete at the us championships on subsequent weekends
it lot of traveling but it important that have at least couple of
days each week with yu na choregrapher david wilson and coach tracy
wilson are around so she is going to be well taken care of
kim and orser are sticking with their original plan not to compete at the four
continents championships in jeonju south korea at the end of january despite
pressure from isu president ottavio cinquanta to do so
it too close to the olympics and too far away orser said
femsa shares plummet on heineken buyout news
mexico city jan afp
shares of latin america biggest brewer fomento economico mexicano sa sank by
percent in mexico stock market monday on news it was being bought by
dutch brewer heineken for less than expected
heineken said it would buy femsa in share deal that values the company behind
the dos equis and sol brands at billion euros billion dollars
femsa shares closed down monday at pesos dollars from pesos
dollars on friday
shares fell after the sale was announced investors saw the deal as negative in
the short term because nine billion dollar tag had been mentioned grupo
financiero ixe analyst ana paula pedroni told afp
that the transaction was done in company shares and not in cash was also
factor
heineken shares climbed five percent in amsterdam after the announcement
pedroni said the acquisition is good for both companies because it turns femsa
into an international player like heineken who in turn can break into new
markets like brazil and mexico
heineken said this was the first time since that it was issuing shares for
an acquisition underscoring the uniqueness and importance of this
opportunity including expanding the company reach in developing markets
heineken will issue to femsa approximately million new shares with the
commitment to deliver an additional million existing heineken nv shares over
period of not more than five years heineken said
these million shares would ultimately give femsa percent interest in
the heineken group making it the second largest shareholder
the mexican brewer chief executive officer jose antonio fernandez carbajal
said the deal would allow femsa beer operations to become an integral part of
heineken leading global platform
this transaction increases femsa operational and financial flexibility he
said
tennis sydney international results
sydney jan afp
results from the third day of the sydney international wta atp tennis tournament
on tuesday denotes seed
women
second round
aravane rezai fra bt agnes szavay hun
dinara safina rus bt agnieszka radwanska pol
men
first round
benjamin becker ger bt juan ignacio chela arg
viktor troicki srb bt florent serra fra
evgeny korolev rus bt sam querrey usa
philippines says exports rebound after month fall
manila jan afp
philippine exports rose in november for the first time after month slide
thanks to boost in the electronics sector the government said tuesday
shipments grew percent from year earlier and were up percent from the
previous month to billion dollars the national statistics office said in
statement
the rise was mostly due to percent increase on year in the export of
electronics products to billion dollars for the month however
electronics shipments for november were down percent from the october
figure
apart from electronics the other top five filipino exports garments
ignition wiring sets for vehicles furniture and copper were still slightly
down from november levels
the government agency said the year on year increase for november exports was
the first since they went on the decline in january
november exports to the philippines top five markets all rebounded with
shipments to the united states the top buyer of filipino products rising
percent to million dollars
philippine exports for the months to november totalled billion dollars
still down percent from the previous year it said
industry leaders have forecast percent fall in philippine exports for the
whole of
jal tumbles on bankruptcy fears as asia stocks fall
hong kong jan afp
asian markets lost ground early tuesday with tokyo eroded by wave of selling
orders engulfing crisis hit japan airlines
shares in asia biggest airline plummeted almost percent as reports pointed
to looming bankruptcy and delisting that would destroy investors stakes under
court ordered restructuring
delisting now looks almost certain so selling won stop smbc friend
research center analyst mitsuru miyazaki told dow jones newswires as jal dived
by the daily limit of yen to yen
the selling sent tokyo nikkei down percent in line with other
regional markets as investors moved to lock in profits from recent rallies
with speculation about jal reaching fever pitch japan transport minister
seiji maehara was reportedly meeting the heads of the airline creditor banks
later tuesday and planning news conference at pm gmt
elsewhere sydney was down percent and hong kong opened percent off
while singapore was flat and shanghai fell percent on profit taking
in sydney minerals firm alumina was percent lower after us firm alcoa
the first blue chip to report its quarterly earnings on wall street posted
lower than forecast profit late monday
weak us jobs report on friday weighed on the dollar which fell to yen
in tokyo morning trade down from in new york late on monday japanese
markets were closed monday
oil fell below dollars barrel in asia on forecasts the severe cold snap in
the united states will ease and quell demand for heating fuel analysts said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery stood
at dollars in morning trade down cents from new york close
it had hit an intraday peak of dollars monday its highest since october
brent north sea crude for february was down cents at
hong kong gold opened marginally higher at us dollars an
ounce up from monday close of dollars
new zealand and fiji agree to improve relations nz minister
wellington jan afp
new zealand and fiji have agreed to improve relations which soured after
military coup in fiji three years ago new zealand foreign minister murray
mccully said on tuesday
but mccully said the move would not mean any change to sanctions imposed by new
zealand against the regime after military leader voreqe bainimarama overthrew
fiji elected government in the december coup
none of this signals change to new zealand substantive policy with regard
to the regime in fiji nor does it signal any change in the sanctions regime
currently in place mccully told reporters
but it does signal determination to improve the relationship and in
particular to be able to agree to disagree about some things
the decision follows unpublicised talks between mccully and his fijian
counterpart ratu inoke kubuabola in fiji tourist centre nadi on friday and
saturday
new zealand has been one of the most strident critics of the military regime and
both countries expelled the heads of their diplomatic missions in each other
country in november
mccully said the two governments have now agreed to appoint an additional
counsellor in their respective missions and decided in principle that new deputy
mission heads should be appointed
mccully said there had been ongoing communications with kubuabola in recent
months and that the pair had agreed to keep in close contact and to meet as
necessary in future
fiji expelled new zealand head of mission along with australia high
commissioner ambassador last november the third time since the coup that
wellington top representative in suva had been sent home
it was angered by the impact of australian and new zealand sanctions banning
people linked to the regime travelling to their countries
bainimarama has repeatedly accused both wellington and canberra of bullying his
country since the coup
mccully said australian foreign minister stephen smith was aware of new
zealand move and fully supported it
ve had nothing but encouragement he said don want to get ahead of
australia we couldn be working more closely together
fiji was suspended from the nation pacific islands forum in may last year and
from the commonwealth in september over bainimarama broken promises to hold
elections by march
international condemnation of bainimarama increased in april after his
government tore up the constitution sacked the judiciary and tightened media
censorship after court ruled the regime was illegal
the regime announced it planned to hold elections by september after
rewriting the constitution and introducing new voting system
baseball mcgwire didn want to be like arnold or the hulk
los angeles jan afp
mark mcgwire doesn remember all the names of the performance enhancing drugs
he used during his baseball career but says he preferred taking them orally
rather than injecting them in other ways
speaking during lengthy interview on the mlb network television the year
old mcgwire expressed relief at finally coming forward about his steroid use
after years of silence on the issue
the names don remember mcgwire said did injectibles but preferred the
orals
the ones did were low dosage didn want to look like arnold
schwarzenegger or lou ferrigno took low doses because wanted my body to
feel normal
ferrigno played the incredible hulk in american tv show
mcgwire who hit career home runs with oakland and st louis is best know
for his record breaking home run year in when he outduelled sammy sosa by
swatting dingers
during that season bottle of the anabolic steroid androstenedione was spotted
in his locker at the time the drug was not banned by major league baseball then
but it is now
mcgwire said monday he liked the effects of what andro did for him
took andro it was over the counter mcgwire said it made me feel good it
made my body feel good
another drug he admitted using was human growth hormone saying tried it
don know once twice maybe
mcgwire revealled he used performance enhancing substances for almost decade
because he felt they helped him rehabilitate his body after injuries
mcgwire admission comes after years of speculation that he used steroids and
less than two months before the st louis cardinals open training camp with him
as their new hitting coach
he denied accusations in book written by former teammate and major league star
jose canseco that they did steroids together in the lockerroom mcgwire said he
never discussed steroids with another player during his career
never talked about it he said monday can remember any conversation in
clubhouse if heard talking would walk the other way
as rookie hitting coach in the big leagues mcgwire said if someone asks him
