biohit shares surged on the news and were up by percent at euros in
late afternoon trading on the helsinki stock exchange
peter robinson quiet leader dragged down by wife scandal
belfast jan afp
peter robinson appointment as northern ireland first minister barely
months ago marked the crowning of long and patient career that has now been
dragged down by scandal
the year old who stepped aside monday to clear his name after his wife
adultery and claims over financial dealings waited in the wings for years
for ian paisley to step down as leader of the democratic unionist party dup
when he finally took over in june robinson proved serious but quietly
effective contrast to the fiery preacher although his term in office has been
dogged by row over policing powers in the province
robinson who has been lawmaker in the british parliament since was
initially opposed to the peace deal that brought northern ireland warring
catholic nationalist and pro london protestant communities together
but he came to be seen as pragmatist who played key role in establishing
power sharing between the hardline conservative protestant dup and the catholic
socialists sinn fein once the political wing of paramilitary group the irish
republican army ira
his time as first minister has been marred by failure to agree with sinn fein on
when responsibility for policing powers in northern ireland should be
transferred from london to belfast the final part of the devolution process
he and his wife of almost years fellow member of parliament iris robinson
also came under pressure last year over their parliamentary expenses after
major scandal erupted in westminster they denied any wrongdoing
but it was the fall out from her announcement shortly after christmas that she
was stepping down due to depression and her revelation that she had tried to
commit suicide after having an affair that forced him to step aside
born on december in belfast robinson was an estate agent before taking
up politics full time he was spurred by the death of schoolfriend in an ira
bombing and became one of the founder members of the dup in
he was elected to parliament lower house of commons in london in at age
becoming the youngest mp he became deputy leader of the dup in
in he quit his parliamentary seat with other dup lawmakers in protest at
the anglo irish agreement an effort by then prime minister margaret
thatcher government to end violence in northern ireland
point made robinson was returned to parliament in the subsequent by election
and has held the belfast east constituency ever since
like his party he rejected the landmark good friday peace agreement that
largely brought an end to three decades of civil strife in the province
but year later he became regional development minister in the new devolved
administration although he did not attend cabinet meetings
following the suspension of the belfast assembly in amid accusations of an
ira spy ring the dup gained in popularity and robinson emerged as key
negotiator
this led to the st andrews agreement brokered in scotland by then british
prime minister tony blair and then irish premier bertie ahern which paved the
way for the restoration of the northern ireland assembly in
paisley became first minister with sinn fein martin mcguinness as his deputy
and robinson got the finance brief when paisley announced in march that he
was stepping down aged robinson finally got his chance
in his spare time robinson breeds japanese koi fish and enjoys golf and
bowling he and his wife iris who will be married years in july have two
sons gareth and jonathan and one daughter rebekah
urgent vw posts record sales of million vehicles
frankfurt jan afp
volkswagen the biggest european car maker said monday it sold record
million vehicles last year as it pursues rival toyota for the the title of world
number one
italian foreign minister visits mauritania
nouakchott jan afp
italy foreign minister franco frattini began visit to mauritania monday
three weeks after an al qaeda group kidnapped an italian couple in the north
african country
frattini will hold talks with mauritanian leaders including president mohamed
ould abdel aziz during the two day visit
discussions are expected to focus on cooperation in the fight against terrorism
and improving bilateral ties mauritanian government source said
sergio cicala and philomene kabore were kidnapped in southeast
mauritania on december and their minibus was found empty and riddled with
bullets according to security sources
it is believed they are now being held in northern mali and on december
pictures of the couple kneeling in front of armed kidnappers in desert were
posted on website
frattini has said italy will not negotiate with al qaeda in the islamic maghreb
which has claimed responsibility for the abduction
he is also due to hold talks with nouakchott foreign and defence ministers
and sign food security agreement
mauritania is frattini first step of week long african tour which will take
him to mali ethiopia kenya uganda egypt and tunisia according to the
foreign ministry in rome
algeria protests place on us terror watchlist
algiers jan afp
algeria foreign ministry said it had summoned the us ambassador on monday to
strongly protest the north african country placing on nation terror
watchlist drawn up by the obama administration
foreign minister mourad medelci called in us ambassador david pearce to
protest the unfortunate unjustified and discriminatory measure foreign
ministry statement said
algeria said it had already protested through our central administration as
well as our ambassador in washington over the measures which subjects
travellers from algeria and other countries on the watchlist to special checks
before they are allowed to enter the us
the watchlist is part of new us security measures drawn up president barack
obama government following young nigerian botched christmas day attempt to
blow up us airliner over detroit
there are currently no direct flights between algeria and the united states and
most algerians transit through paris
algeria has been rocked by an islamist insurgency stretching back more than
decade and is the original stronghold of al qaeda in the land of the islamic
maghreb one of the most prominent branches of osama bin laden global
networks
football tom hicks junior quits liverpool board after fan rant
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool director tom hicks junior has resigned from his position on the club
board and their parent company following foul mouthed mail he reportedly
sent to supporter
the american the son of the premier league club co owner tom hicks found
himself involved in controversy sunday after report in britain news of the
world tabloid that he abused fan when contacted about the state of
liverpool finances
hicks junior who called the fan an idiot reportedly sent second mail
saying blow me fuck face go to hell sick of you
but in statement released monday hicks junior offered his sincerest
apologies and said he would be standing down from the board
have great respect for liverpool football club especially the club
supporters hicks junior said apologise for my mistake and am very sorry
for my harmful words
do not want my actions to take away from the club future therefore am
resigning from the board
to the fans and to the club please accept my sincerest apologies
although not significant figure in his own right hicks junior presence on
the board helped preserved the balance between his father and feuding american
co owner george gillett
gillett son foster is also on the board and up until monday managing
director christian purslow had been the lone neutral board member
but liverpool used the opportunity of hicks junior departure to announce
restructuring of both the board and its parent company kop holdings
casey coffman executive vice president of hicks holdings effectively replaced
hicks junior while liverpool chief financial officer philip nash and the
club commercial director ian ayre have also been elected to the boards of both
companies
purslow nash and ayre are regarded as having played significant roles in
helping improve the club finances including new shirt sponsorship deal with
standard chartered bank worth some million pounds
alert
vw posts record sales of million vehicles in
football malawi exact revenge on disappointing algeria
luanda jan afp
algeria were handed world cup reality check when supposed minnows malawi meted
out thrashing to the desert foxes in the africa cup of nations here on
monday
malawi were whipped by algeria on their only previous appearance in this
competition years ago
but thanks to russel mwafulirwa ivis kafoteka and davie banda it was algeria
who were on the wrong side of lopsided scoreline this time around
after sunday draw between angola and mali these three points put malawi in
strong position to make it out of group and into the quarter finals
the game was held in near ghostly silence with all but couple of hundred of
the november stadium shiny new seats vacant
with few visiting fans the locals were either at work it being monday afternoon
and all or nursing severe hangovers after watching their heroes let slip four
goal lead against mali the night before
you could have heard pin drop or ball kicked and the atmosphere for want
of better word was in stark contrast to algeria last competitive fixture
in the cauldron of khartoum which sealed their world cup ticket at the expense
of bitter rivals egypt
mwafulirwa put malawi into th minute lead when the swedish second division
striker pounced on mistake by algeria keeper faouzi chaouchi
rafik saifi could have levelled shortly after but the al khor midfielder lob
over malawi stopper swadick sanudi went the wrong side of the crossbar
on minutes malawi deservedly extended their advantage when moses chavula
swept the ball into the box from the left with kafoteka bullet header leaving
chaouchi bewildered
malawi went into the break sensing sweet revenge for years ago and the second
half was only in its infancy when banda first hit the near post and then slammed
the ball past chaouchi on the rebound to turn the screw
algeria were having trouble breaking down malawi tight defence although
abdelmalik ziaya and saifi both had headers on target
malawi held on comfortably enough avoiding an angolan style last quarter
collapse for their first win ever in the competition which swept them to the
top of the table with the hosts awaiting on thursday
kuwait bourse bomb threat hoax
kuwait city jan afp
the kuwait stock exchange building was closed and evacuated on monday after
officials received bomb threat from an anonymous caller which turned out to
be hoax officials said
the call came about minutes after the day trading ended in the multi storey
building in downtown kuwait city which also houses number of commercial
offices
after receiving the call we evacuated the building and bomb squads began
searching part of the building has already been searched and nothing was
found security source told afp
later interior ministry spokesman mohammed hashem said the search was over no
bomb had been found
it was false alert colonel hashem said according to state run kuna news
agency adding that the ministry was capable of tracking down the culprit
anonymous calls threatening bomb attacks are common in the oil rich gulf state
and almost all such scares turn out to be hoaxes
football africa cup of nations group standings
luanda jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings monday played won drawn lost goals
for against points
malawi
angola
mali
algeria
fixtures
luanda unless noted times gmt
jan
algeria mali
angola malawi
jan
angola algeria
at cabinda
malawi mali
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
football africa cup of nations malawi algeria
luanda jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group match monday
malawi mwafulirwa kafoteka banda algeria
teams
malawi
swadick sanudi ivis kafoteka peter mponda capt james sangala moses
chavula hellings mwakasungula davie banda robert ng ambi jospeh
kamwendo peter wadabwa jimmy zakazaka esau kanyenda russell mwafulirwa
chiukepo msowoya
coach kinnah phiri
algeria
faouzi chaouchi madjid bougherra rafik halliche nadir belhadj samir zaoui
karim ziani rafik saifi abdelmalik ziaya hassan yebda yazid mansouri
capt karim matmour yassine bezzaz abdelkader ghezzal hamer bouazza
coach rabah saadane
referee diatta badari sen
yellow card ziani
football africa cup of nations malawi algeria
luanda jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match monday
malawi mwafulirwa kafoteka banda algeria
urgent football malawi shock algeria in africa cup
luanda jan afp
malawi shocked world cup qualifiers algeria monday in an africa cup of
nations group match
alert
football malawi shock algeria in africa cup
imf mission heads to debt stricken greece
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said monday it is sending mission to athens
this week for talks on helping debt stricken greece overcome its financial
crisis
the mission at the request of the greek authorities would begin tuesday and
last for about week to explore possibilities for technical assistance from
the imf in the coming months on pension reform tax policy tax administration
and budget management the fund said in statement
the mission is within the context of the regular surveillance that the imf
provides to its membership the brief statement said
the technical assistance formulation appeared to suggest that financial aid
would be discussed
the greek government on friday announced percent increase in tobacco and
alcohol taxes and higher inheritance tax as it fended off european union
pressure for drastic action to tackle its debt mountain
greece whose public spending deficit rose to percent of output last year
and debt to percent of gross domestic product gdp must present its crisis
program to the eu by the end of the month
european commission and european central bank experts met with greek officials
from wednesday through friday to discuss what crisis measures would be taken
finance minister georges papaconstantinou announced the tax hikes as he
reaffirmed the need for the country to establish financial credibility in europe
where greece troubles have raised fears over the eurozone stability
the socialist government is aiming to bring the deficit to below three percent
of gdp the limit imposed by the eurozone in
the eu and the imf already have acted jointly to help two eu members to cope
with sharp downturns amid the global economic crisis hungary in november
and latvia the following month
the greek government has said it will get the spending deficit down to
percent in by cutting government spending and fighting tax fraud pension
reforms are to be proposed by april
greece will have to endure monthly visits by eu officials from february as part
of the tighter surveillance ordered by its european partners the finance
ministry said
the spanish eu presidency warned greece last week that it should not expect an
eu bailout
papaconstantinou told the italian newspaper il sole recently that we will
solve our fiscal problems alone
we have not asked for and do not expect any help from the european central
bank or member state from the european union he said
georgia president decorates hero mccain
tbilisi jan afp
georgian president mikheil saakashvili on monday decorated visiting us senator
and former presidential candidate john mccain with the country highest state
honour declaring him national hero
at ceremony in georgia black sea city of batumi saakashvili lavished praise
on mccain for his strong support of georgia during the august russian
georgian war
the us senator was awarded with the order of the national hero of georgia
friend in need is friend indeed georgia is free country today
because of our friends support saakashvili said in comments broadcast on
georgian television
john mccain demonstrated heroism for america and for georgia
saakashvili said mccain called him during the war and told him not to surrender
and not to say no to freedom when some well known world figures were telling
us to stop resistance
he told me we will stand by georgia and we will all be georgians
mccain said the award was an expression of partnership and solidarity between
our two nations confronted by common challenges bound by common interests and
united by common democratic values
of all the honours received in my life the national hero award is among
the most meaningful and it is one that would cherish forever he added
the senator at the time of the conflict was the republican candidate for the us
presidency fighting campaign that would ultimately see him defeated by barack
obama
he repeatedly backed georgia in the conflict stating at one point that now we
are all georgians and vehemently criticising the actions of russia
at the beginning of the ceremony saakashvili handed mccain what he said was
pistol that once belonged to an american pilot captured by soviet troops in
vietnam he said it had been sold during the august war to georgian
businessman by russian general
mccain former naval aviator spent six years in north vietnamese captivity as
prisoner of war during which he was severely tortured
the visit of mccain and fellow republican senators john barrasso and john thune
in batumi on sunday and monday is aimed at strengthening the us georgian
strategic partnership the georgian presidency said in statement
cricket bangladesh india one day scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
complete scoreboard of the triangular one day series match between bangladesh
and india here on monday
bangladesh
tamim iqbal tyagi nehra
imrul kayes kohli tyagi
mohammad ashraful sreesanth
raqibul hasan run out
shakib al hasan dhoni nehra
mushfiqur rahim raina yuvraj
mohammad mahmudullah not out
naeem islam not out
extras lb nb
total for six wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes ashraful iqbal raqibul
rahim shakib
bowling tyagi sreesanth nb nehra mishra
yuvraj jadeja
india
karthik rahim shafiul
gambhir naeem
kohli not out
yuvraj singh lbw naeem
ms dhoni kayes shakib
raina not out
extras lb
total for four wickets overs
fall of wickets karthik gambhir yuvraj dhoni
bowling rasel shafiul razzak shakib
naeem mahmudullah
result india win by six wickets
toss india
umpires simon taufel aus and sharfuddoula shahid ban
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
next match final india sri lanka wednesday
rebels eight soldiers killed in yemen clashes army
sanaa jan afp
fierce fighting in the mountains of northern yemen has killed shiite rebels
and eight soldiers military source told afp on monday
there was fierce fighting in the northern city of saada on sunday seventeen
huthis rebels and eight yemeni soldiers were killed the source said
the rebels said in statement posted on their website that clashes were still
underway in saada where they charged the army was using bulldozers to destroy
property
the army is undertaking to destroy the city the statement said it is using
bulldozers to destroy houses mosques and historical buildings
report on the www sep net website of the defence ministry newspaper said
government forces had seized control of rebel hideouts in saada old city
men of the armed forces were able to gain control of number of hideouts in
which partisans of terrorism and sabotage were barricaded the report said
it described the fighting as part of the final stage of the operation of
clearing the remaining terrorist sleeper cells from the city
on sunday president ali abdullah saleh said in an interview that he was open to
dialogue with the rebels as long as they gave up the armed struggle
we are prepared to deal with anyone who renounces violence and terrorism
saleh said
rebel spokesman responded to the statement on monday saying how do you call
for dialogue when you are bombing stop firing then talk about dialogue
the rebellion among the zaidi shiite community minority in the mainly sunni
muslim country but the majority in the north first erupted in
last august the government launched major offensive in bid to end the
uprising
neighbouring saudi arabia joined the fray in november after accusing the rebels
of occupying two villages inside the kingdom territory and of killing saudi
border guard
aid organisations say more than people have been displaced by the
fighting
football ronaldo sale prevents united loss
london jan afp
only cristiano ronaldo world record transfer prevented manchester united
making an annual loss of more than million pounds figures released by the
english premier league champions showed monday
united declared pre tax profit of million pounds million dollars
million euros for the year up to june
but without the departure of portugal winger ronaldo sold to spanish giants
real madrid for million pounds million dollars million euros the
old trafford club would have been reporting loss of million pounds
the club figure also showed they had paid million pounds in interest on
huge loan of million pounds
turnover was up to million pounds from million year ago
united figures were released at the same time as the club announced plans to
refinance their debts by raising million pounds through bond issue
many supporters groups were concerned by the huge amount of debt the club were
saddled with as result of the takeover by united current owners the us
based glazer family in and monday move is an attempt to rebalance
united finances
manchester united today announced that it will be seeking to raise
approximately million pounds aggregate principal amount from an offering of
senior secured notes due united statement said monday
the notes whose proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt secured
against the club will be issued by mu finance plc
united aim is to raise some million pounds from its investors
the incentive for investors is that they will in turn receive an attractive rate
of interest over seven years in addition to getting their initial investment
back from united
last week united manager sir alex ferguson moved to quell fans fears that the
club debts were preventing him from signing new players with the scot
insisting the decision not to spend three quarters of the money received for
ronaldo was his alone
don have any concerns about the financial situation he said there is
absolutely no issue at all am really confident about that
concerns of the supporters are down to the fact that haven moved in the
transfer market
but that is nothing to do with the glazers or with david gill united chief
executive it is simply because am not going to pay million pounds for
striker who is not worth it
corrected deal with imf close turkish pm
ankara jan afp
turkey and the international monetary fund have resolved their differences and
an agreement on new imf loan for the country appeared near turkish prime
minister recep tayyip erdogan said monday
negotiations will be wrapped up in the space of days or weeks he said in
report carried by the anatolia news agency adding that disagreements with the
imf have been largely resolved
turkey and the imf have been discussing terms of the loan for more than year
notably on the conditions the fund would impose on ankara
the imf has never disclosed details of its differences with the turkish
government
turkish media last week said the two sides had been able to reach an accord but
the reports were denied by the imf
the imf in accorded turkey loan of billion dollars billion
euros which expired in
russia unveils own cash for clunkers scheme
moscow jan afp
russia on monday unveiled scheme similar to those employed in the west to
encourage consumers to buy new cars by handing out cash in return for their own
ageing vehicles
the details of the russian version of the scheme dubbed cash for clunkers
in the united states was announced at meeting between prime minister
vladimir putin and industry minister viktor khristenko
khristenko said billion rubles million dollars would be allocated to
buy up maximum of old cars handed in by consumers
that means trade in would be worth rubles dollars he said
which can be set against russian car brands or foreign models made in the
country
any russian whose car was made in or earlier and had owned it for no less
than one year can take part in the scheme he said in the meeting that was
broadcast on state television
khristenko said the scheme would take effect from march but putin suggested
it should begin on march and the minister duly agreed march is
international women day and public holiday in russia
the economic slowdown triggered an unprecedented crisis in the russian auto
industry which became magnet for foreign investment in recent years but then
saw sales plunge as consumers tightened their belts
worst hit has been russia biggest carmaker avtovaz maker of the lada car and
employer of people which officials admit has been pushed to the brink
of bankruptcy by the crisis
the government has also sought to wean russians who can afford to buy new cars
off the habit especially popular in the far eastern provinces of buying
second hand vehicles imported from japan and south korea
jordan wants the dead sea scrolls back from israel
amman jan afp
jordan has complained to the united nations in bid to acquire the dead sea
scrolls from israel saying the jewish state seized the ancient texts during the
six day war an official said on monday
the kingdom has filed complaint to unesco that the scrolls belong to jordan
rafea harahsheh of the country antiquities department said in statement
the government has legal documents that prove jordan owns the scrolls
harahsheh did not say when the kingdom which signed peace treaty with israel
in filed the complaint to the united nations educational scientific and
cultural organisation
the scrolls some of which are as old as the third century bc were part of
display at toronto royal ontario museum in canada that ended on sunday
we have been trying our best to restore our stolen antiquities including the
scrolls stealing our antiquities violates international treaties and ethics
harahsheh said
israel seized the scrolls and other antiquities from the palestinian museum
which was managed by jordan in east jerusalem when it occupied this part of the
city in
east jerusalem was captured from jordan during the six day war and israel later
annexed it in move not recognised by the international community
jordan has asked canada to seize the scrolls invoking the convention for
the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict to which the
two countries are signatories
so far canada has reservations we are still studying our options tourism
and antiquities minister maha khatib told afp without elaborating
canadian foreign ministry spokesman told afp earlier this month that it would
not be appropriate for canada to intervene in differences between jordan and
israel over the scrolls
in april top palestinian officials called on canadian prime minister stephen
harper to step in to cancel the exhibition
in letter to harper they argued that the texts were acquired illegally after
israel annexed east jerusalem
the parchments have shed light on the earliest origins of judaism and
christianity and are considered to be one of the greatest archaeological finds
