srinivasan said in press release
south africa drew three test series on their last tour of india in
tennis brisbane international results first update
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the first day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
sunday denotes seed
first round
women
kim clijsters bel bt tathiana garbin ita
alicia molik aus bt ekaterina makarova rus
barbora zahlavova strycova cze bt olga govortsova blr
vania king usa bt sybille bammer aut
indian pm admits climate talks let down
new delhi jan afp
indian prime minister manmohan singh who successfully fought against binding
caps on emissions at the copenhagen climate talks admitted sunday that all
parties involved were unhappy with the results
singh told science conference in the city of thiruvananthapuram that world
leaders were able to make only limited progress at the copenhagen summit and no
one was satisfied with the outcome
there is no escaping the truth that the nations of the world have to move to
low greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficient development path he said
at last month talks india and other emerging nations such as china thwarted
plans for legally binding emissions caps arguing the importance of maintaining
rapid economic growth
india insists that developed countries blamed for most global warming thus far
should bear the burden of mitigating its future effects
india per capita emissions are among the lowest globally as much of the
country is without power but in volume terms it is still among the top five
carbon emitters
at copenhagen total of billion dollars was pledged from to help
poor countries in the firing line of climate change rich nations also sketched
out target of providing billion dollars annually by
the deal set the aim of limiting warming to two degrees celsius degrees
fahrenheit but set no binding targets to reduce emissions of gases that
scientists say are heating the world atmosphere to dangerous levels
indian environment minister jairam ramesh has welcomed the lack of binding
measures and praised the united front presented by major emerging countries
diplomatic battle erupted over the summit final agreement which has been
widely panned for its failure to oblige countries to implement emissions
reductions
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
us britain to finance yemen anti extremist force
fresh blow for karzai as cabinet rejected
london sanaa the united states and britain agree to fund special counter
extremism police in yemen after the thwarted bombing of us airplane in which
the alleged culprit was trained in yemen us attacks nigeria
kabul afghan president hamid karzai suffers new blow to his authority when
parliament rejects most of his cabinet nominees afghanistan unrest politics
cairo palestinian president mahmud abbas in cairo ahead of talks on monday with
egyptian president hosni mubarak aimed at reviving the middle east peace
process mideast conflict diplomacy
copenhagen developments in danish police investigation into somali charged with
trying to kill cartoonist for his depictions of the prophet mohammed denmark
attacks media islam police
angra dos reis brazil rescuers search for more bodies from an avalanche of mud
and rock that buried luxury hotel filled with new year revelers as the
death toll from landslides in the country south rises to brazil floods
peshawar pakistan pakistan rounds up dozens of suspects over suicide attack
that killed people at volleyball match pakistan unrest
tehran iran already at risk of fresh un sanctions over its atomic drive has
given the west an ultimatum to accept uranium swap deal or see tehran
produce its own nuclear fuel iran nuclear politics
washington counter terrorism advisor john brennan to appear on sunday talk
shows as investigation continues into the failed al qaeda bid to blow up us
airliner us attacks nigeria
new iran sanctions within month israeli minister
jerusalem jan afp
the un security council will adopt fresh batch of sanctions against iran
within month deputy foreign minister danny ayalon of tehran arch foe israel
said
the world is uniting against iran nuclear programme and within month we
will see un security council sanctions the liberal haaretz daily quoted ayalon
as saying
there is agreement in washington moscow and beijing that nuclear iran would
destroy the current world order he said
ayalon comments came as the new york times reported that the president barack
obama administration believes domestic unrest and signs of unexpected trouble in
iran controversial nuclear programme make its leaders particularly vulnerable
to strong and immediate new sanctions
obama strategists believe iran top political and military leaders have
been distracted in recent months by turmoil in the streets and political
infighting and that their drive to produce nuclear fuel appears to have
faltered the report said
the white house wants to focus the new sanctions on the islamic revolutionary
guards corps the spearhead of iran armed forces that is also believed to run
the nuclear weapons effort the times said
widely believed to be the middle east sole if undeclared nuclear power israel
and the united states suspects iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under
the guise of civilian nuclear programme charge tehran denies
korean court backs pakistani gay refugee bid report
seoul jan afp
south korean court said on sunday it had ruled in favour of gay pakistani
man who sought refugee status on the basis that he faced persecution back home
yonhap news agency reported
the seoul administrative court said it had overturned decision by the justice
ministry to deny refugee status to the man whose name and age were withheld
the court cited high likelihood that the plaintiff will be subject to
persecution if repatriated to pakistan where homosexuality can be punished
the man applied for refugee status citing his sexual orientation early last
year having arrived in south korea in
my life as homosexual was in danger in my country yonhap quoted him as
saying
my family and relatives were my enemy they said was insulting my family
islam and my country and threatened that they would report me to police
the administrative court ruling now has to be reviewed by the supreme court
before becoming final
south korea signed on to the united nations refugee treaty in it has
since granted asylum to out of applicants for refugee status
pakistan backlash after volleyball bombing kills
peshawar pakistan jan afp
pakistan authorities faced furious backlash sunday over security and medical
failures after suicide bomber killed people at volleyball match in one of
the country worst attacks
police rounded up dozens of suspects and authorities opened an investigation
into poor medical care as doctors in the remote northwest struggled to treat the
casualties many of them lying on the hospital floor
the suicide bomber rammed car bomb into crowd of men women and children
watching the tournament in shah hasan khan village pro government area in the
district of lakki marwat reducing sporting event to carnage on friday
police said the death toll had risen to with wounded being treated in
three different hospitals making it the third deadliest attack in nearly
three year extremist campaign in the nuclear armed muslim country
there was only one doctor on duty while there are doctors working in that
hospital said syed zahir ali shah north west frontier province health
minister conceding limited health care had caused more human losses
after the blast several hours passed but the other doctors didn come
don know why they were missing we have opened an inquiry and committee has
been constituted he said
there were scenes of chaos sunday at the hospital in the town of lakki marwat
said they were short of medicine and beds overwhelmed with casualties
even now the injured are undergoing treatment on the hospital floor some have
brought their own beds doctor usman ali told afp by telephone
my daughter died because of the poor facilities in the hospital there was no
bed no medicine and not even the ray machine was working shopkeeper riaz
khatok told afp from the hospital
there was nowhere else in lakki marwat to take the wounded most of the dead
died because of bleeding he added
the local peace committee that organised the tournament and heads local anti
taliban militia blamed the government for failing to prevent the attack
the security personnel at the checkpost didn search the vehicle and the
militants managed to hit us they can target us again the government should
provide security for us said sher ali khan one committee member
suspicion has fallen on tehreek taliban pakistan ttp and its allies in north
waziristan where us drone attacks have increasingly targeted al qaeda fighters
and the haqqani network which is known for attacks in afghanistan
for two months pakistani troops have pressed an offensive trying to wipe out
ttp hideouts in south waziristan sparking multiple revenge attacks
we have arrested suspects and are interrogating them this village is
adjacent to the bhitni area of south waziristan and the bomber came from that
area district police chief mohammad ayub khan told afp
suicide and bomb attacks blamed on the taliban and al qaeda linked militants
have killed more than people in pakistan since july increasingly
targeting civilians as well as government security installations
under huge us pressure to crack down on militants destabilising the border with
afghanistan where us and nato troops are fighting the taliban pakistan
has launched wave of offensives in its tribal belt
in the north roadside bomb killed two anti taliban tribal elders and wounded
four others in khararri village in bajaur officials said
the moment they got out of their vehicle remote controlled bomb exploded
killing the two elders and wounding four of their companions naseeb shah
local administrative official in the area told afp by telephone
one of the dead malik zahirullal headed an anti taliban militia in khararri
and the second man was member of the militia he said
officials said the bullet ridden bodies of man and woman were also found
dumped on the outskirts of khar with letter saying all those who go against
sharia will face the same fate from tehreek taliban
cricket ntini axeing could signal end of test career
cape town south africa jan afp
makhaya ntini was dropped from the south african team on sunday in move which
could hasten the end of notable test career
ntini did not travel to the ground after being told that he was not in the
team for the third test at newlands the ground where he started his test
career against sri lanka seasons ago
although the team was not announced publicly until shortly before the toss the
players were informed of the selection on saturday and ntini was given the
option of returning home according to team spokesman michael owen smith
ntini axeing had been widely anticipated after he performed poorly in the
first two tests against england
in the calendar year he took only wickets in six tests at an average of
experts believed that loss of pace had reduced his effectiveness
speculation about the future of man described by both captain graeme smith and
coach mickey arthur as one of south africa iconic cricketers was fuelled by
report in the london sunday telegraph which claimed ntini was set to join
english county middlesex as kolpak player which would preclude him from
playing international cricket
the sunday telegraph claimed ntini intended to announce his retirement from
international cricket and that he had signed pre contract agreement with
middlesex
owen smith said he was unaware of ntini reaching an agreement with middlesex
he is contracted to cricket south africa which means he cannot sign any
contracts without csa agreement he said
ntini has had special status in south african sport as the first black african
to play test cricket for the country although three others have also won test
caps ntini remains the only black african to hold down long term place in the
team
at his best ntini was able to bowl tirelessly at high pace he has taken
test wickets at an average of second only to south african record holder
shaun pollock who took
ntini has taken ten wickets in match on four occasions the most by any south
african and claimed the best match figures in south african test history when
he took for against the west indies in port of spain in
the decision to drop ntini was not taken lightly in country where political
considerations are an unavoidable reality
it sensitive issue in south africa smith said in his captain pre match
press conference on saturday when asked about the debate surrounding ntini
place
japan to double credit line for troubled jal
tokyo jan afp
japan agreed on sunday to give new lifeline to troubled japan airlines by
doubling state funded loan for the carrier to billion yen billion
dollars
the government decision comes after shares in asia largest carrier plunged to
record low last week when investors were spooked by reports that bankruptcy
was possible option for the beleaguered airline
in november the state run development bank had set credit line of billion
yen for japan airlines and has already paid out just over half of the total
the extra funding was agreed at meeting of cabinet ministers including
transport minister seiji maehara and vice prime minister naoto kan the day
before the stock market resumes trading after new year break
the ministers confirmed that we will have jal rehabilitate itself while it
keeps flying maehara told reporters
kan said the amount of the loan enables jal to cope with every possible
circumstance
jal battered by the global recession and swine flu pandemic is scrambling to
slash costs and is seeking its fourth government bailout since in the face
of mounting losses
local media have reported that the state backed enterprise turnaround initiative
corp etic which is overseeing jal restructuring is considering the
possibility of the carrier filing for protection from creditors
etic is expected to decide on financial package for the carrier in mid
january
but airline president haruka nishimatsu said in an interview with the asahi
shimbun newspaper published on sunday that he was opposed to any bankruptcy
filing and also had no plans to halt international flights
legal liquidation gives an image that will affect us and reduce the number of
our clients he said
the airline which lost about billion dollars in the six months to
september has said it plans thousands of job cuts and drastic reduction in
routes as part of its efforts to return to profitability
on thursday the mainichi shimbun newspaper reported that the government was
discussing plan which which would see rival all nippon airways ana take over
jal international flights
but nishimatsu dismissed such plan as impossible
demand for air traffic particularly in asia is rapidly expanding it provides
tremendous business opportunity he told asahi
jal has been offered financial assistance by both american airlines and delta
air lines which are competing to take minority stake in the japanese carrier
eyeing its coveted asian landing slots
nishimatsu said he was in favour of the airline switching to delta global
alliance skyteam from the oneworld group of american airlines
asia will have open skies in the future skyteam has many asian members
he said
the global economic downturn has dealt heavy blow to jal efforts to recover
from long period of financial turbulence stretching back to its privatisation
more than two decades ago
snow paralyses beijing as china braces for deep freeze
beijing jan afp
freezing front swept over much of northern china sunday with snowstorms
snarling new year traffic and air travel and some of the lowest temperatures in
decades are forecast for the next few days
snow storms were expected to continue through monday and the mercury was set to
plunge in the next hours when china returns to work following three day new
year holiday the beijing meteorological station said
gale force winds sweeping down from siberia could result in temperatures as low
as minus degrees celsius minus three degrees fahrenheit in the capital on
monday and tuesday it added
according to the beijing youth daily such temperatures would be the lowest in
the capital in years
heavy snows greatly hampered traffic at beijing capital airport where about
percent of all flights were delayed or cancelled on sunday the last day of the
holiday china central television said
over flights were delayed and about flights were cancelled stranding
thousands of passengers it said
to ensure safety under the snowy icy and foggy conditions only one of the
airport three runways were in operation much of sunday reports said
travellers were urged to call ahead to check on the status of flights before
making the trip to the airport
inbound and outgoing flights at other airports in north china were also
experiencing similar delays and cancellations they said
major highways in beijing and tianjin as well as in the surrounding provinces
and regions of hebei shanxi and inner mongolia were closed due to the heavy
snowfall earlier sunday but some of the roads opened up later in the day china
central television said
long distance bus travel in north china was also being hampered by the weather
but the nation rail system was operating normally reports said
with snows expected to continue in the region throughout the night traffic was
likely to become even more snarled when the nation returns to work on monday
the reports said
us says its yemen embassy closed after al qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
the american embassy in yemen closed on sunday in response to ongoing al qaeda
threats to attack us interests an embassy statement said
the us embassy in sanaa is closed today january in response to
ongoing threats by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to attack american
interests in yemen said the statement posted on the embassy website
on thursday the us mission sent warden message to american citizens in the
country reminding them of the continuing threat of terrorist actions and
violence against amercian citizens and interests throughout the world
aqap had called on monday for further attacks on westerners in the arabian
peninsula as it claimed the failed christmas day attack on us airliner
we call upon every muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist
in expelling the apostasies from the arabian peninsula by killing every
crusader who works at their embassies or other places declare it an all out war
against every crusader on mohammad peninsula on land air and sea said an
aqap statement
the united states and britain have agreed to fund special counter extremism
police in yemen after us president barack obama on saturday for the first time
blamed the al qaeda franchise in yemen for the thwarted attack
on september the us embassy was the target of an attack claimed by al
qaeda in which people were killed seven attackers and others including
yemeni guards and civilians one of them an american woman
last month the defence ministry newspaper said that raid north of the capital
on december killed four suspects and foiled plot to bomb the british
embassy in sanaa
yemen on sunday welcomed the british and us decision to fund its counter
extremism force
any assistance provided to yemen counter terrorism force will be most
welcome government official who requested anonymity told afp
the official also said that sanaa would also need help to modernise its
coastguard in light of the danger coming from somalia
somalia shebab insurgents pledged on friday to send militants across the gulf
of aden to yemen to help the al qaeda affiliate behind the failed us airliner
bombing
two trains collide in turkey killing one report
istanbul jan afp
two trains collided on sunday in northwestern turkey killing one person and
injuring several others anatolia news agency reported
the crash occurred in rural area of bilecik province as both trains travelled
between istanbul and the northwestern city of eskisehir
one of the trains did not stop for red light anatolia said citing sources in
the transport ministry
one rail employee was killed in the crash and another was hurt the report said
two passengers at the front of the trains were also injured
rescuers were working to free passengers it said
train accidents have been frequent on turkey ageing railway network
nine people died when passenger train derailed in western turkey in january
in july people were killed when newly inaugurated high speed train
derailed in the northwest while another collision some three weeks later led to
eight deaths
us says its yemen embassy closed after al qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
the american embassy in yemen closed on sunday in response to ongoing al qaeda
threats to attack us interests an embassy statement said
the us embassy in sanaa is closed today january in response to
ongoing threats by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to attack american
interests in yemen said the statement posted on the embassy website
on thursday the us mission sent warden message to american citizens in the
country reminding them of the continuing threat of terrorist actions and
violence against amercian citizens and interests throughout the world
aqap had called on monday for further attacks on westerners in the arabian
peninsula as it claimed the failed christmas day attack on us airliner
we call upon every muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist
in expelling the apostasies from the arabian peninsula by killing every
crusader who works at their embassies or other places declare it an all out war
against every crusader on mohammad peninsula on land air and sea said an
aqap statement
the united states and britain have agreed to fund special counter extremism
police in yemen after us president barack obama on saturday for the first time
blamed the al qaeda franchise in yemen for the thwarted attack
cricket south afrioca drop ntini england to bowl in third test
cape town jan afp
england won the toss and sent south africa in to bat on the first day of the
third test against south africa at newlands on sunday
fast bowler makhaya ntini was dropped from the south african team and replaced
by friedel de wet
light rain delayed the start by half an hour and skipper andrew strauss
decision was probably influenced by damp and heavily overcast conditions
ntini omission had been widely expected after the test veteran performed
poorly in the first two tests of the series which england lead
ntini did not participate in the south african team pre match warm ups
report in the london sunday telegraph claimed ntini intended to announce
his retirement from international cricket and that he had signed pre contract
agreement to play for english county middlesex as kolpak player
cricket south africa media spokesman michael owen smith said he was unaware of
ntini reaching an agreement with middlesex
he is contracted to cricket south africa which means he cannot sign any
contracts without csa agreement he said
england announced the same team that won the second test in durban by an innings
and runs with paul collingwood passed fit after suffering dislocated left
index finger in durban
teams
south africa from graeme smith captain ashwell prince hashim amla
jacques kallis ab de villiers jp duminy mark boucher wkt paul harris
morne morkel dale steyn friedel de wet
england andrew strauss captain alastair cook jonathan trott kevin
pietersen paul collingwood ian bell matt prior wkt stuart broad graeme
swann james anderson graham onions
umpires daryl harper aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire aleem dar pak
match referee roshan mahanama sri
china to put top judge on trial for graft
beijing jan afp
one of china former top judges will be tried for taking up to four million
yuan dollars in bribes in one of the nation most high profile graft
cases the state press said sunday
huang songyou former deputy head of the supreme people court will go on
trial by the first week of march making him the highest judicial official to be
tried since the establishment of new china in the chongqing evening news
said
huang is being accused of abusing power enabling profit for others taking
bribes and living corrupt and lavish life the report said
he allegedly accepted massive bribe to arrange favourable ruling in huge
real estate case in the southern chinese province of guangdong in that
benefited friends and cronies the report said
yang xiancai former chief judge at the guangdong provincial high court has
also been linked to the case along with other officials in the guangzhou
intermediate court in guangdong provincial capital the southern metropolitan
daily said
native of guangdong huang once served as judge on the provincial high
court
as one of china best educated judges huang was seen as leading figure
pushing china down the path toward constitutional legal system when he was
appointed vice head of the nation supreme people court in late
his trial is expected to come ahead of china annual parliamentary session in
the first week of march the reports said
chinese president hu jintao has repeatedly warned that corruption is one of the
greatest threats to the legitimacy of communist party rule and has vowed to
crackdown on graft
china judiciary is rife with corruption with judges known to take bribes in
wide array of civil cases often linked to lucrative real estate and business
deals
top court officials in beijing and chongqing as well as guangdong hubei and
liaoning provinces have recently been convicted for taking money from attorneys
in exchange for favourable rulings
the former vice head of beijing western district court year old guo
shengqui was sentenced to death with two year reprieve in late for
taking bribes and kickbacks from real estate developers and lawyers
can ghana serbian coach says he perennial optimist
accra jan afp
most football coaches might have given up title hopes on injury worries to one
or two key players but not milovan rajevac the coach of the ghana senior
national football team which has been hit by serious injury crisis to key
players ahead of the africa cup of nations expected to kick off in seven days
serbian trainer milovan rajevac is optimistic that ghana could still pick up
fifth title at the end of the three week competition to make him the first
foreign coach to achieve the feat with the team
the absence through injury of experienced and regular players such as captain
stephen appiah of italian side bologna john mensah of english premiership side
sunderland fulham john paintsil and laryea kingston of scotland hearts
means the coach must vary his game plan and tactics
know that foreigner is yet to win the competition and want to become that
first coach to deliver the title and it is possible rajevac told journalists
last week before the team left accra for nelspruit south africa to begin their
pre tournament training
german trainer otto pfister came close to winning the trophy with the black
stars in but lost out on penalties to ivory coast in senegal
ghana under frenchman claude leroy finished third when it hosted the last
edition of the tournament
also on the injury list but is expected to recover and join the rest of the team
before the commencement of the tournament is chelsea midfield kingpin
michael essien who limped off clutching his hamstring in chelsea champions
league game against apoel nicosia
rajevac has blended his squad with eight members of the fifa under world cup
winning team in egypt last year
you can see the coach has brought in talented youngsters who have shown great
quality already so while it unfortunate that injuries have come we have to
concentrate on what we have eric addo roda jc holland was quoted as saying
by the official website of the ghana football association
the injuries will deny ghana of some badly needed experience at the tournament
but the ghana football association vice president fred pappoe says there is no
point brooding over the losses
am perennial optimist don pay attention to the dark side of life
injuries have come injuries will come so we can brood about it am not
looking at the players injured am looking at those here he told local
television station by phone from the team camp in south africa
the serbian coach has axed inter milan midfielder sulley muntari regular
player in the team from the tournament squad on the grounds of indiscipline
back on the street of accra not everyone is sharing in the optimism of the
coach and officials despite conceding to the technical capabilities of the
coach
for me do not think we can do well in angola with the absence of these key
players wonder if the young lads can stand the difficult and rather physical
game usually exhibited during the african cup of nation football tournament
perhaps luck will be on our side johnson armah football enthusiast told
afp
the black stars have been drawn in group of the can alongside ivory coast
burkina faso and togo in an all west african battle
us says its yemen embassy closed after al qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
the american embassy in yemen closed on sunday in response to ongoing al qaeda
threats to attack us interests an embassy statement said
the us embassy in sanaa is closed today january in response to
ongoing threats by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to attack american
interests in yemen said the statement posted on the embassy website
urgent us says its yemen embassy closed after al qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
the american embassy in yemen closed on sunday in response to ongoing al qaeda
threats to attack us interests in the arabian peninsula country an embassy
statement said
cricket india eye top ranking in dhaka tri series
dhaka jan afp
india will be keen to extend their impressive run in triangular series
starting in dhaka on monday and boost their hopes of becoming the top ranked
side in one day cricket
they have won six of their last seven bilateral one day series under mahendra
singh dhoni and title triumph here against new look sri lanka and
resurgent bangladesh would ensure them the number one ranking
