exciting players involved in this year competition
sacked argentine central bank chief mounts legal challenge
buenos aires jan afp
the dismissed head of argentina central bank on friday moved to challenge his
ousting in the courts his lawyer said as clash with the government deepened
president cristina kirchner sacked martin redrado thursday after he refused her
demands to release billion dollars worth of reserves to pay down the
national debt
leaving buenos aires court friday redrado lawyer gregorio badeni said he
had filed legal challenge to his client dismissal
oil tops china nigeria talks agenda
abuja jan afp
china foreign minister yang jiechi held talks with nigerian officials friday
on oil exports to energy hungry beijing at the start of six nation tour of
africa
specific issues of interest to china include increased investment in
transmissional power generation export of oil and non oil products to china by
nigeria said statement from nigeria foreign ministry
china state oil firm cnooc last year made an offer to buy six billion barrels
of oil from nigeria but the bid was turned down
nigeria was for years africa largest oil exporter but it has been caught up
recently by angola
cricket tharanga jayawardene fire sri lanka into final
dhaka jan afp
mahela jayawardene and upul tharanga cracked solid centuries as sri lanka
stormed into the triangular one day series final with crushing nine wicket win
over bangladesh here on friday
make shift opener jayawardene hit for his th one day hundred and tharanga
an unbeaten for his eighth century as sri lanka surpassed bangladesh
with more than seven overs to spare in the day night match
sri lanka top the table with three wins from as many games followed by india
and bangladesh each side will play four league matches before the
top two advance to the final on january
former captain jayawardene and left handed tharanga reduced the match to no
contest with record run stand for the opening wicket
sri lanka previous best for the opening wicket against bangladesh in one day
internationals was between sanath jayasuriya and kumar sangakkara in an asia
cup match in karachi in
bangladesh skipper shakib al hasan used as many as eight bowlers but none could
keep pressure on jayawardene and tharanga who continued to dominate the rival
attack with attractive shots
jayawardene middle order batsman initially rested for this tournament before
being summoned following injuries to couple of players looked in good touch
from the beginning
he went for shots early in his innings and took runs in an over from paceman
rubel hossain including three fours he reached his century in style firmly
cutting spinner abdur razzak for four
jayawardene hit fours in his ball knock before being caught behind off
spinner naeem islam while tharanga ball knock contained fours
sri lanka earlier did not allow the hosts to build big partnerships with
disciplined bowling effort with seamers thissara perera and nuwan kulasekara
and off spinner suraj randiv grabbing two wickets apiece
the highest stand of the innings was for the fourth wicket between shakib
and raqibul hasan but it was not good enough to help their side set
stiff target
imrul kayes mushfiqur rahim and tamim iqbal also got starts but
failed to convert them into big knocks mohammad mahmudullah hit run ball
not out late in the innings
iran arrests banned bahais over protests
tehran jan afp
members of iran outlawed bahai faith have been arrested in connection with
recent anti government protests and some weapons were seized irna news agency
quoted the tehran prosecutor as saying on friday
they were arrested because they played role in organising the ashura protests
and namely for having sent abroad pictures of the unrest abbas jafari
dolatabadi said
the prosecutor did not say how many bahais were arrested over the december
protests that coincided with the shiite religious commemoration of ashura
iranian websites said bahais were arrested in recent days
they were not arrested because they are bahais the prosecutor said arms and
ammunition were seized in the homes of some of them he added
irna also quoted the prosecutor as saying that when their cases are wrapped up
their files will be sent to the revolutionary tribunal for verdict
followers of the bahai faith founded in iran in are regarded as infidels
and suffered persecution both before and after the islamic revolution
the bahais consider bahaullah born in to be the last prophet sent by god
this is in direct conflict with islam the religion of the vast majority of
iranians which says mohammed was the last prophet
president mahmoud ahmadinejad whose disputed june re election triggered wave
of opposition protest has accused iran arch foes the united states and israel
of staging the latest anti government demonstrations
on december eight people were killed in clashes between security forces and
opposition supporters who staged fresh protests during ashura ceremonies
hundreds of people were arrested during the protests at least of whom are
still being held in tehran police say
on thursday isna news agency quoting the tehran prosecutor said iran will put
on trial five people arrested following the ashura protests but it did not
identify them
dolatabadi told irna that the five were members of the people mujahedeen
iran main exiled opposition movement and are accused of committing offences
during the ashura protests
he described them as moharebs or enemies of god who could face the death
penalty in line with islamic sharia law
the prosecutor also announced that two foreigners detained by the authorities
syrian journalist and german citizen will soon be freed he did not
elaborate
there have been no official reports in iran about the arrest of german but the
authorities said they detained syrian journalist reza al bacha who works for
dubai tv on december
ailing interim guinea junta chief due for hospital report
dakar jan afp
the interim chief of guinea junta general sekouba konate was reportedly sick
friday and due to be admitted to hospital in dakar two days after making
proposals to end political crisis
plane had been sent to conakry to fly konate to neighbouring senegal source
close to senegal presidency told afp
konate was ailing the source said but it was unclear how ill he was or the
nature of his condition
in major political initiative on wednesday konate offered power sharing
arrangement with prime minister proposed by the opposition trade unions and
civil society to pave the way for elections in guinea
one of guinea main opposition leaders cellou dalein diallo welcomed the
speech of appeasement by the guinea junta interim chief saying friday that
konate had opened the way for talks but taken no account of the major demands
of the opposition
it was how much konate absence in dakar would affect his announced plans for
change which also included vow to guarantee the safety of opposition leaders
whom he invited home in broadcast speech
this is speech of appeasement that constitutes an opportunity to relaunch the
dialogue between the forces vives coalition of opposition groups trade
unions and civil society and the authorities said diallo the leader of the
union of democratic forces for guinea speaking by telephone from paris
nevertheless the major demands of the opposition have not been taken into
account in this speech diallo added after meeting in paris with five other
members of guinea opposition
we need first to agree on the length of the transition the non candidacy of
junta and government members in eventual elections we have to set up
framework for consultations on the institutions of the transition draw up
road map and timetable for the transition he said
in his speech konate invited the opposition to choose the next prime minister
ahead of the formation of transition government and called on opposition
leaders who fled to return saying he guaranteed their safety
konate who is also defence minister took charge after junta leader captain
moussa dadis camara was shot in the head and seriously wounded on december by
his aide de camp during an altercation camara has since been hospitalised in
morocco
his proposals were welcomed by the united states and the regional economic bloc
ecowas on thursday and led one exiled opposition leader mouctar diallo to say
he would return
the bauxite rich west african country has been under military rule since
december and tensions peaked last september when troops massacred
at least people at an opposition rally
four of the leaders at the paris meeting left guinea after the massacre in
conakry stadium when hundreds of people were wounded and many women and young
girls raped in what the united nations has called crime against humanity
we wanted together to analyse and draw the lessons of the speech by general
sekouba konate diallo said
many people are focused on the nomination of prime minister but we first
need to define the institutional framework he added it matter of logic
it would be best to define his mandate and the institutional framework in which
he will act
tight security as nigerian bomb suspect due in us court
detroit michigan jan afp
young nigerian accused of trying to blow up us plane on christmas day
appears in court friday for the first time as police and marshals locked down
security around detroit courthouse
umar farouk abdulmutallab faces six charges after his arrest following the
botched al qaeda plot when device allegedly stitched into his underwear
failed to detonate on board northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit
the thwarted bombing has triggered us and global alarm leading the united
states to adopt stringent new screening and security measures at airports around
the world dozens of names have also been added to no fly lists
us president barack obama on thursday ordered sweeping overhaul of flawed
intelligence services but said ultimately the buck stops with me
he unveiled measures including strengthening us watchlists and boosting airport
screening as part of broad orders to close us security gaps
releasing two reports on the plane plot obama said spy agencies did not
properly connect and understand disparate data that could have detected the
plot earlier as it was planned by an al qaeda affiliate in yemen
he said the probes revealed that us analysts knew abdulmutallab was an extremist
and knew al qaeda in yemen was plotting an attack but could not connect the
two strands of intelligence
abdulmutallab who spent time in yemen in faces six charges arising out of
the incident including attempted murder of the people on board the plane
and trying to use weapon of mass destruction he faces life imprisonment if
convicted
ahead of his pm gmt arraignment when he is expected to enter plea
us marshals were helping local police secure the area
our security measures have been ramped up to the highest level we don
anticipate any problem but we are taking this very seriously kevin pettit
spokesman for the us marshals service in detroit told afp
there were only few visible signs of police early friday apart from truck
parked near the corner of the majestic depression era theodore levin
courthouse as light dusting of snow covered the streets
metal barricades to control traffic cut the road in half as nearly dozen news
crews had set up across the street while an american flag blew in the gentle
wind under blue skies
but inside two bomb sniffing dogs were paced from room to room and as is now
standard for courtrooms every visitor to the building passed through metal
detector
in continued sign of the heightened vigilance two alleged associates of an
afghan immigrant accused of planning attacks in new york were arrested by the
fbi on friday
they are associates of najibullah zazi who is accused of links to al qaeda in
pakistan and of plotting bombing spree in new york last year around the
anniversary of the attacks law enforcement source said asking not to be
named
obama has repeatedly singled out the zazi investigation as proof that us
intelligence is in fact doing good job against an increasingly multi headed
foe
dismissing criticism that his administration has been too soft on terror the us
president said thursday the united states was at war with al qaeda
but he vowed americans would not be forced into adopting siege mentality
group of muslim faith leaders was planning to rally outside the detroit
courthouse with signs declaring not in our name
the collective goal of all of us as our president has spoken about is to
defeat the extremists and al qaeda said organizer victor ghalib begg chair of
the council of islamic organizations of michigan
obama said failure to spot the christmas plot was not the fault of single
individual or organization but rather systemic failure across organizations
and agencies
but he added am less interested in passing out blame than am in learning
from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer
ultimately the buck stops with me as president have solemn responsibility
to protect our nation and our people and when the system fails it is my
responsibility
europe jobless recovery laid bare
brussels jan afp
the human cost behind europe jobless recovery was laid bare on friday with
data showing that one in every workers across the continent core euro
currency area is now unemployed
european union figures showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for
the euro countries hit miserable percent in november the highest rate
since the currency was launched decade ago and up from percent in october
some more people lost their jobs in the weeks before christmas
the data was released alongside confirmation that europe came out of recession
in the third quarter of with percent eurozone growth and downwards
adjusted percent expansion across the eu nations as whole
but the potential for unemployment to act as drag on that nascent recovery was
also thrown into sharp focus by the fact that spain rate hit shocking
percent meaning one in five will not be splashing out at the january sales
there
experts have repeatedly expressed fears of double dip recession on the
iberian peninsula
that would be further burden for countries labouring under strong euro
which hits exporters while government finances everywhere are under strain from
the massive spending launched to help ease the worst economic slump since the
highlighting the issue were other figures on friday showing that china had
surpassed euro powerhouse germany where the unemployment rate held steady at
percent as the world leading exporter for the first time
analysts pointed also to the real risk that action to slash greece massive
public deficit will only trigger severe contraction in its economy which in
turn could only make job prospects bleaker still
meanwhile us data showed the world biggest economy shedding much worse
than expected jobs in december denting hopes that the figures would see
recovery in the ailing labour market
as if to underline the problem the world biggest brewer belgium based
anheuser busch inbev announced plans to cut percent of its strong
staff across europe
these workers will join the more than three million people who have fallen out
of the eurozone workforce over the past months and almost five million
more across the world biggest open trading bloc
an estimated million men and women across the eu which also takes in
non euro and recession mired britain as well poland were out of work going
into the festive period of those million were in the euro economy
male unemployment rose much more sharply over the past year than female while
more than one in five among the under age group was also now out of work
howard archer of ihs global insight warned that the numbers will likely rise
significantly over coming months despite government jobs support in number
of countries led by germany
the european commission predicts that the unemployment rate will peak at
percent in despite gradual pick up in growth prospects
analyst jean pisani ferry of the brussels based bruegel institute said
seemingly paradoxical recovery without jobs lay in store
fall in november euro retail sales underlines the difficulty for policymakers
given fears that stretched households will concentrate on saving to repay debt
rather than spend
the bank of england left its key interest rate at record low percent on
thursday and archer added that european central bank rates would also need to be
kept down at percent until at least late to support recovery
corrected norway newspaper publishes mohammed cartoons
oslo jan afp
norwegian newspaper aftenposten published friday reproductions of cartoons of
the prophet mohammed one of which is thought to have led to an attack on its
danish author kurt westergaard last week
in an article on westergaard the daily printed small versions of six out of the
drawings that infuriated muslims around the world when danish newspaper
jyllands posten first published them in
several of the drawings were seen as linking islam and its revered prophet to
terrorism and suicide bombings with westergaard cartoon showing him wearing
turban in the shape of bomb
on january an axe wielding year old broke into westergaard home
screaming for revenge and blood before police alerted by the cartoonist
who had hidden in panic room shot and arrested him
referring to the case of the attacker in denmark aftenposten editor hilde
haugsgjerd said it seemed natural and justified to republish the artistic and
journalistic body of work that is likely the cause of this violence
aftenposten first published copies of the cartoons in but did not join
newspapers in many other countries when they reprinted in some or all of
them citing freedom of expression
angry crowds had demonstrated across the muslim world leaving dozens of people
dead and causing major damage to danish embassies and other facilities
eu aspirant croatia electes president on sunday
zagreb jan afp
final opinion polls ahead of sunday presidential elections in croatia put
leftwing intellectual ivo josipovic well ahead of zagreb populist mayor milan
bandic although both have similar platforms
survey by the mediana fides agency showed the opposition social democrat
josipovic with lead of almost points over bandic who is running as an
independent
the year old law professor and classical music composer won the first round
on december with percent of the vote more than double the support for
bandic
bandic who was expelled from josipovic sdp party in november when he
announced he would run for president hopes to woo supporters of the ruling
conservative croatian democratic union hdz whose candidate did not make it
into the run off
the devoutly religious mayor also has the backing of croatia powerful catholic
church but he will still have to mobilize large number of undecided voters to
bridge the gap with josipovic
both candidates are running on similar platform promising to crack down on
corruption one of the key remaining hurdles to croatia entry into the
european union and popular theme in the country which has plunged into deep
economic crisis
croatia hopes to join the bloc by putting it squarely within the new
president five year mandate
with such similar manifestos observers say voters will look to the different
personalities and viewpoints of the two candidates
the campaign led to polarisation mild mannered professor against
populist loudmouth civil left or nationalism playing with rightwing
sentiments modern or conservative croatia the novi list independent
daily commented
in zagreb friday year old professor bozena maric told afp that she would
vote for josipovic because of his steady track record despite analysts comments
that he is colourless and fails to stir the electorate
he has good programme seems to be competent honest consistent and can
represent croatia in worthy way showing its civilized european face she
said
taxi driver tadija markanovic was more taken by the outspoken year old
bandic who has spent years cultivating his image of fighter for the common
man during the campaign he hinted that vote for josipovic could see the
revival of communism in croatia
ve had enough of philosophers like josipovic bandic is man of action one
of us he had to work hard to get where he is he revived zagreb and with him
the country would make progress markanovic said
despite the candidates wide ranging pledges the croatian president has limited
powers curtailed by the incumbent stipe mesic who steps down on february
after serving the maximum two terms
in croatia the president is the supreme commander of the army helps shape
foreign policy and takes part in the nomination of secret service chiefs
in the last few weeks the campaign has been overshadowed by scramble within
the ruling hdz which expelled its former leader and ex prime minister ivo
sanader after he announced his return to politics with an attack on his
successor jadranka kosor
for while it looked like the government could fall over the affair which
analysts said hit bandic hard as it diverted attention from campaigning for the
presidency
total of million croatians are entitled to vote the polling stations open
at am gmt and close hours later the first official results are
expected by midnight
urgent sacked argentine central bank chief mounts legal challenge
buenos aires jan afp
the dismissed head of argentina central bank on friday moved to challenge his
ousting in the courts his lawyer said as clash with the government deepened
football african nations cup group squads
luanda jan afp
official african nations cup group squads with shirt numbers ahead of january
tournament in angola
cameroon indomitable lions
goalkeepers idriss kameni espanyol esp hamidou souleymanou
kayserispor tur guy ndy assembe valenciennes fra
defenders rigobert song trabzonspor tur geremi njitap newcastle eng
henri bedimo chateauroux fra andre bikey burnley eng augustin
binya neuchatel xamax sui aurelien chedjou lille fra nicolas nkoulou
monaco fra
midfielders alexandre song arsenal eng jean makoun lyon fra
stephane mbia marseille fra georges mandjeck kaiserslautern ger
joel matip schalke ger enoh eyong ajax ned landry nguemo
celtic sco achille emana real betis esp tchoyi somen red bulls
salzburg aut
strikers paul alo nancy fra achille webo mallorca esp
mohamadou idrissou freiburg ger samuel eto inter milan ita capt
gabon panthers
goalkeepers didier ovono le mans fra boris nguema telestars moto
bitseki us bitam
defenders georges ambourouet makedonija skopje mac erwin nguema
cotonsport garoua cmr bruno ecuele angers fra ernest akouassaga
nantes fra arsene do marcolino les herbiers fra moise brou
brest fra rodrigue moundouga mangasport aymar moro mve lille fra
midfielders arsene copa gyori hun alain djissikadie tout puissant
mazembe cod bruno mbanagoye sivasspor tur cedric moubamba
dhofar omn thierry issiemou monastir tun ulrich kessany
istres fra alexander ndoumbou marseille fra
strikers daniel cousin hull eng capt pierre aubameyang lille fra
willy aubameyang eupen bel fabrice do marcolino laval fra eric
mouloungui nice fra
tunisia carthage eagles
goalkeepers aymen mathlouthi etoile sahel adel nefzi club africain
farouk ben mustapha bizerte
defenders bilel ifa khaled souissi club africain ammar jemal
souhail ben radhia etoile khelil chammam esperance radhouane felhi
munich ger karim haggui hanover ger capt yassin mikari
sochaux fra
midfielders ousama darragi khaled korbi esperance chadi hammami
haithem mrabet cs sfaxien hocine ben saada nice fra mohamed ali
nafkha etoile hocine ragued slavia prague cze
strikers youssef msakni esperance zouhaier dhaouadhi club
africain ahmed akaichi etoile issam jemaa lens fra amine
chermiti al ittihad jeddah ksa
zambia copper bullets
goalkeepers jacob banda zesco utd kalililo kakonje amazulu rsa
kennedy mweene free state stars rsa
defenders dennis banda green buffaloes hichani himonde zesco utd
chintu kampamba amazulu rsa joseph musonda golden arrows rsa
emmanuel mbola pyunik yerevan arm thomas nyirenda zanaco
midfielders isaac chansa helsingborg swe noah chivuta maritzburg
utd rsa rainford kalaba uniao leiria por francis kasonde al
suwaiq oma felix katongo mamelodi sundown rsa clifford mulenga
mpumalanga black aces rsa william njobvu hapoel kiryat shimone isr
stoppila sunzu afrisport
strikers james chamanga dalian shide chn christopher katongo
arminia bielefeld ger capt emmanuel mayuka maccabi tel aviv isr
collins mbesuma moroka swallows rsa jacob mulenga utrecht ned given
singuluma tout puissant mazembe cod
greece orders tax increases to counter debt crisis
athens jan afp
the greek government on friday announced percent increase in tobacco and
alcohol taxes and higher inheritance tax as it fended off eu pressure for
drastic action to tackle its debt mountain
experts from the european commission and european central bank demanded to know
in detail when and how the necessary measures would be taken during talks
with greek leaders before leaving on friday finance ministry official told
afp on condition of anonymity
finance minister georges papaconstantinou announced the increases as he
reaffirmed the need for the country to establish financial credibility in europe
where greece troubles have raised fears over the eurozone stability
greece whose public spending deficit rose to percent of output last year
and debt to percent of gross domestic output has to present its crisis
programme to the european union by the end of the month
the socialist government is aiming to bring the deficit to below three percent
of gdp the limit imposed by the eurozone in
greece tobacco and alcohol taxes are among the lowest in europe and the
government hopes to raise one billion euros year from the tariff increase
which will start tuesday packets of cigarettes currently cost between two and
euros and dollars
the finance ministry said an increased tax on inheritances and parental gifts
would be announced later but would be retroactively applied from january
but papaconstantinou denied reports that he plans to increase sales value added
tax on goods or end the th month salary that most workers get
the minister acknowledged the eu pressure was difficult for the government to
accept
none of us is overjoyed to see group of european officials going from
ministry to ministry and proposing various things papaconstantinou said on
mega television
according to the finance ministry source the eu experts demanded that greece
put the emphasis on balancing the budget by and making the economy more
competitive
the eu wants tighter timetable for making cuts in health spending and
clamping down on non payment of welfare taxes said secretary of state for
employment george koutroumanis
the government has said it will get the spending deficit down to percent in
by cutting government spending and campaign against tax fraud pension
reforms are to be proposed by april
but many newspapers predicted even greater eu pressure on the government which
was only elected in october
the controllers are demanding reduction in pensions the extension of the
retirement age more cuts in health spending and greater control of arms
expenses the pro government to vima newspaper said
the naftemboriki business daily said the eu demanded convincing answers the
european controllers expressed doubts
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 on thursday that it should not expect an
eu bailout
papaconstantinou told the italian newspaper il sole 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
alert
sacked argentine central bank boss to mount legal challenge
virgin steps up bid to become major british bank
london jan afp
virgin money part of richard branson virgin empire took big strides on
friday towards becoming major british retail bank able to compete in
battered sector seeking to recover from the financial crisis
virgin money said it had agreed to buy regional private bank church house trust
for million pounds million euros million dollars
it plans to use the lender as platform to offer savings and mortgage products
to customers under the virgin money brand which is known for its popular credit
card and insurance offerings
the purchase is also seen as providing platform for virgin money to buy an
even bigger bank providing true competition to britain biggest retail
lenders
the church house trust business offers us strong platform for growth
branson said in statement announcing the deal
virgin money aims to bring simplicity to the uk banking market which has
traditionally been complex sector he added
virgin money said it would inject million pounds of new capital into church
house trust
britain retail banking sector was thrown into chaos by the global credit
crunch resulting in the nationalisation of northern rock and multi billion
pound bailouts of royal bank of scotland and lloyds banking group
lbg was created last year following government brokered deal to merge ailing
hbos bank with its stronger rival lloyds tsb virgin money failed in bid to
buy northern rock before it fell into state hands
the financial crisis has tarnished the reputation of many uk banks virgin
money chief executive jayne anne gadhia said on friday
virgin money will provide better different form of banking to its customers
increasing competition in the sector
