football africa cup of nations quarter finals line up
lubango angola jan afp
complete africa cup of nations quarter finals line up times gmt
sunday
at luanda
angola ghana
at cabinda
ivory coast algeria
monday
at benguela
egypt cameroon
at lubango
zambia nigeria
romania to send more troops to afghanistan
bucharest jan afp
romania plans to send more troops to afghanistan adding to the country
strong contingent serving with us and nato forces there the presidency
said thursday
the country supreme council of defence headed by romanian president traian
basescu approved supplementing with troops the forces participating in
operations in afghanistan the statement said
this increase adds to boost already announced by bucharest in june when the
council decided to send some additional troops to afghanistan in
date for that deployment has not been specified
the two increases mean romanian troops in afghanistan will number this
year the statement said
bucharest currently has soldiers in afghanistan in nato
international security assistance force isaf and as part of the us led
operation enduring freedom
president barack obama announced in december the deployment of additional
us troops in afghanistan and called on allies to increase their forces on the
ground
eu wants to strengthen its border control agency
toledo spain jan afp
the eu wants give more powers to its border control agency frontex to fight
illegal immigration outgoing eu justice commissioner jacques barrot said
thursday
we are revising frontex framework we have launched consultations to provide
more means to frontex so that is is more effective and can better organize
repatriation flights he told news conference at meeting of eu interior
ministers in toledo
barrot was reacting to joint letter sent by france and greece to spain the
holder of the rotating presidency of the eu calling for beefed up powers for
frontex
it urged closer collaboration between frontex countries of origin and transit
countries as well as regular charter return flights paid for by frontex
the letter was signed by greek citizens protection minister michalis
chrysochoides and french immigration minister eric besson
operational since october frontex has been tasked with patrolling
kilometres miles of the eu sea borders and kilometres of land
frontier
based in warsaw it has gradually increased its powers since it was set up in
it launched its own network of sea patrols
italy uncovers buffalo mozzarella fraud
rome jan afp
italy has placed producers of prized buffalo milk mozzarella under watch after
inspectors discovered traces of cow milk in samples of the product the
agriculture ministry said thursday
analysis of protected status buffalo mozzarella detected the presence of traces
of milk in about samples out of the purchased at points of sale
throughout italy ministry spokesman giampiero beltotto told afp
the investigation will involve inspections at all members of buffalo
mozzarella makers consortium of whom around have already been identified as
breaking the rules including the consortium president luigi chianese
the european union protected designation of origin pdo means product must
be produced in given geographical area using recognised procedures
agriculture minister luca zaia told italian public radio that the move was not
prompted by health concerns since buffalo mozzarella is absolutely safe but
to protect the made in italy label
mozzarella was at the centre of health scare in when samples of the
cheese were found to have raised levels of dioxin which increases the
likelihood of cancer
more than buffalo mozzarella farms were quarantined and several countries
temporarily banned imports of the delicacy
beltotto said consumers could not tell the difference between mozzarella made
from percent buffalo milk and that containing cow milk
the problem was not the taste of the product which was good but since the
state finances the promotion of this pdo mozzarella it must enforce the
procedures used in its production he said
consumer advocacy group aduc demanded the break up of the consortium arguing
that in some cases the proportion of cow milk exceeded percent
the farmers association coldiretti voiced concern over the impact of the
scandal on the mozzarella production sector which employs people
haiti struck by another aftershock
port au prince jan afp
haiti was hit thursday by magnitude aftershock that was strong enough to
cause officials here to interrupt government meeting although there were no
immediate reports of damage
the usgs said the aftershock hit at gmt and was centered kilometers
miles west southwest of port au prince with depth of about kilometers
miles
an official with haiti council of ministers said the temblor was sufficiently
strong that the government moved its meeting which was in progress at the time
out of doors
the meeting was interrupted because of small earthquake said marie laurence
jocelyn lassegue the country culture and communications minister
they decided to move outside she said
microsoft releases patch for ie hole
san francisco jan afp
microsoft on thursday released patch for an internet explorer ie
software hole through which china based cyber spies attacked google and other
firms
microsoft continues to see limited and targeted attacks against internet
explorer only jerry bryant senior security program manager at microsoft
said in statement
microsoft recommends customers deploy this security update as soon as possible
to protect themselves against the known attacks he said
microsoft deemed the software fix so important that it veered from its usual
protocol of releasing security updates the second tuesday of each month
microsoft will host public webcast starting at pm pacific time
gmt on thursday to discuss the security update and field questions
urgent obama slams supreme court over corporate donations
washington jan afp
president barack obama slammed the us supreme court thursday for lifting curbs
on big business donations to political campaigns warning of new stampede of
special interest cash in politics
slumdog director to do stage play of frankenstein
london jan afp
danny boyle the british director of oscar winning slumdog millionaire is to
direct stage play adaptation of frankenstein it was announced on thursday
nicholas hytner the director of the national theatre in london revealed that
boyle will make his debut at the venue by directing play based on the novel by
mary shelley later this year
hytner said the scot who began his career at london royal court and at the
royal shakespeare company was returning to his first love after being
distracted by the film world
danny first talked about this eight years ago and it has taken him eight years
he said he was coming back to the theatre after being distracted by years of
film making hytner said
boyle who also directed cult film trainspotting intends to make playwright
nick dear new adaptation of frankenstein large scale and theatrically and
visually ambitious stage production hytner added
he is as comfortable here in the theatre as he is holding his camera in the
slums of mumbai the director said
he has very particular take on the material by shelley but it will be
exciting to see what has been altered by what he has discovered about himself
through years of film making
haiti president says government on course to control
port au prince jan afp
haiti government is in the process of regaining control and organizing aid
efforts in the wake of the devastating january earthquake president rene
preval said thursday
it is difficult to work as before the quake but we re on course to regain
control preval told reporters here
the aid is being organized and the situation will continue to improve he
pledged
answering criticism of his government weak response to the quake preval
said haiti has just suffered catastrophe that would have been major
disaster for any country
the presidential complex the parliament the courthouse many ministries and
other government buildings were destroyed in the quake preval noted saying all
government documents were lost at that time
but from his temporary offices near the international airport preval assured
haitians over of whom are thought to be dead and over half million
homeless that the government was working to resume regular operations amid
the ruins
people will have noticed that we have collected corpses preval said
referring to the enormous death toll that left dead bodies lying piled in the
streets of the capital
the gas pumps have begun to be supplied and the banks reopened today preval
added
on the problem of getting the tons of the humanitarian aid out of the congested
main airport to his citizens preval acknowledged coordination is the most
pressing issue today and insisted that relief would get through
also responding to criticism on the lack of government visibility on the streets
of the destroyed capital the president maintained that working to organize the
rescue and aid operation was their most important mission
kennedy successor wins warm us senate welcome
washington jan afp
republican senator elect scott brown won warm welcome thursday on his first
visit to the us senate since his shock victory in the race to succeed the late
democratic icon ted kennedy
this is the best place in the world when it comes to solving problems and
we ve kind of lost our way the new senator from massachusetts for now
political superstar said as he arrived at the us capitol
brown met with handful of his future colleagues including top democratic
allies of president barack obama vowed to quickly study often arcane senate
procedures and promised not to vote in lockstep with republicans
don owe anybody anything brown said as he met with democratic senator
john kerry of massachusetts if see bill that is good for my state
going to vote for it and that my first priority
brown victory stripped obama democrats of their already fragile vote
supermajority enabling gleeful republicans to stall legislation like the
president top domestic goal remaking us health care
we are really really happy to have him here and he ready to get to work
and we re ready to help him get started said senate republican minority leader
mitch mcconnell
kerry longtime friend of kennedy who had sometimes sharp words for brown in
the campaign leading up to tuesday vote said he hoped the newest us senator
would be sworn in as expeditiously as it can happen
you have to work across the aisle here to make things happen americans don
just elect democrats and republicans they elect people to be responsible with
the people business look forward to working with scott said kerry
brown who appears set to take the oath next week first visited republican
senator john mccain to thank him for his early support of his long shot bid for
the seat kennedy held for nearly half century
senator brown represents think the dreams and the hopes and the
frustrations that americans feel today and they want the kind of leadership
that the commonwealth of massachusetts just sent us said mccain
brown said mccain was one of the first people to actually you know look me in
the eye in this very office and say well it long shot but with you
if you feel you can win it
brown who also met with mcconnell and senate democratic majority leader harry
reid said he would try to keep his sense of humor and hoped his future
colleagues and obama would as well
he said he spoke with reid by telephone late wednesday and we had nice talk
cracked few jokes
when spoke to the president we had lot of laughs and told him he has to
keep his sense of humor because you need to said brown that one of the
things that kind of insulates me from lot of the negativity
we re going to have an interesting time this year said reid you are going
to enter the senate at time when the country in deep trouble
obviously have lot to learn and thankful that people on both sides of
the aisle have made my initial visit here certainly very pleasant said brown
adding sure there ll be tough times ahead
sacked french workers free bosses at swedish firm
fraisses france jan afp
french workers facing job losses from the closure of swedish owned metals
plant on thursday released four managers they took captive to press demands for
better severance pay
the factory director human resources director and two other bosses at the
akers plant in central france were detained wednesday by workers angry over the
shutdown and loss of jobs
after spending the night in factory meeting room the managers were finally
released early thursday evening
union officials said the angry workers were demanding lay off package of
euros for each worker but the managers said the swedish headquarters were
refusing to negotiate while the bosses were being held
no one has the right to treat us like trash and get rid of us with just
euros dollars the sum reportedly on offer said one worker at the site
in fraisses southwest of lyon
akers announced three months ago that it planned to shut down the fraisses plant
in june citing collapse in customer orders
french workers last year carried out series of bossnappings to protest
layoffs but no such radical action has been taken over the past months
president nicolas sarkozy in april spoke out against the detentions saying
there were illegal and vowed to take action
alert
obama slams supreme court for lifting curbs on corporate campaign cash
somalia eritrea singled out for abuses against reporters
addis ababa jan afp
somalia and eritrea were the most hostile for journalists in africa last year
press freedom watchdog said thursday calling one of the most difficult
years for reporters on the continent
eritrea and somalia were identified as the most hostile spots for journalists
in africa jim boumelha international federation of journalists president
told afp in addis ababa
thirteen journalists were killed and jailed on the continent last year said
the brussels based group
nine journalists were killed by armed militias in war ravaged somalia in
while are being held incommunicado in eritrea boumelha said
the year was one of the most difficult for press freedom on the african
continent the group said in report
four journalists including two eritreans captured by ethiopian troops during
their invasion of somalia in remain in jail in ethiopia it added
boumelha in addis ababa for talks with african union and ethiopian officials
also urged the bloc to sign un resolution calling on warring parties to
prevent abuses against journalists
us partners will not back down on iran clinton
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton vowed thursday that the united states and
its partners will not back down in the face of iran defiance on its disputed
nuclear program
let me be clear we will not be waited out and we will not back down clinton
told reporters
she said the united states will continue our close consulations on the next
steps with four other un security council permanent members russia china
britain and france plus germany
but she gave no details about when the so called plus would next meet after
weekend meeting in new york at the political directors level yielded no
apparent results and was attended by lower level chinese official
china as well as russia have been more reluctant to support tougher sanctions
on iran than the united states or its european partners
iran has long balked at an offer from the vienna based un international atomic
energy agency iaea to ship abroad low grade nuclear fuel so it can be further
enriched and returned to refuel tehran medical research reactor
in vienna diplomats said wednesday the islamic republic had effectively
rejected the deal because it refused to accept some of the conditions called for
by the west and insisted on simultaneous exchange of fuel
western countries have ruled out such an exchange as unacceptable
the proposal made by the iaea last october which was supported by france
russia and the united states continues to be on the table said iaea
spokeswoman gill tudor
the proposal is designed to buy breathing room as the big powers try to halt
iran uranium enrichment which the west fears masks drive to build
nuclear bomb
denying the charge iran says it seeks peaceful uses of nuclear energy
russian firm to produce cheap electric cars
saint petersburg jan afp
russian auto company yarovit motors said thursday it was preparing to launch
project to produce low cost electric cars with funding from one of the
country biggest tycoons
the cars will reportedly sell for around euros dollars
all the necessary documentation is ready the project will be carried out by
yarovit and mikhail prokhorov will be the investor company spokeswoman
anastasya aksenty told afp without giving further details
metropol bank analyst andrei rozhkov said the investment would be around
billion dollars with initial production of cars year
the yarovit plant was set up in in the northern russian city of saint
petersburg major hub for the russian auto industry
the russian car market once europe fastest growing has been badly hit by
the economic crisis with sales falling more than percent last year
prokhorov metals business tycoon was listed in by forbes magazine as
the richest man in russia with fortune of billion dollars
football dunfermline reinstated in scottish cup
glasgow jan afp
dunfermline were dramatically reinstated in the this season scottish cup on
thursday just week after being kicked out of the competition for fielding an
ineligible player
the pars thrashed stenhousemuir in the fourth round
but their victory was called into question when it was found calum woods had
come off the bench in the second half at east end park despite the scottish
football association suspension list declaring him banned for the match
the sfa threw first division dunfermline out but on thursday an independent
appeals panel ordered the fourth round tie be replayed but at second division
stenhousemuir ochilview ground and fined the pars approximately
pounds
date for the match has yet to be set but potentially lucrative last home
tie against glasgow giants celtic definitely awaits the winners
dunfermline were also initially punished for other administrative errors during
the original tie including submitting an inaccurate team line altering named
substitute and not registering two outfield under players
the sfa insisted they had to expel dunfermline to protect the tournament
integrity but the pars argued their punishment was excessive
but after thursday reversal dunfermline director of football jim leishman
said we can still only apologise to the dunfermline fans that we are in this
situation but we are delighted that we are still in the cup
last week we thought we were out the cup but we got the chance to present our
case and we are delighted to have the opportunity to go forward
we got fair hearing
we will be making an official statement but as say we can only apologise
but we are delighted
he added stenhousemuir have been magnificent in this
they haven said anything against it they have went with the judgment
conan brien leaves nbc in million dollar deal reports
los angeles jan afp
conan brien has left nbc in reported million dollar deal it was
confirmed thursday ending an ugly public feud surrounding the fate of us
television long running the tonight show
nbc television said in statement it had reached settlement with brien and
later confirmed that the funnyman predecessor jay leno would return to host
the show he helmed for years until he stepped down seven months ago
nbc and conan brien have reached resolution of the issues surrounding
brien contract to host the tonight show with conan brien the statement
said adding brien would be free to work elsewhere after september
brien would make his final appearance on the tonight show on friday
while leno would return as host on march nbc said
we re pleased that jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed
brilliantly and successfully for many years said jeff gaspin chairman nbc
universal television entertainment
he is an enormous talent consummate professional and one of the hardest
working performers on television
brien manager gavin polone told the wall street journal his client was
satisfied with the deal and hoped to return to work soon
in the end conan was appreciative of the steps nbc made to take care of his
staff and crew and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of
his own pocket polone said
now he just wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible
nbc television will hope the deal which will see brien pocket around
million dollars with the balance going to his staff draws line under what
has been public relations disaster for the network
the bitter wrangling went public earlier this month when reports circulated that
brien show was to be given new am scheduling slot to accommodate
new half hour program hosted by leno
it followed nbc decision to cancel leno prime time show starting at pm
after only four months following poor ratings
however brien refused to accept the change quietly accusing nbc in public
letter of attempting to destroy the tonight show and vowing to quit his long
term deal if the change went ahead
many entertainment industry figures have spoken out in support of brien and
during the golden globe awards on sunday broadcast live by nbc several
celebrities poked fun at the network with julia roberts laughing that company
was in the toilet
the saga had also become nightly staple of brien opening tonight show
monologues where he repeatedly ridiculed his nbc paymasters this week telling
the audience in spanish that the network was run by brainless sons of goats who
eat money and crap trouble
other talkshow hosts have also found the feud hard to resist with cbs david
letterman taking regular potshots at leno who quit the tonight show last year
under long standing agreement to step aside for brien
on wednesday leno decided to hit back referencing letterman on air admission
last year he had had sexual affairs with staffers
letterman been hammerin me every night oh going after me leno said on
his current show which will end on february you know the best way to get
letterman to ignore you marry him he will not bother you
guinea new caretaker pm formally named
conkary jan afp
guinea interim junta leader general sekouba konate signed decree thursday
formalising the appointment of its new caretaker prime minister said an
official statement on public radio
jean marie dore president of the union for progress of guinea spokesman for
the forces vives coalition is named interim prime minister the decree read
guinea named dore for the position on tuesday under deal aimed at guiding the
military ruled country out of month political and human rights crisis
dore will be tasked with leading the west african state to presidential
elections in six months time and restoring democratic government derailed by
december coup
he was injured in the massacre of more than opposition demonstrators during
rally in conakry stadium on september which plunged guinea further into
crisis
finnish pm email may have been breached government
helsinki jan afp
finnish police are investigating whether an it company employee accessed the
prime minister email and took an image from it with the aim of selling it the
government said on thursday
it is possible that the breach took place in when an employee of the
company that then provided it services to the state administration unlawfully
opened messages in the prime minister office mail and took possession of
at least one image in order to financially benefit from it the government said
in statement
the prime minister office requested helsinki police begin an investigation in
december when the incident was revealed the government said
the suspected employee had passed security check and had been in the prime
minister study to resolve mailbox error the government said
the office mail service is not used to handle top secret issues relating for
example to foreign and defence policies it said
football zambia derail highrollers gabon to make last eight
benguela angola jan afp
zambia derailed highrollers gabon here on thursday to qualify for the africa
cup of nations quarter finals for the first time in years
goals in either half from rainford kalaba and the chinese based james chamanga
earned herve renard side who went into the game footing group place in
the quarters along with cameroon who drew with tunisia over in lubango
zambia burst out of the blocks in benguela as befitted team that needed the
three points to escape the clutches of group whereas the daniel cousin
captained gabon required just solitary point
on minutes zambia had their first major opportunity after neat move
involving felix katongo and jacob mulenga only for the utrecht striker to shoot
high over the woodwork
the gabon defence was under pressure for the first real time in the tournament
as zambia maintained their energetic start
by far the more menacing of the two sides zambia south africa based felix
katongo brother of skipper chris katonga squandered another gilt edged
opportunity when he scuffed the ball from in front of goal
zambia took deserved lead in the th minute when defender kampamba slid the
ball upfield to kalaba and the uniao leiria midfielder kept his cool to knock
the ball from the left of the box past the onrushing gabon keeper ebang ovono
that was the first goal gabon had conceded since arriving in angola
at the break with tunisia leading cameroon in lubango it was the tunisians
and zambia who were set to march on
but with cameroon levelling shortly after the break that put them in three way
tie with zambia and gabon on four points with gabon the ones to miss out
herve renard zambia twice africa cup of nations runners up emerged for the
second half intent on killing off the tie
lax defending led to zambia second goal with mulenga fighting off gabon
defender moise brou to cross the ball from the near post to the waiting chamanga
with the forward tapping in to an open goal
with news filtering through that tunisia had retaken the initiative over in
lubango as it stood it meant the tunisians and zambia went through with gabon
missing out on their head to head record
cameroon leveller in lubango left them going through with zambia
zambia had to survive nerve tingling final eight minutes after gabon got back
into the match when hull city striker cousin floated in high ball from the
left flank for substitute fabrice do marcolino to shoot past ovono
zambia will be without the services of suspended chintu kampamba for the
quarters after the defender picked up his secoond booking of the competition
us partners will not back down on iran clinton
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton said thursday the united states and its
partners will not back down in the face of iran defiance on its disputed
nuclear program
let me be clear we will not be waited out and we will not back down clinton
told reporters
high levels of vitamin cut risk of colon cancer study
paris jan afp
high levels of vitamin are linked with lower risk of colon cancer according
to comparison of more than half million europeans published online friday
by the british medical journal bmj
patients with the highest levels of vitamin in their blood had nearly
percent lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to those with the lowest
levels
vitamin derived mainly from sunlight but also found in foods plays key
role in bone strength by increasing levels of calcium in the blood
whether it affects incidence of cancer has been hotly debated and the evidence
is sketchy
the paper draws on very large study the european prospective investigation
into cancer epic project carried out in western european countries
the authors sound note of caution saying it is unclear whether vitamin
supplements are any more effective than balanced diet or getting regular
exposure to sunlight
further work is needed they add to show whether the statistical link in this
investigation is born out and whether there could be any side effects from
taking supplements or eating food fortified with vitamin
smoking obesity sedentary lifestyle alcohol and eating red and processed
meats have previously been established as factors in cancer of the colon and
rectum
french president to visit rwanda next month kigali
kigali jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy will visit rwanda next month after the two
countries resumed diplomatic ties marred by mutual recriminations over the
genocide rwanda foreign ministry said
the announcement came after france newly appointed ambassador to kigali
laurent contini presented his credentials to rwanda foreign minister louise
mushikiwabo on wednesday
the french envoy informed the minister of the slated visit of the french
president nicolas sarkozy on february statement said
it will be the first visit by french president since the genocide in which
some people were slaughtered
the two countries announced in november the resumption of relations severed in
after french judge issued warrants against president paul kagame top
