boardroom strife the fractious relationship between american co owners george
gillett and tom hicks has destabilised club looking for finance and the duo
were unpopular with supporters before tom hicks junior foul mouthed mail
rant at supporter
imf to visit romania for crisis aid talks
bucharest jan afp
an imf mission will visit romania later this month to discuss potential new
instalments of crucial aid package to the crisis hit country the imf said in
statement on friday
during january an international monetary fund mission will visit
bucharest to discuss the second and third reviews of romania economic
program imf representative tonny liybek was quoted as saying
the announcement comes one day after parliament adopted austerity budget
condition for receiving more credit out of billion euro billion
dollar rescue package agreed last year to help romania
subject to the completion of the reviews by the imf executive board both
the third disbursement and the fourth disbursement of the imf supported program
would become available liybek said
the two disbursements would total around billion euros
in note published friday analysts at capital economics research consultancy
in london welcomed parliament approval of the austerity budget but warned
against excessive optimism on romania economy
romania parliament agreed series of cuts to this year budget that
should get its imf led loan programme back on track nonetheless the economic
recovery is still likely to disappoint capital economics analysts said
they underlined that the budget cutbacks themselves will weigh on growth and
that recovery in key export markets notably germany and italy is likely to
resemble slow grind rather than rapid upswing
after years of growth romania economy is set to shrink by around percent
in the imf and the government forecast percent growth in
alert
russia duma ratifies european court of human rights reform
football hart stands down at qpr
london jan afp
paul hart has stood down as manager of london championship side queens park
rangers after just five games in charge the club announced on friday
he is the sixth boss to have held the post at loftus road in the two and half
years that former renault formula one chief flavio briatore has been the club
owner
the year old who was sacked by premier league side portsmouth late last
year had been expected to stay in the job until the end of the season but now
leaves the club after less than month
some reports suggested the decision came after hart fell out with the rangers
board over transfers while an argument with on loan midfielder adel taarabt has
also been reported
it is thought assistant manager mick harford will take charge until the end of
the campaign
qpr statement read the club can confirm that manager paul hart has decided
to leave queens park rangers football club with immediate effect
assistant manager mick harford will be taking charge of first team affairs
starting with this weekend championship fixture at blackpool
hart final game in charge was tuesday night cup defeat by sheffield
united watched by briatore and fellow co owner formula one magnate bernie
ecclestone
crowd of only watched rangers fall behind and booed hart when he
brought off midfielder alejandro faurlin to replace him with taarabt
the hoops are currently th in the championship ahead of tomorrow trip to
blackpool who are managed by their former boss ian holloway
under briatore permanent managers john gregory luigi de canio iain dowie
paulo sousa jim magilton and hart have departed while harford gareth ainsworth
twice and youth coaches steve gallen and marc bircham have had spells in
caretaker charge
former charlton and west ham manager alan curbishley has already been linked
with the role
urgent some left homeless by haiti quake un
geneva jan afp
some people have been left homeless by the devastating earthquake in
haiti which destroyed one in homes in the capital port au prince the united
nations said on friday
alert
some homeless pct of port au prince homes destroyed by quake un
world pledges million dollars in haiti aid un
geneva jan afp
the international commmunity has so far pledged some million dollars
million euros in aid for victims of the devastating earthquake in haiti
the united nations said friday
the initial funding support from some countries organisations and companies
was outlined in situation report by the un organisation for the coordination
of humanitarian affairs ocha
these are pledges ocha spokeswoman elisabeth byrs told afp ahead of first
flash appeal that the un is due to launch for haiti on friday
ukraine hopefuls seek to win over embittered voters
kiev jan afp
ukraine presidential election candidates friday made final effort to appeal
to voters deeply disillusioned with the orange revolution on the last day of
campaigning allowed ahead of the ballot
opinion polls show pro russian opposition politician viktor yanukovich the
defeated candidate in when the orange revolution street protests forced
re run of rigged polls well ahead in first place
yanukovich dour ex mechanic has expressed hope of winning sunday election
outright but it is almost certain that he will fail to win majority and that
the poll will go to second round on february
he is expected to be joined in the run off by prime minister yulia tymoshenko
famed for her traditional golden hair braid who analysts believe still has time
to make up the difference over the next three weeks
think that the intrigue is not yet over volodymyr fesenko director of the
penta centre for political studies in kiev told afp
of course it will be harder for tymoshenko to win in the second round but
think she has chances to win if she succeeds in mobilizing post orange voters
wanting european integration and wins voters from the defeated candidates
yanukovich is to hold rally billed as celebration gala concert in central
kiev at gmt with ukrainian glamour pop singers taisia povaliy and svetlana
loboda before ban on campaigning enters into force on saturday
tymoshenko meanwhile will want to ensure her second place standing is not
endangered by late surge from third place candidate businessman sergiy
tigipko who appears to have made gains over the last weeks
the final plans of the prime minister whose hoarse voice showed the effects of
the campaign as she held major address in kiev thursday were still being kept
under wraps
the election race between total of candidates is overshadowed by huge
public disappointment with the orange revolution which despite ousting the old
elite failed to bring about major reform or end corruption
president viktor yushchenko the figurehead of the orange revolution who
championed eu and nato membership for ukraine is expected to be punished for
the revolution failures and be eliminated in the first round
the president criticised for concentrating on grandiose historical issues
rather than reform will true to form spend the last campaign day presenting
book entitled to the nation containing the main speeches of his term
one of the stranger contenders is vasyl gumeniuk local politician from
western ukraine who registered his candidacy after changing his surname to
protyvsikh or against all in ukrainian to give voters the option of
vetoing all the candidates
in another example of election cynicism website entitled prodaygolos com ua
sellyourvote com emerged allowing ukrainians the chance to auction off their
vote after causing something of scandal visitors are now being told the
mysterious site is closed
analysts warn that ukraine political stability is not guaranteed even after
the february run off given the likelihood of the losing contender challenging
the results in court
the fight for the ukrainian presidency may not stop at pm on february
it is highly possible that there will be struggle in the courts and even
street protests said fesenko
tennis baghdatis to play gasquet in sydney final
sydney jan afp
marcos baghdatis will play frenchman richard gasquet in the final of the sydney
international after titanic semi final on friday
the nd ranked cypriot an australian open finalist battled for almost three
hours before prevailing over american mardy fish
baghdatis who lost to roger federer in the australian open final waged
desperate struggle with fish before claiming his eighth career final appearance
on his fourth match point
gasquet reached his first sydney final after win over fellow
frenchman julien benneteau after falling at the semi final stage in and
gasquet ranked is the first frenchman since guy forget in to play in
the sydney final and will be chasing his sixth career title and his first since
mumbai in
he and baghdatis have yet to play each other on the atp tour
gasquet prevailed in his semi final after the hawk eye review system decided in
his favour on match point after the ball was shown to have clipped the line
with hawk eye you never know what can happen was very lucky with this point
for sure gasquet said otherwise it could have gone to tiebreak and you
never know it was better to win with this shot
gasquet said it was difficult playing an atp tour match against fellow
frenchman
mentally it wasn easy to play against benneteau he said he very good
player french player and it never easy to play against countryman
know him and he knows my game
former world top player gasquet is climbing the rankings after being cleared
of doping last month by the court of arbitration for sport
korea accepts korean food aid seoul official
seoul jan afp
north korea has accepted south korea offer of tons of food aid in the
latest apparent sign it is seeking better ties after months of hostility it was
announced friday
the south had offered the corn shipment last october but there had been no
response from the communist state until now the shipment will be seoul first
official aid to its hungry neighbour for two years
north korea sent fax message saying it will receive the corn aid said
seoul unification ministry spokeswoman lee jong joo
in the south offered tons of corn but the north rejected the
shipment amid high tensions
the north reacted furiously when seoul new conservative government took office
in february and linked major economic aid to progress in nuclear
disarmament
but since august it has been making peace overtures to south korea and the
united states
on thursday the cash strapped nation proposed talks with south korea about
resuming tourism projects which had earned it tens of millions of dollars year
until relations soured
the two countries have also agreed to hold separate talks next week on ways to
revitalise their jointly run industrial estate in the north
some analysts believe the peace overtures were prompted by tougher united
nations sanctions imposed following the north nuclear and missile tests last
year
the north suffered full scale famine in the in which hundreds of thousands
died and since then has relied on foreign food aid to help feed its people
the un world food programme estimated last september that third of north
korea women and young children are malnourished it said the country would run
short of almost million tonnes of food in
us architect withdraws from jerusalem museum project report
jerusalem jan afp
leading us architect frank gehri has announced he is withdrawing from the
museum of tolerance project in jerusalem which detractors say is being built
over an ancient muslim graveyard the haaretz newspaper said on friday
the newspaper said he stepped down over planning and financial disagreements for
the museum which is being built by the nazi hunting simon wiesenthal centre
israel supreme court initially halted construction but gave the green light
after rejecting appeals in october by two muslim organisations which
complained that the museum would be built over part of an ancient muslim
cemetery
in their decision the justices pointed out no objections had been lodged in
when the municipality put parking lot over part of the graveyard
but haaretz reported that supreme court president dorit beinisch decided on
thursday to cancel plans to set up court buildings in the area
the newspaper did not say whether gehri decision and that by beinisch were
linked to the controversy over the ancient graveyard
urgent world pledges million dollars in haiti aid un
geneva jan afp
the international commmunity has so far pledged some million dollars
million euros in aid for victims of the devastating earthquake in haiti
the united nations said friday
some million live in areas hit by haiti quake un
geneva jan afp
some million people live in areas hit by strong shaking from the
magnitude earthquake that flattened much of haitian capital port au prince
this week the united nations said friday
the estimated population of port au prince is million with some
million people living in areas affected by strong shaking from the earthquake
said the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
football luanda fizzing after angola victory
luanda jan afp
luanda streets erupted into frenzied celebration thursday night as
thousands rushed out from their homes to salute the national team africa
cup of nations victory over malawi
people climbed on top of cars and buses screaming and shouting and blasting
their plastic vuvuzelas while motorbikes skidded past doing wheelies and
drivers beeped their horns and did handbrake turns in the road
fans at luanda seater th november stadium which was full to
bursting hugged each other and clapped jumping up and down waving flags and
chanting angola angola
there were similar scenes across the country as angolans went wild behaving
more like they had won the tournament not just game
even angola usually brow beaten coach manuel jose managed to crack smile
to journalists in the post match press conference
the scenes of jubilation were marked contrast to the depressed hush which fell
at the end of angola game last sunday when the palancas negras black
antelopes threw away lead in the final minutes to draw with mali
after that last result on sunday today we are all happy and we have big smiles
on our faces because angola won paulo simao told afp as he left the
stadium wearing red black and gold angolan wig and flag draped over his
shoulders
we are just so happy happy happy angola won shouted year old nina
delgado as she ran out of the stadium hugging friends and strangers
malawians were conspicuous in their absence with no defined fan groups in the
stadium or at least any which could make enough noise to beat the deafening
tones of the home crowd
the mood was slightly soured for some who took hours to get home from the
stadium crawling along in traffic on the poorly lit highways patrolled by
heavily armed police on quad bikes
but despite the late hour roadside grills sizzled and youngsters gathered
around television sets watching the highlights and drinking beer
security was tight at the venue with some gates asking fans to put their bags
through metal detectors before they entered
but apart from some pushing which nearly toppled row of police officers
holding up the metal barriers there appeared not to have been any major
incidents
angola president of yeara year old jose eduardo dos santos sat with
an angolan scarf draped around his neck beaming at the result
four seamen jailed over deadly hong kong ship collision
hong kong jan afp
hong kong court on friday jailed four seamen for the deaths of ukrainian
sailors killed when two vessels collided in the city biggest maritime disaster
in recent decades
the four were convicted of endangering the life of others at sea after the court
concluded that the collision of ukrainian tugboat neftegaz and chinese cargo
ship yaohai in march was due to their deliberate omission to act
yuriy kulemesin captain of the tugboat was sentenced to three years and two
months imprisonment the other three defendants yaohai captain liu bo and
pilots tang dock wah and bruce chun were given terms of between months and
three years
district court judge susana almada remedios said deterrent sentence was
called for to ensure the safety of lives in hong kong waters
consider this to be amongst one of the worst case scenarios as consequence
of the defendants deliberate failure to act and the resultant tragic loss of
lives
she said the defendants should have had ample time to take actions to avoid the
collision but instead they were watching listening and seeing dangerous
situation developing and doing nothing about it
the judge said that careful and prudent navigation was expected in the busy
and restricted hong kong waters
the tonne tugboat was carrying ukrainian crew and one chinese sailor
when it sank after hitting the tonne yaohai in fair weather
only six ukrainians and the chinese sailor could be saved
the court heard that the tugboat had wrongly stayed in the middle of the sea
channel despite seeing the mainland carrier approaching kulemesin testified
that he did not hear the yaohai warning whistle blasts
in mitigation the ukrainian captain lawyer told the court that the year
old would have to bear the tragedy of his crew members death for the rest of
his life
lawyers for the defendants said they would appeal
china says new loans nearly doubled in
beijing jan afp
new loans in china nearly doubled in from year ago to trillion yuan
trillion dollars government data showed friday as banks heeded beijing
calls to pump money into the economy
the figure leapt from the trillion yuan lent in the central bank said
in statement on its website
the rapid increase has raised fears of inflation and asset bubbles and beijing
has already stepped in to curb the pace
in december alone banks gave out billion yuan in new loans up from
billion yuan in november the data showed
china encouraged its banks to lend last year as part of its pump priming efforts
to boost domestic demand amid the global crisis after growth of the world
third largest economy slowed down as foreign consumption contracted
however concerns are rising that most of the bank loans and beijing
billion dollar stimulus money have been channelled into the property and stock
markets
the central bank on tuesday hiked the minimum amount of money that banks must
keep in reserve for the first time in more than year after beijing issued
series of recent calls for banks to moderate their lending activity
also on tuesday it raised the interest rate on its one year treasury bills and
last week raised hiked rate on its three month bills increasing borrowing
costs
the widely expected fiscal tightening moves came day after state media
reported banks had extended massive billion yuan in loans in the first
week of january
alert
some million dollars in haiti aid pledged by international community un
iran arrests cleric close to montazeri website
tehran jan afp
iran has arrested cleric close to late dissident grand ayatollah hossein ali
montazeri amid fresh crackdown on opposition supporters reformist website
reported on friday
mid ranking cleric hojjatoleslam mohammad taghi khalaji was arrested at his
home in the city of qom on tuesday norooznews said
the cause of his arrest is not known yet but he had on several occasions backed
protests against election results which saw president mahmoud ahmadinejad
returned for second term amid allegations of massive fraud
the website described khalaji as being close to montazeri and grand ayatollah
yusuf sanei both strong supporters of the opposition
thousands of opposition supporters poured into streets of the city of qom during
montazeri december funeral
since montazeri passed away in december aged sanei has come under mounting
pressure by hardliners
the website said khalaji was also regular speaker at tehran dar ol zahra
religious venue run by reformists
iranian authorities have launched new wave of arrests following bloody
protests during shiite mourning rituals of ashura on december
prominent journalist and human rights campaigner emadeddin baghi was arrested in
late december reportedly for interviewing montazeri an outspoken critic of the
islamic regime he helped create
alert
some million dollars in haiti aid pledged by international community un
haitians claw through debris as nation gasps for aid
port au prince jan afp
despairing haitians clawed by hand to seek survivors in the rubble of their
quake hit nation on amid frustration friday at the trickle of aid for disaster
the red cross said may have killed up to people
stench of death hung over the capital port au prince with rotting bodies
littering the streets as residents spent third night in the open rattled by
aftershocks following tuesday earthquake
despite the launch of massive global foreign aid operation there was no sign
of heavy lifting equipment among the ruins as tons of material and badly needed
supplies clogged up the international airport
adding to the logistical nightmare were reports of looting and gunshots in the
scramble for help forcing some rescue crews to stop work at nightfall
if international aid doesn come the situation will deteriorate quickly we
need water and food urgently said one survivor lucille
some dead had already been buried by thursday peru prime minister
velasquez quesquen said from port au prince after haitian officials earlier
warned the overall toll may exceed
the united nations said three million people lived in areas hit hardest by the
quake
the international committee of the red cross said the quake the largest to hit
the caribbean country in more than years had killed to
people
at port au prince flights jostled for space on the small airport tarmac and
single runway as aid poured in from around the world but the big problem was
getting it to where it was needed most
the united states has assumed air traffic control but flights were delayed as
staff struggled to unload supplies
little aid had trickled down to the streets an afp video showed scuffles
breaking out as helicopter dropped food over one part of port au prince
sporadic gunshots could be heard and witnesses said there had already been some
looting in city sadly familiar with bloodshed and natural disasters
our biggest problem is insecurity yesterday they tried to hijack some of our
trucks today we were barely able to work in some places because of that said
delfin antonio rodriguez rescue commander for the dominican republic
in the agonising wait for aid residents dug through mountains of concrete
their efforts punctuated by the screams and moans of those trapped
some set up temporary shelters with sheets and covers others trekked out
carrying meagre belongings searching for safer places outside the city
doctors struggled to treat the vast numbers of sick and injured
hundreds of corpses some mutilated and half clothed lay rotting outside the
flattened central hospital waves of distraught haitians moving from body to
body in search of loved ones
haitian born rap star wyclef jean called it the apocalypse
we spent the day picking up dead bodies all day that what we did he told
fox news
there so much bodies in the streets that the morgues are filled up the
cemeteries are filled up
dozens of people were rescued as sniffer dogs began to comb the ruins but
moments of joy were few
governments around the world promised aid donations rolled in by text message
and the internet while hollywood idols lent their star power to appeals for
funds
china france iceland the united states and venezuela were among nations with
teams on the ground
the aid coming in includes field hospitals doctors medicines search and
rescue teams with sniffer dogs water and water purification equipment food
tents blankets heavy lifting equipment as well as soldiers and experts
us president barack obama said to the people of haiti we say clearly and with
conviction you will not be forsaken you will not be forgotten
secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates were
coordinating the us effort including million dollars in immediate aid and
the deployment of more than us troops plus three amphibious ships and
several coast guard cutters
the uss carl vinson giant nuclear powered aircraft carrier was due to drop
anchor off the stricken nation later friday
the carrier cavernous space ordinarily reserved for fighter planes is now
filled with helicopters to dispatch water medicine and other aid
us state department spokesman pj crowley said that eight search and rescue teams
with total of people were on the ground and countries had sent or
pledged help
obama and french president nicolas sarkozy along with brazil canada and
others will hold conference on reconstruction the french presidency said
people throughout the world want to help said un chief ban ki moon
the united nations which has been assuming security in the impoverished
nation since said staffers had been killed in the quake the worst
disaster in the global body history while were missing
olympics finland ice hockey hopes hit by injuries
helsinki jan afp
finland olympic ice hockey hopes have been hit with two of the squad biggest
stars picking up injuries in national hockey league nhl games media reports
said friday
olympic veteran and anaheim ducks right wing teemu selaenne fractured his jaw
when puck bounced off the ice and hit him in the face in game against boston
wednesday the nhl said on its website
selaenne underwent surgery thursday and is expected to recover in two to six
weeks the nhl site said igniting speculation in the finnish media over whether
or not the star scorer would be able to play in his fifth olympic games in
vancouver
ducks team mate centre saku koivu also sat out the third period of game
against los angeles thursday due to lower body injury the nhl said
koivu is due to captain the finland team at what will be his fourth olympic
games
finland first game in vancouver is scheduled for february against belarus
urgent some million live in areas hit by haiti quake un
geneva jan afp
some million people live in areas hit by strong shaking from the
magnitude earthquake that flattened much of haitian capital port au prince
this week the united nations said friday
china says forex reserves hit record trillion dollars
beijing jan afp
china foreign exchange reserves surged to record trillion dollars at
the end of december the central bank said on friday
the reserves already the world largest grew percent from year ago
the people bank of china said in statement on its website
the central bank had said previously its reserves were at trillion dollars
as of the end of september
china forex reserves have ballooned in recent years fuelled by strong foreign
investment large trade surpluses and inflows of hot money short term
speculative funds in search of quick profits
the data marked an increase in forex reserves of billion dollars from
year earlier the bank said
china exports key driver of its forex reserve hoard softened in but
have since rebounded according to government data released on sunday
china customs bureau said the nation exports surged percent in december
to snap month falling streak
data out of germany earlier in the month showed china overtook europe biggest
economy in november to become the world top exporting nation
foreign direct investment in china doubled year on year last month to
billion dollars officials said friday
china has invested large portion of its vast reserves in us dollar assets
such as safe low yielding us treasury bonds but amid the financial crisis
beijing has tried to diversify its investments to improve returns
one way beijing has been doing this is through its billion dollar sovereign
wealth fund china investment corp which has been investing heavily in
resources companies
trade related data such as forex reserves have long been source of friction
with trading partners such as the united states
experts have said resurgence in chinese trade will likely bring renewed
pressure on beijing to let its currency appreciate
china western trading partners say beijing keeps the yuan value low to boost
its exports china has recently said it will not bow to foreign pressure to
adjust its currency policy
bargain hunting lifts stocks as intel boosts tech firms
hong kong jan afp
investor concerns that china will move to further rein in lending were brushed
aside in asia on friday as bargain hunters moved in following losses in the
morning
technology plays were big gainers after us bellwether intel the world biggest
chipmaker posted profit surge of almost percent
chinese shares fell early on but ended percent higher as investors picked
up cheap property and banking stocks
the two sectors have been the main losers on fears that beijing was likely to
impose more stringent rules to stop soaring house prices and cap lending
the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was up
points at
it is just technical rebound and the upside is likely limited as concerns
over monetary tightening are still lingering guoyuan securities analyst simon
wang told dow jones newswires
and huatai securities analyst dai shuang said there are expectations that the
government may take fresh administrative measures to rein in rapid bank lending
growth near term
in bid to ease runaway economic growth the government this week increased the
amount of money banks must hold in reserve and raised the yield on one year
bills for the first time in five months
despite the chinese rebound hong kong fell percent or points to
japan nikkei rose percent or points to its best since
