india already the top ranked side in test cricket are currently behind leaders
australia in one day rankings
the tournament opens with day night clash between sri lanka and the hosts
each team will play four league matches before the top two qualify for the final
on january
india vice captain virender sehwag said ahead of the series his team were
focused on maintaining consistency
if we win the series the rankings will look after themselves he said
we have been playing very tough and good cricket for the last two years so
hopefully we will do well in it important for the team to play well
consistently we hope to do well and win the series here
india will be without batting superstar sachin tendulkar who has been rested
for the one dayers but they still have depth in batting to give good account
of themselves
india who beat sri lanka in both test and one day series at home recently have
explosive batsmen in sehwag gautam gambhir yuvraj singh and dhoni to dominate
any attack
sehwag said sri lanka were tough side to beat despite missing veterans muttiah
muralitharan mahela jayawardene and sanath jayasuriya
opener jayasuriya the world second highest scorer with one day runs
was dropped while spinner muralitharan and batsman jayawardene have yet to
recover from injuries picked up during the india tour
think sri lanka still are good side and bangladesh can also beat any team
we are not taking them lightly said sehwag
bangladesh coach jamie siddons said his side could make it to the final despite
missing skipper mashrafe mortaza and key seamer nazmul hossain due to injuries
top all rounder shakib al hasan will lead the team while shahadat hossain
replaces nazmal
sri lanka have brought team below their best they have left few top
players behind we ll be competitive against them and can push them hard
hopefully we ll beat them he said
he added that bangladesh were now better batting side and would also be
competitive against favourites india
the series will be real test for bangladesh who will be keen to build on
their one day successes last year
bangladesh clinched one day series against below strength west indies and
zimbabwe in under shakib who led the side in the absence of mortaza
the tri series will be followed by two tests between india and the hosts at
chittagong january and dhaka january
tri series squads
bangladesh shakib al hasan capt mushfiqur rahim mohammad ashraful tamim
iqbal roqibul hassan mahmud ullah riyad naeem islam abdur razzak syed
rasel shahadat hossain rubel hossain imrul kayes shahriar nafees aftab
ahmed shafiul islam
sri lanka kumar sangakkara capt tillakaratne dilshan upul tharanga thilan
samaraweera thilina kandamby chamara silva lahiru thirimanne thissara
perera muthumudalige pushpakumara malinga bandara suraj randiv thilan
thushara suranga lakmal nuwan kulasekara chanaka welagedera
india mahendra singh dhoni capt virender sehwag gautam gambhir virat
kohli suresh raina yuvraj singh rohit sharma dinesh karthik ravindra
jadeja harbhajan singh zaheer khan ashish nehra sudeep tyagi shanthakumaran
sreesanth ashok dinda amit mishra
alert
us says its yemen embassy closed after al qaeda threat
abbas to egypt for talks on mideast peace efforts
ramallah west bank jan afp
palestinian president mahmud abbas was to travel to egypt on sunday to discuss
the possible relaunch of us backed peace talks amid lingering divisions over
israeli settlement expansion
abbas spokesman nabil abu rudeina said he would meet egyptian president hosni
mubarak at the red sea resort of sharm el sheikh on monday to discuss important
developments in efforts to restart the talks
mubarak met israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu last week as diplomats
told afp that washington was preparing letters of guarantee for the two sides to
try to relaunch peace talks suspended year ago over the gaza war
us president barack obama has repeatedly called on the two sides to return to
the negotiating table but the palestinians have demanded that israel first
freeze all settlement activity and commit to framework for the talks
there are arab and international efforts to create the climate to support the
return to negotiations with the israeli side based on complete halt to
settlements abu rudeina told afp
he added that the palestinians would also require specific guidelines for the
talks including that the borders of future palestinian state encompass all of
their land that israel occupied in
the israeli position that we have seen up until now is not encouraging and it
will not be possible to return to the negotiations based on it he said
netanyahu in november imposed month halt on new construction of settlements
in the occupied west bank but excluded east jerusalem public buildings and
housing units already under construction
the palestinians have insisted that mostly arab east jerusalem occupied by
israel in and later annexed in move not recognised by the international
community be the capital of their future state
yemen welcomes uk us aid to combat al qaeda
sanaa jan afp
yemen on sunday welcomed british and us decision to fund its counter extremism
police as the two powers step up the fight against al qaeda in the impoverished
country
any assistance provided to yemen counter terrorism force will be most
welcome government official who requested anonymity told afp
we have said in the past that the counter terrorism force is still limited in
numbers and equipment while it is based only in the capital region and
conducts only few rapid operations in the provinces he said
we need to increase the capabilities of this force and widen its deployment in
addition to providing it with modern arms and air transport he added
the office of british prime minister gordon brown revealed early on sunday that
the british leader and us president barack obama had agreed to fund special
counter extremism police in yemen
the two leaders also believed more peacekeepers were needed to curtail militancy
in somalia across the gulf of aden from yemen it said
the yemeni official said that sanaa would also need help to modernise its
coastguard in light of the danger coming from somalia
obama on saturday accused yemen based affiliate of osama bin laden group of
being behind the thwarted attack on us airliner on christmas day us general
david petraeus meanwhile held talks in sanaa with yemen president
obama promised to hold the affiliate al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap
to account and said new evidence was being uncovered about the suspected
airline bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab
adulmutallab is accused of trying to destroy northwest jet carrying people
as it approached detroit by setting off explosives stitched into his underwear
the bid failed when he was stopped by passengers
japan to double credit line for troubled jal
tokyo jan afp
japan said it 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 after investors were spooked by reports that bankruptcy
was possible option for the beleaguered airline
the government has decided to expand from billion yen to billion yen
the line of credit from the development bank of japan to japan airlines corp
an official statement said
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
jal battered by the global recession and swine flu pandemic is scrambling to
slash costs and is seeking its fourth government bailout since to keep
flying 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
tennis hopman cup results
perth australia jan afp
results from hopman cup tennis tournament at perth burswood dome on sunday
group
spain bt united states
women singles maria jose martinez sanchez esp bt melanie oudin usa
men singles tommy robredo esp bt john isner usa
mixed doubles maria jose martinez sanchez tommy robredo esp bt melanie
oudin john isner usa
malaysian government to appeal allah ruling minister
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia minister in charge of muslim affairs has said the government will
appeal court ruling allowing catholic paper the right to use the word
allah
malaysia high court ruled last week the herald weekly had the right to use the
word allah after long running dispute between the government and the
newspaper in the muslim majority nation
the paper has been using the word as translation for god in its malay
language section but the government argued the word should be used only by
muslims
jamil khir johari said the country national fatwa council had ruled in may
that allah could only be used by muslims in malaysia state news agency
bernama reported late saturday
it is important for muslims here to guard the use of the word and if there is
any attempt to insult or misuse the word we must take all legal action as
allowed under the federal constitution he was quoted as saying by bernama
meanwhile the herald website was hacked at the weekend causing the site to
shut down editor father lawrence andrew told afp
our website was attacked by hackers and was shut down and we suspect it was
done by those unhappy with the present situation he said while declining to
comment on the government plan to appeal
the court ruled on thursday the catholic paper had the constitutional right to
use the word allah declaring the government ban on the word illegal null
and void
muslim groups have said they plan to protest the ruling
universiti teknologi mara political analyst shahruddin badaruddin said the main
issue amongst muslims was the fear that the use of the word by non muslims would
inflame religious tensions
it is all about the fear that allowing use of the word will make it easier for
christians to convert the local population he told afp
former premier mahathir mohamad said the use of the term had to be governed
strictly but that muslims would still be angry over the ruling according to the
new straits times
the herald is printed in four languages with circulation of week in
country with about catholics
the court case was one of string of religious disputes that have erupted in
recent years straining relations between muslim malays and minority ethnic
chinese and indians who fear the country is being islamised
afghan parliament delivers blow to karzai on cabinet
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai suffered new blow to his authority with the
rejection by parliament of most of his choices for cabinet further prolonging
political crisis in the war ravaged country
of the people karzai put forward for the cabinet only seven won approval on
saturday in secret ballot of more than lawmakers
the rejections effectively leave afghanistan without fully functioning
government dragging out political vacuum that has prevailed since an august
presidential election with ministries being run by junior bureaucrats who have
little power and no coherent plan
it is political setback said the un special representative kai eide
it prolongs the situation without functioning government which has lasted
since summer and it particularly worrying in country in conflict where
you have so many challenges and need to focus attention on urgent reform
programmes he told reporters
among those rejected were the only woman undermining karzai pledge to bring
more women into government and warlord whose pick as water and energy
minister was seen as reward for support at the august election
at time when afghanistan needs strong government think most of the
ministers who did not get through were perceived by parliament as not being
strong enough representatives of the nation said mp shukria barakzai
karzai has been attempting to rise above accusations that his government is
corrupt that he uses the international military to keep him in office and
billions in foreign aid to enrich his cronies
his cabinet list had been seen as an effort to balance obligations to his
western backers including the united states and his domestic supporters
karzai has long relied on warlords to prop up his administration but aides said
he recognised the need to appease the west to stay in power and bring some
momentum to much needed development
haroun mir director of afghanistan centre for research and policy studies
said the rejections showed up the lack of cohesion in afghan politics
there is no organisation parliament is fragmented parliamentarians vote on
their own assessment there are no political parties behind them he told al
jazeera television
the humiliating rejections came less than four weeks before an international
conference in london to discuss the political social and military needs of
afghanistan as the war strategy puts more focus on development
karzai faces going to london without coherent plan for reform as he has few
senior ministers to present and even his foreign minister the th cabinet
post is acting only until after the conference when he will be replaced
we are not yet out of political crisis said mir adding president karzai
will go to the london conference without anything to offer
also rejected were incumbents in the public health counter narcotics and
telecommunications portfolios
five of the highest profile ministers who had the western nod were approved
interior defence finance education and agriculture
even then few gained much more than the minimum number of votes required
nominees needed percent plus one vote to pass or votes as of the
mps were present
the rejects highlight karzai lack of authority with parliament questioning
the legitimacy of the nominees and their claims to be the right choices to
implement promises of clean and transparent governance
the rejections prompted call from one mp former prime minister ahmad shah
ahmadzai to call for karzai resignation
karzai was unsuccessful before the presidential election and he is unsuccessful
after the election ahmadzai was quoted as saying in the daily outlook
newspaper
his choice and his decision are not correct for parliament and it is not
correct for the country the president should now resign he must resign
those voted down included warlord ismail khan while incumbent women affairs
minister husn banu ghazanfar lost out by two votes
under the constitution rejected nominees cannot be tapped again for the same
post said parliamentary spokesman husib noori
parliament will begin day winter recess on tuesday
explorers hail historic antarctic plane find
sydney jan afp
australian explorers on sunday credited record low tides and blue moon for the
one in million discovery in antarctica of one of the world first
aeroplanes found buried in ice
the monoplane which was the first aircraft off the vickers factory production
line in britain just eight years after the wright brothers first flight was
taken to antarctica by australian explorer douglas mawson in
mawson hoped to stage the first ever human flight over the antarctic ice cap
but his dreams were dashed when the pilot who accompanied the craft from london
crashed it on the australian mainland during demonstration flight
he had rather long night at the local armed forces club in adelaide the
night before and apparently was not in the best of shape when he first flew it
australian conservationist david jensen told afp
its wings were so badly damaged they had to be removed but mawson decided he
wanted to take the vickers to the antarctic to use as an air tractor to pull
his sledges with specially made tail rudder and skis jensen said
however its engine seized up in the subzero temperatures and mawson abandoned
the vickers at cape denison in said jensen chairman of the government
backed mawson hut foundation charity
the explorer paid brief visit to the craft when he returned on two year
territory staking mission in before giving it up for good in jensen
said
armed with magnetic imaging equipment and other technology three successive
teams of conservationists and scientists from the mawson huts foundation
searched for the fuselage which was last sighted almost totally buried in ice
in
but it was the unprecedented combination of historically low tides prompted by
blue moon the second full moon in calendar month and unprecedented
melting of the ice that led to its chance discovery on new year day jensen
said
it was probably one chance in million that these conditions just allowed us
to spot it he said
one of our heritage carpenters was actually just wandering along the edge of
the harbour and he just by chance spotted the piece of the metal amongst the
rocks
you talk about once in blue moon well it was so true
the team were preparing for large scale drilling into the ice under arduous
and challenging conditions said jensen with average winds in excess of
kilometres per hour miles per hour and temperatures below freezing
had the carpenter failed to spot the relic which was under just couple of
centimetres of water in rising tide conditions it would have likely been lost
forever he added
the tide would have come in and we would never have seen it again because the
tides were at the lowest they were ever recorded at cape denison he said
jensen said the ecstatic team quickly recovered the fragments of the fuselage
and would likely bring them back to australia for treatment at the end of
january
the pieces we found are definitely of the air tractor and they can be
anything else that the last of little part of aviation history he said
malaysian government to appeal allah ruling minister
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia minister in charge of muslim affairs has said the government will
appeal court ruling allowing catholic paper the right to use the word
allah
malaysia high court ruled last week the herald weekly had the right to use the
word allah after long running dispute between the government and the
newspaper in the muslim majority nation
the paper has been using the word as translation for god in its malay
language section but the government argued the word should be used only by
muslims
jamil khir johari said the country national fatwa council had ruled in may
that allah could only be used by muslims in malaysia state news agency
bernama reported late saturday
it is important for muslims here to guard the use of the word and if there is
any attempt to insult or misuse the word we must take all legal action as
allowed under the federal constitution he was quoted as saying by bernama
meanwhile the herald website was hacked at the weekend causing the site to
shut down editor father lawrence andrew told afp
our website was attacked by hackers and was shut down and we suspect it was
done by those unhappy with the present situation he said while declining to
comment on the government plan to appeal
the court ruled on thursday the catholic paper had the constitutional right to
use the word allah declaring the government ban on the word illegal null
and void
muslim groups have said they plan demonstrate to protest the ruling
universiti teknologi mara political analyst shahruddin badaruddin said the main
issue amongst muslims was the fear that the use of the word by non muslims would
inflame religious tensions
it is all about the fear that allowing use of the word will make it easier for
christians to convert the local population he told afp
former premier mahathir mohamad said the use of the term had to be governed
strictly but that muslims would still be angry over the ruling according to the
new straits times
the herald is printed in four languages with circulation of week in
country with about catholics
the court case was one of string of religious disputes that have erupted in
recent years straining relations between muslim malays and minority ethnic
chinese and indians who fear the country is being islamised
japan to double credit line for troubled jal
tokyo jan afp
the japanese government agreed sunday to double state funded credit line for
troubled japan airlines to billion yen billion dollars local news
agencies reported
the extra funding was agreed at meeting of cabinet ministers including
transport minister seiji maehara and vice prime minister naoto kan jiji press
said
jal battered by the global recession and swine flu pandemic is scrambling to
slash costs and is seeking its fourth government bailout since to keep
flying in the face of mounting losses
the state run development bank of japan had set credit line of billion yen
in november and has already paid out just over half of the total to the carrier
asia largest airline
shares had plunged to record low on wednesday the final day of trading last
year after reports that bankruptcy was possible option for the cash strapped
carrier spooked investors
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
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
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
us britain widen anti terror front in yemen
london jan afp
the united states and britain have agreed to finance special counterterrorism
unit in yemen as us president barack obama for the first time blamed an al qaeda
branch in that arab country for attacking us airliner
british prime minister gordon brown and obama also want to see bigger
peacekeeping force in somalia to tackle violent radicalism in the region
downing street and the white house have agreed to intensify joint us uk work to
tackle the emerging terrorist threat from both yemen and somalia in the wake of
the failed detroit terror plot said statement made public here
amongst the initiatives the pm has agreed with president obama is us uk funding
for special counter terrorism police unit in yemen
in somalia the document went on to say the pm and president believe that
larger peacekeeping force is required and will support this at the un security
council
brown and obama have discussed the situation in these two countries in series
of phone calls
obama on saturday accused yemen based affiliate of osama bin laden group of
targeting the jet on christmas day us general david petraeus meanwhile held
talks in sanaa with yemen president
obama on vacation in hawaii promised to hold the affiliate al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap to account and said us probes were revealing new
evidence about the suspected bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab
we know that he traveled to yemen obama said in his weekly video address
it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula trained him equipped him with those explosives
and directed him to attack that plane headed for america
it was the first time that obama had blamed the al qaeda cell for the attack
though aqap had previously claimed the thwarted bombing and us officials spoke
of linkage to the group
adulmutallab is accused of trying to destroy northwest jet carrying people
as it approached detroit by setting off explosives stitched into his underwear
the bid failed when he was stopped by passengers
on friday britain called an international meeting on combating extremism in
yemen for london january in parallel with conference on afghanistan
drawing senior ministers or leaders from over nations
yemen praised the talks as step in the right direction that will mobilize
international support for yemeni development and its efforts to battle
unemployment and the effects of poverty
petraeus the us regional commander met yemeni president ali abdullah saleh on
saturday the local saba news agency said
obama aides gave few details of the talks which coincided with reports of
american involvement in strikes against extremists there
general petraeus was in yemen today as part of our ongoing consultations with
and efforts in support of yemen senior obama administration official said on
condition of anonymity
obama was briefed on the talks by his top anti terror official john brennan
saba said petraeus praised saleh for the success of the operations against al
qaeda and reaffirmed washington support for yemen in its efforts to fight
terrorism
meanwhile cbs news citing us special operations expert sebastian gorka
reported that recent strikes on al qaeda positions in yemen including cruise
missile attacks were led by the united states
obama was expected back in washington monday on the eve of key meeting on the
attack with chiefs of us spy agencies and government departments with national
security responsibilities
michael leiter director of the us national counterterrorism center warned
saturday the christmas day attack would not be the last
while this attempt ended in failure we know with absolute certainty that al
qaeda and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to
test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland he said
the nctc was set up after the september attacks in exposed disastrous
lack of intelligence sharing among us spy services but has been one of number
of agencies criticized over the northwest airlines attack
obama last week angrily denounced what he called systemic failures in the us
intelligence and homeland security operation and vowed to put them right
the wider threat from islamic militancy was also underscored saturday after
danish police charged man linked to somali islamists with the attempted murder
of cartoonist notorious for his drawing of the prophet mohammed
the year old somali national broke into the home of cartoonist kurt
westergaard wielding an axe and was shot and wounded by police
crises to greet obama return to washington
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us president barack obama monday swaps his hawaiian vacation hideaway for
washington with resurgent fears of airborne terror and iran nuclear defiance
darkening his already daunting agenda
challenges facing the white house in including the worst economic
meltdown in years look if anything likely to be trumped by the building
crises threatening to rage through
hyper partisan politics will get even more nasty with republicans targeting
gains in mid term elections in november which normally wound first term
presidents and democrats defending their grip on congress at all costs
the thwarted christmas day attack on us airliner reintroduced the terrifying
and polarizing specter of terrorism into american life just as wary normality
was easing memories of the september attacks in
criticism of obama handling of the attack is likely to complicate his task of
enacting an ambitious domestic program he will attempt to address what he says
are systemic us failures over the episode by meeting spy chiefs tuesday
obama plan to close the guantanamo bay camp already set to miss one year
deadline looks in deep peril nearly half of the remaining detainees are
from yemen where the christmas day attack was planned
yemen with its building al qaeda presence is widening front for us forces in
the global anti terror struggle along with pakistan and afghanistan
iran beset by its own political turmoil is meanwhile escalating the showdown
over its nuclear program with washington seeking tougher sanctions
tehran last year spurned obama engagement push leading the president foes
to brand him as naive
recent deaths of seven cia employees in afghanistan meanwhile underscored the
political risks and deep human cost of the president strong troop surge
into afghanistan
fresh global challenges come as obama faces percent unemployment which is
dampening hopes for economic recovery and his own political prospects
republicans are painting obama as big spending big government liberal and
