experiment as it was used hand in hand with education about nutrition and
encouragement to do exercise
urgent japan government accepts finance minister resignation kyodo
tokyo jan afp
the japanese government has accepted finance minister hirohisa fujii offer to
resign because of his poor health kyodo news reported tuesday citing ruling
party lawmaker
alert
japan government accepts finance minister resignation kyodo
elw cw
party expelled croatian ex premier over corruption reports
zagreb jan afp
former croatian prime minister ivo sanader was expelled from the governing hdz
party over series of high level scandals that were revealed in recent months
news reports said tuesday
the conservative hdz expelled sanader on monday day after he announced he
might return to politics following the poor showing of the party candidate in
the december presidential election
sanader was ruined by state encouraged corruption the influential jutarnji
list daily commented
this is systematic plunder of state money which the powerful premier and
head of the ruling party simply should have known about the paper said in
reference to sanader
the business poslovni dnevnik daily echoed the view
the corruption affairs have been revealed one after another but the problem
is that all of them are leading towards ivo sanader the paper commented
over the past few months zagreb has launched several corruption probes into
state run companies which are seen as hotbeds of corruption while dozens of
officials were detained
so far no official corruption probe has been launched against sanader
sanader unexpectedly retired from politics in july two years before the end of
his term as premier
last weekend year old sanader who was named the party honorary president
in july criticised his successor prime minister jadranka kosor and said he
might return to politics after the hdz candidate failed in the presidential
poll
sanader headed the hdz between and his resignation transforming it from
hardline nationalist into pro european conservative party
the fight against corruption is one of the key conditions croatia must meet if
it wants to join the european union by
more than million german bank cards hit by bug banks
frankfurt jan afp
more than million german bank cards have been hit by software bug that
cropped up on new year day the country savings bank association and private
banks said on tuesday
the problem has hit cardholders trying to use cash machines or make payments
throughout the country and abroad stems from software unable to recognise the
year and might take week to resolve the dsgv association said in
statement
global alert had gone out years ago amid widespread fears of similar
problem dubbed which is linked this time to some computer inability to
recognize the year
clients at two of the biggest german retail banks postbank and commerzbank
have also been affected but on tuesday postbank ec card functioned normally
for at least one transaction afp noted
commerzbank spokeswoman said only some of the bank cards had been affected
and that some of its machines had already been adapted to accept those in
question but did not provide detailed figures
postbank declined to comment
in addition almost half of the million eurocheque ec debit cards issued by
savings and regional banks were affected by the glitch as were million of
their roughly eight million credit cards dsgv said
the association added that the bug which it termed delayed year
problem should be completely eliminated by next monday january
it has sporadically affected atm cash machines and stores across germany and
abroad but around machines have already repaired dsgv said
moroccan court frees journalists in drugs case
casablanca jan afp
two moroccan journalists jailed last year for publishing false information
about drug trafficking ring were freed tuesday by the casablanca appeal court
judicial source said
however the court upheld fines of dirhams about euros
dollars against rachid nini director of the arab language al massae and
reporter said laajal
nini and laajal had been sentenced last november to three months and two
months in prison respectively
their newspaper report concerned the dismantling on august of major drug
smuggling ring named triha after its alleged boss who was part of group of
drug barons arrested last year in crackdown across morocco
nini told afp at the time of his conviction that the prosecutor had criticised
him for reporting that during the interrogation that followed his arrest
triha had given away the name of an official in the justice department
my sentence is meant as intimidation he said the real drug traffickers are
the ones that need to be chased
nini and laajal were granted freedom of movement under tuesday appeals court
decision
al massae is the biggest selling daily in morocco with print run of more than
copies per day
tennis chennai men results
chennai jan afp
results from the nd day of the chennai open here on tuesday denotes
seeding
st round
robby ginepri usa bt robin soderling swe
michael russell usa bt prakash amritraj ind
marcel granollers esp bt james ward gbr
tennis tennis results men singles st round
doha jan afp
results from the nd day of the qatar open here on tuesday denotes seeding
st round
andreas seppi ita bt oscar hernandez esp
steve darcis bel bt guillermo garcia lopez esp
berlin given ultimatum over wwii museum
berlin jan afp
german mp set berlin an ultimatum tuesday in row over museum commemorating
millions of ethnic germans expelled after from nazi occupied areas which
has soured relations with neighbours
federation of the expelled bdv head erika steinbach called on the government
by the end of january to agree to give the body organising the planned
documentation and exhibition centre in berlin more independence
otherwise steinbach told the frankfurter allgemeine faz daily the federation
would nominate her to the body board move likely to antagonise germany
neighbours poland and the czech republic
steinbach whose nomination is also opposed by germany foreign minister has
attracted bitter controversy for refusing to accept the german polish border
after german reunification in
she also called for the body known as the foundation for flight expulsion
reconciliation to comprise more representatives of those expelled than the
current three
the decision to create the museum by chancellor angela merkel government
followed decades of agonised debate over how to remember the million ethnic
germans forced to flee to germany from areas now in countries including poland
the czech republic slovakia and hungary which were occupied during world war
ii
many of these ethnic germans had roots in central and eastern europe going back
centuries and tens of thousands died as they fled in
the centre aims to focus on expulsion in general not just the expulsion of
germans in order counter accusations that it had put germans suffering on
par with that of victims of the nazis
merkel government has until the end of january to agree to the proposals and
choose the sensible path and put an end to this undignified discussion
steinbach said
by the end of january we will know what is doable and what is not doable so if
it is clear that the proposals are unwelcome we will go ahead with the
nomination she threatened
making the changes would have the advantage of ensuring that german
government would never have to feel blackmailed again from one neighbour or
other she added in clear reference to opposition to her in poland and the
czech republic
foreign minister guido westerwelle head of merkel new coalition partners
since september elections the free democrats fdp said he was open to all
new proposals
the faz said in an editorial however that the fdp would be unlikely to agree
anwar al awlaqi young cleric possibly behind us plane bomb
sanaa jan afp
radical us yemeni imam anwar al awlaqi who may be linked to the botched
christmas day al qaeda attack on us airliner is young cleric the united
states accuses of instigating terrorism
white house aide has directly accused awlaqi of having links with the man
suspected of shooting dead people at texas military base in november major
nidal hasan
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan has also said the
us born imam might have had contact with the man who allegedly attempted to blow
up us airliner on christmas day umar farouk abdulmutallab
think what we are clear about is that mr awlaqi was in touch with hasan
and there are indications that he had contact direct contact with
abdulmutallab said brennan on sunday
mr awlaqi is problem he clearly part of al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula he not just cleric he is in fact trying to instigate terrorism
he told cnn
awlaqi name was already cited in the november shooting at fort hood texas
after us intelligence agencies intercepted emails exchanged between him and
hasan the army psychiatrist of palestinian origin
us president barack obama on saturday accused the yemen based al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula or aqap of arming and training nigerian suspect
abdulmutallab
the new york times previously reported that abdulmutallab told fbi agents he was
connected to the al qaeda affiliate by radical yemeni cleric whom he contacted
online
security officials in yemen have confirmed awlaqi is an al qaeda member but said
he was not among its gunmen
he is not fighter of al qaeda he is just preacher said an awlaqi
relative who requested anonymity
like abdulmutallab awlaqi comes from well off family his father is former
minister of agriculture and was the president of the university of sanaa
born in the us state of new mexico in awlaqi went to yemen when his family
returned home in where he attended school he returned to america in
for his studies graduating from colorado state university in civil engineering
he later obtained master degree in education leadership from san diego state
university
while in the united states he began delivering sermons in mosques across
several states as well as working for charity association founded by the
yemeni cleric abdul majeed al zendani who the us government has identified as
global terrorist
during this time awlaqi met two of the bombers on the plane that crashed into
the pentagon building in the united states on september according to
the commission report which says they reportedly respected him as
religious figure and developed close relationship with him
he also ran websites and has authored series of audio lectures on the lives of
the prophets which are sold on the internet
in he returned to yemen and was arrested few months after his arrival for
his role in kidnapping the son of rich yemeni family and demanding ransom
money to finance al qaeda yemeni security sources said
he was set free in after the intervention of yemeni officials on condition
that he stayed in the capital and reported to police daily
but several months after his release he left sanaa for the eastern region of
shabwa where he hid in his grandfather house security sources said
it was not until after the fort hood shooting rampage that yemeni police renewed
their search for him
awlaqi admitted in an interview that he had contact with hasan whom he met nine
years ago at al hijrah islamic centre in washington
but he did not issue fatwa religious edict authorising the rampage at fort
hood said his relative
the cleric had told the washington post he blessed the act and said it was
permissible under islam because it was form of jihad or holy war
awlaqi has vanished since an air raid by yemeni forces on december struck
meeting of al qaeda leaders in wadi rafadh in the province of shabwa killing
but he appears to have survived the attack as he was not found at the targeted
site according to yemeni security officials
awlaqi is married with five children
formula one paris court overturns briatore ban
paris jan afp
paris court on tuesday ruled in favour of former renault boss flavio briatore
overturning lifetime suspension from motor sports imposed by formula one
governing body fia
the high court ruled the sanction illegal citing irregularities in fia
decision in september to ban briatore for allegedly ordering nelson piquet
junior to crash at the singapore grand prix
the scandal centred on driver piquet junior claims that the team had ordered
him to crash deliberately at singapore to enable teammate fernando alonso to go
on and win
briatore had fiercely denied any involvement in the scheme dubbed crashgate
the court said it judged irregular the september decision of the world
council of the fia regarding its rulings concerning messrs briatore and
symonds
briatore had insisted that the punishment he received last september from motor
sport governing body the fia had no legal basis
the world motor sport council had found renault breached its sporting code
adding the affair comprised conduct of unparalleled severity
the paris court awarded briatore who had been seeking million euros in
damages from the fia mere euros while former renault technical
director pat symonds who had been handed five year ban also had the
suspension overturned
symonds had sought euros in damages but received just euros
the court also called on the fia to notify its members of tuesday judgment
within days or face daily euro penalty
representatives of symonds and briatore insisted that the procedures followed in
the investigation into crashgate contravened the fia international sporting
code
the fia did not take action against piquet after he blew the lid on the affair
eu nations defend airport body scans amid privacy worries
brussels jan afp
european governments on tuesday defended plans to fast track new body scanners
into airports despite complaints that the machines invade privacy and amount to
virtual strip searching
with security experts to meet thursday the eu was split over whether to use the
devices even as the botched christmas attack on us airliner raised fears that
hard to detect bomb making materials could be smuggled onto planes
it is the most reliable instrument said italian foreign minister franco
frattini defending full body scanners on the grounds they put premium on
safety rather than fan concerns about privacy
the scanners could detect if terrorist has swallowed capsule full of
explosives and could become human bomb which would escape metal detector
the former eu justice commissioner told radio
even if the machines meant sacrifice for the privacy of passengers the
right to security is essential for all other freedoms he said as britain and
the netherlands prepare to introduce them
but in britain privacy campaigners told the guardian newspaper that the images
created by the devices were so graphic they amounted to virtual strip
searching and have called for safeguards to protect privacy
terri dowty of civil rights group action on rights for children said their use
could breach child protection laws which made it illegal to create an indecent
image or pseudo image of child
they do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way she
said
the head of spain asetra air transport passengers association ignacio rubio
said why should traveller undress in front of scanner at an airport and
not in train station why not the cleaning staff also
why not use advanced technology that does not invade person privacy he
told the publico newspaper and complained that air passengers are tired of
paying the consequences
in late the european commission abandoned plans to have the devices which
see through clothing introduced at airports across the bloc after european
parliamentarians raised an outcry about their use
spokeswoman said monday that brussels considers body scanners if they meet
the health standards and security standards as useful additional tool
providing they do not contradict existing european legislation
ultimately though the eu nations are free to do want they want
european aviation experts meet behind closed doors in brussels on thursday to
thrash out response to the christmas airline plot in which nigerian man
allegedly failed to detonate chemical bomb stitched into his underwear
the security committee is going to talk about the consequences of what
happened an eu transport official said on tuesday and to see what each eu
member state is doing
this official said it was too early to talk about full body scanners
eu justice experts are also monitoring tough new security measures being
introduced in the united states to try to stop any similar attacks president
barack obama was due to unveil an initial series of reforms later tuesday
there has to be clear transatlantic partnership when it comes to introducing
these sorts of measures an eu justice official said we are of course
observing what is going on
washington has already moved to impose stricter security on flights from
nations while random enhanced checks will be carried out on all planes landing
at us airport
travellers from the targeted countries face extra body pat downs and advanced
screening of baggage imaging and explosive detection technology might also be
used
the countries include cuba iran sudan and syria all us designated state
sponsors of terrorism as well as passengers travelling from or via
afghanistan libya pakistan somalia and yemen and nigeria
us media said the other four were algeria lebanon saudi arabia and iraq
johnson and johnson heiress found dead in la
new york jan afp
casey johnson the hard living year old heiress to the johnson and johnson
company empire has been found dead in los angeles family spokesman said
tuesday
the johnson family is mourning its tragic loss and asks for privacy during this
very difficult time the spokesman told afp
johnson whose drinking binges and rows with her lesbian lovers made her
regular in the tabloid pages was found dead monday tmz and other celebrity
news sites said no cause of death has been declared
tmz quoted law enforcement source saying that she may have been dead for
several days before her body was discovered
johnson was part of the family behind the huge johnson and johnson hygiene
products and pharmaceutical business her father woody johnson owns the new
york jets football team and had just been celebrating progression on sunday into
the nfl playoffs tournament
johnson reportedly had troubled relationship with her father and suffered from
diabetes her love life frequently involved public disputes with girlfriends
including courtenay semel daughter of former yahoo ceo terry semel according
to the new york post
her most recent relationship was with fellow tv reality show star tila tequila
the post reported that tequila sent tweet reading everyone please pray my
wifey casey johnson she has passed away
bulgarian mafia chronicler gunned down in sofia
sofia jan afp
the author of book that exposed the mafia business links was on tuesday shot
dead in the bulgarian capital sofia the interior ministry said
former radio disc jockey boris bobby tsankov was gunned down on crowded
street in the city centre his two bodyguards were injured in the incident but
survived
he was widely known to be close to the notorious drug baron anton miltenov
nicknamed the beak who was himself gunned down in
tsankov involvement with miltenov and other underworld figures became the
basis for his book the secrets of the mobsters published last november
he said recently the book which revealed links between mafia bosses and
businessmen had sparked numerous threats against him
tsankov is the second mafia chronicler to be killed in bulgaria following the
shooting in of georgy stoev former mafia bodyguard who penned nine books
about the bulgarian underworld
tsankov was also known for his role as the mastermind of fraudulent scheme
involving radio games and advertisements for which he was sentenced in
wall street sputters after big rally
new york jan afp
wall street opened mixed tuesday as traders paused day after big rally to
open the new year and awaited data offering clues on the pace of economic
recovery
the dow jones industrial average drifted down points percent to
in the first exchanges after jump of percent on monday to kick
off trading
the technology heavy nasdaq composite lost fractional points
percent to and the broad market standard amp poor index edged
up points percent to
analysts said traders were digesting the big rally to open the year which often
occurs as investors put cash to work at the start of new year
traders are in wait and see mode said patrick hare at briefing com
that is they are waiting to see if there will be follow through to yesterday
big advance which presumably stirred fears of missing out on further upside
among sidelined investors he said
right now we would all be well served not to overanalyze the market action the
gains could simply be flow of funds story as the start of new year is
typically popular reallocation period that sees stocks get boost
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on tuesday
germany banking it
berlin around million german debit cards and million credit cards have
been hit by software bug related to adapting to the new year the country
savings bank association said
japan economy business
tokyo japan business leaders warned the economy was unlikely to recover until
the second half of this year as the nation faces being overtaken by china as the
world second largest economy
japan economy politics fujii
tokyo japan prime minister said he wanted his elderly finance minister to
remain at the helm of the world number two economy despite health problems as
speculation grew that hirohisa fujii may step down
eu eurozone economy inflation price
brussels annual inflation accelerated across the nations using the euro in
december with the rate of increase for consumer prices nearly doubling to
percent official data showed
germany economy unemployment
frankfurt german unemployment is rising official data showed but short work
schemes and start ups might have helped avoid feared spike in the jobless rate
after the country worst post war recession
switzerland us food company takeover nestle kraft
zurich food giant nestle took big slice of the giant pizza market in north
america announcing the purchase of kraft foods pizza business for billion
dollars billion euros
us britain food retail company takeover kraft cadbury
washington billionaire investor warren buffett holding company berkshire
hathaway said it opposes plan by us food giant kraft to issue new shares under
plan to buy british based cadbury
japan airline company distress jal
tokyo japan airlines said it has won vital backing from its workers to slash
their pensions as tokyo signalled that bankruptcy was possibility for the
debt ridden carrier
germany aerospace defence contract company airbus
frankfurt the head of european plane maker airbus is preparing to ditch its
military transport project which has been much delayed by technical
problems and disputes with clients german press report said
greece eu economy budget deficit pact
athens greece has decided to speed up action to cut its public spending back to
within eu limits shortening the timetable by one year to finance
ministry source said
iceland britain netherlands politics banking
reykjavik iceland president said he will not sign an unpopular bill to
compensate britain and the netherlands over the failure of icesave bank
threatening the survival of the government and triggering anger in london and
the hague
india auto
new delhi global car manufacturers eyeing the explosive growth of the indian
market unveiled new compact models at the delhi auto show as they seek to break
the dominance of entrenched local producers
india us auto tata nano
new delhi the tata conglomerate maker of the nano the world cheapest car
said it was developing version of the vehicle for the us market with larger
engine and higher safety standards
mediterranean union to name arab head spain
madrid jan afp
the nascent mediterranean union is very close to naming its first secretary
general who will be from an arab country spanish foreign minister miguel angel
moratinos said tuesday
he was speaking at news conference in madrid before leaving for cairo to
attend meeting of representatives of member states
the mediterranean union is very close to naming its secretary general who
will be representative of an arab country moratinos said
he said an announcement which could come as soon as tuesday evening would
allow the union to prepare for its second planned summit scheduled for
barcelona in june as part of spain six month eu presidency
launched at paris summit in july the mediterranean union groups eu
member states with countries in north africa the balkans the arab world as
well as israel in bid to foster cooperation in one of the world most
volatile regions
but the project was the victim of the day war in the gaza strip that ended on
january last year as arab countries have refused to sit next to israel
france announced last month that the foreign ministers of egypt france jordan
spain and tunisia would meet in early january in cairo to try to revive the
grouping
romania announces surprise interest rate cut to percent
bucharest jan afp
the romanian central bank announced on tuesday surprise interest rate cut of
half percentage point to percent as the appointment of new government
ended two month political crisis
the central bank cited relative improvement in foreign investor perceptions
of the economy after an easing in domestic political tensions for the cut which
brings the key interest rate back to january levels
it said it would continue to monitor the internal and international economic
situation carefully to ensure price stability in the medium term and financial
stability
the decision came as surprise to analysts
it was unexpected think the central bank saw some encouraging signs as far
as macroeconomic indicators are concerned financial consultant aurelian dochia
told afp
also think the bank wants to give some encouraging signs for dochia
said
the economy after nearly years of growth fell into deep recession in
and the government had to seek help from the international monetary fund and
european union
at the end of december the imf said it expected the economy to have contracted
percent in worse than the percent it had estimated previously
the imf estimates the economy will return to growth of percent this year
the formation of new centre right government last month was key condition
for the imf and the european union to resume disbursements from billion
euros aid package given to bucharest to ease the impact of the global economic
crisis
if the budget for is approved by parliament before january
disbursements could resume rapidly possibility noted by the central bank
the central bank cuts its key lending rate from percent to percent
over the course of
johnson and johnson heiress found dead in la reports
new york jan afp
casey johnson the hard living year old heiress to the johnson and johnson
company empire has been found dead in los angeles news reports said tuesday
johnson whose drinking binges and rows with her lesbian lovers made her
regular in the tabloid pages was found dead monday tmz and other celebrity
news sites said
tmz quoted law enforcement source saying that she may have been dead for
several days before her body was discovered no cause of death has been
declared
johnson was part of the family behind the huge johnson and johnson hygiene
products and pharmaceutical business her father woody johnson owns the new
york jets football team and had just been celebrating progression on sunday into
the nfl playoffs tournament
johnson reportedly had troubled relationship with her father and suffered from
diabetes her love life frequently involved public disputes with girlfriends
including courtenay semel daughter of former yahoo ceo terry semel according
to the new york post
her most recent relationship was with fellow tv reality show star tila tequila
the post reported that tequila sent tweet reading everyone please pray my
wifey casey johnson she has passed away
troubled irish catholic church pays tribute to late leader
armagh northern ireland jan afp
ireland top catholic cleric paid tribute to his predecessor cardinal cahal
daly at his funeral tuesday and said the church must learn from him in
overcoming child abuse scandal
cardinal sean brady gave the homily for daly the former primate of all ireland
and archbishop of armagh who died on december aged at st patrick
cathedral in armagh northern ireland
hundreds of mourners were among the congregation including senior catholic
