however guerrero said there were no immediate suspects in the latest blast
jolo muslim dominated island with christian minority has long been haunt
of the abu sayyaf who are blamed for the worst terror attacks in philippine
history
in september two us soldiers who were training local forces against the abu
sayyaf were killed by roadside bomb planted by the extremists on jolo island
alert
china december exports up pct year on year state tv
spain seizes van with eta explosives report
madrid jan afp
spanish police seized van loaded with explosives believed to belong the basque
separatist group eta the daily el mundo reported on sunday
the van with french licence plates was stopped by police near the northwestern
town of zamora on saturday for routine check but its driver overpowered the
officers and fled with their patrol car said the newspaper
the driver plus an accomplice travelling in another vehicle were later
detained in portugal
their identities and nationalities were not immediately known but were
suspected of being eta members el mundo reported
it was also not immediately clear if the explosives were to be delivered or the
van was intended to be used in bomb attack it added
el mundo and el pais also reported that man and woman suspected of being eta
members were arrested saturday near the central french city of clermont ferrand
in an operation in which spanish police also participated
citing sources close to spain anti terrorism police the dailies said the two
were arrested in mountainous area where authorities suspected an eta arms
cache was located
el mundo said the two were among the two most sought after eta fugitives naming
them as inaki iribarren galbetep and eider uruburu zabaleta
eta considered terrorist organisation by both the united states and the
european union is blamed for deaths in year campaign for independence
in the basque region of northern spain and southwestern france
suspect arrested over hong kong acid attack police
hong kong jan afp
hong kong police have arrested man following an acid attack that left
people injured police said sunday the latest in string of similar incidents
that have terrorised the city
the suspect who is ethnic chinese and in his was taken into custody after
police spotted him on the rooftop of building next to the scene of saturday
night attack police spokesman said
man has been arrested in connection with this case he told afp
police also found bottles believed to contain acid that was hurled onto the busy
temple street night market pedestrian shopping district frequented by
tourists he said
among the injured were nine tourists and seven year old the spokesman
confirmed
all the victims have since been treated in hospital and released
police would not say if the man taken into custody is connected to five previous
acid attacks in hong kong since late
that is now being investigated but we can say if he is connected to the other
cases the spokesman said
three attacks took place in densely populated mong kok shopping district near
the scene of saturday night attack
last month six people were injured when bottle of acid was hurled down
street in causeway bay another shopping hub which was packed with people
celebrating the hong kong football team victory over japan in the east asian
games final
american football nfl playoff results
washington jan afp
results on saturday in the national football league playoffs
st rd
american conference
new york jets cincinnati
national conference
dallas philalphia
golf glover clings to sbs lead ogilvy one shot back
kapalua hawaii jan afp
lucas glover birdied the final hole saturday to keep sole possession of the lead
in the season opening sbs championship with defending champ geoff ogilvy one
shot back
glover the us open champion started the day with three shot lead but fell
behind by two before regaining the top spot at the last where he completed
two under par for under total of
australia ogilvy climbed up the leaderboard with for
knew it was going to tighten up glover said some guys were going to play
well and some guys weren that happened to be me
at glover capitalized on shift in shift in the wind that had the par
five plaing short he reached the green in two and two putted to hold the
overnight lead for the third straight day
ogilvy round was his seventh straight in the on the plantation course at
kapalua his only mis step was bogey at where he was in bunker he too
birdied the last
plenty of players in the man field open only to last season titlists were
within striking distance four shots separated the top players going into the
final round
scotland martin laird fired for while american ryan moore carded
for
half dozen players were on including reigning british open champion
stewart cink and masters champion angel cabrera
cink carded and cabrera to join former us open champion retief goosen
of south africa matt kuchar sean hair and john rollins
it that sort of week ogilvy said there are cases when guys go crazy and
win by lot it can bunch up guys as well it doesn matter what you re
shooting
one dead two missing in indonesian floods official
jakarta jan afp
widespread flooding has left one person dead and two missing in indonesia east
java health official said sunday
water as high as one metre three feet submerged more than houses in
pasuruan district due to continuous rain since friday evening health ministry
crisis centre chief rustam pakaya told afp
one was killed and two others still missing are believed to have drowned he
added
the floods have yet to recede but the situation is under control pakaya said
floods and landslides are common in indonesia which is densely populated and
prone to frequent heavy rain
activists have warned that logging and failure to reforest denuded land in the
world fourth most populous country are often to blame
croatians vote for president to lead eu entry
zagreb jan afp
croatians vote sunday in presidential run off pitting leftwing professor
against the populist zagreb mayor with the winner expected to lead the former
yugoslav republic into the european union
final poll showed solid lead of almost percent for ivo josipovic of the
opposition social democrats sdp against his rival zagreb mayor milan bandic
who ran as an independent
josipovic won the december first round with percent of the vote more
than double the support for bandic
the year old law expert and classical music composer vowed to lead firm
and uncompromised fight against corruption key criteria for zagreb eu bid
croatia hopes to become the bloc th member by
bandic veteran sdp member expelled from the party when he announced his
candidacy for the presidency last november called on the electorate vote for
man and not for party
during the campaign the two contenders pledged similar agenda croatia eu
entry during their mandate stepping up the fight against corruption and
reviving the economy in the recession hit country
croatia where unemployment is running at around percent is forecasting
contraction of up to percent in its economy for its external debt has
now risen to nearly percent of gross domestic product gdp official figures
show
despite similar platform bandic and josipovic project vastly different images
josipovic has reputation as competent politician untarnished by corruption
but analysts say with his bookish professorial looks he has failed to connect
strongly with voters
by contrast the energetic and outspoken bandic has styled himself fighter for
the common man
he has also moved to the right trying to pick up voters after the candidate of
the ruling conservative croatian democratic union hdz party failed to make the
run off he also enjoys the backing of croatia powerful roman catholic church
total of million croatians are entitled to vote the polling stations open
at am gmt and close hours later exit polls are to be released
shortly after polls close with the first official results expected by midnight
golf sbs championship scores
kapalua hawaii jan afp
third round scores here on saturday in the season opening million dollar sbs
championship usa unless noted
lucas glover
geoff ogilvy aus
martin laird gbr
ryan moore
retief goosen rsa stewart cink angel cabrera arg
matt kuchar sean hair john rollins
kenny perry
pat perez paul casey gbr nick watney rory
sabbatini rsa
yang yong eun kor dustin johnson
steve stricker stephen ames can
zach johnson
brian gay jerry kelly
nathan green aus
mark wilson bo van pelt
michael bradley troy matteson
heath slocum
china to launch aids radio programme state media
beijing jan afp
china top state run radio network will launch programme about aids featuring
an hiv positive host in the latest sign of new official openness towards the
disease state media said sunday
the weekly programme positive talks will air each saturday beginning january
on china national radio xinhua news agency reported
it will deal with publicising knowledge on hiv aids and prevention and control
of the disease xinhua said quoting the radio station chief editor yang
wenyan
yang expected the program to give more attention care and support to china
legions of hiv infected people xinhua said
no information on the programme could be found on china national radio website
and afp could not immediately reach network officials involved with it
the government has long been accused of stifling discussion of the nation
hiv aids problem while homosexuality has for decades been taboo subject in
china
but number of signs have emerged that the government is gradually becoming
more comfortable addressing such issues openly
in china allowed the first televised ad campaign promoting the use of
condoms to stem hiv
in november the health ministry and united nations launched an ad campaign
against hiv discrimination featuring basketball star yao ming last month
china first government approved gay bar opened in the southwestern city of
dali
until china communist rulers classified homosexuality as mental
illness
but aids experts say authorities are being forced to deal more openly with such
issues in bid to stem the disease
china health ministry estimated that at the end of people were
living with hiv in the country but experts say the true figure is much higher
than the official tally which refers only to confirmed cases
the united nations has estimated between and million people may be at risk
from the disease in china
australian wwii wreck seen for first time in years
sydney jan afp
an australian hospital ship which was torpedoed in world war ii and sank with
the loss of lives was seen for the first time in years sunday when
remote control camera captured footage of the wreck
the clearly marked centaur was lost on may and only found off
australia northeast coast last month when high tech search uncovered it at
depth of metres miles
search director david mearns said he hoped sunday photographic proof would
remove all doubt and hopefully end year quest for unanswered questions and
bring comfort to many families across australia and beyond
the wreck was found leaning over towards its port side at an angle of
approximately degrees and the bow is almost completely severed from the rest
of the hull in the area where the single torpedo hit he said
although the wreck is very badly damaged characteristic markings and features
that identify the wreck as the centaur were clearly visible
australia believes the ship was struck without warning by japanese submarine
but japan says the circumstances around the sinking are unclear
among the distinctive features revealed sunday by the remotely operated
submersible vehicle equipped with camera are the large red cross on both sides
of the bow and the number that designated the vessel as australian hospital
ship
mearns said conditions for filming the wreck were not ideal because strong
seabed currents were stirring up sand and other material which was obscuring the
view more dives would be needed to completely document the shipwreck he said
in announcing the search for the lost ship last year prime minister kevin rudd
said the boat sinking struck deeply at the heart of our nation and became
symbol of our determination to fight on against brutal enemy
but statement issued by the japanese embassy in canberra said the
circumstances in which the centaur went down were not conclusive
in australian searchers found the wreck of the hmas sydney ii off the
coast of western australia the sydney then the pride of the australian wartime
fleet sank in with the loss of lives after battle with the german
raider kormoran
canada welcomes new saudi trial for arrested canadian
ottawa jan afp
canadian citizen sentenced to death in saudi arabia on murder charges will
undergo new trial the canadian government announced saturday
canada is very pleased to confirm that the death sentence against mohamed
kohail has been revoked and that retrial has been ordered foreign minister
lawrence cannon said in statement
the government of canada has repeatedly raised the cases of sultan and mohammed
kohail directly with senior saudi ministers and this case remains priority
for our government he added
brothers mohamed and sultan kohail were arrested in saudi arabia in early
on charges of killing fellow syrian student during fight
in contrast to mohamed who received death sentence sultan kohail was
sentenced to one year in jail and lashes because he was minor at the time
of the incident
lego expands its universe with online game
las vegas nevada jan afp
danish toy maker lego is seeking to build presence in the world of multiplayer
online games with the release of new videogame called lego universe
think world of warcraft second life and club penguin all wrapped into one
said lead producer chris sherland of netdevil the colorado based game
development company behind lego universe
the pc based game will incorporate many of the features of the iconic
interlocking studded plastic bricks that have delighted children and parents
the world over for years
lego universe which is to be released in the second half of the year was
unveiled at the annual international consumer electronics show ces in las
vegas which closes on sunday
like world of warcraft or disney club penguin lego universe is what is known
as massively multiplayer online game or mmo
lego universe is the first mmo based in the lego play theme netdevil
sherland told afp so there really safe social layer for kids good
parental controls there not lot of predatory stuff going on
sherland said lego universe takes place in wide open exploratory world
the back story is basically that there this evil force that has corrupted the
purest source of imagination in the universe he said
everybody in lego universe gets their own planet their own shard of the
universe and they re sort of banding together to try to defeat that force
you do that through this adventure game that basically quest based
lego universe will also allow players to make your own game play on your own
planet and then your peer group or your friends can come to your planet and you
guys can play together sherland said
bricks of course are the foundation of the game
you get bricks as loot sherland said you take those bricks and build
anything you want anything you can build in real life you can build inside lego
universe
you can repurpose bricks and turn them into other things
for example you re building vehicles to move around the universe such as race
cars you can take those cars into the shop remake them tweak them and race
them again sherland said
you re building one brick at time with creative talent that basically
limitless that super lego he said
lego has previously released star wars indiana jones and batman videogames but
they were just for up to two players while with lego universe thousands of
players can play at once he added
sherland also said that anything created in lego universe can also be ordered
online from lego com and they ll have it sent to your house with building
instructions
indian firms set to report rising profits
mumbai jan afp
indian firms are expected to announce sharp rise in profits when the quarterly
reporting season kicks off this week aided by improving business and low base
from the depths of the financial crisis
the companies that make up mumbai benchmark sensex index are forecast to
announce year on year increase in net profit of between and percent for
the quarter ending december analysts told afp
we have definitely turned the corner earnings will be robust aided by the low
base effect of the december quarter said hitesh agrawal head of research
at mumbai angel broking
india economy grew by faster than expected percent in the three months
to september picking up pace from the previous quarter when it expanded by
percent
demand across sectors is picking up and business confidence is high the
economy has been boosted by foreign capital inflows and government stimulus
packages said jigar shah senior vice president of kim eng securities india
infosys technologies the bangalore based pioneer of india flagship software
sector announces its profits tuesday the first index heavyweight to report
earnings
tcs the largest software exporter announces its earnings on january and
rival bangalore based wipro on january
india largest oil exploration firm oil and natural gas corp ongc takes its
turn on january and the country largest passenger car maker maruti suzuki
india will be centre stage on january
the improved business sentiment in india is reflected in the mumbai stock
exchange which vaulted by percent over its biggest annual gain in
years after it had declined percent in full year
such has been the force of the revival that india government and central bank
now face tricky balancing act in fighting inflation and keeping economic
recovery on track
analysts say that any monetary policy action in coming months is likely to be
mild to avoid snuffing out the recovery
the rbi could make calibrated exit from the current overtly accommodative
monetary policy edelweiss securities analyst siddharth sanyal said in latest
report to clients
hike in rates or the cash reserve ratio the amount which commercial banks
have to keep aside as deposit would take place during the first quarter of
calendar year the edelweiss report said
finance minister pranab mukherjee in december said he expected india to grow
between and percent for the year to march
shah and agrawal said the recovery would mean indian companies had to cope with
rising input costs from metals commodities fuel prices and financing if the
expected tightening of monetary policy materialises
companies have to get proactive as input costs will start to rise agrawal
told afp forecasting sensex companies to show percent profit growth in the
three months to december
india was better insulated from the direct impact of the global turmoil that hit
growth in and early due to its strong local demand base
sectors such as automobiles steel cement and infrastructure could report the
strongest results thanks to robust domestic demand analysts say
the auto sector has been one of the most robust showing record sales and export
growth last year its growth has been fuelled by several new car launches and
cheap finance
japanese controlled maruti suzuki india south korea hyundai motor and india
tata motors have all announced higher sales of cars and sports utility vehicles
last year pointing to renewed buoyancy in the indian economy
car sales in december leapt percent from levels according to industry
data
figure skating olympic hope chan coach swap surprises
winnipeg canada jan afp
world silver medallist patrick chan and his new coach lori nichol declined to
speak saturday about friday surprise announcement that chan has split from
long time coach don laws
the parting of ways between canada chan and florida based laws comes just
weeks ahead of the vancouver winter games
laws who coached scott hamilton to olympic gold advised skate canada he
would not be at rinkside when chan vies for his third canadian title next
weekend in london ontario and will not go to vancouver where the year old
will be under intense pressure to win an olympic medal next month on home soil
skate canada high performance director michael slipchuk fielded enquiries about
the unexpected development which was precipitated by chan decision to spend
recent weeks working with jump technique coach christy krall in colorado
springs
chan who won three gold medals in isu competition last season had planned
initially to spend few days with krall following his disastrous sixth place
season debut at skate canada international where he fell four times on various
triple jumps
people tend to forget that he the one skating and if he feels good about the
new arrangement we re not the ones to second guess it slipchuk said
high profile canadian coaches brian orser and lee barkell expressed surprise
about chan move coming so close to the games but echoed slipchuk sentiment
orser the two time olympic silver medallist who mentors south korean world
champion kim yu na noted they re searching for something guess it
strange time to do it but guess if his gut is telling him to do this then he
should go with it
the bottom line is he has to be comfortable and confident with who he is
working with said barkell who coached jeff buttle to the world title
if he feels good with christy and lori then obviously it will probably work
in florida chan trained alone on the ice but in colorado he shares the ice
with top americans brandon mroz ryan bradley and rachael flatt all of whom
will contend for an olympic berth at their own national championships which
begin next week
think he really liked that environment skating with his peers and he made
the decision that where he wanted to train leading into canadians slipchuk
said
don didn feel he could coach the student the way he wanted when they were
miles apart
if he couldn do the coaching his way on day to day basis then he felt he
would rather remove himself from the situation because he didn feel he was
involved and respect that decision he added
in the statement skate canada issued friday chan said he was extremely
comfortable with his preparation for the canadians and olympic games
the canadian championships begin wednesday at london john labatt centre arena
where chan will try to win his third straight national crown
figure skating olympic hope chan coach swap surprises
winnipeg canada jan afp
world silver medallist patrick chan and his new coach lori nichol declined to
speak saturday about friday surprise announcement that chan has split from
long time coach don laws
the parting of ways between canada chan and florida based laws comes just
weeks ahead of the vancouver winter games
laws who coached scott hamilton to olympic gold advised skate canada he
would not be at rinkside when chan vies for his third canadian title next
weekend in london ontario and will not go to vancouver where the year old
will be under intense pressure to win an olympic medal next month on home soil
skate canada high performance director michael slipchuk fielded enquiries about
the unexpected development which was precipitated by chan decision to spend
recent weeks working with jump technique coach christy krall in colorado
springs
chan who won three gold medals in isu competition last season had planned
initially to spend few days with krall following his disastrous sixth place
season debut at skate canada international where he fell four times on various
triple jumps
people tend to forget that he the one skating and if he feels good about the
new arrangement we re not the ones to second guess it slipchuk said
high profile canadian coaches brian orser and lee barkell expressed surprise
about chan move coming so close to the games but echoed slipchuk sentiment
orser the two time olympic silver medallist who mentors south korean world
champion kim yu na noted they re searching for something guess it
strange time to do it but guess if his gut is telling him to do this then he
should go with it
the bottom line is he has to be comfortable and confident with who he is
working with said barkell who coached jeff buttle to the world title
if he feels good with christy and lori then obviously it will probably work
in florida chan trained alone on the ice but in colorado he shares the ice
with top americans brandon mroz ryan bradley and rachael flatt all of whom
will contend for an olympic berth at their own national championships which
begin next week
think he really liked that environment skating with his peers and he made
the decision that where he wanted to train leading into canadians slipchuk
said
don didn feel he could coach the student the way he wanted when they were
miles apart
if he couldn do the coaching his way on day to day basis then he felt he
would rather remove himself from the situation because he didn feel he was
involved and respect that decision he added
in the statement skate canada issued friday chan said he was extremely
comfortable with his preparation for the canadians and olympic games
the canadian championships begin wednesday at london john labatt centre arena
where chan will try to win his third straight national crown
argentina opens court battle to oust central bank chief
buenos aires jan afp
the argentine government appealed saturday court ruling to reinstate the
central bank chief day after president cristina kirchner ordered him removed
in brewing crisis over external debt payments
federal judge maria jose sarmiento temporarily suspended the government decree
allowing the use of central bank reserves to pay down the national debt and
called for central bank boss martin redrado to be reinstated
sarmiento who denounced the presence of police vehicle outside his home as
abnormal pressure refused to hear the appeals over the weekend saying he has
no jurisdiction outside of his office
the court of appeals says the issue cannot wait cabinet chief anibal
fernandez told television
president cristina kirchner dismissed redrado on thursday over his refusal to
release billion dollars from the central bank reserves to pay down
national debt due to mature this year in bid to return argentina to
international credit markets
he was replaced by central bank vice president miguel pesce who was given
provisional control of the bank
analysts have warned of showdown between the government and opposition
lawmakers who back redrado could hit the country fragile economy
argentine bonds sank on friday on news of deepening crisis as local investors
sought better returns for increased risk raising the cost of borrowing
argentina economy latin america third largest is still struggling to
recover from massive default in which left the country finances
decimated and choked access to international credit markets
kirchner administration appealed the judge two rulings but sarmiento can
still reject the request which would pave the way for the case to reach the
supreme court
very calm convinced that fulfilled my mission to protect the savings of
all argentines redrado said friday in rejecting the government arguments to
dismiss him
he said he intended to finish his six year term expiring in september because
in its year history the central bank has had presidents that makes the
argentine system unstable
vice president julio cobos head of the senate and opposition leader called on
congress to break from its summer recess to discuss the validity of the decrees
next week
redrado became president of the central bank in under the government of
nestor kirchner husband of the current president
suspect arrested over hong kong acid attack report
hong kong jan afp
hong kong police have arrested man following an acid attack that left
people injured report said sunday the latest in string of similar
incidents that have terrorised the city
the suspect who is chinese and in his was taken into custody after police
spotted him on the rooftop of building next to the scene of saturday night
attack the south china morning post reported
police also found bottles believed to contain acid that was hurled onto the busy
temple street night market pedestrian shopping district frequented by
tourists the report said
among the injured were nine tourists and seven year old the post said adding
that all the victims have since been treated in hospital and released
police would not say if the man taken into custody is connected to five previous
acid attacks in hong kong since late
three took place in densely populated mong kok shopping district near the
scene of saturday night attack
last month six people were injured when bottle of acid was hurled down
street in causeway bay another shopping hub which was packed with people
