spill on mock floor set up at demonstration booth
it not random it can sense everything in the room if the furniture moves or
there are kids or pets there no problem
the robots are designed to get into room corners and edges and under furniture
or baseboards an advanced navigation system uses light sensor feedback to let
mint clean around obstacles and avoid missing spots
to do the job well evolution had to rewrite the book on how floor cleaning is
done said the california firm chief executive paolo pirjanian
mint packs aerospace grade technologies that were specifically tailored to
deliver consumers with an appliance that cleans like they do while still
providing hassle free experience
mint robots can operate for three to four hours cleaning approximately
thousand square feet square meters before needing to be recharged
the devices will be priced less than dollars us each when they hit the
market in the second half of this year according to bridwell
evolution believes that folks drawn to robotic floor cleaners such as irobot
disk shaped roomba will see advantage in also having device specially designed
for un carpeted floors
we think people will want both bridwell said
football africa cup of nations angola mali
luanda jan afp
result of opening africa cup of nations match here on sunday
group
at luanda
angola flavio gilberto pen manucho pen mali keita
kanoute yattabare
alert
football angola draw with mali in african cup of nations
urgent togo team plane leaves for home after attack in angola
cabinda angola jan afp
togo team plane took off for home on sunday after rebel attack that killed
two of their squad ahead of the africa cup of nations football tournament an
afp correspondent reported
alert
togo team plane leaves for home after attack in angola afp correspondent
nbc yanks tv comedian leno show from prime time
los angeles jan afp
veteran comedian jay leno for years king of late night television in the united
states is being ousted from his prime time perch nbc announced sunday
conceding that an experiment to air his talk show in an earlier time slot had
failed
the jay leno show as of february no longer will fill the coveted pm
gmt time slot nbc said following complaints from local stations that
his low ratings were hurting the popularity of programs that followed his
in november we started hearing from our affiliates that our local news is
being impacted more than we expected nbc universal television entertainment
president jeff gaspin told gathering of television critic in pasadena outside
of los angeles
at the end of november they told us it not really getting much better for us
in some cases we had number one newscast now we re number three he said
towards the middle of december they made it clear they would be more vocal
about their displeasure realized this would not go well if we kept this and
made the tough call he said
leno reportedly has been flirting with other networks but his plans following
the announcement sunday were not immediately clear
speculation has been rife for weeks that the program by one of television most
celebrated figures was endangered
it was unclear how the broadcaster would plug what will now be gaping hole in
its lineup leno show was moved to the pm prime time slot amid much fanfare
after years long run in the pm gmt late night time slot
television analysts said nbc may fill the gap with its newsmagazine dateline
or might choose to move an established drama show like law amp order into
the time slot
airing of the show nightly in nbc coveted pm slot was always considered
gamble marking the first time in us television history that major broadcast
network ran series five nights week in prime time
analysts say nbc was taking chance on the show generating more profits than
the scripted dramas it is replacing because its production costs are far lower
network officials said at the time of the move in september that it was
always an experiment and that they were only giving the show one year trial
in prime time
nbc yanks tv comedian leno show from prime time
los angeles jan afp
veteran comedian jay leo for years king of late night television in the united
states is being ousted from his prime time perch nbc announced sunday
conceding that an experiment to air his talk show in an earlier time slot had
failed
the jay leno show as of february no longer will fill the coveted pm
gmt time slot nbc said following complaints from local stations that
his low ratings were hurting the popularity of programs that followed his
in november we started hearing from our affiliates that our local news is
being impacted more than we expected nbc universal television entertainment
president jeff gaspin told gathering of television critic in pasadena outside
of los angeles
at the end of november they told us it not really getting much better for us
in some cases we had number one newscast now we re number three he said
towards the middle of december they made it clear they would be more vocal
about their displeasure realized this would not go well if we kept this and
made the tough call he said
leno reportedly has been flirting with other networks but his plans following
the announcement sunday were not immediately clear
speculation has been rife for weeks that the program by one of television most
celebrated figures was endangered
it was unclear how the broadcaster would plug what will now be gaping hole in
its lineup leno show was moved to the pm prime time slot amid much fanfare
after years long run in the pm gmt late night time slot
television analysts said nbc may fill the gap with its newsmagazine dateline
or might choose to move an established drama show like law amp order into
the time slot
airing of the show nightly in nbc coveted pm slot was always considered
gamble marking the first time in us television history that major broadcast
network ran series five nights week in prime time
analysts say nbc was taking chance on the show generating more profits than
the scripted dramas it is replacing because its production costs are far lower
network officials said at the time of the move in september that it was
always an experiment and that they were only giving the show one year trial
in prime time
europe freeze strands travellers cuts power
berlin jan afp
the arctic freeze gripping europe left hundreds of people stuck in vehicles in
deep snow or stranded at airports with scores of flights cancelled and power
cuts to thousands of homes on sunday
the treacherous conditions cut off villages in northern germany and on the
baltic islands and disrupted rail traffic with eurostar still only able to run
two out of three trains under the channel
the weather blamed on low pressure system that forecasters labelled daisy
unleashed blizzards in north germany that left motorways other roads and
railways impassable at certain points
hundreds found themselves stuck in their cars and lorries in snow or in trains
overnight authorities said
the situation is not expected to get any better today throughout germany
accidents continue to happen with cars and trucks at right angles blocking the
roads maxi hartung from the german automobile association adac said
daisy dumped even more snow on germany during sunday particularly in the
northeast and forecasters warned of more to come overnight and all day monday
with heavy snow showers expected to spread southwards
school was cancelled for monday in mecklenburg western pomerania state while
snowsdrifts up to two metres six feet high meant many villages were left to
their own devices police said
all of germany was blanketed with snow whipped up in some places by strong
winds leipzig in the east shivered under centimetres inches of snow
berlin had centimetres and hamburg in the northwest centimetres
dozens of villages in rural schleswig holstein state and on the baltic sea
islands were completely cut off while more than car accidents have been
reported across germany in recent days several of them fatal
air travel was hit as well with flights cancelled since midnight gmt
saturday at frankfurt airport europe third busiest after flights were
scrapped on saturday spokesman told afp
the snowfall which has blanketed britain for week eased on sunday but the
freezing conditions continued to cause extensive disruption to air travel
more than flights were cancelled at london heathrow airport on sunday
while low cost airline easyjet scrapped almost flights
the army helped to deliver much needed supplies of food to rural areas in kent
in southeast england snow had cut off many remote areas
while prime minister gordon brown insisted gas supplies were not about to run
out emergency supplies of rock salt to keep roads passable were being imported
as domestic supplies began to dwindle
at least people have died from the frigid weather according to british
media
health and safety concerns about access to stadiums wiped out all but two of the
weekend english premier league football matches and the serpentine swimming
lake in london hyde park was closed for the first time in years
temperatures were expected to edge above freezing as the week wore on
forecasters said
the unusually harsh conditions were caused as relatively warm humid air from the
mediterranean met cold air from the north and east meteorologist michel daloz
from meteo france said
in france fresh snow and freezing rain made for another day of disruption with
people including british tourists on their way to skiing break in the
french alps forced to spend the night at lyon airport
around homes in southeastern france were without power for second day
while icy conditions caused numerous accidents on roads around paris prompting
the closure of motorway sections and ban on lorries
later in the day however conditions had improved enough for french road
authorities to lift status orange state of alert across much of the country
in poland around households were left without power after tree branches
weighed down by snow fell on electricity cables while freezing rain caused
major problems on busy rail links between warsaw and krakow
in the northeast of the czech republic heavy snow forced traffic on the rail
line into neighbouring slovakia to be suspended for six hours while in the
southeast power outages left thousands in the dark
in the balkans heavy rain and melting snow meanwhile led to flooding in parts
of croatia and bosnia with an emergency declared in the central croatian
district of lika and homes evacuated
several european countries sent rescue teams to albania after hectares
acres of land were flooded in the north affecting homes
officials said no human losses were reported
us has contingency plan for iran nukes top general
washington jan afp
the united states has developed contingency plans to address iran nuclear
ambitions if negotiations falter between the islamic republic and western
nations top us general said sunday
it would be almost literally irresponsible if centcom were not to have been
thinking about the various what ifs and to make plans for whole variety of
different contingencies said general david petraeus who heads the us central
command that oversees the middle east the gulf region and central asia
petraeus declined to comment on reports that israel which says iran presents an
existential threat to the jewish state may attack its arch foe nuclear
facilities
but he told cnn the facilities certainly can be bombed even though they are
reportedly heavily fortified the level of effect would vary with who it is
that carries it out what ordnance they have and what capability they can bring
to bear he added
without elaborating on the contingency plans the general said it could be some
time before washington decides whether to execute them and that diplomatic
efforts would continue in the meantime
tehran is at loggerheads with western nations which charge it is developing
nuclear weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear energy program iran
denies the charges
the united states is leading efforts to slap fourth round of un sanctions on
iran after it failed to meet an end of year deadline to accept deal offered by
five permanent un security council members britain china france russia and
the united states plus germany
iran gave the west until the end of january to accept its own proposal and
president mahmoud ahmadinejad said saturday that tehran will not back down one
iota in the face of international pressure over its atomic work
the top us military officer meanwhile said iran has strategic intent to
develop nuclear weapons but urged new diplomatic push to stem tehran nuclear
drive warning that strike on the islamic republic would be very
destabilizing
think that would be an incredibly destabilizing outcome and potentially
generate nuclear weapons race in that part of the world admiral michael
mullen the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff told cnn
think an attack would also be by us or by anybody else be very
destabilizing
us officials have repeatedly insisted they are keeping all options on the
table which includes military option when it comes to iran
when it comes to iran alleged intent to develop nuclear weapons mullen
stressed it was important that leaders throughout the world do everything we
can to make sure that one they don consummate it and two we don get to
point where an attack is imminent
leading us senator joe lieberman an independent who usually votes with the
democrats said economic sanctions were not enough
we have to do everything we can not just to put economic sanctions on iran
because of their development of nuclear weapons but to support the people of
iran to cry out against the human rights abuses the terrible repression of the
demonstrators and just the freedom of average citizens in iran
mass protests broke out as part of what has been dubbed the opposition green
movement in june over hardline president mahmoud ahmadinejad controversial
re election
opposition demonstrators also clashed with security forces during the shiite
mourning ceremonies of ashura in tehran on december leading to the deaths of
at least eight people and hundreds of arrests according to police
republican senator john mccain who lost his white house bid to president barack
obama in said the public disenchantment with iran hardline regime
evidenced by the protests meant this regime days are numbered
rallying dakar rally results
copiapo chile jan afp
dakar rally results following the eighth stage kilometres special from
antofagasta on sunday
cars
stage
stephane peterhansel fra bmw hr min sec carlos sainz
esp volkswagen at sec mark miller usa volkswagen min sec giniel
de villiers rsa volkswagen nasser al attiyah qat volkswagen
orlando terranova fra stradale carlos sousa por mitsubishi
guerlain chicherit fra bmw krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan
robby gordon usa hummer
overall
carlos sainz esp volkswagen hr min sec nasser al attiyah
qat volkswagen at min sec mark miller usa volkswagen
stephane peterhansel fra bmw hr guerlain chicherit fra bmw hr
krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan hr carlos sousa
por stradale hr guilherme spinelli bra stradale hr
giniel de villiers rsa volkswagen hr robby gordon usa hummer hr
motorcycles
stage
francisco lopez chi aprilia hr min sec marc coma esp ktm at
sec pal ullevalseter nor ktm min sec david fretigne fra yamaha
cyril despres fra ktm alain duclos fra ktm helder
rodrigues por yamaha jakub przygonski pol ktm olivier
pain fra yamaha stefan svitko svk ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr pal ullevalseter nor ktm at hr
francisco lopez chi aprilia hr helder rodrigues
por yamaha hr alain duclos fra ktm hr david fretigne
fra yamaha hr jonah street usa ktm hr olivier pain
fra yamaha hr thomas berglund swe ktm hr juan pedrero
garcia esp ktm hr
selected
marc coma esp ktm hr
snooker masters results
london jan afp
results from the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on sunday
st rd best of frames
mark selby eng bt ding junhui chn
peter ebdon eng bt marco fu hkg
playing later sunday
preliminary round best of frames
mark king eng jimmy white eng
playing monday
preliminary round
mark williams wal rory mcleod eng
st rd best of frames
shaun murphy eng stephen hendry sco
stephen maguire sco king white
playing tuesday
st rd
ronnie sullivan eng neil robertson aus
allister carter eng williams mcleod
playing wednesday
st rd
john higgins sco mark allen nir
ryan day wal joe perry eng
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
what happening in the americas on monday
san francisco opponents and defenders of homosexual marriage in california go
toe to toe in potentially epic court showdown that could decide the future of
gay unions in the united states gmt expect coverage us society gays
marriage court
detroit michigan the nation premier auto show opens in the wake of one of
the worst years in motown history expect coverage us auto show
detroit michigan monitoring developments in investigation of umar farouk
abdulmutallab the year old nigeria accused of trying to blow up us bound
airliner on christmas day with nearly people aboard coverage on merit
attacks us nigeria
wichita kansas the man who gunned down one of america best known abortion
doctors goes on trial in case that once again focuses attention on the legal
but controversial medical procedure us abortion trial politics
united nations un chief ban ki moon unveils temporary offices of the world
body secretariat during renovations of the main building expect coverage un
construction
africa imprisons rebel leader
bangui jan afp
the central african republic ex minister of mines turned rebel leader charles
massi is being detained in prison in the capital bangui military source
told afp sunday
massi was arrested in chad between january and and turned over to the
central african authorities and is being held in bangui prison the
military source said on condition of anonymity
charles massi is not dead like some people are saying the military source
added alluding to rumours that were circulating sunday in bangui
when he massi was transferred across the border between chad and central
africa one person with him was shot for refusing to comply with the
instructions of those transferring him to bangui the same source explained
massi was minister in the government of centrafrican president ange felix
patasse who was ousted in by the current president francois bozize
he heads the convention of patriots for justice and peace cpjp rebel
movement active in northwestern car that has not signed up to peace process in
the country
in may massi was arrested in southern chad and imprisoned for fraudulent
entry and attempted destabilisation of neighbouring country chad
interior minister ahmat mahamat bachir told afp at the time
he was later released in july
cpjp fighters have clashed with the centrafrican army several times in in
the northwestern ndele region
the fighting has led to population displacement and the creation of refugee
camp for about people at daha on chad side of the border
rallying lopez delights home crowd peterhansel gains some consolation
copiapo chile jan afp
chilean motorcyclist francisco lopez delighted his huge home support when he won
his second stage of this year dakar rally here on sunday taking the eighth leg
of the race kilometres special from antofagasta
frenchman cyril despres was fifth in the stage but retained the overall lead
another frenchman stephane peterhansel put aside the disappointment at being out
of contention for the overall victory in the car section to take the eighth
stage
spain two time world rally champion carlos sainz was second on the stage and
retained the overall lead
lopez was delighted with his performance as it elevated him into the top three
overall
rode fast as the seventh stage had finished on sour note said lopez who
also won the fifth stage
wanted to put in good finish for all those people waiting for me today
sunday there was bit of everything stones navigation and dunes am
pleased because it all went well and the bike responded well
despres for his part said he had had tough day and had been saved by one of
his team mates
was battling against myself more than anything else exclaimed despres
hit two stones one at the front and one at the rear it was only when got
to the kilometres mark that noticed what state my wheels were in
they were split in two luckily my red bull team mate ruben faris turned up at
that moment we swapped our front rims since didn think the back one needed
to be changed
once set off again made sure was careful in the stones to look after the
back wheel am really lucky to have finished anything can happen in the
dakar
peterhansel who lost all real chance of winning the overall title last
wednesday when he lost over two hours because of serious mechanical problems
was happy at least to have regained some face at winning the stage even if as he
admitted barring catastrophe for either sainz or the spaniard volkswagen
team mate nasser al attiyah he was not in contention
we know that the volkswagens are the quickest he admitted
between nasser and carlos its real battle for first place we can have
say in that battle because we are still too far behind
but we keep picking up specials and trying our best
sainz confessed to having not had perfect day
had few scares today sunday he said
had two punctures so afterwards had no spare tyre and still with km to
go it was good stage because increased my lead over nasser bit having
said that he will start behind me on monday and am sure he will catch me up
that said very pleased because the hardest stages are behind us
shell shocked togo leaves as africa cup opens
luanda jan afp
togo national football team still reeling from rebel attack that killed two
of their squad headed for home sunday against the players wishes as the africa
cup of nations kicked off in angola
president jose eduardo dos santos denounced friday attack by separatist rebels
in the northern enclave of cabinda where the teammates were flying back to togo
with their two slain colleagues
we condemn this act of terror but the competition will continue in cabinda
dos santos said as he opened the tournament we are together may the best man
win
his government and african football officials pleaded to the last second for
togolese authorities to allow the players to fulfill their wish to compete in
the tournament to honour their slain colleagues
it very sad it hard for africa and for us these things are part of life
you have to accept it togo captain emmanuel adebayor told afp at the airport
in cabinda
cabinda is to host seven of the tournament matches but with togo
goalkeeper kodjovi obilale still in critical care at south african hospital
their prime minister ordered the team home
we understand the position of the players who want to in some way avenge their
dead colleagues but it would be irresponsible for the togolese authorities to
allow them to continue houngbo told reporters in lome
rebels ambushed the togo convoy as they drove into the cabinda enclave from
neighbouring congo brazzaville on friday leaving players cowering under their
seats during minute gunbattle with security forces
goalkeeper obilale was airlifted to johannesburg hospital to undergo surgery
to treat gunshot wounds to the lower back and abdomen
he is ventilated at the moment it still early stages at the moment
hospital spokeswoman said he is in critical condition but he stable
separatist rebels threatened to carry out more attacks saying they had warned
caf boss issa hayatou against holding matches in cabinda
this is going to continue because the nation is at war because hayatou
persists said rodrigues mingas secretary general of the forces for the
liberation of the state of cabinda military position flec pm
we wrote two months before the nations cup to mr issa hayatou to warn him that
we were at war he did not want to take our warnings into consideration mingas
told afp by telephone
they were warned they knew it and they closed their eyes
mingas faction is one of several groups battling for independence in small but
oil rich cabinda cornerstone of angola economic boom despite peace
agreement
mingas now lives in exile in france and french foreign ministry spokesman on
sunday vowed response to his comments
south african president jacob zuma condemned the shooting as shocking and
unacceptable but brushed away speculation that the attack could affect his
nation hosting of the world cup in june
he reiterated that south africa remains percent ready to host the fifa
world cup and dismissed speculation that the angolan incident had any bearing
on the world cup tournament in south africa his office said in statement
despite the sombre mood in cabinda spirits soared in luanda where cars honked
and pedestrians blew trumpets to celebrate angola opening match against mali
with the host leading at half time
the tournament was meant as coming out party for the oil rich nation after
decades of civil war and angola put on splashy opening ceremony with
fireworks laser lights and traditional dancers enacting scenes from the
country history
the normally traffic clogged streets were deserted as angolans gathered on
rooftops and huddled around televisions to watch the game
african migrants flee italian town as pope condemns violence
rosarno italy jan afp
more than africans fled southern italian town over the weekend after
wave of violence against migrant farm workers as pope benedict xvi condemned the
assaults on immigrants
an investigation was under way to establish whether local organised crime groups
were involved in clashes that left people injured in the calabrian town of
rosarno of them migrants police officers and locals
calm was generally restored sunday after two days of unrest
police in the regional capital reggio di calabria said sunday african
migrants had left the rosarno area with more than transferred to reception
centres in the southern towns of crotone and bari
pope benedict xvi spoke out against the two days of violence which erupted on
thursday saying in his traditional sunday sermon we have to go to the heart
of the problem of the significance of the human being
an immigrant is human being different in where they came from in their
culture and tradition but person to respect who has rights and
responsibilities
violence must never be means to solve difficulties the pope added
rosarno police officer speaking on condition of anonymity and referring to
the possible involvement of the region ndrangheta network one of italy
most brutal organised crime group told afp that several investigations are
under way but they have only just started
ndrangheta members are suspected of having exploded device outside the public
prosecutor office in the regional capital reggio calabria earlier this month
in revenge attack
italian interior minister roberto maroni confirmed on sky tg news channel that
the cause of the two day unrest in rosarno with residents was being
investigated
maroni accused the ndrangheta of having secretly brought thousands of workers
into the country to unscrupulously exploit them
he also criticised local authorities the migrants employers and employers
associations for worsening the migrants condition by paying them poorly and
accommodating them in slum quarters
police recognised local ndrangheta clan members in the clashes with the
immigrants il quotidiano della calabria reporter michele albanese told afp
the mafia cynically exploits the immigrants the criminal masterminds know that
clandestine immigrants will not even try to revolt because they have no id and
no state protection anti mafia priest luigi ciotti concurred
il giornale the newspaper owned by italian prime minister silvio berlusconi
family meanwhile offered provocative advice for residents of the southern
calabria region rather than shooting negroes shoot the mafia
why won calabrians shoot the mafia immigrants are poor and weak ugly and
dirty perfect targets the paper said organised crime which keeps security
forces in check is powerful violent revengeful and therefore must not be
bothered the paper added with twist of irony
local producers while voicing no regrets for the migrants flight fear that
without them the region agriculture mainly based on oranges tangerines and
kiwis may not survive
we don want them back rosarno landowner who would only identify himself
as giuseppe told afp
we gave the negroes clothes and food we even gave them meals for christmas
he added insisting that no one should take us for racists
with cheap italian farmhands long gone to help harvest the produce grown in the
region mild mediterranean climate african migrant workers have been back
every year working to hours day for to euros to dollars
