anywhere in the european part of russia
in russia far east the thermometer plunged to minus celsius in parts of
siberia and minus in irkutsk
authorities in the czech republic said at least six people had died of the cold
over the weekend and several accidents caused by snow disrupted traffic on two
key highways
german homeless charity said the death toll there of was the highest for
more than decade and more snow and freezing wind is expected
forecasters said more transport problems were expected because of the cold
although monday disruption at frankfurt airport europe third biggest air
hub has eased
the cold snap has not spared western europe either thin coating of snow lay
over madrid and parts of central spain while much of the southeast was on alert
for snow and strong winds
the two yachts that are to battle for yachting prestigious america cup
remained stranded in port for third day scuppering training less than two
weeks ahead of the race
alert
imf raises us economic growth forecast to percent this year
alert
imf sees global economy growing at better than expected percent
tennis murray ousts nadal as henin dream run continues
melbourne jan afp
andy murray stayed on track for his first australian open final when defending
champion rafael nadal pulled out injured on tuesday as justine henin dream
run gathered pace
the fifth seeded scot became the first briton since john lloyd in to make
the semi finals in melbourne after nadal retired with right knee pain when
trailing
murray had looked the goods during the match pumping down aces and moving
around the court effortlessly as he set up showdown with surprise package
marin cilic
the big serving croatian made his first grand slam semi by outlasting seventh
seed andy roddick in an epic five setter as the
american once again failed to live up to expectations
murray who carries an enormous burden in attempting to break britain grand
slam drought in men tennis stretching back to fred perry us open
triumph said he felt sorry for spain nadal the second seed
he my favourite player to watch just because of what he brings to the court
with his energy and gutted for him he said
came through few tough moments at the start of the match trying to do
little bit too much and had to keep going with my shots and play the right
tactics to win it
nadal said the knee starting hurting at the end of the second set and feared it
was the same tendinitis that hindered him last year
it was in the end of the second set it felt similar to what had last year
he said
after that couldn get down properly so it was impossible to win the match
said sorry to andy for that
fourteenth seeded cilic once again proved his staying power but he admitted it
was tough going
it wasn easy in the last set was just trying to hold my serve and he was
putting lot of pressure on said cilic the first croat to reach the last
four in melbourne
won the first game easily and that helped and then when broke him it got
bit easier
can go one more five setter why not
it was marathon man cilic third five set match of the tournament
roger federer plays nikolay davydenko and novak djokovic faces jo wilfried
tsonga in the other quarter finals on wednesday
henin powered into the last four by using her vast experience to down determined
russian th seed nadia petrova
the year old belgian decided to return to tennis after seeing fellow belgian
kim clijsters win the us open last year and she has more than justified the
faith of organisers here who handed her wildcard
she now faces the dangerous but unseeded chinese zheng jie who destroyed
unseeded russian maria kirilenko
henin said she was now daring to dream
here again in the last four it just much more than what could expect
and the dream continues said henin who called it quits in may after
losing her enthusiasm
but there still long way to go ll just try to be focused on what have
to do on the court and hope it keeps going this way
ll have good recovery and two good nights rest that what need
zheng is in her first australian semi final matching her run at wimbledon
and with li na also still in the tournament chinese tennis is on high
li plays sixth seed venus williams in the other quarter final on wednesday
while defending champion serena williams takes on seventh seed victoria azarenka
of belarus
henin for me is such good player she is so strong mentally said zheng who
was far too good for kirilenko who played with her left thigh heavily strapped
and was clearly struggling in the heat
just want to go out there and enjoy the match and play well
by reaching the semis the year old from chengdu will return to the top
for the first time since last june
iraq aziz released from hospital after stroke lawyer
amman jan afp
lawyer for iraq jailed ex deputy prime minister tareq aziz said on tuesday
his client has been discharged from us military hospital after his health
improved following stroke
have called contacts in baghdad today and they told me that aziz left the
hospital three days ago after his health condition improved amman based lawyer
badie aref told afp
his situation got better to the extent that he was able to appear before iraq
criminal court on monday for some questioning and he spoke to the judge he
said without elaborating
aziz who turned himself in to us forces in april was moved from jail to
an american military hospital in the us base at balad kilometres miles
north of baghdad after stroke two weeks ago
the year old is only one of saddam hussein few surviving cohorts after the
late dictator henchman ali hassan al majid better known as chemical ali
was hanged in iraq on monday for poison gas attack against kurds in
appointed deputy premier in under saddam having previously been foreign
minister he was jailed for years for murder in and was given seven
year term in august for his role in expelling kurds from iraq north
the family of aziz who had reportedly already had two heart attacks since
turning himself in to us forces just days after saddam ouster in april
has repeatedly called for his release on health grounds
the former iraqi official hails from chaldean catholic family
tennis murray first brit into australian semis in years
melbourne jan afp
andy murray became the first briton to reach the semi finals of the australian
open in years after defending champion rafael nadal sensationally withdrew
from their quarter final on tuesday
the british fifth seed was leading at the time the spanish
world number two retired with right knee injury
murray now has semi final with croatian th seed marin cilic who earlier
eliminated four time semi finalist andy roddick in five sets
the scot bidding to become britain first grand slam winner since fred perry
in created some history of his own when he became the first briton since
john lloyd in to qualify for the australian open semis
obviously disappointed that the match couldn have finished as would
have liked murray said
but with the position was in feel like would have had chance of going
on to finish the match
unfortunately that happens sometimes in sport win win obviously would
have liked to have finished it off the right way
the year old has yet to drop set after five matches
he will go into his semi final against cilic after spending only two and half
hours on court against such physical player as nadal for total of hours
for the tournament
murray impressed with his shotmaking and strong serving which had given him the
edge over nadal before the premature end
nadal who had knee tendinitis problems last year said he felt knee pain
towards the end of the second set and had an injury timeout
felt similar thing to what had last year he said after was unable
to go down on the knee so it was impossible to win the match
when have the chance to play never retire said sorry to andy for that
murray was impressive with his offensive game against one of the best defensive
players and his serve was strong point aces and winning percent of his
first serves
he broke the spanish left hander service four times and gave up his serve
twice
both players exchanged service breaks early in the opening set before murray got
the vital second break in the sixth
the intense scot withstood three break points before he served out for the
opening set in minutes
it was compelling tennis as two of the best players in the world exchanged
service breaks in the second set only to be interrupted for time by an
australia day holiday fireworks display outside the complex
nadal fought off four break points in the th game during which he brought the
crowd to its feet with fantastic reflex volley to win point in an exciting
rally
but in the tiebreaker murray broke clear racing to five set points after two
smashes and then taking two sets to love lead when nadal backhand found the
net
the scot quickly capitalised after nadal medical timeout with another service
break for lead as the momentum swung his way before nadal came to the net
after the third game to concede defeat
nadal believes murray time has come
think for sure he has big chance he playing really well and he
already in the semi finals so it is only two matches away nadal said
for andy think he deserves to win his first grand slam and he going to do
it
malian charged in al qaeda kidnapping of two italians
nouakchott jan afp
malian citizen has been charged for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping
of two italians in mauritania in december judicial source said tuesday
abderrahmane ould imidou was charged by court in the mauritanian capital
nouakchott with involvement in the kidnapping of two italians and membership of
an organisation aimed at committing terrorist acts
the source added that the defendant had been placed in detention in nouakchott
prison
imidou was taken in for questioning several days after sergio cicala and
his burkina faso born wife philomene kabore were abducted in southeast
mauritania on december by al qaeda in the islamic maghreb aqim
police source said in december that imidou was arrested while buying food
provisions in weekly market in teidatt not far from kobenni near the mali
border
he was suspected of having provided supplies to the aqim base in northern mali
and having collaborated in the kidnapping of the italians according to the
same source
according to the online news agency ani imidou confessed in december to
having collaborated with the hostage takers by informing them of the movement of
the two italians in return for an important sum of money
aqim is currently holding six european hostages kidnapped over november and
december including three spanish nationals one frenchman and the two italians
aqim operates in several countries of the southwestern sahara and emerged from
an armed muslim fundamentalist movement in algeria the salafist group for
preaching and combat
suicide car bomber injures five afghans ministry
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber in car laden with explosives struck near us military base
in kabul on tuesday injuring at least five afghan civilians an interior
ministry spokesman and nato said
there was suicide car bomb explosion near camp phoenix the target of the
blast is not known yet five civilians have been injured so far zemarai
bashary told afp
camp phoenix is us military base on the outskirts of kabul on the main road to
the eastern provinces other nato member states also have presence there and
the road is the site of frequent bomb attacks
nato international security assistance force isaf said the blast was likely
an improvised explosive device ied hidden in vehicle
the force is aware of an explosion outside the main gate of camp phoenix that
occurred this afternoon at approximately pm statement said
initial reports indicate the cause of the explosion was vehicle borne ied
more details will be released as they become available
afghan security forces cordoned off the area to investigate bashary added
the bombing comes just over week after seven taliban gunmen armed with suicide
vests launched massive attack on civilian and government buildings near the
presidential palace in the capital killing five people
there was no claim of responsibility for tuesday bombing but the taliban have
been blamed for similar incidents in the past
the taliban were in power between and and are waging an insurgency to
topple the us backed government of president hamid karzai and regain power
the taliban have been widely using suicide attacks and other bombs in their
campaign against kabul and its western military backers
there are about international mainly us and nato troops deployed in the
country the force is to expand to up to within the course of under
washington new war plan
us suspends million dollar kenya aid over graft
nairobi jan afp
the united states has suspended seven million dollar programme for kenya
education ministry over massive corruption scandal washington ambassador
michael ranneberger said tuesday
the move by kenya largest single aid partner came month after britain froze
funding for the ministry of education over the disappearance of million
dollars
the united states government has suspended planned five year seven million
dollar capacity building programme for the ministry of education that was
scheduled to begin in ranneberger said in speech to the american
chamber of commerce in nairobi
he added that the suspension would be effective until there is credible
independent audit and full accountability
those culpable for the fraud should not merely be sacked they should be
prosecuted and put behind bars ranneberger said
the ambassador generally expressed disappointment with pervasive graft in the
country and the lack of accountability over the deadly violence that erupted
following the disputed december polls
there is no more glaring example that impunity is alive and well in kenya than
the fact that two years after the events there has been no accountability for
the over lives lost and people displaced ranneberger said
those who organised financed and perpetrated the violence must be brought to
justice preferably through local tribunal but through international
investigation and prosecution in the absence of credible local tribunal
the governing coalition formed in with the election rival camps has been
criticised at home and abroad for stalling key reforms recommended by
internationally backed post violence commissions
merkel pledges more german troops for afghanistan
berlin jan afp
germany announced plans tuesday for more troops for afghanistan and
reservists and called for this week conference in london to mark new
beginning for the troubled international mission
renewed focus on development aid and training the afghan security forces would
enable germany troops currently numbering to start coming home in
target shared by washington berlin said
we have developed complete package for our future engagement which takes
it to new level namely new phase in handing responsibility to the afghan
government chancellor angela merkel said in berlin ahead of the arrival of
afghan president hamid karzai for talks
there can be no security without reconstruction but on the other hand there
can be no reconstruction without security
stepped up training of the afghan security forces and doubling of german
development aid marks new beginning and change in strategy in afghanistan
policy foreign minister guido westerwelle said
in the next four years we want to create the conditions to enable our military
presence to be wound down gradually we want to begin this year step by
step with the handover of security responsibilities
he said that germany aimed to begin withdrawing its troops home from and
for afghans to realise their goal of assuming responsibility for security by
merkel noted however that the plans did not include setting fixed date for
the complete withdrawal of germany troops in the country currently numbering
and based mostly in the north
german troops currently form the third largest contingent in the strong
international force behind the united states and britain with the upper limit
capped by parliament at soldiers
berlin would provide million euros million dollars over five years to
million dollar international fund proposed by karzai to woo insurgents to
lay down their guns with the lure of jobs and money merkel said
in addition germany is hiking development aid to million euros from
million euros over with the aim of giving three quarters of people in
the north access to work compared with percent at present
we want to construct kilometres miles of roads and infrastructure to
make markets accessible we want percent of northerners to have access to
energy and drinking water compared with percent now merkel said
we want percent of children to have access to school at the end of the
legislative period in germany in up from percent
asked how germany new commitments would be received by the us administration
which is pressing its allies to back its surge of new soldiers this
year merkel said she was comfortable with the new offer
it was not the case that the americans asked us what we wanted to do but rather
we determined ourselves what we intend to do she said
think that if germany plans to train at least one third of the police forces
in afghanistan if it doubles what it is doing in terms of civil reconstruction
and we make our entire approach more effective and harmonise it with the
international community plus adds troops and flexible reserve of
troops then we have nothing to be ashamed of
her comments came ahead of two day visit to berlin starting on tuesday by
karzai who is under pressure from his western backers to tackle rampant
corruption on his way to the london gathering
on tuesday karzai met in turkey with president abdullah gul pakistani president
asif ali zardari and top officials from iran china tajikistan and
turkmenistan who backed his plans to offer incentives to taliban fighters
serbian orthodox church leader consecration set for april
belgrade jan afp
serbia powerful orthodox church new patriarch irinej will be formally
consecrated in april in kosovo which proclaimed independence from belgrade in
beta news agency said tuesday
irinej underwent the first part of the two stage enthronement ceremony on
saturday at belgrade cathedral the second stage of the ritual traditionally
takes place in the church historic patriarchy in pec western kosovo
the enthronement in kosovo will be on april beta quoted patriarch irinej
as saying from the southern serbian town of nis where he is bishop
it will be the first time such ceremony is being held in kosovo since its
february independence declaration from serbia
serbia considers kosovo cradle of its history and culture and has rejected the
independence proclamation
the ceremony in pec will be an opportunity for guests to come and hope they
will see the situation in kosovo irinej said
at the ceremony in belgrade the year old patriarch told the congregation
that the church first duty was to support the serbian state in its efforts to
recover kosovo
so far countries including the united states and most of european union
members have recognised kosovo as an independent state
irinej elected last week by the bishops in the holy synod is considered
moderate and has signalled his openess to improving relations with the roman
catholic church that have been strained for years
irinej has shown an unusual openess to the media and has even called for press
conference in belgrade thursday
karzai wins backing for strategy to woo taliban
istanbul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai won regional support tuesday for his efforts to
cajole islamist insurgents to lay down their arms as germany offered more
troops and cash for the ravaged nation
after talks with his turkish and pakistani peers as well as officials from
countries such as china iran and russia karzai described moderate taliban
fighters as sons of the afghan soil who should be brought back into the fold
and in joint statement after the meeting in istanbul the participants
declared that they support the afghan national process of reconciliation and
reintegration in way that is afghan led and driven
the turkish hosted talks form part of the build up to major conference in
london on thursday where karzai hopes to secure western support for his strategy
of wooing taliban fighters with the lure of jobs and money
that strategy already appears to have won the endorsement of germany whose
chancellor angela merkel announced tuesday that her government would ask
parliament for another troops for afghanistan
she said berlin would also provide million euros million dollars to
million dollar global fund to bring insurgents into the mainstream and
roughly double development aid to million euros
berlin currently has about troops in afghanistan merkel government
wants to increase that by as well as offer reservists who could be
deployed for limited period
karzai meanwhile told reporters in istanbul that the reintegration of taliban
followers was essential to national unity provided they were not followers of
osama bin laden al qaeda network
those taliban who were not part of terrorist networks or al qaeda are the sons
of the afghan soil karzai said they are thousands and thousands and
thousands and they have to be reintegrated
on monday karzai said he would appeal at the conference in london for taliban
names to be removed from un blacklist
the idea had previously met resistance but as we are talking today there is
more willingness that this can be reconsidered he said
while there was no immediate reaction to the proposal taliban spokesman
zabihullah mujahid stated last week that the only political solution is that
the foreign forces and the afghan government surrender to us
attacks by islamist insurgents have been on the upsurge in recent months in the
latest attack at least five afghan civilians were wounded tuesday when
suicide bomber in car laden with explosives struck near foreign military
base in kabul
white house spokesman robert gibbs noted that us generals david petraeus and
stanley mcchrystal had drawn parallels between afghanistan and reconciliation
schemes that had worked with factions in iraq
gibbs did not comment in detail on karzai plan
but he said washington was open to similar path to what happened in iraq
provided that whoever this is accepts the afghan constitution renounces
violence and publicly breaks with groups that advocate violence
richard holbrooke the special us envoy for afghanistan and pakistan also said
monday that the nations meeting in london would back kabul proposal to set
up reintegration fund to persuade fighters to lay down arms
the intensified peace efforts come as the united states and allies aim for an
eventual withdrawal from afghanistan after eight years of battling brutal
islamist insurgency
under plan announced by president barack obama in december more us
troops are to be deployed to the battlefield this year and nato partners have
pledged about new troops
that would swell the foreign deployment in afghanistan to about to
tackle the insurgency and train afghan police and army to prepare for when us
troops begin to withdraw in mid
although merkel refrained from giving withdrawal date her foreign minister
said germany wants to start bringing its soldiers home in
and in further sign of shift in focus diplomats said britain ambassador
in kabul mark sewill was to be named as nato new civilian representative in
afghanistan
siemens denies giving iran censorship technology
berlin jan afp
siemens denied on tuesday that it has acted in an illegal manner after rights
groups accused the german industrial group of selling technology to iran that
could be used to monitor the internet
we have no reason to think that we have not acted correctly or in legal
manner in iran joe kaeser siemens head of corporate finance said at news
conference
the threatened people defence society german human rights group said
telecom equipment maker nokia siemens networks nsn had strongly contributed
to the repression of the iranian opposition
nsn is joint venture between siemens and finnish telecom giant nokia
nsn acknowledged last year that technology it sold to iran in could be used
to monitor calls but denied claims it can be used for web censorship
football mancini confirms robinho loan talks
manchester england jan afp
manchester city are in negotiations about loaning record signing robinho to one
of two brazilian clubs santos or sao paulo city manager roberto mancini
confirmed on tuesday
mancini also revealed that the brazilian signed from real madrid in for
british transfer record of million pounds is in his squad for wednesday
league cup semi final second leg clash against manchester united at old
trafford
robinho has only sporadically produced anything like his best form for city and
appears to have grown disillusioned with life in the north of england
return to his homeland could offer robinho the opportunity to ensure he
secures place in brazil world cup squad
karzai hits back at us envoy criticism
istanbul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai tuesday hit back at the us ambassador to
afghanistan who reportedly described him as an inadequate partner saying he
would not kowtow to washington
if partnership means submission to the american will then of course it not
going to be the case karzai told reporters after regional gathering in
istanbul
but if partnership means cooperation between two sovereign countries one of
course very poor and the other very rich then we are partners he said
karzai highlighted the hardships his country faced in combatting islamist
insurgents saying afghanistan is on the frontline of the war on terror and
that the struggle had cost massive casualties
us ambassador to afghanistan karl eikenberry warned in diplomatic cables
published in the new york times that karzai was not an adequate strategic
partner and the surge in us forces would only deepen his government
dependence on washington
the message penned in november and published tuesday said that karzai
continues to shun responsibility for any sovereign burden whether defense
governance or development he and much of his circle do not want the us to leave
and are only too happy to see us invest further
the ambassador comments were part of his objections to boosting us troops in
afghanistan proposed by us commander general stanley mcchrystal
mcchrystal ultimately won the argument and obama approved the deployment of an
additional troops to afghanistan
israeli pm honours holocaust victims in polish capital
warsaw jan afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu honoured holocaust victims at war
memorial in the polish capital tuesday on the eve of the th anniversary of
the auschwitz death camp liberation
the israeli leader bowed his head in front of the imposing grey marble
umschlagplatz memorial in the centre of warsaw laying wreath draped in
banner in the blue and white colours of the israeli flag
at this place from where hundreds of thousands of our people were sent to death
camps and where we meet today the righteous among the nations we encounter the
worst evil in the history of mankind together with the greatest courage in the
history of humanity netanyahu told reporters at the site
it was from the infamous umschlagplatz site that in warsaw wwii nazi
german occupiers sent more than jews by train to the notorious treblinka
death camp kilometres miles northeast of the city
holocaust survivors and polish woman whom israel has honoured as righteous
among the nations for having risked her life to save jews during the holocaust
attended the wreath laying ceremony
this is not an easy encounter but it gives us hope and direction for our
future may god avenge the victims said the israeli leader standing alongside
his wife sara whose father was the only member of his family to survive the nazi
holocaust in which some six million jews were murdered
he later visited the city warsaw uprising museum where he honoured
victims of the bloody and doomed revolt launched by polish partisans
against the city nazis occupiers
it came over year after jewish resistance fighters led an equally doomed
uprising in the warsaw ghetto against the nazis in
the people of israel have learnt their lesson he wrote in hebrew in the
museum guestbook
on the eve of the trip to poland netanyahu warned that jews are again facing
calls for their extermination in an apparent reference to iranian president
mahmoud ahmadinejad
there is evil in the world if it is unstopped it expands and it is expanding
and it is threatening the same people the jewish people but we know it only
starts with the jewish people netanyahu said on monday
there is new call for the extermination of the jewish people he said at the
opening of an exhibition of the auschwitz blueprints at the yad vashem holocaust
memorial in jerusalem
ahmadinejad has repeatedly said the jewish state was doomed to be wiped off the
map and has questioned the scale of the holocaust israel considers iran to be
an existential threat
the son of prominent nationalist historian netanyahu views the jewish state
as the shield against recent years growing expressions of holocaust denial
earlier tuesday netanyahu met with polish foreign minister radoslaw sikorski
senior israeli official told reporters the talks had focused on the middle
east peace process and international efforts to halt iran nuclear programme
and ways to impose effective sanctions on tehran
they also discussed bilateral and trade relations including the sale of israeli
drones to the polish army the official who requested anonymity said
later tuesday netanyahu was expected to hold talks with president lech
kaczynski as well as his polish counterpart donald tusk
on wednesday netanyahu will head to the former nazi auschwitz death camp to
attend ceremony marking international holocaust remembrance day and the th
anniversary of the liberation of the camp in nazi occupied poland where some one
million jews perished between june and january
