monrovia jan afp
government minister and close ally of liberian president ellen johnson sirleaf
has been ordered to repay euros dollars he embezzled from
state coffers state auditors announced wednesday
they said information minister laurence bropleh amassed the money by pocketing
the salaries of ghost employees of his department
minister bropleh was involved in fraudulent processing and payments of salaries
and allowances to several ghost employees for his personal benefits the
auditors said in report
bropleh who was suspended by sirleaf in september pending an investigation
immensely interfered with financial transactions resulting in system failure
and complete breakdown of internal control the report said
sirleaf became africa first female head of state in elections pledging to
make the fight against corruption in her war ravaged country top priority
bropleh dismissed the auditors report as political document in press
conference after its publication
the report is substandard it is incompetent this report is political
document this report is fraudulent document he said
oil price spikes above dollars
london jan afp
oil prices soared above dollars on wednesday as traders digested the latest
us energy inventories data amid growing expectations that freezing weather will
stoke demand for heating fuel
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
jumped as high as dollars per barrel it later stood at dollars up
cents from tuesday close
brent north sea crude for february added cents to dollars in afternoon
london trading after earlier hitting dollars
the us department of energy doe said wednesday that american stockpiles of
distillates including crucial heating fuel and diesel fell by
barrels in the week ending january
that was far less than forecasts for drawdown of million barrels
according to analysts polled by dow jones newswires
crude oil reserves meanwhile rose by million barrels confounding
expectations for drop of barrels
however analysts forecast that heating fuel demand will soar in the coming days
and weeks as the freezing cold winter tightens its grip on the northern
hemisphere
the recent cold snap will have an impact on heating oil demand said calyon
analyst christophe barret
the us national weather service estimates that this week heating oil demand
will be percent above normal he said cold temperatures have already added
almost percent to heating oil demand in december
weather event is dominating the oil headlines said pvm oil analyst david
hufton
the northern hemisphere is in deep freeze from beijing through india to
poland onto london and new york and down to florida he said
in europe soldiers helped rescue stranded british drivers wednesday as the
country most brutal winter in decades caused chaos for travellers while
bitterly cold temperatures cloaked much of europe
london and the southeast of england was blanketed in heavy snow after storms
spread from scotland and the north of england where they have caused problems
for days
oil prices began with bang on monday soaring by more than two dollars as
freezing temperatures spread
reports that russia had cut supplies to belarus also helped push prices higher
dealers said officials in belarus denied the reports however
belgium to tighten eu summit security after greenpeace stunt
brussels jan afp
security is being stepped up around european union summits the belgian
government said wednesday after greenpeace activists breached bloc leaders last
gathering in december
from now on there will be two ways in one for heads of government and
another for the rest of their delegations said interior ministry spokeswoman
margaux donckier who also promised better coordination between different teams
difficulties identified in cooperation between belgian police member states
own security teams and those guarding the brussels building that hosts regular
summits was partly blamed for the december protest
eleven greenpeace activists were arrested after jumping out of limousines to
surprise vips including british prime minister gordon brown and donckier said
outdated rules were to blame
she said the breach had highlighted system that has not evolved at the same
rate as the enlarged eu and in which protocol was given priority over
security concerns
leaders from the bloc nations will hold an extraordinary summit on february
focused on bolstering the economy with another regular summit set for march
you can take it with you wireless leash for your mobile phone
las vegas nevada jan afp
leash to prevent you from losing your mobile phone might not be too practical
but how about wireless one
zomm tulsa oklahoma based company is displaying what it describes as the
first wireless tether for cellphones at the consumer electronics show ces
here
the zomm is bluetooth device about the size of poker chip that attaches to
keychain or can be clipped on to belt
it the world first wireless leash for the mobile phone said zac penix
the son of the company founders henry and laurie penix
it tethers to your phone via bluetooth and it going to notify you whenever
you walk out of bluetooth range around feet nine meters he told afp
it going to vibrate flash light and an audible alarm will say hey go
back and get your mobile phone penix said
the zomm also does call notification if your phone can be immediately
located the device lights up rings and acts as speakerphone
penix said the zomm can also serve as panic alarm or medical alert holding
down the single button will automatically dial emergency services
via speakerphone you can talk directly to emergency services without having to
find your phone he said
zomm which will be available in the second half of the year at suggested
retail price of dollars was winner of ces best of innovations
award
greenpeace climate protesters released from danish jail police
copenhagen jan afp
four greenpeace protesters arrested for gatecrashing royal gala dinner for
heads of state at the un climate summit in copenhagen in december were released
from danish custody on wednesday police said
they are being released right now copenhagen police duty officer michael
klausen told afp
the four are the director of greenpeace spain juan lopez de uralde norwegian
nora christiansen christian schmutz of switzerland and joris thijssen of the
netherlands
lopez de uralde and christiansen fooled security staff at the danish parliament
in copenhagen by drawing up to december gala dinner in limousine and
wearing evening attire schmutz posed as their bodyguard
there they unfurled banners reading politicians talk leaders act at the
entrance
the four have been charged with illegally entering state property among other
things
they have been charged but they are free to leave and can leave the country if
they want klausen said
lopez de uralde had complained of being treated like dog at the danish jail
and greenpeace spain last week delivered petition backed by people to
the danish embassy in madrid demanding their release
greenpeace spokeswoman told afp the four were freed after the organisation
provided police with the names of other greenpeace activists who took part in
the protest
football abdullateef treble sends bahrain through
manama jan afp
ismail abdullateef scored hat trick as bahrain toyed with hong kong before
scoring thumping victory in group qualifier to join japan in winning
berth in the asian cup
earlier japan survived scare before scoring thrilling victory over
yemen in sana in another group match as the japanese posted their fourth
successive victory
both teams have points and hold an identical goal difference of plus
although bahrain have two matches in hand compared to japan one bahrain also
beat their bitter rivals on home ground in january last year
hong kong yet to score point after five matches were out of the running even
before wednesday clash while yemen slim chances were dashed by japan and
they stay on three points
bahrain took time to settle down on cool wintry day but once abdullateef was
able to make the breakthrough in the th minute the match action was
uninterrupted one way traffic
the slim but sharp abdullateef was on target again in the st and th minutes
to put his team in the driving seat and well on its way to doha qatar for the
asian cup finals to be held next year
abdulla al dhakeel completed the rout scoring the fourth goal in the th
minute bahrain should have added to their tally in the second half but missed
the target time and again
abdullateef had an effort disallowed for offside in the nd minute and salman
isa came close with header in the th before fouzi aaish shook the crossbar
with well taken free kick from the edge of the penalty area
but goal looked imminent and abdullateef delivered it off pass from isa from
the left which beat hong kong defenders cheuk yiu poon and jinghuang deng and
forced goalkeeper ho hon li out of position
abdullateef made the most of the opportunity and deftly directed it into
vacant goal
hussain salman hakki was the provider of the second goal six minutes later
the centre was again from the left and abdullateef had enough time and space to
put the ball past hapless hong kong goalkeeper him tak tse
abdullateef completed deserved hat trick just before halftime this time
latching on to ahmed hassan pass before driving it home with touch of
arrogance and al dhakeel rounded things off
it was well deserved victory for the tiny gulf nation which was in mourning
following second failed attempt to make it to the world cup finals following
disappointing loss to new zealand in the asia oceania play off in november
the bahrainis were missing the bus to that showpiece event for the second time
having lost to trinidad and tobago in another play off four years ago
wednesday was bahrain second successive victory by four goal margin
following similar result against yemen which came just four days after the
world cup qualifying playoff defeat to new zealand at wellington
football inter stretch lead over milan with win over chievo
rome jan afp
serie champions inter milan started the new year with win over chievo to
stretch their lead over ac milan who face genoa later wednesday to points
inter were deprived of number of midfield stars handing rare start to
wantaway french midfielder patrick vieira who is being tipped to move to
manchester city
however their absences due to injury proved no major handicap and striker mario
balotelli gave jose mourinho side welcome lead when he struck on the counter
in the th minute
inter were given little trouble for the remainder of the match and pocketed the
three points to sit on in total after games
am extremely happy said inter milan coach jose mourinho
these are the type of matches that are decisive and puts smile on coach
face because the personality displayed by the team was astonishing
it was not all happy news for inter though as their romanian international
defender cristian chivu fractured his skull in clash of heads in the th
minute while balotelli was subjected to racist abuse
balotelli born in palermo but of ghanaian heritage is regularly subjected to
such insults but usually tries to shrug it off
after what was the final inter game for another black player frenchman patrick
vieira who is tipped to sign for manchester city the year old balotelli
could not contain his anger
every time come to verona realise that the supporters disgust me more and
more it completely unacceptable balotelli told sky sports
elsewhere juventus got off to winning start to the new year having lost five
of their previous six matches in all competitions with win over parma
midfielder hasan salihamidzic scored only three minutes into the encounter and
an own goal had them up by the break
the old lady hung on for the three points despite having on loan defender
martin caceres sent off in the second half they move into second place though
ac milan can replace them later should they beat genoa
juventus suffered an injury worry as french striker david trezeguet went off
with an apparent sprained ankle after being tackled by parma veteran defender
christian panucci in the th minute
juventus said the full extent of the injury would be known on thursday
napoli lie fourth after victory over atalanta while roma will be kicking
themselves after letting lead slip away at cagliari with the home side
scoring twice in time added on to force draw
ac milan match should see england star david beckham making his debut after
returning on loan from la galaxy
kenya fails to deport radical jamaican muslim cleric
nairobi jan afp
kenya has tried and failed to deport jamaican muslim cleric who is on an
international terror watchlist and served four years in british jail for
inciting racial hatred police said wednesday
the kenyan police had tried to deport abdullah al faisal to neighbouring
tanzania but dar es salaam rejected the move and the controversial imam was sent
back to nairobi international airport
he was escorted back to nairobi and is currently at jomo kenyatta international
airport tanzania has declined to receive him and we are pondering the next
move police official said on condition of anonymity
national police spokesman erick kiraithe had earlier said faisal had left kenya
there was problem deporting him initially but we finally managed to get him
out of the country he is headed to jamaica kiraithe had said
faisal was arrested last week shortly after attending prayers at mosque in the
coastal city of mombasa
police and immigration officials said at the time they arrested the imam for
violating immigration regulations by preaching
faisal was arrested in britain in after spending years urging his
audiences to kill jews hindus and westerners
argentina bank chief refuses president demand to resign
buenos aires jan afp
argentina central bank chief refused to resign after president christina
kirchner demanded on wednesday that he step down in growing row over payments
of debt
martin redrado had declined to hand over billion dollars of argentina
foreign currency reserves to pay off national debt after the president ordered
him to do so three weeks ago
the standoff could lead to major political crisis since redrado can only be
fired by decision from argentina lawmakers
kirchner announced the call for redrado resignation on her official website
early wednesday
they have asked him to step down he responded that he will not quit
central bank official said adding that the government would have to apply the
appropriate mechanism to remove redrado
according to the bank charter the government would have to turn to congress
to decide to remove sitting central bank president
however kirchner control over congress has weakened since mid term elections
last year
kirchner in december signed presidential decree ordering the transfer of
billion dollars from central bank reserves to new fund known as the
bicentennial fund to guarantee debt payments in and free up cash for other
spending
redrado had sought to investigate all the possible legal consequences of such
decision which was opposed by opposition lawmakers and which the supreme court
sought to clarify
kirchner said in december that she wanted to guarantee the debt payment in an
effort to help argentina end its isolation from global credit markets
international investors remain skittish after the south american nation
massive sovereign debt default
the prospective payment aimed to lower as much as possible the future potential
indebtedness of our country kirchner said
redrado took control of the central bank in under the government of nestor
kirchner the husband of the current president and his mandate is due to expire
in september this year
the government has offered his post to mario blejer who led the central bank
under the government of eduardo duhalde in during the worst economic
crisis for decades
argentina faces maturing debt repayments totaling billion dollars in
it fulfilled its repayments of billion dollars in but the rate of
growth in government income has slowed down due to the global economic crisis
the central bank reserves contain more than billion dollars
some fear private lenders who opposed the renegotiation of the country debt in
may seek to seize the central bank reserves if they are to be used to pay
off debt
zambian wins indian loan for power plant
lusaka jan afp
zambia on wednesday signed deal for million dollar indian loan to help
finance hydropower project being built with indian industrial giant tata the
finance minister said
finance minister situmbeko musokotwane signed the deal with the export and
import bank of india for the itezhi tezhi hydropower project in southern zambia
which will generate megawatts of electricity
the agreement for line of credit of million us dollars will help the
zambian government develop the itezhi tezhi hydro generation power plant
musokotwane said
he did not give details on the terms of the loan
zambian utility zesco and tata africa holdings have formed joint venture to
implement the project at site about kilometres miles south of the
capital lusaka
exim bank officials are in zambia with indian vice president hamid ansari who
is on two day official visit
mobile phone use may stave off reverse alzheimer study
washington jan afp
talking on mobile phone could be good for you because the electromagnetic
waves emitted by the devices could protect against and even reverse alzheimer
disease study on mice showed wednesday
researchers at the university of south florida exposed mice most of whom had
been genetically altered to develop the alzheimer disease as they aged to
electromagnetic waves generated by us mobile cellular phones
the mice were zapped with megaherz of frequency twice day for one hour
each time over period of seven to nine months the equivalent of several
decades in humans
in older mice with alzheimer long term exposure to the electromagnetic fields
caused deposits in the brain of beta amyloid protein fragment that
accumulates in the brain of alzheimer sufferers to form the disease
signature plaques to be erased
memory impairment in the older mice disappeared too the study showed
young adult mice with no apparent signs of memory impairment were protected
against alzheimer disease after several months of exposure to the mobile phone
waves the study showed
and the memory levels of normal mice with no genetic predisposition for
alzheimer disease were boosted after exposure to the electromagnetic waves
the study was the first to look at the long term effects of mobile phone
exposure in mice or humans and its findings took even the researchers by
surprise
frankly started this work few years ago with hypothesis that the
electromagnetic fields from cell phone would be deleterious to alzheimer
mice lead author gary arendash professor at the university of southern
florida told afp
when we got our initial results showing beneficial effect thought give
it few more months and it will get bad for them
it never got bad we just kept getting these beneficial effects in both the
alzheimer and normal mice arendash said
based on the findings in mice the researchers are hopeful that electromagnetic
field exposure could be an effective non invasive and drug free way to prevent
and treat alzheimer disease in humans
corrected european stocks close little changed
london jan afp
europe main stock markets closed little changed on wednesday with london
ftse index of leading shares edging up percent to points
in paris the cac added percent to points while in frankfurt
the dax gained marginal percent to points
call for germany to probe alleged cia plot
hamburg germany jan afp
hamburg interior minister called on the german government on wednesday to
investigate claims that the cia intended to assassinate suspected al qaeda
militant in the german city after
christoph ahlhaus told afp that the allegations made in us magazine vanity fair
in an interview with erik prince founder of controversial private security firm
blackwater should be subject to an exhaustive enquiry
if there is evidence that us organs were active in germany without the
knowledge of their german partners then the government should not continue with
business as usual in its relations with the us he said
vanity fair said cia team was dispatched to hamburg to find fix and finish
mamun darkanzali syrian born german believed at the time to have known at
least three of the hijackers who attacked the united states on september
who formed part of an islamist cell in the city
darkanzali was detained by german authorities in after spain top
terrorism judge baltasar garzon issued an arrest warrant against him charging
he acted as osama bin laden financier in europe
but in german prosecutors dropped its investigation of the businessman
saying that although he had served as contact for several al qaeda members he
could not be considered as member
vanity fair cited an unnamed source as saying that the cia team went in dark
meaning they did not notify their own station much less the german government
of their presence following darkazanli for weeks and worked through the
logistics of how and where they would take him down
the authorities in washington chose not to pull the trigger the magazine said
on monday spokesman for chancellor angela merkel said that he had no
information on the allegations and that he was unable to comment
prosecutors in hamburg are reportedly currently determining whether there is
sufficient information to begin an enquiry
am speechless quite frankly this is contract killing darkanzali said on
ard public television this week
football ferguson junior back in business at preston
london jan afp
darren ferguson the year old son of manchester united boss sir alex on
wednesday returned to football management as manager of championship side
preston
ferguson who left preston second tier rivals peterborough in november after
guiding the club to successive promotions was installed as the successor to
alan irvine who was sacked last month
very very ambitious and with my name cannot afford to fail he told
reporters shrugging off the inevitability of comparisons with his illustrious
father
pressure is there in any walk of life but you ve got to try and be successful
if you win enough games you will be fine if you don then you will be under
pressure
preston have not been in the top flight since and are currently eight
points off the promotion play off places but ferguson sees no reason why he
cannot inspire late challenge
the aim definitely is to get there to the premier league and along with
winning games my philosophy is to entertain and that never going to change
cricket south africa on course for victory after breaking opening stand
cape town south africa jan afp
south africa were frustrated by century opening stand between andrew strauss
and alastair cook but remained on course for series levelling win on the
fourth day of the third test against england at newlands on wednesday
set to win or to bat out potential overs england were for
three at the close
south african batsman ab de villiers cautioned that victory was not inevitable
we re in very good position we worked very hard to get in this position and
we will have to work very hard tomorrow he said
strauss and cook survived some hostile new ball bowling and stayed
together until the th over before with just over an hour play remaining in
the day cook made crucial error top edging pull against friedel de wet to
send the ball high in the air for wicketkeeper mark boucher to make an easy
catch
strauss followed three overs later when he was caught at short leg off bat and
pad off left arm spinner paul harris
england hopes of saving the match suffered major blow shortly before the
close when kevin pietersen was leg before wicket to dale steyn two balls into
the fast bowler last spell of the day
pietersen had earlier been given out leg before to de wet but he sought review
of umpire daryl harper decision and was reprieved when it was clear he had
edged the ball into his pad
but there was no doubt about the decision when he walked across his stumps
against steyn and he headed for the dressing room immediately when umpire tony
hill gave him out
cook admitted that victory was probably out of the question for england but
hoped his team could escape with draw as they did against australia in
cardiff last year and in the first test of the current series in centurion
we ve got lot of confidence from the situations we ve been in so hopefully
we can do it one more time he said
cook said the pitch was playing better than had been expected earlier in the
match although there was some assistance for left arm spinner paul harris when
he pitched into the rough and there was little bit of variable bounce
morne morkel and steyn both bowled well at the start of the final innings but
strauss and cook batted resolutely
steyn induced an edge from strauss in the second over but it fell short of
graeme smith at first slip six overs later he had two close leg before wicket
appeals turned down by umpire tony hill and south africa decided not to seek
reviews
strauss responded in steyn next over with three off side boundaries off
successive balls
south africa added runs for the loss of five wickets in overs on
wednesday before smith declared
smith took his overnight score of to as he and jacques kallis batted
comfortably against the second new ball which was taken at the start of play
smith showed attacking intent as he added runs off balls but was caught on
the fine leg boundary when he top edged hook against graham onions he made
his off balls with fours
having successfully asked for review of leg before wicket decision when he
was on smith might have survived again had umpire hill spotted that onions
over stepped the bowling crease or smith asked for another review england
have only bowled two no balls in the first three matches of the series
kallis followed up his first innings century by making before he edged an
attempted square cut against james anderson and was caught behind
england went on the defensive in the second hour slowing down their over rate
and setting run saving fields only ten overs were bowled after the mid morning
drinks with anderson and stuart broad both taking six minutes or more to bowl
an over
south africa went for their shots after lunch when runs were added in
overs with all three batsmen who were dismissed falling in chase for quick
runs including jp duminy who made breezy off balls
anderson took three for and graeme swann three for
israel succesfuly tests anti rocket system
jerusalem jan afp
israel has completed tests on its iron dome anti missile system designed to
provide response to the thousands of rockets fired at israel by hamas and
hezbollah the defence ministry said
the system which can intercept short range rockets and artillery shells
underwent its final tests in the past hours statement said
for the first time iron dome faced multiple threats simultaneously all the
threats were intercepted with complete success the statement said
the next phase in the development of the system was to integrate it into the
army the statement said
israel hopes the system will provide it with means to dealing with rocket fire
from the hamas ruled gaza strip and from lebanon
palestinian militants have fired thousands of home made rockets into southern
israel prompting israel devastating assault on the islamist hamas in gaza on
december
the lebanese militant group hezbollah also fired some rockets into
northern israel during war with israel which now believes hezbollah has
an arsenal of some rockets
making iron dome operational will transform israel political and security
situation on the northern and southern fronts said pinhas buchris the
ministry director general
football inter stretch lead over milan with win over chievo
rome jan afp
serie champions inter milan started the new year with win over chievo to
stretch their lead over ac milan who face genoa later wednesday to points
inter were deprived of number of midfield stars handing rare start to
wantaway french midfielder patrick vieira who is being tipped to move to
manchester city
however their absences due to injury proved no major handicap and striker mario
balotelli gave jose mourinho side welcome lead when he struck on the counter
in the th minute
inter were given little trouble for the remainder of the match and pocketed the
three points to sit on in total after games
am extremely happy said inter milan coach jose mourinho
these are the type of matches that are decisive and puts smile on coach
face because the personality displayed by the team was astonishing
it was not all happy news for inter though as their romanian international
defender cristian chivu fractured his skull in clash of heads in the th
minute while balotelli was subjected to racist abuse
balotelli born in palermo but of ghanaian heritage is regularly subjected to
such insults but usually tries to shrug it off
after what was the final inter game for another black player frenchman patrick
vieira who is tipped to sign for manchester city the year old balotelli
could not contain his anger
every time come to verona realise that the supporters disgust me more and
more it completely unacceptable balotelli told sky sports
elsewhere juventus got off to winning start to the new year having lost five
of their previous six matches in all competitions with win over parma
midfielder hasan salihamidzic scored only three minutes into the encounter and
an own goal had them up by the break
the old lady hung on for the three points despite having on loan defender
