eurostar had already cancelled four of its services for second straight day
due to disruptions caused by cold weather speed limits
in britain electricians worked to restore power to around homes in
southern england which were left in the dark when snow brought down power lines
said edf energy
fewer than properties remained cut off late thursday it said
britain met office weather service said the cold spell was the worst since
and warned of more to come while the weather led to number of football
games being postponed in england and scotland
children lapped up the chance to spend another day playing in the snow as
hundreds of schools that had been due to reopen in britain and ireland after the
christmas break remained closed
ireland was also hit by severe weather not seen for almost years with
forecasters warning that thaw was unlikely to come for six or seven days
prime minister brian cowen said the military had mobilised staff and equipment
in case they were needed and the irish national emergency committee would meet
daily until the severe weather abated
weather of this severity and duration has not been seen since in many
parts of ireland cowen said
much of southern france was put on alert for further snowfall and icy
conditions as snow caused traffic problems and several areas announced the
suspension of school transport and urged people to limit their movements
snow caused the closure of section of the autoroute linking southwestern
france with barcelona officials said
there had also been delays to rail services because ice build ups forced trains
to travel more slowly railways spokesman said
in austria authorities were on standby amid forecasts of some centimetres of
snow at the weekend in low lying areas which are normally spared much of the
regular snowfalls in alpine districts
on thursday norway was among the coldest countries with temperatures ranging
from minus to minus degrees celsius oslo had reduced bus service as
engine oil froze while ice kept ferries from sailing
the cold snap also hit train services in the netherlands
meanwhile torrential rain lashed parts of italy and officials feared the
swollen river tiber could threaten rome in the coming days
thousands of hectares acres of land were also flooded in northern albania and
the interior ministry said hundreds of houses particularly in shkoder city
were under water and at least people had to be evacuated
football vieira set for manchester city move
london jan afp
inter milan midfielder patrick vieira confirmed on thursday he is set to
complete dramatic return to english football by joining manchester city
the former arsenal captain moved closer to the deal when he underwent medical
on thursday ahead of agreement which it is reported will keep him at the
premier league club until the end of the season
wanted to go to the world cup and need match play vieria told french
sports channel infosport of his decision to leave the italian champions
it over after year at turin and three and half years at milan he said
have aims and can achieve them by staying at inter where not in
favour with the coach
what important for me is to go to manchester city to show the coach roberto
mancini that the same as the time when he was at inter all that will help
me to get into the france team
vieira was reported to have flown into england on thursday having played his
last match for inter milan the club where city manager roberto mancini was
previously in charge against chievo on wednesday
barring any last minute problems such as fitness test issues or personal terms
france great vieira could be confirmed as city player as early as later on
thursday although city could hold over any announcement until friday
the year old midfielder would add defensive resilience to city side often
criticised for letting in too many goals under former boss mark hughes
vieira arrival would represent mancini first signing since he replaced
hughes three weeks ago and be the latest high profile purchase by city who this
week announced that huge annual loss of million pounds would be
effectively wiped out by their wealthy abu dhabi based owner sheikh mansour
vieira has had shaky past three seasons at inter milan and now on the fringes
of the france team he is desperate for first team football to boost his chances
of featuring in raymond domenech squad for the world cup finals in south
africa later this year
inter manager jose mourinho who won the premier league title with chelsea said
on wednesday he believed vieira was about to return to england
he hasn said word to anybody but he has mentioned the english premier
league mourinho said
mancini was vieira first coach at inter after the player arrived in milan
following season with italian rivals juventus
malaysian church fire bombed ahead of muslim protests
kuala lumpur jan afp
church in malaysia has been fire bombed in an attack that gutted its ground
floor church officials said friday escalating dispute over the use of the
word allah by non muslims
fire department official said all stations were on alert for more blazes at
religious buildings ahead of planned nationwide protests friday by muslim
groups angry over the use of the word as translation for the christian god
the three storey metro tabernacle church in suburban kuala lumpur was set ablaze
in the attack which took place around midnight said church leader peter yeow
witnesses saw four people smash the glass and throw incendiaries into the
church building they came on two motorcycles he told afp at the scene as fire
department forensic officers picked through the wreckage
there were no casualties in the attack on the church which occupies the corner
lot of row of shop houses and which yeow said draws some people weekly
the fire destroyed the administrative part of the church we do not know if the
prayer hall on the third floor suffered any damage he said warning all other
churches to double their guard against any attacks
anuar harun who headed the fire department operation said that forensic
experts were working with the police and canine unit to probe the blaze
we are investigating the cause of fire we cannot provide any more details it
is sensitive issue he said when asked if it was case of arson
we have asked all our fire stations to be on alert for such fires on religious
premises he said
the high court last week ruled in favour of the catholic herald newspaper
which has used allah as translation for god in its malay language section
the government has said the word should be used only by muslims
the ruling was suspended on wednesday pending an appeal after the government
argued the decision could cause racial conflict in multicultural malaysia where
muslim malays make up percent of the population
the security guard at the metro tabernacle church year old mariappan
said he had just walked away from the main entrance of the building to use the
bathroom when the building erupted in flames
when came back there was huge fire inside the church building there was
few loud explosions like bombs exploding he said adding he saw two motorcycle
helmets lying on the road in flames
religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial malaysia which
experienced deadly race riots in
eurostar disrupted after new channel tunnel breakdown
london jan afp
eurostar passengers are facing further disruptions after one of its high speed
trains broke down in the channel tunnel again less than three weeks after
major breakdown caused by snow
in statement the channel tunnel rail operator said it was running
restricted service until sunday night and recommended that passengers whose
trips were not essential should not travel at all
eurostar cancelled nine trains on thursday
signal failure was blamed for the two hour undersea breakdown of brussels to
london train as northern europe shivered in bitterly cold temperatures and snow
that has caused transport chaos
when the eurostar was in the tunnel belgian signals rather than british
signals came into operation for an unknown reason said spokesman for sncf
france state railway and the biggest shareholder in eurostar
this triggered an automatic emergency stop and caused the delay he said
at first they told us that it was an engine problem jonattan lurasin
from liege in belgium told afp at london saint pancras international station
where passengers from brussels arrived after their ordeal
they tried to restart two or three times but it didn work he added after
the stricken train was towed out of the tunnel to ashford southeast of london
and passengers transferred to another train to complete their journey
an announcement at the station where hundreds of people were left queuing said
there would be an extremely limited service during the afternoon and advised
people who did not need to travel to change their plans
on its website eurostar said because of the current severe weather conditions
eurostar will continue to run restricted service up to and including sunday
th if you do not need to travel we recommend you cancel or postpone your
trip
it said it had decided not to run its very early morning services or its late
services between london and paris and brussels
travellers with tickets for late evening trains were advised to come to the
station as early as possible and they will be allocated space on an earlier
departure all other travellers were asked to check in as normal
in paris some to people faced lengthy delays in the cold at gare du
nord loudspeakers regularly announced bad weather was delaying trains and
asked passengers to postpone their travel with full ticket refund promised
several eurostar trains broke down in the tunnel on december the saturday
before christmas sparking three day suspension of service that left tens of
thousands of passengers stranded
around passengers in five trains were trapped for up to hours
the trains operators blamed that breakdown on snow they said was more powdery
than usual which had filtered into engine compartments and melted once the
trains entered the tunnel
at st pancras nicole aerts from aalter in belgium said her journey had been
terrible although she and her friends who had only come to london for the
day had been well informed and given water and sandwiches
the pre christmas breakdown was publicity nightmare for eurostar with
passengers complaining of being left stranded for hours without information
sustenance or light
passengers on the train stuck in the tunnel thursday seemed relatively happy
with how the situation was managed
eurostar made us good offer they reimbursed our tickets and gave us new
tickets to come back said lurasin so it ok
malaysian church fire bombed ahead of muslim protests
kuala lumpur jan afp
church in malaysia has been fire bombed in an attack that gutted its ground
floor church officials said friday escalating dispute over the use of the
word allah by non muslims
fire department official said all stations were on alert for more blazes at
religious buildings ahead of planned nationwide protests friday by muslim
groups angry over the use of the word as translation for the christian god
the three storey metro tabernacle church in suburban kuala lumpur was set ablaze
in the attack which took place around midnight said church leader peter yeow
witnesses saw four people smash the glass and throw incendiaries into the
church building they came on two motorcycles he told afp at the scene as fire
department forensic officers picked through the wreckage
there were no casualties in the attack on the church which occupies the corner
lot of row of shop houses and which yeow said draws some people weekly
the fire destroyed the administrative part of the church we do not know if the
prayer hall on the third floor suffered any damage he said warning all other
churches to double their guard against any attacks
anuar harun who headed the fire department operation said that forensic
experts were working with the police and canine unit to probe the blaze
we are investigating the cause of fire we cannot provide any more details it
is sensitive issue he said when asked if it was case of arson
we have asked all our fire stations to be on alert for such fires on religious
premises he said
the high court last week ruled in favour of the catholic herald newspaper
which has used allah as translation for god in its malay language section
the government has said the word should be used only by muslims
the ruling was suspended on wednesday pending an appeal after the government
argued the decision could cause racial conflict in multicultural malaysia where
muslim malays make up percent of the population
the security guard at the metro tabernacle church year old mariappan
said he had just walked away from the main entrance of the building to use the
bathroom when the building erupted in flames
when came back there was huge fire inside the church building there was
few loud explosions like bombs exploding he said adding he saw two motorcycle
helmets lying on the road in flames
religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial malaysia which
experienced deadly race riots in
urgent obama the buck stops with me in plane plot
washington jan afp
us president barack obama said thursday that systemic failures among
intelligence agencies to detect christmas day plane plot were his
responsibility maintaining the buck stops with me
urgent obama unveils reforms to boost us watchlists
washington jan afp
president barack obama thursday unveiled reforms to strengthen us watchlists and
new steps to boost airport screening and bomb detection in the wake of the
christmas day botched plane attack
alert
obama systemic failure on airline attack my responsibility
alert
obama announces additional steps on airport screening bomb detection
taliban denies most afghan civilian deaths caused by rebels
united nations jan afp
the taliban on thursday rejected un chief ban ki moon charge that most
civilian casualties in afghanistan have been caused by anti government rebels
us monitoring group said
last year about three times as many civilian deaths were attributed to anti
government elements as to pro government forces ban told the un security
council wednesday
most resulted from suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices used by
anti government elements the secretary general added
ban accusation tramples on un principles of neutrality the taliban said
thursday according to the site intelligence group
the afghan militia ousted in us led attack in countered that nato
forces and their allies were responsible for civilian casualties and that
assertions to the contrary were meant to create animosity between the population
and the insurgents
the group said that the us defense department may have pushed ban to make the
statement
you should know that partial judgment and blind support of one side and
condemnation of the other only irreparably harms your credibility which will
surely result into playing havoc with your standing in the world particularly
in afghanistan the taliban told the un boss according to site
suicide attacks are hallmark of the taliban who are waging an increasingly
virulent insurgency aimed at toppling the afghan government in kabul and
destabilizing the rest of the impoverished country
nato and the united states have troops deployed to help the government
battle the militants who are concentrated in the south and east of afghanistan
but are spreading their footprint further north and west
alert
obama announces reforms to strengthen watch lists
alert
obama us failed to connect understand airliner attack intel
frenchman german convicted over nazi symbols
mulhouse france jan afp
french court thursday convicted two men for parading through village fete
wearing nazi shirts and tattoos
the pair year old frenchman and year old german wore bright
orange shirts with the slogan nur hitler only hitler in german at
the fete in attenschwiller eastern france last october
the frenchman removed his shirt to reveal numerous nazi tattoos
including the initials on his neck the symbol on his body and
portrait of leading nazi rudolf hess on his arm
the pair were sentenced in their absence to four months in prison and ordered to
pay euros dollars to an anti racism group
talks start in guinea on new prime minister
conakry jan afp
talks began thursday on who would be guinea new prime minister after the
military junta announced it was ready to share power with the opposition to end
crisis in the west african country
the announcement by interim junta leader general sekouba konate late wednesday
was welcomed by the united states and the regional bloc ecowas on thursday and
led one exiled opposition leader to say he would return
guinea has been under military rule since december and tensions peaked
last september when troops massacred at least people at an opposition
rally
in speech to the junta konate invited the opposition to select the next prime
minister ahead of the formation of transition government and called on
opposition leaders who fled to return saying he guaranteed their safety
his announcement was met with caution and goodwill from the opposition which on
thursday was debating who should be the consensus prime minister and lead the
country to elections and what his or her powers would be
we need someone technically competent and politically mature bah amadou oury
vice president of the opposition union of democratic forces of guinea ufdg
told afp on thursday
for rabiatou serah diallo trade union leader in the forefront of the struggle
against the junta it would be ideal if the prime minister was neutral if he
had no political ambition
it best if he comes from civil society and we are categorical on this
subject
the african encounter for the defence of human rights based in dakar said the
best person for the job would be man of integrity from civil society above
all suspicion to lead transition that doesn take long
its secretary general alioune tine said the new leader could be religious
person that would be the ideal
opposition officials met briefly at the home of jean marie dore president of
the union for progress in guinea and spokesman of the forces vives active
forces coalition that includes the opposition trade unions and civil
society
but they postponed full meeting until friday because each party wants to go
back to its headquarters to reflect oury said
trade union leader serah diallo said there was clear will to move the country
forward
the government has set up three working groups notably concerning the security
of opposition figures returning from exile she said
there is also commission responsible for studying the claims of the work
force and another charged with getting the administration up and running again
konate initiative followed week long visit to morocco where the leader of
the junta captain moussa dadis camara is in hospital after being shot in the
head by his aide de camp on december
the united states on thursday commended his announcement we welcome this new
beginning and are pleased to see advance toward civilian rule state department
spokesman pj crowley told reporters
the economic community of west african states ecowas also said it was pleased
it considered konate commitments were constructive and of nature to
contribute to the restoration of trust between the people of guinea the guinean
authorities and the international community the bloc said
the announcement led opposition leader and human rights activist mouctar diallo
to announce from dakar that he would return home
intend to return without delay certainly by next week diallo told
reporters
diallo president of the new democratic force and member of forces vives was
among those who had fled guinea following the bloody september attack on the
conakry rally
genetic key to cocaine addiction study
washington jan afp
us scientists have found key mechanism in the brain that helps explain why
cocaine is so addictive and could pave the way towards potential cure study
showed thursday
researchers revealed how the highly addictive drug brings on changes in the
brain through process which influences the expression of genes without
changing the brain gene sequence
these changes in the brain pleasure circuits which are also the first to be
influenced by chronic cocaine exposure appear to promote cravings for cocaine
said the study published in science
this fundamental discovery advances our understanding of how cocaine addiction
works said nora volkow director of the national institute of drug abuse
although more research will be required these findings have identified key
new player in the molecular cascade triggered by repeated cocaine exposure and
thus potential novel target for the development of addiction medications
the research was carried out on mice one group was given repeated doses of
cocaine the second was given saline solution with final dose of the drug to
study what differences there were between repeated cocaine exposure and one
time dose
those mice repeatedly given cocaine displayed dramatic alterations in their gene
expression as well as strong preference for the drug
the study confirmed cocaine appears to block an enzyme that plays critical
role in the so called epigenetic control of gene expression
the study authors also showed that by reversing the repression of the enzyme
known as they could inhibit cravings for cocaine
the more complete picture that we have today of the genetic and epigenetic
processes triggered by chronic cocaine give us better understanding of the
broader principles governing biochemical regulation in the brain said eric
nestler director of the brain institute at mount sinai school of medicine
that could help us identify not only additional pathways involved but
potentially new therapeutic approaches he added
argentine president decrees removal of central banker
buenos aires jan afp
argentine president cristina kirchner has signed decree firing the head of the
central bank who had refused to step down the government announced thursday
the president of the central bank dr hernan martin perez redrado has been
removed from office for having failed in his official duties the decree
stated
kirchner called on redrado to step down on wednesday but he refused invoking
the bank autonomy from the argentine executive branch
rallying dakar rally results
iquique chile jan afp
results of the sixth stage of the dakar rally here on thursday kilometres
special from antofagasta
drivers
stephane peterhansel fra bmw hr min sec carlos sainz
esp volkswagen at sec mark miller usa volkswagen min sec nasser
al attiyah qat volkswagen leonid novitskiy rus bmw
nicolas misslin fra stradale carlos sousa por stradale
giniel de villiers rsa volkswagen guerlain chicherit fra bmw
krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan
selected
robby gordon usa hummer
overall
carlos sainz esp volkswagen hr min sec nasser al attiyah
qat volkswagen at min sec mark miller usa volkswagen
carlos sousa por stradale hr krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan hr
robby gordon usa hummer hr guerlain chicherit fra bmw
hr stephane peterhansel fra bmw hr guilherme spinelli
bra stradale hr leonid novitskiy rus bmw hr
selected
giniel de villiers rsa volkswagen hr
motorcyclists
stage
marc coma esp ktm hr min sec cyril despres fra ktm at min
sec helder rodrigues por yamaha francisco lopez chi aprilia
pal ullevalseter nor ktm ivan jakes svk ktm
jakub przygonski pol ktm david fretigne fra yamaha jonah
street usa ktm ruben faria por ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec francisco lopez chi aprilia at
min sec helder rodrigues por yamaha marc coma esp ktm hr
pal ullevalseter nor ktm hr alain duclos fra ktm hr
jonah street usa ktm hr david fretigne fra yamaha hr
ivan jakes svk ktm hr olivier pain fra yamaha hr
vast us spy machine comes under fresh scrutiny
washington jan afp
the sprawling us intelligence community faces renewed calls for reform despite
sweeping overhaul after the september attacks and the fiasco over weapons of
mass destruction in iraq
after failing to uncover plot to blow up us airliner on christmas day the
giant us intelligence apparatus including domestic counter terrorism services
has come under the spotlight again
the massive spy network comprises agencies including the central
intelligence agency about employees and budget of billion
dollars
frustrated with the intelligence community failure to share information
before the attacks congress created the department of homeland security in
to oversee an array of domestic agencies
after the cia was blamed for misleading reports in the run up to the iraq war
congress launched yet another major reorganization in
lawmakers set up new post the director of national intelligence dni to
act as czar and ensure coordination among the spy agencies
and new entity the national counter terrorism center nctc was established
to offer central address for collecting and examining information on terror
threats
dni the director of national intelligence is charged with overseeing all the
spy agencies while also coordinating counter terrorism efforts by the federal
bureau of investigation and the department of homeland security
although the post was designed to provide strong single leader to speak for
large bureaucracy and advise the us president the director lacks authority over
the budgets and personnel of the spy agencies as well as the covert espionage
carried out by the cia
nctc reporting to the director of national intelligence the national counter
terrorism center is supposed to connect the dots acting as hub for
collecting and analyzing information on possible terror threats
the nctc has come in for criticism in the days since the christmas day plot
with some unnamed officials pointing the finger at the center for failing to
piece together clues on the attempt to blow up the aircraft bound for detroit
the center manages list of people suspected of links to extremists which now
has mushroomed to some names and alerts the fbi to the most alarming
threats
the fbi in turn uses the information for consolidated terrorist watch list
the federal aviation administration draws on the watch list to create no fly
list to prevent suspected terrorists from boarding aircraft
the cia and other agencies contribute analysts to the nctc who pore over
mountain of data and cables and produce intelligence reports
the center has struggled to link up separate computer systems and databases that
in the past hampered communications among the different agencies
cia established in during the cold war the central intelligence agency
long served as the dominant spy service from its headquarters in langley
virginia overseeing the country other agencies and numerous clandestine
plots including coups in the and
but the cia reputation was in tatters after and particularly after the
debacle over iraq where saddam hussein supposed weapons of mass destruction
were never found despite the agency reports
congressional reform effectively demoted the cia stripping it of its role as
presidential adviser and as chief of the other spy agencies
the cia with about employees is believed to carry out drone bombing
raids in pakistan against al qaeda and taliban militants
nsa the national security agency created in and based at fort meade in
maryland gathers electronic intelligence through vast eavesdropping operation
and team of analysts schooled in cryptography
in tapping into the world email telephone and fax traffic and data bases the
nsa relies on network of spy satellites overseen by the national
reconnaissance office based in chantilly virginia
the nsa was embroiled in controversy under george bush administration
which ordered the agency to wiretap some phone calls within the united states
without warrant
the agency seeks low public profile and was so secret that the government used
to refuse to acknowledge its existence earning it the nickname no such
agency
dia the defense intelligence agency created in is one of several spy
agencies that fall under the defense department authority including the nsa
led by three star general and based inside the pentagon the dia focuses on
military intelligence providing information in support of military planning
operations and weapons programs with more than employees the dia
oversees the intelligence efforts of each of the branches of the armed services
clinton to urge japan to move forward on base issue
washington jan afp
secretary of state hillary clinton will urge japan to move forward on the row
over us air base at talks in hawaii next week with her counterpart katsuya
okada us envoy said thursday
clinton will tell okada how important it is to move forward on these issues in
futenma said envoy kurt campbell who referred to the dispute causing tension
between the key allies in the pacific
us president barack obama administration welcomed japan new government in
august but voiced irritation when it announced it may scrap the previously
agreed relocation of futenma airbase on southern okinawa island
clinton will also tell okada that we also have to have very clear headed
recognition of how important this relationship is how many aspects need to be
maintained and engaged upon campbell told reporters
that one of the things that we ll be seeking to do in hawaii said campbell
the assistant secretary of state for asia and pacific affairs who will accompany
clinton on the trip
campbell attributed some of the problems in ties to the adjustment to governing
made by prime minister yukio hatoyama center left government which took power
in japan in august after half century of conservative rule
the new government pledged to review past agreements on the us military presence
and to deal with washington on more equal basis
state department spokesman pj crowley said earlier that clinton would meet okada
in hawaii on tuesday the first leg of tour that will also take her to papua
new guinea new zealand and australia
we meet with the japanese foreign minister often we have wide range of both
direct issues regarding our alliance and regional security issues crowley
said
ronald reagan grandson arrested
