returning to training and is here in doha with his mother though not his uncle
coach toni apparently he will link up in melbourne for nadal defence of the
australian open title the week after next
nadal was asked whether the media has been too impatient with him suggesting
that he is not the player he was for having reached just one final since
returning from three month absence in august
we will see in few months nadal replied amicably everyone is free to
talk can say nothing against them didn win against the best players
but that tennis you can be all the time one hundred percent am ready
to try and win tournaments but you never know what will happen you have to
work every day every week and wait your moment
during the very short time nadal was on court it was apparent that he was trying
to be more forceful with his first serve later volunteering to having made
small improvements identified after many hours of watching videos with his
uncle
he also put plenty of energy into his pumping topspin drives applying plenty of
pressure without waiting for opportunities for his more characteristic counter
attacks the highlight though was an inventive winning lob played off his body
like cricket shot
nadal semi final opponent is viktor troicki the tenacious serbian who came
from down in the final set to win against lukasz kubot
the first pole to break into the world top since wojtek fibak quarter of
century ago
nadal is now just one win from st encounter with his great rival roger
federer who reached the semi finals only after tough middle spell against the
hard hitting and talented but erratic ernests gulbis whom he beat
federer looked comfortable at the start but found the going much harder when
the year old latvian began to land high percentage of very high speed first
serves during the second set and to find his range with some ripping follow up
ground strokes
gulbis even broke back to lead in the final set but lacked the consistency
to win the big points against the world number one when it really mattered he
had done enough though to suggest not for the first time that he ought to be
pushing towards the top rather than languishing at world number
federer now has re match with nikolay davydenko the russian who beat him in
the semi finals of the atp world tour masters finals in london in his last match
of the season and who overcame ivo karlovic the tour leading server by
davydenko came from down in the crucial first set tie break and again showed
how fluently aggressive he is off the ground
he on roll said federer
he will be difficult to beat
us intensifies diplomacy to restart mideast peace talks
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday announced flurry of high level talks aimed at
restarting palestinian israeli peace talks which top us envoy says should
yield settlement within two years
accompanied by middle east envoy george mitchell secretary of state hillary
clinton will meet in washington on friday with her jordanian and egyptian
counterparts state department spokesman pj crowley told reporters
mitchell will then leave late sunday for paris and brussels for consultations
with non arab allies including the other three members of the quartet the
european union the united nations and russia crowley added
the meeting of the quartet which launched roadmap for peace in that
calls for the creation of palestinian state living alongside secure israel
will take place in brussels he said
days after entering the white house in january last year president barack obama
signaled that arab israeli diplomacy was top priority but crowley acknowledged
that efforts hit rough patch late last year
we have our ideas we are willing to share ideas crowley said
clearly the first step in this process is to get the two sides back to formal
negotiations and also find variety of ways to address the very concrete
issues involving two neighboring parties long in conflict he said
crowley said clinton will meet friday with foreign ministers nasser judeh of
jordan and ahmed abul gheit of egypt the only two arab countries to have made
peace with israel
egypt intelligence chief omar suleiman will join abul gheit in the later
meeting
in an interview with us television interviewer charlie rose aired late
wednesday mitchell said we think that the negotiation should last no more
than two years once begun we think it can be done within that period of time
we hope the parties agree personally think it can be done in shorter
period of time he said according to transcript of the interview sent to afp
by rose staff
the us consultations coincide with increased diplomatic activity in the middle
east including talks involving israel right wing prime minister benjamin
netanyahu
on monday israel maariv newspaper said washington was pushing plan to
restart peace talks that foresees reaching final deal in two years and
agreeing on permanent borders in nine months
under the plan the israelis and palestinians will immediately start final
status talks that were suspended during the gaza war year ago israel maariv
newspaper reported citing unnamed sources
asked if the two sides were any closer to resuming negotiations crowley said
think there is still work to be done he added it hard to say
after meeting in recent days with egyptian president hosni mubarak the us
backed palestinian authority president mahmud abbas said that he was open to
negotiations with israel but talks could only resume when jewish settlement
activity ends
under the us plan the two sides will first discuss the issue of permanent
borders with deadline of nine months for reaching an agreement maariv said
the idea is to have an agreement on borders before the expiry of an israeli
moratorium on new settlement construction in the occupied west bank so israel
will start to build again only in those settlements that will be inside its
borders under the final status agreement it said
underlying the discussions will be the principle of land swap that has figured
prominently in past peace negotiations israel will keep its major settlement
blocks in the occupied west bank and the palestinians will get land inside
israel in return
tennis qatar open tennis results collated
doha jan afp
results from the fourth day of the qatar open here on wednesday denotes
seeding
quarter finals
nikolay davydenko rus bt ivo karlovic cro
roger federer sui bt ernests gulbis lat
viktor troicki srb bt lukasz kubot pol
rafael nadal esp bt steve darcis bel retired
new york oil prices snap session winning streak
new york jan afp
crude oil prices fell thursday in new york after consecutive sessions of
gains as weaker dollar chinese interest rate hike and abundant supply
fanned demand worries
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery shed
cents to close at dollars barrel
the decline snapped the session winning streak that had brought the benchmark
contract to its highest level since october
in london brent north sea crude for february dropped cents to settle at
dollars
the dollar firmed after japan new finance minister naoto kan spooked
financial markets with call for weaker yen raising speculation about
government invervention in the market
stronger dollar often tends to dampen demand for dollar priced crude oil and
other commodities
on wednesday when the dollar was weaker oil prices rose despite weaker than
expected us government report on energy stockpiles
oil is pulling back on news that china central bank raised interest rates on
its three month bills for the first time since august day after it promised
to keep credit growth in check said phil flynn of pfg best
this slowdown helped end some bullish momentum that was achieved in yesterday
session
traders were looking at signs of weakening energy demand in the united states
the world biggest oil consumer despite bitter cold weather sweeping across
the northern hemisphere
weekly report wednesday by the us department of energy doe showed that crude
oil reserves rose million barrels in the week ending january instead of
the expected drop of some barrels
stockpiles of distillates including heating fuel and diesel fell
barrels in the week much less than the average analyst forecast of drop of
million barrels
the inventory statistics were very bearish said mitsubishi corp analyst tony
nunan
much bigger draw was expected but it got lot colder after that report so
we could see much bigger draws in inventories next week
nunan added that geopolitical factors including terrorism concerns in yemen
following the attempted christmas day bombing of northwest airlines flight and
tensions between the us and iran could send prices higher
think that lot of people realize that there is still big threat in yemen
which is right next to saudi arabia so that could be big geopolitical risk
issue
saudi arabia is the largest oil producer in the organization of petroleum
exporting countries the cartel that supplies about percent of the world
crude
in another development iraq and iran announced thursday they would hold talks
next week aimed at defining their borders and resolving dispute over an oil
well that has stoked regional tensions and driven up crude oil prices
two ex blackwater staff charged with afghan murders
washington jan afp
two former blackwater employees have been charged with the murder of two afghans
in kabul last year and could face the death penalty the justice department said
thursday
justin cannon of corpus christi texas and christopher drotleff of
virginia beach virginia have been charged with counts including second
degree murder following the shooting deaths of the two afghan nationals
they also were charged with attempted murder after third person was wounded
in the kabul incident on may when cannon and drotleff were working as
contractors for the department of defense in afghanistan
both men who had provided training to the afghan army in using and maintaining
weapons systems were arrested thursday after the grand jury indictment the
statement added
guinea opposition leader to return home
dakar jan afp
guinea opposition leader and human rights activist mamadou mouctar diallo said
thursday he would return to his country by next week after the interim junta
leader said he was ready to share power
intend to return without delay certainly by next week diallo told
reporters in dakar where he has been based after fleeing guinea following
bloody september attack on an opposition rally in the capital conakry
diallo president of the new democratic force and rights activist said he had
undergone treatment in the ivory coast for head wound suffered when soldiers
stormed the rally and killed more than people
guinea interim leader general sekouba konate late wednesday invited the
opposition to select the country next prime minister ahead of the formation of
transitional government
konate also called on opposition leaders who fled the country to return and said
he was guaranteeing the safety of all
diallo said today general sekouba konate asked us to return because he has put
in place security plan and we think that the mechanism for the security of
opposition leaders that has been announced will be effective
konate had also called politicians and civil society to work together for
elections in the bauxite rich country which has been under military rule since
december
football manchester city closing in on vieira
london jan afp
patrick vieira appeared to be moving nearer joining manchester city on thursday
and so completing dramatic return to english football
the former arsenal captain was reported to have flown into england on thursday
having played his last match for italian giants 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
us sunshine state shivers in arctic spell
miami jan afp
residents in the normally balmy us state of florida swapped their bikinis for
bobble hats on thursday as temperatures plummeted toward record lows
swathes of the state famous for its oranges alligators and retirees seeking
year round sun faced near freezing temperatures
as floridians raced to uncover long unused jackets farmers battled to salvage
some of the temperate and tropical crop that form the backbone of the local
economy
citrus growers feared their billion dollar year industry could be hit
hard local media reported that as many has four harvests could already be
ruined
tourism florida other major earner also was hit
on thursday the terraces of miami ocean drive normally replete with mojito
downing tourists were deserted as patrons opted to sip hot chocolate indoors
cruise operators offering caribbean beach trips that depart from miami were also
caught off guard by the intemperate cold snap
it is strange situation royal caribbean cintia martinez told afp but
many people come from cold climates so they are adjusting well luckily the
places where we travel are not so badly affected
egypt christians clash with police after christmas murders
cairo jan afp
clashes erupted on thursday as thousands of coptic christians in southern
egyptian village buried six of their number gunned down on coptic christmas eve
by men believed to be muslims security officials said
officials and the local bishop said three men in car had raked pedestrians
with gunfire along street containing two churches and shopping precinct late
on wednesday
bishop kirilos said the victims were people who had just emerged from church
after attending christmas eve service and the proximity of the shopping area
might have drawn some of them to it
six copts and muslim policeman were killed while at least nine more copts
were wounded two of them seriously security official said
the wounded were evacuated to hospital in the nearby governorate of sohag
an estimated copts attended thursday funeral in nagaa hammadi miles
kilometres from the popular tourist city of luxor
police said group of protesters stoned cars as the dead were buried and
police responded with tear gas the demonstrators chanted with our spirit and
blood we will sacrifice ourselves for the cross
they said copts earlier stoned police cars and the hospital where the bodies of
the six dead were held before the service chanting no to repression
security sources said sporadic trouble continued after the funerals
an initial investigation into wednesday shooting reported that the gunmen
opened fire as they sped along the street killing and wounding people over
distance of metres yards
as the car headed out of town the gunmen fired at convent which also housed
the bishop offices before fleeing to rural area near the town in qena
province kilometres miles south of cairo
copts celebrate christmas on january along with many other orthodox
communities around the world
on wednesday the head of the coptic minority pope shenuda iii led christmas
midnight mass at the abbassiya church in cairo attended by thousands of
worshippers including president hosni mubarak son and heir apparent gamal
bishop kirilos told afp on thursday that he saw gunmen spraying worshippers with
automatic gunfire outside the archbishopric after the mass ended
we concluded the mass at pm gmt and was heading to the bishopric
when saw man in car open fire with an automatic rifle at copts who were
walking past the building he said in phone interview
the gunman then continued to fire on copts in the streets of the town kirilos
said people are angry and very worried
the bishop said the author of this crime has police record and should have
been arrested for past crimes but is under the protection of prominent figures
close to the ruling national democratic party
witnesses cited by local officials earlier said the main gunman is muslim
wanted by police and linked the shooting to the abduction of year old
muslim girl who was allegedly raped by coptic youth in november
the first elements of the investigation based on testimony of people on the
ground indicate that the main shooter is town resident identified as mohammed
ahmed hussein who is wanted by the police one official said
the official mena news agency quoted qena governor magdi ayub on thursday as
saying the car used in the shootings had been found it also said ayub refused
to link the attack to the alleged rape
kirilos told afp that for the past week some of his parishioners had received
cell phone hate calls and threats alleging that muslims will avenge the rape of
the girl during the christmas celebrations
copts who represent under percent of egypt million strong population
are the largest christian community in the middle east but they frequently
complain of discrimination harassment and sectarian attacks
in november hundreds of muslim protesters torched christian owned shops in the
town of farshut near nagaa hammadi and attacked police station where they
believed the suspected rapist was being held
clashes with muslims often over love affairs between copts and muslims or over
land disputes are frequent
muslims have also clashed with copts over the construction of churches which
can be built only with presidential permission
bishop kirilos told afp that copts are in continuous state of fear
wife proud of cia bomber
istanbul jan afp
the turkish wife of the jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven cia agents in
afghanistan expressed pride on thursday in what he had done
am proud of my husband he carried out great operation in this war hope
allah will accept his martyrdom if he has become martyr defne bayrak told
reporters in istanbul where she lives
am not ashamed he did this against the american occupation of afghanistan
she said the turkish news agency anatolia reported
bayrak husband humam khalil abu mulal al balawi blew himself up at us
military base near the pakistani border on december in the deadliest attack
against the central intelligence agency since
turkish police summoned bayrak for questioning by the anti terrorism unit in
istanbul on thursday evening anatolia reported quoting police with the
interrogation expected to last several hours
before police questioning bayrak wearing black chador told journalists she
did not believe her husband reputed double agent had worked for the cia
because he was an enemy of america
it is not likely my husband was spy because he was an enemy of america my
husband could have only exploited america and jordan she was quoted by
anatolia as saying
the couple married in in istanbul where balawi had been studying medicine
since and moved to jordan the following year after balawi graduated
neither had criminal records in turkey anatolia said
bayrak who has been in istanbul with her two daughters since october described
her husband as believer who was active on jihadist forums on the internet
and man who would not even leave the house
she said she had not seen balawi since she returned from pakistan where he
had gone to pursue medical studies in march
balawi told his family he was planning to rejoin them in turkey she said
bayrak who holds degree in journalism has written and translated books and
penned articles for islamist publications
urgent two ex blackwater staff charged with afghan murders
washington jan afp
two former blackwater employees have been charged with the murder of two afghans
in kabul last year and could face the death penalty the justice department said
thursday
clinton to urge japan to move forward on base issue
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton will urge japan to move forward on
ending an air base row at talks next week in hawaii with her counterpart katsuya
okada us envoy kurt campbell said thursday
clinton will tell okada how important it is to move forward on futenma said
campbell who referred to the dispute causing tension between the key allies in
the pacific
alert
two ex blackwater guards charged in us with afghan murders
urgent clinton to urge japan to move forward on base issue
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton will urge japan to move forward on
solving an air base row when she meets counterpart katsuya okada in hawaii next
week envoy kurt campbell said thursday
body scanner trial puts british airport in the spotlight
manchester england jan afp
it was initially an idea to speed up passenger waiting times but manchester
airport now finds itself as the only one in britain using body scanners in the
wake of the detroit plane attack
since the december scare the government has rushed to get body scanners into
full operation at british airports
the first are set to be in place before february at london heathrow the world
busiest international passenger air hub with other airports getting them by the
end of the year
but at manchester airport in northwest england britain busiest outside the
london region body scanner has been on month trial since october with
passengers being scanned on voluntary basis
the pound dollar euro machine looks like small booth
and uses radio frequencies to scan beneath clothing and produce image of
the individual body
while the scanner does not produce an image of the naked body it has caused
consternation among privacy advocates because it does faithfully reproduce
body curves hidden beneath clothing
at manchester airport passengers stand for seven seconds between the scanner
two black blocks with their fingers on their temples
conventional thorough pat down search can take up to five minutes
the scanner penetrates four millimetres under the skin so any objects in
pockets such as lighters keys pens and wallets or anything hidden under the
clothing is shown up
the image produced is sent to an operator in another part of the airport who
then highlights anything requiring further manual inspection by circling it in
red that image is then returned to the security officer next to the booth who
would then search for those items
the system means the analyst cannot see the passenger whose body has been
scanned the image is not stored
people have said it like naked image but as you see the process it not
quite like that manchester airport spokesman john greenway told afp
the whole reason why we wanted to introduce this was to improve the customers
experience
we want the passengers to choose our airport to travel from we want to make it
hassle free and easy to use this type of security could potentially provide
that
since the scanner was introduced around people have volunteered to go
through
some have deep reservations
if you start to accept this as normal where is it going to lead to asked
scott from wakebridge southeast of manchester don agree with it
think it should be optional better to get full pat down
but charlotte student in germany said everything that improves
security is good idea essentially that kind of thing will be kept
confidential so don really see the problem
think most people would agree that physical search is actually more
intimate and intimidating
some human rights groups have campaigned against the use of body scanners
particularly on children
the under issue us on everybody mind at the moment greenway said
we ll have to wait and see what the government thinks about that
considering the rush for body scanners in the wake of the failed plot on an
amsterdam to detroit flight greenway said people are obviously asking about
the detroit bomb scare would this have picked it up
potentially it would have picked it up obviously there needs to be bit more
testing before we say categorically yes
what always happens in airport security is new threats emerge that is just
part of the world that we live in at the moment he added
new threats will emerge because of the introduction of body scanners and
airports will need to raise their game
first terror probe to shock americans white house
washington jan afp
the white house warned americans to brace for certain shock thursday when it
releases first probe into intelligence failures exposed by the christmas
attack on us airliner carrying people
new details about the thwarted bombing of the northwest jet will follow
revelations from yemen that nigerian man charged with carrying out the plot
met radical muslim cleric accused by washington of instigating terrorism
president barack obama who has complained about disastrous intelligence
screw up will make fresh statement thursday as his administration fights
claims it botched the initial response to the attempted suicide bombing
his national security advisor james jones prepared public opinion for the report
by warning americans would feel certain shock when they read about systemic
failures in intelligence operations designed to keep them safe
obama is legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available
bits of information that were available patterns of behavior that were
available were not acted on jones told usa today
noting the failed bid to destroy the jet and the shooting rampage which killed
people at fort hood texas in november by muslim army psychiatrist jones
said clues about extremist attacks had now been missed twice
that two strikes jones said adding the president certainly doesn want
that third strike and neither does anybody else
furious obama has ordered swift government reviews into the attack on the
flight from amsterdam to detroit centering on existing terrorist watch lists
and on airline security and screening
he was originally scheduled to speak at about pm gmt but the
appearance was delayed by three and half hours after it emerged he would hold
private oval office meeting with former president bill clinton
on tuesday obama said the review showed us intelligence agencies missed
series of red flags related to umar farouk abdulmutallab who is accused of
trying to destroy the jet with explosives sewn into his underwear
washington whispering campaign over which official might pay the price for the
failures gathered pace but the white house defended michael leiter head of the
national counterterrorism center nctc
the new york daily news said leiter did not cancel ski vacation after the
attack but national security council chief of staff denis mcdonough has said he
was intimately involved in all aspects of the response to the attack
new details meanwhile began to emerge of the planning of the plot blamed by the
united states on al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in yemen
the arab country deputy prime minister for defense and security affairs
rashad al aleemi said abdulmutallab had met anwar al awlaqi us yemeni cleric
also linked to the fort hood massacre
the united states has accused awlaqi of terrorist links and said nidal hasan
the accused in the november military base shootings in texas that killed
people had also been in contact with the cleric
aleemi said abdulmutallab may also have been recruited by al qaeda while at
university in london
deepening the conundrum in widening front on the us anti terror fight aleemi
also warned that american military intervention in yemen could backfire and
strengthen jihadists
but the us military played down its role
yemen is sovereign government just like pakistan is we want to work with
government officials in ways that are helpful to them pentagon spokesman bryan
whitman said
nigeria smarting from us criticisms of its aviation security procedures
offered to provide washington investigators images of adbulmutallab going
through security checks at lagos airport on december before flying to
amsterdam
justice minister michael aondoaaka told reporters the images would prove that
security staff had done their job
nigeria has demanded it be removed from us aviation watchlist of countries
including iran iraq syria and afghanistan introduced after security review
ordered by obama
abdulmutallab was indicted on six counts wednesday by us grand jury for
attempted murder and trying to use weapon of mass destruction aboard us
plane and could face life imprisonment
france eyes google tax on internet ads
paris jan afp
proposed french google tax on online advertising revenues to fund subsidies
for musicians and newspapers struggling in the digital era drew criticism from
the internet sector on thursday
the proposal was one of several in government commissioned report following
complaints by media companies that internet giants such as google are profiting
from their content for free
the report recommended ways to boost the availability of cultural material
online while also protecting artists and the media intellectual property
it suggested taxing online advertising as well as internet providers and using
the revenue to aid creative sectors such as the music industry which are
struggling to adapt to the age of downloads
the levy could raise up to million euros million dollars this year
according to the plan
the report lead author record producer patrick zelnik said the tax would
