it was the fourth time he had sailed the atlantic but the first since the
accident which left him paralysed from the chest down
he intended to revisit the exact spot where he hurt himself saying before he
set off that it was personal challenge where feel will be closing the
circle from having my accident and returning again as yachtsman
as he has only limited use of his arms and hands holt operated his boat using
high tech equipment but was accompanied by an assistant susana scott who
helped him get in and out of bed and wash as well as cameraman
holt was reunited with his wife elaine and seven year old son timmy in an
emotional end to his journey which took longer than expected after he suffered
from mechanical problems and light winds
the sailor was already the first disabled yachtsman to sail single handed around
britain feat he achieved in
holt who holds degree in fine art valuation has said in the past that he
hoped to inspire other disabled people
it not about being disabled it not about sailing the atlantic ocean it
about demonstrating that disability need not be barrier to achieving something
positive in your life he said
football scotland boss levein gets scout wish
glasgow jan afp
scotland new manager craig levein will have scout to assist him after the
scottish football association sfa announced his former club colleague michael
oliver had been appointed to the post
for the past two years oliver has worked at scottish premier league side dundee
united where levein was the manager until he was installed as scotland boss
last month in succession to the sacked george burley
hopefully can have good impact on the squad preparations and have real
go at creating good picture for craig of the teams he will face oliver who
has also scouted for english premier league sides birmingham and wigan told
www scottishfa co uk following thursday announcement by the sfa
he added more often than not ll be watching club matches where percentage
of players involved are eligible for an international opponent
that is where you ll see player perform to their full potential and learn
most about them as opposed to an international friendly where not lot is at
stake explained oliver likely to be levein only full time member of staff
levein whose first game in charge is the international friendly against the
czech republic in march said when was working at club level didn like
it if sent out my team and the opposition brought on player who hadn
briefed my players about
when was offered the job here made it clear from the start that wanted
full time scout
michael fits the role perfectly added levein who first met oliver as
year old when he played alongside him at scottish lower league side
cowdenbeath
he already has lot of experience in similar role he is used to travelling
around europe watching players and he has made lot of good contacts along the
way
for the past two years he was my scout at dundee united for me the most
important thing is that michael always gives me definitive opinion about
player levein explained
scotland have not qualified for the finals of major tournament since the
world cup in france and levein primary task is to get the team through to the
european championship finals in poland and the ukraine
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 us 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 quartet of 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
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
us role in yemen focused on training intelligence pentagon
washington jan afp
the pentagon said on thursday it respected yemen sovereignty after top
official in sanaa warned against any us military intervention in the country
playing down its role in yemen the us military said it was focused on providing
intelligence and training to help yemen counter al qaeda militants who are
believed to have backed failed attack on us airliner on christmas day
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 told reporters
his comments came after yemen deputy prime minister for defense and security
affairs rashed al aleemi said us military action on yemeni soil could backfire
and strengthen the al qaeda network
whitman said the current us military presence there was limited and focused on
training missions
would describe it as relatively modest but not going to get into the
specifics of it he said
washington efforts included sharing intelligence with yemen and providing
training and funding to assist them in building up their counter terrorism
capabilities he said
we are going to continue to look for ways to assist countries that want to take
on these terrorist threats within their countries
asked about the possibility of us ground forces deploying to yemen whitman said
he would never speculate on future operations
although aleemi warned against direct military action he said yemen needed
american assistance to train its counter terrorism units
whitman said us military training had been underway in yemen for several years
including efforts to help yemen set up coast guard
on wednesday top us military officer admiral mike mullen said the threat posed
by al qaeda in yemen had raised growing concern in recent years
us armed forces have been working to bolster yemen military in the face of the
threat he said at conference in washington
we are going to continue to support the yemeni government in the execution of
their strategy to eliminate these terrorists said mullen
he added that we all recognize yemen is sovereign country
analysts meanwhile played down the possibility of us military action in yemen
saying the americans were already stretched with wars in iraq and afghanistan
anyone who wants to put direct us military intervention into yemen needs to
have their head examined said bruce riedel former cia officer and fellow at
the brookings institution
we have enough on our plate we don need third war in the middle east he
said at conference for the middle east policy council
no result in russia belarus oil talks report
minsk jan afp
russia and belarus broke off talks on new oil supply terms without agreement on
thursday according to source quoted by belarussian state news agency belta
moscow and minsk failed to agree terms for on new year eve and fears
have been raised that supplies to europe could be affected as belarussia is
key transit country for russian oil
talks began on saturday led on the russian side by igor sechin prime minister
vladimir putin powerful deputy and energy czar but they have yet to reach
agreement
the russian and belarussian experts have not managed to bring together the two
parties positions on the delivery of russian oil to belarussia the
belarussian source told belta
both sides have therefore decided to have break in negotiations to allow more
consultation the source added
russian source quoted by russian agency interfax said the talks would resume
on friday
similar disagreements between russia and the neighbouring countries of belarus
and ukraine both former soviet republics regularly threaten europe
energy supplies
in january dispute between moscow and minsk led to the brief closure of
pipeline through belarus which carries around third of russia total oil
exports to europe
archaeologists claim discovery of oldest hebrew writing
jerusalem jan afp
year old inscription discovered at site where the bible says david
slew goliath has been deciphered showing it to be the earliest known hebrew
writing israeli archaeologists said on thursday
the pottery shard with five lines of text in the proto canaanite script that was
used by hebrews philistines and others in the region was discovered months
ago
the writing was decrypted by gershon galil of the university of haifa who has
shown this is hebrew inscription said statement from the university
the discovery makes it the earliest known hebrew writing the statement said
carbon dating has shown the inscription dates back to the th century bc
making it about years older than the dead sea scrolls
this text is social statement relating to slaves widows and orphans said
galil adding that both the words and the concepts used were specific to the
hebrew language and society
the shard was found near the gate of site known as elah fortress about
kilometres miles west of jerusalem in the valley where the battle between
david and goliath is said to have taken place
finding such an early example of hebrew makes it possible the bible could have
been written several centuries before the current estimates the statement said
the inscription is similar in its content to biblical scriptures but it is
clear that it is not copied from any biblical text the statement said
tennis nadal admits to loss of confidence
doha jan afp
rafael nadal seeking his first atp world tour title in eight months admitted
after reaching the semi finals of the qatar open that he has been suffering from
crisis of confidence
have had lot of problems in the head the former world number one said
after winning when his opponent the belgian qualifier steve darcis
retired after only minutes of very one sided action
have had under confidence and things in the head but that life you have
to accept problems and you have to come back am trying we will see what
happens in the next six months
for someone who has been conspicuously stable while closing out matches rarely
letting slip opportunities to win when they present themselves nadal words
superficially contained an element of surprise
however he has had increasing problems with arthritic knees suffered from
stomach ailment and reportedly been affected by the recent break up of his
parents marriage
the year old majorcan took only two days break over christmas before
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
two suspects freed in ex president death probe
santiago dec afp
an appeals court in chile on thursday ordered the provisional release of two of
former physicians charged with the alleged murder of former president
eduardo frei montalva
in the latest of several judicial reversals in the case patricio silva and
pedro valdivia were freed while an investigation into the alleged assassination
continues
the two men were arrested in early december but ordered released days later
by an appeals court they were then re arrested several days later and placed in
preventive detention
silva and valdivia were among six people charged with having hand in killing
the former chilean leader two other doctors in the case accused of having
falsified autopsy reports were released from prison in december
frei father of former president and current presidential contender eduardo
frei ruiz tagle died from infection following routine surgery at private
clinic in santiago
the former christian democratic party leader family is convinced he was victim
of assassination by secret police during the military dictatorship of
augusto pinochet
their suspicions resurfaced after traces of mustard gas known to accelerate
infection and other chemical agents were found in frei exhumed body
in doctor who took part in the surgery augusto larrain alleged that
there had been foul play in frei death
pinochet seized power in in coup which was followed by years of
brutal rule he died in
frei montalva son center left politician faces an uphill fight this month
in january run off election against right wing tycoon sebastian pinera for
chile presidency
uproar over amp store slashed clothes
new york jan afp
popular clothing store amp faced uproar thursday over report that one of
its new york outlets is slashing and throwing out unsold clothing
workers at the store in the heart of manhattan shopping district regularly
throw away bags of clothing most of the items having first been cut up with box
cutters or razors the new york times reported
clothes destroyed included gloves with fingers cut off and men jackets opened
so that insulating fiber was coming out the times reported
with unemployment at more than percent and the city homeless population
facing bitter temperatures the report sparked anger on amp facebook page
what throwing clothes away that does not make any sense it true they
should be donating them instead or at least call some people up so we can pick
them up and donate them wrote carolina de jesus
what shame added maxime
sorry amp but until you find better way to dispose of unsold clothing
don really want anything to do with you another customer fumed
amp defended itself saying the company donated half million pieces of
clothes to charity last year but that not all items qualified
we donate garments that do not meet our quality requirements to organizations
such as gifts in kind unhcr caritas the red cross and helping hands the
company said in statement
however we do not donate clothes that do not meet our safety requirements
chemical restrictions or are damaged we are currently looking into if we can
further improve our routines
france deports radical imam to egypt
paris jan afp
france on thursday deported to egypt radical imam who for months had been
inciting followers in paris area mosques to rise up against the west the
government said
described as dangerous ali ibrahim al sudani was detained and sent back to
egypt under an emergency deportation order interior minister brice hortefeux
said in statement
the secret services had identified this dangerous individual who for the past
months had been delivering sermons calling for fight against the west in
several mosques in the seine saint denis area said hortefeux in statement
sudani aged around showed contempt for our society values and incited
violence he added
the egyptian national was the th imam or islamic preacher to have been
deported from france since according to the interior ministry
in all islamic radicals have been expelled from french territory it added
french security agencies had been tracking sudani since and found his
jihadist teachings to be quite hardline said an official close to the case
the radical imam who boarded plane bound for cairo on thursday preached at
several mosques in the suburbs east of paris but also at prayer houses in the
capital
hortefeux said he had ordered the security agencies to remain vigilant and said
he was ready to order more deportations of islamists
the preachers of hate who have nothing to do with religious freedom have no
place on our territory said hortefeux
an official from muslim organisation who spoke on condition of anonymity told
afp that sudani did not have legal residency in france
he had been active in prayer house set up in public housing project in
aubervilliers outside paris the mayor of the town had been alarmed by this
teachings and had asked him to leave
rallying italian rider life in danger after crash
iquique chile jan afp
italian motorcyclist luca manca was fighting for his life on thursday after
crashing in the sixth stage of the dakar rally
the year old ktm rider whose ambition for the race was to finish in the top
five and who rated the level of danger of the race seven out of ten crashed
just kilometres into the km special from antofagasta and after receiving
treatment had to be taken to hospital by helicopter
however after an initial diagnosis indicated he had head injuries he was due to
be transferred to neurological unit at hospital in the capital santiago
nigerian bomber introverted says his canadian roommate
ottawa jan afp
nigerian man accused of attempting to blow up us airliner on december was
smart polite and introverted as well as devout muslim his former roommate
told public broadcaster cbc on thursday
canadian matthew salmon shared home in yemen with would be bomber umar farouk
abdulmutallab for several weeks in september and october of last year while
salmon was studying arabic
during those couple of weeks would say he was polite enough fellow to talk
to when we talked he was engaged in the conversation salmon told the
canadian broadcasting corporation from yemen
abdulmutallab had seemed to be somewhat introverted and recluse spending
lot of time alone in his room but he was never hostile to anyone before he
abruptly left their student residence in early october said salmon
we had lot of conversations about religion and in every one of the
conversations it usually focused around the peace the brotherhood and the love
that can come through islam he said
we never talked about politics and definitely never talked about anything that
would have struck me as being more extreme or fundamental
abdulmutallab was indicted on wednesday by us grand jury on six counts
arising from botched christmas day plot to blow up an airliner packed with
passengers and crew as it approached detroit michigan
the charges included attempted murder and trying to use weapon of mass
destruction aboard us plane
nigeria offers us images of bomber at lagos airport minister
abuja jan afp
nigeria offered thursday to provide us investigators images of the suspected us
plane bomber going through security checks at lagos airport on december
justice minister michael aondoaaka told reporters that the images would prove
that security staff had done their job
we have visual information that shows our security agents did what they
were supposed to do the minister told journalists
nigeria government has demanded it be removed from us terror watchlist of
countries including iran iraq syria and afghanistan introduced this week
after security review ordered by president barack obama
aondoaaka said nigeria would not allow such single incident to rupture the
relationship and am very hopeful that with facts and what we are placing
before the us government they will rescind their decision
nigeria is not terrorist country nigeria will not cannot be on the list of
countries of interest because we have track record as peacekeeper added
the minister
we have nothing to hide aondoaaka said the young man came in he was
screened and it is there on the visual information he said pledging abuja
full cooperation with us investigators
he removed his shoes he first came he walked to the right tried to go to the
right screening machine then suddenly changed his mind and turned to the left
removed his shoes and entered it is there the minister said
aondoaaka said that security staff did all that was required under the law to
ensure that nigeria complies with international standards
have assured my colleague the attorney general of the us that we will give
full cooperation and all requests made related to the investigations will be
granted he said
we have taken steps to deal with this situation to pre empt any future
occurrence of this situation in nigeria and elsewhere in the world
the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab was in transit at lagos having arrived
from accra in ghana before boarding flight to amsterdam and on to detroit
he was arrested after trying to set off bomb hidden in his underwear on us
northwest airlines flight as it approached detroit the following day
an official at murtala muhammed airport in lagos told afp that staff at the
airport had done their job and the fault for the incident lay with the
intelligence services in washington
first report on intelligence failures exposed by the christmas day attack was
due out thursday
obama national security advisor james jones said the public would feel
certain shock when they read about systemic failures in operations designed to
keep them safe
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
tennis qatar open tennis results nd update
doha jan afp
results from the fourth day of the qatar open here on wednesday denotes
seeding
quarter finals
roger federer suix bt ernests gulbis lat
viktor troicki srb bt lukasz kubot pol
rafael nadal esp bt steve darcis bel retired
us environmental agency gets tough on smog
washington jan afp
the environmental protection agency on thursday proposed tougher standards for
how much smog can be in the air move the us agency said would save money and
protect health especially in children
epa is stepping up to protect americans from one of the most persistent and
widespread pollutants we face smog in the air we breathe poses very serious
health threat especially to children and individuals suffering from asthma and
lung disease epa administrator lisa jackson said in statement
it dirties our air clouds our cities and drives up our health care costs
across the country she said
the new standards would replace those set by the previous administration which
many believe were not protective enough of human health the epa said
under the proposals the primary standard for smog the standard to protect
public health would be tightened up to the strictest level ever in the united
states between and parts per million ppm measured over eight
hours
the administration of former president george bush in set the primary
standard for smog at ppm for eight hours
the epa also proposed setting separate secondary standard designed to
protect plants and trees from damage from repeated ozone exposure which can
reduce tree growth damage leaves and increase susceptibility to disease
smog which is also known as ground level ozone forms when emissions from
industrial facilities power plants landfills and motor vehicles react in the
sun
three public hearings will be held on the proposals starting early next month
if the new rules are adopted they would result in health care savings of up to
billion dollars fewer premature deaths visits to the emergency room and
days off work and drop in aggravated asthma and bronchitis cases the epa
said
cricket strauss slams south africans over ball tampering claims
cape town jan afp
england captain andrew strauss said on thursday that he believed south africa
claims about ball tampering during the third test at newlands were malicious
the south africans made it known they had drawn the attention of match referee
roshan mahanama to an alleged changing of the condition of the ball but did not
make an official complaint
the umpires viewed footage which showed fast bowler stuart broad stepping on the
ball and james anderson running his fingers down the seam but decided to take no
action
we re not particularly happy about it and strongly refute the allegations
said strauss
really don feel there was any concerted effort on behalf of any of our
players to alter the state of the ball appreciate that some of that footage
didn look amazingly good but don think it was malicious
think to certain extent the south africans announcing it to the media
without being totally clear in their minds what they were going to do whether
they were going to put in formal complaint was little bit malicious
ball tampering is very sensitive subject and if you re going to make
allegations you have to be very clear or confident about exactly what the other
team are doing
england held out to draw the third test ensuring that they cannot lose the
series the fourth and final test begins next thursday in johannesburg
cricket dhoni kohli shape indian victory
dhaka jan afp
mahendra singh dhoni hammered an impressive century under pressure to power
india to six wicket victory over bangladesh in triangular one day series
match here on thursday
india were struggling at before achieving stiff run target with
balls to spare in the day night match thanks to run stand for the fourth
wicket between skipper dhoni not out and virat kohli
the indian captain hit nine fours in his ball knock for his seventh one day
hundred
sri lanka lead the league table with two wins from as many matches followed by
india and bangladesh each side will play four league games before
the top two advance to the final
bangladesh earlier impressed with their batting with openers imrul kayes
and tamim iqbal and mohammad mahmudullah not out helping their team
to post the highest one day total against india
we knew we were never behind the run rate and we just needed to keep wickets in
hand said dhoni
but if we want to be number one in one day cricket we need to do better with
the ball and in the field
the hosts boosted their hopes of recording only their third one day win over
india when they dismissed virender sehwag gautam gambhir and yuvraj
singh one in the opening nine overs
but kohli and dhoni applied themselves remarkably well to deny bangladesh
success for nearly overs relying more on singles and twos to consolidate
their team position
kohli batting with runner in the latter part of his innings because of
cramps missed his second one day hundred by nine runs when skipper shakib al
hasan held return catch he hit seven fours in his ball knock
man of the match dhoni completed the victory with run stand for the
unfinished fifth wicket with suresh raina who hit one six and five fours in his
ball not out
we are getting runs consistently and that plus for us when we got early
wickets we thought we had chance but they got good partnership all credit
to them said bangladesh captain shakib al hasan
bangladesh made strong start after electing to bat with iqbal doing the bulk
of scoring in an run stand with kayes who contributed only
mahmudullah then smashed eight fours in his ball knock late in the innings as
the hosts plundered in the closing overs
iqbal dominated the indian attack with bold stroke play reaching his th half
century off just balls with one six and eight fours
india had chance to break the partnership when kayes mistimed pull off
paceman ashish nehra but harbhajan singh dropped an easy catch at mid wicket
the batsman was then on three
iqbal fell playing strokes pulling fast bowler shanthakumaran sreesanth to
