belga news agency
rtbf radio reported that the plant about managers were being held in
meeting room in an office building located next to the plant
anheuser busch inbev announced thursday tenth of the company employees
in belgium will be laid off due to declining beer consumption in the country
obama vows to curb al qaeda recruitment
washington jan afp
us president barack obama on thursday vowed to develop new strategy to
frustrate al qaeda effort to attract new generation of recruits following
the thwarted christmas day plane attack
we know that the vast majority of muslims reject al qaeda obama said as he
released two declassified reports into the attack at the white house
but it is clear that al qaeda increasingly seeks to recruit individuals without
known terrorist affiliations not just in the middle east but in africa and
other places to do their bidding
that why ve directed my national security team to develop strategy that
addresses the unique challenges posed by lone recruits
obama who made landmark address to the muslim world in cairo last year where
he stated the united states was not at war with islam said washington must
enhance its message to the community
we must communicate clearly to muslims around the world that al qaeda offers
nothing except bankrupt vision of misery and death including the murder of
fellow muslims while the united states stands with those who seek justice and
progress
tokyo stocks open higher
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices opened higher friday with the benchmark nikkei index
gaining points or percent to in the first minutes of
trading
science fraud journal urges china to show integrity
paris jan afp
leading medical journal the lancet on friday urged china to tighten measures
against scientific fraud after dozens of papers written by two teams of chinese
chemists were found to be faked
for president hu jintao goal of china becoming research superpower by
to be credible china must assume stronger leadership in scientific
integrity the british weekly warned
china government needs to take this episode as cue to reinvigorate
standards for teaching research ethics and for the conduct of the research
itself as well as establishing robust and transparent procedures for handling
allegations of scientific misconduct to prevent further instances of fraud
the call came after specialist journal called acta crystallographica section
uncovered extensive fraud in chinese authored papers that were published in
the studies purported to announce the invention of at least structures in
crystallography or the study of the arrangement of atoms in solids
crystallography is key tool in materials science
in an article dated december on its website acta crystollographica section
said the falsification entailed taking bona fide structures that had already
been invented and changing one or two atoms to make the compound seem new
the con had been belatedly spotted thanks to computer programme that compares
molecular structures its editors said
two groups one led by hua zhong and the other by tao liu both of jinggangshan
university jian in the eastern province of jiangsu are incriminated it said
zhong group has retracted papers and liu group according to the
journal which says the tally of frauds is likely to rise further
the publication is open access meaning it is available for free on the
internet the journal charges authors dollars to print their papers fee
that it says helps meet the costs of journal production and detailed and
exhaustive peer review
peer review assessment of data by independent scientists of high standing
is the traditional cornerstone of excellence in science publishing
but string of scandals over the last half dozen years has caused the system to
be closely questioned
in the most notorious case south korean researcher hwang woo suk hoodwinked the
prestigious us journal science in and with claims that he had created
the world first stem cell line from cloned human embryo and developed
patient specific embryonic stem cell lines
the claims raised hopes of new treatments for diseases such as cancer diabetes
and parkinson
disgraced when the fraud was unmasked hwang was sentenced last october to
two year suspended prison term for embezzlement of research funds and ethical
breaches
chinese scientists have become prolific publishers accounting for percent
of the papers that graced science journals in according to
monitoring organisations
acta crystallographica section is published by the international union of
crystallography headquartered in the northern english town of chester
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
british man charged with bomb hoax on dubai flight
london jan afp
british passenger was charged on saturday with making bomb threat that
grounded dubai bound plane at london heathrow airport and sparked major
security alert police said
robert fowles is accused of bomb hoax and being drunk on an aircraft the
metropolitan police said
another passenger alexander mcginn has also been charged with being drunk
on an aircraft
remarks were made to cabin crew as the emirates flight was taxiing for take off
on friday prompting armed police board the plane
fowles from dover in southeast england will appear from custody at westminster
magistrates court in london on monday
mcginn also from dover has been bailed and will appear at the same court on
january
third passenger on board the plane who was arrested year old man was
released without charge
more than passengers were on the boeing at the time of the alert they
were forced to leave the aircraft while police carried out search but no
dangerous substances were found aboard
emirates arranged hotel rooms for stranded travellers and they were allowed to
fly to dubai on the aircraft on saturday
the security scare came after year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab
allegedly tried to detonate device stitched into his underwear on flight
from amsterdam as it landed in the united states on december
that incident sparked heightened security at airports worldwide
togo to hold three days of mourning pm
lome jan afp
togo will hold three days of mourning for the assistant coach and squad
spokesman of its national football team who were killed in recent gun attack
prime minister gilbert fossoun houngbo said saturday
the government has decided to decree three days of national mourning beginning
from monday houngbo said on national television
hooded separatist rebels opened fire as the team buses crossed into the
restive angolan enclave of cabinda to participate in the african nations cup on
friday
togo later pulled its team from the day competition but the confederation of
african football and angola announced the tournament would go on amid tightened
security
firm unveils rated robot
las vegas nevada jan afp
roxxxy the sex robot had coming out party saturday in sin city
in what is billed as world first life size robotic girlfriend complete with
artificial intelligence and flesh like synthetic skin was introduced to adoring
fans at the avn adult entertainment expo in las vegas
she can vacuum she can cook but she can do almost anything else if you
know what mean truecompanion douglas hines said while introducing afp to
roxxxy
she companion she has personality she hears you she listens to you
she speaks she feels your touch she goes to sleep we are trying to replicate
personality of person
roxxxy stands five feet seven inches tall weighs pounds has full cup
and is ready for action according to hines who was an artificial intelligence
engineer at bell labs before starting truecompanion
the anatomically correct robot has an articulated skeleton that can move like
person but can walk or independently move its limbs
robotic movement is built into the three inputs and mechanical heart that
powers liquid cooling system
roxxxy comes with five personalities wild wendy is outgoing and adventurous
while frigid farrah is reserved and shy
there is young naive personality along with mature martha that hines
described as having matriarchal kind of caring amp susan is geared
for more adventurous types
aspiring partners can customize roxxxy features including race hair color and
breast size male sex robot named rocky is in development
people ordering the robots online at truecompanion com detail their tastes and
interests much like online dating sites but here the information is used to get
the mechanical girlfriend in synch with her mate
she knows exactly what you like hines said of roxxxy noting that rocky will
also come with personalities
if you like porsches she likes porsches if you like soccer she likes
soccer
roxxxy will chat with her flesh and blood mate and touching her elicits
comments varying according to personalities
she is wirelessly linked to the internet for software updates technical support
and to send her man email messages
people can customize true companion personalities and then share the programs
with others online on the company website according to hines
just think about wife or girlfriend swapping without actually giving the person
to someone else hines said you can share the personality online
inspiration for the sex robot sprang from the september attacks when
planes crashed into the world trade center in new york city the pentagon and an
empty field in pennsylvania
had friend who passed away in hines said promised myself would
create program to store his personality and that became the foundation for
roxxxy true companion
hines sees his creation as not only recreational innovation but as an outlet
for the shy people with sexual dysfunction and those who want to experiment
without risk
roxxxy versions are priced from to dollars depending on features
the sex robot is available in europe and the united states and will eventually
be available globally according to hines
algerian security forces kill islamists
algiers jan afp
algerian security forces killed at least armed islamists southeast of the
capital algiers aps news agency quoted security officials as saying
security forces intercepted the suspected extremists as they were driving near
the village of slim west of the town of sila kilometres miles from
the capital after tip off and seized large quantity of weapons
four armed extremists were killed in the same area in mid december
according to security officials and press reports more than islamists have
been killed by security forces over the last weeks
algeria is wracked by low level guerrilla warfare by muslim fundamentalists
against the secular government and security forces
abh gk rl
rallying dakar rally ninth stage shortened by fog
antofagasta chile jan afp
monday ninth stage of the dakar rally between copiapo and la serena has been
shortened by km because of persistent fog in the area organisers said on
saturday
the special will now cover km instead of km through the dunes around
copiapo maintaining the degree of difficultly
just over percent of teams who started the race on january will continue
into the second week after difficult second week organisers said
some motorcycles and quads will race sunday of the who started week
ago with cars out of and trucks of or vehicles out of
we had big first week it been difficult dakar compared to other years
we wanted that the dakar should be difficult said sporting director david
castera
sunday special stage sees spaniard carlos sainz leading the overall car
standings in volkswagen and france ktm rider cyril despres leading the
motorcycles
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after saturday matches played won drawn lost goals
for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
real mallorca
sevilla
deportivo la coruna
getafe
athletic bilbao
villarreal
sporting gijon
atletico madrid
racing santander
osasuna
almeria
valladolid
espanyol
tenerife
malaga
real zaragoza
xerez
football teenage sensation canales shoots down sevilla
madrid jan afp
racing santander teenager sergio canales showed why he is regarded as one of the
most exciting prospects in spain scoring both goals as racing recorded third
straight win with triumph at sevilla on saturday
midfielder canales revealed this week that sevilla had enquired about his
services and he showcased his talents with two classy goals to inflict third
successive league defeat on sevilla who stay down in fifth
canales scored his first league goal to open the scoring on minutes and it
was one to remember as he produced delightful chip to beat andres palop
his second came minutes later and it was another ice cool finish as he
rounded palop cleverly faked to shoot and then cut inside to dispatch the ball
home
sevilla were on high after beating barcelona in the kings cup first leg at
camp nou on tuesday but found themselves jeered off at half time trailing
there are no excuses we had disastrous first half said sevilla coach
manolo jimenez as well as losing the respect of the sanchez pizjuan stadium we
have also lost respect for ourselves
the hosts spurned chances to get back in the game spanish international alvaro
negredo going close on three occasions
koffi romaric left out of the ivory coast squad for the african cup of nations
pulled goal back on minutes after goalmouth scramble and almost equalised
with goalkeeper fabio coltorti swiss producing fine low save racing clung on
to the three points and move up to th spot
atletico madrid put their midweek kings cup shambles behind them with
convincing win at valladolid on saturday to appease their disgruntled fans
with second successive league win
coach quique sanchez flores was seething after atletico first leg cup loss
to second division recreativo huelva on wednesday and read the riot act to his
players and they responded by blitzing valladolid
goals from jose jurado diego forlan jose antonio reyes and substitute sergio
kun aguero secured atletico first win at valladolid since although they
stay in th position points off the desired champions league places
there was good attitude and intensity in our game and am glad the players
responded and showed their best said flores we dedicate this win to our
fans
with minutes gone atletico took the lead with reyes coming from deep on the
left before the former arsenal player cut the ball back for jurado to convert
flores was out of the dug out punching his fist in delight and the second goal
came on minutes through forlan
it has been tough season for forlan and this was his first league goal since
the beginning of december and only his fifth of the season compared with the
he plundered last season to collect the pichichi crown for the league top
scorer
close to the hour mark reyes wrapped up the game with an impressive volley and
aguero made it four in the final minute to cap miserable night for valladolid
who hover three points above the relegation zone
in sunday other match man villarreal saw run of five straight home wins
come to an end with draw against almeria
brazilian nilmar headed the hosts into th minute lead but miguel corona
levelled with th minute penalty conceded by ivan marcano
marcano night got worse when he was sent off late on with two footed lunge
earning him second yellow card
villarreal stay ninth seven points off the champions league places while almeria
move four points above the relegation zone
leaders barcelona go in search of their first win of at promoted tenerife
on sunday
barcelona drew with villarreal before losing to sevilla at camp nou on
tuesday in the first leg of their last kings cup tie
real madrid two points behind barcelona entertain fourth placed real mallorca
on sunday in the standout fixture of the weekend
real fired blanks in draw at osasuna last time out but welcome back
brazilian kaka who has been sidelined with groin injury and not played since
the defeat at barcelona on november
football togo ignore angolan pm caf pleas to stay
luanda jan afp
togo have ignored impassioned pleas by the angolan prime minister paulo kassoma
and african nations cup organisers for them to reconsider their decision to quit
the competition in the wake of friday deadly cabinda ambush
togo announced saturday they were heading home less than hours before the
opening game after the machine gun ambush by cabinda separatists killed at least
two of their party and injured many others
kassoma who visited the troubled northern province where the deadly assault on
togo team bus took place spoke to angolan state radio after togo recall by
its government in lome
we are asking members of the togolese government to stay united with us
let us go on together united in this big event this major celebration of
african youth in this year of glory for african sport
his words were echoed by caf president issa hayatou who also visited cabinda to
judge for himself the security situation on the ground
if you choose to remain with us we will help you overcome your pain hayatou
told manchester city striker emmanuel adebayor and his fellow togo
internationals
if you choose to leave the competition we will understand your decision and we
will accept it he added according to statement delivered by caf secretary
general moustapha fahmi in luanda late saturday
it difficult choice it an individual and collective choice the decision
is yours and yours alone added hayatou who stressed caf had not received any
official notification of togo decision to leave angola
caf regulations stipulate hefty fine for any team failing to meet its
obligation to play in competition of this nature but in these tragic
circumstances any punishment would be waived caf made clear
there will be no sanction in the event of pullout fahmi declared
the competition organisers confirmed the attack had left two members of the togo
squad dead
their bus driver was also initially reported as dead although caf were unable to
confirm that information
the moves to get togo who were due to open their cup campaign against ghana on
monday to stay fell on deaf ears
togo coach hubert velud told afp we re leaving on sunday morning but we don
know yet at what time
as well as meeting the togo team the caf delegation also held talks with the
three other teams based in cabinda for the opening round of group matches
didier drogba ivory coast ghana featuring michael essien and burkina faso
they gave these three teams words of comfort about playing in the troubled
northern enclave
caf said that after perfect coordination with the angolan authorities they had
decided to keep the african nations cup group matches in cabinda
caf president hayatou has received all the assurances of an increase in the
level of security at all the competition venues called for by the different
delegations
caf confirmed that group would now consist of the remaining three teams it
being too late in the day to call up as last minute replacement morocco who
missed out on qualification to togo
football spanish league results collated
madrid jan afp
collated spanish league results on saturday
valladolid atletico madrid jurado forlan reyes aguero
sevilla romaric racing santander canales
villarreal nilmar almeria corona pen
sunday all gmt unless stated
sporting gijon getafe xerez valencia espanyol real zaragoza deportivo
la coruna osasuna malaga athletic bilbao real madrid real mallorca
gmt tenerife barcelona gmt
football french cup results
paris jan afp
french cup round of results on saturday
chauray agen
ajaccio cannes
vannes troyes after extra time
vannes win on penalties
seclin boulogne
laval vesoul aet
saint dizier raon etape
les herbiers toulouse
monaco tours aet
monaco win on penalties
strasbourg lyon
bordeaux rodez
rennes caen
le mans valenciennes
postponed matches
compiegne lens
saint louis neuweg sochaux
marquette mulhouse
saint ouen aumone sedan
colmar lille
pontivy brest
la grande motte villefranche saone
saint etienne lorient
grenoble montpellier
thiers nancy
rearranged dates for postponed matches
jan
amiens auxerre
jan
avranches saumur
quevilly saint quentin
played friday
pau evian thonon gaillard
playing sunday
lattes angers
versailles beauvais
bompchamp les laval guingamp
plabennec nice
trelissac marseille
paris saint germain aubervilliers
football inter late show breaks siena hearts as roma go fourth
rome jan afp
champions inter milan scored two late goals to stun rock bottom siena at the
san siro on saturday to open up an point lead at the top of serie
earlier in the day man as roma moved up to fourth and the final champions
league qualification position with home success against woeful chievo
inter looked to be heading for their first home defeat under jose mourinho as
they trailed with just two minutes remaining
but dutch playmaker wesley sneijder curled home his second free kick of the game
and then three minutes into injury time substitute walter samuel crashed home
the winner to send the inter faithful wild
mourinho admitted that it was rough luck on the serie basement sitters who
fully deserved something from thrilling match
the portuguese boss who has not lost home match since with three
different clubs admitted also that his team had been lucky particularly with
their equaliser from free kick
absolutely percent it wasn foul but wesley hit great shot he said
siena were better than us they really were they played with more serenity
they were more mobile faster more dangerous
we won thanks to luck and our great character this is team that never
believes it beaten
we had the courage at not to settle but to risk everything and we won
siena didn deserve to lose but football is like this with team down at the
bottom it difficult to have luck against team at the top
even without algeria forward abdul kader ghezzal siena gave good account of
themselves from the off
the visitors stunned their hosts on minutes as former middlesbrough forward
massimo maccarone ran unchallenged from the halfway line before smacking
yard screamer past julio cesar despairing dive into the top corner
inter response was rapid though as diego milito equalised after running onto
sneijder long ball cutting inside sanchez cribari with embarrassing ease and
curling the ball around curci
full normality seemed to have been restored on minutes when sneijder scored
his first free kick from yards but seconds later siena equalised
reginaldo turned inter captain javier zanetti easily out on the right flank and
his cross was missed by all until swede albin ekdal arrived at the back post to
slip the ball under julio cesar
shock was then truly on the cards minutes into the second half as maccarone
bagged his second as he beat julio cesar at the near post after arriving
unmarked on the edge of the box to meet reginaldo pull back
but two minutes from the end sneijder hit yard special and then substitute
walter samuel playing at left back but thrown forward for the final moments
turned on the edge of the box to shoot left footed in off the far post
inter main rivals juventus and ac milan will try to limit their losses as they
clash in the big game of the weekend on sunday in turin
roma survived the th minute sending off of goalkeeper doni as daniele de rossi
scored the only goal of the game in the opening minute with former italy
striker luca toni making his debut following his loan move from bayern munich
coach claudio ranieri paid tribute to his new striker who was only replaced
late on due to tiredness
hoped that toni would be as ready as this for the commitment of match he
played well and was great help to us he said
with against he would have run less but even so he managed to keep us
high up the pitch he created the chance for penalty he fought hard and won
many battles
toni had great chance to open his account on five minutes but flicked rodrigo
taddei inch perfect cross wide of the near post
roma seemed to have shot themselves in the foot on minutes when goalkeeper
doni came charging out of his box and blocked elvis abbruscato chip with his
arm earning straight red card
even so the visitors created little and things could have been worse but for
stefano sorrentino saving david pizarro spot kick after toni went down in the
box
bosnian charged in new york terror trial
new york jan afp
young bosnian man accused of receiving al qaeda training and conspiring to
murder pleaded not guilty to the charges in new york court saturday
bosnian born us citizen adis medunjanin appeared for arraignment at
brooklyn federal court to answer charges that he received military type
training in pakistan from al qaeda along with two other men and conspired to
commit murder from there
bail hearing was scheduled for thursday
medunjanin also known as mohammed was arrested by fbi agents on friday
along with taxi driver zarein ahmedzay both are alleged associates of
najibullah zazi denver airport shuttle driver indicted last year for planning
bombing spree around the anniversary of the september attacks
zazi told fbi agents he had traveled to pakistan to receive weapons and
explosives training at an al qaeda camp court documents say
the new york times reported that both ahmedzay and medunjanin had participated
in zazi pakistan trip making them prime suspects in the unfolding bomb plot
probe
it said the trio attended the same new york high school
zazi who is also being held in detention pending trial in brooklyn is accused
of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction
prosecutors say zazi traveled to new york with bomb making instructions in
laptop he also allegedly shopped for large quantities of chemicals found in
beauty products that could have been the ingredients for explosives
his case had been considered the most serious terror investigation in the united
states since september
but it has since been overtaken by foiled christmas day attack aboard us
bound plane carrying nearly people
the botched plot was stopped not by us intelligence but by passengers and crew
who overpowered umar farouk abdulmutallab as explosives stitched into his
underwear failed to detonate
the incident sparked global alarm and president barack obama ordered sweeping
overhaul of flawed intelligence services
under fire for the failing obama has repeatedly singled out the zazi
investigation as proof that us intelligence is in fact doing good job against
us foes
after zazi arrest officials moved in on ahmedzay who was charged friday with
making false statements to the fbi apparently lying about where he traveled in
afghanistan and pakistan
ahmedzay made trips to afghanistan and pakistan in and was questioned by
the fbi in according to his attorney michael marinaccio he has family in
both countries
but to infer that ahmedzay was part of terrorist plot would be stretching
the charge against him marinaccio said
medunjanin was apparently arrested after car accident as he tried to flee fbi
