plot in which explosives allegedly stitched into his underwear failed to
detonate
the foiled bombing triggered global alarm leading the united states to adopt
stringent new screening and security measures at airports around the world
dozens of names have also been added to no fly lists
urgent togo government says football team must come home minister
lome jan afp
togo government is sticking by its decision to recall the national football
team from the african nations cup after deadly attack despite the players
wish to play government minister said sunday
new sunglasses can also be used for viewing
las vegas nevada jan afp
with the hit movie avatar creating buzz around entertainment
california company is touting what it believes are the first glasses which
can also double as sunglasses
we believe we re the first ones and we have significant patent portfolio in
the lens device so we believe we ll have good bit of protection in the
market microvision optical president david johnson said
the san diego based company is displaying the glasses here at the annual
consumer electronics show where leading television manufacturers have been
pushing technology as the next big thing in home theater
microvision optical said the polarized lenses provide sun protection while also
allowing for viewing of the most widely used movie theater systems and
the latest generation of flat screen television or computer monitors
it decodes the content very clearly very crisply johnson said adding that
the sunglasses should be permanent addition to your eyewear collection
he said the glasses which come in variety of styles will sell for between
dollars and dollars in optical stores
we re also working on prescription program where you can have your own
prescription glasses as well johnson said
african crime lord fake penis falls off in raid report
johannesburg jan afp
south african police caught more than they expected in cape town drug raid
when strap on dildo fell off suspected crime lord during search the
sunday times reported
fat murphy feared on the streets of cape town notorious cape flats suburb
told court that he is hermaphrodite who holds male and female identity
documents one under the name fadwaan the other under hilary
police and tearful murphy recounted the saga during bail hearing for
murphy charges of possession of stolen property which come on top of earlier
charges of kidnapping and intimidation the paper said
had vagina that could not be penetrated but also had male organs
testes but always knew was really man and that was what wanted to be
che told the court according to the newspaper
god created me with both sexual organs it was god decision not mine he
said
murphy has been married twice his second wife name is tattooed on his arm
he said received his male identity documents after undergoing surgery to remove
his female organs when he was in his teens the paper said
police say murphy offered them rand dollars euros not to
search him during the raid
police said they were investigating how murphy obtained his male identity
documents saying they found no records of him undergoing sex change surgery
murphy was released on rand dollar euro bail
alert
togo government says football team must come home minister
korean dies over days after life support cut
seoul jan afp
year old brain dead south korean woman died on sunday more than days
after being taken off life support in the country first case of legal
euthanasia officials said
severance hospital in seoul said the woman identified only by her family name
kim was pronounced dead in the afternoon days after her life support was
removed on court order
she had continued breathing on her own after her respirator was removed on june
according to the hospital
her case had stoked public debate over person right to die with dignity in
south korea
the patient was declared brain dead in february after she fell into coma
while undergoing lung examination
three months later her children filed court petition after the hospital
rejected their request to remove the life support system
her children said that artificially prolonging her life when she was brain dead
was painful and meaningless
court in december approved the family request saying the patient had
no chance of recovery and that her wish to die could be inferred
the hospital appealed but the supreme court upheld the lower court decision
in favour of the children in may last year
food prices soaring in korea group
seoul jan afp
food prices in north korea have soared this year amid chronic shortages
seoul based welfare group said sunday as world relief agency struggles to
raise funds for the impoverished state
good friends citing its own contacts in the reclusive north said prices for
rice and corn doubled last week at markets in the capital pyongyang and in the
eastern port city of chongjin
rice prices ranged from won per kilogramme pounds in pyongyang and
to won in chongjin last week up from to won reported on
december the group said
corn also traded higher at won last week up from won on december
in the areas it added seoul unification ministry handling cross border
issues could not confirm the data
the official exchange rate is won to the dollar but the black market rate is
between and won
the report came as the world food programme struggles to raise relief funds for
the food shortage hit north
major donors including south korea and the united states refuse to help in
protest at its second nuclear test in may last year
statistics available at the wfp website display it raised million dollars
as of late last month around only percent of its target of million
dollars in relief funds for the communist north
north korean leader kim jong il has admitted failing to deliver an acceptable
standard of living for the communist nation people according to rodong
sinmun the ruling communist party newspaper saturday
the president has said that people should be allowed to eat white rice and meat
soup wear silk clothes and live under tiled roofs the leader was quoted as
saying citing his father and eternal president kim il sung who died in
but we ve so far failed to carry out this goal
will certainly resolve the issue of people livelihood within the shortest
possible period and achieve the president last wish he said
last month the north carried out drastic currency revaluation aimed at
weakening the role of free markets and strengthening the socialist system
sri lankan president woos tamils on re election trail
colombo jan afp
sri lanka president on sunday took his re election campaign to the tamil
heartland of jaffna for his first visit to the peninsula since troops crushed
separatist tamil tiger rebels in may
mahinda rajapakse vowed to step up reconstruction efforts in the former war zone
and promised speedy re settlement of tens of thousands of tamil civilians
displaced by last year bloody offensive against the rebels
the president moved about freely and spoke with the civilians his spokesman
chandrapala liyanage said he also met with hindu and catholic leaders who
thanked him for removing travel restrictions to jaffna
rajapakse visit follows similar campaign trip to jaffna by his main rival
former army chief sarath fonseka ahead of the election on january
the minority tamils who constitute percent of the country million
population could be decisive if the majority sinhalese vote is split
both rajapakse and fonseka who was the main military architect of the tigers
defeat are members of the sinhalese majority and both look on the community as
their vote base
fonseka supporters said new government concessions to the tamils were no more
than an election gimmick
the opposition people liberation front jvp which backs fonseka said
rajapakse had released tamil tiger suspects on saturday in desperate bid
for votes
there is no transparent basis for the release jvp spokesman anura kumara
dissanayake told reporters we want to know on what basis they are still
holding over people in custody
the army announced that out of tamil tiger combatants in detention
were released at ceremony attended by the president in the northern district
of vavuniya on saturday
the tigers who had fought for separate tamil homeland since were
defeated by government troops eight months ago when the military killed
guerrilla leader velupillai prabhakaran
between and people were killed in nearly four decades of ethnic
bloodshed
the united nations estimated that mainly tamil civilians perished in the
first four months of last year before the fighting eventually ended
rajapakse called the presidential election two years ahead of schedule in bid
to benefit from public acclaim for his government victory over the tigers
tennis hobart international results
hobart australia jan afp
results from the first day of the hobart international women tennis tournament
here sunday denotes seed
first round
anabel medina garrigues esp bt iveta benesova cze
aleksandra wozniak can bt magdalena rybarikova svk
alize cornet fra bt alexandra dulgheru rom
alona bondarenko ukr bt sybille bammer aut
peng shuai chn bt sorana cirstea rom
kateryna bondarenko ukr bt lucie safarova cze
retired
nigerian suspect radical trail leading to bomb bid
paris jan afp
umar farouk abdulmutallab spent years reaching the radical point of no return
and the attempt to blow up passenger jet that he is now accused of committing
in the united states
lot more is known now about the nigerian final movements before taking the
plane from amsterdam to detroit allegedly wearing high explosives sewn into his
underwear
but how he came into the al qaeda net and how he was trained for the christmas
day attempt on the northwest airlines jet are key questions that us prosecutors
must answer experts say
investigators have followed trail left by the year old abdulmutallab that
took him to dubai ethiopia ghana his home nigeria and particularly several
months which he spent and during which he partly disappeared in yemen before the
attempted attack
the nigerian appeared in court for the first time on friday and not guilty
plea was entered on his behalf on six charges including one of trying to blow
up the jet and kill the people on board
us media reports said abdulmutallab told interrogators that al qaeda trained him
in yemen but as for the ideological process that drew him closer to osama bin
laden much comment has focused on his years as an engineering student in london
between and
the main radicalisation must have taken place in london where he got talked
into it through the internet and two or three preachers said alain chouet
former french intelligence chief
various officials have also told how abdulmutallab did extra studies in dubai in
and there went to the yemen capital sanaa to study arabic for two weeks
he went missing from sanaa on the day his visa ran out on september but
reappeared there again days later just before the attack
yemen deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs rashad al
aleemi said abdulmutallab had met an al qaeda leader mohammad omair in yemen
as well as radical cleric anwar al awlaqi
abdulmutallab met awlaqi and omair while hiding in the shabwa area in wadi
rafadh which was later hit by yemeni jets in an attack on the militant hideout
he said
the united states has accused awlaqi us yemeni of terrorist links and said
that an army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead people at texas military
base in november had also been in contact with him
but the yemeni minister insisted abdulmutallab had already fallen in with
extremists in london
when he went to britain it seems that he was recruited by islamist militant
groups and arrived in yemen after he had been recruited by al qaeda he
said
britain home secretary alan johnson this week acknowledged concern about the
possibility that abdulmutallab radicalisation may have begun or been fuelled
during his time studying at university college london
but he said the nigerian family believe he turned to violent extremism after
leaving the uk
abdulmutallab was placed on watchlist and barred from entering britain in may
british officials have said
an islamist specialist at france school for higher social science studies
ehess dominique thomas said that despite efforts to stamp out extremism
after deadly bombings in london in july there still exist small centres
of radicalism in britain
thomas said that once radicalised the recruits head to yemen and other
countries in the region for religious instruction and arabic lessons
at the campus in sanaa we know there can be recruitment of foreign students
who can end up following radical movement like al qaeda thomas said
aleemi said investigations had shown that explosives found on abdulmutallab came
from nigeria claim nigeria has disputed
the united states has has said abdulmutallab name was added to watchlist of
some people just before the attack following warnings from his father
to us officials in abuja about his son increasing radicalism
but abdulmutallab name was not added to the no fly list or the watch list
meaning the us visa he had been issued earlier was not cancelled and he was to
get onto to the christmas day flight without extra security screening
bolivia banks on coca colla fizzy coca leaf drink
la paz jan afp
president evo morales bolivia first indigenous leader known for chewing coca
leaves at un meetings is making fresh push for the plant this time in the
form of the soft drink coca colla
intended to rival its more famous us cousin coca cola the fizzy drink is at
the center of plan coca growers from the morales stronghold of chapare in
central bolivia submitted to the government last week to boost coca production
farmers proposed the name coca colla in reference to people living in the andean
part of the country
vice ministry of coca and integral development official who requested
anonymity said the project would be launched in about four months and that the
initiative could be either run by the state or joint partnership with coca
growers
the official said the drink packaging would feature black swoosh and red
label similar to the famous coke insignia
the fate of coca colla is of particular concern to la paz which wants to expand
coca cultivation tea flour toothpaste and liquor are already being produced
using coca base
bolivia the world third largest producer after colombia and peru yielded
coca crop of some hectares acres in an increase of six
percent over the previous year according to the united nations office on drugs
and crime
last year morales who also heads the coca growers union in the chapare
region vowed to increase the expanse used to grow coca bushes by
hectares acres in the impoverished andean country
bolivian law currently approves the use of up to hectares acres
to grow coca in the yungas stretch of forest in the andes mountains for
traditional uses such as tea chewing and religious rituals by the aymara ethnic
group
coca leaves have been cultivated in the andes mountains for years and are
part of the culture and identity of the people there according to morales who
has said some million people in the andes chew sacred coca leaves
the international narcotics control board has called for years for ban on coca
leaf chewing
bolivia new constitution drafted by the ruling movement toward socialism
mas party says coca is recognized as cultural heritage natural and
renewable resource of biodiversity in bolivia and factor of social cohesion
and notes that the coca leaf is not narcotic in its natural state
the morales government threw out us drug enforcement agency dea agents in
and the president said he would seek the help of other countries to combat
drug trafficking
battered detroit puts on bright smile for auto show
detroit michigan jan afp
badly battered detroit was doing its best to put on bright smile for the
nation premier auto show which opens monday in the wake of one of the worst
years in motown history
hometown giants general motors and chrysler were forced to seek billions in
government loans and finally bankruptcy protection in the wake of collapse in
auto sales amid broad economic crisis
and while ford managed to both stay afloat and increase its share of the
shrunken market the detroit three were dethroned by asian automakers in as
the biggest sellers in the us market
it was year that nobody wants to repeat said rebecca lindland an analyst
at ihs global insight
the one silver lining is that only two of our major car companies had to
declare bankruptcy because seriously just looking at how the sales fell it
miracle that more didn have to
auto sales were down dramatically worldwide and in the united states they fell
percent to million vehicles in according to autodata figures
released last week
that is the lowest level since the recession and drastically below the
to million vehicle range posted in each of the previous years
the collapse came as detroit was smarting from years of mass layoffs and plant
closures as gm ford and chrysler restructured their operations in the wake of
decades long loss of market share to asian rivals that accelerated dramatically
when high gasoline prices undermined truck and sport utility vehicle sales
the detroit three which held percent share of the us market as recently
as and percent stake decade ago ended with percent
stake
asian automakers captured percent share in up from percent in
autodata said
part of the loss comes from the fact that the detroit three are offering
customers fewer options and focusing on core products
gm is in the midst of shedding half its brands ford will have done the same
after it completes the sale of volvo and chrysler has dramatically cut back its
offerings under the management of italy fiat
all three automakers insist that the painful cuts have positioned them for long
term profitability and congressional delegation will be visiting the show to
see how those plans have translated into products
for the domestic brands the objective is to really showcase that they are here
to stay said jeff schuster director of forecasting at jd power
there is no doubt that will be challenging year
while most forecasters are forecasting moderate rise in us auto sales they
are expected to remain at significantly depressed levels and could be badly hit
should the economy take another bad turn
for leaving my seatbelt on because think that volatility is still
an element of the new norm ken czubay ford vice president for us marketing
sales and service said in conference call discussing ford december sales
results last week
yet the fact that the detroit three managed to survive the recent turmoil to
mount displays highlighting their new focus on stylish and fuel efficient
vehicles has granted new hope to the motor city
the mood is incredibly diametrically degrees different than what it was
year ago said doug fox chair of the north american international auto show
there some stability in the market that has really heartened lot of people
that maybe we have hit the bottom
appointees for the member european commission
brussels jan afp
members of the european parliament will grill from monday the nominees set to
draw up and enforce eu policies for the next five years as members of the
european commission
following is the list of commissioners appointed by leaders of the european
union member states and to be led by commission president jose manuel
barroso if the assembly endorses the entire team on january
catherine ashton britain high representative of the union for foreign
affairs and security and vice president of the commission
michel barnier france internal market and services
joaquin almunia spain competition vice president of the commission
karel de gucht belgium trade
olli rehn finland economic and monetary affairs
laszlo andor hungary employment social affairs and inclusion
dacian ciolos romania agriculture and rural development
john dalli malta health and consumer policy
maria damanaki greece maritime affairs and fisheries
stefan fuele czech republic enlargement and european neighbourhood policy
johannes hahn austria regional policy
connie hedegaard denmark climate action
maire geoghegan quinn ireland research and innovation
rumiana jeleva bulgaria international cooperation humanitarian aid and
crisis response
siim kallas estonia transport vice president of the commission
neelie kroes the netherlands digital agenda vice president of the
commission
janusz lewandowski poland budget and financial programming
cecilia malmstroem sweden home affairs
guenter oettinger germany energy
andris piebalgs latvia development
janez potocnik slovenia environment
viviane reding luxembourg justice fundamental rights and citizenship
vice president of the commission
maros sefcovic slovakia vice president of the commission for inter
institutional relations and administration
algirdas emeta lithuania taxation and customs union audit and anti fraud
antonio tajani italy industry and entrepreneurship vice president of the
commission
androulla vassiliou cyprus education culture multilingualism and youth
key nominations for europe top policy team
brussels jan afp
the european parliament begins vetting from monday the nominees for the top
jobs at the eu powerful executive arm to be led by president jose manuel
barroso
the following are snapshots of the key figures most of whom could hold for five
years economic powers the domain in which the european union the world
biggest market has greatest influence both at home and abroad
the parliament cannot reject individual commissioners but could vote on january
to reject the entire list about one third of whom are women and who are
appointed by leaders of the eu nation
catherine ashton britain foreign affairs and first vice president
the year old former eu trade commissioner and leader of britain unelected
house of lords was surprise pick as the bloc inaugural foreign affairs
supremo under the reforming lisbon treaty which entered force in december her
choice for the coveted post elicited cries of cathy who from sceptics
concerned at her lack of diplomatic experience participation during her youth
in an anti nuclear far left movement has also triggered derision from britain
opposition conservatives expected to take power this year
michel barnier france internal market
member of french president nicolas sarkozy right wing ump party the former
farm minister is seeking his second term as commissioner having been in charge
of regional affairs between and his controversial nomination followed
flurry of late night telephone diplomacy led by sarkozy to head off
concerted campaign by britain to prevent the city of london home to
percent of europe financial services industry from being influenced by the
french who are desperate to rein in bankers they blame for europe deepest
recession since world war ii
olli rehn finland economic and monetary affairs
previously supervisor of the eu enlargement process the year old finn is
noted for his discretion sense of humour and love of football as head of the
eu budgetary watchdog he will need to draw on all his skills honed in the
balkans to convince nations to rein in spending with deficits high and long
term debt mounting
karel de gucht belgium trade
belgium has already pulled one rabbit out of the hat with the nomination of
herman van rompuy as the first full time eu president de gucht year old
liberal will lead negotiations with india southeast asian states and canada on
free trade accords potentially worth billions of euros each year he will also
represent the eu in the doha round of world trade organisation talks on new
global pact former foreign minister he memorably provoked diplomatic
crisis last year between belgium and former african colony the democratic
republic of congo and tensions remain high
joaquin almunia spain competition and vice president
year old socialist almunia will be key pillar in barroso second term
his new portfolio is one of the most coveted as it wields powers over anti
trust and cartel issues which have targeted some of the world biggest
businesses such as microsoft and resulted in billions of euros dollars of
fines lawyer and economist by training almunia last job was running
economic and monetary affairs
rumiana jeleva bulgaria humanitarian aid
the year old had been bulgarian foreign minister since last july
the former mep will have to defend herself in the chamber over rumours of links
between her husband and organised crime
eu new foreign policy chief commissioners face grilling
brussels jan afp
the european union new foreign affairs chief catherine ashton and would be
eu commissioners face grilling over their suitability for the jobs from monday
in hearings at the european parliament
ashton and the other members of the new european commission the eu
unelected executive body will be questioned by lawmakers from january in
brussels and january in strasbourg
commission head jose manuel barroso has already been confirmed for second
five year term
the european parliament the eu only popularly elected body wants to
establish whether the appointees of the powerful executive body are competent to
carry out their tasks but also independent and pro european
baroness ashton of upholland year old british peer will be the face and
voice of the eu abroad while the commissioners are in charge of drawing up
legislation that impacts on the lives of half billion europeans as well as
policing the existing rules
no obvious skeletons have been dragged from any closets this time but the
hearings which run for about three hours each could create some surprises
ashton the high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security
and also vice president of the commission has been criticised for lacking
diplomatic experience officials say she has been preparing hard
critics have said the former eu trade commissioner was appointed on the basis of
her nationality britain failed to secure the post of new eu president or
commissioner linked to financial affairs and her gender alone
madame ashton has three qualities she is socialist she is english and she
is woman is how french president nicolas sarkozy has summed up her
appointment
in first address to the parliament on december ashton struggled to convince
the lawmakers that she had grasped the complicated diplomatic responsibilities
under her remit whether on china russia or energy security
then she admitted she had lot to learn but presented that as an opportunity
come to you with sense of blank piece of paper need your help to write
on it she told them
ashton post was created by the lisbon treaty which was introduced on december
but the vast package of reforms also grants significant new powers to the eu
assembly and some lawmakers are keen to exercise them
indeed the parliament has already imposed its will in the past
in the deputies rejected the candidature of italy rocco buttiglione who
had been in line to become the eu top justice official but was considered
inappropriate by them for his opposition to homosexuality
other states have been forced to change candidates for the portfolios which
wield influence over policy in areas ranging from eu markets and monetary
affairs to agriculture health and transport
these setbacks are difficult to swallow as the posts with five year mandates
are only shared out among the eu nations after several rounds of hard
bargaining and political horse trading
technically speaking the parliament cannot block the appointment of any single
commissioner but it does have the power to reject the entire team under
commission head jose manual barroso in vote in plenary session on january
france michel barnier who has been nominated for the sensitive and prized
post of eu internal market and services commissioner also faces baptism of
fire in the assembly
his appointment particularly annoyed britain which worked to ensure that
senior official from london will be watching over the commissioner by running
his day to day affairs
barnier former french agriculture minister and commissioner in the past has
taken particular advantage of the end of year holidays to pore over his
material members of his entourage say
cricket sri lanka bat against india
dhaka jan afp
sri lanka captain kumar sangakkara elected to bat after winning the toss against
india in triangular one day series match here on sunday
sri lanka made three changes from the side that beat bangladesh by nine wickets
replacing lahiru thirimanne nuwan kulasekara and malinga bandara with
tillakaratne dilshan suranga lakmal and chanaka welegedara
india also made three changes bringing in dinesh karthik sudeep tyagi and amit
mishra in place of virender sehwag ashish nehra and harbhajan singh
sri lanka kumar sangakkara capt tillakaratne dilshan upul tharanga mahela
jayawardene thilan samaraweera thilina kandamby thissara perera suraj
randiv thilan thushara suranga lakmal chanaka welegedara
india mahendra singh dhoni capt dinesh karthik gautam gambhir virat kohli
suresh raina yuvraj singh ravindra jadeja amit mishra zaheer khan sudeep
tyagi shanthakumaran sreesanth
umpires enamul haque ban and ian gould eng
tv umpire sharfuddoula shahid ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
years on elvis still heartbreak king in aussie town
parkes australia jan afp
beneath his homemade jumpsuit and the glinting black of his polyester elvis
presley wig gnarnayarrahe inmurry waitairie sweats in the unforgiving
