rome jan afp
atalanta on monday announced bortolo mutti as their new coach following the
resignation of antonio conte last week
mutti is already the third atalanta coach this season as angelo gregucci began
this campaign in charge
they are the second serie team to change coaches twice this season following
siena and mutti thus becomes the th coaching change
he previously played for atalanta from and coached the team in the
season
his last coaching job was at modena in
atalanta are second last in serie and have lost four of their last five
matches getting their only point at home to leaders inter milan
obamas to attend funeral for biden matriarch white house
washington jan afp
president barack obama and first lady michelle obama will attend funeral
services tuesday for vice president joe biden mother jean finnegan biden who
died last week after an illness the white house said
white house spokeman robert gibbs said monday that the obamas would travel to
wilmington delaware some kilometers miles northeast of washington
dc to attend the services
the vice president mother died in her home friday at the age of after
taking ill last week biden father died in
jean biden came into the national spotlight during the presidential
campaign when she made several campaign appearances with her son
football africa cup of nations burkina faso ivory coast
luanda jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group match on monday
burkina faso ivory coast
teams
burkina faso
daouda diakite mady panandetiguiri bakary kone mamadou tall paul koulibaly
ibrahim gnanou charlos kabore badou capt florent rouamba jonathan
pitroipa moumouni dagano issouf kone narcisse yameogo habib bamogo
coach paulo duarte por
ivory coast
boubacar barry emmanuel eboue kolo toure souleman bamba siaka tiene didier
zokora yaya toure cheik tiote aruna dindane bakari kone kader keita
didier drogba capt kouassi gervinho yao salomon kalou
coach vahid halilhodzic bih
referee kacem benneceur tun
yellow cards koulibaly toure panandetiguiri
football naval could be sunk by football authorities
lisbon jan afp
portuguese first division side naval face possible expulsion from the
championship after the portuguese professional football league lpfp made
formal complaint claiming they had made false declaration over their accounts
naval who were fined euros last october for false declaration by the
league disciplinary commission which was confirmed on december are accused
of falsely claiming that they did not owe their players money
according to the lpfp rules only clubs who have paid up to date salaries can
compete in the championship
the lpfp added in their statement that they would await the verdict from the
courts before excluding the club from the championship
afptv agenda for tuesday
paris jan afp
we plan to file the following videos on tuesday please consult the advisory for
additions and amendments
optimism at detroit auto show as industry banks on recovery
detroit michigan
new sense of optimism is filling the detroit auto show as the industry looked
forward to recovery from one of its worst years on record automakers are
still reeling from collapse in sales to levels not seen since
bankrupting general motors and chrysler and dethroning the detroit three as the
biggest sellers in the us market
voiced report
detroit auto show goes green
detroit michigan
this year detroit auto show is showcasing every kind of electric car
imaginable from sports cars to suvs and the industry is working hard to
promote its newest models
voiced report
british minister niece sex murder trial wraps up in france
versailles france
the murder trial of jessica davies the niece of british millionaire minister
quentin davies wraps up on tuesday in criminal court outside paris
images and soundbites
bennett back on trial in zimbabwe
harare
roy bennett top aide to zimbabwe prime minister morgan tsvangirai goes on
trial on treason charges on monday he was arrested last february upon his
return from south africa to take up the post of deputy agriculture minister in
the unity government
file footage of bennett
as part of our african nations cup coverage we plan to file the following
cameroon fans believe indomitable lions can lift football trophy
douala cameroon
cameroon meet gabon in their first test at the african cup of nations on
wednesday the four time champions are now coached by frenchman paul le guen
and punters are pegging them as potential repeat champions afptv visits with
fans at home
voiced report
afptv is beginning special coverage of the winter olympics ahead the start of
the games in vancouver on february we plan to file the following
report
vancouver olympics the greenest games ever
vancouver canada
vancouver is set to host to most environmentally friendly olympics in history
but not everyone is focused on green certified buildings and energy efficient
technologies in west vancouver residents say that protecting nature was not
priority when planners designed the new highway to whistler an infrastructure
project that was integral to winning the olympic bid
voiced report
afptv
eurozone should get seat in imf eu rehn
brussels jan afp
the countries that use the euro should claim their own collective seat within
the group of developed economies and the international monetary fund the
incoming european commissioner for economic and monetary affairs said on monday
the euro countries need to work towards unified representation of the euro
area and the eurozone in international institutions such as the or imf
finland olli rehn told european parliament lawmakers during us style
confirmation hearing for his new five year post
he added we have to have single representative for europe in the area of
world economic governance
currently we punch below our weight by standing united we can lead not only
follow
rehn said he was planning soon to present proposal to that effect
eurogroup finance ministers meet in brussels next monday ahead of gathering of
all eu counterparts
rehn said they can capitalise on the lisbon treaty which institutionalises
the informal group of using changed voting rules to demand its own
collective seat
eric rohmer cinematic maverick who never compromised
paris jan afp
eric rohmer pivotal member of france new wave film movement that changed the
history of the art form has died aged leaving behind an immense yet subtle
and sensitive body of work
an intensely private and modest man rohmer was also highly influential figure
in postwar cinema first for his work as film critic then throughout his long
career as director
in his most popular works such as ma nuit chez maud my night at maud and
pauline la plage pauline at the beach he displayed lightness of touch
and delicious sense of irony proving cinema could be absorbing without complex
story lines or resorting to bloodshed
invariably intimate but never minimalist his films were meticulous
explorations of moral conundrums shot in naturalistic manner without use of
soundtrack
intrinsically french and full of bright often improvised dialogue rohmer
films were frequently compared to the work of the th century dramatist
marivaux
but he had his critics their view encapsulated in comment by tough
detective played by gene hackman in arthur penn film night moves in
which he complained that watching rohmer film was like watching paint dry
born jean marie maurice scherer on april in the eastern french city of
nancy rohmer began life as journalist and then teacher and gave early
notice of his liking for anonymity when he published his novel elisabeth
under the pseudonym gilbert cordier
moving to paris and joining the staff of the influential film journal cahiers du
cinema in the where he worked alongside other new wave directors francois
truffaut jean luc godard and jacques rivette scherer settled into the assumed
identity of rohmer
rohmer directed his first feature le signe du lion the sign of leo in
just as the new wave was emerging but unlike the celebrated responses to the
films by godard and truffaut his was flop
it was not until his friend barbet schroeder set up the production company les
films du losange that rohmer could begin to work freely never demanding high
production costs to retain his artistic autonomy
their lifetime producer director partnership is one of the most productive in
cinema to date
often working in cycles rohmer first embarked on his most celebrated series of
films six contes moraux six moral tales which began with the short la
boulangere de monceau the girl at the monceau bakery in and la carriere
de suzanne suzanne career
his real breakthrough came in with the third of the cycle la
collectionneuse the collector controversial study of female promiscuity
and established himself internationally with ma nuit chez maud my night
at maud subtle film about sex romance and religion which won an oscar
nomination for best foreign film
rohmer cinema which he has described as one of thoughts rather than
actions dealing less with what people do than what is going on in their minds
while they are doing it remains vital antithesis to hollywood
china forex stance promising eu commissioner to be
brussels jan afp
the incoming european commissioner for economic and monetary affairs said monday
that china was showing promising willingness to forge new world order on
currency exchange rates
find it interesting and in fact promising that china is willing to engage
itself into multilateral coordination of exchange rate and monetary policies
finland olli rehn said during confirmation hearing with european parliament
lawmakers in brussels
in fact we had good example in the context of the financial crisis in late
when all the major central banks the ecb fed and the chinese central
bank took simultaneous decisions concerning the interest rates
in my view the exchange rate of the euro in relation to the dollar and thus
the chinese renminbi is potential risk for the european recovery rehn
underlined
and therefore we have to continue to discuss with the chinese on this matter
both in the multilateral and bilateral context
eu and chinese leaders held talks on how to ensure that the united states
retains strong dollar towards the end of last year with european capitals
concerned that their exports are becoming uncompetitive in light of dollar
weakness
china overtook germany last week for the first time as the world biggest
exporter
greece unlikely to quit eurozone eu economic chief
brussels jan afp
greece is unlikely to abandon the eurozone because of the country ominous debt
and deficit crisis the incoming european union economic chief said monday
the destabilising effect of the greek financial mess on the country european
monetary and political partners dominated challenging us style confirmation
hearing for finnish commissioner olli rehn whose previous brief covered
enlargement negotiations with potential european union members
asked if he thought greece might try to leave the eurozone or indeed if it
could be kicked out of the group of countries using the euro rehn said no
do not
amid suggestions that eurozone and eu partners might have to bail athens out
given massive hole in its national finances rehn faced concerns from european
parliament lawmakers that greece problems could drag down eu economic
recovery
days after an inspection visit to athens by team from the department he has
been appointed to head for the next five years rehn insisted that the greek
government is aware of the seriousness of the situation because the european
commission is assessing the matter with major concern
now it is essential that we recognise that the greek government shortly in the
next couple of weeks if not days will present comprehensive policy package
including concrete and tangible measures on how to reduce the excessive
deficit
greece where the public spending deficit rose to percent of output last
year and debt to percent of gross domestic product gdp must present its
crisis plans to the eu commission by the end of the month
on friday athens announced percent increase in tobacco and alcohol taxes
and higher inheritance tax as initial steps
rehn said he will if needed use all the legal tools at his disposal to ensure
that the eu member states public finances are brought to sustainable basis
he stressed that the eu needs spine and rigour throughout its economic policy
but recoiled when asked if the eu equivalent of bailout or sanctions could be
applied in the future
he said that an imf type of financial assistance was dangerous route to
take preferring internal bloc rules on national input to shared economic
targets
he said these rules should and must by definition ensure that members of
eurozone have sustainable public finances by respecting the rules in the spirit
and name of european solidarity
countries have to focus on the correct application of existing rules and their
enforcement he said adding that principles could be agreed but that an ex
ante permanent mechanism for this kind of case would involve major risk of
moral hazard
the international monetary fund said monday it was sending its own mission to
athens this week after series of international credit rating downgrades for
greece
white house confident in yemen extremism fight
washington jan afp
the white house on monday expressed confidence in yemeni president ali abdullah
saleh willingness to fight extremism after he said he was open to talking to
disarmed al qaeda militants
asked whether the united states had confidence in the yemeni government fight
against militancy white house spokesman robert gibbs said yes
he offered as evidence the steps that the president has taken over the last
many months to deal with it
we believe that the president is taking the necessary steps and we continue to
support his efforts to combat extremism
gibbs did not however directly address saleh comments on abu dhabi tv that if
al qaeda militants lay down their arms renounce violence and terrorism and
return to wisdom we are prepared to deal with them
snooker masters results
london jan afp
result from the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on monday
preliminary round best of frames
mark williams wal bt rory mcleod eng
st rd best of frames
shaun murphy eng bt stephen hendry sco
playing later monday
stephen maguire sco mark king eng
playing tuesday
st rd
ronnie sullivan eng neil robertson aus
allister carter eng mark williams wal
playing wednesday
st rd
john higgins sco mark allen nir
ryan day wal joe perry eng
played sunday
st rd
mark selby eng bt ding junhui chn
peter ebdon eng bt marco fu hkg
preliminary round
mark king eng bt jimmy white eng
rallying al attiyah pulls the strings coma gains consolation win
la serena chile jan afp
qatar nasser al attiyah kept his hopes alive of winning the car section in the
dakar rally as he won the ninth stage on monday the kilometres special from
copiapo
spanish cyclist marc coma won his third stage of the rally which may prove
little consolation after he was penalised six hours at the weekend which put him
out of contention for the overall title
al attiyah victory saw him close in on overall leader volkswagen team mate
carlos sainz who was second and holds fragile lead of just min sec over
the qatari
another volkswagen driver giniel de villers of south africa last year winner
was third though he is out of contention to retain his title while another team
mate american mark miller stayed third overall after finishing fifth
coma who was penalised the six hours for an illegal tyre change edged out
france cyril despres who remained the overall leader
chile francisco lopez winner of two stages finished third in the stage and
stayed in third place overall while pal ullevalseter of norway was fourth on the
stage and remains in second overall
however with deficit of hr min to make up on despres the norweigan
realistically needs the frenchman to suffer engine problems to have chance of
taking the overall title
consumers scramble in venezuela amid shock economic shifts
caracas jan afp
venezuelan consumers emptied supermarket shelves and jostled monday to buy new
tvs and refrigerators before prices soar after president hugo chavez announced
huge devaluation of the bolivar
we have sold three times as much as normal said the owner of an appliance
shop in caracas as panicky buyers formed long lines outside stores following
chavez announcement
as an election year grinds into high gear chavez has said he was devaluing the
local currency for non essential imports to bolivars per dollar double
the present rate while holding the rate at bolivars for basic goods to
help poorer venezuelans
that means imported cars and industrial goods suddenly cost twice as much as
before the jarring step was taken
chavez warned sunday that any price speculation by shopkeepers will trigger
business seizures and called on the national guard to help people fight price
gouging
to those gentlemen let call them looters of the people if they want to
go ahead and do it but we ll take their business and hand it over to the
workers chavez said on his weekly radio and television talk show alo
presidente
still consumers here were not feeling conforted
and refrigerators tvs microwaves and sound systems were flying off shelves
pretty soon they are all going to cost twice as much but am not going to be
earning twice as much said systems analyst waiting to buy new tv set he
had had in mind for months he asked that his full name not be used
really am not sure of the price is going to go up not but just in case
came down here to get my oven said rosaura martinez
confusion was rampant in many businesses monday
one travel agent said there were no sales as it was not clear if ticket prices
would rise percent or if the increase would be phased in
even currency traders were not up to speed on the shifts
one well known currency agency had workers standing with their arms crossed
they indicated that there was no dollar trading for now
the bolivar devaluation was the first since and was designed in part to
bolster public finances that have withered amid dwindling oil revenues and
rapidly contracting economy
critics said the move would allow chavez to boost public spending ahead of
elections in september but would severely damage the health of the economy
since coming to office chavez has sought to remake the venezuelan economy
vowing to create more equitable socialist system
he has initiated string of nationalizations of foreign firms banks and
measures that have sent inflation soaring to become the highest in latin
america
football another shock as burkina faso hold ivory coast
cabinda angola jan afp
shock filled start to the africa cup of nations continued on monday as title
favourites ivory coast were held by burkina faso
hosts angola sensationally surrendered four goal lead when drawing with mali
in the tournament opener on sunday and hours later malawi rocked world
cup qualifiers algeria in another group clash
an ivorian team featuring europe based stars like kolo toure younger brother
yaya and didier drogba dominated possession throughout but created few chances
and looked far from potential champions
burkina faso set out defensive stall and contained their opponents with
relative comfort to keep alive hopes of finishing among the top two in mini
league completed by ghana and qualifying for the quarter finals
the players stood in silence before the kick off to honour the togolese victims
of an ambush in this restive enclave last friday while police soldiers and
special forces cast ring of steel around the complex housing the teams
ivory coast dominated the first half before sparse crowd at the new
seat chiazi stadium with virtually the entire burkina faso team
retreating behind the ball at the slightest hint of danger
the respect the stallions accorded the elephants in this west african derby was
understandable after losing at home and away when the neighbours clashed
in qualifiers for the tournament
english premiership duo drogba of chelsea and emmanuel eboue of arsenal had
penalty appears rejected by the tunisian referee in the stamina sapping
conditions
and there were couple of scares for burkinabe goalkeeper daouda diakate who
had the humiliating experience of retrieving the ball from his net five times in
abidjan last september
the cairo based custodian spilled hard long range attempt from midfielder
didier zokora and raced off his line to clutch the ball as bakari kone dashed
forward
cheik tiote adopted more subtle approach to try and break the deadlock and it
almost paid off as his gentle curled shot ended just millimetres off target
kone should have put the elephants ahead when deep cross was played into his
path but he failed to get sufficient power into his shot and diakate parry
rescued the stallions
ivory coast resembled five time world cup winners brazil at times as they
retained possession while stroking the ball about effortlessly but the killer
instinct was missing and half time arrived without goal
the burkinabe displayed more adventure in the second half but were lucky to
survive midway through when superb run by kouassi gervinho yao created
golden chance for kone who shot timidly wide
bosnian coach vahid halilhodzic was growing restless on the ivorian bench and
opted to introduce salomon kalou chelsea team mate of drogba as the final
minutes began
crude foul on drogba just outside the penalty area by mady panandetiguiri
presented the ivorians with chance that failed to materialise as their skipper
struck the ball straight into the hands of diakate
charles kabore squandered half chance for the burkinabe and goalmouth
collision between two ivorians trying to snatch stoppage time winner summed up
dismal evening for the champions
us court considers appeal against apartheid lawsuit
new york jan afp
us court on monday heard an appeal by major corporations attempting to stop
lawsuit over their role in south africa apartheid era regime
the us court of appeals for the second circuit in new york will now rule whether
the appeal can go forward or whether the class action lawsuit against the
corporations which include daimler ford and ibm should go to jury trial
the plaintiffs says the appeal is not proper said maria lahood at the center
for constitutional rights which specializes in human rights legal issues and
supports the south african plaintiffs in the landmark suit
the court was very engaged and they will take it under submission and decide
first whether they have jurisdiction to appeal if they don have jurisdiction
to hear the appeal it will go back to district court
the corporations are accused of complicity in human rights abuses during the
years they did business in apartheid south africa
after years of litigation us court last year gave the green light for them to
be sued on us soil under the alien tort claims act
the little used law requires companies with substantial presence in the united
states to obey us law everywhere in the world
the defendants argue they cannot be pursued for crimes committed by the south
african government
on monday german auto maker daimler called the charges inadmissible and
unfounded
daimler feels us judicial authorities have no jurisdiction in its case because
no american party was implicated and nothing took place on american territory
spokeswoman said
the german group also argues that it operated with backing from the german
federal government in south africa
in september south african authorities decided to no longer oppose the
complaint which it had feared would discourage foreign investment
israel turkey ties strain again over tv show
jerusalem jan afp
israel slammed turkey on monday for the broadcast of television series that
portrays israeli agents as baby snatchers further ratcheting up tensions
between the longtime allies
deputy foreign minister danny ayalon summoned the turkish ambassador to protest
the broadcast the foreign ministry said in statement it is the second time
israel has protested over turkish tv show
israel issued similar protest last october when another turkish series showed
israeli soldiers shooting young palestinian children in cold blood
we protest in the name of the israeli government against scenes from this
turkish television series showing israel and jews as baby snatchers and war
criminals the ministry statement said
it is unacceptable it threatens jewish lives in turkey and bilateral
relations he said
ayalon was referring to the valley of the wolves new series originally
aired on state television and rebroadcast on pirvate channel which he said
showed agents of israel mossad foreign intelligence agency in bad light
the latest protest came as turkey prime minister recep tayyip erdogan joined
his lebanese counterpart on monday in lashing out at israel notably for its air
strikes on gaza during visit by saad hariri to ankara
they the israelis have disproportionate capabilities and power and they use
them they do not abide by un resolutions they say they will do what they
like erdogan said
israel response came shortly afterwards slamming erdogan unbridled attack
and accusing him of seeking to harm ties
israel is sensitive to turkey honour and seeks good bilateral ties but we
expect reciprocity the foreign ministry said in statement
erdogan declarations join the anti israel and anti semitic programme on
turkish television and other severe things said against israel for over year
turkey has been israel main regional ally since when the two signed
military cooperation deal
relations took sharp turn for the worse one year ago when turkey responded
angrily to israel devastating offensive against the gaza strip
in memorable outburst erdogan stormed out of debate at the world economic
forum accusing israel of barbarian acts and telling its president shimon
peres sitting next to him that you know well how to kill people
but in december peres and his turkish counterparty abdullah gul met in bid to
heal the rift
french film maker rohmer dies at
paris jan afp
french film maker eric rohmer director of numerous critically acclaimed films
including my night at maud died on monday at the age of his producer
margaret menegoz told afp
relatives said he had been hospitalised week ago but did not give further
details of his condition
rohmer films widely distributed abroad explored relationships and love
affairs with understated performances and delicate attention to visual detail
he emerged in the as key member of the french new wave of realist film
making working with other masters of the genre such as jean luc godard and
francois truffaut
but rohmer distinguished himself in his own work by gentler style with
understated articulate performances and soft colours
one typical work from pauline at the beach told the story of year
old girl summer by the seaside reflecting his fondness for observing adult
romances through the eyes of young female protagonist
another series of films six moral tales in the and were modern
retelling of th century fables
they included my night at maud characteristically subtle tale about sex
romance and religion which won an oscar nomination for best foreign film and
brought rohmer international fame
rohmer set up his own production company les films du losange and made
feature films over year career
he described his style of cinema as one of thoughts rather than actions
dealing less with what people do than what is going on in their minds while
they are doing it
former culture minister jack lang in statement reacting to rohmer death
called him one of the masters of french cinema and hailed his original and
revolutionary stature
urgent white house confident in yemen extremism fight
washington jan afp
the white house on monday expressed confidence in yemeni president ali abdullah
saleh willingness to fight extremism after he said he was open to talking to
disarmed al qaeda militants
alert
white house voices confidence in yemeni president
