the owner who sold the etchings to the tate has asked to remain anonymous
football scottish cup again falls victim to weather
glasgow jan afp
freezing weather in britain has once more played havoc with the scottish cup
programme
all of last weekend postponed ties that were due to be played on tuesday were
called off again on monday including morton home match against glasgow giants
celtic
although the draw for the fifth round was held on sunday none of the ties for
the last have yet to be finalised because of the cold snap
as happened at the weekend combination of frozen pitches and spectator safety
concerns following inspections by police have led to the latest round of call
offs
the scottish football association sfa said monday that ties postponed this
week will be rescheduled for january or
if the ties are postponed again or require replay matches will be played on
january
postponed scottish cup th rd ties
tuesday january
kilmarnock falkirk police safety inspection
greenock morton celtic frozen pitch
forfar athletic st johnstone frozen pitch
ross county inverurie locos frozen pitch
inverness ct motherwell frozen pitch
livingston dundee police safety inspection
albion rovers stirling albion frozen pitch
wednesday january
edinburgh city montrose frozen pitch
re scheduled th rd fixtures
playing wednesday subject to pitch inspection on tuesday
ayr united brechin city
monday january
kilmarnock falkirk
tuesday january
greenock morton celtic
raith rovers airdrie united
th rd replay
rangers hamilton academical
urgent ireland leader to step aside assembly speaker
belfast jan afp
northern ireland leader peter robinson is to step aside as first minister for
six weeks to clear his name amid scandal over his wife affair with
teenager its assembly speaker said monday
turkey lebanon lash out at israel
ankara jan afp
the prime ministers of turkey and lebanon on monday lashed out at israeli
violations of lebanese airspace and air strikes in gaza warning they were
undermining prospects for peace in the region
attacks on lebanon is terrorism itself we have to stand shoulder by shoulder
against the enemy plans we have to stop israel visiting lebanese prime
minister saad hariri told press conference
lebanese anti aircraft guns opened fire on four israeli warplanes which were
violating its airspace at low altitude on monday the military said
israel argues that the overflights are necessary to monitor what it says is
massive arms smuggling by hezbollah
hariri counterpart recep tayyip erdogan whose country once flourishing ties
with israel took sharp downturn last year said that turkey will never stay
silent on israeli violations of lebanese airspace
he slammed the israeli overflights as unacceptable action that threatens global
peace
erdogan also questioned deadly israeli air raid on the gaza strip sunday
which the israeli army said targeted militants who were preparing attacks
is the israeli government in favour of peace or not gaza was bombed again
yesterday why there were no rocket attacks erdogan said
they the israelis have disproportional capabilities and power and they use
them they do not abide by un resolutions they say they will do what they
like we can in no way approve of such an attitude he said
israel ties with turkey key regional ally were poisoned by its massive
offensive on gaza last year which prompted an unprecedented barrage of
criticism from erdogan islamist rooted government
in october turkey excluded israel from joint military drills and said ties
would continue to suffer unless israel ends the humanitarian tragedy in gaza
and revives peace talks with the palestinians
erdogan also renewed criticism of western powers on monday for pressuring iran
on its nuclear activities while tolerating israel considered the region sole
if undeclared nuclear power
we are against the development of nuclear weapons by any country in the
region he said
israel has nuclear weapons those who are cautioning iran must also caution
israel he said referring to the five permanent members of the un security
council
if we fail to display fair attitude in this region the problems will hit not
only the region but will spread elsewhere as well the unrest of the middle
east is the unrest of the world he said
hariri hailed turkey improving ties with arab countries and increased activism
in peace efforts in the middle east
we hope and expect turkey to continue playing positive role in trying to
bring peace he said
the two premiers witnessed the signing of an accord on visa free travel between
their countries and other deals envisaging cooperation in the military
agriculture and transport realms
erdogan said turkey would supply natural gas and electricity to help meet
lebanon energy needs and that the two countries planned ferry service
between their mediterranean coasts
hariri was to wrap up his three day visit tuesday after attending meeting of
business people from the two countries in istanbul
majority of icelanders back president poll
reykjavik jan afp
large majority of icelanders support their president after he last week
refused to sign the so called icesave bill and sparked row with britain and
the netherlands poll showed monday
asked do you think that olafur ragnar grimsson has done good job as the
president of iceland total of percent responded yes and percent
said no the poll conducted by and published in daily frettabladid on monday
showed
some people were questioned in the survey
grimsson refused to sign the icesave bill which was to pay the british and
dutch governments billion euros billion dollars for reimbursing
account holders from their countries who lost their savings when the online
icesave bank collapsed during iceland financial crisis in october
the president instead referred the issue to referendum citing public
opposition
more than icelanders or about quarter of the electorate had signed
petition protesting the bill on fears that the deal would doom the country of
just to poverty for decades
the president veto initially angered london and the hague which warned that
it could affect their support for iceland ambitions to join the european
union and prompted credit rating agencies to downgrade iceland amid doubts over
its economic recovery
grimsson said late last week however that international understanding for his
position was growing
iceland parliament has decided that the referendum will be held by march at
the latest the justice ministry is to announce the exact date
according to the most recent poll published saturday by frettabladid
percent of icelanders intend to vote no to the icesave bill in the referendum
and percent plan to vote yes
that poll questioned people on saturday
political violence sparks protest in pakistan karachi
karachi jan afp
thousands of people poured onto the streets of pakistan financial capital
karachi on monday to protest at security crackdown after dozens of people died
in political violence
security officials say up to political party workers have been killed in
karachi since thursday when the headless body of worker from the city main
political party the muttahida qaumi movement mqm was discovered
karachi sees sporadic outbreaks of political violence reflecting tensions
between the mqm which represents muslims who migrated from india the
ruling pakistan peoples party and the pashtun nationalist awami national party
city police official mehtab ali said between and people
participated in the rally another officer reported skirmishes
we did not stop them from holding the rally they wanted to go to the chief
minister house but we prevented them doing so by firing tear gas on them
police official mohammad ashraf said
as the wave of killings gripped karachi over the weekend interior minister
rehman malik ordered patrols by police and paramilitary rangers to curb the
violence he said political parties were not involved in the killings
but protesters from lyari an impoverished neighbourhood of karachi and
stronghold of the pakistan peoples party ppp said the security crackdown was
targeting them and not mqm supporters
the government is victimising its own people to appease its political allies
the muttahida qaumi movement said habib jan an organiser of the rally
we demand an operation in the whole city without any discrimination at present
we are discriminated against
police official who asked not to be named because of the political tensions
said six suspects had been arrested on suspicion of arson and inciting political
violence
the mqm is the coalition partner of president asif ali zardari ppp in the
southern province of sindh but there remain tensions between supporters of both
parties
visiting british foreign secretary david miliband on sunday urged an end to
violence in pakistan largest city of million people
the political unrest in karachi comes as the government battles fierce bombing
campaign by taliban militants and as zardari faces rock bottom approval ratings
and shaky relations with the powerful military
football malawi lead algeria at half time
luanda jan afp
goals by russell mwafulirwa and ivis kafoteka gave malawi shock half time
lead over algeria monday in an africa cup of natioins group match
sport cgames chief defends delhi security measures
london jan afp
commonwealth games chiefs hit back monday at what they said were ill informed
comments regarding security arrangements for the edition in delhi in
october
last weekend lloyd bromfield security consultant who has worked at the
sydney athens and beijing olympics warned of dangerous environment in
india and said he wouldn want his family to be in delhi during the games
in my opinion it is dangerous environment there is no way the indian
authorities can guarantee anything bromfield told australia news limited
media group
wish the commonwealth games could go ahead and be safe and secure but to be
honest ve got two sons wouldn have them go there
but the commonwealth games federation cgf in statement issued monday said
it had deemed such comments as ill informed and based on advice from its own
independent experts security planning for the games was on track
cgf president michael fennell added the cgf regards the safety and security of
the games for athletes and spectators alike as being of paramount importance
and of the highest priority
last month report in britain daily telegraph newspaper since denied by
english sports authorities said england was mulling pulling out due to fears
of attacks by pakistani militants in delhi
there have been widespread concerns about security in india which has seen
host of militant attacks in recent years most notably an assault on mumbai in
that left people dead
but fennell said the cgf was working closely with indian police and security
authorities and that their security planning for the games pre dated the attacks
in mumbai
in the cgf appointed leading international experts intelligent risks pty
ltd ir as our security advisers for delhi he said
ir has vast commonwealth olympic and multi sport games experience and
importantly has detailed knowledge of what is actually being done with
security for delhi
fennell added number of recent media reports on games security come from
comments by those who have not worked on any aspect of security planning for the
delhi games and do not have any serious knowledge of the detailed plans
across all aspects being put in place by local authorities
he also explained that security was reviewed on regular basis
the next comprehensive cgf security adviser review is scheduled to take place
in late february and early march fennell said
naturally we will share summary of their report with all commonwealth
countries and territories
am please to report that where it counts most with our members cool
heads prevail and their planning remains on track to bring the athletes of the
commonwealth to delhi in october this year
but regardless of security concerns some eligible athletes may not compete in
delhi
for example the agent of usain bolt the and metres olympic and world
champion said last week the timing of the games would interfere with the
jamaica sprinter preparations for the athletics season
the commonwealth is an organisation largely made up of nations that were once
part of the now defunct british empire
eu presidency hails pro european croatian president
madrid jan afp
spain eu presidency monday hailed the election of the pro european ivo
josipovic as croatian president and vowed to help zagreb conclude its eu
accession negotiations
welcome the nomination of the new president of croatia very pro european
personality and therefore determined to advance the negotiations with the eu
spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos said
the spanish eu presidency will do everything it can to be able to conclude
negotiations with croatia as soon as possible said the minister whose country
took over the six month rotating presidency of the eu on january
josipovic won croatia presidential election on sunday and vowed to transform
the nation into star of europe
the left wing law professor ran on ticket of rooting out corruption one of
the conditions for entry into the european bloc which croatia is aiming to
achieve by january
neighbouring slovenia had blocked zagreb progress for almost year over
border dispute but talks started moving late last year after the two nations
agreed to put their dispute to international arbitration
moratinos also reaffirmed that the spanish eu presidency would push eu accession
bids by iceland and turkey
we want to launch negotiations with iceland whatever the result of the
referendum we are not going to link the two situations he said
he was referring to planned referendum on controversial bill to compensate
the british and dutch governments for reimbursing investors in the island
icesave bank collapse
iceland submitted its eu application in july in the hope that membership would
help stabilise the economy following the october collapse of its once
booming financial sector
moratinos also said spain would persevere in the negotiation process between
turkey and the eu
alert
ireland leader to step aside for six weeks assembly speaker
two suspected militants killed in dagestan report
moscow jan afp
two suspected militants were killed monday during special operation in
makhachkala the capital of the restive caucasus republic of dagestan interfax
news agency reported citing local officials
the two men had responded with force during the attempt to arrest them and they
were killed spokeman for the local fsb intelligence services told interfax
the rebels were in car at the time and pistol was found in their vehicle
the spokesman added
according to dagestan deputy interior minister alexandre trofimov the two men
were members of terrorist movement in the capital
monday killings came the day after clashes between russian security forces and
islamist militants on the outskirts of makhachkala left two rebel leaders dead
concerns have mounted over increased militant attacks throughout russia
caucasus region where islamist militants have been battling pro kremlin local
authorities and russian security forces in sporadic insurgency
in dagestan region on the caspian sea the tensions have been particularly
acute in recent months and last week five policemen were killed in suicide
bombing in makhachkala
ahe boc mjs
british minister niece on trial for murder in france
versailles france jan afp
the niece of britain junior defence minister told police she was monster
after plunging knife into young frenchman she picked up in bar french
court heard on monday
jessica davies the year old niece of britain multi millionaire junior
defence minister quentin davies looked pale and drawn on the first day of her
trial for the november murder of the year old man
just wanted to cut him little but the knife went in by itself davies told
police according to charge sheet read out at the start of the two day trial
in versailles west of paris
the police who arrived in the early hours of november found her
kneeling naked on the bed of her apartment in the chic paris suburb of saint
germain en laye trying to stem the flow of blood from the body of olivier
mugnier
davies then told police did it can tell you why but did it am
monster the indictment said
mugnier died in the flat at am an hour after police arrived he had been
stabbed twice in the upper chest the fatal blow went right through his body and
touched his spine
davies had picked up mugnier in an irish pub and taken him to her apartment
police said she was four times over the drink drive alcohol limit and could
barely stand or speak when they arrested her traces of anti depressant were
found in her blood
dressed in jeans and grey cardigan her hair pulled back in ponytail she
showed little emotion as the charge sheet was read out before the three judges
and nine member jury
the first morning of the trial was taken up with statements from the accused and
her family members
davies did not speak about the events of the night of the crime but told the
court of her dysfunctional family and her troubled adolescence
it was marked by the acrimonious divorce of her parents when she was and by
her maternal grandmother repeated suicide attempts
she started drinking heavily as teenager and by the time she was in first year
at university was drunk six days out of seven she said adding that she had
also developed cocaine habit
davies told how she had once tried to set fire to her school and recounted her
own two suicide attempts in one of which she got into her bathtub and slashed
her wrists and legs with knife
she failed to develop career after finishing degree in literature and
worked only intermittently in bars and offices
her mother monique broke down in tears as she told how police called to
announce the catastrophe of the arrest of her daughter for murder
it emerged that there was history of psychological problems on both sides of
the family when her banker father richard davies said his younger brother
schizophrenic had once tried to kill their mother
davies faces maximum sentence of years in prison if convicted of voluntary
homicide without premeditation
born in london to british father and french mother she grew up mostly in
france
the court heard she was depressed after splitting up with her french boyfriend
with whom she had shared the one bedroom flat for four years
she had taken to going out on boozing sessions and picking up men neighbours
and locals said
on the saturday night before mugnier death she was seen drinking pints of beer
and shots of alcohol in sullivan irish pub in saint germain en laye
the british press had speculated after her arrest that mugnier death was the
result of sex game that turned to violence
davies uncle quentin davies hit the headlines in when he defected from
britain opposition conservatives to the ruling labour party just before
gordon brown was named the new prime minister
he has since been appointed brown junior defence minister
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on monday
finance economy bis bank banking emerge
basel switzerland emerging economies are driving global economic recovery
the head of the ecb said after central bankers concluded that the world economy
was returning to normality
china auto sales
beijing china auto sales surged past those in the united states in to
make the asian nation the world biggest car market industry data showed but
analysts warned sales would slow this year
finance economy us ratings
washington fitch ratings monday affirmed its top aaa credit rating for the
united states with stable outlook but said washington faces difficult
decisions on its finances to maintain long term confidence
mexico netherlands business drink takeover
the hague dutch brewer heineken said it would buy mexican beer maker femsa in
deal that values the company behind the dos equis and sol brands at billion
euros billion dollars
eu spain economy finance
madrid spain eu presidency clarified plans for new year growth strategy
in the face of criticism from germany insisting it does not envisage
sanctions against recalcitrant members
iran economy plan
tehran iran aims for an annual growth rate of close to eight percent until
under five year plan which president mahmoud ahmadinejad presented to
parliament government newspaper said
malaysia china investment
kuala lumpur china leading power grid operator sgcc and malaysian government
development fund mdb said they will jointly establish energy projects worth
billion dollars in malaysian borneo
australia china britain mining diplomacy riotinto
sydney china has concluded its commercial espionage investigation into an
executive with mining giant rio tinto but was yet to determine whether he would
face trial australia said
india energy alternative solar
new delhi indian prime minister manmohan singh laid out ambitious plans to make
his country global leader in solar power as he launched government
initiative to boost use of the technology
britain spain banking structure company santander
london spanish banking giant santander said it wants to become britain
biggest bank as it began rebranding its british operations with its own name
ireland leader to step aside party insider
belfast jan afp
northern ireland leader peter robinson is to step aside as first minister while
he tries to clear his name over scandal linked to his wife affair with
teenager party insider told afp monday
robinson who was to make statement later in the day would take six weeks out
to fight accusations over the scandal which is threatening to bring down the
power sharing executive in belfast
there will be another development in this story later today said the source
adding that it expected that he will relinquish some of his responsibility
soon
robinson job will be filled during his absence by economy trade and industry
minister arlene foster said the dup insider speaking on condition of
anonymity
officials would not immediately confirm the information ahead of statement by
robinson to the northern ireland assembly due at pm gmt
his wife iris also top politician last week admitted having an affair with
year old and securing pounds euros dollars from two
wealthy developers to help him set up cafe
peter robinson has denied any knowledge of the deal which he would have had to
report to parliamentary authorities
despite icy weather overall trend is warmer experts
paris jan afp
frigid weather that has gripped swathes of the northern hemisphere this winter
is unusual but does not undermine an overall global trend of warming experts
said on monday
northern europe and northeast asia have experienced brutal snowstorms and
freezing temperatures and cities as far south as seville in spain and miami in
florida have been plunged into the deepest chill in decades
the reason is natural phenomenon known as the arctic oscillation said barry
gromett of britain met office
it relatively abnormal pattern but it not unprecedented at all it
something that happens every years or so he said in an interview with afp
also called the northern hemisphere annular mode or the north atlantic
oscillation the anomaly consists of massive system of high pressure air that
sits over greenland
it like great big boulder in the stream it cuts off europe supply of
mild moist atlantic air instead we get arctic winds that feed in clockwise
which means we get the cold stuff off scandinavia and the arctic regions
frigid air streams are also deflected around the boulder into southerly north
america he said and another consequence is to strengthen the grip of the so
called siberian high pressure system intensifying wintery weather in northern
china and other parts of northeast asia
just as some parts of the world are experiencing extreme lows in temperature
others are having unusual highs as warmer winds are directed to unusual places
said gromett
parts of canada and alaska have been experiencing temperatures that are five to
degrees celsius nine to degrees fahrenheit above the norm while parts
of north africa and the mediterranean basin have also been significantly warm
in fact in the first week of january crete recorded temperature of more
than he said
michel daloz with meteo france the french national weathercaster said the
northern hemisphere cold spell in was relatively balmy compared with
previous episodes
the natural variability of the climate means that there are troughs of cold
from time to time he said
in and there were temperatures of between and
to across france daloz said
nor did it undermine data about relentless warming he said
in fact in early december our main focus was on the clement weather he
said
according to the met office is provisionally the fifth warmest on record
and could be the warmest ever driven by the man made greenhouse effect and
by return to el nino natural warming phenomenon caused by buildup of warm
water in the western pacific
el nino reappeared in june and is likely to persist through the first
quarter of according to the un world meteorological organisation wmo
optimism at detroit auto show as industry banks on recovery
detroit michigan jan afp
new sense of optimism filled the detroit auto show monday as the industry
looked forward to recovery from one of its worst years on record
much of the glitz and glam will be gone from the press preview days as
automakers cut back their marketing budgets in the wake of collapse in sales
to levels not seen since
but the overall mood is significantly more upbeat than year earlier when the
very existence of general motors and chrysler was in doubt as congress sparred
over providing billions in emergency loans
today is new beginning for the automotive industry transportation secretary
ray lahood told reporters at an early morning press conference ahead of the
show opening
when people have an opportunity to see the kind of products that are now being
manufactured and will be on display they will realize the auto industry is
manufacturing products people want to drive
ford got boost monday when its ford fusion hybrid sedan and ford transit
connect truck won the best car and truck of the year respectively by vote of
panel automotive journalists
while the restructuring of gm and chrysler under bankruptcy protection was
extremely painful it has left detroit in much stronger position gm vice
chairman bob lutz said sunday
genuinely optimistic about the future lutz told the society for
automotive analysts annual conference
the detroit three which also include ford have dramatically reduced their
fixed costs after years of painful cuts and lutz said gm balance sheet is in
the strongest position in decades
detroit the american auto industry and the detroit auto show are going to
experience in the next three to five years prestige renaissance lutz said
it is kind of the phoenix rises from the ashes because this is the first time
when we can deploy the full power of gm without the burden of all those horrible
legacy cost and the crushing debt load that all gone now now we re under
new ownership and much much healthier company
gm new owner the us government which holds percent stake will have
substantial presence at the show
transportation secretary ray lahood is hosting press conference before the
show opens on monday and house speaker nancy pelosi will speak to the press at
the end of the day after touring the show with congressional delegation
they will see strong emphasis on small cars and fuel efficiency with
square foot display of different electric vehicles which they can test on an
indoor track
there will also be plenty of luxury vehicles on display despite the poor economy
and host of trucks and sport utility vehicles to tempt consumers who aren as
environmentally conscious
despite the poor shape of the domestic auto industry we do see some signs of
hope from the big three said cars com editor in chief patrick olsen
string of model introductions and redesigns could bring them back to solvency
and beyond if done well or mean disaster if they don win over consumers
there is no doubt that will be challenging year and the competition will
be fierce
most analysts are forecasting moderate rebound in us auto sales to between
and million vehicles this year after dropping to percent to million
vehicles in
but that will still be drastically below the to million vehicle range
posted in each of the previous years and sales could be sharply hit should
the economy take another bad turn
