football tom hicks junior quits liverpool board after fan rant
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool director tom hicks junior has resigned from his position on the club
board and their parent company following foul mouthed mail he reportedly
sent to supporter
the american the son of the premier league club co owner tom hicks found
himself involved in controversy sunday after report in britain news of the
world tabloid that he abused fan when contacted about the state of
liverpool finances
hicks junior who allegedly called the fan an idiot allegedly sent second
mail saying blow me fuck face go to hell sick of you
although he has since apologised liverpool confirmed in brief statement
monday that hicks junior had resigned
liverpool football club today announce that thomas hicks jr has resigned as
director of both the club and its parent company kop holdings the statement
said
hicks junior was seen as key member of liverpool board balanced between
feuding american co owners hicks senior and george gillett whose son foster is
also board member as is managing director christian purslow
but such has been the reaction to hicks junior reported comments he has now
left and liverpool used the opportunity of his departure to announce
restructuring of the boards of both the club and kop holdings
casey coffman executive vice president of hicks holdings replaces hicks junior
while liverpool chief financial officer philip nash and the club commercial
director ian ayre are have also both been elected to both companies
purslow nash and ayre are regarded as having played significant roles in
helping improve the club finances including new shirt sponsorship deal with
standard chartered bank worth some million pounds
europe counts the cost of big freeze
berlin jan afp
europe battled monday to recover from arctic cold amid warnings over the cost of
the weeks long freeze that has caused the cancellation of thousands of flights
and train journeys and been blamed for dozens of deaths
some villages in northeast germany remained cut off as snowdrifts whipped up by
gale force winds made roads and railways unpassable
we are slowly fighting our way through the masses of snow police spokesman
in the northern german city of luebeck said while weather experts said falling
temperatures meant more snow this week
at frankfurt airport europe third busiest where some flights were
cancelled at the weekend more were scrapped on monday and authorities warned
of further problems as air traffic slowly gets back to normal
spain and portugal also felt the full force of the harsh winter with the
southern spanish city of seville under snow for the first time in half
century
authorities sounded the alert across central and northern spain with
flights cancelled at madrid barajas airport
in portugal around main roads were closed as snow forced scores of people to
spend the night stuck in their vehicles schools were shut in the worst hit
regions
in southern poland more than homes were without power for second day
while heavy snow and freezing rain hit rail traffic between the capital warsaw
and the south
prague has had its heaviest snowfalls in years and hundreds of homes across
the czech republic were without electricity
in britain icy roads and snow showers efforts to get the country moving again
with eurostar train services from london to paris and brussels again restricted
british schools secretary ed balls today urged schools to open if at all
possible as closures threatened exams while gritting was limited to major
roads in most areas as stocks fell sharply with about tonnes used each
day
the death toll in britain from weather related incidents rose to at least
over the weekend reports said with the latest victim man who fell through
ice on the river tees trying to rescue his two dogs
scores of deaths in similar accidents mountain avalanches or homeless people
killed by the cold have been reported across europe over the past two weeks
in france there were lengthy delays on tgv high speed rail links
experts in germany which is emerging from its worst recession since world war
ii warned that the blanket of snow covering the whole country would hit the
economy freezing construction activity and disrupting supplies
the cold weather could really make for difficult start to what is meant to be
year of growth in volker treier from the dihk economics institute told
the bild daily
if there is no improvement soon the german economy could lose around two
billion euros three billion dollars in lost activity or percent of gross
domestic product gdp in the first quarter he said
britain which is still in recession is on course to take hit of billion
pounds billion euros billion dollars from the harshest winter in
decades according to the centre for economics and business research
but economists believe the impact will be mitigated by britons working at home
to beat the freeze benefiting utilities and internet retailers as they turn up
the heating and shop online and that the economy will bounce back
don exaggerate the economic impact of the freeze much of the lost gdp
will be made up in the coming weeks but some cash strapped businesses might
be pushed over the edge cebr head douglas williams said
croatians elect anti corruption president
zagreb jan afp
opposition social democrat ivo josipovic won croatia presidential election by
wide margin monday after pledging crack down on corruption and vowed to
transform the nation into star of europe
the law professor and classical music composer took percent of the votes
in sunday run off according to final results
want european croatia croatia that will be one of the shining stars in
the european sky the year old told his supporters early monday as his
victory became clear
this would be not only through eu membership but by values that we stand for
democracy freedom human rights rule of law minority rights and religious
freedom he said
josipovic due to be sworn into office on february will lead croatia
efforts to join the european union zagreb is aiming for eu membership by
january
he ran on ticket of rooting out corruption one of the conditions for eu
entry and beat his rival populist zagreb mayor milan bandic by wider than
expected margin
monday papers and analysts hailed josipovic victory as new era for the
former yugoslav republic in which it would leave behind the balkan wars
the historic mission of ivo josipovic as the head of state has been already
determined to lead croatia after some years since independence into new
integration the eu the novi list independent daily said
the country born in war should eventually transform into peacetime
civilised european country it said referring to the war for
independence from the former yugoslavia
political analyst zarko puhovski told afp that josipovic who has an untarnished
political career was up to the task
he will be able to get along with leaders of the countries in the region and
the eu and represent croatia interests in competent way puhovski said
the influential jutarnji list daily said josipovic victory showed that
croatians wanted new type of politician
while the symbolise corruption josipovic programme justice for
croatia should symbolise better times for the country columnist davor
butkovic said
croatian authorities have in recent months launched several investigations into
alleged graft at state run firms seen as rife with corruption with more than
dozen officials already detained
josipovic is croatia third president since independence and succeeds stipe
mesic who steps down on february after serving maximum two five year
terms
mesic helped transform croatia into parliamentary democracy after being
an isolated autocracy the legacy of franjo tudjman who led the country with an
iron fist through the war until his death in
the outgoing president hailed his successor triumph saying that
democratic european croatia and values of europe to which we are aspiring
have won
voter turnout on sunday was percent officials said with the electorate
apparently weary of recent political scandals and pre occupied by croatia
deepening recession
josipovic has also promised economic improvements with croatia economy
predicted to have contracted up to percent in
observers say however that the president powers are limited with the day to
day running of croatia largely in the hands of conservative government led by
prime minister jadranka kosor
hong kong legislators to quit in pro democracy protest
hong kong jan afp
group of hong kong opposition lawmakers are to quit this month in protest
aimed at drawing attention to the pace of democratic reforms in the city party
officials said monday
five of pro democracy politicians are to give up their seats in the former
british colony seat legislature in the hope of speeding up progress towards
direct elections said civic party secretary general kenneth chan
they hope that by resigning they can force by elections that will become de
facto referendum on the controversial issue two months after critics lashed out
at the latest blueprint for direct polls
at present only half of hong kong legislature is directly elected while
largely pro beijing committee effectively controls the selection of the
remainder and appoints the city chief executive
this is very critical moment as far as the democracy movement is concerned
chan told reporters
we think the de facto referendum is very important opportunity for hong kong
citizens as whole to express their strong desire for democracy in hong kong as
soon as possible
the five who will step down january have not yet been named
thousands of people took to the streets on new year day to call for universal
suffrage and the release of jailed chinese dissident liu xiaobo sparking
criticism from beijing top official in hong kong
beijing has said the chief executive could be directly elected by and the
legislature by while pro democracy lawmakers want universal suffrage in
critics charged that the latest democracy plan was vague and left the door open
to beijing maintaining control over the city which was handed back to china in
world economy in progressive normalisation central bankers
basel switzerland jan afp
leading central bankers believe progressive normalisation of the world
economy has taken hold driven by emerging economies the president of the
european central bank said monday
at global level there is confirmation of the progressive normalisation
of the economy ecb chief jean claude trichet said on behalf of the
participants in meeting of central bankers in switzerland
urgent world economy in progressive normalisation central bankers
basel switzerland jan afp
leading central bankers believe progressive normalisation of the world
economy has taken hold driven by emerging economies the president of the
european central bank said monday
alert
world economy in progressive normalisation central bankers
french soldier killed in attack in afghanistan
paris jan afp
french soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in an attack in
afghanistan on monday president nicolas sarkozy office said in statement
the attack struck convoy of french and afghan forces in the alasay valley
northeast of kabul according to the statement
non commissioned officer paid with his life for the commitment of france to
the peace and security of the afghan people and an officer was very gravely
wounded it said
the victim was the th french soldier to die in afghanistan since the current
war began in
france has troops in afghanistan serving in nato mission to stabilise
the country against fierce resistance from fighters loyal to the ousted taliban
regime
sarkozy strongly condemned this blind violence and expressed france
determination to continue to work within the nato led international security
assistance force the statement said
france has signalled it may agree to send reinforcements to afghanistan in
response to request from us president barack obama who is looking to boost the
troop presence there and end the war
major conference on afghanistan is scheduled in london at the end of this
month bringing together all the major allies and afghan officials to chart
new course for the afghan mission in light of the new us strategy
swiss to block excessive franc appreciation
zurich switzerland jan afp
the swiss national bank will prevent any excessive appreciation of the swiss
franc against the euro in bid to support the swiss economy the bank new
president said on monday
philip hildebrand said in statement that the bank has no exchange rate
target but it will monitor exchange market developments very closely
the swiss national bank snb intervened several times in to prevent
considerable appreciation of the swiss franc against the european single
currency to support its crisis hit export sector
switzerland is very dependent on exports to the european union its main
economic partner
analysts estimate that the snb wants to prevent the swiss franc gaining to below
francs to the euro
at the swiss stock exchange monday one euro was being exchanged for swiss
franc
qaeda demands ransom for french hostage in mali
bamako jan afp
al qaeda is demanding ransom for french hostage kidnapped in northern mali
in november as well as the release of prisoners source close to the
negotiators told afp on monday
the north african branch of osama bin laden terror network is also demanding
ransom lot of money to free the french hostage pierre camatte the source
said
al qaeda in the islamic maghreb has already demanded the release of four
prisoners held in mali saying camatte will be executed if they are not freed
within three weeks
don link deadly togo attack to world cup africa
pretoria jan afp
the deadly gun attack on togo football squad in angola should not be tied to
world cup host south africa the country top police officials said on
monday
we will always take lessons from instances like those in cabinda said police
minister nathi mthethwa about friday ambush on the togolese african nations
cup team in angola oil rich northern enclave
but we will ask people not to confuse south africa with another country judge
south africa on its own preparations we are percent ready
south africa organisors have been quick to distance the country from the
deadly ambush in which at least two people were killed as it readies to host
the continent first world cup in june
we will always be concerned with what is happening around us we are on the
same continent and in the same region as angola mthethwa told journalists
but the fragility in angola cannot be compared to south africa that would be
unfair
police commissioner bheki cele who returned on monday from angola after the
opening of africa biggest football tournament echoed mthethwa
comparing what happens there to what might happen in south africa in june is
like suggesting that the train bombing in madrid and the terrorist attack in
london would affect the football world cup in germany he said
austria to wholly nationalise central bank minister
vienna jan afp
austrian vice chancellor and finance minister josef proell said monday the
government intends to wholly nationalise the country central bank the oenb
want the federal government to take over percent of the oesterreichische
nationalbank proell told reporters following meeting of his conservative
oevp party
the aim is to increase the central bank independence from the banking and
financial industry for which oenb acts as watchdog proell said
traditionally the central bank has been jointly owned by the state and the
private banks and insurers but the system has frequently come under fire from
analysts and politicians in view of the potential conflict of interests
the part ownership by banks and financial sector has historical roots but
no longer has anything to do with the current financial world proell said
in the state increased its stake to percent from percent as part of
state rescue of the ailing bank bawag
proell suggested price of up to million euros million dollars to buy
the remaining percent
at present the biggest private sector shareholder is raiffeisenzentralbank rzb
the number three bank in austria and in central and eastern europe with stake
of percent
rzb was bailed out by the state to the tune of billion euros early last
year as it suffered in the global slump
urgent qaeda demands ransom for french hostage in mali
bamako jan afp
al qaeda is demanding ransom for french hostage kidnapped in northern mali
in november source close to the negotiators told afp on monday
two held in angola after rebel attack on togo team
luanda jan afp
police in angola grilled two suspects monday for deadly shooting attack by
separatist rebels on the togolese team which cast long shadow over the start
of africa premier football tournament
the pair were arrested in cabinda an angolan enclave inside the democratic
republic of congo close to the scene of friday attack which ended with the
death of the squad assistant coach and media spokesman
two people have been captured when we have more information we will pass it
on to the public antonio nito cabinda provincial attorney general told
the state run national radio
the togolese team withdrew from the african cup of nations following the attack
and left angola on sunday evening for home following orders from their
government despite appeals by the players to be allowed to stay
it very sad it hard for africa and for us togo captain emmanuel adebayor
told afp at the airport in cabinda
these things are part of life you have to accept it the manchester city
striker added
the tournament was meant to showcase angola recovery after year civil war
which ended in
but the attack has instead shone an unwelcome spotlight on the government
inability to end low level insurgency in oil rich cabinda
splinter group of the independence movement flec has claimed responsibility
for the attack saying it warned confederation of african football boss issa
hayatou against holding matches in cabinda
this is going to continue because the nation is at war because hayatou
persists said rodrigues mingas secretary general of the forces for the
liberation of the state of cabinda military position flec pm
speaking at the tournament opening match in luanda on sunday night which
ended in dramatic draw between the hosts and mali angola veteran
president jose eduardo dos santos denounced friday attack
we condemn this act of terror but the competition will continue in cabinda
dos santos said as he opened the tournament we are together may the best man
win
his government and african football officials pleaded to the last second for
togolese authorities to allow the players to fulfill their wish to compete in
the tournament to honour their slain colleagues
the attack occurred as the togo convoy drove into the cabinda enclave from
neighbouring congo brazzaville on friday leaving players cowering under their
seats during minute gunbattle with security forces
goalkeeper kodjovi obilale was airlifted to johannesburg hospital where he
underwent surgery to treat gunshot wounds to the lower back and abdomen
currently he is stable but he is ventilated and sedated to assist with
recovery milpark hospital spokeswoman erin smylie told afp on monday
togo withdrawal has plunged the organisation of the tournament into confusion
they had been due to play ghana in cabinda on monday evening but that match has
now been cancelled
however the match between burkina faso and tournament favourites ivory coast
the first of the tournament in cabinda is due to kick off at gmt
the attack prompted calls for the tournament to be scrapped and ghana
government has demanded extra security for its players
it has also raised questions about players security at this year world cup in
south africa the first time the tournament has been staged in africa
phil brown manager of english premier league team hull city is among those who
have called for his players to return from angola immediately and said the
attack threw question mark over the world cup finals in south africa
but world cup organising chief danny jordaan said that the attack in angola had
nothing to do with south africa and that particular incident should not damage
the reputation of the continent as whole
spain preparing to receive two guantanamo inmates
madrid jan afp
spain said monday it is finalising the transfer to its territory of two inmates
from the us war on terror camp at guantanamo bay
when president barack obama decided to close this moral and ethical
anachronism that is the guantanamo prison we pledged to help and for that
we agreed to accept two prisoners foreign minister miguel angel moratinos
said
he told news conference the government is now in the process of finalising
the transfer of the pair to spain
he denied spanish news reports that the two were from yemen but declined to
provide further details on the detainees or their transfer
the spanish government had indicated it was ready to receive limited number
of guantanamo detainees to help the obama administration in its efforts to close
the camp
washington has asked spain to take in at least five of them
obama last year set january as the date to close the detention camp in
southeast cuba
but he declared on tuesday he had suspended transfers of freed guantanamo bay
inmates to yemen following the botched christmas day airliner attack
close to half of the detainees left at guantanamo bay are from yemen
iran karroubi slams suppression in the name of religion
tehran jan afp
iranian opposition leader mehdi karroubi on monday lashed out at the authorities
for suppressing people in the name of religion and vowed to remain defiant in
the face of threats
in an open letter published on his party website the reformist cleric repeated
his claims that president mahmoud ahmadinejad disputed re election last june
had been the result of fraud branding it political robbery
may god stand witness how they have turned political dispute into religious
war to suppress people demanding political rights in the name of religion he
said in the letter posted on sahamnews
we were not aware that reclaiming your vote and protesting against political
robbery is equal to being corrupt on earth and mohareb enemy of god in these
gentlemen eyes he added
karroubi and the main opposition candidate mir hossein mousavi who charge that
the presidential election was massively rigged have faced mounting pressure by
hardliners declaring them as mohareb people who deserve death
the two leaders have backed anti government street protests which erupted after
the election and condemned the use of violence by the authorities against
demonstrators
have not faltered on my way in the face of increasing intimidation and
threats have become more determined and prepared myself and my children for
any disaster he said
according to his website the outspoken karroubi survived an attack last week
when his vehicle was hit by gunfire in the city of qazvin
he has also been condemned for saying that several post vote detainees were
raped in custody charge the iranian authorities vehemently deny
french soldier killed in attack in afghanistan presidency
paris jan afp
french soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in an attack in
afghanistan on monday president nicolas sarkozy office said in statement
the attack struck convoy of french and afghan forces in the alasay valley
northeast of kabul according to the statement
non commissioned officer paid with his life for the commitment of france to
the peace and security of the afghan people and an officer was very gravely
wounded it said
yemeni rebels soldiers dead in saada military
sanaa jan afp
seventeen shiite rebels and eight yemeni soldiers were killed in fierce fighting
in the north of the country military source told afp on monday
there was fierce fighting in the northern city of saada on sunday seventeen
huthis rebels and eight yemeni soldiers were killed the source said
the shiite rebels also known as zaidis said in statement posted monday on
their website that clashes were still underway in saada where they claimed the
army was using bulldozers to destroy property
the army is undertaking to destroy the city of saada the statement said it
is using bulldozers to destroy houses mosques and historical buildings
report in website of the yemeni defence ministry www sep net said
meanwhile that yemeni forces had seized control of rebel hideouts in saada old
city stronghold of the rebels also known as zaidis
men of the armed forces were able to gain control of number of hideouts in
which partisans of terrorism and sabotage were barricaded monday report
said
it described the fighting as being part of the final stage of the operation of
clearing the remaining terrorist sleeper cells from the city
fighting between the yemeni government and the rebels has continued sporadically
since the latest round broke out on august when government forces
launched operation scorched earth an all out assault against the rebels
saudi arabia joined the fray on november carrying out strikes on huthi
positions day after yemeni rebel forces killed saudi border guard and
occupied two villages in saudi territory
according to international aid organisations more than people have been
displaced by the fighting since
alert
al qaeda demand ransom for french hostage in mali source
berlusconi returns to rome residence after attack
rome jan afp
italian prime minister silvio berlusconi returned to his rome residence on
monday four weeks after an attack left him with broken nose and two broken
teeth
the year old leader chatted briefly with reporters before heading into
palazzo grazioli in central rome
doing well said smiling berlusconi wearing heavy makeup through which
slight scar could be seen on his upper lip
welcome home prime minister read banner set up by young party activists
doctors ordered berlusconi to spend at least two weeks out of the public eye
following the december attack in milan cathedral square by man with
history of psychiatric problems which landed the premier in hospital for four
nights
he has spent much of the intervening period in his private residence near milan
but was spotted on the french riviera last wednesday when he bought four bronze
statuettes in the village of saint paul de vence
the assailant struck berlusconi in the face with souvenir model of milan
gothic cathedral
the prime minister remained in hospital mainly because of difficulty eating and
neck pains
berlusconi said he would have working lunch to fine tune justice reform law
and that he would visit president giorgio napolitano in the evening
the billionaire media tycoon denied that the law was aimed at helping him avoid
corruption charges pending against him
pope urges armed groups to choose path of peace
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi on monday called on armed groups of whatever kind to choose
the path of peace
terrorism endangers countless innocent lives and generates widespread
anxiety the pope said in traditional january address to the vatican
diplomatic corps
benedict appealed to all those belonging to armed groups of whatever
kind to abandon the path of violence and to open their hearts to the joy of
peace
the pontiff also lamented increased military spending and the cost of
maintaining and developing nuclear arsenals as among the most serious
challenges facing the world
enormous resources are being consumed for these purposes when they could be
spent on the development of peoples especially those who are poorest he said
benedict urged effective decisions towards progressive disarmament with
view to freeing our planet from nuclear arms at review conference of the
nuclear non proliferation treaty to be held in new york in may
ecb reveals rise in fake euro seizures
frankfurt jan afp
the number of fake euro banknotes seized in the second half of was eight
percent higher than in the first six months the ecb said on monday continuing
trend that began in late
in the second half of total of counterfeit euro banknotes were
withdrawn from circulation the european central bank said in statement
the rise was slower than in the first six months of however when the
central bank reported percent jump in the number of seized counterfeit
notes
the proportion of counterfeits is still very low the statement added when
compared with roughly billion genuine banknotes in circulation
seizures have nonetheless increased steadily since the first half of when
counterfeit notes were found
as is often the case fake notes of mid level value were the most often seized
with euro dollar bills representing percent of the total
almost all of those found percent comprised of and euro
banknotes and more than percent of all counterfeit notes were found within
the member eurozone
spanish police said on august that they had recovered almost nine million
euros worth of fake euro bills european union record for such notes
the proportion of high denomination counterfeits euros and euros is
very low the ecb noted accounting for just percent of all seizures in the
latest six month period
other crackdowns on counterfeiters included the arrest of two people by italian
police in late july as officials raided printing site in the southern campania
region and seized seven million euros in fake euro notes
four others were apprehended in bulgaria police said on october and
euros in fake euro bills were recovered
in mid october polish police arrested four cameroonians who were french
residents after finding fake and euro notes and material
