ve spent some time with my family so really looking forward to the
beginning of the season where hope to regain my level of competition bit by
bit
those last three words seem significant
they suggest nadal may not find it easy to start this year well either in doha
or during the defence of his australian open title in melbourne in little more
than fortnight time
even more notable he admits his arthritic knees may require him do what well
wishers have been advocating for long time reduce his clay court schedule
don want to make the mistakes of the past season nadal said just after
christmas had knee problems but decided to play anyway
nadal lost here last year in the quarter finals to gael monfils the explosively
fast frenchman federer was beaten in the semi finals by andy murray who
however won be defending the title
the scot has preferred to go straight to australia in the hope that lengthier
acclimatisation will provide better chance of improving his modest early
season record and perhaps of winning his first grand slam title
murray will be playing in the hopman cup mixed doubles exhibition event with
teen hope laura robson
another leading frenchman jo wilfried tsonga has withdrawn from the qatar open
with an injured wrist so if anyone is to prevent federer nadal final it is
most likely to be nikolay davydenko
the russian caused big surprise by winning the year end atp world tour
championships in london five weeks ago overcoming federer for the first time in
attempts in the semi finals
however he says he has been on anti biotics during the past few days apparently
for bronchitis and was beaten in three sets by spain david ferrer in the abu
dhabi exhibition event
both federer and nadal have also been limbering up in the nearby gulf state
however the two great rivals first fully competitive meeting of should
happen in doha next saturday
if it does it would be their st encounter nadal has won times and
federer seven and it may provide us with clues about what the future holds for
two legends
alert
yemen rebels say they are ready for talks with government
theft of paintings in southern france
draguignan france jan afp
around paintings including works by picasso and rousseau valued at around
million euros million dollars have been stolen from private villa in
the south of france police said saturday
but modigliani initially believed to be part of the haul has since been found
police in toulon said
the villa french owner was holidaying in sweden at the time of the break in
which was discovered by the caretaker on thursday afternoon
police said the owner had returned home to carry out an inventory of his
collection to establish the exact loss
the reported burglary in la cadiere azur comes after pastel by degas
disappeared from the cantini museum in marseille on new year eve the
pastel worth euros had been lent for an exhibition by paris orsay
museum
the painting had been unscrewed from the wall and there was no evidence of
break in police said indicating the thief or thieves knew how to get round the
museum security system
tennis hopman cup results
perth australia jan afp
results from hopman cup tennis tournament at perth burswood dome on saturday
group
romania bt australia
women singles sorana cirstea rom bt samantha stosur aus
men singles lleyton hewitt aus bt victor hanescu rom
mixed doubles sorana cirstea victor hanescu rom bt samantha stosur lleyton
hewitt aus
afghan parliament starts vote on karzai nominees
kabul jan afp
afghanistan parliament saturday began voting on president hamid karzai
cabinet nominees nearing the end of long process that should fill the
political vacuum with government officials said
parliamentarians began casting secret ballots for ministerial portfolios
with the results expected to be announced late saturday parliamentary spokesman
hasib noori told afp
all ministers will be voted for today he said
the result is expected to be announced after finishing the counting by six
clock today then the cabinet will be be approved today
the position of foreign minister the th cabinet post will not be filled
until after the london conference set for january which will be attended by
outgoing incumbent rangin dadfar spanta he said
the timetable for swearing in the new cabinet is up to the president
spokesman said but he could give no indication of when that might be
karzai was announced the winner of an august presidential election which was
later proved to have been riddled with corruption he was inaugurated in
november
the political vacuum following the poll has dragged on for more than four
months amid pressure from the international community to ensure ministers are
competent and as clean as possible given afghanistan prevailing corruption
international graft watchdog transparency international has said afghanistan is
the second most corrupt country in the world after somalia
diplomats have expressed overall satisfaction with karzai choices for his
cabinet as he has left some respected officials in place and limited the number
of warlords who backed him in the poll
it cabinet we can work with one senior western diplomat said
the international community maintains troops in afghanistan battling
taliban insurgency becoming increasingly deadly with the toll of foreign
soldiers surpassing in compared with for
major developments in controversy over mohammed cartoons
copenhagen jan afp
somali suspect attempt to kill danish cartoonist whose depiction of the
prophet mohammed infuriated muslims is the latest incident linked to its
publication nearly five years ago
the following is timeline of major developments in the controversy
september danish newspaper jyllands posten publishes drawings
focused on islam several of which were seen as linking the religion and the
prophet mohammed to modern terrorism and suicide bombings drawing by the
cartoonist targeted late friday kurt westergaard showed the prophet with hat
in the shape of bomb
muslims were angered both by the association of their religion with terrorism
and by the showing of images of mohammed which most consider blasphemous in and
of themselves
october november first street protests by danish muslims dutch paper
also publishes the images
january anger rises in muslim countries saudi arabia withdraws its
ambassador from denmark
february newspapers in many other countries most of them european
publish some or all of the cartoons citing freedom of expression
angry crowds demonstrate across the muslim world leaving dozens of people dead
and causing major damage to danish embassies and other facilities
february danish police say they foiled plot to murder westergaard in
reaction several major danish papers republish the drawings
march al qaeda leader osama bin laden threatens europe with
reckoning over the cartoons
june at least eight people die in bomb attack outside the danish
embassy in islamabad the pakistani capital
april denmark free press society sells prints of westergaard cartoon
for dollars on the group website each print is numbered and signed by the
cartoonist
october two men accused of plotting an attack on jyllands posten are
arrested on terrorism charges in chicago
january danish police say they have shot and arrested an axe wielding
somali man who tried to kill westergaard
japan pm starts tweeting launches blog
tokyo japan jan afp
japanese prime minister yukio hatoyama has launched blog and started using
twitter in new year bid to reach out to the public at time when his ratings
have tumbled
hatoyama began using the microblogging service twitter and launched fully
fledged blog both in japanese starting friday
happy new year everyone he said in his first tweet stressing that he had
written it himself my target is to send one tweet day for now until get
used to it
san francisco based twitter which has won tens of millions of users with the
service that allows people to pepper one another with character or less
messages launched its japanese service in april
in his blog titled hato cafe hatoyama said started this blog as first
step to burying the gap between people and politics as well as changing this
country together
he also uploaded to the blog picture of his office roof against backdrop of
blue winter sky explaining that he took the picture with the camera on his
mobile phone
the twitter account is http twitter com hatoyamayukio while his official blog
is at http hatocafe kantei go jp
support for hatoyama cabinet has dipped below percent for the first time
according to major opinion polls released last month voters criticised his lack
of leadership and funding scandal
in his blog hatoyama apologised for political funding scandal that has
embroiled former aide saying gave lot of trouble to many people last
year listening to the people voice want to do my best to fulfil my duty
prosecutors indicted hatoyama former aide keiji katsuba in late december for
allegedly misreporting millions of dollars of donations but did not indict the
prime minister due to lack of evidence
the indictments came after difficult first days in office for the
political blue blood whose august election victory ended more than half
century of almost unbroken conservative rule in the world number two economy
online political activity remains rare in japan as the law prohibits campaigning
on the internet ahead of national elections
but young politicians have recently started launching blogs and using twitter
and communications minister kazuhiro haraguchi has said the government may
consider lifting the ban
sri lankan presidential contender woos tamil voters
colombo jan afp
sri lanka former military chief sarath fonseka took his presidential campaign
saturday to the ethnic heartland of the tamil tiger rebellion he helped crush
last year
the retired four star general who is seen as the main challenger to president
mahinda rajapakse in polls slated for january visited the northern region of
jaffna where he toured historic hindu temple and addressed rally
fonseka was also due to meet the influential roman catholic bishop of
jaffna thomas savundranayagam spokesman for his office said
in an interview with an indian television network on friday fonseka had warned
that rajapakse was out to rig the election and said he feared violent
campaign
you can see the election is going to be very violent election and we want
every friendly country to put pressure on the president to ensure democracy is
established he told the newsx network
both fonseka and rajapakse are from sri lanka majority sinhalese community and
appeal largely to their own ethnic group both claim credit for the final defeat
of the tiger rebels in may which ended decades old ethnic conflict
the possibility that they might split the sinhalese vote has added weight to the
intentions of the tamil electorate and officials said rajapakse was
expected to visit jaffna later this month
the defence ministry effectively blocked independent journalists travelling to
jaffna even though the authorities had announced last month that travel
restrictions had been withdrawn
rajapakse called the early january poll in bid to capitalise on the victory
over the separatist liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte who had launched
their campaign for tamil homeland from jaffna in
fonseka and rajapakse have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict
fonseka quit after accusing the government of sidelining him and falsely
suspecting him of trying to stage coup
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
danish police arrest man trying to kill mohammed cartoonist
toll in pakistan suicide attack rises to
copenhagen danish police say they have shot and arrested somali man who tried
to murder cartoonist whose depictions of islam prophet mohammed infuriated
muslims denmark attacks media islam police
peshawar pakistan investigators sift through rubble after suicide car bomber
targeted volleyball game in village in the northwest of the country killing
at least people pakistan unrest
baghdad iraq says it has begun taking steps to bring blackwater to justice
over the deaths of civilians in one of the bloodiest incidents
involving private security firm in the country iraq us justice security
blackwater
kabul two french journalists kidnapped by suspected taliban militants this week
are reported alive and well by source involved in efforts to free them
afghanistan france kidnap media
manila tens of thousands of evacuated people begin returning home after the
alert level is lowered around restive philippine volcano mount mayon
philippines volcano
paris french president nicolas sarkozy meets lebanese president michel
sleimane
tripoli trial resumes in libya of one of two swiss businessmen barred from
leaving the country since july and charged with illegal business
activities libya switzerland trial
sri lankan presidential contender woos tamil voters
colombo jan afp
sri lanka former military chief sarath fonseka took his presidential campaign
saturday to the ethnic heartland of the tamil tiger rebellion he helped crush
last year
the retired four star general who is seen as the main challenger to president
mahinda rajapakse in polls slated for january visited the northern region of
jaffna where he toured historic hindu temple and addressed rally
fonseka was also due to meet the influential roman catholic bishop of
jaffna thomas savundranayagam spokesman for his office said
in an interview with an indian television network on friday fonseka had warned
that rajapakse was out to rig the election and said he feared violent
campaign
you can see the election is going to be very violent election and we want
every friendly country to put pressure on the president to ensure democracy is
established he told the newsx network
both fonseka and rajapakse are from sri lanka majority sinhalese community and
appeal largely to their own ethnic group both claim credit for the final defeat
of the tiger rebels in may which ended decades old ethnic conflict
the possibility that they might split the sinhalese vote has added weight to the
intentions of the tamil electorate and officials said rajapakse was
expected to visit jaffna later this month
the defence ministry effectively blocked independent journalists travelling to
jaffna even though the authorities had announced last month that travel
restrictions had been withdrawn
rajapakse called the early january poll in bid to capitalise on the victory
over the separatist liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte who had launched
their campaign for tamil homeland from jaffna in
fonseka and rajapakse have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict
fonseka quit after accusing the government of sidelining him and falsely
suspecting him of trying to stage coup
philippine volcano evacuees head home as alert lowered
legaspi philippines jan afp
tens of thousands of filipinos evacuated from the shadow of volcano that began
spewing ash and lava prepared to head home on saturday after the alert level was
lowered
the lowering of the alert level for the mayon volcano on the main island of
luzon means that people evacuated from an eight kilometre five mile danger
zone can return home the philippine institute of volcanology and seismology
said
around people around mayon were evacuated after the alert was raised to
four on five point scale on december signaling that major volcanic
eruption could be imminent in the disaster prone philippines
definitely it is over for now said joey salceda governor of albay
province which includes mayon
however the institute warned that the overall state of unrest remains
relatively high and that people should remain outside six kilometre
permanent danger zone
the situation could change and we could raise the alert level again this is
what happened in when mayon paused for long time and then resumed
erupting said institute director renato solidum
solidum warned there were still signs of magma rising in the volcano and that
rocks lava and volcanic ash already on the slopes could come crashing down in
avalanches or mudslides
an august eruption caused no immediate deaths but the following december
passing typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from the mountain
slopes that left dead
more than people living some seven to eight kilometres around mayon will
be allowed to return home while over who live in six kilometre zone will
have to remain in evacuation centres salceda told afp
on saturday the institute lowered the alert level to three meaning there is
less probability of hazardous explosion
salceda said all families leaving evacuation centres would be provided with food
rations for three days and cash for home repairs
many evacuees were eager to leave complaining that the evacuation centres
mainly government schools did not have enough facilities or food supplies
some bathrooms could not be used and the place was overcrowded sometimes the
relief goods were not enough we did not even get any food yesterday said
year old rosa mantes whose parents have farm in the foothills of mayon
we wanted to go back earlier but the government really tightened security in
the danger zones
elba bana said she was happy to go home but added we are always afraid
especially when the rain is strong and there may be lahar kind of volcanic
mudflow if there is strong rain then we may be evacuated again
salceda said the evacuation had shown the country was well prepared in the case
of future eruption we have proven already that we can easily bring them back
to the evacuation centres
located about kilometres miles southeast of manila mayon has erupted
times in recorded history in more than people were killed when
lava flows buried the town of cagsawa
death toll climbs to in russian nightclub blaze
moscow jan afp
the death toll from nightclub blaze in the russian city of perm almost month
ago has climbed to after two more people died from their injuries regional
officials said saturday
total of people remain in hospitals the perm regional branch for the
emergency situations ministry said
ignited by fireworks set off inside the nightclub the december fire in the
city of perm located about kilometres miles east of moscow in the
ural mountains was the country deadliest blaze in recent history
after the fire the regional government resigned en masse as president dmitry
medvedev said he expected all those responsible in the tragedy to face
punishment
scores of people die in russia each year due to lax enforcement of fire safety
regulations and inadequate soviet era infrastructure
the ministry said separately people perished in fires between thursday and
friday
almost twice as many people were killed by fires by early saturday
amid celebrations of the new year
total of people including children died in fires across russia in
according to the ministry figures for are not yet available
militants blow up schools in nw pakistan officials
khar pakistan jan afp
militants blew up two boys schools and basic health unit in the lawless
tribal region on pakistan border with afghanistan but there were no reports
of casualties officials said saturday
room government high school and five room primary school in malangi
village of bajaur district were blown up with explosives late on friday local
administration official faramosh khan told afp
he said that nearby basic health unit providing medical care to local
tribesmen was also destroyed
the primary school building was demolished completely while seven to eight
rooms of the high school were destroyed by the explosive material planted in the
building by militants khan said
local tribal police and intelligence officials also confirmed the incident and
said no casualties were reported
pakistan northwestern tribal belt has become stronghold for hundreds of
extremists who fled afghanistan after us led invasion toppled the hardline
taliban regime in late
bajaur is just west of dir and swat districts where the military launched an
offensive in april last year to crush two year taliban insurgency
pakistani security forces launched huge operation against islamist militants
in bajaur in august in february they claimed the area had been
cleared but unrest has rumbled on
yemen slams shebab pledge to send fighters
sanaa jan afp
yemen said on saturday it will not allow foreign fighters to infiltrate the
country after somalia shebab insurgents said they will send militants to help
an al qaeda affiliate behind the failed us airliner bombing
yemen will not accept on its territory any presence by foreign terrorist
elements and will be on guard against anyone who tries to act against its
security and stability the official saba news agency quoted foreign minister
abu nakr al kurbi as saying
saba said kurbi was astounded by the shebab pledge to send militants to fight
yemeni government forces who have been battling al qaeda
sheikh mukhtar robow abu mansour senior official of the militia that pledges
allegiance to al qaeda announced the plan on friday as he presented hundreds of
newly trained fighters in the north of mogadishu
we tell our muslim brothers in yemen that we will cross the water between us
and reach your place to assist you fight the enemy of allah said robow to
chants of allahu akbar god is greater by the young fighters
today you see what is happening in yemen the enemy of allah is destroying your
muslim brothers he added call upon the young men in arab lands to join the
fight there
on saturday kurbi said it would have been wiser for those who promise to
export terrorism to work towards stability in their own war ridden state
yemeni forces last month launched raids on suspected al qaeda targets in the
central and the sanaa regions killing more than islamist militants
several others were also wounded in clashes this week in western province of
the impoverished arabian peninsula state which lies north of somalia across the
gulf of aden
yemen is al qaeda leader osama bin laden ancestral homeland and has seen
spate of attacks against western targets over the past decade
an al qaeda affiliate based in yemen claimed it was behind the botched christmas
day plot to bring down us airliner from amsterdam to detroit
on saturday us president barack obama in his weekly broadcast promised to hold
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula to account for the attack declaring the
united states was at war with far reaching network of violence and hatred
death toll climbs to in russian nightclub blaze
moscow jan afp
the death toll from nightclub blaze in the russian city of perm almost month
ago has climbed to after two more people died from their injuries regional
officials said saturday
total of people remain in hospitals the perm regional branch for the
emergency situations ministry said
ignited by fireworks set off inside the nightclub the december fire in the
city of perm located about kilometres miles east of moscow in the
ural mountains was the country deadliest blaze in recent history
after the fire the regional government resigned en masse as president dmitry
medvedev said he expected all those responsible in the tragedy to face
punishment
scores of people die in russia each year due to lax enforcement of fire safety
regulations and inadequate soviet era infrastructure
the emergency situations ministry said separately people perished in fires
between thursday and friday
almost twice as many people were killed by fires by early saturday
amid celebrations of the new year
total of people including children died in fires across russia
last year according to the ministry
corrected japan pm starts tweeting launches blog
tokyo japan jan afp
japanese prime minister yukio hatoyama has launched blog and started using
twitter in new year bid to reach out to the public at time when his ratings
have tumbled
hatoyama began using the microblogging service twitter and launched fully
fledged blog both in japanese starting friday
happy new year everyone he said in his first tweet stressing that he had
written it himself my target is to send one tweet day for now until get
used to it
san francisco based twitter which has won tens of millions of users with the
service that allows people to pepper one another with character or less
messages launched its japanese service in april
in his blog titled hato cafe hatoyama said started this blog as first
step to burying the gap between people and politics as well as changing this
country together
he also uploaded to the blog picture of his office roof against backdrop of
blue winter sky explaining that he took the picture with the camera on his
mobile phone
the twitter account is http twitter com hatoyamayukio while his official blog
is at http hatocafe kantei go jp
support for hatoyama cabinet has dipped below percent for the first time
according to major opinion polls released last month voters criticised his lack
of leadership and funding scandal
in his blog he apologised for the political funding scandal that has embroiled
former aide saying gave lot of trouble to many people last year
listening to the people voice want to do my best to fulfil my duty
prosecutors indicted hatoyama former aide keiji katsuba in late december for
allegedly misreporting millions of dollars of donations but did not indict the
prime minister due to lack of evidence
the indictments came after difficult first days in office for the
political blue blood whose august election victory ended more than half
century of almost unbroken conservative rule in the world number two economy
indonesia arrests migrants trying to make it to australia
makassar indonesia jan afp
indonesia has arrested dozen afghan and vietnamese migrants who were trying to
reach australia an official said saturday
the eight afghans and four vietnamese were arrested early thursday on small
island near makassar the provincial capital of south sulawesi province
they were stranded on kodingareng island after their boat suffered an engine
problem triyono the head of the detention centre where they were being held
told afp
the migrants had offered to pay high fee to local residents to repair the
boat engine but they reported them to the police instead he added
an official from the provincial immigration office dwi laksono said that total
of illegal migrants mostly from afghanistan have been arrested in week long
operation from to december in south sulawesi
indonesia is key staging post for people smugglers bringing afghans sri
lankans and other nationals for the perilous onward sea journey to australia
australian prime minister kevin rudd is under intense political pressure over
the issue after surge in arrivals via indonesia this year
obama blames al qaeda affiliate for airliner attack
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us president barack obama saturday for the first time accused an al qaeda
affiliate of arming and training young nigerian man for thwarted suicide
mission to blow up us airliner
obama in his weekly radio and video address promised to hold the group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula to account for the attack declaring the united
states was at war with far reaching network of violence and hatred
the president vacation in his home state of hawaii has been interrupted by the
ramifications of the failed attack on northwest jet heading for detroit on
christmas day
obama has reviewed preliminary results of probes he has ordered into the attack
and said details were becoming clear about the year old nigerian suspect umar
farouk abdulmutallab
we know that he traveled to yemen country grappling with crushing poverty
and deadly insurgencies obama said in his address posted on the white house
website early saturday
it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula trained him equipped him with those explosives
and directed him to attack that plane headed for america
previously us officials have not said publicly that the northwest attack was
the work of al qaeda though had noted there was linkage with the terror
group
the arabian peninsula franchise of al qaeda had on monday claimed the failed
december bombing of jet in statement picked up by us monitors
abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up the plane as it approached detroit
on flight from amsterdam by setting off explosives stitched into his
underwear the attempt failed when he was stopped by passengers
obama said that because of past attacks by the al qaeda affiliate he had even
before the christmas day attempt stepped up us cooperation with insurgency
scarred yemen
training camps have been struck leaders eliminated plots disrupted he said
in the address
and all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on christmas must
know you too will be held to account
obama also put the northwest attack in the context of the wider threat from
terrorism following complaints from some republicans that he has not adopted
the war on terrorism formulation of his predecessor george bush
he noted that it was almost year since he came to office and delivered his
inaugural address
on that day also made it very clear our nation is at war against far
reaching network of violence and hatred and that we will do whatever it takes
to defeat them and defend our country even as we uphold the values that have
always distinguished america among nations
on thursday the us director of national intelligence dennis blair warned his
staff that al qaeda attacks were sure to get more cunning
