melbourne airport due to problem with its fuel gauge
football champions egypt nigeria in top spot battle
benguela angola jan afp
defending champions egypt and nigeria clash in the africa cup of nations group
curtain raiser under the scorching afternoon sun at the brand new ombaka stadium
here on tuesday
both teams are expected to progress to the knockout of stage of the continental
showpiece at the expense of mozambique and benin in the sleepy town of benguela
about kilometres miles from the capital luanda known for its bananas
and great beaches
the super eagles of nigeria are using angola as dress rehearsal for the
world cup while six times african champions egypt again failed to qualify for
the global finals after they were upset by fierce regional rivals algeria in
play off
egypt have not beaten nigeria since and the last time both sides clashed at
this competition was years ago when they drew in group match as
nigeria went on to win their second nations cup title in tunisia
egypt are in decline now and we have one of the best teams for nations cup
in long time boasted nigeria assistant coach daniel amokachi who played in
that game in tunis in
however amokachi teammate in that same game austin jay jay okocha has
warned the pharaohs have to be taken seriously
they are double champions for reason and skillful midfield could carry them
to hat trick warned okocha
egypt are clear that this clash will go long way in determining how well they
will fare in their title defence in angola
our match against nigeria will show how we will perform in the following
matches just like the tournament said egypt skipper ahmed hassan
at ghana egypt got off to flying start with an impressive opening
group win over cameroon in kumasi and they then went all the way to clinch
record sixth nations cup crown at the expense of the same team three weeks later
in accra
nigeria are strong team but we are now familiar with all african teams
told the players they should do their best to realise their own dreams
personally want to win fourth african title with the national team said
hassan
despite dramatic qualification for their fourth world cup in november there
remains growing dissatisfaction by the public with both the nigeria coach
shuaibu amodu and the performance of the eagles
amodu may have now qualified nigeria for the world cup second time but his
tactics and team selection continue to be questioned as pressure mounts for him
to be replaeced with foreign coach for the world cup in june
he may well be sacked if they do not reach at least the semi finals in angola
the eagles barely managed to beat south african first division side thanda royal
zulu courtesy of penalty goal before they were held to goalless draw by
zambia in the build up
locomotiv moscow striker osaze odemwingie is likely to miss out after suffering
from an infection meaning everton striker yakubu aiyegbeni will either be
partnered upfront by obafemi martins or obinna nsofor who scored four goals as
nigeria booked their flight to south africa
at skipper nwankwo kanu is also pressing for place on the starting line up
after an eye catching display against zambia in durban last week
this would be his last nations cup and it would therefore be most fitting
farewell gift should he finally break his goal scoring duck at this tournament
in angola
egypt are missing striker amr zaki mohamed barakat and mohamed aboutrika who
have been sidelined by injury
al ahly defence strongman wael gomaa made the final squad to angola but he is
major injury doubt too
borussia dortmund striker mohamed zidan who made his nations cup debut two
years ago will also be leading relatively inexperienced attack
lebanese army fires on israeli fighter planes military
beirut jan afp
lebanese anti aircraft guns opened fire on four israeli fighter planes which
were violating its air space and flying at low altitude on monday the military
said
the army anti aircraft guns fired at four enemy israeli planes that had been
overflying the southern area of marjayoun this morning an army spokesman
told afp on condition of anonymity
an afp correspondent in southern lebanon said about rounds had targeted four
israeli planes
while lebanon army publishes almost daily reports of israeli violations of
lebanese air space the military rarely opens fire unless the planes fly within
range of its guns
the israeli infringements are breach of un security council resolution
which ended the devastating war between israel and lebanon shiite
militant group hezbollah
israel argues that the overflights are necessary to monitor what it says is
massive arms smuggling by hezbollah in breach of the same resolution
tennis heineken open results
auckland jan afp
results from the first day of the heineken open men tennis tournament here
monday
singles
rubin statham nzl bt dan king turner nzl
thomaz bellucci bra bt marco chiudinelli sui
jurgen melzer aut bt fabio fognini ita
china auto sales surpass million in state media
beijing jan afp
china auto sales exceeded million units in an industry association
was quoted by state media as saying monday confirming the nation status as
the world biggest car market
the full year figure represents an increase of more than percent from
when sales were million units official figures show
china car sales soared due partly to government incentives outstripping those
of the united states for the first time in january last year and making the
nation the world biggest auto market
auto production surpassed million units xinhua news agency said citing
the china association of automobile manufacturers caam
sedans made up percent of total sales with shanghai volkswagen joint
venture between volkswagen ag and china shanghai automotive industry corp
selling the most xinhua said in separate report without identifying its
source
further details were not provided and caam has not yet published the figures on
its website
auto sales have surged in recent years due to rising incomes that have put
private car ownership once an unthinkable luxury within reach for
millions
government measures included slashing taxes on cars with engines smaller than
litres and subsidising clean technology vehicles the government also
subsidised auto purchases for farmers
us auto sales fell percent to million vehicles in according to
autodata figures released last week
year old home hippo bones found near tel aviv
jerusalem jan afp
israeli archaeologists have found remains of an year old building as well
as hippopotamus bones and pottery shards in the tel aviv area the israel
antiquities authority said on monday
the remains found on the banks of the yarkon river are the earliest discovered
in the tel aviv region
this discovery is both important and surprising to researchers of the period
said ayelet dayan who led the excavations
for the first time we have encountered evidence of permanent habitation that
existed in the tel aviv region about years ago
that places it in the neolithic period when man went from nomadic existence to
living in permanent settlements
flint implements ascribed to earlier periods were also discovered at the site
including the point of hunting tool from the middle paleolithic period or
about years ago
animal remains including hippopotamus bones were found at the site
japanese woman drives home with body in windscreen police
tokyo jan afp
japanese woman who drove home with the body of an year old pedestrian
lodged in her windscreen has been arrested on charges of causing deadly
traffic accident and fleeing the scene police said monday
the year old driver was believed to have struck the elderly woman in the
early hours of sunday north of tokyo before driving seven kilometres four
miles home with the victim body wedged in the shattered windscreen
michiko sato catering school student was arrested after her boyfriend called
police to report the accident police spokesman said
when police called at sato home they found the body of the elderly woman
still stuck in the car windscreen
the suspect said she was so shocked that she didn know what to do the
police spokesman said he added sato was not under the influence of alcohol at
the time of the accident
she was charged with causing traffic accident resulting in death and escaping
after running over person with car and faces up to years in prison or
fine of up to two million yen dollars if convicted
cyprus leaders launch marathon peace talks
nicosia jan afp
rival cypriot leaders on monday launched series of day long talks in an
accelerated un led drive to try to reunify the island in after more than
years of division
the greek and turkish cypriot leaders say they are committed to finding
solution this year while the united nations is hoping will be the year for
cyprus settlement
after months of sluggish negotiations president demetris christofias
greek cypriot and turkish cypriot leader mehmet ali talat are stepping up the
pace in the hope of securing breakthrough
they have agreed to meet six times for marathon talks over three week period
on january and then again on and
in the middle of the month during the break christofias is to fly to athens for
talks with the greek government on the progress made and talat is expected to
hold contacts in ankara about the next phase
the leaders will aim to accelerate convergences on governance power sharing
the economy and eu issues
governance and power sharing top the agenda as the turkish cypriots have tabled
new proposals on rotating presidency veto rights how votes should be
weighted and on the makeup of the upper and lower houses in federal cyprus
the greek cypriot side have labelled the proposals as unacceptable even before
monday talks
the prickly property rights chapter will also figure on the agenda at some
stage although the more divisive issues of security and territorial adjustments
are being left to one side
and christofias has ruled out an draft agreement at this stage as both the
greek and turkish cypriot sides are adamant that nothing is agreed until
everything is agreed
any deal which emerges must be put before the cypriot people in separate
simultaneous referenda
these lengthy sessions are taking place at un chief of mission taye brook
zerihoun official residence located inside the nicosia buffer zone close to
the capital disused airport
the international community has called for for the momentum of the negotiations
to be stepped up with un chief ban ki moon mulling cyprus visit by april if
progress is made
the peace talks were launched amid much optimism in september but the two
sides remain divided on the core issues after meetings the leaders have
little tangible proof of any progress
talat is also eager to nail down the outline of deal by april as he could lose
out to hardliners during elections in northern cyprus that could derail the
peace process altogether
negotiations will be suspended most probably from february onwards to
allow talat time to campaign
cyprus has been split since turkish mainland troops seized and occupied its
northern third in in response to greek led coup aimed at uniting the
island with greece
the lack of deal on eu member cyprus is also harming turkey own ambition to
join the european union
tennis sydney international results nd update
sydney jan afp
results from the second day of the sydney international wta atp tennis
tournament on monday denotes seed
women
first round
agnieszka radwanska pol bt jill craybas usa
dominika cibulkova svk bt timea bacsinszky sui
agnes szavay hun bt jelena jankovic srb
flavia pennetta ita bt samantha stosur aus
maria jose martinez sanchez esp bt varvara lepchenko usa
elena vesnina rus bt vera zvonareva rus retired ankle
aravane rezai fra bt anna lena groenefeld ger
vera dushevina rus bt casey dellacqua aus
li na chn bt caroline wozniacki den
kimiko date krumm jpn bt nadia petrova rus
men
first round
richard gasquet fra bt feliciano lopez esp
andreas seppi ita bt marinko matosevic aus
pablo cuevas uru bt michael llodra fra
potito starace ita bt frederico gil por
marcos baghdatis cyp bt nick lindahl aus
leonardo mayer arg bt igor andreev rus
indonesia prosecutors appeal garuda pilot acquittal
jakarta jan afp
indonesian prosecutors have appealed against court decision to overturn the
conviction of garuda indonesia pilot who crashed passenger jet killing
people spokesman said monday
the high court last month quashed an earlier two year prison sentence against
pilot marwoto komar saying he tried his best to save the boeing which
crashed on landing in yogyakarta central java in
there an error in interpretation of the law by the high court by freeing him
it like saying the incident never took place yogyakarta prosecutors office
spokesman fora noenoehitoe told afp
we maintain our position that he should be jailed
the plane hit the tarmac at twice the recommended landing speed and speared into
neighbouring rice fields before bursting into flames
komar says faulty wing flaps were to blame for the jet excessive airspeed as
it came in to land he also blamed the condition of the runway and poor safety
standards at yogyakarta airport for the number of casualties
safety investigation report however found he had ignored automatic warnings
that his approach speed was too fast
five australians diplomat an aid official two police officers and
journalist who were following then australian foreign minister alexander downer
on an official visit were among the dead
the european union banned all indonesian airlines from its airspace in june
due to safety concerns after spate of accidents the ban was lifted in july
for four airlines including garuda
komar has said he plans to return to flying for garuda the national carrier
which is hoping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in public share
offering this year
china ends espionage probe against rio exec
sydney jan afp
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 on monday
australian passport holder stern hu was arrested in shanghai in july with three
chinese colleagues and initially accused of stealing state secrets
the accusations were later watered down to industrial espionage centring on
alleged bribery during high stakes iron ore contract talks
today they chinese authorities informed our shanghai consulate general that
the investigation phase has concluded spokeswoman for the department of
foreign affairs and trade said
the case is now in the hands of the shanghai people procuratorate
prosecutor who will decide whether it should be brought to trial
the official said it was not possible to say how long the case would remain with
prosecutors or speculate on the outcome of the case
details of the actual charges are not likely to be known until the prosecutors
have made their decision on whether the case should proceed to trial she said
the australian government continues to take close interest in the case
hu arrest soured diplomatic relations with australia and raised questions
about dealing with rapidly industrialising china the world biggest iron ore
consumer
it came just weeks after mining giant rio snubbed massive cash injection from
chinese state firm and during annual iron ore contract talks which later
failed
hu was detained in shanghai on july and chinese prosecutors have gained
permission to extend the probe twice most recently for two months in november
two lawyers involved in the case told afp that they had not yet been informed of
the development and that police were not obliged to do so
zhai jian the attorney for one of the three chinese employees ge minqiang
said they would have been informed if the probe had been extended he said he
had not yet been notified of timetable for prosecution
when asked whether the charge against the four was still industrial espionage
zhang peihong lawyer for wang yong another of the chinese employees said
we don know for now
rio an anglo australian company has said it does not believe its employees
have done anything wrong
this transfer is the next stage in continuing legal process under chinese
law said the company iron ore chief executive sam walsh
it would not be appropriate for the company to comment any further at this
point in the case other than to reaffirm our hope that matters proceed in an
expeditious and transparent manner
ahead of the announcement australia trade minister simon crean called on the
chinese authorities to deal with hu case quickly
the minister said he was satisfied that hu was being treated well and receiving
appropriate representation in jail
in all of the report backs we ve had from the consular visits he is in good
health crean said he obviously anxious about the future you can
understand that he being looked after well and he has been getting regular
access to his legal representatives
the world second largest producer of iron ore rio chief export market is
fast industrialising china hu had been the company lead negotiator in fraught
iron ore price negotiations at the time of his arrest
in november rio said china could be priced differently from other iron ore
markets in as it warned that unfair prices would make talks difficult
rio has long been backer of the decades old benchmark system under which the
first price agreed between miner and steelmaker becomes an industry standard
for the next months
abortion doctor slaying goes to trial in kansas
wichita kansas jan afp
the man who gunned down one of america best known abortion doctors goes on
trial here monday in case that once again focuses attention on the legal but
controversial medical procedure
scott roeder is charged with first degree murder in the may death of
george tiller who was gunned down in his kansas church
tiller was one of handful of doctors in the united states to perform
abortions into the third trimester of pregnancies he had been lightning rod
for anti abortion foes who nicknamed him tiller the baby killer
his slaying was an act of domestic terrorism designed to intimidate other
abortion providers said terry neill president of the pro choice national
organization for women now
scott roeder murder was aimed at other doctors not just dr tiller she told
afp that the essence of terrorism
roeder has admitted in jailhouse interviews that he shot tiller but has pleaded
not guilty saying the act was necessary to protect the lives of unborn
children
jury selection begins monday
tiller death drew international headlines still it remains unclear what
effect if any it had in the on going abortion debate in this country
neil said tiller slaying was wake up call for many people who had not
taken strong stand on abortion and resulted in pledge from president barack
obama administration to provide greater protection for abortion clinics
however the slaying did not appear to influence the debate in washington over
the proposed national health care bill pending in congress which in its current
form places severe limits on publicly funded abortions
tiller was killed while serving as an usher in the foyer of his church but the
doctor and his clinic located just off busy whichita highway had been the
targets of decades of protests and occasional violence by anti abortion forces
to some extent roeder plan worked neill conceded
tiller family closed the clinic after his death and nebraska doctor
initially interested in re opening it decided against the move in the face of
threatened protests
roeder who lived in the kansas city area has long history of anti abortion
activities and according to one family member suffers from mental illness
judge has already ruled that roeder cannot pursue the so called necessity
defense by arguing that tiller death was necessary to save the life of others
but the judge may permit the defense to introduce evidence of roeder beliefs
that might allow jurors to consider lesser crime such as voluntary
manslaughter
apparently to that end roeder attorney has subpoenaed phill kline the former
kansas attorney general who aggressively investigated tiller in an attempt to
shut down his clinic
before leaving office kline charged tiller with misdemeanor counts of which
jury quickly acquitted him two months before his murder
tiller had become known for providing late term abortions to women not just in
kansas but from around the united states and the world
neill said now members will attend the trial
do think it important for us to honor dr tiller courage and frankly
his martyrdom she said
it appears scott roeder is going to try to put dr tiller on trial and to me
that is just monstrous
diminished detroit auto show set to shed theatrics as it opens
detroit michigan jan afp
diminished detroit auto show is expected to shed its traditional theatrics as
it opens in the motor city monday with badly battered automakers working to
make more out of less
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
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
the detroit three which held percent share of the us market as recently
as and percent stake decade ago ended with percent
stake
asian automakers captured percent share in up from percent in
autodata said
it still market suffering and trying to recover said karl brauer editor
in chief of the automotive website edmunds com
everybody think we ve hit bottom but nobody expects to get out quickly
million chinese men face lonely future state media
beijing jan afp
more than million chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without
spouses in state media reported monday citing study that blamed sex
specific abortions as major factor
the study by the government backed chinese academy of social sciences named
the gender imbalance among newborns as the most serious demographic problem for
the country population of billion the global times said
sex specific abortions remained extremely commonplace especially in rural
areas where the cultural preference for boys over girls is strongest the
study said while noting the reasons for the gender imbalance were complex
researcher wang guangzhou said the skewed birth ratio could lead to difficulties
for men with lower incomes in finding spouses as well as widening age gap
between partners according to the global times
another researcher quoted by the newspaper wang yuesheng said men in poorer
parts of china would be forced to accept marriages late in life or remain single
for life which could cause break in family lines
the chance of getting married will be rare if man is more than years old
in the countryside they will be more dependent on social security as they age
and have fewer household resources to rely on wang said
the study said the key contributing factors to the phenomenon included the
nation family planning policy which restricts the number of children citizens
may have as well as an insufficient social security system
the situation influenced people to seek male offspring who are preferred for
their greater earning potential as adults and thus their ability to care for
their elderly parents
the global times said abductions and trafficking of women were rampant in
areas with excess numbers of men citing the national population and family
planning commission
illegal marriages and forced prostitution were also problems in those areas it
said
authorities put the normal male female ratio at between males for every
females but in the last year for which data were made available
there were boys for every girls the newspaper said
however the study said that in some areas the male female ratio was as high as
males for every females report by the mirror evening newspaper said
the report said the study urged the government to relax the so called one
child policy and study the possibility of encouraging cross country
marriages
china first implemented its population control policy in generally
limiting families to one child with some exceptions for rural farmers ethnic
minorities and other groups
it has said the policy has averted million births
researchers said the gender imbalance problem cropped up in the late when
the use of ultrasound technology became more prevalent
this allowed women to easily determine the sex of their foetuses leading to an
increased number of sex selective abortions
korea announces multi billion dollar plan for new city
seoul jan afp
south korea monday announced billion dollar blueprint to develop new
city as science and education hub scrapping controversial plans to relocate
much of the government there
the country biggest business group samsung has signed deal to move some
operations to sejong city along with the hanwha woongjin and lotte groups
said prime minister chung un chan
monday announcement officially axes plan announced in by then president
roh moo hyun to relocate nine ministries and four subsidiary agencies to the
proposed city kilometres miles south of seoul
roh liberal government had said the aim was to promote balanced regional
development in country where almost half the population lives in seoul or
surrounding cities
the plan was also attractive to the chungcheong region whose traditionally
uncommitted voters have often swung elections
but chung office said in statement it would have resulted in inefficiency
and waste of national resources
however the current conservative government will face an uphill battle securing
parliamentary approval to change the plan against objections from the
opposition and from sizeable faction of the ruling grand national party
the sejong city plan is task of correcting past errors and paving the
ground for new future the prime minister said in statement
if the promise of the past was politically driven it would be courageous for
leader to correct it albeit belatedly
the government has decided to create an economic hub centred on education and
science in sejong with total investments of trillion won billion
dollars including trillion won from the private sector chung said
we expect sejong will grow into self sufficient city with population of
with new jobs by
the city is named after the revered th century monarch who invented the
country written alphabet
the government has since built roads and other basic infrastructure as
prelude to transforming the country town into sprawling modern city
chung office said the government would build new highways parks and cultural
facilities in sejong
