across egyptian territory after activists clashed with police
foreign minister ahmed abul gheit told the government newspaper al ahram that
members of one convoy led by british mp george galloway committed criminal
acts on egyptian soil on their way to gaza
egypt will no longer allow convoys regardless of their origin or who is
organizing them from crossing its territory abul gheit said
skittish traders boost yen dollar
new york jan afp
the yen rose sharply while the dollar traded mixed tuesday as currency markets
were roiled by weak earnings report from us aluminum giant alcoa that
rekindled worries about the global economic recovery
the euro dipped to dollars against dollars late monday in new york
in choppy trade
the dollar was quoted at yen down from yen on monday with the
japanese unit favored as safe haven after news that china had tightened
credit
patrick hare at briefing com said alcoa hurt confidence with its top line
revenues and bottom line profits alcoa reported quarterly loss of
million dollars
alcoa top line weakness speaks to the reality that the economic recovery
isn as strong as the stock market might lead one to think it is
trading was volatile with the markets reacting to alcoa report late monday
followed by action from the central bank of china to hike lending rates in bid
to rein in surge of aggressive lending by banks that has raised fears of
inflation and looming asset bubble
michael malpede at easy forex said the yen turned sharply higher on the news
from china saying the reserve hike raises concern about the global recovery
and sparked selling of commodities stocks and increased risk aversion the
increase in risk aversion sparked safe haven demand for yen
but the analyst said the yen remains vulnerable to speculation that the bank of
japan may expand quantitative easing during the first quarter and to the risk of
possible downgrade of japan sovereign debt rating
the dollar which is also normally safe haven was penalized by publication of
the us trade deficit which widened in november to month high on soaring
imports suggesting an economic recovery was on track and encouraging traders to
seek out riskier currencies such as the euro
the us goods and services deficit for the penultimate month in jumped to
billion dollars from revised billion dollars in october as imports
grew faster than exports the commerce department said in report
currency traders were meanwhile keeping an eye on the european central bank
which is widely expected to hold its key interest rate at record low
percent on thursday
the ecb should hint that official interest rates will be on hold for some time
yet capital economics economist jennifer mckeown said as unemployment hit
eurozone record of percent and plummeting retail sales raised fears
recovery could be derailed
in addition the current greek crisis has again moved the structural problems
of emu european monetary union into the focus of interest commerzbank chief
economist joerg kraemer said
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs after
the pound was at dollars from
us backs plan for egypt wall with gaza
washington jan afp
the united states tuesday voiced its support for wall being built by egypt to
block network of tunnels stretching out from the gaza strip arguing it would
stop arms smuggling
we believe that weapon smuggling should stop and that measures taken to stop
that weapon smuggling should be could be carried out yes said state
department spokesman gordon duguid
the vast network of tunnels from gaza to egypt constructed in the sandy earth
to bypass crippling israeli blockade has become an economic lifeline for the
palestinians
the network has weathered israeli air strikes and egyptian attempts to flood
tunels with water and gas but there are accusations that they are used to
smuggle weapons into the gaza strip run by islamic hamas militants
citing national security egypt is now building an underground iron wall in
new bid to tighten its porous sinai border with the restive palestinian
territory
cairo which states support for palestinians and has long mediated between
both israel and hamas and among palestinian factions has only implicitly
admitted constructing the iron barrier and has provided no details on its size
media reports however said it would be meters feet deep and
kilometers six miles long
but duguid stressed washington also supported greater access for humanitarian
supplies to get into gaza
there are established channels for that and those established channels should
not be hindered by hamas or any party in gaza
egypt at the weekend banned aid convoys bound for the gaza strip from traveling
across egyptian territory after activists clashed with police
foreign minister ahmed abul gheit told the government newspaper al ahram that
members of one convoy led by british mp george galloway committed criminal
acts on egyptian soil on their way to gaza
egypt will no longer allow convoys regardless of their origin or who is
organizing them from crossing its territory abul gheit said
french parliament okays la poste revamp
paris jan afp
the french parliament tuesday okayed proposal to change the status of the
national postal service to public company despite fierce opposition from the
left which sees it as move towards privatisation
president nicolas sarkozy ump union for popular movement and the nouveau
centre voted for the proposal opposed by the left and the greens
the proposal aims to transform la poste into public limited company which will
allow it to have capital of billion euros billion dollars
the left had since october organised informal referendums since october in which
million people pronounced themselves to be against the privatisation of la
poste
french industry minister christian estrosi repeated during the acrimonious
debate that accompanied the vote that there will be no privatisation
estrosi said it was chance to give la poste financial means billion
euros is not to be scoffed at la poste needs fresh capital to face up to fresh
competition
football spanish cup results
madrid jan afp
results from the second legs of spanish cup last matches on tuesday
villarreal celta vigo trashorras
vigo win on agg
wednesday st leg in brackets
racing santander alcorcon
deportivo la coruna valencia
osasuna hercules alicante
getafe malaga
sevilla barcelona
thursday
real mallorca rayo vallecano
atletico madrid recreativo huelva
corrected wounded guinea junta head leaves morocco source
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea junta chief moussa dadis camara hospitalised in morocco after
december attempt on his life left rabat late tuesday for burkina faso
source in the burkinabe presidency said
he has left morocco and is coming to ouagadougou we are waiting for him the
source said
camara had been hospitalised in rabat after being shot in the head by his aide
de camp following dispute he was flown to morocco in burkina faso
government plane
football scottish premier league table
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league table after tuesday match played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
rangers
celtic
hibernian
dundee utd
hearts
aberdeen
st mirren
motherwell
st johnstone
hamilton
kilmarnock
falkirk
football english fa cup results
london jan afp
english fa cup results on tuesday
rd rd
bristol city williams cardiff chopra
rd rd replay
birmingham ferguson nottingham forest
coventry best portsmouth wright og extra time being played
derby millwall extra time being played
qpr buzsaky pen stewart sheffield united williamson ward
cresswell
postponed frozen pitch
rd rd
accrington stanley gillingham
brentford doncaster
notts county forest green
playing wednesday gmt
rd rd replay
liverpool reading
newcastle plymouth
wounded guinea junta head leaves morocco source
ouagadougou jan afp
guineau junta chief moussa dadis camara hospitalised in morocco after
january attempt on his life left rabat late tuesday for burkina faso
source in the burkinabe presidency said
he has left morocco and is coming to ouagadougou we are waiting for him the
source said
camara had been hospitalised in rabat after being shot in the head by his aide
de camp following dispute he was flown to morocco in burkina faso
government plane
wounded guinea junta head leaves morocco source
ouagadougou jan afp
guineau junta chief moussa dadis camara hospitalised in morocco after
january attempt on his life left rabat late tuesday for burkina faso
source in the burkinabe presidency said
he has left morocco and is coming to ouagadougou we are waiting for him the
source said
camara had been hospitalised in rabat after being shot in the head by his aide
de camp following dispute he was flown to morocco in burkina faso
government plane
football scottish premier league table
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league table after tuesday match played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
rangers
celtic
hibernian
dundee utd
hearts
aberdeen
st mirren
motherwell
st johnstone
hamilton
kilmarnock
falkirk
football scottish premier league result
glasgow jan afp
scottish premier league result on tuesday
st mirren innes aberdeen
playing wednesday
hamilton dundee united gmt
alpine skiing women world cup results
flachau austria jan afp
women world cup slalom results on tuesday
marlies schild aut
maria riesch ger
kathrin zettel aut
tanja poutiainen fin
katharina duerr ger
fanny chmelar ger
sarka zahrobska cze
nastasia noens fra
christina geiger ger
manuela moelgg ita
ana jelusic cro
claire dautherives fra
tessa worley fra
frida hansdotter swe
therese borssen swe
anemone marmottan fra
sarah schleper usa
marusa ferk slo
sanni leinonen fin
nina loeseth nor
nina perner ger
mona loeseth nor
rabea grand swi
brigitte acton can
kathrin hoelzl ger
nika fleiss cro
lene loeseth nor
tina maze slo
disqualified
st leg sandrine aubert fra michaela kirchgasser aut
leg maria pietilae holmner swe
did not finish
st leg marianne abderhalden swi taina barioz fra chiara costazza ita
anna fenninger aut marie michele gagnon can nicole gius ita denise
karbon ita katarina lavtar slo jelena lolovic srb sofija novoselic
cro anja paerson swe sarah pardeller ita jessica puenchera swi tii
maria romar fin carmen thalmann aut lindsey vonn usa petra zakourilova
cze veronika zuzulova svk
nd leg susanne riesch ger
overall world cup standings after events
lindsey vonn usa pts
maria riesch ger
kathrin zettel aut
anja paerson swe
tina maze slo
sandrine aubert fra
marlies schild aut
kathrin hoelzl ger
elisabeth goergl aut
maria pietilae holmner swe
sarka zahrobska cze
world cup slalom standings after of events
maria riesch ger pts
marlies schild aut
sandrine aubert fra
kathrin zettel aut
sarka zahrobska cze
football egypt restore sanity benin denied first win
luanda jan afp
champions egypt kicked off their africa cup of nations title defence in
scintillating style on tuesday to restore some measure of sanity to proceedings
in angola after spate of shocks on the opening two days
hustled out of world cup berth by bitter rivals algeria in november play off
the pharaohs arrived here with motivation aplenty
and they hit the ground running with defeat of nigeria to top group
ahead of mozambique and benin who shared the spoils in the day other
game
after angola sensational collapse to mali malawi whipping of algeria and
favourites ivory coast being held by burkina faso egypt took to the pitch at
their peril
but the six time champions didn falter as they brought an end to year old
winless run they have endured against the west africans with the goals coming
from emad motaeb skipper ahmed hassan and substitute mohamed nagi
nigeria had taken an early lead through chinedu obasi
striker mohamed zidan said we didn give up think we deserved the
victory
egypt assistant coach shawki garib added the victory over nigeria is just
the beginning we still have long way to go and so we still need our fans
genuine support and prayers
nigeria coach shuaibu amodu said his team paid the price for some schoolboy
errors
we played well and controlled the game especially in the first half but somehow
we made some silly mistakes and we were punished said miserable amodu
later benin were on course for their first ever africa cup of nations win when
they shot out of the starting stalls to go two goals up in the first minutes
against mozambique
their goals came via penalty by razak omotoyossi and an own goal by mozambique
defender dario khan
mozambique almiro lobo reduced the deficit before the half hour mark with
goncalves fumo netting the equaliser in the th minute
benin coach michel dessuyer said have to accept this result even though we
lost lead we failed to defend our advantage and now we have to focus on
the next match against nigeria
his mozambican counterpart mart nooij reflected the first minutes was
disastrous for us after good prepration the players went into the game like
bull chasing after red flag but we came back in the second half and played
very wonderful game
the latest developments from friday deadly attack on the togo team bus centred
on the arrest by angolan police of two suspects wanted in connection with the
machine gun assault which has cast long shadow over the competition
burkina faso one of the three teams left in cabinda where the attack took
place are desperate to leave the troubled province which has been the subject
of massive clampdown by security forces
we want to get to luanda as quickly as possible due to the security question
burkina faso assistant coach gualbert kabore declared
we have to stay in cabinda until saturday morning organisers have taken
draconian measures and to get out we have to be accompanied by security
personnel it complicates life
meanwhile world cup boss danny jordaan told afp that angola was aware of
the dangers of staging games in the restive enclave and must take responsibility
for the attack
how long is it known that there is separatist group in angola for many many
years what are the possibilities of terror attack it was known jordaan
said
it is responsibility of the host nation to deal with those issues said
jordaan who led technical team to angola in to assess its readiness for
the tournament on behalf of the confederation of african football caf
wednesday action sees group get up and running in lubango with cameroon
facing gabon and tunisia champions in on home turf up against zambia
urgent wounded guinea junta head leaves morocco source
ouagadougou jan afp
guineau junta chief moussa dadis camara hospitalised in morocco after
january attempt on his life left rabat late tuesday for burkina faso
source in the burkinabe presidency said
alpine skiing schild wins flachau slalom as vonn paerson ski out
flachau austria jan afp
marlies schild of austria threw down the gauntlet to her vancouver games rivals
in winning tuesday women slalom on home snow at flachau as the likes of
lindsey vonn and anja paerson failed to finish
schild nd world cup career victory seeing off germany maria riesch and
austria kathrin zettel made it wins in the discipline and two for the
season to date as she saw off riesch by sec and zettel by sec finishing
in min sec
after the first run didn think think would do so well and end up
winning said schild who had placed just fifth with more than sec to make up
on early pace setter susanne riesch after the opening leg
thereafter she saw off all comers on the second run to earn the win with
something to spare after maria riesch produced mistake halfway down the second
run
susanne riesch meanwhile failed to complete the second leg as her chances
evaporated
the atmosphere at every night time race is great but it sometimes better to
ski in the morning in terms of visibility tried to adapt to the course
conditions and stay calm added schild
riesch nevertheless took the world cup leadership of the discipline now ahead
of schild after frenchwoman sandrine aubert was disqualified for missing
gate on the first run
never got my rhythm groaned aubert who said the changing conditions
between training and race day had foxed her it shame an opportunity
missed
us world champion vonn slid out in the first run in taking minor tumble but
did not appear to have aggravated the injury to her left arm suffered at lienz
late last month
paerson meanwhile was having scan on sore knee after she skied out
after missing much of last season with broken leg schild has roared back
placing second at aspen before winning her first race since her comeback in
triumphing at lienz just after christmas
as she hails from nearby saalfelden she also benefited tuesday from huge
local following
despite the austrians having two racers on the podium the germans were also
exultant after maria riesch katharina duerr fanny chmelar and christina geiger
gave them four finishers in the top ten
am happy with my second place said maria riesch as she noted the german
austrian rivalry while also commenting that there are lot of speed events
left and lindsey vonn is in great form
british police anti terror searches condemned
strasbourg jan afp
the european court of human rights on tuesday condemned british anti terror
legislation allowing people to be searched by police without reasonable
suspicion of wrongdoing
case brought by kevin gillan and pennie quinton challenged the
searches under section of the terrorism act
in unanimous ruling seven judges said the searches could cause humiliation
and embarrassment and breached the complainants right to respect for their
private life under article of the european convention on human rights the
statement said
reacting to the ruling london metropolitan police said that as the british
government is seeking to appeal the ruling section remains in force in
specified locations across london
thoses locations include iconic sites and crowded places it said without
giving specifics adding that section remains an important tactic in our
counter terrorism strategy
gillan and quinton brought the case after being stopped and searched by police
in september on their way to demonstration close to an arms fair held in
east london
gillan was riding bicycle and carrying rucksack when stopped quinton
journalist was ordered to stop filming in spite of the fact that she showed her
press cards the statement said
the police powers that required an individual to submit to detailed search of
their person clothing and personal belongings amounted to clear interference
with the right to respect for private life it said
the public nature of the search with the discomfort of having personal
information exposed to public view might even in certain cases compound the
seriousness of the interference because of an element of humiliation and
embarrassment it added
the judges dismissed the argument that the searches were the same as those of
travellers at airports
an air traveller knows that he and his bags are liable to be searched before
boarding the aeroplane and has freedom of choice since he can leave personal
items behind and walk away without being subjected to search
the search powers under section are qualitatively different the individual
can be stopped anywhere and at any time without notice and without any choice
as to whether or not to submit to search the statement added
between and the number of searches recorded by the ministry of justice
went from around to over it said
the ruling followed hearing held on may
alert
wounded guinea junta chief leaves morocco burkina faso official
white house security advisor meets saudi king
riyadh jan afp
white house national security advisor james jones held discussions with saudi
king abdullah tuesday on the first stop of regional tour amid bid by the us
to revive israeli palestinian peace talks
the two discussed number of issues of interest to the two countries the
official spa news agency said in brief report on the meeting
jones also met saudi defence minister crown prince sultan bin abdul aziz
he is due to go on to israel and the palestinian territories
the trip is to discuss the full range of regional challenges and opportunities
at this critical time his spokesman mike hammer said monday
but it comes as both israel and the palestinians remain at odds over the issue
of israel settlements
the palestinians and their arab backers with saudi arabia one of the most
important insist that peace talks cannot open until israel freezes the
construction of jewish settlements in the occupied west bank and east jerusalem
israel and the united states say talks should proceed with no preconditions
however palestinian president mahmud abbas on tuesday said for the first time
that he might restart peace talks with israel if it froze settlement expansion
for fixed period
we will not accept the relaunching of negotiations without complete halt to
settlements including in jerusalem for fixed period abbas told reporters
in the west bank town of ramallah
jones mission coincides with an effort by us middle east peace envoy george
mitchell to rally europe behind the new american efforts to work towards two
state peace deal
clinton urges japan to end us base row
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton tuesday urged japan to find solution to
row over us air base in japan by may and stick by deal struck by
previous us and japanese governments
have stressed again today that it is important to move on futenma
clinton told reporters at press conference with her japanese counterpart
katsuya okada after talks in hawaii
we remain of the opinion that the realignment road map is the way forward she
added referring to the deal
standing with her japanese counterpart katsuya okada clinton also stressed that
japan understands their alliance which has underpinned security in asia for
years is fundamental to the future of both japan and the region
okada speaking through an interpreter reiterated that japan would resolve the
issue by may point echoed by clinton
in the run up to the meeting both clinton and okada vowed not to let the
dispute over the futenma air base on the japanese island of okinawa undermine
us japanese alliance that has underpinned security in asia for years
tokyo relations with its most important ally have been strained over the
futenma base which prime minister yukio hatoyama has suggested should be moved
off the southern island of okinawa or even outside japan altogether
the center left hatoyama who took power in september has pledged to review
past agreements on the us military presence including plans to shift futenma
within okinawa and to deal with washington on more equal basis
clinton said the us view is that agreement offers the best solution for
both the security of japan and the residents of okinawa
we want to get decision by may because much of the rest of the work around
the realignment roadmap has already proceeded the united states has already
made decisions based on that roadmap which was accepted by prior governments
she said
slain guatemala lawyer hatched his own murder un
guatemala city jan afp
prominent guatemalan lawyer who triggered political crisis when he blamed
his murder on the president in posthumous video actually planned his own
death un probe found tuesday
in plot worthy of movie script un commission determined that rodrigo
rosenberg asked relatives of his ex wife to hire assassins to kill supposed
blackmailer but the target rosenberg gave the killers was himself
in conclusion rodrigo rosenberg planned his own death and for some reason
sought to put an end to his life carlos castresana spanish jurist who
headed the investigation told news conference
castresana heads the international committee against impunity in guatemala
body created by the united nations
the affair triggered crisis when president alvaro colom came under fire with
the release of video filmed by rosenberg before he was shot dead on may
in which he accused the president and his aides of being responsible
days before he was gunned down while riding his bicycle rosenberg recorded
the video accusing colom of ordering his death he named colom wife and his
personal secretary as co conspirators
the scandal even led to calls for colom impeachment but despite mass protests
on the streets of guatemala city the beleaguered president had always maintained
his innocence
the un commission said it had reached its conclusions after analyzing thousands
of phone calls from rosenberg and his associates as well as following up
different inquiries
they concluded that two cousins of his former wife named as brothers jose ramon
valdes and jose estuardo paiz were behind the plot they were now said to be on
the run
the brothers hired hit men including several policemen at rosenberg request
without knowing that he was in fact the intended victim castresana said
