rosenberg had planned everything down to the last detail including asking his
driver and bodyguard to buy two mobile phones which he used to send threats to
himself
colom said he believed the case was now over telling the daily prensa libre
that the scandal had stained the country image
he said he had no idea how the plot came about but my credibility weathered
the crisis
colom is center left social democrat whose social programs and tax programs
have rattled the country conservative elite he took office in january
rosenberg murder rocked the country to its core just over decade after it
emerged from year civil war during which leftist insurgents battled the
armed forces which often responded with scorched earth tactics
colom acknowledged that efforts to counter violence have been insufficient in
country where some people were murdered last year making guatemala one
of the most violent countries in latin america
for me insecurity is the historic challenge of this government and the next
to come he said blaming the drug trade for fueling much of the crime
islamic extremists seeking to enter us via canada media
ottawa jan afp
canada has put its airlines and airports on high alert after receiving threat
warnings from intelligence sources in the wake of failed christmas us jet
bombing minister said tuesday
transport minister john baird told reporters the medium level threats did not
point to an imminent attack
but airlines and airports were asked on saturday to remain vigilant and adhere
to tough new passenger screening rules adopted after young nigerian tried to
set off bomb on northwest airlines flight from amsterdam to detroit last
month
there specific information that certainly causes me concern causes our
security officials concern and think we need to maintain heightened vigilance
in this time baird said
we don want panic he commented at the same time think the public would
expect us when there reasonable concern to be open and honest about that
heightened concern
broadcaster ctv citing unnamed sources said british and us intelligence
reports suggested that yemeni trained terrorists were trying to get into
canada in order to then sneak into the united states
separately canadian intelligence officials reportedly had evidence that another
group was also trying to enter canada
baird said earlier that two or three pieces of threat information had been
received from intelligence sources
neither group planned to target canada but rather use this country to stage
attacks on its southern neighbor the united states said ctv
canadian prime minister stephen harper met with his national security advisers
overnight
in statement he said he was briefed by baird as well as public safety
minister peter van loan foreign affairs minister lawrence cannon defence
minister peter mackay and justice minister rob nicholson
football mozambique deny benin first nations cup victory
benguela angola jan afp
mozambique held benin to draw here tuesday night to deny the west africans
their first ever victory at the africa cup of nations
angola is benin third nations cup appearance after they debuted in the
competition at the edition in tunisia and had they defended an early two
goal lead they would have been celebrating their inaugural victory in the
tournament
champions egypt who beat nigeria earlier lead group with three points with
benin and mozambique tied for second following this thrilling draw
nigeria beaten by the defending champions foot the table
benin coach michel dessuyer said he now has to look forward to his team next
group match against neighbours nigeria on saturday
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 said the french coach
his mozambican counterpart mart nooij praised his team for fighting back
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 said dutchman nooij
in an open entertaining contest the squirrels of benin raced into two goal
lead after just minutes with penalty goal by razak omotoyossi and an own
goal by mozambique defender dario khan
the spot kick was awarded after the robust omotoyossi was brought down inside
the box by goalkeeper joao rafael on his way to goal
the metz striker dusted himself off to tuck the ball home from the penalty spot
in the th minute
the nigerian born striker was also involved in the second goal as he drove into
the mozambique area and in the confusion that ensued khan put the ball through
his own goal on minutes
however almiro lobo reduced the deficit in the th minute when he headed home
from inside the box after goalkeeper yoann djidonou failed to deal with corner
and left the benin defence in all sorts of bother
before all these goals the mambas of mozambique got chance as early as the
th minute to take the lead but their most experienced player and skipper
manuel bucuane aka tiko tiko failed to connect from inside the box
to the credit of mozambique they did not allow benin early advantage to
subdue their attacking instincts as they kept going at their opponents to the
delight of the packed capacity ombaka stadium as the locals threw their
support behind their fellow portuguese speaking country
right from the restart omotoyossi would have again got on the score sheet but
he lost his footing at the crucial moment inside the six yard box with
goalkeeper rafael again looking very shaky and unsure of himself
however it was mozambique who scored again in the th minute when goncalves
fumo netted the equaliser after quick counter attack caught the benin
goalkeeper out of position
benin fought back for winner with paris saint germain star stephane sessegnon
omotoyossi and guingamp midfielder muri ogounbiyi who was major injury doubt
for this encounter after he suffered thigh strain in training prompting their
attacks
in the th minute tiko tiko fired home pile drive which missed narrowly
but it was the fumbling goalkeeper rafael who would have gifted benin the match
winner in the th minute when he appeared to have saved off the feet of mickael
pote only to lose the ball in spectacular fashion moments later
meps voice doubts over bulgarian eu commissioner
brussels jan afp
the european parliament has doubts over bulgaria nominee for eu commissioner
rumiana jeleva and wants clarification on alleged irregularities in her
financial declarations meps said tuesday
the news came after jeleva the eu humanitarian aid commissioner designate
underwent stormy job interview at the european parliament in brussels
we are reserving our position on jeleva said green mep eva joly president of
the parliament development committee which had grilled the former bulgarian
foreign minister earlier in the day
charles goerens representing the european liberals said the parliament has
called on commission chief jose manuel barroso and the parliament own
juridical service to look further into jeleva financial interests
it is up to barroso to say if he keeps mrs jeleva in the post he said
the parliament definitive advice will not be given until the start of next
week after all would be eu commissioners have been heard
while the meps cannot veto any individual candidate it does have the power to
block the whole commission
the fact that barroso has been asked to pronounce on jeleva declaration of
interests is another way of saying that we are not satisfied with her
response said goerens
during her parliamentary hearing earlier jeleva was called on to defend herself
against accusations that she had failed to declare her position at the head of
bulgarian company global consult
if had done something wrong the bulgarian authorities would have exposed it
long ago she told them
jeleva former mep herself has also had to defend herself against rumours of
links between her husband and organised crime before she took up the post as her
country top diplomat last year
jeleva was the first of eu commission chief jose manuel barroso nominees to
come under such fierce parliamentary grilling
on monday europe new foreign affairs chief british peer catherine ashton won
tepid support at her parliamentary confirmation hearing after failing to impress
number of deputies with what they called vague answers to policy questions
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
alcoa earnings disappointment hurts wall street
new york jan afp
wall street shares skidded tuesday after disappointing quarterly results from
alcoa to kick off the corporate earnings season injected some caution in the
market
the dow jones industrial average dropped points percent to end at
as blue chips pulled back from month closing high monday
the tech heavy nasdaq composite shed hefty points percent to
and the broad standard amp poor index retreated points
percent to
many global markets were lower in response to alcoa results seen as
harbinger of the earnings season and the health of the corporate sector
the aluminum giant the first of the blue chip companies to release financial
results reported quarterly loss of million dollars excluding one time
items the company posted profit of one cent per share well below market
expectations
patrick hare at briefing com said alcoa failed to generate confidence either
with its top line revenues or bottom line profits
it was an inglorious start to the fourth quarter earnings reporting season as
dow component alcoa fell short of analysts consensus earnings estimate he
said
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
gregory drahuschak at janney montgomery scott said the market is still in an
uptrend even if some consolidation is happening
on very short term basis we would take cautious approach and watch the
amp to see whether pullback is contained or not he said
we still think the market has not seen its ultimate high for this cycle and
therefore would be buyers on pullbacks
others pointed out that the market was skittish in the wake of comments from the
administration of president barack obama on possible new fee or tax on
financial institutions to help recoup taxpayer bailout funds
this announcement may further dampen the near term prospects for the stocks of
the huge global money center banks that received and have paid back bailout
funds from the treasury said fred dickson at da davidson amp co
most of the stocks of the largest banks peaked in august and failed to
participate in the stock market rally seen over the last three months
news that china was moving to cool speculation in its economy was also negative
for the market said scott marcouiller at wells fargo advisors
the chinese central bank raised the proportion of deposits that banks must set
aside as reserves in an attempt to cool the economy and avoid asset bubbles he
said adding that the action increased concerns about the global recovery
alcoa dragged the blue chip index lower sliding to dollars in the
wake of its earnings report
banks were also sharply lower citigroup slumped percent to dollars
wells fargo dropped percent to dollars and jpmorgan chase shed
percent to
bank of america tumbled percent to dollars after the us stock market
regulator the securities and exchange commission moved to expand its charges
against the financial giant for hiding information from investors about its
acquisition of merrill lynch
bonds gained on the renewed caution the yield on the year us treasury bond
eased to percent from percent monday while that on the year bond
declined to percent against percent bond yields and prices move in
opposite directions
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
schild had placed just fifth with more than sec to make up on early pace setter
susanne riesch after the opening leg but then 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
riesch nevertheless took the world cup leadership of the discipline 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
spyker has funds to buy saab and gm is considering offer ceo
detroit michigan jan afp
spkyer has the money to buy saab and gm is considering its offer very
seriously the head of the dutch sports car maker said tuesday
gm has begun the orderly wind down of saab and the fate of the swedish car maker
seemed sealed last week when gm chief ed whitacre said the us auto giant had
done everything it could to find buyer but so far nobody had come up with the
money
but victor muller founder and chief executive of spyker cars said the death
knell had not yet rung
we have shown mr whitacre the money said victor muller founder and chief
executive of spyker cars
we are absolutely definitely negotiating in good faith with gm to buy saab
muller told conference hosted by automotive news in detroit
they are considering offers very very seriously
muller said he is not very concerned about all the steps that are being taken
with the wind down because they are consistent with the plan gm set forward
after deal to sell saab to swedish sportscar maker koenigsegg
general motors announced on december that it would wind down the brand which
has barely turned profit during two decades under gm ownership but several
groups have since made last ditch bids for it
they include spyker group comprised of formula one boss bernie ecclestone and
luxembourg investment firm genii capital and swedish group fronted by the
former chief executive of german truck manufacturer man and former politician
if the sale of saab doesn generate more than the wind down scenario costs
for them it clearly not attractive muller said
so it was my job our job at spyker to put forward proposal that is
attractive enough for them to reverse the position
muller declined to provide details of the offer
several thousand people gathered for demonstration in sweden on tuesday to
call for saab to be rescued from its owner gm plan to shut it down union
official said
saab which employs people in sweden is one of four storied brands being
shed by gm as part of massive restructuring effort that began in and
accelerated last year when the largest us automaker went bankrupt
analysts have warned that some jobs could be lost with saab closure
argentine sees central bank reserves frozen in us
buenos aires jan afp
argentina economy minister on tuesday confirmed at least million dollars
of central bank reserves held in the united states had been frozen by new york
judge
at this moment some million dollars have been seized and in any case it
couldn be more than million dollars economy minister amado boudou told
press conference
he said manhattan judge thomas griesa had ordered the funds frozen at the
request of holders of argentine bonds who had refused to renegotiate the
country debt in june
it is the latest twist in dispute that has plunged the country into
institutional crisis which has seen the judiciary president cristina kirchner
and lawmakers at odds over the running of the central bank
kirchner had ordered the sacking of central bank boss martin redrado for
refusing the government access to billions of dollars to pay down the national
debt
argentina courts later blocked the sacking and prevented the government from
using reserves to pay down the debt
creditors in new york reported receiving court order announcing the freezing
of the reserves
today spokesman for elliott management said we did receive an order of
attachment from judge griesa for all assets of the argentine central bank in
new york
turkey demands apology from israel for envoy treatment
ankara jan afp
turkey summoned israel ambassador to ankara tuesday to demand an apology over
the treatment of its own envoy to tel aviv as row between the regional allies
over television drama series escalated
while israel media commended what it called the hazing of the turkish
ambassador on monday the deterioration in ties threatened to overshadow an
upcoming trip to ankara by defence minister ehud barak
israel ire had been sparked by the broadcast of an episode of the turkish
espionage drama valley of the wolves which the foreign ministry said depicted
israel and jews as baby snatchers and war criminals
in the episode turkish secret agent storms an israeli diplomatic mission to
rescue turkish boy kidnapped by mossad and then brushes off accusations of war
crimes as hypocritical
israeli media highlighted the fact that israel deputy foreign minister danny
ayalon delivered his dressing down while seated in high chair while the
turkish ambassador ahmet celikkol was made to sit on low sofa
rather than summoning celikkol to the ministry as is the norm ayalon saw him in
his parliamentary office after making him wait in the corridor and telling staff
to remove the turkish flag and refreshments from the table
the important thing is that people see that he sitting low down and we re
high and that there is one flag israeli television aired ayalon telling
invited photographers and camera crews in hebrew
in response turkey foreign ministry summoned the israeli ambassador to
ankara gabby levy for meeting to express its annoyance
the foreign ministry in ankara said it expected an explanation and apology for
the attitude towards our ambassador in tel aviv which fell foul of diplomacy
we invite the israeli foreign ministry to respect the rules of diplomatic
courtesy the statement said turkey expects steps to be taken to compensate
for the treatment of our ambassador
prime minister recep tayyip erdogan key actor in the bilateral tensions said
israeli attitudes offending turkey will always get response
in remarks broadcast on turkey ntv television tuesday celikkol said his
meeting with ayalon had been mise en scene adding that he had been led to
believe he had been invited for introductory talks and not protest over
television show
chose to sit in the sofa in that small room and never thought the difference
in height would be brought up like this celikkol said
if ayalon had shown the courage to say his remarks in english and not in
hebrew we would have given him the necessary response immediately furthermore
he did not show the courtesy of translating his remarks he added
celikoglu said he would have left the meeting if he knew what ayalon was saying
the incident mirrored the deterioration in ties since israel devastating
offensive in gaza one year ago which triggered an outraged response from
erdogan at the time
barak who heads the centre left labour party is scheduled to hold talks with
his counterpart vecdi gonul president abdullah gul and foreign minister ahmet
davutoglu during visit which is due to begin on sunday
however israel liberal haaretz newspaper said that ultra nationalist foreign
minister avigdor lieberman sought to torpedo barak attempts to mend ties with
turkey which in the past has played key role in mediating israel indirect
talks with syria as well as with the hamas rulers of gaza
lieberman ministry said the drama series threatened jewish lives in turkey
and also rebuffed erdogan criticism of weekend air raid on gaza saying that
turkey is in no position to preach morality to israel
in an equally harsh response muslim majority turkey rejected the charges as
excessive statements made on domestic political concerns which we vehemently
condemn
suggestions that anti semitism is being fanned in turkey are completely
baseless foreign ministry statement said adding that erdogan criticism
is directed exclusively at israel unacceptable practices and policies in
gaza
turkey has been israel main regional ally since when the two signed
military cooperation accord
online reputationdefender wins investor backing
san francisco jan afp
reputationdefender announced on tuesday that it has won million dollars in
venture capital backing for the company which is devoted to protecting people
internet personae
the california based firm was founded in as the first online reputation
and privacy management company
the explosion of consumer content on social channels like facebook and search
has awakened people to the reality that they need way to control what
being said about them online reputationdefender founder michael fertik said in
press release
reputationdefender announced it is getting series funding from bessemer
venture partners and kleiner perkins caufield amp byers
if you haven googled yourself you simply not paying attention to how
your name address resume relationships and conversations are published or
suppressed in ways that don serve you said david cowan of bessemer
information security today must evolve from protecting our hard drives to
protecting our identities and that why we delighted to join the
leading venture in this field
reputationdefender services such myreputation mychild and myprivacy are aimed
at helping people enhance their online images as well as guard against stalking
identity theft and other woes according to the firm
afp world news agenda
hong kong jan afp
what coming up around the world
clinton urges japan to end us base row
us starts disarmament treaty talks with russia
trial of philippine massacre suspect resumes
honolulu hawaii us secretary of state hillary clinton urges japan to end row
over us airbase in japan during talks with her japanese counterpart katsuya
okada us diplomacy asia
moscow us undersecretary of state william burns begins two days of talks on
agreeing successor to key us russia disarmament treaty and iran and north
korea nuclear programmes russia us diplomacy nuclear defence
manila the trial resumes for andal ampatuan jnr scion of powerful political
family blamed for the election related massacre of people in the southern
philippines in november philippines politics massacre trial
berlin first estimate of germany gdp published with europe biggest
economy expected to have suffered its deepest recession since world war ii
gmt finance economy germany growth
buenos aires reporting as argentina economy minister confirms at least
million dollars of central bank reserves held in the united states have been
frozen by us judge argentina finance debt bank us
brussels frenchman michel barnier named as europe future internal markets
commissioner with responsibility for financial services despite british
opposition goes before european parliamentarians hearing starts at gmt
eu france economy commission finance politics
jerusalem us national security advisor james jones is due to meet israeli prime
minister benjamin netanyahu and defence minister ehud barak mideast us
diplomacy jones
luanda cabinda angola africa cup of nations tournament in angola after two
people were arrested over deadly gun attack on the togo football squad
violence angola togo fbl afr
tehran tracking developments after iran blamed archfoes the united states and
israel for bomb attack in tehran that killed leading iranian nuclear scientist
massoud ali mohammadi iran unrest nuclear
washington the house intelligence committee opens hearing into the foiled
christmas day bombing of us bound airliner attacks us nigeria
specially created senate committee opens hearings into the causes of the
financial crisis that brought the us and global banking system to its knees the
heads of major us banks are due to testify wednesday gmt us finance
banks congress politics
the federal reserve releases its beige book giving snapshot of the us
economy gmt us economy fed
chile apologizes for past treatment of indigenous people
santiago jan afp
chile president michelle bachelet on tuesday made formal apology over the
treatment of five indigenous chileans who were shipped off to europe in to
be put on exhibit as human curiosities
she spoke at ceremony in the capital at which she welcomed the repatriated
remains of the five kawesqar indian people
the government of chile wants to take the opportunity on welcoming them back
to publicly apologize for the complicity of authorities in these inhuman
expeditions she said
at the very least she added the government was guilty of neglect in the face
of such abuses
the five kawesqar indians from the country southernmost region were put on
display in cities like paris berlin and zurich in what amounted to freak shows
as we near the bicentennial of our independence in we have to confront
both the brightest points and the darkest moments of our history bachelet
said
the mistreatment of chile indian people was due to racist attitudes towards
our indigenous forefathers whose human dignity was trampled upon an atrocity
we never want to see repeated in our history
the repatriated remains are to be buried in solemn ceremony wednesday on
tiny island in the straits of magellan the icy sea route below the tip of the
south american mainland in the same region where they were abducted
all told indigenous people were taken from chile six of whom ultimately
were allowed to return to chile with one dying during the voyage home
five others four adults and one child died within year of their arrival
in europe and their remains were returned to chile on tuesday
the remains were found in zurich switzerland in february and stored in
university anatomy department
they came to light following eight years of research by historian cristian baez
the skeletons arrived in chile perfect condition at the end of long
journey he said
documentary film maker hans muechli also played role in the return of the
remains he is currently working on film to be released next year about the
traveling human exhibits
in th and th century europe it was not uncommon for visitors to fairs and
sideshows to pay admission to see indigenous people who were presented as
rare and strange anthropological specimens from the ends of the earth said
nelson aguilera regional director of the national corporation for indigenous
development conadi
they were exhibited in places that negatively simulated the living conditions
of these indians they were made to live with other species animals in
conditions that were not dignified he said
some of the indians he added appeared to have contracted tuberculosis or
syphilis suggesting they also may have been subjected to sexual abuse
france braces for ice storm amid severe travel warnings
