prevented the club from falling into administration which would have led to
points deduction that would have made relegation more likely
with points deduction given the points we have got at the moment defy
anyone to believe the club would then have survived in the premier league
jacob insisted
altogether if you look at the funds that have been generated into the club
since october you are looking at approximately million pounds
we are very very positive that we will be out of this predicament very very
shortly
japan coast guard searches for fishermen
tokyo jan afp
japan coast guard tuesday launched search for fishing boat with crew
that lost radio contact early in the morning in choppy waters in the east china
sea local official said
the ton yamada maru no was carrying four japanese and six chinese
fishermen
the coast guard has dispatched six patrol boats and two helicopters to search
for the missing fishermen the official said
another ship had found an empty rescue raft in the area about kilometres
miles northwest of fukuejima island in southwestern nagasaki prefecture where
strong winds where whipping up the sea the official said
ex british pm spin doctor to appear at iraq probe
london jan afp
tony blair controversial former chief spin doctor alastair campbell will
give evidence to britain public inquiry into the iraq war tuesday days before
his one time boss takes the stand
campbell one of the ex prime minister closest allies will be the first big
name witness to appear before the chilcot inquiry and is likely to face
questions about the intelligence britain used to make the case for war
his evidence session will last for three hours from gmt
blair is due to appear in late january or early february while geoff hoon
defence secretary at the time of the invasion gives evidence on january
and ex foreign secretary jack straw follows two days later
campbell downing street former director of communications and strategy
resigned in august the month after ministry of defence weapons expert dr
david kelly was found dead near his home with slashed wrists
earlier that year he fiercely denied bbc report that he sexed up dossier
claiming iraq could launch chemical or biological attack within minutes to
help justify the war
kelly believed he may have been the source of the bbc story and officials
confirmed his name as such to some reporters
campbell insisted he had decided to resign to spend more time with his family
well before kelly death an official inquiry subsequently exonerated him over
the affair
campbell has kept relatively low profile since leaving downing street
publishing his memoirs and novel about psychiatrist
he is also advising prime minister gordon brown ruling labour party informally
ahead of this year general election and co founded an internet campaign to
drum up grassroots labour support
blair will give evidence sometime in the two week period from january
although the exact date for his one day session has not yet been disclosed
public interest is so great that ballot is being held for seats
some labour figures are reportedly worried that his evidence could revive
memories of the unpopular iraq war and cause labour problems on the campaign
trail for the election which must be held by june
the former premier faced major backlash in britain over the decision to stand
shoulder to shoulder with then us president george bush over the war he
resigned in despite having led his labour party to three election wins
blair insisted last month he would have supported the war which did not gain
explicit united nations approval even if he had known iraq did not have weapons
of mass destruction
the iraq inquiry led by retired top civil servant john chilcot has faced
claims from some critics that it is not questioning witnesses rigorously enough
but chilcot hit back last month insisting it was not here to provide public
sport or entertainment but to get to the facts
hong kong gold opens slightly higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened marginally higher on tuesday at us
dollars an ounce up from monday close of dollars
tobey maguire director won return for spider man
los angeles jan afp
tobey maguire has hung up his spandex suit and will not return as spider man
when the fourth film based on the web slinging superhero hits cinemas in
studio officials confirmed monday
in surprise move sony pictures entertainment said maguire and director sam
raimi would not be involved in spider man the latest instalment of the
franchise which has grossed nearly billion dollars worldwide since
the announcement comes after weeks of rumors swirling around hollywood citing
creative differences between raimi and studio chiefs over the script being
prepared for spider man
columbia pictures and marvel studios said they would proceed with script
written by james vanderbilt in which hero peter parker returns to high school
spider man with different script and raimi directing had initially
been set for release in but had not gone into production
decade ago we set out on this journey with sam raimi and tobey maguire and
together we made three spider man films that set new bar for the genre
said amy pascal co chairman of sony pictures entertainment
when we began no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box
office and now we have rare opportunity to make history once again with this
franchise she said
peter parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has
always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and
compelling for generations of fans pascal said
we re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to
peter roots
raimi said in statement that the spider man movies was the experience of
lifetime for me
while we were looking forward to doing fourth one together the studio and
marvel have unique opportunity to take the franchise in new direction and
know they will do terrific job he said
columbia pictures president matt tolmach who has served as the studio chief
production executive since the beginning of the franchise described the parting
with maguire and raimi as bittersweet
we have had once in lifetime collaboration and friendship with sam and
tobey and they have given us their best for the better part of the last decade
he said
this is bittersweet moment for us because while it is hard to imagine spider
man in anyone else hands know that this was day that was inevitable
tolmach said
now everything begins anew and that got us all tremendously excited about
what comes next
football mancini wanted tevez at inter milan
manchester england jan afp
manchester city manager roberto mancini saw carlos tevez score hat trick in
dominating win over blackburn rovers and then revealed he try to buy the
striker two years ago
tevez treble his first for city and first since he scored four goals against
rovers for manchester united in league cup tie months ago was the
centrepiece of victory that took his side up into fourth place in the premier
league table and maintained mancini winning start to his eastlands career
when was in italy and watched him on tv thought carlos was good player
former inter milan boss mancini told reporters after monday match
wanted him to come to inter asked about him but of course there was no
chance because he was at united
argentina ace tevez has been enjoying productive strike partnership with
benjani mwaruwari and the zimbabwe foward played key role in several of city
goals against rovers
benjani forgotten figure at city under former boss mark hughes appears
revitalised player and his form suggests mancini need not have any qualms about
rushing emmanuel adebayor back into the side
togo captain adebayor and his international team mates came under attack last
week when their team bus was shot at during the african nations cup in angola in
an incident which ended with the death of the squad assistant coach and media
spokesman
togo have since quit the tournament and returned home for an official period of
mourning
former arsenal striker adebayor is now expected back in england later this week
and sympathetic mancini said am very sorry for him
will just wait for him when he comes back will speak with him and let him
decide when he wants to play that will be okay with me
meanwhile mancini while happy city now occupy one of the places that will
qualify them for next season champions league said his team had yet to reach
their peak
would be happy if the premier league finished now the italian said
we still have to improve and for that we need five or six of our best players
back
defeat left rovers just three points above the relegation zone and represented
their ninth game without win ahead of their league cup semi final first leg
match at home to aston villa on thursday
could not believe what we were doing in the first half said blackburn boss
sam allardyce whose team were down at the break after micah richards had
added to tevez early opener
rovers forward benni mccarthy was forced to withdraw shortly before kick off and
allaryce said he yet to receive any transfer window offers for the want away
south africa international
we have not had one bid for him said allardyce until such time as we get
one we cannot move
in miami sex offenders out in the cold
miami jan afp
florida oddly frigid weather has spelled nightmare for tourism potential
disaster for the citrus industry and cold comfort for sex offenders living rough
under bridge here
strict rules dictate that sex offenders registered in miami dade county must
stay far away from places where children congregate so far that many have
been forced to live in tent camp under bridge on causeway that links
miami white sand beaches to the mainland
as record colds persist sex offenders said they were poorly equipped for the
bone chilling weather
many huddled in tents in layers of thin sweatshirts fires were not allowed
they said and handful of generators were running low on gasoline
sometimes we have gas and sometimes we don said man who asked to be
identified as chuck he wore red sweatshirt with the hood pulled over two ski
caps we could use some heaters
chuck said nearby shelters were off limits for sex offenders because they are
too close to schools and daycare centers the men must avoid shelters open to
families are also no go
most of the shelters are within an area where sex offenders are not allowed
to be confirmed sam gil vice president at camillus house soup kitchen and
shelter for the poor and homeless it just the way they drew up the maps
the faith based group pure mercy brought gasoline grill and other supplies
when the cold weather started and locals have also pitched in
woman who went by karen filled water canisters from tank in the back of her
truck she and her husband said they had been distributing soup drinking water
and toilet paper to the small colony for more than year
forecasters expected temperatures to dip to degrees fahrenheit seven degrees
celsius in miami on monday and tuesday night extending an unusually brutal
cold snap for the sunshine state used to year long balmy weather
the bracing temperatures threaten to damage florida multi billion dollar
citrus crop and is wreaking havoc for tropical fish farmers in the state mid
section
another sex offender who identified himself as amado said authorities have
banned fires at the camp because dead leaves or even puddles of gas near
generators can easily ignite
have two blankets but when the ocean brings the wind no one can bear it
he said
florida law prohibits sex offenders from living within feet meters
of areas where children congregate including schools and parks but miami dade
has stricter requirements that set foot meter ban
the american civil liberties union has challenged the stricter ban and the
miami dade county commission is expected to consider ordinances later this month
that may ease the boundary
one proposal would set up child safety zones around schools bus stops and
playgrounds sex offenders would not be allowed to loiter within feet
miami dade homeless trust has resettled offenders since the camp began
three years ago helping them with rent deposits and utility bills said
chairman ron book he said registered offenders remain though the overall
camp population is larger
squalid conditions at the site no plumbing and no bathing facility have
sparked national debate about how to handle former prisoners convicted of sex
crimes
we re just like refugees in foreign country said chuck of the local
ordinance and his homeless lifestyle everyone here supposedly has done their
time if we were that bad why didn they leave us in prison
us banks brace for firestorm as bonus announcements due
washington jan afp
major us banks are gearing up to announce annual bonuses for top executives
while bracing for political firestorm over compensation practices that critics
say fueled the global financial crisis
number of multimillion dollar bonus payments are likely even though most of
the payouts are likely to be in the form of stock with restrictions aimed at
discouraging excessive risk taking at many banks
with announcements expected in the coming days and weeks the administration of
president barack obama has warned that hefty payouts could lead to political
backlash
this big bonus season of course is going to offend the american people it
offends me said christina romer chair of the president council of economic
advisors in television interview
white house spokesman robert gibbs told reporters monday that many bank
executives just continue not to get it referring to public displeasure on
bonuses
new york city comptroller john liu expressed similar concerns saying that
paying record bonuses in the immediate wake of the largest taxpayer funded
bailout in history simply offends our sensibilities
analysts say banks are walking fine line as they try to reward top employees
without creating political backlash that leads to tougher pay rules
the bankers are going to be paid lot of money and the public is going to be
very angry said douglas elliott senior fellow at the brookings institution
and former investment banker
in the short run the public would like these bankers to be burned or shot
but elliott said there is no easy answer to regulating pay limiting bonuses
would transfer more cash to shareholders while taxing the payments may lead to
brain drain of the best executives
the public is extremely angry and certainly understand their anger but for
obvious reasons they don understand the implications of regulating
compensation he said
some things that would be emotionally satisfying usually would harm us rather
than help us
elliott said that if bankers generate new business bonus tied to that may be
fair reward he said but if bankers use the firm own money for investing in
risky assets this can imperil the firm even if the impact comes months or years
later
deferred payments which are growing in popularity may not offer enough to
retain the best in the field
wall street is still wrestling with the issue of compensating traders elliott
said there are no easy answers you cannot just hold off on compensating the
trader until the transaction is unwound
some new regulations are already in the works the federal reserve is
implementing new rules on incentive pay for large complex banking
organizations congress has been debating variety of rules but has failed to
reach consensus
few firms including investment giants goldman sachs and morgan stanley are
implementing guidelines voluntarily to offer bonuses in the form of restricted
stock with clawback mechanisms possible
john coffee columbia university law professor and corporate governance
specialist who has testified before congress on executive pay issues said many
banks scrambled to repay government bailout funds before the end of to be
free from limits on bonus payments
there are some executives who did not receive bonuses they thought they were
entitled to last year and now want to be compensated with larger bonuses
coffee said the culture has not changed
coffee said some banks have moved marginally to restructure bonus payments
but that in many cases they still misalign risk and reward
when you incentivize managers with bonuses you are now persuading them to
accept higher risk he said
if you keep on rolling the dice sooner or later they will turn up snake
eyes
coffee dismissed fears that new regulatory scheme would drive away talented
executives
if this drives people out of banks and into hedge funds that would be fine
with me he said these activities should be in institutions that are not too
big to fail
us court urged to dismiss guantanamo case
new york jan afp
lawyers for the first detainee transferred from guantanamo to civilian trial in
the united states urged court monday to drop charges because he was tortured
and blocked from speedy trial
prosecutors however argued that ahmed khalfan ghailani tanzanian accused of
involvement in bloody attacks on us embassies in kenya and tanzania could
not be quickly tried because of national security while he underwent
interrogation
judge lewis kaplan in new york federal court did not issue an immediate
ruling
in oral arguments before kaplan defense attorneys said the authorities broke
the law when they held ghailani five years without trial
he was kept at secret cia prison or black site after his capture in
then was taken to the controversial guantanamo bay base in cuba in and
transferred to new york last year
for the first two months in the black site he literally did not know
whether the next morning he be taken out and shot attorney peter quijano
said
the treatment reduced him to state of helplessness where he was physically
emotionally and psychologically unable to resist
quijano said the government ignored and was indifferent to ghailani us legal
right to quick trial after indictment
but prosecutors say that ghailani underwent enhanced interrogation because he
knew critical intelligence about al qaeda that investigators needed in order to
save american lives
concern for national security was much more important than hurrying to trial
assistant us attorney michael farbiarz said
farbiarz added that ghailani never demanded fast trial there was strategic
utility to him to waiting and after it was no longer useful he started waving
his hands
the us embassy attacks killed people and injured more than
ghailani allegedly former cook and bodyguard to osama bin laden pleaded not
guilty to federal conspiracy charges in june in new york
his case is test of president barack obama decision to close guantanamo and
end years of shadowy legal procedures against terrorism suspects
new york is due to host the trial of five men accused of plotting the september
attacks against the world trade center in new york and the pentagon
outside washington
defense challenges for those men are expected to echo some of the issues
particularly the use of torture and denial of due process raised over
ghailani
such cases are so sensitive that much evidence cannot be given in open court and
court filings are heavily redacted
quijano was stopped by prosecutors and his own legal team when he mentioned
during his presentation that what the government calls enhanced interrogation
was used on ghailani for hours over five day period
he had apparently entered into classified information
ghailani defense says they have an almost impossible job in preparing for
trial since their client has during multiple interrogations told his captors
everything he knows
prosecutors quijano said know everything any possible strategic defense
avenue that is still open to us they know they can also anticipate what we
can and cannot do
farbiarz said ghailani was manipulating the system using the motion as shot
to dismissing the indictment to avoid trial at all costs
dismissal here would be inappropriate he said
shallow quake hits off taiwan
taipei jan afp
shallow magnitude earthquake jolted waters off taiwan and the southernmost
tip of japan tuesday us geologists said but there was no immediate tsunami
warning
the quake hit at depth of just six kilometres four miles and its epicentre
was kilometres east of densely populated taipei or kilometres off the
japanese island of ishigaki the us geological survey said
there was no alert from the hawaii based pacific tsunami warning center
taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates magnitude quake
killed around people in september
football troubled times for turin teams
rome jan afp
there are two major footballing hotbeds in italy located fairly close to each
other in the north west of the country but while one city is flying the other
is in crisis
in milan inter are top of the league and bidding for fifth straight serie
title with ac emerging as their closest and perhaps only serious title
challengers
both are through to the champions league knock out stages and face mouth
watering clashes in february against manchester united and chelsea
but just km down the road turin is in turmoil
juventus are the most decorated club in italian football having won scudetto
crowns and twice lifted europe premier trophy
they are team with rich history that has boasted some of the sport greats
such as gaetano scirea michel platini paolo rossi michael laudrup roberto
baggio zinedine zidane and alessandro del piero
they have also been coached by two of italy best ever in giovanni trapattoni
and marcello lippi
and while for most teams sitting third in serie at the halfway stage would be
considered fine achievement for juve it is all part of their current crisis
it not just that the old lady of turin are third they are points behind
inter have just been humiliated at home by ac milan and last month crashed
out of the champions league group stages following successive defeats to
bordeaux and at home to bayern munich
they have lost six of their last eight matches in all competitions and as well
as those last three defeats were beaten at home by catania who at the time
were propping up serie
what more juve have often been lucky this season not least when goalkeeper
gianluigi buffon made string of excellent saves to earn them fortunate
win over lowly livorno the most shot shy team in the league
buffon has been juve second best player this season closely behind centre
back giorgio chiellini which says it all about the team forward line
expensive brazilian summer recruits felipe melo and diego have been largely
disappointing and felipe melo is only in the team because of injury problems to
fellow defensive midfielders mohamed sissoko and christian poulsen
diego the creative catalyst supposed to fire juve to the title started
brightly but has since lost his way in team that struggles to get forward let
alone threaten their opponents goal
and now that top scorer david trezeguet and buffon are both injured they look
impotent up front and vulnerable at the back
and that despite ususally boasting four of italy back five
the return of fabio cannavaro has been far from success as time seems to have
finally caught up with the former world player of the year who was nowhere to
be seen on any of milan three goals on sunday
and then there is rookie coach ciro ferrara whose tactical selections
continually come under question as he seems unsure of what system to play to
best accomodate the players he has
his days in the juve hotseat look increasingly numbered
and he won have been helped by the jeers his team received during sunday
game or the clashes between fans and police outside the ground
but while juve are in trouble by their own usually high standards their
problems pale into insignificance compared to torino
the club who dominated italian football in the winning five straight
titles until plane crash wiped out almost their entire team are in serious
freefall
unlike manchester united who suffered similar fate decade later torino
have never recovered from that tragedy and have lived in juve shadow ever
since
but this season has been particularly traumatic following last season
relegation to serie
torino are the epitome of the instability that dogs many italian teams and have
just made their ninth coaching change in the last four years and four months
stefano colantuono has replaced mario beretta who lasted only five matches
having taken over from colantuono who began the season in the hot seat
of those nine coaching changes colantuono is not alone in having been recalled
as walter novellino was given two stints and gianni de biasi three
colantuono is the th change over the last decade and the team who sat sixth
and in serie play off place when he was fired have dropped to th and four
points out of the play off picture
but according to the ousted beretta torino biggest problems aren even on
the field with la gazzetta dello sport describing him as more pyschologist and
fireman than coach during his beleaguered days in charge
the truth is that here it not the coaches who are the problem said
beretta
three dead including two police in mexican capital attacks
mexico city jan afp
three people were killed including two police officers in pursuit involving
two shootouts and grenade attack on the outskirts of mexico city on monday
local authorities said
the three attacks took place in central mexico state in the metropolitan area
of the sprawling capital of million
local police officer and civilian died in first shootout between police
and criminals said ramon calzada director of public security in tultitlan
without elaborating on how it broke out
police pursued the remaining criminals into seafood restaurant from where
they threw grenades at officers outside killing one of them calzada added
police detained one suspect and the rest escaped in car before another
shootout broke out shortly afterwards with nobody reported injured and seven
suspects detained he said
mexico is the scene of daily violence mostly related to powerful drug gangs
operating in the northern border areas that has largely spared the capital
china says successfully tests missile defence system
beijing jan afp
china has successfully intercepted missile in mid flight state media said on
tuesday in test of its advanced air defence capabilities amid tensions over
us arms sales to taiwan
china conducted test on ground based midcourse missile interception
technology within its territory the test has achieved the expected objective
xinhua news agency said of monday test
the test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country it added
the news comes shortly after us official in taipei said the pentagon had
approved the sale of patriot missile equipment to taiwan as part of package
passed by congress more than year ago
beijing which considers taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take
the island back by force if necessary has repeatedly voiced its protest over
the sales and urged washington to cancel the deal
china defence ministry had warned at the weekend that it reserved the right to
take unspecified action if washington followed through with the sale which it
called severe obstacle to china us military ties
the united states is the leading arms supplier to taiwan even though it
switched diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in
the chinese government has poured money into its military in recent years as
part of major modernisation drive
china military spending rose percent in to billion dollars
according to budget submitted to parliament in march the latest in string
of double digit increases
amid growing concern overseas about china military intentions beijing
stresses the defensive nature of its armed forces
the global times quoted senior military strategist yang chengjun as saying that
the test had ushered china into new phase in terms of missile interception
technologies
china needs an improved capability and more means of military defence as the
country faces increasing security threats yang was quoted as saying
obama defends senate leader again
washington jan afp
us president barack obama defended embattled senate majority leader harry reid
once again on monday for inartful language on his race and dialect during the
presidential campaign
this is good man who always been on the right side of history obama told
tv one for him to have used some inartful language in trying to praise me and
for people to try to make hay out of that makes absolutely no sense
reid created firestorm with remarks published in the just released book game
change saying that americans had warmed to obama candidacy because he was
light skinned african american with no negro dialect
obama was quick to accept reid apology saturday but republicans have called
for the nevada democrat to resign
he has apologized recognizing that he didn use appropriate language but
there was nothing mean spirited in what he had to say and he has always been on
the right side of the issues the president added in the tv one interview
which will be broadcast in full next monday for the martin luther king jr
holiday in honor of the civil rights leader
the president also called the four term senator who is facing tough re
election battle in nevada friend of mine who has been stalwart champion
of voting rights civil rights
mason dixon polling and research survey released over the weekend found that
percent of nevada voters have an unfavorable opinion of reid and only third
support him
african american leaders said they had forgiven reid without qualms and urged
the national debate to shift to pressing policy issues
he apologized for his unfortunate remarks concerning the president and he
understands the gravity of such remarks said representative barbara lee
