meeting to finalise discussions today it demonstrates extreme bad faith
clearly they are not ready to race
under the deed of gift the th century rules that govern the oldest
competition in international sport the participating vessels must be
constructed in the country where the sailing club which they represent is
located which in alinghi case is switzerland
but oracle charges alinghi sails were made in the united states
alinghi insisted its yacht has been constructed in switzerland in compliance
with the provision of the deed of gift including the dl sails which were
constructed in sail loft in villeneuve switzerland and are subject to swiss
intellectual property rights
the new development came as oracle trimaran with its metre fixed wing
sail and alinghi giant catamaran were to begin training off valencia this
weekend for the rd edition of the race
alinghi said it is ready to race as scheduled from february
we do not want the outcome of the america cup determined in court said
sng vice commodore fred meyer
alinghi and oracle have been arguing over the rules of the america cup in
court since alinghi won the last edition of the world most prestigious
yachting event in valencia in
the new york supreme court ruled in april that the cup should be settled by
one on one multihull duel between the two sides next february instead of the
traditional fully fledged regatta involving several teams
it also ruled last month that the event must be held in valencia rejecting an
appeal by alinghi which favoured the gulf emirate of ras al khaimah
at least un peacekeepers killed in haiti quake officials
brasilia jan afp
the earthquake in haiti killed at least peacekeepers with the brazilian led
un mission there and brazil defense minister was on his way to the caribbean
state to assess the blow officials said wednesday
at least brazilian soldiers three jordanian soldiers and one argentine
gendarme were killed military officials from the three countries said
seven brazilian soldiers and another argentine gendarme were missing
eight chinese members of the peacekeeping mission were also buried in building
collapses according to china state council it did not say whether they were
believed to be alive or dead
brazil has announced it is sending million dollars in immediate disaster aid
to haiti including tonnes of drinking water and food including sugar
powdered milk and sardines
defense minister nelson jobim and army chief general enzo martins peri left from
brasilia on wednesday for the ravaged haitian capital port au prince military
spokesman general carlos alberto barcellos said
several of the brazilian soldiers in the peacekeeping force were missing
following tuesday brutal magnitude earthquake that flattened much of
haiti capital barcellos said
the spokesman stressed that any additional brazilian fatalities would only be
made public once next of kin were notified
the surviving soldiers in the brazilian contingent were now carrying out
disaster relief operations though were hampered by debris blocked roads and
teetering buildings he said
brazil is in command of military component of the strong un stabilization
mission in haiti and the biggest contributor of troops
the chief of the civilian side of the peacekeeping mission tunisian diplomat
hedi annabi and his deputy are unaccounted for un secretary general ban ki
moon said
french foreign minister bernard kouchner said they and other un officials were
believed dead after the peacekeeping headquarters in port au prince collapsed
brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva issued statement saying he was
deeply concerned about the tragedy that struck haiti and expressing his
solidarity with the haitian people and the families of the brazilian civilian
and military victims
he made special mention an award winning champion of child rights in brazil
zilda arns who was fatally hit with debris when she was walking down the
street in port au prince to attend conference
may god give comfort to all them in this painful time lula said
brazil foreign minister celso amorim told reporters that the quake was
tragedy of huge proportions and the situation is extremely grave
the un peacekeeping mission in haiti counts total of soldiers and
police
the military contingent is drawn from argentina bolivia brazil canada chile
ecuador france guatemala jordan nepal paraguay peru the philippines
south korea the united states and uruguay
most of those countries also contributed police officers alongside bangladesh
benin burkina faso cameroon the central african republic chad china
colombia croatia egypt el salvador guinea india ivory coast jamaica
madagascar mali niger nigeria pakistan romania russia rwanda senegal
serbia spain sri lanka switzerland togo turkey and yemen
the peacekeeping mission was set up in haiti in june following an armed
insurrection that forced then president jean bertrand aristide to flee the
country
haiti eye witness reports aid appeals flood twitter
washington jan afp
with communications in haiti ravaged by an earthquake tech savvy residents
turned to twitter to send pictures and news of the devastation while others used
the web service to mobilize appeals for aid
heart rending photos from quake ravaged haiti and rallying cries for relief
spread swiftly on twitter as the microblogging service once again became key
communications tool during disaster
yele the name of charity foundation set up by haitian born hip hop star
wyclef jean was the top trending topic on twitter on wednesday and the
website for his group yele org was struggling to handle deluge of visits
in twitter message wyclef jean who now lives in the united states said he
was flying into the neighboring dominican republic to make his way to haiti and
urged his million followers on twitter to pray for the people of haiti me
please
we need the us military as soon as possible haiti we need the million
haitian that live outside of haiti to act now we need da world wyclef jean
said in an earlier twitter message
help haiti was also on the top list of most popular topics on twitter
which allows users to fire off text messages of no more than characters in
widespread shotgun blast style
ambassador duly brutus haiti envoy to the organization of american states
oas in washington told afp on wednesday that the earthquake had left tens of
thousands of victims and considerable damage
with traditional telephone communications disrupted by the magnitude quake
but some internet service still available some of the first photos video and
eye witness reports from haiti came from users of twitter
one of the most gripping twitter accounts came from troy livesay who identifies
himself on his blog livesayhaiti blogspot com as working with heartline
ministries and world wide village in haiti
livesay provided stream of twitter messages throughout the day on tuesday on
his twitter feed troylivesay and in blog postings
just experienced major earthquake here in port au prince walls were
falling down we are all fine pray for those in the slums was his first
tweet
it was followed soon afterwards by for those that don know haiti does not
enforce building codes
walking around port au prince livesay said we saw few bodies that had been
pulled out of the rubble laying dead in the sidewalk many others injured
after nightfall he wrote church groups are singing throughout the city all
through the night in prayer it is beautiful sound in the middle of horrible
tragedy
aftershocks continued all night long he said the next morning the sun went
down shortly after the big quake it is up now it is eerily quiet
with livesay and others in haiti providing information via twitter the los
angeles times cnn national public radio the new york times and other media
outlets created lists of twitter accounts in haiti to follow
as livesay gave running account on twitter of the devastation haitian radio
host carel pedre documented it in pictures sent to flickr and twitpic
interspersed with appeals for international aid
photos of quake damage taken from twitpic service that lets people post
pictures on twitter were also being compiled at haiti needs us and we need
haiti group at social networking service facebook
the brothers and sisters out there suffering the group leader said in
message on the opening page yeah we can pray but prayer without action
means nothing if you believe that lets get together and do what we can
cricket jayawardene sangakkara take lanka to series win
dhaka jan afp
mahela jayawardene and kumar sangakkara hit impressive half centuries to guide
sri lanka to four wicket win over india in the triangular one day series final
here on wednesday
jayawardene top scored with an unbeaten and skipper sangakkara made brisk
as sri lanka passed india with nine balls to spare in the day night
match
the duo also upstaged india suresh raina who cracked gutsy under
pressure to prop up the innings
india were bowler short when paceman ashish nehra left the field with an
injury soon after having opener upul tharanga caught by virat kohli at second
slip with his third delivery
opener tillakaratne dilshan and sangakkara dominated the indian attack with
aggressive shots adding for the second wicket
india spinners brought their side back into the game removing the well set
dilshan sangakkara thilan samaraweera and thilina kandamby to reduce
sri lanka to
off spinner harbhajan singh impressed the most with while left arm
spinners ravindra jadeja and yuvraj singh bagged one wicket apiece
but jayawardene kept his cool to steer to his side home ending the match with
three successive fours off paceman shanthakumaran sreesanth
india were earlier wobbling at following incisive opening spells from
pacemen nuwan kulasekara and chanaka welegedara but raina came to his team
rescue with his third one day hundred
man of the match kulasekara finished with and left arm seamer welegedara
grabbed
raina steadied the innings with run stand for the sixth wicket with
ravindra jadeja he fell soon after completing his century bowled by
welegedara after cracking one six and fours in his ball knock
india were undone by combination of poor shot selection and sri lanka
disciplined pace bowling losing wickets at regular intervals
opener virender sehwag who struck kept playing shots despite the fall of
wickets from the other end his flourish did not last long though as he became
kulasekara third victim
he was caught behind after hitting seven fours in his ball cameo he became
the sixth indian to complete one day runs after sachin tendulkar sourav
ganguly rahul dravid mohammad azharuddin and yuvraj
the indian batting woes began with the match third delivery when gautam
gambhir was bowled by kulasekara
welegedara had in form kohli caught behind for two and then yuvraj was caught at
first slip by samaraweera in successive overs to send india reeling at in
four overs
skipper mahendra singh dhoni briefly defied the sri lankan attack when he shared
run stand for the fourth wicket with sehwag before being caught behind off
kulasekara
italy ferrero drops bid for britain cadbury source
milan jan afp
italian chocolate maker ferrero has dropped out of the race to buy british
confectioner cadbury after deciding to end talks for joint bid with us
counterpart hershey source said on wednesday
the conditions are no longer in place to proceed with hershey financial
sector source said without giving further details
ferrero and its advising bank mediobanca declined to comment
earlier the wall street journal reported that the italian group which is owned
by the ferrero family and sells the nutella hazelnut spread and kinder
chocolates informed its bank advisers at mediobanca about its decision on
tuesday
the offer which would have competed with hostile bid from us giant kraft
foods was not in line with the family strategy source close to the issue
told the wall street journal
ferrero dropped out because it was unable to come to an agreement with hershey
on how to divide cadbury assets italian financial daily il sole ore
reported
bid would have also required the two companies to go deeply into debt to match
kraft offer reports said
il sole ore reported on tuesday that ferrero had lined up billion euros
billion dollars from mediobanca and billion euros from unicredit to
help finance the joint takeover
hershey planned to borrow another billion dollars billion euros for
the operation il sole said
kraft offer in cash and shares is worth billion pounds billion
euros billion dollars an offer which cadbury dismissed again tuesday
as derisory
urgent white house backs free internet in google china dispute
washington jan afp
the white house said wednesday that it backs the right to free internet and
confirmed it has held talks with google which has threatened to quit china over
censorship demands
guinea junta chief convalescing in burkina faso
ouagadougou jan afp
guinea junta chief moussa dadis camara who barely survived an assassination
attempt in december has been flown from morocco to burkina faso to continue
his convalescence the burkinabe foreign ministry said wednesday
after month of treatment in morocco and considering the evolving state of
his health moussa dadis camara arrived in ouagadougou where he will continue
his convalescence said foreign ministry statement
however his surprise arrival in ouagadougou raised new questions about the
future of negotiations between the military leadership and the opposition in
guinea
president blaise compaore who met camara shortly after his arrival here late
tuesday has been mediating between stand in junta leader general sekouba konate
and the opposition in guinea
konate who is defence minister recently asked guinea forces vives coalition
of opposition parties trade unions and civil society to share power in
transition government and has called for democracy in the country
konate was due to fly to ouagadougou on wednesday to meet the junta chief
morocco communications minister khalid naciri said the kingdom had fulfilled
its duty in hosting the guinean ruler
know that he left having been well treated in morocco naciri told afp our
country has fulfilled its duty
he denied that camara had been pressurised to leave
we have behaved in strictly humanitarian way to give treatment to head of
state with bullet wounds
camara walked with difficulty from the plane supported by two aides local
reporter said
the junta leader had not appeared in public since being evacuated to rabat for
medical treatment after being shot in the head by his aide de camp on december
during dispute allegedly over bloody crackdown on an opposition rally
he is lucid he is speaking source in compaore office told afp
it was not immediately clear if camara intended to stay in burkina faso return
to guinea or travel to another country
don know yet because we haven spoken since his arrival in ouagadougou but
president dadis will go back when it is decided top junta official moussa
keita told afp by phone
nothing is preventing him from going home keita said
but his unannounced departure from morocco left host of unanswered questions
wednesday
did the junta chief leave voluntarily or was he expelled by rabat did he choose
to go to burkina faso rather than directly to guinea is he in fit state to
return to power given his apparently serious wounds
the united states expressed concern about the possible return of camara
any effort by dadis to return to guinea would concern us said us state
department official who requested anonymity
french foreign minister bernard kouchner said in an address to parliament in
december that it would be better for camara to stay in bed in morocco because
his return alone is capable of setting off civil war that we don need
the bauxite rich west african country has been under military rule since
december military coup launched by camara following the death of longtime
leader lansana conte tensions peaked last september when troops massacred at
least people at an opposition rally
recent un report on the stadium massacre in guinea capital conakry named
camara as suspect as it accused the army of crimes against humanity during
the crackdown on the rally
alert
white house backs right to free internet in google china dispute
gold facing new record highs in gfms consultancy
london jan afp
gold prices will likely hit new historic peaks this year thanks to wave of
investment money that will pour into the market consultancy gfms predicted on
wednesday
growing weight of investment money is poised to enter the gold market in the
first half of and is likely to push gold prices to fresh records the
london based group said in an update to its annual survey
gold whose two main drivers are jewellery and investment buyers had smashed
series of records last year on the back of inflationary fears and increasing
moves by central banks to diversify assets away from the dollar
the glamorous precious metal which is traditionally viewed as safe haven
investment hit record pinnacle of dollars an ounce on december
gfms forecast wednesday that investment demand for gold would be propelled this
year by fears of so called double dip recession which would see the
battered world economy plunged back into another downturn
gfms says investor demand will be driven by fears of double dip recession
continuing huge government deficits very loose monetary policy and belief
that notable if not runaway inflation is set to return it said
the metal wins support from fears about higher inflation because gold is widely
regarded by investors as safe store of value
gfms added that south africa has dropped down the league table of top gold
producing nations
australia has leapfrogged south africa to become the second biggest gold
producer after china according to the consultancy
south africa once the largest gold producer in the world is now the third
biggest after its gold production sank by five percent last year
global gold production meanwhile increased by six percent to six year high
point last year
gfms also said that jewellery demand fell percent last year while investment
demand rocketed by percent
world investment demand exceeds jewellery demand for first time in years
it noted
football italian league to consider friday and monday games
rome jan afp
the italian football league is considering playing weekend league matches on
fridays and mondays it said on wednesday
the move has been mulled over for some time but now it could be as early as next
month that trial is performed
ac milan could play udinese on friday february to allow them an extra rest
day ahead of their champions league clash with manchester united the following
tuesday
similar arrangement could be organised ahead of inter milan clash against
chelsea in march
the league general manager marco brunelli claimed the move would be done to
benefit clubs
where the calendar makes it possible we will try to accommodate the clubs
wishes he said
in limited number of cases we ll try to move saturday game to monday
night that will be possible five or six times season
already in germany matches are played on friday nights and in england some games
take place on monday nights
the consequences for such move will of course be an increase in sponsorship
and television money with more game slots live on tv
currently there are only four slots two on saturday and two on sunday but the
new proposals would envisage possible eight slots
rallying verhoeven wins dakar motorcycling stage
san juan argentina jan afp
dutch motorcyclist frans verhoeven won the th stage of the dakar rally on
wednesday the kilometres special from santiago
verhoeven edged out american jonah street by three seconds while frenchman cyril
despres seventh on the stage over four minutes in arrears remained comfortably
the overall leader with just three stages remaining
brazilian jordanian peacekeepers killed in haiti quake
brasilia jan afp
the quake in haiti killed at least soldiers with the brazilian led un
peacekeeping mission there and brazil defense minister was on his way to the
caribbean state to assess the blow officials said wednesday
at least brazilian soldiers and three jordanian soldiers were killed
military officials from both countries said
eight chinese members of the peacekeeping mission were buried in building
collapses according to china state council it did not say whether they were
believed to be alive or dead
brazil has announced it is sending million dollars in immediate disaster aid
to haiti including tons of drinking water and food including sugar
powdered milk and sardines
defense minister nelson jobim and army chief general enzo martins peri left from
brasilia on wednesday for the ravaged haitian capital port au prince military
spokesman general carlos alberto barcellos said
several of the brazilian soldiers in the peacekeeping force were missing
following tuesday brutal magnitude earthquake that flattened much of
haiti capital port au prince barcellos said
the spokesman stressed that any additional brazilian fatalities would only be
made public once next of kin were notified
the surviving soldiers in the brazilian contingent were now carrying out
disaster relief operations though were hampered by debris blocked roads and
teetering buildings he said
brazil is in command of the strong un stabilization mission in haiti and
the biggest contributor of troops
the chief of the civilian side of the peacekeeping mission tunisian diplomat
hedi annabi and his deputy are unaccounted for un secretary general ban ki
moon said
french foreign minister bernard kouchner said they and other un officials were
believed dead after the peacekeeping headquarters in port au prince collapsed
brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva issued statement saying he was
deeply concerned about the tragedy that struck haiti and expressing his
solidarity with the haitian people and the families of the brazilian civilian
and military victims
he made special mention of an award winning champion of child rights in brazil
zilda arns who was fatally hit with debris when she was walking down the
street in port au prince to attend conference
may god give comfort to all them in this painful time lula said
the un peacekeeping mission in haiti counts total of soldiers and
police
the military contingent is drawn from argentina bolivia brazil canada chile
ecuador france guatemala jordan nepal paraguay peru the philippines
south korea the united states and uruguay
the peacekeeping mission was set up in haiti in june following an armed
insurrection that forced then president jean bertrand aristide to flee the
country
turkey threatens to recall israel envoy
ankara jan afp
turkey threatened on wednesday to recall its ambassador from israel if it did
not receive formal apology over the envoy treatment dismissing an attempt
to defuse the spat as unsatisfactory
unless they make up for it by this evening our ambassador will return on the
first plane tomorrow to hold consultations president abdullah gul was quoted
as saying by media reports
asked whether turkey would bring its diplomatic representation down to the level
of charge affaires gul said we will make an evaluation after consultations
with the ambassador
turkish diplomat said ankara expected formal apology over monday incident
which saw israeli deputy foreign minister danny ayalon give the ambassador an
angry dressing down in front of cameras
we have received nothing so far either through our embassy in israel or from
their embassy here the diplomat added on condition of anonymity
media reports said turkey would wait until thursday before announcing its
response
the latest row has added to tensions between the two regional allies since
israel war on the gaza strip last year prompted an unprecedented barrage of
criticism from the islamist rooted government in ankara
an infuriated ankara demanded an explanation and apology tuesday the day
after ayalon made ambassador oguz celikkol sit on low couch and removed the
turkish flag from the table in meeting called to convey israeli protests over
turkish television series
in response israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the foreign
ministry protest to the turkish ambassador was just in its essence but should
have been conveyed in an acceptable diplomatic manner
and ayalon who is himself former ambassador to the united states said in
the future will clarify my position in diplomatically acceptable ways
but an unnamed turkish foreign ministry official told anatolia news agency that
the israeli statements were inadequate
speaking during visit to cyprus wednesday israel ultranationalist foreign
minister avigdor lieberman said his country had no desire to fall out with
turkey but urged ankara to show reciprocal respect
you know regarding turkey maybe it time to clarify our position we are not
interested in confronting or arguing with turkey lieberman said
we have had good relations with turkey for many years and we respect the
turkish state and people but that is exactly what we expect in return from them
to treat us with dignity and respect
the minister urged direct dialogue even if we don see eye to eye on some
issues
think this is the best way and hope we can come back to the normal
relations between the two countries he said
the series that sparked the row showed turkish secret agent storming an
israeli diplomatic mission to rescue turkish boy kidnapped by mossad agents
an episode which israel slammed for portraying israel and jews as baby
snatchers and war criminals
but relations had been already poisoned by ankara severe criticism of
israel deadly offensive on gaza last year and its persistent blockade of the
impoverished palestinian enclave
in memorable outburst turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan stormed out
of debate at the world economic forum accusing israel of barbarian acts and
telling its president shimon peres sitting next to him that you know well how
to kill people
the latest row has overshadowed planned fence mending visit by israeli defence
minister ehud barak who insisted tuesday that he would travel to turkey on
sunday despite the tensions
turkey has been israel main regional ally since the two signed military
cooperation pact in
swede indicted in auschwitz theft
warsaw jan afp
swede who admitted to taking part in planning the theft of the infamous
arbeit macht frei sign from the world war ii auschwitz death camp was indicted
wednesday by polish justice officials
we have indicted anders with incitement to theft spokeswoman for krakow
regional prosecutor boguslawa marcinkowska told poland tvn news channel
polish prosecutors also requested polish court to order that the suspect
identified by media as former swedish neo nazi anders hoegstroem to be
provisionally detained for days
prosecutors intend to issue national and subsequently european arrest warrants
for the man as soon as the court approves the arrest order marcinkowska said
anders hoegstroem former swedish neo nazi has said he was supposed to
act as an intermediary to pick up the sign and sell it to buyer but in the
end he wound up informing polish police about the people behind the plot
was asked if wanted to take the sign from one location to another he told
tabloid aftonbladet
we had person who was willing to pay several millions of kronor or hundreds
of thousands of dollars euros for the sign he said
he claimed he helped police nab the people behind the december theft
police recovered the five metre foot metal sign which means work will
set you free in german on december in northern poland and arrested the
five polish men
the sign had been cut in three parts
proud to have revealed everything hoegstroem said
but questioned by afp cracow police spokeswoman denied he played role
helping police catch five poles aged to suspected of physically stealing
the sign
the phone call from sweden came as we were already in the process of arresting
the thieves she said
the five suspects face up to years behind bars if found guilty of the theft
from the unesco world heritage site as charged
in hoegstroem founded the national socialist front swedish neo nazi
movement he headed for five years before quitting
after leaving his party he distanced himself from the movement and became
model citizen joining an association called exit which helps youths quit far
right movements aftonbladet claimed
the national socialist front was dissolved in late
the sign above auschwitz gateway has long symbolised the horror of the camp
where some million people mostly european jews fell victim to nazi german
genocide
the nazis created the camp in occupied poland in it was in operation until
soviet troops liberated it in
brazilian jordanian peacekeepers killed in haiti quake
brasilia jan afp
the earthquake in haiti killed at least soldiers with the brazilian led un
peacekeeping mission there and brazil defense minister was on his way to the
caribbean state to assess the blow officials said wednesday
at least brazilian soldiers and three jordanian soldiers were killed
military officials from both countries said
eight chinese police officers also part of the peacekeeping mission were buried
in building collapses according to china state council it did not say
whether the officers were believed to be alive or dead
brazil has announced it is sending million dollars in immediate disaster aid
to haiti including tonnes of drinking water and food including sugar
powdered milk and sardines
defense minister nelson jobim and army chief general enzo martins peri left from
brasilia on wednesday for the ravaged haitian capital port au prince military
