johannesburg and kensington golf club
it is one of only three european events staged on more than one course and the
shorter west layout was were schietekat and most of the other leaders made the
low scores
former ryder cup star darren clarke of northern ireland south africans charl
schwartzel and jbe kruger and english pair simon khan and david lynn occupy
second place one shot behind the pacesetter
clarke who shares the european tour lowest score record of also delivered
flawless round while picking up five birdies on the outward trek and another
three coming back
in form schwartzel winner of the africa open in east london last sunday
collected seven consecutive birdies to be eight under after but double
bogey at the next hole halted his charge
scot alastair forsyth carded and those lying one stroke behind him include
barry lane and danny willett of england scot andrew mcarthur clodomiro
carranza of argentina and australian matthew zions
defending champion anders hansen of denmark whose preparations were hampered by
heavy snow in his scandinavian homeland had to settle for one over which
left him strokes off the pace
alert
haiti airspace saturated no new flights permitted us
cricket steyn morkel put south africa on top
johannesburg jan afp
south africa dominated the first day of the fourth and final test against
england at the wanderers on thursday bowling out their opponents for and
reaching for no wicket in tricky batting conditions
england captain andrew strauss won the toss but that was virtually his only good
moment of the day
batting first was always gamble in conditions which favoured the bowlers and
england troubles started with the first ball of the match when strauss was
caught at backward short leg off what dale steyn admitted was bit of run
in loosener and great catch by hashim amla
steyn took five for and morne morkel three for as england crumbled
captain graeme smith said to the bowlers after he lost the toss that it was
our turn to lead the side and put stamp on the game said steyn
the tourists leading the series lost their first four wickets for runs
inside the first hour
paul collingwood and ian bell put on for the fifth wicket but when
collingwood provided first test wicket for ryan mclaren soon after lunch the
slide resumed and england were bowled out shortly before tea
the lads will be little bit disappointed said collingwood
but we won know what par score is until south africa have batted the
wicket has certainly got lot in it there was good carry and the ball was
swinging all the time
smith and his opening partner ashwell prince faced only balls scoring
runs before rain stopped play for minutes
the players returned under heavily overcast skies with the floodlights on
england opening bowlers james anderson and ryan sidebottom both made the ball
swing but the batsmen survived until bad light stopped play for the day
sidebottom was playing ahead of graham onions in surprise move by england
onions as number eleven batsman twice played out the last over to secure
draw for his team in the first and third tests
with south africa choosing an all pace line up giving first caps to left armer
wayne parnell and all rounder mclaren strauss had to make tough decision on
winning the toss
having chosen to bat strauss turned lifting delivery on leg stump from steyn
firmly behind square leg but amla dived to his right to hold an excellent catch
morkel followed up in the second over when jonathan trott played across full
delivery and was leg before wicket
kevin pietersen run of poor scores continued when he pulled morkel straight to
parnell at mid on after making seven
alastair cook went back on his stumps against morkel and was second leg before
victim after making he asked for review but umpire tony hill decision
was upheld
collingwood looked in good form before he was squared up by mclaren and caught
at point off leading edge he made his off balls with five fours and two
sixes
steyn bowled bell with delivery which swerved back between bat and pad after
series of away swingers in what steyn said was move he had planned with
performance coach jeremy snape
ve been working on getting the in swinger going for couple of years and
jeremy suggested should bowl few going away and then bowl straight one
said steyn
said would try the in swinger so when it worked gave celebration
towards the dressing room
england resistance was effectively broken although graeme swann made breezy
off balls before he was last man out
swann playing typically aggressive innings gave difficult chances on nought
and six
he and anderson added for the last wicket before swann was caught behind off
steyn giving the fast bowler his th five wicket haul in tests
it completed set of five fors for steyn against every test opponent
it means lot to me said before the series that england was the only
country hadn taken five against but bowled better in the second test in
cape town and went luckless
alert
eu to quiz france over pressure on renault
danish fugitive extradited from germany prosecutors
berlin jan afp
danish citizen who fled to germany after being sentenced to eight years
imprisonment for possession of weapons and explosives was extradited back to
denmark thursday prosecutors in berlin said
the year old identified only as mahmoud who had links to organised
crime had been caught with semi automatic weapons in his possession and had
tried to detonate an explosive device
he fled courtroom in copenhagen on december following his sentence but was
seized by police in berlin on december
after european arrest warrant was issued by the danish justice ministry
mahmoud two weeks after his capture was sent back to denmark where the
proceedings against him will be continued prosecutors said in statement
two killed in attempted cameroon jailbreak
yaounde jan afp
prison warders in cameroon have shot dead two men who tried to escape from the
central prison in the country main port and economic capital douala the
prison governor said thursday
on wednesday two detainees who were trying to escape were shot after they
managed to cross the wall of the prison said dieudonne engonga mintsang the
governor of douala new bell prison
the warders opened fire after several warnings he added
the first prisoner was shot metres yards from the fence while the second
was metres further according to the governor
the two detainees were suspects who had been placed in preventive detention in
june on suspicion of theft and being accomplices in theft with illegal
possession of firearms and defensive weapons mintsang said
at the beginning of january prisoner succeeded in escaping from new bell
while two others were caught the man who escaped was still at large on
thursday
the douala prison built in currently holds inmates according to
its governor when it was intended for between and prisoners
jailbreaks are frequent in the central african country where prisons are
overcrowded rundown and short of staff
on january prisoner was killed and three people including two warders
were injured during jailbreak at the central prison in yaounde
russian rights activists decry ban on protest march
moscow jan afp
russian human rights activists on thursday condemned moscow authorities for
banning march on the anniversary of the shootings of prominent lawyer and
opposition reporter
the activists had sought to hold march commemorating the january
murders of stanislav markelov lawyer who had exposed abuses in chechnya and
anastasia baburova reporter for opposition newspaper novaya gazeta
lyudmila alexeyeva head of the moscow helsinki group and lev ponomaryov
another prominent rights activist told reporters they had been refused by city
authorities after applying for permission to hold the march
the moscow city government is only categorically opposed to marches by anti
fascists when pro kremlin youth group nashi marches they re welcome they
can have any place any number of people any time alexeyeva said
in november two suspects were arrested for the murders of markelov and
baburova who were shot dead by masked gunman in broad daylight in central
moscow in crime that drew international criticism
russia liberal opposition has complained that it rarely gets official
permission to hold protests
alexeyeva was herself arrested on new years eve while taking part in an
unsanctioned demonstration in support of the constitutional right to hold public
demonstrations
ponomaryov said activists planned to hold pair of pickets on january
instead of the march and expected to be granted permission for them
nba arenas in talks to avoid jail on gun charges report
washington jan afp
suspended washington wizards star guard gilbert arenas would avoid jail time on
gun charges under plea deal being discussed by lawyers the washington post
reported thursday
citing unnamed sources the newspaper reported that negotiations between lawyers
for arenas and the us attorney office were in talks that could keep arenas out
of jail and avoid charges from grand jury convened last week
arenas would likely face charges of carrying an unlicensed handgun felony
punishable by up to five years in prison for having brought guns to his locker
at the wizards home arena in the chinatown section of the american capital
because arenas has said he brought four guns to the locker room he could face
as much as years behind bars if convicted and sentenced to the maximum on all
counts
other charges such as misdemeanor possession of an unregistered firearm
could add one year per weapon to the sentence
nba commissioner david stern suspended arenas indefinitely without pay on
january
arenas and teammate javaris crittenton argued after card game last month and
crittenton said he should shoot arenas in his surgically repaired left knee the
post reported
on december the paper said arenas brought four guns and put them on chair
next to crittenton locker with note saying pick one
wizards coach flip saunders team president ernie grunfeld and eight wizards
players have been interviewed by the grand jury or spoken with authorities
the post reported that several players have been interviewed by nba officials
and league investigation which could bring harsher penalties and punishment
to more players could be concluded in the next week
arenas missed most of the past two seasons with knee injuries and had hoped for
breakout comeback season instead the team has pulled his image from an arena
banner and pre game video and stopped displaying his no zero jersey
european stocks close slightly firmer
london jan afp
european stock markets closed slightly firmer on thursday but showed little
conviction as investors waited for quarterly results from us chip giant intel to
offer some cheer dealers said
they said the focus remained on us company results in the hope they will justify
the run up in stocks last year and lay the basis for further gains
the european central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at record low
percent as expected and had little very new to say on the economic
outlook they added
in london the ftse index of leading shares was up percent to
points in paris the cac rose percent to points while in
frankfurt the dax added percent to points
david jones of ig index said london appeared to have steadied following recent
weakness and should be able to chalk up gains if at slow pace over the
balance of the month
jones noted that positive comment from giant miner rio tinto helped its peers
too providing support
in paris jean bernard parenti of swisslife gestion privee said the market was
looking for direction trading around the points level on the cac
ahead of company results
investors are going to be looking for those companies that can report results
in line with forecasts and give solid guidance for their business going
forward parenti said
the ecb decision reinforced the view that interest rates will remain low for
some time to come and this helped equities he added
in new york shares were also slightly firmer in choppy trade after weaker than
expected retail sales and new jobless claims figures gave pause for thought
ahead of key earnings reports
the blue chip dow jones industrial average was up percent at around
gmt and the tech heavy nasdaq composite put on percent
us retail sales fell surprise percent in december pointing to poor
holiday shopping season and compared with forecasts for percent rise
the uneven nature of the retail sales results provides sobering reminder that
the economic recovery isn on truly sound footing given the weakened state of
the labor market said patrick hare at briefing com
bob dickey at rbc wealth management said he expects more volatility as results
come in
we seem to have been somewhat lulled into an expectation that the market will
continue to make slow progress to the upside but we see the volatility
coming back soon he said
elsewhere in europe amsterdam added percent brussels slipped
percent madrid gained percent milan rose percent and swiss stocks
jumped percent
in asian trade earlier thursday sentiment was boosted by strong australian jobs
data and after wall street finished on positive note overnight
tokyo gained percent as troubled carrier japan airlines jal pulled out of
tailspin after several days of heavy losses
shanghai was up percent in technical rebound but hong kong dropped
percent while sydney closed percent higher with sentiment buoyed by rio
tinto and the stronger than expected jobs data
oxfam worker killed in haiti quake says agency
london jan afp
local worker for oxfam in haiti died after part of the aid agency offices in
port au prince collapsed in the devastating earthquake there the london based
charity said thursday
amedee marescot business manager who had worked for oxfam for years was
injured when the quake struck tuesday and died later in hospital
we are all deeply shocked and saddened by the loss he was dedicated and
passionate member of staff and will be greatly missed by his colleagues said
oxfam international director penny lawrence
the rest of the strong oxfam team on the impoverished caribbean island are
safe although many staff have been severely affected by the earthquake losing
their homes and in some cases members of their family oxfam said
at least un staffers confirmed dead in haiti quake
united nations jan afp
total of un staffers have been confirmed dead in the devastating haiti
quake spokesman for the un mission in port au prince said thursday
speaking by videolink from the haitian capital david wimhurst spokesman for
the mission known as minustah told reporters here that the dead include four
police officers military personnel and civilians
two french confirmed dead in haiti quake sarkozy
paris jan afp
two french nationals working in haiti were killed in the earthquake president
nicolas sarkozy said thursday as dozens of other french citizens were evacuated
from the devastated nation
sarkozy also told reporters that several other french were missing prisoners
in the rubble of buildings that collapsed after tuesday tremor
the two dead an engineer and sales executive were employed by the
matiere engineering firm based in southern france company executive said
earlier
the first french citizens to be evacuated from haiti arrived in the french
caribbean island of martinique thursday
around people travelled on board three casa military transport planes that
paris had sent to haiti wednesday with rescue personnel and equipment
french foreign minister bernard kouchner said seven of the evacuees were
seriously injured
he said that around french had gathered near the french embassy in the
haitian capital port au prince and in the gardens of the french ambassador
residence
around french nationals live in haiti
urgent at least un staffers confirmed dead in haiti quake
united nations jan afp
total of un staffers have been confirmed dead in the devastating haiti
quake spokesman for the un mission in port au prince said thursday
regional leaders meet on zimbabwe madagascar
maputo jan afp
key southern african leaders met in the mozambican capital maputo on thursday
for special summit on the political crises in zimbabwe and madagascar
the security organ of the nation southern african development community
sadc known as the troika met to discuss the security situation in the
region in meeting that included leaders from south africa mozambique
zambia namibia and the democratic republic of congo said sadc executive
secretary tomaz salomao
mozambican president armando guebuza opened the summit with special focus on the
strained power sharing deal between zimbabwean president robert mugabe and prime
minister morgan tsvangirai which south african mediators have been working to
revive
we would like to salute the dialogue and the progress that has been registered
in zimbabwe between the parties to the power sharing agreement guebuza said
we also salute the effort that been demonstrated by the sadc facilitator
south african president jacob zuma in fulfilling the decisions of our
regional organisation
the leaders met behind closed doors following guebuza opening comments
salomao said they would hear report from sadc foreign ministers who met last
week in maputo to discuss the troubled power sharing deals in zimbabwe and
madagascar
sadc has been working to resolve the ongoing disputes that have threatened to
derail zimbabwe fragile unity government and attempts to implement power
sharing deal in madagascar
the summit was announced just hours before it was scheduled to start but
many regional leaders were already planning to be in maputo to attend guebuza
swearing in for second term as mozambique president
guebuza currently heads the security troika which also includes swaziland and
zambia but did not mention the regional talks during his inaugural speech
neither long time zimbabwean president robert mugabe nor his partner in the
unity deal prime minister morgan tsvangirai was present as the summit opened
though mugabe had attended guebuza inauguration ceremony earlier in the
day
it sadc troika meeting and we are not members of the troika we are back
home other leaders were also leaving as we were leaving george charamba
presidential spokesman said to afp in harare
sadc has been due to review progress in zimbabwe unity government since
special summit in november broke deadlock that threatened to sink the deal
tsvangirai had withdrawn from his pact with mugabe over disputes about key
appointments and alleged harassment of his supporters but was persuaded to
rejoin after the security troika intervened
south african mediators have since held talks in harare among the rival zimbabwe
parties to settle the differences threatening to derail the deal
madagascar rival leaders strongman andry rajoelina ousted leader marc
ravalomanana and former presidents didier ratsiraka and albert zafy were
also absent from the summit
however the head of the madagascar mediation team former mozambican president
joaquim chissano was present
disagreements between the island nation four main political groups have
scuttled repeated efforts to end the impasse with de facto leader rajoelina
trampling on previous deals to form unity government
rajoelina who seized power in coup in march last month fired
consensus prime minister and named new one to replace him
discord over sharing government posts and drawing up an election timetable by
the four political parties have also hobbled efforts to end the crisis
international mediators meeting at african union headquarters in addis ababa
last week called for elections in madagascar to end the prolonged political
crisis none of the island political foes were represented at that meeting
france to send navy ships to boost haiti aid
paris jan afp
president nicolas sarkozy france said thursday france was sending two navy ships
carrying medical equipment to help haiti after massive earthquake devastated
the caribbean nation
he made the announcement in press conference in which he called for an
international conference on rebuilding haiti and said he himself would travel
there to support aid efforts some time in the coming weeks
france has flown rescuers sniffer dogs and tonnes of aid and rescue material to
help survivors in haiti where the death toll from tuesday quake may be as
high as
french prime minister francois fillon said earlier paris would on thursday send
another military plane loaded with rescue personnel and five tonnes of
supplies and equipment from the french caribbean island of guadeloupe
the paris based emergency architects aid group said it was rushing team of
five architects and engineers to port au prince to secure damaged buildings and
to help prevent any more buildings from collapsing
our priority will be to make safe public buildings such as hospitals health
centres and schools said patrick coulombel founder of the group set up in
to bring technical help to catastrophe victims across the world
french immigration minister eric besson said he would ease visa requirements for
haitians who sought to come to stay with their relatives among the strong
haitian community in france
he also said his ministry would issue humanitarian visas for other haitians
who came to france for specialist hospital treatment after the quake besson
also ordered an immediate end to any deportations of haitians caught living
illegally in france
cooperation minister alain joyandet who is responsible for french foreign aid
was thursday travelling to haiti
tuesday magnitude quake was the strongest to hit haiti in more than
century
oil prices dip after topping dollars
london jan afp
oil prices eased on thursday after briefly topping dollars as traders
assessed the state of energy inventories in the united states the world
largest energy consumer
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
dipped three cents to dollars per barrel after earlier hitting high of
dollars
london brent north sea crude for february slipped cents to dollars
new york crude fell sharply on wednesday to an intraday low of dollars on
fresh signs of weakening us energy demand traders said
the oil price came under pressure wednesday and fell after the release of the
us inventory data to the lowest level since the start of the year said
commerzbank analyst carsten fritsch in note to clients
however the price was able to recover lost ground and reached dollars
per barrel again supported by benign equity markets
analysts said the sharp fall on wednesday was triggered by the key us department
of energy doe report which showed crude oil reserves soaring by million
barrels in the week ending january
that was far more than most forecasts for gain of million barrels
distillates including heating fuel and diesel rose by million barrels
the doe said confounding forecasts for million barrel drop
distillates are in focus amid an ongoing cold snap in the united states
forecasters have predicted milder weather for the weeks ahead
stocks of distillates posted the first build up in five weeks which was
surprising given last week low temperatures noted fritsch
the united states is the world biggest energy consuming nation and so has
major influence on oil prices
however the doe report was not all that pessimistic said serene lim an oil
analyst with anz bank in melbourne adding that it indicated demand could soon
pick up
the refinery inputs were up for most of the areas and the refineries were
operating at slightly higher rate than the past month lim said
new york crude on monday rose to month high near dollars on the back of
robust chinese data but then went into reserve on news that beijing was starting
to cool its economy and the prospect of milder weather
pvm oil analyst tamas varga warned that the market might have further to fall
the tightening of monetary policy in china and what seems to be the end of
cold spell in the northern hemisphere serve as warning that prices in general
could be overheated in the short term varga said
the early euphoria seen last week and at the end of last year seems to be
running out of steam and more downside pressure might be on the cards before the
herd changes direction again
urgent at least un staffers confirmed dead in haiti quake
united nations jan afp
total of un staffers have been confirmed dead in the devastating haiti
quake spokesman for the un mission in port au prince said thursday
sovereign debt risk could spark next crisis wef
geneva jan afp
overstretched government budgets could spark the next major global crisis in
coming years the world economic forum warned thursday urging states to take
action to balance their books
many governments had taken unprecedented measures including pumping in
liquidity and implementing stimulus measures to limit the impact of the
financial and economic crises in the past year
though their intervention proved vital governments now need to avoid becoming
the main cause of the next crisis warned the wef report on risks faced by
the world in and beyond
the wef is swiss based organisation best known for its annual meeting in davos
of corporate and government leaders to discuss world governance
pointing in particular to the united states and britain both of which have
massive budget deficits the wef said governments now needed to be sure that an
end to these extraordinary measures was timed correctly
the most pressing is how to time gradual and credible withdrawal of fiscal
stimulus so that the recovery is sustained but not so late that fiscal deficits
cause fears of sovereign debt deterioration and flight to safety that could
drain their economies of capital and confidence it said
greece is already in debt crisis with total burden of percent of gdp
for
the gulf emirate dubai which borrowed heavily to finance its grandoise
projects had to turn to neighbouring emirate abu dhabi for billion dollars
to bail it out of debt default
daniel hofmann zurich financial services chief economist contributor to the
report warned that high state debt could also put upward pressure on real
interest rates rein back growth and lead to protracted high levels of
unemployment
at the same time an ageing population in many developed nations threatens to
widen the budget deficits as more funding would be required for health and
social security systems
advanced economies in particular must face the difficult task of reforming
their social security systems by ensuring that the costs as better shared
among the population said the report
this may require politicians to implement unpopular decisions at time when
voters are surffering from the hardship of high unemployment caused by the
global recession it said
alert
un death toll in haiti quake rises to spokesman
football premier league diverts portsmouth tv cash to creditor clubs
london jan afp
portsmouth are to have their seven million pounds share of the latest english
premier league television revenues diverted to clubs they owe money to over
unpaid transfer deals officials said thursday
portsmouth four points adrift at the bottom of english football top flight
are currently unable to sign new players during the january transfer window
because of an embargo placed upon them by the premier league
the premier league board held talks with cash strapped portsmouth who on
several occasions this season have failed to play their players on time
and the fa cup winners have been unable to convince the league they have
the money to cover reported million pounds of debts to other clubs hence
the decision to divert their share of the television cash to other teams
premier league statement issued thursday said the board has decided in
accordance with premier league rules to pay those undisputed football creditors
that were overdue at the time of meeting this includes both domestic and
overseas clubs
among the deals in which south coast club portsmouth are still said to owe money
are the transfer of glen johnson from chelsea in august the england full
back has since been sold to liverpool for million pounds
pompey have also reportedly yet to settle up on the move made by sulley
muntari now at inter milan from udinese john utaka transfer from rennes and
younes kaboul signing from tottenham
the premier league decision was fresh blow to portsmouth who face legal
action from british tax authorities over alleged unpaid bills worth millions of
pounds that could result in the club going out of business
eu commissioner concerned about china internet policy
brussels jan afp
eu competition commissioner neelie kroes expressed concern thursday about
internet policy in china as search giant google threatens to pull out
underlining the importance of an open network
on tuesday google announced that it would stop bowing to chinese internet
censors and could pull out of the world largest online market of million
users
it said the move was in protest against censorship and what it called highly
sophisticated cyber attacks on its systems which were aimed at chinese human
rights activists and believed to have originated in china
if proved that case would be particularly worrying as targeting of human
rights activists in china and elsewhere in the world kroes told members of the
european parliament
it would constitute clear violation of fundamental rights like freedom of
expression and freedom of opinion she said at hearing to assess her
suitability to switch jobs and become commissioner in charge of new
technologies
kroes said the google case was proof that the very high level of sophistication
of cyber attacks is there underscoring that it is important for the
commission to preserve the open and neutral character of the net
china declared its internet open thursday but defended the censorship that
prompted google threat to leave
obama unveils billion dollar bank fee
