back an exhortation to the estimated million people who live in the
united states to fill in and mail back the census forms that will be sent out
via the us postal service in march set off monday from new york
it will target high attendance events including american football super bowl
at the end of the month and chinese new year parade next month in san
francisco
twelve smaller but still outsize trucks will set out from other cities
around the united states carrying the educational engaging and interactive
experience that brings the census to life across the united states
the road tour will run from january to april with the vehicles logging
miles kilometers between them
the us constitution mandates that census be taken every years and
participation is mandatory
many us residents in particular illegal immigrants are reluctant to fill
in census form fearing the census bureau which is federal agency might
pass on their information to third party
but the census bureau took pains to point out that employees of the bureau are
legally obliged to protect the confidentiality of information they gather and
face hefty fines and potential prison term for violating the rules
the first census was taken in when the population of the country was less
than the current population of los angeles around four million
french rocker hallyday daughter hospitalised
paris jan afp
french actress laura smet daughter of rock legend johnny hallyday was
hospitalised in paris monday after consuming mixture of medications and
alcohol an emergency services source said
according to the source smet allegedly attempted suicide in the church at
saint german des pres in central paris and was rushed by firefighters to val de
grace hospital
police source told afp that smet was in serious condition in hospital but
added that at this point police could not say whether it amounted to an
attempted suicide
smet agent however said the young actress had simply taken ill
we confirm that laura smet has been hospitalised but there are no worries about
her condition as result of simple illness that surfaced today elisabeth
tanner told the agency artmedia in statement
when contacted by afp the actress lawyer herve temime said smet is not in
any danger
hallyday own health has been in the news lately after the singer known as
the french elvis had to undergo two surgeries in los angeles to treat
complications from paris operation on herniated disc he has gone to court
to determine whether he was the victim of botched operation
smet whose mother is french actress nathalie baye is the partner of julien
delajoux the brother of the paris surgeon stephane delajoux who performed the
controversial operation on hallyday
mexico again strikes beltran leyva drug gang
mexico city jan afp
mexican police have detained the brother of slain drug lord arturo beltran
leyva mexico third most wanted man in fresh blow to the family led drug
gang
the beltran leyva family of which two members have now been arrested and one
killed represents just part of mexico vast drug trafficking networks which
extend well beyond its borders
carlos beltran leyva was arrested in culiacan the capital of the drug plagued
northwestern state of sinaloa on december according to security officials
the year old who was carrying cocaine and various weapons is now under
investigation for alleged participation in organized crime carrying army
authorized weapons and money laundering officials said sunday
the arrest came two weeks after the killing of his brother arturo in shootout
with security forces which was the government most prominent victory yet in
three year clampdown on organized crime
the controversial crackdown involving some security forces deployed
across the country has been accompanied by spike in drug related violence in
which more than have died
the latest arrest dealt further blow to the beltran leyva cartel following
the arrest of another brother alfredo in january
carlos was less important figure however according to analyst and former
anti crime official samuel gonzalez
many observers underlined that two other brothers mario alberto and hector
still remained free with million dollar million euro rewards offered
for information leading to their capture
possible successor to arturo is the cartel financial operator edgar valdez
also notoriously violent and nicknamed the barbie
the gang one of several which has broken away from the country most powerful
sinaloa cartel controls around percent of mexican drug trafficking gonzalez
said
other well known gangs include the ultra violent los zetas the arellano feliz
organization in the northern border city of tijuana and the increasingly
notorious la familia gang based in western mexico
the head of the sinaloa cartel joaquin el chapo guzman escaped from
mexican prison in and appears in forbes magazine list of world
billionaires
the sinaloa split is believed to have fueled much of the inter gang bloodshed of
recent years
many analysts have criticized the government of felipe calderon for failing to
make significant strike against the sinaloa gang
they should give symmetrical strikes to the chapo guzman cartel as to the
beltran leyvas said raul benitez manaut national security expert in an
interview with reforma daily monday
many said the sinaloa cartel was most likely to gain from the hits on the
beltran leyva gang
they were its main rival and they re preparing to fight for control of plazas
drug trafficking areas from the beltran leyva organization analyst laura
carlsen told reforma
corrected flixster com buys rotten tomatoes movie review site
washington jan afp
online movie community website flixster com said monday it has purchased popular
movie review site rotten tomotoes from ign entertainment division of rupert
murdoch news corp
san francisco based flixster which offers movie listings reviews quizzes
games and other activities and claims more than million monthly users did
not disclose the financial terms of the deal
it said ign would receive minority equity stake in flixster which was
launched in early
rotten tomatoes has built fantastically well known brand that moviegoers
trust when making their decisions flixster president and chief operating
officer steve polsky said in statement
combined with flixster social networking and word of mouth we re creating
the leading movie destination on the internet polsky added
rotten tomatoes aggregates reviews from hundreds of movie critics and rates them
with its tomatometer
flixster which offers movie applications for facebook myspace bebo and other
social networks and for mobile devices said both its site and rotten tomatoes
will continue to be available as separate properties
british pm appalled by planned islamist march
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown said monday he was appalled at planned march by
islamists through the town where britain afghanistan war dead are repatriated
branding it abhorrent and offensive
the group islam uk wants to commemorate the muslim civilians killed in the
conflict with march through wootton bassett in southwest england where
hundreds of people regularly gather to pay their respects to dead british
soldiers as their coffins pass through the main street
although no date has been set the suggestion of such protest in place that
has come to symbolise public respect for the war dead has caused uproar
am personally appalled by the prospect of march in wootton bassett brown
said in statement
believe that we as nation should honour those brave servicemen and women
who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country
wootton bassett has special significance for us all at this time as it has
been the scene of the repatriation of many members of our armed forces who have
tragically fallen
any attempt to use this location to cause further distress and suffering to
those who have lost loved ones would be abhorrent and offensive
anjem choudary the leader of islam uk admitted that choosing wootton bassett
was designed to gain publicity
we need to gain media attention in order to highlight the plight of the
ordinary men women and children who are being mercilessly murdered in
afghanistan he told sky news television
total of british soldiers died in afghanistan in compared to
civilians in the first months of the year according to the united nations
mission in afghanistan
the mother of private richard hunt the th soldier killed in the conflict
called the march complete and utter insult to wootton bassett and all the
dead servicemen and women like my son
it should be stopped because basically it going to cause so much distress to
so many people it not right and it should not be allowed hazel hunt told
itv television
choudary also praised al qaeda terror network chief osama bin laden who he said
was hugely popular and would win any election in the muslim world
islam uk calls itself platform for al muhajiroun radical group now
disbanded which used to be headed by omar bakri an islamist preacher barred
from britain for his views
separately seven muslim men appeared in court in luton north of london on
monday charged in connection with protests at homecoming parade in march
for british soldiers who served in iraq and afghanistan
the court heard how the men told the soldiers to burn in hell and branded them
rapists murderers and baby killers
jalal ahmed yousaf bashir jubair ahmed ziaur rahman
shajjadar choudhury munim abdul and ibrahim anderson all from
luton deny using threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour likely to
cause harassment alarm or distress
toibin favourite to win britain costa book award
london jan afp
irish author colm toibin is favourite to win the pound costa book of the
year award after monday clinching the best novel category for his work
brooklyn observers said
the winner of the costa award is drawn from the winner of five individual
categories novel first novel poetry biography and children book which
were announced monday
toibin beat man booker prize winner hilary mantel to take the novel category for
brooklyn which centres on young irish girl who travels to the united states
in the to find work before tragic news summons her back home
other category winners were raphael selbourne former scooter salesman for
his first novel beauty about bangladeshi woman who flees an abusive arranged
marriage
hong kong born christopher reid picked up the poetry award for scattering
tribute to his wife following her death in
graham farmelo took the biography category for his work on quantum mechanics
pioneer paul dirac in the strangest man the hidden life of paul dirac quantum
genius
patrick ness won the children book award for the ask and the answer the
second instalment in the chaos walking trilogy which judges hailed as
dazzlingly imagined morally complex compulsively plotted tale
bookmaker william hill said toibin was favourite to win the costa which will
be announced on january
the costa never fails to pick an eclectic bunch of winners and this year is no
exception said janine cook fiction buyer at retailer waterstone
the frontrunner must be colm toibin brooklyn which we sold very well over
christmas however smart punters might want to place bet on beauty by
raphael selbourne she said
sebastian barry won the costa for the secret scripture
the costa book award formerly the whitbread book award was established in
to celebrate contemporary british and irish writing panel of writers actors
and broadcasters choose the most enjoyable books from the past year
brazilian floods kill hopes dim amid grim search
angra dos reis brazil jan afp
rescue teams scoured ravines and hillsides monday searching for survivors of
landslides that have killed people in the past days as hopes dimmed with each
passing hour
searchers found four bodies on monday in angra dos reis beach city
kilometers miles south of rio de janeiro and firefighters said they thought
more bodies still could be found
one of the bodies was that of baby who was not on the list of the missing
this baby was probably with adults who also were buried said pedro machado
civil defense official
angra overlooks ilha grande island where people were killed in friday
landslides including in luxury hotel nestled at the foot of jungle
covered hill
some guests were staying at the hotel sankay which catered to brazilian and
foreign tourists seeking remote beachside hideaway it was not immediately
known if there were foreigners among the dead
under blue skies and hot summer sun about rescue workers and sniffer dogs
on monday were searching tonnes of mud and rocks that swept everything out to
sea
angra dos reis was hit by devastating floods in when people were killed
and rescue operations lasted three months
upbeat wall street higher as new year opens
new york jan afp
us stocks staged strong rally to open the new year monday with sentiment
boosted by global market rally that was helped by corporate dealmaking and
upbeat economic news from china
the dow jones industrial average jumped points percent to
at the closing bell on the heels of hefty gains in stock markets in
most of europe and japan
the technology heavy nasdaq composite lifted points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to preliminary close of
the dow and amp closed at their best levels in months while the nasdaq
hit month high amid wave of optimism on markets
there is bullish bias that is often associated with the start of new year
as new money gets put to work riding the wave of typically upbeat forecasts
said patrick hare at briefing com
most stock markets around the globe are trading higher on account of better
than expected survey on manufacturing activity in china the irony of this
report is that the chinese market didn participate in its country own good
news
sentiment was also helped by big corporate deals with swiss pharmaceutical
group novartis announcing it had bought controlling stake in the world
biggest eye care firm alcon from nestle and that it was seeking full ownership
of alcon
flixster com buys rotton tomatoes movie review site
washington jan afp
online movie community website flixster com said monday it has purchased popular
movie review site rotton tomotoes from ign entertainment division of rupert
murdoch news corp
san francisco based flixster which offers movie listings reviews quizzes
games and other activities and claims more than million monthly users did
not disclose the financial terms of the deal
it said ign would receive minority equity stake in flixster which was
launched in early
rotten tomatoes has built fantastically well known brand that moviegoers
trust when making their decisions flixster president and chief operating
officer steve polsky said in statement
combined with flixster social networking and word of mouth we re creating
the leading movie destination on the internet polsky added
rotten tomatoes aggregates reviews from hundreds of movie critics and rates them
with its tomatometer
flixster which offers movie applications for facebook myspace bebo and other
social networks and for mobile devices said both its site and rotten tomatoes
will continue to be available as separate properties
afp world news agenda
hong kong dec afp
what coming up around the world
iraq war inquiry resumes in london
yemen battles militants amid threat to embassies
london britain iraq war inquiry resumes with former premier tony blair
expected to testify by early february before further pause until after
elections due by june britain iraq politics inquiry military
sanaa yemen battles al qaeda militants near sanaa as the us and other embassies
in the capital remain closed after threats from the terror group local
offshoot to attack western targets attacks qaeda yemen
brussels spain unveils its artwork which will decorate the hall of the european
council during its six month presidency gmt picture
cairo foreign ministers of egypt france jordan spain and tunisia meet in
bid to relaunch the mediterranean union
goma monitoring developments in eastern democratic republic of congo where the
nyamulagira volcano has been erupting since saturday drcongo volcano
lusaka indian prime minister manmohan singh is expected to arrive on three
day official visit zambia india diplomacy
paris french government holds its first cabinet meeting of the new year
afp
key us lawmakers to get january briefing on plane attack
washington jan afp
the us house intelligence committee will get january briefing on the
thwarted christmas day attack on us airliner the panel spokeswoman said
monday
lawmakers expect to receive preliminary findings from reviews ordered by
president barack obama after the failed plot into airline security
procedures said courtney littig
democratic representative silvestre reyes the panel chairman expects that
the january th briefing will include the preliminary findings of the
president internal review she said
the obama administration has also ordered tight new security measures for
passengers flying to the united states after year old nigerian umar farouk
abdulmutallab allegedly tried to bring down northwest airlines jet
according to us prosecutors abdulmutallab tried to bring down flight using
device containing the explosive petn also known as pentaerythritol
stitched into his underwear it was not spotted by the traditional metal
detectors it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire that was
swiftly put out
several other us congressional committees with jurisdiction over commercial air
traffic or national security have also scheduled hearings to discuss security
failures that led up to the plot
us uncovers third gatecrasher at india state dinner
washington jan afp
us authorities said monday that third gate crasher sneaked into november
white house state dinner for india prime minister after an uninvited couple
raised concerns about security
the secret service which protects president barack obama said that the
individual came to the white house along with the official indian delegation
from nearby hotel
the person went through required security checks and boarded bus or van from
the indian delegation hotel to the white house to attend obama gala party
for prime minister manmohan singh the secret service said
at present there is nothing to indicate that this individual went through the
receiving line or had contact with the president or first lady it said
the secret service declined to identify the person rahul chhabra the spokesman
for the indian embassy said the person was not part of the indian delegation
the embassy of india did not arrange his access he said
the secret service said that the state department which generally escorts
official guests has undertaken procedural changes on the handling of foreign
delegations
the white house was left red faced after dashingly dressed but uninvited
couple tareq and michaele salahi cleared through security and mingled at
the dinner where they shook hands with obama
the wife michaele was also pictured cozying up to vice president joe biden for
photograph
obama later called the couple entry screwup telling cbs television
minutes last month that he was unhappy with everybody who was involved in the
process
lawmakers have ordered the couple to appear before congress on january
the glitzy event was the first state dinner thrown by obama and invitations were
coveted prize in washington social circles
obama invited singh for the prestigious occasion in bid to show his commitment
to warming ties with the world largest democracy which has been uneasy about
the us administration early emphasis on china and pakistan
football greece book idyllic indian ocean retreat for world cup
athens jan afp
greece have booked into the swanky beverly hills hotel at the indian ocean
resort of umhlanga rocks north of durban for this summer football world cup
the greeks who were drawn in group alongside argentina nigeria and south
korea will arrive in south africa on june and stay at umhlanga for up to
days training at nearby kwazulu natal university
prior to their arrival in south africa the team will hold training camps in
athens between may and at bad ragaz in switzerland between may june
football lyon hesistant on vieira pursuit
paris jan afp
former french champions lyon could end their pursuit of inter milan midfielder
patrick vieira situation that could pave the way for the frenchman move to
england
vieira who has had shaky past three seasons at inter milan is desperate to
play for france and is looking to play regular first team football in bid to
star at the world cup
manchester city manager roberto mancini said monday he was interested in taking
the former arsenal midfielder on loan till the end of the season
lyon meanwhile appear as yet unconvinced about what vieira who moved to
juventus then to inter after hugely successful spell at arsenal could bring
to their campaign especially as he is champions league tied
we ve talked about signing patrick we ve discussed him with the coach and
we ve gone over recent footage and that kind of stuff bernard lacombe who
advises lyon club president jean michel aulas told rtl radio on monday
for the moment we re little hesitant
lacombe added he great player and someone we would like to sign but it
bit troublesome because first of all he can play in the champions league and
also because we re not the only one interested in him
he an interesting choice for us but we also have midfielder maxime
gonalons who is steadily making name for himself and we don want to close
down his chances either
vieira has not played with france since friendly in june
mancini refused to confirm or deny the speculation surrounding vieira on monday
all the players want to join manchester city he said that is normal with
big club who is going to have big future
people are not only talking about patrick vieira they are also saying other
inter players ivan cordoba and cristian chivu pgr jd
cold snap pushes oil above dollars barrel
new york jan afp
oil prices opened the new year with bang on monday as cold weather boosted
expectations of higher energy demand in the northern hemisphere winter
reports that russia cut supplies to belarus also helped push prices higher even
though officials in belarus denied this dealers said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
closed up dollars at dollars per barrel after trading as high as
dollars the steepest price since october
brent north sea crude for february rose dollars to settle at dollars
in london trading
mike fitzpatrick at mf global said oil prices were boosted by combination of
increased optimism about the economic outlook which would help lift energy
demand along with frigid weather in much of the northern hemisphere
the sentiment pendulum has swung back towards optimism he said citing
strong report from china on manufacturing
china may be the engine that pulls the globe out of recession
fitzpatrick said arctic weather in europe northern china and north america also
caused traders to raise forecasts for heating energy demand
andy lipow at lipow oil associates said many traders are seeing improved
economic growth for this year
the outlook or is economic growth which will translate into more demand
for crude oil and petroleum products he said
sucden analyst myrto sokou said the market was impacted by news that russia
halted its oil deliveries to belarus after failing to agree to new financial
terms for
the russian supply issue seems to be an alert for european countries with both
germany and poland keeping an eye on the situation following similar
situation in sokou said
prices have risen on concerns over the implications of russia move to cut oil
supplies to belarus which has been effective since new year eve
however spokeswoman in belarus denied on monday reports that russia had cut
crude supplies
the information on cutting supplies does not correspond to reality oil is
arriving both for transit and for refineries spokeswoman for oil processor
belneftekhim told afp
media reports said russia had stopped supplies to belarus from december with
ongoing negotiations to restart deliveries hampered by tariff disagreements
the oil market was also driven by strong economic data from britain china
germany and the eurozone
in economic news manufacturing figures from china germany eurozone and uk
came up much better than expected this morning suggesting decent economic
improvement said sucden sokou
manufacturing in china continued to expand in december as new orders received by
factories rose for the ninth month in row on booming demand from home and
abroad survey showed monday
china is the world second largest energy consuming nation after the united
states
the hsbc china manufacturing pmi or purchasing managers index rose to in
december from in november reading above means the sector is
expanding while reading below indicates an overall decline
un chief backs yemen parley proposed by britain
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon on monday expressed support for the upcoming international
conference on strife torn yemen proposed by british prime minister gordon brown
the world body spokesman said
martin nesirky told press briefing that ban had telephone conversation with
brown monday and was appreciative of the initiative of prime minister brown and
welcomed the focus of the conference on counter terrorism
ban sought assurance that yemeni president ali abdullah saleh is involved in the
preparation of the conference the spokesman added
on friday brown called an international meeting on fighting extremism in yemen
for january in london after an alleged attempt to blow up us airliner
threw the spotlight on militancy there
brown office said the meeting would take place in london on january
running in parallel with conference on afghanistan which is expected to be
attended by senior ministers or leaders from about nations
long standing concerns that yemen has become haven for islamic terror groups
were thrown into sharp relief when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen
was charged with trying to blow up us airliner on december
umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly confessed to being trained by an al
qaeda bombmaker in yemen for his alleged mission to blow up the plane as it came
into land in detroit sparking major international security scare
meanwhile ban also voiced concern about the humanitarian situation in yemen
where fighting between government forces and rebels has been raging for more
than five months affecting more than people nesirky said
us promotes once per decade census head count
washington jan afp
the us government on monday launched campaign to urge americans to take part
in the massive once per decade census head count of us inhabitants that takes
place later this year
the all important us tally which gets underway in march determines everything
from the number of seats district is entitled in the us congress to the
amount of dollars jurisdictions are given for federal projects
the us census bureau on monday unveiled what it called the largest civic
outreach campaign in us history to raise awareness of the decennial head count
sending huge truck and trailer on national promotional tour
the road tour seeks to educate and empower every person living across our
country to take part and participate in the census census bureau director
robert groves said in statement
attendees at road tour events will learn about the census how it affects their
local communities and even share their personal stories about why the census is
important to them at interactive kiosks and exhibits he said in statement
the vehicle set off monday from new york and was to target high attendance
events including american football super bowl at the end of the month and
chinese new year parade next month in san francisco
twelve smaller trucks were to visit other cities around the united states
life sentence for plot figure moussaoui confirmed
washington jan afp
us appeals court confirmed monday life sentence handed down on zacarias
moussoui french national for complicity in the september attacks on
the united states
the ruling upheld sentence passed by federal court in virginia in may
after moussoui pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the hijackings of the airliners
used in the attacks in new york and washington
moussaoui who later recanted his testimony only to claim he was part of another
al qaeda plot is serving life sentence at maximum security prison in
colorado
ubs whistleblower must start prison term friday judge
miami jan afp
an ex employee of swiss banking giant ubs on friday must begin serving more than
three years in prison federal court judge ruled monday denying the man
request to delay the prison sentence and shorten its duration
united states district judge william zloch denied petition by defendant
bradley birkenfeld who had argued that his whistleblower role in exposing
massive fraud by ubs made him deserving of softer treatment than the three
years four months sentence he received for inciting ubs clients to commit tax
fraud
birkenfeld blew the whistle on some ubs clients who were said to have
invested some billion swiss francs billion dollars in secret swiss
accounts information which could allow the us government to recoup several
billion dollars in lost taxes
but it did not earn him reprieve in the prison sentence handed down for his
role in aiding california property developer hide some million dollars
worth of investments in switzerland and lichtenstein
