for its yacht which is to face the us challenger in duel to decide the
america cup in spain next month
alinghi has said the sails are made in switzerland
oracle legal action came as the two sides reached tentative deal on the
dispute in singapore last week
oracle said the deal would have settled all the remaining issues over the cup
and postponed the event by one month until march but it alleged alinghi
refused to sign
in letter released monday oracle which is representing the golden gate yacht
club ggyc of san francisco said it would drop all legal action against
alinghi if the swiss syndicate signs the singapore deal by gmt on monday
alinghi on sunday charged that oracle representatives clearly bear the
substantial responsibility for the failure of the negotiations in singapore
while alinghi representatives were acting in good faith in singapore ggyc
lawyers filed factually and legally baseless motion with the new york court
on topic that was subject of the negotiations it said in letter to the
ggyc
the two bitter rivals are due to face off in best of three event from february
in the spanish port of valencia to decide the rd edition of yachting most
prestigious event
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
alinghi owner swiss biotech billionaire ernesto bertarelli has said the
sails for alinghi catamaran were made in villeneuve switzerland
oracle alleged they were made in us state of nevada and were therefore
illegal
oracle skipper russell coutts said the us team is prepared to give alinghi
several weeks to change the sails if the new york court rules in its favour on
the issue
if the court does not make decision before february oracle would take part
in the competition under protest and the result could be overturned the new
zealander told afp in telephone interview on sunday
oracle and alinghi have been arguing over the rules of the america cup in
court since the swiss syndicate won the last edition in valencia in
the new york 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
eu iraq sign energy agreement
brussels jan afp
the european union and iraq signed an agreement monday to strengthen their
energy cooperation in areas such as natural gas energy security and renewables
brussels spokesman said
iraq represents vital link for eu security of supply eu energy
commissioner andris piebalgs said in statement after the deal was inked in
baghdad
iraq is already an important supplier of oil and can become key gas supplier
for the eu projects aimed at importing natural gas from the region he added
iraq is seen as an important potential source of gas to europe which is seeking
to diversify its supply sources away from russia and is looking in particular at
imports from the caspian central asia and the middle east
one of the eu energy priorities is to develop kilometre long
miles gas pipeline dubbed nabucco to bring gas in via turkey
initially the main source is likely to be azerbaijan but iraq is considered
key potential supplier
after signing the memorandum piebalgs met with iraqi prime minister al maliki
for discussion on bilateral relations the commission statement said
piebalgs underlined the eu commitment to establish long term mutually
beneficial relationship with iraq
rugbyu wales squad for six nations
cardiff jan afp
wales squad announced monday for the six nations rugby union tournament
backs dan biggar andrew bishop lee byrne gareth cooper jonathan davies
leigh halfpenny james hook tom james stephen jones kristian phillips tom
prydie ritchie rees jamie roberts martin roberts tom shanklin shane
williams
forwards huw bennett luke charteris bradley davies rhys gill ian gough
paul james gethin jenkins adam jones alun wyn jones deiniol jones ryan
jones capt eifion lewis roberts dan lydiate andy powell matthew rees
jonathan thomas sam warburton gareth williams martyn williams
violence and looting on the rise in haiti red cross
geneva jan afp
violence and looting are on the rise in haiti capital as aid only trickles
through to victims six days after the country was shattered by huge
earthquake the international committee of the red cross said monday
prices for food and transport have skyrocketed since last tuesday and incidents
of violence and looting are on the rise as the desperation grows the icrc said
in statement
many residents of port au prince felt they were in catastrophic situation
it added
access to shelter sanitation water food and medical care remains extremely
limited said riccardo conti the icrc head of delegation in haiti
football huge blow for ghana as essien ruled out
luanda jan afp
ghana suffered collossal blow to their hopes of qualifying for the africa cup
of nations quarter finals when their best player michael essien was ruled out
of tuesday game against burkina faso
chelsea star midfielder misses the final group game in luanda after injuring
his right knee in training on saturday
randy abbey ghana team spokesman told afp unfortunately we have had the
results of the scan back and the coach has confirmed that michael will
definitely miss tuesday game
it was unclear how serious this latest setback was and whether essien might
recover in time to play any further role in ghana nations cup campaign should
they progress to the last eight
reports suggest he has torn the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and
damage to his meniscus leaving him facing at least one month on the sidelines
the year old is walking with the aid of crutches
world cup qualifiers ghana are one point behind burkina faso and the four time
champions need win to avoid being eliminated after the first round of the
biennial african football showpiece
ivory coast are already qualified
togo the other country drawn in group withdrew before the tournament kicked
off last sunday after the bus convoy carrying them into angola was attacked in
this restive northern angolan enclave
it is impossible to underestimate the effect essien absence will have on
side already ravaged by injury
with raft of key players missing the black stars fell to competition
favourites ivory coast in their opening game with coach milovan rajevac having
to field largely inexperienced side
ghana kicked off without first choice players like defenders john pantsil and
john mensah midfielders anthony annan stephen appiah essien who came on as
substitute laryea kingson sulley muntari and striker asamoah gyan
fully fit essien would have given ghana strength and experience in midfield
against burkina faso side that was good enough to hold the ivory coast to
goalless draw in their opening group game
essien who arrived in angola late for the tournament because snow delayed his
flight from london has been struggling to recover from hamstring injury
sustained playing for chelsea in the champions league last month
he was kept on the bench until half time against ivory coast last friday in
cabinda to avoid aggravating the injury and his second half presence on the
pitch could not prevent loss
this new injury is completely unconnected to his previous problem and represents
cruel twist of fate for the ghana international
ghana striker matthew amoah told bbc sport this is big blow because michael
is so important to our team
we ve lost the motor in our midfield and this is very bad
uae real gdp expected to grow percent in report
dubai jan afp
strong growth in abu dhabi is expected to fuel percent increase in real
gross domestic product in the emirates in dubai based financial services
company forecast in report released on monday
we expect the emirates to emerge from the recession in and we are
forecasting real gdp growth of percent this year after decline of
percent in said the author of shuaa capital report mahdi mattar
this growth will largely be driven by strong projected real gdp growth of
percent in abu dhabi compared with drop of percent last year led by
sharp decline in hydrocarbons production
dubai economy however is expected to contract percent in after
plunge of five percent last year mattar said in statement
the report projects stock markets in the seven member united arab emirates uae
to record gains of around to percent in
according to the statement shuaa expects aggregate corporate earnings in the
uae to grow by around percent this year
and the report forecasts further percent drop in housing rents and asset
values in dubai while real estate prices in abu dhabi are expected to remain
stable
in dubai property prices have already fallen around percent from their peak
in the summer of mattar said
formula one schumacher will win title brawn
berlin jan afp
seven time formula one world champion michael schumacher will add an eighth
title to his name this season according to mercedes gp team boss ross brawn
brawn said however that the return of year old schumacher to grand prix
racing after four year hiatus would necessitate period of acclimatisation
don think that michael schumacher can win the first race in bahrain on
march brawn told the bild daily newspaper
after days without competition schumacher will need some races to get
get used to the other cars and the numerous new drivers he said
but when brawn was asked which of the four world champions who will compete in
this season formula one circuit lewis hamilton fernando alonso jenson
button and schumacher would win the overall title he replied michael
schumacher will be world champion
for mercedes gp first official tests in valencia from february germany
nico rosberg will be the first driver behind the wheel of the new car brawn
added explaining that that had been decided well before schumacher joined the
team
there no doubt that nico also has the capability to win the title he said
adding that the duel between rosberg and schumacher promised to be very
interesting
schumacher signed three year deal with mercedes gp last december and has said
his ambition is to win an eighth world drivers championship title
netanyahu to visit auschwitz next week official
berlin jan afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will visit the auschwitz nazi death
camp in poland on international holocaust remembrance day next week an official
said on monday
the israeli premier will hold talks with polish leaders in warsaw before what
was described as highly emotional visit for the hardline premier to the
notorious death camp on the outskirts of cracow on january the official told
afp
most of the family of netanyahu wife sara perished in the holocaust
in the united nations designated january as international holocaust
memorial day marking the day that auschwitz birkenau the largest nazi death
camp was liberated in
more than million jews were murdered at auschwitz
netanyahu was in berlin on monday for landmark joint german israeli cabinet
meeting highlighting the strong complex ties between the two allies in the wake
of the holocaust
urgent violence and looting on the rise in haiti red cross
geneva jan afp
violence and looting are on the rise in haiti capital as aid only trickles
through to victims six days after the country was shattered by huge
earthquake the international committee of the red cross said monday
pac boc
south sudan presidential hopeful opposes immediate secession
khartoum jan afp
secession of south sudan would be suicidal because of tribal conflicts and the
weak government there key presidential hopeful for elections in the vast
semi autonomous region has said
under the present weak government in the south calling for secession would be
suicide lam akol told reporters late sunday in the sudanese capital khartoum
akol who broke away last year from the ex rebel sudan people liberation
movement splm that governs the south said secession would turn south sudan
into another somalia which has been largely lawless and unstable for more than
decade
at the moment with the state of hostility in the south with the state of
tribal conflicts intra tribal conflicts any call for secession at this moment
will be call for the somalisation of southern sudan said akol who heads
the breakaway spl democratic change
akol will lead coalition of small southern parties in sudan first general
elections in years which is due to take place in april to run again the
mainstream splm
the splm chose the current president of the region salva kiir former rebel
commander who is also first vice president of all sudan who favours independence
as its candidate
akol said that his group position on independence for the vast oil rich
region that is the size of france is determined by conditions on the ground
sudan mainly muslim north and its largely christian and animist south ended
two decade civil war with the comprehensive peace agreement cpa in after
nearly two million people were killed
the cpa provided for general election this april and an independence
referendum for the south in january next year
violence killed some people in southern sudan in and displaced more
than in the under developed region which is slowly recovering from the
war with the north
relations between the two splm factions are at an all time low
the splm had banned akol group from political activities in the south
charging that the splinter group was not party but an armed faction that was
backed by the central government in khartoum to destabilise the south
but sudanese court on sunday ruled against the ban
haiti quake relief gains pace aid agencies
geneva jan afp
aid agencies said huge international relief operation for survivors of haiti
devastating earthquake was gaining pace on monday as the united nations rushed
to check critical fuel shortage
un agencies and the red cross said field hospitals and food distribution
multiplied in and around the capital port au prince nearly six days after the
magnitude quake wrought huge destruction leaving hundreds of thousands of
people homeless and thousands injured
meanwhile hospitals on the dominican republic border with haiti were
overwhelmed with quake victims who had fled in recent days to seek treatment
the un organisation for the coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha added
the un led aid effort broadened to thousands more people in severely battered
outlying communities in the south of the caribbean island nation and aimed to
help some one million survivors with shelter
the overall aim is to cover the needs for families one million people
within the next few weeks ocha said
the un world food programme said one week food rations had been
distributed since the emergency relief operation began last week with
more due to be handed out on monday by aid workers and un peacekeeping troops
by the end of today we are expecting to have distributed more than
rations in and around port au prince wfp spokeswoman emilia casella told afp
as new supply routes were opened through the dominican republic
the ocha and the international red cross said more field hospitals were in
operation carrying out long delayed emergency surgery on victims of crush
injuries while two mobile health units and water specialists fanned out in the
quake zone
they included norwegian and canadian red cross field hospital outside the
university hospital in the centre of the capital which was severely damaged in
the quake last tuesday
yesterday we finished the logistical deployment today they swing into action
jean luc martinage spokesman for the international federation of red cross
and red crescent societies told afp
three other emergency field hospitals were running with four more in the
pipeline said ocha spokeswoman elisbeth byrs backing up the five local
hospitals that withstood the tremor
aid is slowly falling into place byrs told afp
relief workers were expanding to battered towns west and southwest of port au
prince including gressier petit goave where some people live and
leogane with population of
un teams reported three days ago that to percent of the buildings in
leogane were destroyed
now the emphasis is on all the communities around port au prince those are the
priority byrs said monday
ocha reported that desperate haitian quake victims had overwhelmed hospitals
in border regions of the dominican republic which were running short of medical
supplies and doctors
the dominican red cross was setting up field hospital in the border town of
jimani
meanwhile the fuel situation in haiti is becoming more and more critical
ocha said warning that shortage could have serious impact on the massive
but stuttering international relief effort
the national telecommunications system has been partly restored but without
access to fuel the mobile network will be cut off within days which will have
serious implications for the humanitarian operation ocha added
some gallons litres of fuel are to be ferried in by truck daily
on congested roads from the dominican republic
the international organisation for migration said in statement that it was
planning with haitian authorities to resettle people possibly in an
area about kilometres eight miles northeast of port au prince
deadly unrest flares in sri lanka ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
sri lankan opposition supporter was killed on monday as fresh unrest erupted
ahead of next week presidential election despite security crackdown police
said
the man was killed in clash with ruling party activists in northwestern sri
lanka the third politically related death in the run up to the vote on january
supporters of the main opposition candidate former army chief sarath fonseka
were attacked in the town of wariyapola while they were putting up election
posters police said
one man was killed and several others sustained injuries police deputy
inspector general anura senanayake said there had been poll related
incidents of violence since nominations were handed in month ago
he said suspects had been arrested in connection with the incidents but
declined to say which party was responsible for most of the violence
president mahinda rajapakse who is running for re election has ordered
security crackdown to quell unrest his spokesman chandrapala liyanage said
sunday
opposition activist kusuma kuruppuarachchi was the first to be killed in
the poll campaign when she was shot in the southern town of hungama last week
police also fired tear gas to disperse thousands of party workers in the eastern
town of polonnaruwa after mobs destroyed vehicles and buildings on wednesday
the us embassy in colombo said it was concerned about the escalating violence in
sri lanka where the government crushed the separatist tamil tiger rebels last
may to end decades of ethnic war on the island
those who lost their lives are not the only victims of these brutal attacks
democracy is also victim the embassy said in statement such violence
undermines the democratic rights and traditions of sri lanka
the united states was recently accused by ruling party legislator of funding
the main opposition to oust rajapakse the allegations were denied by the
embassy
opposition leader ranil wickremesinghe has accused rajapakse people alliance
of inciting violence and using intimidation to swing voters
rajapakse is facing tough challenge from fonseka who quit the army and
entered politics in november
britain raises haiti aid to million dollars
london jan afp
britain has trebled its humanitarian aid to earthquake devastated haiti to
million dollars million euros international development secretary douglas
alexander said monday
the increase from an initial million dollars was announced at meeting of
european union development ministers in brussels
it is now clear that the international community is dealing with an almost
unprecedented level of devastation alexander said in statement
our initial assessments show level of humanitarian need which would severely
test the international response in any circumstances
but the impact of this earthquake is magnified because it has hit country
that was already desperately poor and historically volatile
he added to address the needs of the immediate humanitarian response the uk
government will pledge further million us dollars on top of the million
us dollars initially donated
international aid workers are struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster
in the caribbean country where bodies have been buried in mass graves
and officials fear the final death toll could top
public appeal in britain has also raised million pounds million
dollars million euros for haiti according to the disaster emergency
committee dec which represents leading development charities
the response from the public has been absolutely overwhelming said dec chief
executive brendan gormley
amid concerns about the length of time it has taken aid to get through to people
devastated by the earthquake he added we know that people are being reached
but there is huge challenge ahead and much more work to be done
prime minister gordon brown praised the generosity of the british public and
also expressed confidence the money would get through
while officials said it was too early to talk about britain future role in the
reconstruction of haiti brown said it would not walk away
have said that we cannot talk about haiti country which has suffered so
many disasters over this year as country where we can only give week
sympathy or week charity he said
alert
violence and looting on the rise in haiti red cross
ukraine presidential vote heads for tense run off
kiev jan afp
voters in ukraine forced two old rivals who both favour close ties with russia
into tense presidential election run off monday after rejecting the pro
western leader of the orange revolution
preliminary results showed dour pro moscow candidate viktor yanukovich had won
sunday first round of voting in stunning turnaround for the politician
blamed for organising poll rigging in that sparked the orange uprising
but having failed to muster majority yanukovich will face the second place
candidate the glamorous prime minister yulia tymoshenko in run off on
february
in stinging rebuke for the pro west revolt just over five years later its
leader and incumbent president viktor yushchenko was eliminated in the first
round with miserable single digit result
with ballots from about percent of polling stations counted yanukovich had
garnered percent of the vote and tymoshenko percent the central election
commission said
third place went to businessman sergiy tigipko who polled percent his
electorate will now prove crucial in determining the fate of the second round
yushchenko meanwhile languished on five percent in fifth place behind youthful
former parliament speaker aresniy yatseniuk who took fourth with seven percent
international observers including the trans atlantic organisation for security
and cooperation in europe osce said monday ukraine first round presidential
election was of high quality and met its democratic commitments
while tymoshenko must make up serious deficit in the run off analysts have
said the image conscious prime minister could reel in the difference if she
mobilises anti yanukovich voters
tymoshenko famed for her peasant style blond hair braid was leader of the
orange revolution along with yushchenko but in recent years has played up her
close ties to russian strongman prime minister vladimir putin
and while yanukovich has long been seen as kremlin favourite he has sought to
reinvent himself with the help of western public relations strategists and to
present himself as defender of ukrainian interests
yanukovich never distanced himself from the fraud of said nico lange of
the konrad adenauer foundation in kiev but my impression is that the
yanukovich of is different to the yanukovich of
the pair who have been rivals for the last decade while occasionally flirting
with an alliance both said they were certain of victory
yanukovich who represents criminal circles has no chance in the second
round said tymoshenko at her post election news conference resplendent in
pure white costume
her opponent snapped back that ukrainians had voted for change and said that
tymoshenko was in despair
the second round promises to be gloves off affair and analysts have warned of
high risk that the result will be taken to the courts perhaps even sparking
fresh street protests
the bitter campaign has already seen the shady pasts of the candidates once
again dredged up
yanukovich was jailed twice in the soviet era for theft and assault though the
convictions were erased in the late tymoshenko herself was briefly
detained in on smuggling charges that were later quashed
the orange revolution swept yushchenko to power in re run of the rigged
poll and raised hopes of new era free of kremlin influence for the country of
million that would set precedent for other ex soviet states
though ukraine now boasts improved freedom of speech steps to implement reform
and end corruption were forgotten as government became paralysed in bitter
power struggle between yushchenko and tymoshenko
as in previous votes the election showed ukraine to be divided nation with
the industrial and largely russian speaking east of the country backing
yanukovich and the ukrainian speaking west going for tymoshenko
yanukovich polled crushing percent of the vote in his eastern regional
stronghold of donetsk but could manage mere six percent in the lviv region
close to the polish border the results showed
ukraine election of high quality met commitments osce
kiev jan afp
ukraine presidential elections were of high quality and met its democratic
commitments the trans atlantic security body osce and other international
observers said on monday
the first round of ukraine presidential election was of high quality and
showed significant progress over previous elections meeting most osce and
council of europe commitments the groups said in joint statement
the glowing praise for sunday election came after the last presidential polls
in were re run after the courts found mass vote rigging and tens of
thousands took to the streets in the orange revolution protests
football injuries take shine off arsenal title bid
london jan afp
arsenal bid to win the english premier league title threatens to be derailed
by lengthening injury list with manager arsene wenger currently without nine
first team players
striker robin van persie ankle and johan djourou knee seem set to miss the
rest of the season but there are growing number of players at the emirates who
have shorter term injury problems
the latest feature midfielders aaron ramsey thigh and samir nasri hamstring
who were both injured in training before sunday victory away to bolton
win that moved the gunners to within three points of leaders and london rivals
chelsea
both ramsey and nasri are set to be out for three weeks each and will be among
the arsenal players missing from wednesday hoem match against bolton where
victory would see the gunners go top of the table on goal difference
nasri injury is what call day injury it is clean hamstring
injury said wenger
ramsey absence will be the same but it is not hamstring injury it is
thigh
arsenal are optimistic though that left back kieran gibbs foot and midfielder
jack wilshere hamstring during tough run of matches that see wenger men up
against aston villa manchester united chelsea and liverpool in successive
fixtures
we have little chance to get denilson abdomen and theo walcott rib back
for wednesday and to get nicklas bendtner recovering from hernia surgery back
in days maybe wenger said
chinese children sickened by school pressure study
paris jan afp
third of primary schoolchildren in china are suffering from psychological ill
health as result of classroom stress and parental pressure according to
study published on tuesday
the problem is so bad that urgent measures are needed warns the study led by
british and chinese researchers
the investigation surveyed pupils aged nine to in nine schools in urban
and rural zhejiang relatively prosperous coastal province in eastern china
eighty one percent of the youngsters said they worried lot about exams
percent feared being punished by their teacher percent had been physically
bullied at least sometimes with boys likelier to be victims than girls and
percent had been physically punished by their parents
most of the children complained they struggled to cope with the amount of
homework they were assigned
over one third reported headaches or abdominal pains psychosomatic symptoms
of stress at least once week the most stressed children reported incidence
of aches or pains of four times week
the investigation led by therese hesketh professor at university college
london ucl centre for international health and development pointed the finger
at extreme competitiveness in china education system from the onset of
primary school
the competitive and punitive educational environment leads to high levels of
stress and psychosomatic symptoms the authors say
measures to reduce unnecessary stress on children in schools should be
introduced urgently
the paper appears in archives of disease in childhood peer reviewed journal
of the british medical association bma
the urban setting for the study was hangzhou the provincial capital of
zhejiang while the rural setting was poor county in quzhou prefecture in
the west of the province
the study highlights some of the complexities that it says explain the demands
for academic excellence and intolerance of failure
one factor is the country dramatic rise in prosperity which has created
previously unheard off possibilities for upward mobility and in turn stoked
pressures on children to do well at school
other reasons are china one child policy and the confucian traditions of
