gave them the biggest tax fraud case in the world exposed
international criminals and going to jail for that he told cbs television
in broadcast that aired sunday
birkenfeld was sentenced in august just two days after ubs and the us and swiss
governments reached landmark out of court settlement in which the company
agreed to hand over the names of some suspected tax evaders
birkenfeld attorney stephen kohn told cbs that his client eventually could be
entitled to up to percent of any taxes recovered by the us tax authorities
rallying dakar rally results
fiambala argentina jan afp
dakar rally results on monday in the km third stage from la rioja to
fiambala
motorcycling
rd stage
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec helder rodrigues por yamaha at
paulo goncalves por bmw david casteu fra sherco
francisco lopez chi aprilia alain duclos fra ktm luca
manca ita ktm jonah street usa ktm marc coma esp ktm
pal ullevalseter nor ktm
overall standings
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec david casteu fra sherco at
helder rodrigues por yamaha luca manca ita ktm
alain duclos fra ktm jonah street usa ktm francisco
lopez chi aprilia marc coma esp ktm pal ullevalseter
nor ktm paulo goncalves por bmw
urgent 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
iraq weighing options after blackwater guards cleared
baghdad jan afp
baghdad is weighing how to best react after us court dropped charges against
american guards accused of killing iraqi civilians in an unprovoked attack in
government spokesman said monday
spokesman ali al dabbagh said iraq options were limited by the us legal system
and bilateral agreement between baghdad and washington
the us government is studying two possibilities dabbagh told state funded al
iraqiya television channel
the first is to appeal the decision and the second is to open another case
with new evidence and testimony from an iraqi investigation
dabbagh comments refute statement made just hours earlier by prime minister
nuri al maliki that iraq had already filed lawsuit against blackwater which
has since renamed itself xe in us court and would soon file another in iraq
the us court ruling last week dismissed criminal charges against the blackwater
guards on technical grounds sparking fury in the war torn country
an iraqi investigation in the aftermath of the september killings has shown
that the five guards were unquestionably responsible for the deaths of the
civilians
dabbagh added the iraqi government could also provide help to victims of the
violence and their families so that they could file their own civil or criminal
case against blackwater in us court
maliki earlier told reporters in the holy shiite shrine city of najaf south of
baghdad that iraq had formed committee and filed case against blackwater
in the united states and will file one here in iraq
dabbagh said however that no case had been filed in the us and added it would
not be possible for one to be tried in an iraqi court because the incident had
occurred before bilateral security agreement between washington and baghdad
lifted private security companies immunity from prosecution
the guards who had been part of convoy of armoured vehicles had been charged
with killing unarmed iraqi civilians and wounding others during the attack
at busy baghdad roundabout using guns and grenades
iraq says people were killed
us federal judge ricardo urbina dismissed the charges against the five saying
prosecutors violated their rights by using incriminating statements they had
made under immunity during us state department probe
the case was among the most sensational that sought to hold blackwater employees
accountable for what was seen as culture of lawlessness and lack of
accountability in the company iraqi operations
blackwater pulled out of iraq in may after the us state department refused to
renew its contracts
alert
life term for plot figure moussaoui confirmed
no point in opening anti qaeda frontline in yemen italian
rome jan afp
italian foreign minister franco frattini said monday he saw no point in opening
new military front to fight hardline islamists of the al qaeda network in
yemen
questioned on public rai television on possible us strike against al qaeda
bases in yemen frattini said do not believe that it is convenient to open
up new military front in yemen
the united states will hold close and preventative consultations with its
allies before intervening militarily in the country he added
yemen has pleaded for western help to take on the hardline islamists behind
failed bid to blow up us airliner on december
frattini will be in washington on january for talks with his us counterpart
hillary clinton
the us and british embassies in sanaa on monday remained shut for second day
running while other missions also limited access
france said it would no longer authorise public access to the premises of our
diplomatic mission while japan and the netherlands halted consular services and
italy said it would only deal with people with appointments
rugbyu mermoz out for one month with pulled shoulder
perpignan france jan afp
perpignan centre maxime mermoz will be out for up to one month and is major
doubt for the start of france six nations campaign after suffering pulled
shoulder on the weekend
the five time capped mermoz sustained the injury and heavy bruising in his
team loss to brive in the top on sunday
scans showed there were no broken bones but mermoz will likely be forced to sit
out france february six nations opener against scotland at murrayfield
mr bean invades spain eu website
madrid jan afp
some visitors to spain eu presidency website were monday directed to blog
that showed mr bean instead of the country prime minister whose resemblance
to the hapless comic character is long standing joke
the government emphasized in statement that the site iteself www eu es
had not been attacked but that an unidentified hacker had taken screenshot of
the home page to make photo montage
the mock up replaced prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero with smiling
mr bean the television and movie character played by british actor rowan
atkinson saying hi there
the government which took over the six month rotating presidency of the eu on
january admitted that the site had become saturated as thousands of internet
users sought to confirm press reports of the spoof
the alleged attack exploited vulnerability called xss cross site scripting
to users of the website the government statement said
for such attacks to be effective they must be combined with any additional
technique that tricks the user to the website to click on link that has been
maliciously modified
opponents of zapatero often poke fun at the prime minister by comparing him to
mr bean
rallying peterhansel says stage win step towards dakar victory
fiambala argentina jan afp
french veteran stephane peterhansel won stage three of the dakar rally here on
monday and claimed it was step towards overall victory in the testing event
peterhansel having threatened to pull down the curtain on his career after
quitting following stage seven last year with broken engine and then seeing
his then team mitsubishi leave the sport for financial reasons steered his bmw
to what was his nd special stage victory on the dakar and his th on four
wheels
we ve had good day we started sixth and finished first said the six time
winner of the motorcyles event and three time auto section winner
it wasn an easy day with short special in terms of distance he said of
the km timed run from la rioja to fiambala
there were soft dunes quite complicated off road parts big tufts of camel
grass and then big sandy climb which even the powerful race organisation
vehicles had trouble getting up
in short it was hard we also saw plenty of bikers who had stopped the
difference today could be seen right from the start when some riders and
drivers got lost but we got it right with our navigation
afterwards we continued to attack and didn let the pressure drop for the
moment not interested in stage victories more bothered about outright
victory in the general standings
today is step along the road to victory we ll see what the rest of the race
has in store
peterhansel finished min sec ahead of vw carlos sainz of spain and the
frenchman now heads up the overall standings min sec ahead of the spaniard
it was difficult today acknowledged sainz we had few problems due to the
engine heating and it harder to get through in those conditions
we tried to attack but we didn take any risks when perterhansel overtook us
we tried to follow but he was going too fast
the motorcycling section was won by dominant cyril despres on his ktm
despres finished testing stage that included dunes min sec ahead of
yamaha portuguese rider helder rodrigues with david casteu of sherco in
fourth
despres who leapfrogged compatriot casteu in the overall standings and now
holds lead of more than minutes compared the stage to an african style
one
this is one of those stages when you set out in the morning and you think to
yourself okay km that will be easy we ll soon be at the bivouac he
said
but there you are we ve just spent three hours battling on the bikes it was
really african like stage physically tough with the heat soft dunes and
mechanical aspects to deal with
the bike suffered bit on the first part so had to look after the engine
tried to ride at cooler pace for the last km but it was still sporty
anyway
casteu said he had teammate marc coma to thank for getting him back on track
after the duo had both fallen
when stopped to help him couldn restart due to battery problems casteu
said
fortunately had some jump leads with me so was able to recharge my
battery with his bike was looking at all the temperature gauges and saw that
it climbed to more than degrees
in the big climb up the dunes was looking at the bike and thinking poor
thing if it manages not to break here it will be okay for the rest of the
rally
nordic skiing joensson wins tour de ski in prague
prague jan afp
sweden emil joensson won the third stage of the tour de ski nordic skiing
event here on monday
joensson finished the km sprint around the streets of the czech capital ahead
of compatriot marcus hellner and norway simon oestensen
the swede now lies atop the tour de ski standings with hellner in second at
sec
world cup leader petter northug of norway winner of the prologue and the first
stage in the event which counts towards the world cup failed to qualify for the
finals having earlier finished outside the top
after three days of racing in oberhof germany the urban sprint qualifiers
failed to prove hit with the favourites germans axel teichmann and tobias
angerer russian alexander legkov and finn matti heikkinen all also failing to
make the cut
the women event was won by russia natalia korosteleva ahead of norway
celine brun lie and slovakia alena propchazkova
finn aino kaisa saarinen takes control of the overall tour de ski standings
sec ahead of poland justyna kowalczyk
the tour de ski continues on wednesday with pursuit km for the mena nd km
for the women between the italian resorts of cortina and toblach
afghanistan nato force needs top civilian un
united nations jan afp
the nato led international security force in afghanistan should appoint senior
civilian official to help improve political and development coordination un
chief ban ki moon said in report released monday
the report also stressed the need to beef up the international coordination
structure in the war torn country under united nations umbrella
ban said naming top civilian official within the nato led international
security assistance force isaf would help to improve coordination of its
political and development efforts in particular by the provincial
reconstruction teams so as to ensure their greater adherence to afghan plans
and priorities across provincial borders
he noted that while his outgoing special envoy to afghanistan kai eide of
norway maintains overall responsibility for coordinating international civilian
efforts the un mission there unama needs to be bolstered with staff with the
required experience and able to have better talks with key donors countries and
embassies in kabul
ban report made clear that to be successful any form of international
coordination must be properly linked to the afghan government
the situation cannot continue as is if we are to succeed in afghanistan he
warned there is need for change of mindset in the international community
as well as in the government of afghanistan
eide who was criticized over his handling of the deeply controversial august
fraud marred election and who is to step down when his mission ends in march
is to brief the un security council this week on the activities of his
mission
his time in afghanistan has seen the taliban insurgency reach its deadliest
since us led troops ousted their regime in kickstarting international
efforts to build democracy and develop the impoverished nation
in related development un spokesman martin nesirky refused to comment on
december new york times editorial stating that ban was considering three
candidates to replace eide
the three are jean marie guehenno of france the former head of un peacekeeping
operations staffan de mistura of sweden currently senior official with the
rome based un world food program and ian martin of britain former un special
envoy to nepal
the new york times endorsed guehenno but nesirky told press briefing monday
the selection process is still under way it is still not completed
record numbers of afghan civilians and western soldiers have been killed in
afghanistan over the past year
nato and the united states have troops in afghanistan fighting the
taliban insurgents who have spread their footprint over the previously peaceful
north and east inflicting record western military casualties
up to more us and nato troops are to arrive over the course of
backed by thousands of civilians as the war strategy turns from battleground
tactics to development and aid
boxing mediation sought to save mega fight
las vegas nevada jan afp
manny pacquiao and floyd mayweather jnr will go to mediation in bid to salvage
their march mega fight
representatives of the two fighters will meet tuesday with california mediator
in an effort to reach agreement on blood testing issues that have threatened to
scupper the highly anticipated bout
the mediator retired federal judge daniel weinstein was used by promoters for
both fighters three years ago to resolve dispute over promotional rights to
pacquiao
lee samuels spokesman for pacquiao promoter bob arum confirmed that arum
will be in santa monica california for the talks
pacquiao has been angered by the mayweather camp insistence on doping control
blood tests in the buildup to their welterweight showdown demand that has
the march fight in doubt
mayweather has said the blood tests which could detect substances not found by
urine tests are vital to ensure fair fight although blood tests are not
routinely used in boxing
pacquiao filed lawsuit in federal court in las vegas last week alleging that
mayweather and others defamed him by falsely saying he had used performance
enhancing drugs
spokesmen for both sides however said the lawsuit wouldn necessarily stop
the fight from going ahead
pacquiao who has supplanted mayweather in the estimation of many as boxing
best pound for pound fighter has earned titles in seven weight classes
their fight could bring each as much as million dollars it had appeared to
be virtually set after squabbles were settled over issues including the division
of the purse and the type of gloves to be used but the drug test issue has
proved sticking point
nordic skiing tour de ski results
prague jan afp
results in the third stage of the tour de ski nordic event here on monday
men
rd stage sprint freestyle
emil joensson swe marcus hellner swe simen ostensen nor
dusan kozisek cze teodor peterson swe andrew newell usa
tour de ski overall after third stage
emil joensson swe marcus hellner swe at simen
ostensen nor maxim vylegzhanin rus petter northug nor
dario cologna sui eldar roenning nor axel
teichmann ger sami jauhojaervi fin tim tscharnke
ger
world cup overall standings after of events
petter northug nor points marcus hellner swe maxim
vylegzhanin rus matti heikkinen fin alexander legkov rus
women
rd stage sprint freestyle
natalia korosteleva rus celine brun lie nor alena propchazkova
svk arianna follis ita aino kaisa saarinen fin vesna fabjan
slo
tour de ski overall after third stage
aino kaisa saarinen fin justyna kowalczyk pol at
petra majdic slo arianna follis ita natalia korosteleva
rus kristin stoermer steira nor marianna longa ita
olga savialova rus vibeke skofterud nor
riitta liisa roponen fin
world cup overall standings after of events
justyna kowalczyk pol points petra majdic slo aino kaisa
saarinen fin marit bjoergen nor natalia korosteleva rus
guard gunman killed in vegas courthouse shootout
las vegas nevada jan afp
security guard was shot dead after gunman opened fire at federal
courthouse in las vegas early monday before later being killed in shootout
with law enforcement authorities said
spokesman for the us marshals office confirmed that deputy us marshal and
court security guard were shot and wounded in the attack at the lloyd george
federal courthouse shortly after am gmt
the us marshals service deputy was in stable condition in hospital but the
security guard succumbed to his wounds and died spokesman jeff carter said the
gunman was shot dead outside the courthouse authorities confirmed
in video footage of the incident posted on youtube more than dozen loud
gunshots could be heard ringing out in the streets surrounding the courthouse
during the shootout
we do not know the motive for the shooting at this time and the investigation
into the shooting is still underway carter said in statement
local media reports said the shooting occurred in the lobby of the court
building the nearby las vegas academy had been placed on lockdown as
authorities cleared the court building
fbi in ghana to probe botched us plane attack minister
accra jan afp
agents of the us federal bureau of investigation are in ghana to find out about
the sojourn in the country of nigerian man accused of trying to blow up us
airliner ghanaian minister said monday
the investigation will allow the fbi agents to gather more information on the
suspect stay in ghana deputy information minister james agyenin boateng told
afp
he did not say when the fbi team arrived in ghana and how long the agents plan
to stay in the west african country
it is ghana first known official comment on the allegations by nigerian
authorities that the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab arrived in lagos on
december on virgin nigeria flight from ghana
nigerian information minister dora akunyili had said on thursday that the
suspect after arriving from ghana spent less than minutes at the lagos
airport before boarding his next flight for amsterdam
abdulmutallab allegedly bought the ticket for the bomb targeted flight in ghana
where his journey began
the director general of the nigerian civil aviation authority ncaa harold
demuren had explained on december that abdulmutallab boarded klm flight out
of lagos on the th december enroute detroit michigan usa via amsterdam
the ticket was purchased from the klm airport office in accra on th
december he said
the suspect personally checked in at pm gmt and he went through
normal checking process his passport was scanned his us visa was scanned and
the apis advance passenger information system returned with no objection he
said
his multiple us entry visa issued in london on june last year was not due
to expire until june next year he added
agyenin boateng said ghana was unhappy about not being informed of concerns
about abdulmutallab whose father had reported the young man radical views to
the united states and other foreign security agencies
fighting terrorism is collective responsibility of every country and it is
therefore important that we share security information of this nature if we are
to fight terrorism agyenin boateng said
if we have heard this information given to the us embassy in nigeria from our
nigerian counterparts the suspect would have been subjected to more thorough
screening he said
nigeria and ghana are both members of the nation regional bloc the economic
community of west african states ecowas
agyenin boateng also said that ghana has purchased full body scanner to be
installed at the kotoka international airport in accra the nation biggest
airport where security has been beefed up
the scanner when installed would ensure that travellers go through full body
scanning and find out if they are carrying any weapons or drugs he said
us authorities have accused the nigerian suspect of trying to trigger an
explosion on northwest airlines flight from amsterdam to detroit on christmas
day with chemicals that had been stitched into his underwear he is currently
being held in michigan prison
washington said monday stricter measures will be compulsory on flights from
nations including nigeria while random enhanced checks will be carried out
on all planes landing at us airport
all travellers from the targeted countries would be subjected to extra body pat
downs and advanced screening of baggage us official said imaging and
explosive detection technology might also be used
us overhauls terror watch lists
washington jan afp
us terror watch lists have been radically overhauled after foiled attack on
us bound jet the white house said monday as president barack obama prepared
for key talks on the security scare
the news came as tougher screening procedures for all us bound air travelers
swung into effect in airports around the world
obama who has denounced systemic intelligence failures in the christmas day
plot was preparing to meet with us intelligence chiefs and security officials
on tuesday to review the findings of two probes into the incident
but white house spokesman bill burton said safety and security measures are
moving forward even as the review goes on in bid to plug security gaps
there already been rescrubbing of all the different lists he told
journalists referring to the lists which determine whether person is allowed
to board us bound flight in foreign airport
probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and
probably dozens were moved to different lists he added
obama has directly linked the al qaeda network responsible for the september
attacks on the united states to the botched bid to blow up northwest
jet with people on board on flight from amsterdam to detroit
in the wake of the failed attack the administration has also ordered tight new
security measures for us bound passengers after year old nigerian umar
farouk abdulmutallab allegedly tried to bring down the jet
all passengers heading for the united states could now face random checks
patdowns or baggage checks
and all travelers flying from or via countries including iran nigeria and
yemen will have to undergo mandatory enhanced screening before boarding their
us bound flights under the new rules
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 traditional metal detectors
it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire that was swiftly put
out when passengers intervened
obama was monday receiving review into the incident from the cia and was
meeting with his top counter terrorism advisor john brennan
brennan on sunday defended the nation security agencies saying despite
apparent warnings from abdulmutallab father wealthy nigerian banker there
had been no smoking gun which could have helped unmask the plot earlier
as the country searched for answers to how the attack was only narrowly avoided
fbi agents were monday in ghana investigating abdulmutallab stay there
the investigation will allow the fbi agents to gather more information on the
suspect stay in ghana deputy information minister james agyenin boateng told
afp
it is ghana first known official comment on the allegations by nigerian
authorities that abdulmutallab arrived in lagos on december on virgin
nigeria flight from ghana
obama has also revealed that abdulmutallab had spent time in yemen during the
summer where he was allegedly in contact with the yemen based al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap
the us house intelligence committee said monday that it would hold january
hearing on the botched attack and lawmakers expected to receive the preliminary
findings of the reviews ordered by obama
burton did not specify whether obama would address journalists after the tuesday
talks at the white house but said it was unlikely the results of the two
reviews ordered by the president would be published
think that coming out of that meeting we ll probably have more on what some
of the next steps are burton said
think that there will probably be some new information available but
wouldn anticipate full reading of what in those reviews
secretary of state hillary clinton said meanwhile monday that the united states
would only reopen its embassy in sanaa which closed on sunday when it was
believed to be safe
we review our security conditions constantly and we ll make decision on
reopening the embassy when the conditions permit the top us diplomat said
nfl bills launch offseason with coaching shakeup
buffalo new york jan afp
the buffalo bills are cleaning house and the list of things that could be
tossed out includes all the coaches
the bills who completed disappointing nfl season on sunday have told
their coaching staff that they are free to seek other jobs
any decision on whether they can stay will be made by still to be determined
new head coach
perry fewell who took over as interim coach when dick jauron was sacked in
november will have chance to interview for that job but will be just one of
the candidates the bills said
each of the coaches is currently under contract but they have been informed
that they have the opportunity to seek positions elsewhere the team said in
statement the status of each coach will be determined by the bills new head
coach following the completion of the process
the bills missed the playoffs for the th straight year capping decade in
which they enjoyed only one winning season finish in
days after jauron was dismissed bills owner ralph wilson said no job was safe
the makeover started last week when national scout buddy nix was promoted to
general manager filling spot that had been filled by the team chief
operating officer russ brandon who had no football background
brandon was promoted to chief executive officer
the bills are now seeking their fifth head coach since hall of famer marv levy
retired after the season
former steelers coach bill cowher has been mentioned as candidate
the news of the shakeup came few hours after fewell addressed his players in
final team meeting players were only made available to the media before the
meeting and discussed the uncertainty regarding the team as they cleaned out
their lockers
anxious to see what happens know coach perry did great job with us
linebacker paul posluszny said
we all want to know what the situation is who the head coach will be what
type of defense we re going to run there lot of questions but you have to
stay patient
skiff unveils reader for newspapers magazines
washington jan afp
us company skiff released details monday of its upcoming electronic reader
device slightly bigger than amazon largest kindle designed for reading
newspapers and magazines in addition to books
the skiff reader features an inch centimeter screen about two
inches five cms larger than that of the kindle dx and is also the thinnest
reader to date at just quarter of an inch cms according to skiff
skiff which is backed by us newspaper and magazine publisher hearst corp said
wireless connectivity for the device which weighs just over one pound
kilograms will be provided by skiff partner sprint nextel
skiff did not announce price for the device which will be available starting
later this year in sprint stores across the country and online
unlike the kindle which is geared mainly for book readers skiff said its
device is the first reader optimized for newspaper and magazine content
the skiff reader big screen will showcase print media in compelling new
ways skiff president gilbert fuchsberg said in statement
this is consistent with skiff focus on delivering enhanced reading
experiences that engage consumers publishers and advertisers he said
skiff said its black and white touchscreen reader will feature next generation
metal foil paper technology from lg display
it said the thin flexible sheet of stainless steel foil is step up from the
fragile glass that is the foundation of almost every electronic screen
the skiff reader will be displayed at the international consumer
