electronics show ces which opens in las vegas later this week
as print advertising revenue evaporates and circulation erodes us newspaper and
magazine publishers have been looking to carve out future on the internet and
with readers and mobile devices
online advertising revenue has been disappointing however and advertisers and
readers have been generally underwhelmed by the presentation of newspapers and
magazines on readers and smartphones
skiff would provide advertising alongside newspaper or magazine articles
feature that is not currently offered by readers on the market such as the
kindle which is tailored more to books than periodicals
us says door still open on iran nuclear issue
washington jan afp
the united states said monday the door is still open for iran to meet world
demands on its nuclear aims but warned it was discussing with allies the next
steps which could include sanctions
the obama administration signal of more pressure on the islamic republic came
after tehran dismissed us set deadline of december and issued the west
one month ultimatum to accept counter proposal for nuclear fuel swap
the door is of course still open for iran to do the right thing and live up to
its international obligations said bill burton white house spokesman
we ll be going through the appropriate process to try to get them to the table
and do exactly what they re supposed to do burton said adding that president
barack obama national security team and other top advisors were due to meet
this week to determine what the next steps are
separately secretary of state hillary clinton said the united states has
discussed with its allies pressure and sanctions on iran over its nuclear
program which the west suspects is cover for atomic weapons building
we have begun discussions with our partners and like minded nations about
pressure and sanctions said clinton
our goal is to pressure the iranian government particularly the revolutionary
guard elements without contributing to the suffering of ordinary iranians who
deserve better than what they are currently receiving she said
tehran has already ignored the year end deadline to accept the iaea
brokered deal aimed at allaying fears about its nuclear drive by shipping most
of its low enriched uranium leu stockpile abroad to be further enriched into
reactor fuel
despite the threat of tougher sanctions iran came out with its own proposal of
simultaneous and staged swap of leu with reactor fuel
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki said on saturday tehran had until
the end of january to reach uranium swap deal stressing it will press on with
plans to produce moe highly enriched nuclear fuel if there is no agreement
mottaki gave the west one month ultimatum to accept the iranian counter
proposal
reacting to mottaki statement the us national security council spokesman mike
hammer said on saturday that the iaea proposal was sufficient
if getting access to fuel is iran objective then there is absolutely no
reason why the existing proposal which iran accepted in principle at geneva is
insufficient the iranian government is standing in its own way hammer said
iran is already under three sets of un security council sanctions over its
defiance and refusal to suspend enrichment which lies at the heart of
international fears about its nuclear programme
some western powers have dismissed the iranian proposal and called on tehran to
accept the iaea deal or face further sanctions
china is involved in the talks that also include britain france germany
russia and the united states
tehran insists its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes and aims to
provide new energy sources to growing population
clinton also slammed what she called the ruthless repression of demonstrators
against the iranian regime amid reports that hundreds remained jailed
we have deep concerns about their behavior we have concerns about their
intentions and we are deeply disturbed by the mounting signs of ruthless
repression that they are exercising against those who assemble and express
viewpoints that are at variance with what the leadership of iran wants to hear
clinton said
iranian police are still holding of the people they arrested in tehran
on december when opposition supporters staged protests during the shiite
religious commemoration of ashura
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad has accused the united states and israel
of staging the opposition protests during the ashura rituals
nfl redskins sack zorn in wake of disappointing season
washington jan afp
the washington redskins sacked coach jim zorn monday day after the team
completed their worst nfl season since with loss at san diego
zorn was informed of his dismissal soon after the team returned to redskins park
after sunday defeat to the chargers
just know that last place is not redskins football general manager bruce
allen said last place two years in row is not redskins football
zorn went over two seasons but he lost of his past games after
start in
despite weak schedule the redskins struggled from the start of the season
their record was their worst since
no one in the organization is satisfied with our record over the last two
years snyder said in statement and am sure that jim would concur with
that statement it has been painful for him too
certainly accept responsibility for mistakes that have made am hopeful
that our fans will accept my commitment and pledge to deliver franchise that
can compete in the nfc east every season
zorn replacement will be washington seventh coach since snyder bought the
team in
allen who was hired as general manager last month will have key role in
hiring coach and declined to comment monday on former denver broncos coach
mike shanahan who is considered top candidate for the job
we re in the process of talking to people allen said we have good game
plan of what we re going to do
electioneering starts in britain as blair waits in wings
london jan afp
britain political parties started campaigning in earnest monday for elections
due by june with its troubled economy the main battleground as the poll race
revs up after the christmas break
david cameron leader of the main opposition conservatives released part of his
party draft manifesto while finance minister alistair darling tried to
discredit tory plans to cut public spending and firm up britain finances
labour prime minister gordon brown has not yet set date for the election
although it must be held by june and experts say may is the most likely date
but both parties are jostling for an early advantage battered by record
recession and scandal over lawmakers expense claims britons now face the
prospect of five months of electioneering
cameron is tipped by opinion polls to oust brown who risks becoming one of
britain shortest serving premiers of recent times he only took over from
tony blair in june
meanwhile blair who resigned amid declining popularity after he strongly
supported the iraq war is set to return to haunt labour
he is due to give evidence to the public inquiry into the war in the second half
of january or early february senior labour figures are reportedly uneasy that
his appearance could cause the party problems on the campaign trail
blair former communications chief alistair campbell is due to appear on
january and could also stir things up
with britain still in recession the only major world economy yet to emerge
from the credit crunch and state borrowing at record levels the early focus
in campaigning is on the economy
the conservatives want quick cuts to bring public spending under control while
labour favours waiting until the economic outlook is clearer
chancellor of the exchequer darling accused the tories of failing to cost their
proposed savings properly but declined to say in detail how his party would
eventually cut back
the tories have made over billion pounds billion euros billion
dollars of promises but can barely explain how they can pay for quarter of
this this leaves them with credibility gap of billion pounds he said
monday
you can fight an election on nod and wink sometimes claiming you are
committed to these promises and when challenged claiming you are not
the conservatives angrily denied labour claims about its spending plans
labelling labour document dissecting its plans the dodgy dossier
this was reference to highly controversial dossier published by blair
government just before the iraq invasion in outlining the case for war
meanwhile cameron tried to counter what he says are labour class war
tactics which claim the tory leader educated at elite school eton and oxford
university is too privileged to understand the problems of ordinary britons
while stressing they would make cuts in public services to help the economy
cameron promised the tories would spend more money on improving the state run
national health service nhs in the poorest areas
we will cut the deficit not the nhs because the nhs is bedrock of fairer
society cameron said unveiling part of his party draft manifesto on health
we cannot go on like this let us make this year of change
cameron centre right conservatives have been ahead of brown centre left
labour in opinion polls for months although the gap has narrowed recently
new yougov survey for saturday daily telegraph newspaper put the
conservatives on percent labour on percent and the third party centre
left liberal democrats on percent
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
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
afghanistan nato force should have top civilian official un
united nations jan afp
the nato led international security force in afghanistan should appoint senior
civilian 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
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
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 fellow russian alena propchazkova
finn aino kaisa saarinen takes control of the overall standings
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
dutch airport gets more body scanners for us flights
the hague jan afp
dutch airport schiphol will get new full body scanners to cover all us bound
flights operator schiphol group announced monday following the botched
christmas day bombing of flight from amsterdam
the scanners at euros dollars apiece will be installed at
schiphol in the coming months spokeswoman mirjam snoerwang told afp
the are in addition to full body scanners already installed at the
airport which work on sound wave technology and which have been used for us
bound flights for the past three years
following the incident on the detroit bound flight it was decided to increase
the number of scanners to cover all flights snoerwang said
statement quoted group president jos nijhuis as saying the step was taken on
instruction of the national coordinator for counter terrorism government
organ
nijhuis said that passengers to destinations other than the united states are
not routinely searched reacting to claims that journalist managed to take
hypodermic syringe on board flight from schiphol to london
that we are now described in some english newspapers as terror airport is
completely unwarranted he said
bulgaria hopes for recovery in
sofia jan afp
bulgaria has touched the bottom of the economic crisis and should begin to see
recovery in early finance minister simeon djankov said on monday
we touched bottom in november we will continue there through to february
and in the spring we will begin coming out of the crisis djankov said in
televised interview
he said the government had managed to limit the budget deficit in and this
allowed it to keep corporate tax rates down at percent the lowest in
europe
bulgaria will have the lowest tax rates in the whole region and in the european
union through to the end of the government term in he said
foreign investors should look more closely at bulgaria he added
according to official figures given last month the economy contracted by
percent on month basis in the third quarter of after falls of
percent in january march and percent in april june
the international monetary fund latest forecast sees percent decline in
economic activity in and percent decrease next year
tennis qatar open tennis results collated
doha jan afp
results from the first day of the qatar open here on monday denotes seeding
st rd
evgeny korolev rus bt martin vassallo arguello arg
olivier rochus bel bt abdulla hajji qat
marco chiudinelli sui bt paolo lorenzi ita
ivo karlovic cro bt fabio fognini ita
viktor troicki srb bt daniel gimeno traver esp
sergiy stakhovsky ukr bt mikhail youzhny rus
ernests gulbis lat bt albert montanes esp
potito starace ita bt frederico gil por
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 mercilously 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
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 aghanistan
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
dubai opens world tallest skyscraper
dubai jan afp
the financially troubled gulf emirate of dubai on monday opened the world
tallest building glistening concrete glass and steel pinnacle rising
metres feet out of the desert sands
blazing fireworks rippled up and down the massive structure after it was
officially opened by dubai ruler sheikh mohammad bin rashed al maktoum
known during construction as burj dubai sheikh mohammad renamed the building
burj khalifa in honour of united arab emirates president sheikh khalifa bin
zayed al nahayan
sheikh khalifa is also ruler of abu dhabi the uae emirate which came to dubai
help late last year to the tune of billion dollars to bail out troubled
property developer nakheel subsidiary of dubai world
today the united arab emirates achieves the tallest building ever created by
the hand of man and this great project deserves to carry the name of great
man today inaugurate burj khalifa sheikh mohammad said
parachutists bearing the uae colours of red green black and white then touched
down as giant portrait of sheikh khalifa was projected on an outer wall of the
structure which cost billion dollars to erect
in the fireworks spectacle that followed blossoms of flames crackled up and
down the huge building and out into the dubai night sky followed later by
lasers sweeping the horizon from the tower many levels
dubai hopes the opening of the burj khalifa the latest in series of
grandiose projects will burnish an image tarnished by its crippling debt
woes
the needle shaped tower described by its developer as vertical city as it
dwarfs existing skyscrapers boasts new limits in design and construction
emaar properties the partly government owned developer had maintained the
suspense about the skyscraper final height saying only that it exceeded
metres feet
the construction of the tower which began in cost billion dollars
emaar chairman mohammed alabbar said
burj khalifa has more than floors only of which will be inhabited
while the remaining floors are for services
it has total built up area of million square feet including million
square feet of residential space and more than square feet of prime
office space emaar said
this amounts to apartments and floors of office space served by
lifts it also has hotel carrying the georgio armani logo
we have sold percent of the project said alabbar
bill baker structural and civil engineer and partner in chicago based
skidmore owings and merrill som which designed the tower said it has set
new benchmark
we thought that it would be slightly taller than the existing tallest tower of
taipei emaar kept on asking us to go higher but we didn know how high
we could go he said
we were able to tune the building like we tune music instrument as we went
higher and higher and higher we discovered that by doing that process we
were able to reach heights much higher than we ever thought we could
spiralling shaped design by som architect adrian smith was used to support
the structural core of the tower which narrows as it ascends higher up it
becomes steel structure topped with huge spire
to reach the final stages concrete was propelled to height of metres
world record
monday inauguration of the tower comes however after the once booming real
estate sector of dubai crashed halving the value of most of the uae city
state properties in comparison with peak prices recorded in the summer of
it also comes as dubai battles serious debt crisis resulting from the heavy
borrowing by some of its state corporates to finance imposing property projects
the emirate narrowly escaped financial catastrophe last month as neighbouring
deep pocketed abu dhabi threw it last minute lifeline worth billion dollars
to pay imminent debt owed by dubai world
the group last month began negotiations with its creditors with the hope of
reaching an agreement over restructuring an accumulated debt of billion
dollars amassed by its troubled subsidiaries
dubai total debt mostly that of its state owned companies amounts to
billion dollars
abu dhabi and the abu dhabi based central bank of the united arab emirates
have already extended financial aid of billion dollars to dubai since it
announced early in that it needed to sort the debt problem of its firms
three britons charged in belgian co fraud probe
brussels jan afp
belgian authorities have charged three britons suspected of vat fraud on co
emissions permits after funds held in belgian banks were frozen prosecutors
said on monday
the three britons were arrested on december in tournai said jean bertrand
cambier prosecutor in the western city as part of an investigation into some
three million euros million dollars of unpaid taxes
cambier said the group were in the country probably trying to unblock the
situation after accounts through which suspect sums were transited were frozen
several weeks ago
polluting permits for businesses were launched in the european union in as
part of brussels efforts to reduce emissions of harmful gases blamed by
scientists for global warming
but the absence of harmonised tax and vat regimes across eu member states
creates scope for such fraud cambier said
with britain not applying vat to such purchases money due to belgian
authorities where the rate is percent remains unpaid after staged
transactions the prosecutors say
the trio had set up company in tournai to market permits bought in britain
over period of several months with cambier saying transactions amounted to
an estimated three million euros
the trio placed in detention deny fraud allegations but have been charged
with criminal conspiracy money laundering and making false declarations
the european commission in september proposed bloc wide exoneration of vat
charges on such co quotas belgium adopted zero percent rate on january
rallying peterhansel despres take dakar third stage wins
fiambala argentina jan afp
french duo stephane peterhansel and cyril despres sealed third stage wins on the
dakar rally km timed run from la rioja to here
peterhansel driving bmw finished min sec ahead of vw carlos sainz of
spain for his nd special stage victory on the dakar and his th on four
wheels
the frenchman also heads up the overall standings min sec ahead of sainz
despres riding ktm leapfrogged compatriot david casteu of sherco in the
overall standings and now holds lead of more than minutes
despres finished testing stage that included dunes min sec ahead of
yamaha portuguese rider helder rodrigues with casteu in fourth
afp gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
us updates terror watch blacklists
dubai opens world tallest tower
karzai orders parliament to cancel winter break
attacks qaeda world lead wrap
washington
the united states radically overhauls its terror watch blacklists moving dozens
more names onto no fly lists as air travellers around the world are subjected
to tough new screening
words gmt
uae dubai architecture tower lead
dubai
the financially troubled gulf emirate of dubai opens the world tallest
building glistening concrete glass and steel pinnacle rising metres
feet out of the desert sands
words gmt by wissam keyrouz picture graphic video
afghanistan unrest politics lead wrap
kabul
afghan president hamid karzai orders parliament to cancel its winter recess so
lawmakers can consider his new cabinet nominees as nato announces its first
deaths of the year
words moved by lynne donnell
attacks us nigeria lead
washington
us terror watch lists have been radically revised after foiled attack on us
bound jet white house spokesman says as president barack obama prepares to
meet with top intelligence chiefs
words gmt by tangi quemener
iran nuclear politics us lead wrap
washington
the united states says the door is still open for iran to comply with world
demands on its nuclear aims but warns it is talking with allies about the next
steps which could include sanctions
words gmt by christophe schmidt
britain politics iraq blair ndlead
london
britain election race revs up after the festive break with the troubled
economy key battleground although former premier tony blair could be about
to put spanner in the ruling labour party wheels
words gmt by katherine haddon picture
spain politics fbl barcelona ndlead
madrid
the president of european football champions barcelona says he is considering
creating political party to seek independence for spain catalonia region and
running for office himself
words moved by pierre ausseill
afghanistan britain military protest islam ndlead
london
prime minister gordon brown says he is appalled at plans by islamists to march
through the town where britain afghanistan war dead are repatriated branding
the idea abhorrent and offensive
words gmt file picture
mideast diplomacy palestinian egypt rdlead
cairo
palestinian president mahmud abbas says he is open to peace negotiations with
israel but that as agreed with egypt talks can only resume when jewish
settlement activity ends
words moved by jailan zayan picture
asia weather ndlead wrap
beijing
planes are grounded and thousands of schools forced to close as the heaviest
snow in over six decades blankets beijing and seoul with temperatures
plummeting across much of asia
words moved graphic picture
pakistan us unrest trial rdlead
sargodha pakistan
five americans facing terror charges in pakistan deny plotting attacks in the
nuclear armed nation telling court they wanted to help muslims in war torn
afghanistan
words moved by khurram shahzad picture
afp
britain says bomb suspect intelligence was shared with us
london jan afp
british intelligence that nigerian accused of trying to blow up us plane
tried to contact radicals while living in london was shared with washington
prime minister gordon brown office said monday
brown official spokesman said that information gathered about umar farouk
abdulmutallab while he was student in london between and had been
passed to the us authorities
however brown office at downing street was unable to confirm when this took
place
report in the sunday times newspaper at the weekend suggested that british
security services had known about abdulmutallab contacts with islamic
extremists three years ago but failed to inform their us colleagues
