trade minister stockwell day meanwhile was named president of the treasury
board
public safety minister peter van loan moved over to the trade ministry while
his security portfolio was handed over to vic toews who was treasury board
president
once rising star lisa raitt was shifted from natural resources to the relatively
low profile labor portfolio
rona ambrose who disappointed in her first term as environment minister has
been granted second chance moving from labor to public works while public
works minister christian paradis becomes the new minister of natural resources
cabinet newcomer rob moore was also named minister of state for small business
and tourism
us to shift soon to recovering bodies in haiti military
washington jan afp
the united states expects to transition very soon from searching for survivors
of haiti killer earthquake to recovering bodies top us military commander
said tuesday
we fully expect that we will transition very soon from the search phase to the
recovery phase and obviously we continue to be in prayer said major general
daniel allyn deputy commander of the us military operation in haiti
but at week after the initiation of the earthquake we have not found any
us survivors in the last two days so we are doubtful that we will be
fortunate but obviously we remain in prayer and hopeful he said
alert
more than billion dollars pledged for haiti quake aid un data
argentine mountain town rattled by nd moderate quake
buenos aires jan afp
town in argentina western andes region san juan was rattled tuesday by
second moderate quake in as many days though no casualties or damage were
reported
the magnitude temblor occurred kilometers nine miles from san juan at
depth of kilometers miles the national institute for earthquake
prevention said
on monday magnitude quake shuddered through the ground kilometers
northwest of the town at similar depth
the andes run north south along south america on fault line that frequently
causes earthquakes
san juan has been hit several times in the past the worst being in when
people were killed by magnitude upheaval according to the us
geological survey
eu foreign affairs chief under fire for not visiting haiti
strasbourg jan afp
eu foreign affairs chief catherine ashton came under fire from centre right
european lawmakers tuesday for failing to rush to earthquake ravaged haiti
shortly after the disaster
the newly installed ashton who has already faced criticism for what critics
call her lack of experience said she was not doctor not firefighter
do you think it was good that us secretary of state hillary clinton was
there and the world body but europe was not present in haiti asked centre
right mep joseph daul during press conference in strasbourg
if the eu foreign affairs chief had been member of his european people party
epp and not ashton british labour party we would have sent them to haiti
the french leader of the centre right party said
ashton defended her approach arguing that if she did go to haiti she would just
be taking up valuable space which should go to the rescue and aid efforts
not doctor not firefighter she told the assembly adding that she
was in close touch with clinton and the united nations to help coordinate
efforts rather than grandstanding for the cameras
ashton added that she had resisted the urge to travel swiftly to haiti on un
advice
however she added that eu aid commissioner karel de gucht would travel there
later in the week to see the aid efforts first hand and assess the most urgent
needs of the haitians affected
haitian officials have expressed fears the final quake toll may top and
according to government minister so far some bodies have been buried
relief efforts are now focusing on the estimated quarter of million injured
and million homeless including many orphans who lost their parents in the
disaster
jozsef szajer another deputy from the epp said he was shocked that the high
representative was on holiday rather than being at the scene
however daul said he would not use the episode as pretext for again calling
into question ashton abilities for the role of eu foreign affairs supremo
those comments came as eu commission chief jose manuel barroso attempts to get
new cabinet up and running for his second term in office
over the last week and half the european parliament has grilled all eu
commissioners designate including ashton on their aptitude for the job
on tuesday this process was disrupted when bulgaria eu commission nominee
rumiana jeleva withdrew amid allegations of incompetence and financial
irregularities
the epp are jeleva own political family in the parliament and were the only
group to support her candidacy
british peer ashton failed to impress the meps at her hearing with her grasp of
the broad external affairs portfolio
urgent us to shift soon to recovery of bodies in haiti military
washington jan afp
the united states expects to transition very soon from searching for survivors
of haiti killer earthquake to recovering bodies top us military commander
said tuesday
protest drains belgian pubs of leading lagers
brussels jan afp
protest action by workers at brewing giant anheuser busch inbev has hit supplies
of popular beers like jupiler and stella artois in belgium pubs cafes and
supermarkets officials said tuesday
primary materials are not getting in and the finised product is not getting
out spokesman for the belgian brazilian us concern said following protests
ranging from week to days in four production centres
the result he said is that outlets for major brands like stella artois
jupiler leffe and hoegaarden have run out of stocks
wholesalers are no longer able to supply supermarkets and deliveries are no
longer getting to cafes throughout the country he said
big supermarket chains delhaize and carrefour said that they expect to run out
of some of the brands by wednesday or thursday
the protest action which includes blockades came after the group announced on
january that it planned to cut percent of its workforce in western europe
or around jobs
in belgium of the jobs at ab inbev will go
trade unions and employers met tuesday to try to resolve the standoff after
efforts to find compromise broke down on january
ab inbev produces around percent of the volume of beer consumed in belgium
bars and cafes according to the national hoteliers and restaurants federation
but its vice president jean marie de wandeleer said there is no need for panic
among the drinking public
belgium has not run dry and it not likely to there are breweries in the
country which are making kinds of beer he said
giant leaping fish no reason to shut chicago canal us court
washington jan afp
giant leaping fish with voracious appetite may threaten the great lakes but
the us supreme court on tuesday declined to force the closure of chicago area
waterways as an emergency measure to stop the invasion
asian carp endanger fishermen by jumping out of the water when spooked by the
sound of motor boat and threaten native ecosystems with their voracious
appetites
officials have already installed expensive electric barriers to block the carp
from making their way up from the mississippi river basin into lake michigan and
the rest of the great lakes
but traces of the fast breeding carp which can grow up to seven feet long
meters and weigh pounds kilos were found just mile from the
electric barrier in the chicago canal in november
officials pledged new efforts to try to block their progress even poisoning
mile nine kilometer stretch of the canal and the white house allocated
million dollars to help with the fight
michigan said that was not enough and sought an emergency injunction to shut
down the canal
the motion of michigan for preliminary injunction is denied the supreme court
ruled
federal officials have warned that the carp could have devastating effect on
the great lakes ecosystem and significant economic impact on the seven
billion dollar sport and commercial fishing industry
the carp aggressively compete with native species and could quickly become the
dominant species because they are well suited to the great lakes and would have
no predators the us fish amp wildlife service said
asian carp were originally imported to the southern united states in the
to help keep retention ponds clean at fish farms and wastewater treatment
plants
heavy flooding helped them escape into the mississippi in the and they
have since migrated into missouri and illinois rivers
football ghana lead burkina faso at half time
luanda jan afp
midfielder andre ayew headed home th minute free kick to give ghana
half time lead over burkina faso in an africa cup of nations group match on
tuesday
corrected european stocks rise london up percent
london jan afp
european stock markets surged on tuesday with london ftse index of
leading shares rising by percent to points
in paris the cac was up percent to points while in frankfurt
the dax gained percent to finish at
football beckenbauer slams world cup ticket prices
berlin jan afp
germany football legend franz beckenbauer has slammed the cost of world cup
ticket prices and said fans here are put off by the travel costs to south africa
as well as security risks in the republic
beckenbauer who captained germany to world cup success in and coached the
winning side in says few german fans can afford the expensive tickets and
are put off by south africa reputation for crime
only of the tickets allocated for german fans have been bought by
supporters here eager to see their heroes play against ghana serbia and
australia in the group stages
not only are there doubts by those thinking of travelling there because of
security but the tickets are too expensive beckenbauer who is on fifa
executive committee told german broadcaster sky
what normal person can afford to euros for one week he added
without specifying how he reached the figure
the cheapest ticket for the tournament first game south africa against mexico
in johannesburg on june costs euros us dollars according to the
fifa website
the most expensive ticket for the final on july is euros us dollars
while the cheapest ticket for group stage game is euros us dollars
while accomodation is said to be expensive for the tournament
while organisers are making every effort to ensure fans safety at the world cup
the first to take place on the african continent beckenbauer says there are
still safety issues
the organisers are doing everything to ensure the event has the best security
said the former bayern munich defender
they are prepared for nearly every type of attack they can do more
but no country in the world can now say they are percent safe
and beckenbauer even offered advice for fans travelling to the tournament
people need to be watching out everywhere they go said beckenbauer
it best to be over cautious stay in groups whenever possible
alert
us to transition soon from search to recovery in haiti official
alert
us to transition soon from search to recovery in haiti official
european stocks rise london up percent
london jan afp
european stock markets surged on monday with london ftse index of leading
shares rising by percent to points
in paris the cac was up percent to points while in frankfurt
the dax gained percent to finish at
haiti creditors urge debt relief
paris jan afp
major grouping of creditor countries on tuesday pushed for all of haiti
public lenders to cancel the country debts to help it recover from the massive
damage of last week earthquake
given the financial needs haiti will have to face for its reconstruction the
paris club creditors call on other bilateral creditors to cancel all of haiti
debt it said in statement expressing deep compassion for the victims
the paris club has cited non members venezuela and taiwan as two other big
public lenders to the impoverished caribbean nation and urged them to cancel its
debts
the international monetary fund told afp that haiti owed million dollars to
venezuela its biggest bilateral lender as of september and the second
biggest was taiwan which owed about million dollars
the paris club an informal grouping of governments from rich countries that
have made public loans to other states last year agreed to cancel all the
million dollars million euros owed by haiti to its members
these countries include britain canada france germany japan and the united
states
the world bank top development lender and the international monetary fund
imf last summer approved billion dollars of debt relief for haiti which
was already suffering from the effects of floods and high food prices
in the wake of the quake the two multilateral institutions announced
million dollars of emergency financing each the world bank president robert
zoellick said it aimed to set up long term reconstruction fund
french association of development aid charities including oxfam in france
seconded the call to forgive haiti debt but said emergency loans would
compound the impoverished country problems
the group the debt and development platform estimated the country total debt
at million dollars
the cancellation of paris club debt agreed last year is too slow and too many
conditions are holding back its implementation the association said in
statement
it demanded that rich countries go further in demanding the cancellation of all
haiti debt immediately and without conditions
haiti needs cash to deal with the emergency but it should be donations said
jean merckaert of the catholic development body ccfd terre solidaire one of the
association member groups quoted in the statement
lending to poor country that has been completely destroyed is absurd
burka and niqab have no place in denmark pm says
copenhagen jan afp
the face covering burka and niqab veils worn by some muslim women have no place
in denmark prime minister lars loekke rasmussen said tuesday adding his
government was considering restricting them
rasmussen stopped short however of calling for ban on the veils noting
legal and other limits
the government position is clear the burka and the niqab have no place in
danish society they symbolise view of women and humanity that we totally
oppose and that we want to combat in danish society rasmussen told reporters
denmark is an open democratic society where we look at the person to whom we
are talking whether it in classroom or on the job he said
that is why we don want to see this garment in danish society he added
he said his centre right government was discussing ways of limiting the
wearing of the veils without violating the scandinavian country constitution
the prime minister comments came day after the publication of report which
showed that use of the burka was extremely rare in denmark though no figures
were given and that the niqab was worn by between and women
the report was commissioned by the social affairs ministry and written by
researchers at the university of copenhagen
it follows heated debate on the burka that has divided the two party coalition
government since the summer amid pressure from its key parliamentary ally the
far right danish people party
some muslim women live in denmark representing about percent of
denmark total population of million some percent of the muslim women
wear the niqab according to the report
denmark has had tense relations with the muslim world following the publishing
in of cartoons depicting islam prophet mohammed that were considered
blasphemous and insulting by much of the islamic world
it triggered violent protests in muslim countries
most sao paulo residents would leave if they could survey
sao paulo jan afp
more than half the million people living in metropolitan sao paulo latin
america biggest city would leave if they could an official survey released
tuesday showed
fifty seven percent of the respondants to the ibope institute poll said
they were unhappy with the quality of life in the huge city which when
assimilated outlying towns are also counted has total population of
million
horrendous traffic rampant street crime and prices that rival those of new york
and london are all frequently cited as problems by those living in the brazilian
megacity
that was reflected in the survey which found percent felt unsafe living
there with percent fearing being mugged
particularly wet summer season which has flooded parts of sao paulo for days
at time was also an important concern for percent
russia ends freeze in ties with ukraine after election
moscow jan afp
russian president dmitry medvedev said tuesday his country would end freeze in
ties with ukraine move that follows the election defeat of the ex soviet
republic pro western president
the announcement that russia would send an ambassador to the neighbouring
country after five month freeze came after two candidates viewed as friendly
to moscow finished on top in sunday vote
the election marked sharp turnaround for ukraine which had set out on
defiant course for eu and nato integration after the orange revolution of
think you should begin your duties as ambassador to ukraine and try to do the
utmost to strengthen the friendly character of our countries relations
medvedev was quoted as saying by russian news agencies at meeting with
ambassador appointee mikhail zurabov
medvedev appointed zurabov ambassador to ukraine last year but announced in
august that he would not be sending him to kiev in protest against the anti
russian policies of ukrainian president viktor yushchenko
on sunday yushchenko re election bid failed miserably in presidential polls
as voters gave him humiliating fifth place finish
two candidates viewed as friendly to moscow pro russia politician viktor
yanukovich and prime minister yulia tymoshenko took the largest share of votes
on sunday and are now set to compete in february run off
hope the tallying of the final results in ukraine will lead to capable
effective government oriented towards the development of constructive friendly
and multidimensional relations with russia medvedev said
the kremlin later released statement confirming that zurabov had been ordered
to take up his duties
medvedev had blocked sending an ambassador to ukraine for five months amid
bitter feuding with yushchenko who came to power in the orange revolution
pledging democratic reform and membership in the european union
yushchenko angered moscow by seeking to bring ukraine into the nato military
alliance supporting russia foe georgia and campaigning for stalin era
famine that killed millions of ukrainians to be classified as genocide
but he won only five percent of the vote in sunday first round election
according to near final results as voters punished him for failing to bring
about promised reforms and extract ukraine from deep economic crisis
separately russian foreign minister sergei lavrov indicated moscow pleasure
at yushchenko departure from power
regarding the prospects of russian ukrainian relations we have always been
against approaches that are politicised artificial and have nothing in common
with the interests of the ukrainian people lavrov said
we hope the new president whose name we will most likely find out on february
will fully understand the need to build relations in this manner and not hold
them hostage to his or her ambitions he told reporters
the dismal relations between moscow and kiev contributed to the gas crisis of
january where supplies of russian natural gas to the european union passing
through ukraine pipelines were cut off in the middle of winter
analysts said medvedev decision to send an ambassador to kiev immediately
after sunday election showed russia readiness to cooperate with either of
the possible winners of the run off
moscow has sent signal that either one candidate or the other would be
welcome said yevgeny volk head of moscow office of the washington based
heritage foundation
the relations between medvedev and yushchenko had turned into personal
confrontation said nikolai petrov political analyst at the carnegie moscow
centre
since yushchenko is about to leave russia is showing that there are no more
obstacles to normal relations and is swiftly sending its ambassador
minister insists britain wanted diplomatic solution on iraq
london jan afp
the first former cabinet minister to give evidence to the iraq war inquiry
insisted on tuesday that britain had always wanted diplomatic solution to the
crisis before the invasion
former defence secretary geoff hoon testimony kicked off appearances from
series of ex cabinet ministers before the eagerly awaited questioning of former
prime minister tony blair on january
hoon said britain had always hoped diplomatic efforts to disarm iraq through the
united nations would bear fruit and he doubted that blair had ever given the
united states unconditional support for military action
blair influential spokesman at the time of the war alastair campbell told
the inquiry last week that blair had sent secret notes to then us president
george bush in the months before the march invasion
campbell said that while blair was pressing bush to seek diplomatic solution
he indicated in his notes he would support military action if the un route
failed
hoon was asked whether he as defence minister would not have expected to have
been consulted if blair were writing notes committing britain to military
action
would have been and that is why do not believe he was ever unconditionally
committing us to anything hoon said think that right up until the vote in
the house of commons our attitude towards the use of force was always
conditional
hoon was referring to the march vote in which british lawmakers backed the
use of military force against saddam husssein regime
turning to blair talks with bush at the president ranch in crawford texas
in april hoon said he had not been briefed directly on what was said at
the meeting
don think he told me anything directly saw the record of the meeting
hoon said
declassified letters released by the inquiry show that peter goldsmith then
attorney general the government top legal advisor warned hoon in april
there were considerable difficulties in justifying military action
but hoon said that by march shortly before the us led invasion
goldsmith was advising the government that an invasion would not be illegal
was clear that his conclusion was that there was legal justification for
military action hoon told the inquiry he says so categorically
goldsmith is due to give evidence on january two days before blair
hoon said he had believed britain ministry of defence mod was content with
the controversial claim in government dossier used to make the case for war
that iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within minutes
an mod weapons expert who believed he may have been the source of the minute
claim later committed suicide officials had confirmed his name as the source to
some journalists
hoon identified mid as the period when it became clear that washington
meant business over iraq because the united states was deeply traumatised
over the september attacks and it perceived saddam as another threat
it was getting pretty real by then we had no doubt at that stage in the
summer that they meant business said hoon who was defence minister from
to
he said that as early as october he told blair that decision on military
action was necessary because he felt it was essential that the armed forces be
given time to prepare
hoon admitted he had feared the british armed forces would struggle to meet the
demands of full scale military invasion of iraq because they were already
deeply committed in afghanistan following the invasion
israel likely to join oecd in
jerusalem jan afp
israel is on track to join the organisation for economic cooperation and
development this year the group secretary general said tuesday after signing
key agreement to push the process forward
we are probably going to complete the membership process in that when
it was scheduled for oecd secretary general angel gurria told reporters at the
israeli foreign ministry
israeli finance minister yuval steinitz said that things are going well
the visit by the secretary general symbolises the fact that is decisive
year for our integration our chances appear to be good steinitz told public
radio
gurria and foreign minister avigdor lieberman signed an agreement regulating the
immunities and rights granted to missions of both parties capping day of
talks with israeli leaders
the oecd chief earlier presented president shimon peres with the organisations
first economic survey of israel due to be released wednesday
the most important part has to do with signalling that we are progressing
gurria said
lieberman hailed the expected accession to the member organisation as an
important milestone for israel and its standing in the international arena
it means being part of one of the most prestigious international clubs
lieberman told afp
we are in the first line with all the most advanced nations in the world and it
is something the israeli foreign ministry has put in enormous effort to
achieve he said
however he acknowledged that the jewish state still has some issues to resolve
particularly in enforcing intellectual property laws
in december an oecd report said israel should be more proactive in detecting
investigating and prosecuting foreign bribery cases notably those involving the
defence industry
israeli officials expect to join the oecd which seeks to coordinate economic
policies among the world leading industrialised nations within months
three years after the start of the membership process in may
then the oecd invited israel along with chile estonia russia and slovenia
to begin negotiations on membership part of process to expand the group
which includes most of the developed world
when founded in oecd membership represented percent of global wealth
today it accounts for percent and efforts are being made to enlarge
membership to incorporate rapidly growing economic powers
doping team sports must play by whereabouts rule wada
lausanne switzerland jan afp
world anti doping chiefs insisted on tuesday that all team sports without
exception must play by rules obliging some athletes to announce their
whereabouts for out of competition testing
there has been no exception for any federation said world anti doping agency
wada director general david howman
world football governing body fifa had qualms about the revised world anti
doping code introduced for all sports early last year claiming that footballers
should be granted special treatment
the rulebook requires that designated athletes in all sports should give notice
of their whereabouts for one hour day days year to ensure that doping
control officials can carry out random out of competition testing
wada said misunderstanding with fifa over the whereabouts requirement had
been cleared up in series of meetings through
the outcome was that we ve both committed to the same clean sport and we re
working cooperatively where we can said wada president john fahey
no other team sports had directly asked wada for exemptions howman added
and if we received one we would say no he said
we need the whereabouts rule because unannounced random testing is the most
powerful means of not just deterrence but also detection
we are reviewing the practice after one year said howman suggesting that it
might be refined and targeted
wada is also about to review the record of all sports in the fight against
doping including football with conference with international federations due
in lausanne in april to discuss the issue
sports federations will subsequently also be able to ask for changes to the
anti doping code for another revision due in
after the meetings last year fifa ended up announcing that football was
studying the introduction of the biological passport for players although it
was long term project
howman said fifa and wada were working on testing the inclusion of steroid
profile in the passport which currently keeps permanent record of an
athlete blood and urine parameters to detect any suspicious changes
we are asking fifa in this instance for access to some of the major football
teams in europe howman explained at wada media seminar
wada is also trying to broaden the fight against doping beyond traditional
medical evidence with greater use of pre emptive intelligence gleaned from
police work
in nearly percent of violations reported by anti doping
authorities in australia were based on such non analytical evidence fahey
said
figure skating european championship results st update
tallinn jan afp
results from the first day of the european figure skating championships here on
tuesday
ice dance
compulsory dance
oksana domnina maxim shabalin rus pts jana khokhlova sergei
novitski rus federica faiella massimo scali ita sinead
kerr john kerr gbr nathalie pechalat fabian bourzat fra
anna cappellini luca lanotte ita alexandra zaretsky roman zaretsky
isr ekaterina bobrova dmitri soloviev rus anna
zadorozhniuk sergei verbillo ukr alla beknazarova vladimir zuev
ukr nora hoffman maxim zavozin hun pernelle
carron lloyd jones fra christina beier william beier ger
kira geil dmitri matsjuk aut caitlin mallory kristjan rand
est penny coomes nicholas buckland gbr zoe blanc
pierre loup bouquet fra kamila hajkova david vincour cze
federica testa christopher mior ita katelyn good nikolaj
sorensen den nikola visnova lukas csolley svk allison
