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 the emirate has crashed halving the value of most dubai
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
dubai economy was hard hit by the global financial crisis which turned off
the tap on vital foreign financing badly needed for its breakneck speed growth
british pm warns over islamists march in military town
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown would regard planned march by an islamic
group against the afghanistan war as completely inappropriate if it upset dead
soldiers families his office said monday
islam uk wants to commemorate the civilians killed in the conflict with march
through wootton bassett market town in southwest england where the bodies of
dead british soldiers are paraded following their repatriation
although no date has yet been set the mere suggestion of such protest in
place that has become powerful symbol of the war effort has caused uproar
brown downing street office on monday said it was up to the local authorities
to decide whether the march should be allowed but condemned anything that might
offend the families of dead or injured service personnel
the prime minister view would be obviously that anything that is considered
to be offensive to or of concern to families of troops wounded or killed in
afghanistan would be completely inappropriate spokesman said
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
in the same interview choudary praised al qaeda 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
miami shivers from coldest weather in decade
miami jan afp
residents of miami donned heavy coats and wool mufflers monday to face down the
coldest weather to hit the usually balmy city nearly in decade
this subtropical city fabled beaches normally thronging with sun worshippers
this time of year were all but deserted after temperatures plummeted to around
zero degrees celsius degrees fahrenheit
homeless people at risk from prolonged exposure to the cold took to area
shelters for the night on sunday
the temperature fell even lower in northern florida where orlando and
surrounding areas registered temperatures of minus six degrees celsius
degrees fahrenheit
forecasters said the cold snap the worst to hit florida since january
could bring even colder temperatures later in the week
afp europe news summary
paris jan afp
top european news stories on monday
britain politics iraq blair
london britain political parties started campaigning in earnest for elections
due by june with its troubled economy the main battleground as the poll race
revs up after the christmas break
spain politics fbl barcelona
madrid the president of european football champions barcelona said he was
considering creating political party to seek independence for spain
catalonia region and running for office himself
health flu france vaccine
paris the french government fought off criticism it had poorly planned its
swine flu vaccine programme after it bought far more doses than needed and
announced plans to sell surplus stock
accident ski avalanche switzerland
geneva series of avalanches struck the swiss alps at the weekend killing at
least five people with three still missing emergency services and police said
britain religion employment
london clergymen in the church of england are being bullied and should be
granted stronger employment rights to protect them british trade union said
netherlands belgium france drugs policy
the hague plan to transform cannabis vending coffee shops near the belgian
border into private clubs from january has been postponed indefinitely for
further study dutch official said
switzerland islam school
zurich the swiss canton of zurich said it had rejected request by far right
group to ban headscarves in schools and to stop exempting muslims from sports
classes during ramadan
afghanistan britain military protest islam
london british prime minister gordon brown would regard planned march by an
islamic group against the afghanistan war as completely inappropriate if it
upset dead soldiers families his office said
us germany history wwii moltke obit
new york freya von moltke prominent member of the german resistance during
world war ii alongside her husband has died at the age of in the united
states the valley news reported
abbas says peace talks depend on israel ending settlements
cairo jan afp
palestinian president mahmud abbas said on monday he was open to peace
negotiations with israel but that as agreed with egypt talks could only resume
when jewish settlement activity ends
there is no objection to returning to the negotiating table or holding any
meetings in principle abbas told reporters in the red sea resort of sharm el
sheikh after talks with egyptian president hosni mubarak
we have said and we will continue to say that when there is halt of
settlement activity and recognised terms of reference we are ready to resume
negotiations abbas said
he said egypt agreed with his views contradicting reports in israel maariv
newspaper that mubarak was to press abbas to accept us peace plan to restart
the talks immediately
president mubarak has stressed that the status of jerusalem be included in
the negotiations that settlement activity must end and there must be clear
terms of reference abbas said
later at press conference egyptian foreign minister ahmed abul gheit said
washington would present him and egyptian intelligence chief omar suleiman with
its position when they visit the united states on january
the process is prolonged and will need patience rigour and thought out
position so that the palestinians are not placed in difficult position the
official mena news agency quoted him as saying
in israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu told members of his likud party
that the time was ripe for resuming the peace process
since the formation of this government have called for restarting
negotiations with the palestinians without preconditions he told the likud
members in parliament on monday
believe the negotiations about entering negotiations have held us up long
enough in recent weeks got the impression that there is something of change
in the air hope there is ripening that will allow the peace process to
start netanyahu said
abbas visit to egypt comes almost week after netanyahu met mubarak in cairo
about the stalled peace process and as diplomats said washington was drafting
letters of guarantee for the peace talks
meanwhile jordan king abdullah ii also arrived monday in sharm el sheikh where
he held talks with mubarak on efforts to start serious and effective peace
talks between the israelis and palestinians according to statement from the
royal palace in amman
earlier the israeli paper maariv said washington is pushing for final status
israeli palestinian peace talks suspended during the gaza war year ago to
resume immediately adding mubarak would press abbas to agree to the deal
senior palestinian official denied they had received any such plan
we have not received neither officially nor in any other form plan from the
american administration to bring about peace in the region nimr hamad an aide
to palestinian president mahmud abbas told afp
israel is trying with these media leaks to pressure president abbas to enter
into negotiations without complete halt to settlements across all the
palestinian territories including jerusalem
us president barack obama has repeatedly called on the two sides to resume peace
talks but the palestinians have demanded israel first freeze all settlement
activity and commit to framework for the talks
the palestinians have insisted the borders of their promised state encompass all
of their land israel occupied in including mostly arab east jerusalem
which israel later annexed in move not recognised by the international
community as their capital
hamas takeover of gaza in which shrank abbas powerbase to the west
bank and deepened palestinian divisions has also hampered peace talks with
israel
new year freeze avalanches leave trail of death across europe
paris jan afp
cold snap across europe killed people in poland over the new year as
avalanches and skiiing accidents left at least others dead in the alps
police and rescuers said monday
as temperatures plunged to minus degrees celsius minus fahrenheit in
poland at the start of the year the number of cold related deaths rose to
so far this winter police said
most victims were homeless men aged to who died of hypothermia while
drunk they said
in the swiss alps avalanches killed at least five people with three others
missing emergency services and police said
the first avalanche hit on sunday in the central bernese alps killing one
skier emergency services were searching survivors from another avalanche that
struck half an hour later
eight helicopters carrying doctors rescuers and avalanche dogs were despatched
to the disaster site and pulled out eight people alive
some of the survivors were in critical condition and three died later in
hospital including doctor who had arrived to treat people following the first
avalanche
rescuers also found the body of hiker buried in the snow while three other
people two swiss and german were reported missing police said in
statement
emergency services were unable to restart the search on monday amid the
difficult weather conditions said theo maurer of switzerland mountain rescue
services
in western switzerland canton of valais mountain guide and his client were
hit by an avalanche on sunday officials said
the guide was able to get out alive but his client died with the body found
buried under centimetres inches of snow
steady snowfall overnight and all day monday led to several road accidents and
caused rare delays in the swiss public transport system
year old german tourist was killed in eastern switzerland ofen mountain
pass after her motor home collided head on with car that skidded on black
ice police said
several accidents were also reported on the busy motorway linking the cities of
lausanne and geneva
metro line in lausanne was disrupted for two hours on monday while in geneva
public buses were running with delays
in western austria rescue officials said they found the bodies of two german
skiers aged and who had fallen into ravine
another avalanche hit mountains on france border with italy on friday killing
three people french police said
western europe is shivering through one of its coldest winters in decades with
heavy snowfalls causing serious disruption to road rail and air traffic over
the christmas and new year holiday periods
in southern france number of high speed trains were delayed for up to two and
half hours near cavaillon and in the lyon region state railway operator sncf
said after france second city was blanketed by centimetres four inches of
snow
at lyon saint exupery airport flights were canceled
the nearby alpine city of grenoble recorded centimetres eight inches of
snow figure unseen since november causing serious disruptions on roads
french culture minister frederic mitterrand was in hospital overnight sunday
after skidding on black ice with his scooter the ministry said but he was
expected to resume his work later monday
in britain some revellers were stranded for three days at the tan hill inn
england highest pub standing feet metres above sea level in the
northern yorkshire dales after snowstorms on new year eve
snowplough on sunday finally broke through the more than two metre seven
foot snow drifts ending the revelry dubbed britain longest running new
year eve party by newspapers on monday
eu leaders to hold extra economy summit february
brussels jan afp
european union leaders will hold an extraordinary summit on february focused
on bolstering the economy the eu new president herman van rompuy said on
monday
preparing already the next european council on the th of february took
the initiative to convene this council with the main theme the economy he
said in brussels where the informal meeting will be held
we need more economic growth in order to finance on sound basis our social
model to preserve our european way of life said van rompuy who has just
started his new job
eu leaders are scheduled to hold another summit which is traditionally focused
on the economy on march
spain which took over the eu rotating presidency for six months on january
and is working in parallel with van rompuy has also made the economy the focus
of its term at the helm of the nation bloc
van rompuy and jose manuel barroso the head of the eu executive arm the
european commission will meet on friday in madrid with spanish prime minister
jose luis rodriguez zapatero seeking to ensure coordinated approach
new world tallest tower is metres high dubai
dubai jan afp
dubai burj khalifa tower the new tallest building in the world is metres
tall it was revealed on monday at the skyscraper official opening in the gulf
emirate
sheikh mohammad unveiled plaque and gave brief speech during which he
renamed the building the burj khalifa after the united arab emirates
president sheikh khalifa bin zayed al nahayan
according to giant screen at the opening ceremony the khalifa measures
metres feet overtaking taipei its taiwanese predecessor which is
metres feet high
european stocks close higher
london jan afp
europe main stock markets closed higher on monday the first trading day of
the new year as investors bet on the global economy recovering from the worst
slump since the
london ftse index of leading shares rose percent to points
in paris the cac closed above the key points level for the first time
since october jumping percent to points and in frankfurt
the dax added percent to points
football nigerian footballer arrested in amsterdam
the hague jan afp
victor agali nigerian born footballer for greek club levadiakos has been
arrested at schiphol airport near amsterdam for carrying two fake passports
dutch military police said on monday
at passport control on december he agali was found to be in possession
of fake passport said gendarmerie spokesman robert van kapel
upon further investigation the year old striker in transit at schiphol on
voyage from lagos to athens turned out to have two sets of fake travel
documents said van kapel
in the one the page with his personal particulars has been modified in the
other it was the visa he said
panel of judges will decide on wednesday whether or not to extend the
footballer provisional detention said spokeswoman for the haarlem district
court
agali who had been returning to greece after visiting his wife and child in
nigeria pleads innocence his lawyer bob kaarls told afp
the first passport judged problematic by officials was sent to him in this
form by post by nigerian authorities in he said
dutch authorities claimed that the schengen visa contained in the second
document issued by cyprus did not meet the requisite standards said kaarls
kaarls said levadiakos has indicated its willingness to pay the bail to secure
their striker freedom
agali has played for french teams including marseille toulon
and nice as well as germany schalke
on christmas day year old nigerian was arrested in the united states for
the botched bombing of northwest airlines plane bound for detroit from
schiphol
football coyle on verge of bolton switch
burnley england jan afp
owen coyle appeared monday to be on the verge of quitting burnley for premier
league rivals bolton after it was confirmed he had held talks about filling the
managerial vacancy at the reebok stadium
bolton have targeted coyle as the man to succeed gary megson who was sacked
last week after two years in charge and burnley confirmed on monday that their
manager had already discussed switch to their local rivals
burnley chairman barry kilby was due to meet coyle later in the day to discuss
the future of the manager who guided the club into the top flight for the first
time in years
clause in coyle contract means it could cost bolton up to three million
pounds to secure his release but all the signs were that the scot was on his way
back to the club he played for between and
although bolton are currently in the premier league bottom three coyle would
enjoy considerably greater resources there than he does at burnley who are only
two points clear of the drop zone
obama returns to washington after holiday break
washington jan afp
us president barack obama returned to the washington area on monday after his
hawaiian vacation and readied to face emerging crises including resurgent fears
of terror attack
air force one carrying the us first family touched down at andrews air force
base in maryland at around am gmt
the president is set to meet with top intelligence officials on tuesday to
discuss how to improve cooperation after thwarted christmas day attack on us
airliner by an alleged agent of al qaeda
tennis cilic makes impressive start in india
chennai india jan afp
marin cilic of croatia began the defence of his atp chennai open title with
fluent first round win over russian igor kunitsyn here on monday
the world number disposed of the th ranked kunitsyn and then
warned rivals he will not be easily beaten in his first tournament of the new
season
it is good to start the year well after coming off long break said cilic
who won the dollar event last year by beating indian wildcard somdev
devvarman in the final
think played pretty good today served well and was consistent from the
baseline igor had no break points in the match which showed was on top of
him
the second seeded cilic said he was confident of doing well in the tournament
despite the presence of giant killing world number eight robin soderling of
sweden
look it does not matter who else there is in the draw said the big serving
croat who sent down eight aces against kunitsyn
everyone has to win five matches to win the tournament am thinking of only
my game know will do well if continue to play well
soderling who beat world number one roger federer last week on his way to the
final of an exhibition tournament in abu dhabi opens his campaign on tuesday
against american robby ginepri
meanwhile unfancied czech jan hajek created the first upset of the tournament
by beating sixth seed simon greul of germany in three sets
hajek who ended the previous season just outside the top came from behind
to oust the th ranked greul
hajek second round opponent will be santiago giraldo of colombia who overcame
fighting bjorn phau of germany
spanish veteran carlos moya playing for the first time on the circuit since
february last year following string of injuries stumbled at the first hurdle
moya two time champion in chennai in and lost to fourth seed
janko tipsarevic of serbia in an hour and minutes
am not disappointed because it was great to be back on court after so many
months said moya the former world number one
janko is the fourth seed and was expected to win but think played well in
many parts of the match especially the second set
moya will next compete at the australian open later this month but said he is
realistic enough to know his chances of winning the title are non existent
of the players at the open won win it and am one of them he
said but still look forward to playing there may be but am not
finished yet
rugby union parks in cardiff switch
glasgow jan afp
dan parks the australian born fly half who has won caps for scotland is to
leave current club glasgow for celtic league rivals cardiff blues at the end of
this season he confirmed monday
parks joined glasgow in and has been the club top scorer in each of
the past six seasons last weekend he became the first player to reach
points in the celtic league
it difficult to leave place you ve been for so long but with so many young
talented players coming through it the right time parks said
cricket dilshan stars in sri lankan victory
dhaka jan afp
tillakaratne dilshan cracked solid century to power sri lanka to an emphatic
seven wicket victory over bangladesh in triangular one day series match here
on monday
the in form opener hit for his sixth one day hundred as sri lanka surpassed
bangladesh with more than five overs to spare in the day night match
bangladesh were earlier well served by mohammad ashraful who made an impressive
to help his side post competitive total
sri lanka will now clash with india on tuesday each side will play four league
matches before the top two make it to the final on january
dilshan who had smashed two centuries in india in five match series just
before this tournament put his side on course for an easy victory with
run stand for the second wicket with skipper kumar sangakkara
the sri lankan captain was more aggressive than his partner scoring ball
with fours before being caught behind off debutant seamer shafiul islam
bangladesh had chance to dismiss dilshan when the batsman was on in total
of but skipper shakib al hasan failed to hold return catch
man of the match dilshan batting with runner because of hamstring injury
during the later part of his knock completed his century when he drove spinner
ashraful for four
dilshan who put on for the third wicket with thilan samaraweera not
out hit fours in his ball knock
bangladesh were earlier struggling at after being put in to bat when
ashraful added for the fifth wicket with mushfiqur rahim and for the
next with mohammad mahmudullah
ashraful reached his th half century in one day internationals with an
aggressive shot pulling paceman suranga lakmal for four he hit six
boundaries in his ball knock before being run out in the penultimate over
bangladesh scored in the last overs with naeem islam not out
smashing in the closing over bowled by lakmal
the hosts made an impressive run start through tamim iqbal and imrul
kayes before losing four wickets in the space of nine runs with lakmal
taking two
iqbal struck on the helmet off paceman chanaka welegedara smashed the bowler
for four boundaries in the same over
lakmal put bangladesh under pressure when he dismissed raqibul hasan for nought
and shakib for one in successive overs to reduce the hosts to
greece to submit economic reforms to eu end january
athens jan afp
the greek goverment said monday it would submit to the european commission by
the end of the month its stability and growth programme for restoring the
country debt ridden economy
the programme that we are developing in contact with the european commission
should be officially presented to the commission at the end of january
government spokesman george petalotis said
he denied that there was any delay in the plan after greek media reports that it
was supposed to be submitted to brussels on monday
petalotis added that delegation from the commission the european union
executive arm was expected in athens in the next few days to discuss the
programme
local media reported that the commission delegation would arrive wednesday along
with representatives of the european central bank which oversees monetary
policy in eurozone countries
greece european partners and financial markets have been losing patience with
athens to get firm grip on economic reforms given the country deep crisis
greece is struggling with public debt that approaches percent of gross
domestic product far in excess of the percent stipulated by the eurozone
the government has said the debt in will likely come to percent of
output
the deficit in public finances for amounts to percent of gdp well
above the percent eurozone limit
according to greece finance ministry the stability programme is expected to
cut the deficit to percent in and it should return under the eurozone
three percent ceiling in
prime minister george papandreou in power since the socialists won october
general election has pledged to rein in spending and combat tax evasion in an
effort to balance the books
newly wed malawi gays denied bail
blantyre jan afp
malawian gay couple arrested after holding wedding ceremony last week was
denied bail monday as court gave prosecutors six more days to wrap up their
investigation into indecencies by the men
steven monjeza and tiwonge chimbalanga appeared downcast as they walked
handcuffed into the court amid tight police security to jeers and cheers from
hundreds of onlookers
they were arrested one week ago in malawi commercial capital blantyre for
holding the country first public same sex wedding ceremony an act that
landed them with three counts of indecent practices
they have pleaded not guilty if convicted they face up to years in prison
police prosecutor dickens mwambazi urged the court to deny them bail saying
they should remain in custody for their own safety and security because their
case had attracted widespread condemnation from malawians
their lives would be endangered if they were released he said
magistrate nyakwawa usiwa usiwa said he feared the couple would tamper with
evidence if they were freed but warned he would release them if prosecutors
failed to wrap up their investigation quickly
by january the state should finish gathering information on the accused or
else the court will grant bail with or without any condition he said
the couple is represented by several lawyers hired by the centre for the
development of people the only known gay rights movement in malawi
their five month love affair has shocked the conservative nation where
homosexuality is banned and where sex topics are still largely taboo
monjeza and chimbalanga had not applied for legal recognition of their
relationship but held symbolic wedding ceremony to seal their relationship
despite the government laws against homosexuality authorities do recognise
the existence of gays in malawi and often call on them to come out in order to
help fight aids in country where percent of adults have hiv
british government in chinese learning pledge
london jan afp
every british teenager should have the chance to learn mandarin due to the
growing importance of china in world events the government said monday
one in seven secondary schools which teach pupils aged currently offer
mandarin and schools secretary ed balls said he wanted to extend this through
language partnerships between schools
in this new decade our ties with emerging economies like china will become even
more important and it vital that young people are equipped with the skills
which they need and british businesses need too in order to succeed in
rapidly changing world he said
that why we want all secondary pupils to have the opportunity to learn up
and coming languages like mandarin if they choose either at their own school or
nearby school or college
businesses are increasingly interested in staff who speak mandarin according to
poll published last year by the cbi business lobby group
it found that percent of employers were looking for mandarin or cantonese
speakers compared to percent for french and percent for german
according to last year results for gcses the compulsory exams taken at age
total of candidates took mandarin percent more than the
previous year
the take up may also increase after the biggest exam board in the country began
offering mandarin gcse last september with the first pupils expected to
complete the two year course in june
however the conservatives expressed scepticism at the government aspirations
noting that take up of modern foreign languages has fallen since ministers made
