polona hercog slo bt yuliana fedak ukr
barbora zahlavova strycova cze bt regina kulikova rus
serena williams usa bt urszula radwanska pol
vania king usa bt dominika cibulkova svk
casey dellacqua aus bt anastasiya yakimova blr
sorana cirstea rom bt olivia rogowska aus
kaia kanepi est bt chan yung jan tpe
carla suarez navarro esp bt ayumi morita jpn
alona bondarenko ukr bt kathrin woerle ger
kristina barrois ger bt akgul amanmuradova uzb
roberta vinci ita bt anna lena groenefeld ger
karolina sprem cro bt anabel medina garrigues esp
andrea petkovic ger bt renata voracova cze
agnieszka radwanska pol bt tatjana malek ger
jelena jankovic srb bt monica niculescu rom
venus williams usa bt lucie safarova cze
petra kvitova cze bt jill craybas usa
alla kudryavtseva rus bt melanie oudin usa
gisela dulko arg bt zuzana kucova svk
sybille bammer aut bt arantxa parra santonja esp
sabine lisicki ger bt petra martic cro
alberta brianti ita bt varvara lepchenko usa
francesca schiavone ita bt alize cornet fra
julie coin fra bt alicia molik aus
urgent citi suffers billion dollar loss in final quarter
new york jan afp
battered financial giant citigroup said tuesday it suffered net loss of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of for full year loss of
billion dollars
japan ruling party heavyweight to answer funds probe
tokyo jan afp
top figure in japan ruling party agreed tuesday to questioning by
prosecutors over money scandal that has battered approval ratings for the
four month old centre left government
authorities are investigating whether ichiro ozawa dubbed the shadow
shogun in the governing party accepted illegal donations from construction
firm and laundered it to invest in an upscale tokyo property
prime minister yukio hatoyama has expressed support for the secretary general of
his democratic party of japan dpj even after prosecutors arrested three
former and current secretaries to ozawa over the weekend
he believes his hands are clean believe it would be best if he explains it
hatoyama told reporters hope he will do so at an early stage
ozawa the architect of the dpj landslide election win has questioned the
investigation and pledged to fight the claims but he is willing to answer
prosecutors kyodo news and public broadcaster nhk reported
kyodo quoted an unidentified source close to ozawa as saying he is ready for
questioning at an undetermined date but that preparations are necessary
reports said the questioning may take place as early as later this week
prosecutors have raided ozawa offices and asked him to submit to voluntary
questioning as they probe whether money was illegally given to him by
construction firm now building dam in ozawa political home region
prosecutors have also raided firms linked to the dam project with two medium
size construction companies the latest to be targeted tuesday nhk footage
showed
conservative opposition lawmakers tuesday grilled hatoyama in parliament over
the affair and about his own scandal in which the premier used undeclared funds
from his own vast family fortune for political activities
several media polls this week showed nearly percent of respondents said ozawa
should quit the number two party post and support ratings for the hatoyama
cabinet have plunged to the percent range
veteran politician ozawa led the dpj until an earlier funding scandal forced him
to step down as party president early last year when his former right hand man
hatoyama took over the party presidency
austria sees deficit ratio at pct
vienna jan afp
austria public finances were in the red last year but not quite as deeply as
expected according to provisional figures published by the finance ministry on
tuesday
austria public deficit amounted to percent of gross domestic product gdp
in higher than the ceiling of percent laid down in the european
union maastricht treaty
nevertheless the figure was better than the percent finance minister josef
proell had been forecasting four months ago as well as the percent that the
european union had been pencilling in for the alpine state
under eu rules member states are not allowed to run up deficits in excess of
percent of gdp and austria is already facing so called excessive deficit
procedure
the country overall debt similarly breached an eu limit of percent last
year topping percent of gdp the preliminary data showed
in austria had deficit ratio of percent and debt ratio of
percent
somali pirate clashes over record ransom kill at least six
mogadishu jan afp
intense fighting between somali pirate gangs over record ransom amount paid
for the release of greek oil supertanker has killed at least six people
elders and pirates said on tuesday
three pirates and civilian were killed in the latest bout of fighting that
erupted in the town of harardhere late monday elders and pirates told afp by
phone
tension has been high in the central somali pirate lair since an estimated seven
million dollars were dropped by small plane on sunday for the release of the
vlcc maran centaurus
the greek flagged supertanker is third of kilometre yards long and
carrying two million barrels of crude oil
the situation is calm this morning but there is still tension between the
pirates three of them including senior pirate leader were killed so far and
three others were injured local elder moalim abdalla hasan told afp
we are trying to mediate between them because they are disturbing our peace
civilian was killed in the crossfire and the residents are very concerned about
this feud he added
hasan nile local grocer who could not open his shop on tuesday because of the
security situation in harardhere said the pirate vendetta involved heavy
weapons
think there will not be trust between them any more since they killed each
other three pirates have died already since yesterday and if there no swift
mediation more will die including civilians nile said
harardhere resident husein warsame said late monday that the fighting between
members of the saleban sub clan had brought life to standstill
there is no movement so far the pirates are exchanging heavy machine gun fire
inside the town and there are dead bodies in the streets he said
according to other sources in harardhere two pirates died when dispute flared
on sunday immediately after the maran centaurus ransom was delivered bringing
to six the number of people killed over the disputed ransom
somalia pirates treat every successful hijacking like private venture in
which businessmen from all over the country can invest by offering financial or
material assistance buying and selling shares
the bigger the captured vessel the more complex the shareholder structure
squabbling over ransom is not uncommon but monday night clashes were some of
the most violent recorded in somalia otherwise relatively united piratehood
according to ecoterra international an environmentalist ngo monitoring illegal
maritime activity in the region the pirates received up to nine million dollars
in at least two separate payments
upward of seven million dollars were dropped on the deck of the maran centaurus
on sunday and the rest paid by cash transfer
while pirates have been known to redistribute part of their share to friends and
locals some residents have complained that the modern day buccaneers have
brought inflation alcohol and prostitution to the region
the operators of the maran centaurus the second largest vessel captured by
pirates yet confirmed the supertanker and its crew of were freed on monday
and were heading for the south african port of durban
leftist spanish deputy blasts fbi over bin laden photo
madrid jan afp
spanish politician tuesday charged the fbi had deliberately taken his
photograph from its files to use in digitally enhanced picture of osama bin
laden because of his leftist views
do not believe in coincidences and less so in the american secret services
said gaspar llamazares deputy with the communist led united left coalition
do not think the fbi came across my image by chance on google am sure
that in addition to incompetence this is the sectarian and ideological use of
law enforcement the heat of preventive war
the fbi used the hair and forehead of llamazares in new computer generated
photo of bin laden
the contemporary representation of the al qaeda leader with greying hair and
stubble was visible for several hours on the most wanted rewards for justice
website before it was removed
fbi spokesman ken hoffman said saturday that an fbi technician acting on his
own initiative had taken the image of llamazares from the internet
but the politician charged the agency took the photo from its own files
if leftists are part of the fbi files north americans europeans or from
elsewhere it not by chance or laughing matter he told news conference
in parliament
my question is what would have happened had it not been llamazares if it had
been public official who is not well known an anonymous citizen setting foot
in an airport could have been scared because these people first shoot and ask
questions afterwards
us ambassador alan solomont told spanish interior minister alfredo perez
rubalcaba he was sorry and dismayed by the affair which had caused damage to
llamazares rubalcaba said tuesday
llamazares said he had sent several letters to the ambassador the fbi and the
us congress requesting an explanation
spanish member of parliament should have response from the american
deputies he said
amnesty calls for detained yemen editor not to be tortured
dubai jan afp
rights group amnesty international called on tuesday for yemen to ensure that
newspaper editor and his two sons arrested earlier this month are protected from
torture and other ill treatment
yemeni police on january arrested hisham bashraheel the owner and editor of
the main southern newspaper al ayyam following deadly clashes between police
and armed guards of the banned daily
also arrested were his sons mohammed and hani
police had laid siege to the daily offices after policeman was killed while
attempting to disperse gathering protesting the banning since may of the daily
that is accused of sympathising with southern separatists
we fear that hisham bashraheel and his sons may be prisoners of conscience
held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and
assembly if so they should be released immediately and unconditionally said
philip luther deputy director of amnesty middle east and north africa
programme
the london based rights group said all three are being held and questioned at
the criminal investigation department in aden
based on its research into patterns of torture and other ill treatment in yemen
over number of years amnesty international believes that the place and nature
of their detention puts them at risk of such treatment the statement said
bashraheel is also wanted by prosecutors in sanaa to stand trial for his alleged
role in the murder of man in front of the paper offices in
al ayyam one of the largest dailies in the south was one of eight closed over
allegations of inciting separatism in the region amid wave of deadly unrest
there
the yemeni government is dealing not only with separatist sentiments in the
south but rebellion by shiites in the north and militants from al qaeda
real ira arms deal suspect faces lithuanian agent in trial
vilnius jan afp
an irishman who risks years in jail in lithuania over purported real ira
arms plot faced witness from the baltic state intelligence service tuesday
defence lawyer said
it closed door hearing and the agent testimony is being given
anonymously said ingrida botyriene member of michael campbell defence
team confirming simply that lithuanian agent had been cross examined
campbell was arrested in january in vilnius while meeting lithuanian
agent posing as an arms dealer
he has denied the charges attempting to smuggle weapons illegal firearms
possession and seeking to aid terrorist organisation claiming he was set
up
the trial began in august last year but there have only been handful of
hearings just three of the scheduled nine witnesses have testified so far said
botyriene
british agent testified monday and the lithuanian was due to be cross
examined again next monday thereafter no hearings were planned until february
the court angered the defence by deciding to hold most hearings behind closed
doors to protect the identity of witnesses
the public should be allowed to see that some agents blatantly refuse to answer
our questions said botyriene
campbell is the brother of liam campbell one of four leaders of the real
ira militant group found liable in for an august bombing in the
northern irish town of omagh which killed people
liam campbell who is also wanted in lithuania has been detained in northern
ireland pending extradition
the real ira broke with the provisional ira once the main catholic militant
organisation opposed to british rule in northern ireland in over the
latter support for peace moves
the omagh bombing failed to derail an april accord ending most of northern
ireland troubles three decades of violence pitting catholics against pro
british protestants and british forces that claimed at least lives
the real ira returned to the spotlight in march claiming shooting at
northern irish barracks which killed two british soldiers
eurozone bid for seat unrealistic
brussels jan afp
eurozone chief jean claude juncker bid for seat for the single currency bloc
at future talks seems doomed to fail according to two senior european
diplomats
luxembourg prime minister juncker placed improved international political
representation for the countries that share the euro currency high on his
agenda when returned for new month term on monday
juncker said the eurogroup had to become member of the because the
currency isn at the moment represented by its political leadership
his call followed similar push by the incoming european commissioner for
economic and monetary affairs
the nominee finland olli rehn told lawmakers last week that the euro
countries need to work towards unified representation of the euro area and
the eurozone in international institutions such as the or imf
however one eu ambassador warned that eurozone representation will remain
secondary issue until questions surrounding the eu own representation in the
are resolved
it not realistic he underlined it has to be the eu nations first
and the later
the source said that with the arrival of permanent eu president in belgium
herman van rompuy calls from outside europe for fewer european seats at the top
table in global talks were growing
the pressure over the next few years in the and the international monetary
fund will be for europe representation to shrink not grow added another
european source
if the eurozone members want to pool their representation that is matter for
them but first the commission has said and rehn reiterated that it will
bring forward paper on the issue he underlined
britain france germany italy and the eu as whole are each members of the
group of major world economies but developing nations are pushing for more
equitable division of votes and influence
alert
citigroup suffers net loss of billion dollars in fourth quarter of
islamic extremism common threat catholic prelates
vatican city jan afp
christians and muslims should work together to counter islamic extremism roman
catholic prelates said tuesday in working document released ahead of synod
on the middle east in october
extremist islamic currents clearly threat to everyone christians and
muslims alike require treatment in common they said
quoting pastoral letter to arab christians the working paper said
political islam seek to impose an islamic way of life on muslim and
non muslim alike and return to original islam
the letter added in pursuit of this goal some do not hesitate to resort to
violence
this attitude though primarily concerning muslim society has an impact on the
christian presence in the middle east lamented the document containing
guidelines for reflection ahead of the october synod
christians and muslims must be seen to be citizens of the same country and
homeland sharing the same language and culture not to mention the same
fortunes and misfortunes of our countries the paper said
number of middle eastern churches come under the catholic umbrella including
maronites chaldeans armenians and copts
christians are small minority across the middle east apart from lebanon the
document noted warning them against isolating themselves out of fear of others
and falling into ghetto mentality
the page document was compiled by planning council made up of seven
patriarchs from the catholic church eastern rite the latin patriarch of
jerusalem vatican officials and the heads of the turkish and iranian bishops
conferences
oftentimes relations can be difficult mainly because muslims frequently mix
religion and politics putting christians in precarious situation of being
considered as non citizens the prelates wrote
where we note the rise of fundamentalism in many countries we also witness the
readiness of great number of muslims to resist this growing extremism they
said
speaking about and working for peace seems impossible considering that war and
violence are virtually forced upon us in the middle east the prelates wrote
the solution to conflicts rests in the hands of the stronger country in its
occupying and inflicting wars on another country they said
violence is in the hands of the strong and weak alike the latter resorting to
whatever violence is within reach in order to be free they added
russian rights group memorial proposed for nobel peace prize
oslo jan afp
norwegian member of parliament said tuesday she intended to nominate russian
human rights organisation memorial and its founding member svetlana gannushkina
for the nobel peace prize
the nomination could pose dilemma to norwegian nobel committee chairman
thorbjoern jagland noted norwegian daily verdens gang vg as jagland is also
secretary general of the council of europe in which russia plays an important
role
my candidates are human rights defence organisation memorial and leader
svetlana gannushkina lawmaker erna solberg told vg
solberg is the head of norway conservative party one of the main opposition
parties to the labour party in power which jagland used to lead
am not proposing memorial to challenge mr jagland but if he does have to
evaluate such candidacy in light of his position in the council of europe mr
jagland will be faced with dilemma she said
despite criticism that he would not dare award the nobel peace prize to
russian dissident organisation because of potential conflict of interest
jagland has consistently rebuffed calls to resign from his post at the nobel
committee to focus on his role at the council of europe
when became secretary general of the council of europe took the oath to
never let the government of member state dictate my actions and to defend the
values of the council in terms of democracy rule of law and human rights
retorted jagland
would therefore have no problem awarding the prize to human rights defender
in whichever continent including in europe he added in statement emailed to
vg
the deadline for nominations for the nobel peace prize is february
last year jagland first year at the head of the five member committee the
prize went to us president barack obama less than nine months after he entered
the white house
the choice baffled the world and was criticised by many in the united states and
abroad
corruption biggest concern for afghans unodc
vienna jan afp
corruption is the biggest worry for afghans more so than insecurity or
unemployment according to the findings of new un report released tuesday
in report entitled corruption in afghanistan the united nations office on
drugs and crime unodc found that percent of the afghan population felt that
public dishonesty is bigger concern than insecurity with percent or
unemployment percent
the afghans say that it is impossible to obtain public service without paying
bribe said unodc executive director antonio maria costa
based on interviews with people in provincial capitals and more than
villages around afghanistan the report found that graft was part of
everyday life in afghanistan
during the survey period one afghan out of two had to pay at least one
kickback to public official more than half of the time percent the
request for illicit payment was an explicit demand by the service provider it
said
in most instances the bribes were paid in cash
the average bribe was dollars euros in country where gross gdp
gross domestic product per capita is mere dollars per year the unodc
noted
that meant that afghans paid out billion dollars in bribes over the past
months equivalent to almost one quarter percent of afghanistan licit
gdp
bribery is crippling tax on people who are already among the world
poorest costa said
the biggest culprits were police and local officials followed by judges
prosecutors or members of the government the unodc found
more than half percent of afghans believed that international
organistions and ngos non governmental organisations are corrupt and are in
the country just to get rich the report said
this perception risks undermining aid effectiveness and discrediting those
trying to help country desperately in need of assistance
the cancer of corruption in afghanistan is metastatic costa warned
in order to prevent this condition from becoming terminal president karzai
must urgently administer tough medicine based on the united nations convention
against corruption which he pushed so hard to ratify
corruption was the biggest impediment to improving security development and
governance in afghanistan costa said it is also enabling other forms of
crime like drug trafficking and terrorism
if the phenomenon meant that afghans were unable to obtain services and
protection from the government or able to do so only through bribery the
government of afghanistan will not have the support it desperately needs from
every community across the country if it is to win its battle against the
taliban insurgency the unodc said
for this reason corruption is not an issue that can be deferred for after
pressing matters of security health nutrition and education have been
addressed
bangladesh predicts six percent growth
dhaka jan afp
bangladesh economy will grow around six percent this fiscal year the central
bank said tuesday despite downbeat forecast from the international monetary
fund
bangladesh bank governor atiur rahman said growth would be driven by exports
rising domestic demand and remittances
with data showing exports regaining momentum in the coming months robust
domestic demand and growing remittance inflows the country gross domestic
product will grow at to six percent as we projected last july he said
the imf in october said bangladesh economic growth this fiscal year would be
the lowest to be logged by the country since when the economy grew by
percent
the imf projection was based on shrinking exports and declining outflow of
migrant workers
the south asian nation economy grew percent the fiscal year the
slowest rate since as output cooled due to the global economic
slowdown
the country army of more than million overseas workers sent back record
billion dollars in boosting spending at home and sending foreign
exchange reserves soaring
the world bank has said the country needs to grow at seven percent annually to
halve the level of poverty by
cricket india in control of first bangladesh test
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
gautam gambhir closed in on rapid half century as india raced to in
their second innings at stumps on the third day of the opening test against
bangladesh on tuesday
the opener not out added for the opening wicket with stand in captain
virender sehwag after india had narrowly avoided conceding the lead to
bangladesh for the first time in six tests
bangladesh were bowled out for in their first innings shortly after tea in
reply to india
india got off to strong start with the left handed gambhir and sehwag
dominating the bangladeshi attack with attractive shots during their over
partnership
sehwag fell just three balls after hitting straight six off left arm spinner
shakib al hasan caught by raqibul hasan at square leg while attempting another
big shot
nightwatchman amit mishra was unbeaten with ball when play was called
off due to bad light
bangladesh mohammad mahmudullah earlier hit an impressive for his maiden
half century he put on for the seventh wicket with mushfiqur rahim to
raise his team hopes of gaining the lead
mahmudullah said bangladesh were not out of the test
india are only leading by runs if we get early wickets we can get
positive result he said
there is not as much turn in the wicket as it was on the first day on this
wicket target of and even is chaseable
the hosts were tottering at before being revived by mahmudullah and rahim
but three late wickets by indian leg spinner mishra saw them concede the lead
bangladesh failed to cope with india pace in the morning when they lost three
wickets in the space of runs but mahmudullah and rahim denied the visitors
success for more than two hours with their sensible knocks
the duo applied themselves remarkably well patiently waiting for loose
deliveries mahmudullah played some handsome shots in his ball knock before
being caught behind off paceman shanthakumaran sreesanth
wicketkeeper rahim had been batting confidently before he fell to loose shot
caught by sehwag at mid wicket while attempting to hit mishra against the turn
rahim struck six fours in his ball knock
mishra and left arm paceman zaheer khan finished with three wickets each while
seamers ishant sharma and sreesanth grabbed two apiece
it was good bowling effort said zaheer basically they were just playing
shots so it was important that we stick to our areas and be patient
definitely the wicket improved as play went on we are happy with the
proceedings
play was delayed for the third successive day due to dense fog which had
restricted play to of the stipulated overs on the first day and just
overs on the second day
the second and final test will start in dhaka on january
alpine skiing injury rules gruber out for rest of season
vienna jan afp
austrian skiier christoph gruber will miss the vancouver olympics after being
ruled out for the remainder of the season on tuesday because of injuries he
suffered last weekend
the year old five time winner on the circuit was concussed and also
suffered injuries to his left knee and tibia in fall during training run for
last saturday downhill at wengen switzerland
haiti creditors push for debt cancellation
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 citing its 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 club an informal grouping of governments from rich countries that have made
public loans to other states had already agreed to cancel all the million
dollars million euros owed by haiti to its members
these countries include the united states japan germany france britain and
canada
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
haiti had around million dollars of loans outstanding from the imf at the
end of according to the fund figures
in the wake of the quake the two multilateral institutions moved to provide
emergency financing
the imf last week said it would provide million dollars in emergency
financing after the quake
the world bank also announced an emergency million dollar package for haiti
and its president robert zoellick said last week it aimed to set up
reconstruction fund for long term assistance
ipcc chief defends panel in himalaya glacier flap
abu dhabi jan afp
the chairman of the un panel of climate scientists defended his nobel winning
group on tuesday against criticism that it had erroneously forecast an early
disappearance of the himalayan glaciers
section of report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change
ipcc said the probability of glaciers in the himalayas disappearing by the
year and perhaps sooner is very high
ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri addressing reporters at the world future energy
summit in abu dhabi said that even if the remarks on himalayan glaciers is
incorrect it does not undermine evidence supporting the existence of climate
change
theoretically let say we slipped up on one number don think it takes
anything away from the overwhelming scientific evidence of what happening with
