by the local authorities in valencia the us sources said
under the deed of gift the th century rules that govern the competition the
participating vessels must be constructed in the country where the sailing club
which they represent is located
but oracle charges alinghi were made in the united states
alinghi has said oracle accusations are simply false as its boat was built
in switzerland and so are its sails
alinghi and oracle have been arguing over the rules of the america cup in
court since alinghi won the last edition of the world most prestigious
yachting event in valencia in
the new york supreme court ruled in april that the cup should be settled by
one on one multihull duel between the two sides next february instead of the
traditional fully fledged regatta with several teams
it also ruled last month that the event must be held in valencia rejecting an
appeal by alinghi which favoured ras al khaimah
yemen policeman shot dead in clashes over newspaper witness
sanaa jan afp
yemeni policeman was killed on monday and another was wounded in shootout
with guards outside the offices of banned newspaper in the southern city of
aden witnesses said
the incident occurred when policemen tried to disperse demonstrators waging
protest outside the building to protest the decision by the authorities last
year to suspend al ayyam newspaper the witnesses told afp
policeman was killed and another one was wounded when gunfire broke out as
security forces tried to break up the protest one of the witnesses said
police then cordonned off the area in the crater neighbourhood of aden although
tensions remained high another witness said
armed guards are deployed outside the newspaper owned by editor hisham
bashraheel who is wanted by prosecutors in sanaa to stand trial for his alleged
role in the murder of man in front of the paper offices in
last year one person was killed and three wounded in gunfight which erupted as
police moved in to arrest bashraheel
the newspaper was closed by the authorities in may week before the gunfight
al ayyam one of the largest newspapers in the south was one of eight closed at
the time over allegations of inciting separatism in the region amid wave of
deadly unrest there
football mccarthy can leave if right offer comes along allardyce
blackburn england jan afp
sam allardyce has signalled that he will allow benni mccarthy to leave blackburn
this month but only if he receives an acceptable offer for the unsettled south
african striker
mccarthy has grown disillusioned with his lack of first team starts under
allardyce and is agitating for move to ensure regular football in the run up
to the world cup finals in his home country in june and july
the striker is reportedly target for scottish giants celtic and has also been
linked with move to portsmouth
but allardyce insisted mccarthy could still rekindle his career at blackburn
who signed him from fc porto for million pounds in
me and benni know why he has not played as much which is personal private and
confidential to us allardyce told reporters on monday ahead of blackburn
league cup semi final first leg against aston villa
but really think it lies in his hands if he wants to play more at blackburn
not mine so if he puts that right he can play major part here and get to
cup final
mccarthy said last week that he hoped blackburn would not ask for an
unreasonable fee for him and thereby prevent him from being in prime condition
going into the world cup
mccarthy said this is very big year for me to come from south africa and
have the chance to play for my country in the world cup is massive
can risk that by playing the odd game here and there for blackburn need
to play and hope they will allow me to fulfil that dream
allardyce admitted deal could happen if it suited blackburn interests but
said that to date there had been no concrete interest in mccarthy from other
clubs
he has been frustrated by the lack of times he played so he wants to leave
but we ve had no offers for him at the moment the blackburn boss said
like every player that wants to leave as long as it is right for the football
club first and then it suits them then that okay that business that how
it happens in this industry now
eu lawmakers accuse tehran of blocking iran visit
brussels jan afp
european lawmakers accused tehran monday of blocking their planned visit to iran
this week and complained that opposition to the trip by members of the us
congress had contributed to the move
earlier tehran said the lawmakers themselves had postponed the trip
in surprise move the iranian ambassador in brussels ali asghar khaji
yesterday sunday blocked the planned january visit to iran by
delegation of meps the greens bloc in the assembly said in statement
german green mep and head of the delegation barbara lochbihler said regret
this last minute move to block the eu parliament visit to iran which is further
proof of the iranian authorities blank refusal to allow any serious discussion
about the grave unresolved issues in the country
the iranian embassy press service in brussels was unable to comment immediately
on the allegation
the eu lawmakers were due to meet human rights activists as well as iranian
parliamentarians as iran opposition faces government crackdown amid
protests over the disputed june re election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad
last year
iranian security forces have arrested scores of opposition figures and
dissidents since fierce clashes in tehran on december between police and
protesters in which at last eight people were killed opposition websites said
iran state run irna news agency quoted ministry spokesman ramin mehmanparast
as saying monday that new date for the visit will be found by mutual
agreement
he noted the importance of maintaining cooperation between the two
parliaments
on friday spokeswoman for european parliament president jerzy buzek said that
around members of the us congress had protested against the eu visit in
letter arguing that it came at an inappropriate time
the isolated voices within the us congress and eu parliament who opposed the
visit have gifted an easy excuse to iran to block the trip on grounds of media
pressure the greens said
this does huge disservice to the iranians who have been bravely demonstrating
for freedom and democracy their statement said
the european union has condemned iran crackdown on opponents of ahmadinejad
and called for the rights of protesters to be respected
last month the leaders of the eu nations expressed support for new sanctions
against iran warning that tehran refusal to negotiate over its nuclear
programme must be met with clear response
the planned visit would have come just as washington and its european allies
prepare tougher new sanctions against the islamic republic which insists that
its atomic plans are simply aimed at producing electricity
huge tomb found in ancient egypt burial ground
cairo jan afp
egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the largest tomb yet discovered in the
ancient saqqara necropolis antiquities chief zahi hawass said on monday
one of two tombs found which were carved out of stone consists of vast
chamber that branches off into many alcoves one alcove contained skeletons and
pottery and led to another chamber with seven metre deep foot well
this is the largest tomb in saqarra hawass told afp it took me two hours to
look round all of it
at the northern end of the tomb hawass said archaeologists found another alcove
that contained mummified falcons symbols of the sky god horus and well
preserved pottery
however he said the tomb did appear to have been looted
pottery was found in the other much smaller tomb
this discovery confirms that the saqqara area still contains undiscovered
secrets hawass said
yemen rejects afghanistan comparison
doha jan afp
yemeni foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi rejected monday any comparison between
his country and afghanistan as an al qaeda haven even as several western
embassies closed in sanaa over fears of an attack
the situation is different in yemen and cannot be compared to afghanistan
kurbi told reporters during his visit to doha
certainly there is problem with al qaeda and an interest among the
international community in its activities in the arabian peninsula country the
minister said
yemen is capable of confronting these groups but it needs international aid to
form and train anti terrorist units as well as economic aid since the problem
also has an economic dimension
at the weekend washington and london announced plans to help yemen reinforce
its anti terrorist capabilities after local al qaeda offshoot was linked to
botched christmas attack on us airliner
threats of attacks by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula or aqap have since
forced the closure of the embassies of the united states britain and france in
the yemeni capital
on the subject of the shiite rebellion in northern yemen kurbi ruled out the
resumption of qatari mediation saying the insurgents had to respect the
government conditions to reach peace deal
we are asking the rebels not to announce that they are ready to accept these
conditions but to implement them the government will then be ready to listen to
their grievances the minister said
the conditions laid down by sanaa for return to peace include the cessation of
hostilities withdrawing from official buildings and respecting the law
the rebels said on saturday they were ready for talks with the government and to
accept its conditions if sanaa declares definitive end to to the military
offensive it launched on august
qatari mediators abandoned their efforts to broker peace deal in august
with yemeni officials at the time accusing the rebels of foot dragging in
implementing the peace proposals
yemen shiite or zaidi uprising first broke out in in the mountainous
saada province near the border with saudi arabia
record number of bankruptcies in norway data
oslo jan afp
the number of bankruptcies in norway broke record last year with
businesses forced to shut down in the nordic country in official figures
showed monday
the bleak figures which represent percent rise compared to
contrasts with the overall health of the norwegian economy which has escaped the
worst of the global economic crisis on the back of its all important oil and gas
sector
norway business registry said in statement that the most bankruptcy plagued
sectors were retail construction hotels and restaurants
for the non eu scandinavian country economy is expected to have
contracted percent according to government estimates
knightley and waltz to star in freud movie
vienna jan afp
keira knightley is to star alongside austrian actor christoph waltz in new
film about the psychoanalyst sigmund freud the moviepilot de website reported
monday
waltz who won prize at last year cannes film festival for his role in
quentin tarantino world war ii movie inglourious basterds will play freud
regarded by many as the father of modern psychoanalysis
british actress knightley best known for the pirates of the caribbean movies
will play one of freud patients in the talking cure
the film directed by david cronenberg is based on the play of the same name by
british playwright christopher hampton
football barcelona coach rules out new signings
madrid jan afp
barcelona coach josep guardiola monday ruled out signing new players during the
mid season transfer window despite the absence of key players during the
african nations cup
as far as know we are not thinking about it he told news conference in
barcelona
he rejected the idea of boosting the midfield while ivorian yaya toure and
mali seydou keita are on international duty in the african nations cup in
angola this month
in midfield am well served he said
guardiola said he would give the chance to younger players from the reserve team
during the tournament
in barca won record six titles including the european champions league
spanish league and the world club championship
they currently lead the primera liga unbeaten after the first games of the
season with two point lead over arch rivals real madrid
frenchman admits helping smuggle vietnamese into britain
portsmouth england jan afp
the son of french councillor pleaded guilty monday to helping smuggle
vietnamese immigrants into britain
benjamin chocat from choisy le roi south of paris appeared in court in
portsmouth southern england charged with concealing the immigrants inside
vehicle which arrived on board ferry from france on october last year
his mother christiane chocat councillor in lumigny nesles ormeaux
southeast of paris appeared on the same charges she is due to enter her plea
at court hearing on wednesday
benjamin chocat will be sentenced on january
the pair are accused of bringing over men and three women in hire van on
ferry from cherbourg in france to portsmouth hidden behind boxes of shrimp
noodles
they were arrested as they got off the ferry and the immigrants were returned to
france that night
chocat and his mother were both charged with assisting unlawful entry into
european union member state under the immigration act
the maximum penalty for helping illegal immigration is years in prison but
this kind of crime usually attracts sentence of between and months
sixteen yemenis killed in saudi air raids rebels
sanaa jan afp
saudi arabia has carried out series of lethal air raids across the border with
yemen killing civilians and wounding others yemen shiite rebels said
on monday
in one of raids launched on monday six civilians were killed and six others
were wounded women and children among them according to statement issued by
the rebels who riyadh has been battling since early november
ten other civilians were killed in market hit by one of the air raids carried
out on sunday the rebels said in separate statement posted on their website
the shiite rebels also known as zaidis have said they would withdraw from
saudi territory if riyadh halts attacks on their fighters launched after the
kingdom accused them of killing border guard and occupying two saudi villages
rebel spokesman said later that the insurgents repelled two ground attacks
that yemeni and saudi forces launched on monday against their positions near the
harf sufyan region of omran province north of sanaa
the attack was repulsed and five army tanks were destroyed the spokesman told
afp adding saudi troops also stormed jebel rumaih on the mountainous border
under cover of intense artillery
again the attack failed said the spokesman who denounced the ongoing military
operations despite the rebels overtures for peace
the rebels first rose up in the yemeni government launched major
offensive in august to try to end the uprising aid groups say more than
people have been driven from their homes
activists say delhi poor suffering due to commonwealth games
new delhi jan afp
at least homeless people in new delhi have been kicked out of night
shelters that have closed as part of efforts to revamp the city ahead of the
commonwealth games activists said on monday
the government has demolished or shut down night shelters to beautify the city
for the commonwealth games said miloon kothari the head of urban rights
forum for the homeless group
the number of temporary night shelters fell from to in the last year
despite an increase in the number of homeless he said
city authorities challenged the figures but said some homeless shelters had been
demolished to clear areas needed for infrastructure projects related to the
games
we will soon make shelters and provide blankets and television in all these
centres to make the poor comfortable deep mathur spokesman for the municipal
corporation of delhi told afp
new delhi is racing against time to spruce up the sprawling city of million
in time for the october commonwealth games which it views as showcase event
for the country
zurich rejects far right move to ban headscarves in schools
zurich jan afp
the swiss canton of zurich said mondeay it had rejected request by far right
group to ban headscarves in schools and to stop exempting muslims from sports
classes during ramadan
by votes to the cantonal parliament rejected the anti headscarf proposal
tabled by the swiss people party svp swiss news agency ats reported
the far right group also switzerland biggest party said its motion was aimed
at instilling respect of swiss values in schools
the svp was at the root of referendum held in november during which the
swiss voted to ban the building of new minarets
football cole sped to escape paparazzi court told
london jan afp
england footballer ashley cole told police he was being chased by press
photographers after being stopped for allegedly speeding in his lamborghini car
prosecutor said monday
chelsea defender cole was caught by speed gun driving at miles
kilometres per hour in mph zone in southwest london in november
kingston magistrates court heard
he pointed out man with camera further down the road to the police officer
who stopped him
prosecutor richard lomax said the defendant was stopped and spoken to and the
words he said at the time when it became plain that somebody was pointing
speed camera at him were can you do anything about those idiots who keep
chasing me
cole told police he thought he was travelling at mph and lomax said this
amounted to an admission of guilt
it cannot be defence to the offence of speeding that one is trying to get
away in the circumstances of members of the press showing excessive attention
he added
cole lawyer katherine hodson argued that the star had no case to answer
because the speed gun may not have been working properly
the year old chelsea left back who is married to british singer cheryl cole
has england caps
wall street kicks off on bullish note
new york jan afp
us stocks raced higher in the first trades of with sentiment boosted by
global market rally that was helped by corporate dealmaking and upbeat economic
news from china
the dow jones industrial average climbed points percent to
in the first trades on the heels of hefty gains in stock markets in
most of europe and japan
the technology heavy nasdaq composite lifted points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to
there is bullish bias that is often associated with the start of new year
as new money gets put to work riding the wave of typically upbeat forecasts
said patrick hare at briefing com
most stock markets around the globe are trading higher on account of better
than expected survey on manufacturing activity in china the irony of this
report is that the chinese market didn participate in its country own good
news
sentiment was also helped by big corporate deal with swiss pharmaceutical
group novartis announcing it had bought controlling stake in the world
biggest eye care firm alcon from nestle and that it was seeking full ownership
of alcon
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on monday
stocks world
london global stockmarkets begin the new decade on an optimistic note looking
to the prospects for recovery in contrast to near despair and deep uncertainty
months ago when shares crashed amid the worst downturn since the
switzerland pharma company divest novartis nestle alcon
basel switzerland swiss group novartis announced billion dollar
investment in eye care as the sight of ageing populations falters seeking full
control of alcon the world biggest company in the sector
commodities energy oil price
london oil began with bang jumping above dollars on expectations of
higher energy demand in the northern hemisphere winter and after reports that
russia had cut supplies to belarus traders said
eu eurozone economy manufacturing output pmi index
brussels manufacturing activity across the eurozone expanded in december but at
slower pace than initially reported and with the shadow of price pressures
building survey showed
germany economy business
frankfurt the number of new german businesses rose last year and surpassed the
number of those closing down despite or possibly because of historic
recession an official study showed
japan airline company distress stocks jal
tokyo japan airlines jal shares skyrocketed after the government agreed to
expand financial lifeline to the troubled carrier easing fears that it might
file for bankruptcy
japan broking stocks computer tse
tokyo the tokyo stock exchange reported smooth start for its fast new trading
system part of efforts to stay ahead of rival asian bourses following
series of technical problems
ireland economy politics health
dublin irish finance minister brian lenihan said monday he has been diagnosed
with cancer and will start chemotherapy this week but will keep working
india germany economy auto company bosch
new delhi the indian arm of german engineering giant bosch said it will invest
more than million dollars over two years to expand in the country fast
growing diesel engine market
cycling british team aiming for tour triumph in five years
london jan afp
team sky the new professional team aiming to take britain cycling success on
the track onto the road was officially launched monday with the aim of producing
tour de france winner within five years
the squad bid for glory in the sport greatest event is being spearheaded by
triple olympic gold medal winner bradley wiggins one of eight britons on
roster of riders drawn from different countries
wiggins who equalled the best finish by briton in the tour de france with
fourth place in the race left american team garmin last month to sign
four year deal with sky
team sky is being headed up by david brailsford the performance director of
british cycling with the financial backing provided by the satellite
broadcaster bskyb
all previous attempts to establish british led team capable of competing in
the tour de france have floundered but brailsford said he was confident team sky
would quickly establish itself as major force
we started talking long time ago about setting up top level british team
but needed to reach critical mass of riders to achieve it brailsford said
now here we are
we re ambitious but the key thing for us is to make sure everything is centred
on the rider
we want to treat the riders with dignity and respect so that they can be the
best then can be
people need to be motivated to get the best out of them and we want them to
achieve excellence
team spirit is critical to us so the personality of the riders played big
part in our recruitment
ben swift was revealed monday as the latest addition to the team roster after
the year old englishman negotiated his release from russian team katusha for
whom he made his professional debut in
massively grateful to katusha for the opportunities they gave me but
coming to team sky feels like coming home because know so many of the support
staff and the riders swift said
swift has been named in team sky squad for the tour down under in australia
later this month which will be the new outfit first competitive outing
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on monday
stocks world
london global stockmarkets begin the new decade on an optimistic note looking
to the prospects for recovery in contrast to near despair and deep uncertainty
months ago when shares crashed amid the worst downturn since the
switzerland pharma company divest novartis nestle alcon
basel switzerland swiss group novartis announced billion dollar
investment in eye care as the sight of ageing populations falters seeking full
control of alcon the world biggest company in the sector
commodities energy oil price
london oil began with bang jumping above dollars on expectations of
higher energy demand in the northern hemisphere winter and after reports that
russia had cut supplies to belarus traders said
eu eurozone economy manufacturing output pmi index
brussels manufacturing activity across the eurozone expanded in december but at
slower pace than initially reported and with the shadow of price pressures
building survey showed
germany economy business
frankfurt the number of new german businesses rose last year and surpassed the
number of those closing down despite or possibly because of historic
recession an official study showed
japan airline company distress stocks jal
tokyo japan airlines jal shares skyrocketed after the government agreed to
expand financial lifeline to the troubled carrier easing fears that it might
file for bankruptcy
japan broking stocks computer tse
tokyo the tokyo stock exchange reported smooth start for its fast new trading
system part of efforts to stay ahead of rival asian bourses following
series of technical problems
ireland economy politics health
dublin irish finance minister brian lenihan said monday he has been diagnosed
with cancer and will start chemotherapy this week but will keep working
india germany economy auto company bosch
new delhi the indian arm of german engineering giant bosch said it will invest
more than million dollars over two years to expand in the country fast
growing diesel engine market
qaeda militants killed as yemen boosts security at embassies
sanaa jan afp
yemeni forces killed two al qaeda militants on monday officials said as
security was boosted at foreign embassies and the airport amid fears of strikes
linked to botched attack on us airliner
the defence ministry linked sep net website quoted security official as
saying two bodyguards related to wanted al qaeda leader were killed
counter terrorism unit tracking down wanted al qaeda leader the terrorist
mohammed al hanq who is responsible for al qaeda in the arhab region has
clashed with the suspect and number of his bodyguards it said
the clashes led to the killing of two bodyguards who are relatives of his and
are suspected al qaeda members while two others were wounded the terrorist
hanq managed to flee
earlier tribal source requesting anonymity said two suspected al qaeda
members were shot dead near arhab kilometres miles north of sanaa by
security forces hunting for hanq
two of hanq company his son and his nephew were killed and three others were
wounded in the firefight while he managed to escape the source said
in sanaa the security crackdown came as us authorities announced greater airport
checks on passengers travelling from or via terror linked countries
including yemen
the american and british embassies had been shut since sunday for what they said
were security reasons while france on monday announced it too was limiting
access to its mission
on january our ambassador decided to no longer authorise public access to
the premises of our diplomatic mission foreign ministry spokesman bernard
valero told reporters in paris
the japanese foreign ministry said consular services had been suspended at its
embassy in yemen but the mission was conducting other business as usual
the german foreign ministry confirmed security had been tightened at its mission
but that the embassy remained open
in the hague foreign ministry spokesman told afp the netherlands saw no
reason for the moment to close its embassy but advised against non essential
travel to yemen
yemeni officials asking not to be named told afp on monday that security had
been tightened outside all embassies in the capital
us president barack obama has accused the yemen based al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap of arming and training nigerian accused of trying to blow up
detroit bound northwest airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on
embassies in sanaa
yemeni security official told afp that police measures were intensified on
the road to the airport following the closure of the us embassy
these measures are preventive in case of any attacks by al qaeda in the
country mainly as the road to sanaa airport is vital he told afp requesting
anonymity
security had already been tight around the american embassy which was the
target of car bomb in september that killed people outside the
complex
yemeni authorities have in recent weeks intensified operations against al qaeda
in the impoverished arabian peninsula state killing more than islamist
militants in two raids on december and
obama counter terrorism adviser john brennan warned on sunday of possible
attacks by al qaeda in yemen
there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against
target inside of sanaa possibly our embassy he said
brennan said washington plans to take whatever steps necessary to protect us
citizens in yemen and described as determined and concerted effort plan by
london and washington to fund yemen special counter terrorism unit
yemen has been highlighted by washington transport security administration
tsa as one of terror linked countries to which enhanced airline passenger
screening would be applied
the tsa said on sunday that all passengers flying into the united states will be
subject to random screening or so called threat based screens
