solve the problem regardless of party he told nbc television today show
program
brown described himself as somebody who always been accountable and attentive
and independent thinker and voter and looking at every single issue on its
merits whether it good democrat idea or good republican idea
he pulled off surprise victory late tuesday capturing the seat of the late
democratic icon edward kennedy in stinging setback to president barack obama
exactly year after he swept into office
with nearly all votes counted brown had percent to percent for his
democratic rival martha coakley
brown who as the senate st republican dissolves the democrat
supermajority has promised to vote against landmark health care reform
package now before congress threatening obama top domestic priority
but he took somewhat softer line in the nbc interview saying he was eager to
get to work in washington not so much to derail health reform as to press an
agenda that benefits voters in his state
never said was going to do everything can to stop health care believe
everybody should have health care it just question of how we do it said
brown
do we do one size fits all plan do we allow the states to get more involved
and do what we did
he added whatever bill comes up ll look at it and make my own decision but
if it is the health care bill we already have percent of our people insured
here already in massachusetts so we do not need the plan that being pushed
upon us
we would have lesser care longer lines and pay higher taxes and it makes no
sense he said
the massachusetts state lawmaker added that his first move upon confirming his
victory was to call the late senator widow victoria kennedy
the call to mrs kennedy was very nice felt it was important to call her
because ve known mr and mrs kennedy for while he said adding the
liberal lawmaker had been living legend
nissan to sell small car in india from july
new delhi jan afp
japanese automaker nissan announced wednesday it will sell its first small car
in india from july as international firms race to compete in the country
booming consumer economy
small cars or hatchbacks comprise nearly two thirds of total car sales in
india and nissan japanese rival suzuki controls more than half of the market
through local brand name maruti
we are well on track to open the new factory in march production will start in
may and the first hatchback will be sold from july kiminobu tokuyama
nissan india managing director told dow jones newswires
the company said it planned to export the vehicle from late and establish
india as global manufacturing hub
nissan small car model will help the firm tap the growing indian car market
which is forecast to triple to six million cars from two million in decade
the country is fast turning into battleground as global carmakers such as ford
and toyota seek new growth regions to offset anaemic western sales
it not too late we are ready to challenge we have come here to become
major player tokuyama said at this moment it is the most important market
for nissan after russia and china
berlin film fest unveils star packed line up
berlin jan afp
new movies starring ben stiller julianne moore gerard depardieu jessica alba
and james franco will headline the th berlin film festival next month
organisers said wednesday
following the announcement of fresh releases by roman polanski and martin
scorsese at this year event the berlinale said in statement it had nearly
completed the selection of films for its main programme
the festival which will kick off february with chinese film maker wang
quan an apart together tuan yuan will also see the world premiere of
greenberg by us indie star noah baumbach the squid and the whale
in it stiller leads cast including jennifer jason leigh and rhys ifans and
plays new yorker who flees to los angeles to work through life crisis
moore and annette benning star in lisa cholodenko us french production the
kids are alright about two children born as result of artificial insemination
who seek out their biological father
provocative british director michael winterbottom favourite on the festival
circuit will screen the killer inside me with alba casey affleck and kate
hudson in the story of texas sheriff dark secret
winterbottom clinched berlin coveted golden bear top prize in for his
refugees drama in this world the killer inside me will screen out of
competition
depardieu is expected in the german capital for the world premiere of the
competition film mammuth by benoit delepine co starring isabelle adjani
rob epstein director of the acclaimed documentary the times of harvey
milk will present the competition entry howl starring franco as the beat
poet allen ginsberg
catherine keener amanda peet and rebecca hall lead the cast of please give by
us film maker nicole holofcener friends with money about real estate wars in
new york it will screen out of competition
one of europe top two film festivals the berlinale is the only one to sell
tickets to the public its golden and silver bear top prizes will be awarded at
gala ceremony on february
polanski who is awaiting possible extradition to the united states on charges
of unlawful sex with year old girl has been completing the berlin
competition entry the ghost writer while under house arrest in switzerland
the picture stars ewan mcgregor and pierce brosnan are expected in berlin
alongside leonardo dicaprio with scorsese new thriller shutter island and
bollywood heartthrob shah rukh khan appearing in my name is khan
alert
pope summons irish bishops over child sex abuse scandal vatican
un climate panel admits himalaya glacier data poorly substantiated
geneva jan afp
the un climate scientists said on wednesday that an estimate on the fate of
himalayan glaciers which featured in benchmark report on global warming had
been poorly substantiated and was lapse in standards
charges that the reference was highly inaccurate or overblown have stoked
pressure on the intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc already
assailed in separate affair involving hacked email exchanges
the new row focuses on paragraph in the ipcc fourth assessment report in
page triple volume opus that warned climate change was on the march
and spurred politicians around the world to vow action
in the contested section the report declared the probability of glaciers in the
himalayas disappearing by the year and perhaps sooner is very high
the ipcc said in statement that the paragraph refers to poorly substantiated
rates of recession and date for the disappearance of himalayan glaciers
in drafting the paragraph in question the clear and well established standards
of evidence required by the ipcc procedures were not applied properly the
panel said
it added the chair vice chair and co chairs of the ipcc regret the poor
application of well established ipcc procedures in this instance
this episode demonstrates that the quality of the assessment depends on
absolute adherence to the ipcc standards including thorough review of the
quality and validity of each source before incorporating results from the source
in an ipcc report
the statement noted that the reference was not repeated in an important
synthesis report of the assessment and stressed the ipcc strong
commitment to thorough accurate review of scientific data
the ipcc co won the nobel peace prize for its reputation of scientific
rigour caution and fact checking under this process data are peer reviewed by
other scientists and are then meant to be double checked by editors
on monday leading austrian glaciologist georg kaser who contributed to the
report described the mistake with the date as huge and said he had
notified his colleagues of it months before publication
despite the controversy the ipcc on wednesday stood by the overall conclusions
about glacier loss this century in major mountain ranges including the
himalayas
this conclusion is robust appropriate and entirely consistent with the
underlying science and the broader ipcc assessment it said
the report concluded that widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions
in snow cover over recent decades are projected to accelerate throughout the
st century
that would reduce water availability hydropower potential and changing
seasonality of flows in regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges
hindu kush himalaya andes where more than one sixth of the world
population currently lives it added
the indian scientist at the centre of the row syed hasnain has denied that he
had mentioned the date in magazine interview more than years ago the
apparent original source for the prediction
ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri on tuesday defended the panel work position
shared by other scientists who say the fourth assessment report core
conclusions about climate change are inconvertible
theoretically let say we slipped up on one number don think it takes
anything away from the overwhelming scientific evidence of what happening with
the climate of this earth pachauri said
skeptics have already attacked the panel over so called climategate entailing
stolen email exchanges among ipcc experts which they say reflected attempts to
skew the evidence for global warming
the row came as the un panel began the marathon process of drafting its fifth
assessment reports inviting nominations of scientists to lead its work
the reports due out in and will focus on sea level changes the
influence of periodic climate patterns like the monsoon season and el nino and
forge more precise picture of the regional effects of climate change
haiti reconstruction to be focus of davos meet
geneva jan afp
the reconstruction of quake ravaged haiti would be key focus at the annual
meeting of the world elite in davos next week with business leaders asked to
take on long term commitment to the country organisers said wednesday
haiti will be very much in the forefront of the discussions said klaus
schwab who founded and chairs the world economic forum which organises the
meeting at the mountain resort of davos
together with former us president bill clinton and the special
representative of the un for haiti we will launch major initiative to engage
businesses in the reconstruction of haiti he told reporters
the initiative would go beyond fund raising for immediate humanitarian relief to
actually engage the business community well after the television cameras have
gone explained robert greenhill who is the forum chief business officer
where we the forum can have the greatest impact is in encouraging businesses
community to make sustained long term engagement with haiti he said
greenhill added that such involvement would come in terms of investment
looking at sourcing looking at partnering with haitian organisations to
provide contacts to provide sustained long growth which is what will help the
people of haiti to move out of poverty
beyond haiti over captains of industries political leaders and civil
society leaders would also examine the post crises world during sessions when
wage models market capitalism and even the eurozone would be challenged
africa will also be focus with south african president jacob zuma tanzanian
president jakaya mrisho kikwete and zimbabwean prime minister morgan tsvangirai
to attend the meeting
likewise latin america will also be well represented with mexican president
felipe calderon brazilian president lula and colombian president alvaro uribe
all due to speak
french president nicolas sarkozy will make the opening speech at the forum which
starts wednesday january while south korean president lee myung bak who is
chairing the summit this year will also address the meeting
iran jails student activist for eight years lawyer
tehran jan afp
iran has sentenced leading student activist to more than eight years in jail
on security charges and insulting the islamic republic leadership his lawyer
said on wednesday
majid tavakoli was arrested on december during anti government protests on
campuses on the annual student day
state news agency irna said tavakoli had sought to leave tehran amir kabir
university disguised as woman unleashing cyber campaign by male
opposition supporters wearing islamic headscarves in solidarity and calling for
his release
he has been sentenced to years in jail he was accused of insulting
officials acting against the country security and propaganda against the
system lawyer mohammad ali dadkhah told fars news agency
dadkhah said he would appeal within days but did not say when tavakoli had
stood trial
amir kabir news letter an opposition student website said he was sentenced to
five years in prison for conspiring and gathering against the establishment and
one year for propaganda against the system
it added that tavakoli was also handed two year jail term for insulting the
supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei and another six months for insulting
president mahmoud ahmadinejad
the opposition has rejected ahmadinejad june re election as fraudulent and has
staged protests at every opportunity
tavakoli is leading activist who spent months in jail along with two fellow
students after being arrested in on charges of insulting religion and the
country leadership in student publications
suspect in shooting deaths of eight people arrested cnn
washington jan afp
police on wednesday arrested man suspected of shooting to death eight people
in the southern state of virginia cnn reported
the suspect christopher speight turned himself over to police following
massive manhunt through rural central virginia the television station reported
police who told cnn that speight surrendered without incident cornered him in
woods west of the historic town of appomattox after they discovered seven bodies
at rural home and another victim nearby
vietnam dissidents jailed up to years for subversion
ho chi minh city jan afp
vietnamese court on wednesday sentenced group of dissidents to up to
years in prison for trying to overthrow the communist regime in case which has
sparked global concern
after day long trial human rights lawyer le cong dinh french trained
computer expert and blogger nguyen tien trung internet entrepreneur tran
huynh duy thuc and le thang long were convicted of activities aimed
at subverting the people administration
thuc received year sentence trung seven years while dinh and long got
five years each the court announced
all except long could have been sentenced to death
their prison terms will be followed by house arrest of three years for all
except thuc who faces five years
it is the most high profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in the country over the past year
the acts of the accused are very dangerous for the society and infringed upon
national security judge nguyen duc sau said
he found them guilty of well organised non violent campaign in collusion with
overseas exile reactionary organisations aimed at overturning the government
with the help of the internet
although the defendants did not enter formal pleas dinh and trung told the
court in ho chi minh city the former saigon that they had violated the law an
admission which the judge said he took into account
dinh testified he had been influenced by western human rights ideals and he
believed that none of the accused had any real intention of overthrowing the
government
thuc who the prosecutor said was defiant before the court received the
harshest sentence
my behaviour did not violate the law thuc said admitting he signed
confession saying he had called for multi party system
but he alleged he was mistreated during the investigation process which was
not conducted in accordance with the law
the prosecution said thuc set up socio economic research organisation which
concluded vietnam would be struck by economic crisis this year presenting
good opportunity for political change
all except long were accused of links to the banned democratic party of vietnam
dpv which dinh testified wants to establish multiparty system
they were accused of preparing dozens of anti state documents and blogs
dinh allegedly drafted new constitution while trung established democratic
youth movement together with students in france
was immature trung testified
long charged with the slightly lesser offence of being an accomplice said he
and thuc were part of group that discussed socio economic issues and ways to
develop the country
the prosecutor cited long for his defiance in court he admitted writing
articles and sending them to foreign radio service and said he had been
wrongly accused
think my discussion is natural and it within my citizen rights he said
neither relatives of the accused nor foreign journalists and diplomats were
allowed into the courtroom and watched the trial via closed circuit television
dozens of police surrounded the court complex in central ho chi minh city where
the defendants were arrested between may and july last year
dinh arrest in particular sparked concern in europe and the united states and
among global association of lawyers human rights watchdogs and press freedom
groups
we would like to reiterate our deep concern over the arrest and conviction of
persons for the peaceful expression of their beliefs political and otherwise
us consul general kenneth fairfax said in reaction to the verdict
youtube to stream ipl cricket live google
mumbai jan afp
google announced wednesday its videosharing website youtube will stream all
indian premier league cricket matches live in deal that highlights the
internet giant broadcasting ambitions
the third season of the lucrative ipl which features the world top players in
eight teams owned by rich businessmen and bollywood stars will be held in march
and april this year
under the terms of the agreement google will have exclusive online rights for
ipl content for two years and google and ipl will jointly share revenues from
sponsorship and advertising
the deal is the first under which google will stream sports event live
we are excited this will put india at the centre of global experience said
shailesh rao managing director of google india
youtube offers an open platform for sports and entertainment companies to take
their content to global audience and great opportunity for advertisers
google and ipl officials declined to comment on finances of the deal
this unique initiative by ipl to partner google india will give the league
global reach lalit modi chairman of the ipl said in statement
contrasting with censorship and cyberattack disputes they face in china google
officials are confident of business growth in india
youtube in india is one of the fastest growing websites india cannot be
compared to china gautam anand youtube asia pacific director for content
partnerships told afp
india most popular business platforms are entertainment and sports which
means bollywood and cricket this is where google will strengthen its position
further anand said
viewers will be able to customise their screens by altering camera angles going
behind the scenes and choosing when to watch interviews
the ipl has been so popular that india bollywood cinema producers have been
forced to delay release of their movies and theatres forced to cut down shows
when the matches are being played
last year the second season of ipl was moved to south africa due to security
concerns as tournament dates clashed with indian general elections
berlin shuns speculation on ecb presidential pick
frankfurt jan afp
the german government on wednesday cut short speculation on whether it will
propose central bank governer axel weber to head the european central bank next
year
the federal government has not taken any decision on this as you know the
term of the current president jean claude trichet runs out in october
chancellor angela merkel spokesman told weekly press conference
we are now in this debate is premature and am not going to participate
in it ulrich wilhelm added in reference to one of the european union most
powerful positions
speculation is growing that berlin will back weber to head the ecb when
trichet tem ends since german authorities have not pushed for major eu posts
in recent months
the other leading candidate is said to be italian central bank governor mario
draghi
both central bankers are considered qualified for the job and observers are
focusing on their respective policy orientations with weber seen to hold
hawkish positions such as the need for strict fiscal discipline
bank of america posts loss on public aid repayment
new york jan afp
bank of america said wednesday it posted loss of million dollars in the
fourth quarter of on repayments to the us government resulting in loss
for shareholders of billion dollars
for all of the largest us bank by assets had profit of billion
dollars but for shareholders the results were loss of billion following
payments to the us treasury stemming from bailout aid
the results were affected by charge of billion dollars to repay the us
government for its capital aid under the troubled asset relief program tarp
massive effort to stabilize the banking system bank of america said
while it disappointing to report loss for the fourth quarter there were
number of important accomplishments worth noting said chief executive brian
moynihan
first we repaid the american taxpayer with interest for the tarp investment
second we have taken steps to strengthen our balance sheet through successful
securities offerings and third all of our non credit businesses recorded
positive contributions to our results
moynihan added as we look at we are encouraged by signs the economy is
improving as we have seen in the stabilization of our credit costs
particularly in the consumer businesses
that said economic conditions remain fragile and we expect high unemployment
levels to continue creating an ongoing drag on consumer spending and growth
bank of america which weathered the financial crisis with billion dollars in
government aid after it absorbed troubled brokerage merrill lynch and home
lender countrywide financial said results were hurt by high credit costs
offset in part by gains in investment banking and trading
revenue net of interest expense rose percent in the fourth quarter to
billion dollars reflecting in part the addition of merrill lynch
the provision for credit losses was billion dollars billion lower than
the third quarter and billion higher than the same period year earlier
the bank added billion dollars to cover new credit losses but said the rate
of consumer and business loan delinquencies was not as high as in previous
quarters
for the full year revenue net of interest expense rose percent to
billion dollars due in part to the addition of failed mortgage giant
countrywide and merrill lynch
yemen air strikes pound qaeda leader home military
sanaa jan afp
yemeni jets pounded the home of suspected al qaeda leader wednesday an army
source said as the military stepped up pressure on the group believed behind
botched bid to down us airliner
british prime minister gordon brown meanwhile announced in london the
suspension of direct flights from yemen until further security measures are
agreed in the wake of the christmas day detroit bombing scare
yemeni tribal source confirmed the air strikes in erq al shabwan village in
maarib province and said number of people had been killed local forces were
responding with anti aircraft fire
the wave of air strikes which began in the morning blasted the house of ayed
al shabwani one of six al qaeda leaders the government said were killed in an
air strike last week the tribal source said
military official who would not be named said there had been three strikes
on the house and one on an orange grove near the village where the authorities
think shabwani had built safe haven for dozens of al qaeda members
the official added that there had been large deployment of government troops
at the city of maarib about five kilometres three miles from erq al shabwan
village
during the afternoon witnesses said jets twice sent missiles smashing into the
orange grove and afterwards continued to fly in the area
the strikes come just days after yemen said it killed six suspected leaders
including shabwani of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in saada province
north of the capital
aqap denied that anyone was killed in the attack on three vehicles in
remote desert area saying instead that some of its members had been wounded
no one commented on whether the government now believed shabwani had in fact
survived that raid
the government has also claimed that qassem al rimi the military leader of
aqap was among those who died in the missile attack
rimi was among people who had made daring escape from state security
prison in sanaa in february that left the yemeni government red faced and
he was on list of wanted suspects
yemen is under us pressure to clamp down on al qaeda which claimed
responsibility for the december bid to blow up flight from amsterdam as it
landed in detroit
british premier brown said in statement on counter terrorism to the house of
commons on wednesday that in the wake of the failed attack no more direct
flights from yemen would be allowed to land in britain
we have agreed with yemenia airlines pending enhanced security that they
suspend their direct flights to the uk from yemen with immediate effect he
said
yemen government insists it is winning the battle against the jihadists
pointing to two air strikes in december which it said killed in all more than
suspected al qaeda members
on saturday the authorities announced the arrests of three suspected militants
in the northern area of alb near the border with saudi arabia they said the
trio were wearing military fatigues and had guns and explosives
on january security forces killed abdullah mehdar said to be the group
kingpin in shabwa
provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi said dozens of fighters including
saudis and egyptians who had fled afghanistan were holed up in shabwa
among them he said were current aqap chief nasir al wahishi his saudi number
two said al shihri and radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi
it was not immediately clear if the orange grove outside erq al shabwan was
their hideout
on wednesday yemeni journalist close to awlaqi abdullah shaea said the
cleric had told him he would not surrender and denied claims the government was
negotiating with him in hopes he would give himself up
the prospects of the married father of five being take alive are scant given
shaea description of sentiment in shabwa after deadly december air raid
there by government forces that killed al qaeda suspects and number of
civilians
after that raid on an area controlled by the awlaqi tribe people were
furious throughout the region they all went over to the side of al qaeda and
prevent anyone from approaching shaea said
there was fighting the government well knows that if it sends forces into the
area they will be beaten it will not even try that is why anwar is safe where
he is
cricket india in command after gambhir feat
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
india grabbed two early wickets to put themselves in commanding position in
the first test against bangladesh on wednesday after gautam gambhir achieved
rare feat for the tourists
bangladesh face stiff task to save the test as they struggled to in their
second innings at stumps on the penultimate day in chittagong while chasing an
unlikely run victory target
only four teams have chased more than in the fourth innings to win test
opener tamim iqbal was unbeaten on at the close with mohammad ashraful on
indian paceman zaheer khan had imrul kayes caught behind in his second over
before ishant sharma dismissed shahriar nafees with stand in captain
virender sehwag taking low catch at gully
nafees failed to make the most of the chance he got on five when he was dropped
by venkatsai laxman at second slip off zaheer
left handed opener gambhir earlier became the fourth batsman to smash
century in five successive tests as india declared their second innings at
shortly after tea
australian don bradman holds the world record of making hundreds in six
consecutive tests south african jacques kallis and pakistan mohammad yousuf
are the others to have made centuries in five consecutive tests
never thought would get five centuries said gambhir my job is to go out
there and keep scoring runs for the team the most important thing for me is to
give the team good start
think is very good target the way we got two wickets in the second
innings think it has set the game for us if we really bowl well tomorrow we
have very good chance to win the test
india added to their overnight total of with gambhir laxman not
out and nightwatchman amit mishra the main contributors
left arm spinner shakib al hasan finished with the best by bangladeshi
bowler against india in test
gambhir completed his hundred in style hoisting shakib over long on for six
he also hit fours in his ball knock
his last four centuries came against new zealand at napier and wellington and
sri lanka at ahmedabad and kanpur in
gambhir fell cutting debutant seamer shafiul islam to nafees at third man few
overs after reaching his ninth test hundred in matches
india lost sachin tendulkar and yuvraj singh in the afternoon session but
laxman kept his end intact for more than two hours to boost his team total
tendulkar who scored century in the first innings was trapped leg before by
seamer rubel hossain after making
yuvraj who looked uncomfortable against short pitched bowling on few
occasions fell to loose shot when he uppishly drove paceman shahadat hossain
to ashraful at short cover
the morning session belonged to gambhir and mishra who put on for the second
wicket mishra hit six fours in his maiden half century
gambhir rarely looked in trouble against bangladesh pace spin combination
playing handsome strokes while adding to his overnight score of
bangladesh had chance to dismiss gambhir on but kayes dropped sharp
chance at forward short leg off shakib
iran jails student activist for eight years websites
tehran jan afp
iran has sentenced leading student activist to more than eight years in jail
on security charges and insulting the islamic republic leadership opposition
websites reported on wednesday
majid tavakoli was arrested on december during anti government protests on
campuses on the annual student day
state news agency irna said tavakoli had sought to leave tehran amir kabir
