shareholding in british broadcaster itv to percent on grounds of competition
must stand
bskyb in which the biggest shareholder is rupert murdoch news corp said it
would review the judgement before deciding on any further action
the british government had ruled agianst bskyb in january following
recommendation by competition authorities
the satellite tv operator known for its round the clock sky news channel and
live coverage of english premier league football snapped up percent of itv
for million pounds in november
however many analysts saw the move as preventing an itv tie up with bskyb
fierce rival virgin media
football candreva hoping to shoot down heroes
rome jan afp
juventus new signing antonio candreva admitted he is an as roma fan but said he
will still celebrate if he scores against his boyhood idols on saturday
candreva has signed on loan from udinese until the end of the season with an
option for juve to buy him outright at the end of the current campaign
and the year old revealed he still has to pinch himself to ensure this move
is real
he spent last season in serie on loan at livorno and helped them to promotion
to the top flight
udinese still did not consider him ready for their first team so loaned him out
to livorno again for this season
and yet the rome born player made his debut for italy and has now secured move
to the country biggest club with debut against roma this weekend
likelihood given juve midfield problems
yes roma fan but if score ll still celebrate he told the official
juve channel on thursday
emotional and still can believe here yesterday said it would be
dream come true and today got to touch that dream with my own hand
juve are having torrid time this season despite winning their first four serie
matches
since then they have struggled and got gradually worse they have lost seven of
their last matches in all competitions and crashed out of the champions
league in december
they have slumped to sixth in the league and are in fight for champions
league finish
in midfield they have lost christian poulsen and mauro camoranesi to injury
while felipe melo is suspended and mohamed sissoko is only just back from
african nations cup duty in angola
juve coach ciro ferrara has plumped for some low key italian signings to try to
revitalise his team with striker michele paolucci also arriving on loan
from siena as vincenzo iaquinta and david trezeguet are also injured
alert
eu puts off decision on airport body scanners
germany fast tracks haitian adoptions already underway
berlin jan afp
germany has joined countries including the united states france and spain in
fast tracking adoptions of children from quake ravaged haiti the foreign
ministry said thursday
ministry spokeswoman said the first youngsters could arrive in germany in the
coming days under new fast unbureaucratic and humane policy for the
impoverished devastated nation
the spokeswoman said berlin had reached an agreement with the haitian government
allowing the children quick departure from the catastrophe zone where at
least people were killed in last week earthquake
however the federal office for foreign adoption in the western city of bonn
noted that the policy only applied to the adoption of children whose
applications were already accepted or very far along in the vetting process
spokesman said this applied to about girls and boys
secretary of state hillary clinton vowed wednesday to speed up us adoptions of
children from haiti that had been underway before the quake struck while
canada spain france and the netherlands fast tracked the process this week
but three leading british charities wednesday urged an immediate moratorium on
adoptions of children separated from their families by the disaster until
extended efforts have been made to trace and reunite them with their relatives
they warned that if the adoptions are not stopped there could be risk of
families being broken up forever
olympics london strikes corporate ticket deal
london jan afp
london officials confirmed thursday they signed deals with two ticket
agencies that will see tickets for the next olympic games sold as part
of lucrative travel and hospitality packages
deals have been signed with international agency jetset sports and mike burton
sodexo for the domestic market in britain
fears have been expressed that corporate spectators will cream off the best
tickets for the most prestigious events and so reduce the chances of ordinary
fans seeing the likes of the men olympic metres final
however it is understood jetset will get access to around tickets and
mike burton sodexo to around
that equates to less than under two percent of the total million tickets
that will be sold for the olympics and paralympics
london organisers said such deals were standard practice and spokeswoman
insisted thursday there will be plenty of tickets for british fans at
affordable prices
no tickets will go on sale anywhere until there will be million
tickets on sale for the olympic games and paralympic games and less than one
percent will be distributed by jetset the authorised international ticket
distributor she added
we are hosting the two biggest sporting events on the planet and providing
tickets to international audiences to come to london and the uk is standard
part of hosting an international event
the jetset one percent will cover all sports and will cover range of prices
and the international visitors are an important part of inbound tourism to
london and the uk that major events such as the olympics and paralympics can
provide
jetset is respected international ticket package specialist which has worked
for the last winter and summer games and every organising committee since
sydney
however jetset has chequered history sead dizdarevic the company founder
and owner admitted in he was caught up in the salt lake city bribery
scandal in the in the run up to the american city staging the winter
olympics
dizdarevic testified in court that he handed over us dollars
pounds to salt lake city officials
however his company has since been considered sufficiently above board for it
to be involved in deals with the last summer and winter games organising
committees
dizdarevic told the seattle times in november he had made between million and
million dollars profits from travel and hospitality packages at the beijing
olympics
mike burton is former england rugby union international who for more than
years has operated corporate hospitality business specialising in providing
packages for sports event notably in rugby golf and tennis
goldman sachs profits soar in fourth quarter full year
new york jan afp
us banking giant goldman sachs on thursday posted net profit that soared past
wall street forecasts for the fourth quarter and the full year despite
slip in revenues
goldman sachs one of the leading wall street investment banks said it had net
profit of billion dollars in the fourth quarter
for the full year it posted net profit of billion dollars
earnings per share in the fourth quarter were dollars topping analysts
average forecast of dollars
net revenues in the quarter were billion dollars slightly below the
billion dollars expected by analysts
mass funerals as troops patrol nigeria riot city
jos nigeria jan afp
military tank rolled through the city of jos on thursday escorting truck
loaded with dozens of bodies destined for mass burial after four days of inter
religious clashes left nearly dead
with permanent curfew relaxed for few hours mass funeral got underway
after the government ordered in troops to quell attacks by rampaging gun and
machete wielding gangs which had raged largely unchecked since sunday
one after another bodies were laid in rows and on top of each other in
square metre square foot grave at the city narukuta cemetery
the city chief imam balarabe dawud appealed to muslims not to avenge the
killings and urged the government to bring to justice the perpetrators of this
week incessant slaughter
appeal to all muslims in plateau to remain calm and law abiding our
muslim brethren in all parts of the country to refrain from any reprisal
attacks he said
whatever action one takes can bring these people back he said pointing to
the burial pit
impunity is the fuel that has been the fire of senseless killings burning in
jos said the imam in eulogy delivered in the local hausa dialect
dawud spoke as security was reportedly being stepped up in selected states in
the predominantly muslim north where violence linked to islamist sects has
killed hundreds over the past year alone
christian leaders have blamed nigerian troops for the killings which residents
said were sparked sunday by preparations to build mosque near land owned by
christian
the senate said it would investigate reports that some of those arrested were
wearing military uniform
we are sad to announce that the real culprits that have been killing our
christian brethren are nigerian soldiers said the plateau state christian
elders forum in statement
the top muslim body in nigeria the jamaatul nasril islam jni said it was
highly disturbed with the repeated act of mass killing of innocent people and
destruction of property by hoodlums in jos
leaders of both faiths said wednesday the fighting had little to do with
religion and was an expression of the failure of the political leadership to
address ethnic differences
figures provided by christian and muslim leaders and paramedics pointed to
death toll of around with hundreds more wounded being treated in
overflowing hospitals and clinics
tens of thousands of people have taken refuge in military barracks churches and
mosques around the city capital of nigeria central plateau state
thousands of troops patrolled the streets on thursday manning checkpoints and
stopping and searching vehicles every few metres along the streets
residents said unrest eased the night before and authorities relaxed
permanent curfew allowing people to leave their homes to replenish depleted
stocks of food and water after the curfew halted supplies to the city of some
the situation is calm fighting has ceased said david maiyaki resident of
nassarawa gwom predominantly christian area where the clashes first erupted
on sunday
it seems it all over for now it calm everywhere said mohammed
anguarrogo speaking from his house in northern jos
plateau police commissioner gregory anting said normalcy has returned
there hasn been any report of violence since morning and those who fled at
the wake of the crisis are gradually returning home
jos situated between the muslim dominated north and the christian south has
been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose million people are
divided almost equally between followers of the two faiths
un chief ban ki moon has expressed alarm over the clashes and appealed to all
sides for restraint and seek peaceful solutions to religious and other
differences in the country
plateau governor jonah jang blamed the latest wave of violence on culture of
impunity
one of the problems we have with the security is that when people are caught
they are never punished he said on wednesday
briton in court over iraq shootings of security guards
baghdad jan afp
the trial of british security guard accused of shooting dead two colleagues in
baghdad was on thursday adjourned to next month to allow psychiatric
evaluation of the defendant lawyer said
the hearing was set for february to allow time to prepare medical
evaluation of danny fitzsimons said lawyer at the court who was familiar
with the case but did not want to be identified
fitzsimons an employee of british based security firm armorgroup was arrested
after briton paul mcguigan and australian darren hoare were shot dead in
reportedly drink fuelled brawl on august
wearing blue jeans and black shirt and with his head shaven fitzsimons
appeared in court briefly before being led away by police in handcuffs to
waiting van
the former security guard at the time of the incident and from manchester
has been quoted by british newspapers as saying that he was acting in self
defence
just days after the shootings however fitzsimons family said he was
suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and should not have been in
baghdad
his parents also said in an interview that they feared he would become
scapegoat for highly paid foreign security guards in iraq criticised by some
for aggressive behaviour which has led to civilian deaths
britain independent newspaper has quoted fitzsimons parents as saying they
did not know he had gone to iraq and that he patently should not have been
allowed to go there
cyberattackers need consequences hillary clinton
washington jan afp
in the wake of cyberattacks on google allegedly by china us secretary of state
hillary clinton will say in major speech on the internet thursday that those
perpetrating such attacks should face consequences
countries or individuals that engage in cyberattacks should face consequences
and international condemnation clinton will say in an address at the newseum
in washington according to excerpts of her prepared remarks
in an interconnected world an attack on one nation networks can be an attack
on all clinton will say
web security experts and analysts interviewed by afp have said it is almost
impossible to prove who is behind particular cyberattack and noted that
companies rarely come forward and admit that they have been targeted
clinton is expected to directly address search giant google concerns on
internet freedom in china
her department will also announce the launch of million dollar program to
promote internet freedom by expanding women access to the internet and
promoting new media tools in the middle east and north africa
china parliamentary leader wu bangguo called on the united states earlier this
month to respect its core interests in talks with us senators following
google threat to leave the country
the reported comments from wu officially the second ranking figure in the
government hierarchy behind president hu jintao and ahead of premier wen jiabao
did not specifically mention the google case
but xinhua news agency quoted wu as telling delegation of visiting us senators
that the two sides should respect each other core interests and properly
handle sensitive affairs in order to maintain good ties
the phrase is typically used by chinese leaders to express their displeasure
about diplomatic or other developments
google had earlier announced it would no longer censor search engine results in
china and possibly pull out of the world largest online market complaining
about cyberattacks and censorship by the communist regime
russian president tries hand at swan lake
moscow jan afp
russia president dmitry medvedev flush with his success as photographer on
thursday tried out new artistic skill by playing an excerpt from the ballet
swan lake on an electronic piano
but whereas landscape photograph taken by keen snapper medvedev sold for
million dollars last week it does not seem if people will be queuing to see the
kremlin chief as concert pianist in the near future
on visit to the russian state pedagogical university in saint petersburg
medvedev with degree of trepidation sat down at the electronic keyboard used
for instructing teachers at the institute television pictures showed
put your left hand there and right hand there and completely evenly yes
yes just bit quicker now advised the teachers as the president looked
somewhat nervously at the keyboard
and with bit of help from some computer wizardry rather charming rendition
of the famous dance of the little swans from tchaikovsky masterpiece swan
lake emerged as the as the president tapped away
it not me declared laughing medvedev modestly
he lost his way halfway through the piece staring rather quizzically at the
keyboard as the institute teachers came to the rescue to keep the music going
but his audience burst into applause as the piece came to its conclusion
while analysts have strained to find any major policy differences between
medvedev and his strongman predecessor vladimir putin medvedev certainly
appears to adopt more relaxed demeanour in his public appearances
in an end of year television interview he revealed himself to be passionate
admirer of german novelist erich maria remarque and also fan of us rock outfit
linkin park
eu mobile phone rates drop but still rich pickings survey
london jan afp
an eu drive against high cross border mobile telephone charges has halved
prices but operators are still making rich pickings and have raised charges in
other regions survey found on thursday
main constraint on roaming usage is the lack of awareness by users the chief
executive of the tcl company behind the report margrit sessions said commenting
on the effects of an eu price cap
the report also said that operators had repackaged their pricing packages with
the net effect of making roaming services to the us or other countries
relatively expensive
the report was published by tariff consultancy ltd firm specialising in
providing marketing information
in our survey over the three year period since it is striking how little
unregulated roaming services pricing has declined sessions said the user can
end up paying ten times more for communications when outside the eu
she was referring to regulations introduced by the european commission to limit
contractual prices charged by national mobile telephone service operators in the
eu countries for calls across borders but within the eu
the commission acted in response to widespread complaints that such charging
structures were excessively high
tcl found that roaming rates for voice and text messages in the eu had halved as
result but very few operators were applying rates below the ceiling prices
laid down by the regulator and the regulatory limit had now become the
standard
the rates charged to customers were about five times the wholesale ceiling rate
paid by the service providers for the capacity however individual operator
roaming rates vary from below the wholesale cap to more than ten times the cap
rate
operators had responded to the price limits in the eu by various changes to
their pricing packages for calls to and in the rest of the world with the
broad effect of raising those charges
some operators had changed the way they defined their tariff regions with the
result that some countries that were previously included in the same same price
band as the eu such as the united states the asia pacific region switzerland
and norway now fell into an increased price band
and operators were increasingly encouraging users to take bundled packages which
bypass the eu roaming cap by offering discounts in return for weekly or
monthly fee to selected holiday destinations but can attract higher rates to eu
countries zones than laid down under the rate cap
the report said that the price of voice call from the eu to the next tariff
zone has an average mark up of percent and the price of an sms call
outside the eu to the next zone included an average mark up of percent
and the price of mobile data roaming outside the eu to the next price zone had
mark up of percent
vietnam court upholds jail terms in democracy banners case
hanoi jan afp
vietnamese appeals court upheld jail sentences thursday for six dissidents
convicted of anti state acts just as hanoi came under fire for the jailing of
another group of democracy activists
the court in the northern port city of haiphong confirmed jail terms of two to
six years for the men for hanging democracy banners distributing leaflets and
writing and distributing other anti state documents
the prison sentences of all six convicted by the lower court were confirmed on
thursday court official said declining to be named
the dissidents were originally sentenced in october for propaganda against the
state under penal code article an article activists say criminalises
peaceful dissent
have the impression that the vietnamese state wants to punish all those who
have the intention of opposing it tran vu hai the lawyer for one of the men
told afp it sad
the alleged leader of the six dissidents nguyen xuan nghia received the
heaviest penalty of six years while hai client nguyen van tuc got four
year sentence
ngo quynh got three years while nguyen van tinh and nguyen manh son each got
three and half years and nguyen kim nhan got two years
tuc said at his trial in october that he was poorly educated farmer and
combat veteran who lost his land to corrupt officials
no one was for the rights of the people that why asked for pluralism
for multi party system he said
foreign journalists were not allowed to attend the proceedings which lasted
day
the convictions came as communist vietnam legal system drew criticism from the
united states and the european union thursday for jailing four dissidents for up
to years for trying to overthrow the regime
activists said the day long trial in ho chi minh city on wednesday made
mockery of justice and urged the prisoners release in call backed by the
american embassy
on tuesday an appeals court in hanoi upheld jail terms for three other activists
also tried in october on the same charge as the group of six
after the initial trials the united states embassy said it was deeply
disturbed by the nine convictions despite vietnam international commitments
to uphold human rights
india ongc profit jumps percent
new delhi jan afp
state run ongc india biggest energy explorer reported thursday third quarter
net profit jumped percent as higher oil prices boosted earnings
net profit for the october to december quarter climbed to billion rupees
million dollars from billion rupees in the same period year
earlier the oil and natural gas corp ongc announced
ongc accounts for two thirds of india oil output
under government rules ongc must sell discounted fuel to state run refineries
which in turn provide diesel petrol and other fuel products at cheaper rates to
the public
this imposes heavy subsidy burden on the new delhi based company affecting
its profit
but the higher fuel prices increased the net proceeds left over after its
subsidy payments
the figures marked the company second straight quarterly profit rise and came
day ahead of quarterly earnings to be announced by indian energy major
reliance industries
but the profit by ongc was still below market expectations
analysts had expected ongc to announce quarterly profit of around billion
rupees
the quarterly net profit came on sales which rose nearly percent to
billion from year earlier the company said in statement to the bombay stock
exchange
ongc is india second most valuable company with stock market value of around
billion dollars
kenya deports radical jamaican imam court official
nairobi jan afp
kenya on thursday deported radical jamaican imam abdulla al faisal court
official said adding that the controversial cleric was heading back towards his
country
the subject is no longer within the court jurisdiction his destination is
jamaica state counsel edwin okello told high court judge in nairobi
al faisal who was jailed for four years in britain for inciting racial hatred
was arrested in the port city of mombasa on december by kenyan police who
had since twice tried and failed to deport him
the year old firebrand cleric arrest without charge sparked an outcry among
kenya muslim community and protests which left five dead following friday
prayers on january
the high court had been due to decide whether or not to keep abdulla al faisal
who is on several international terror watchlists in detention
earlier thursday the police filed several security documents accusing the
jamaican cleric of engaging in preaching activities that violated the terms of
his tourist visa and of being national security threat
kenyan foreign minister moses wetangula had said earlier this week that the
cleric would be out of the country by thursday
neither wetangula nor the high court officials gave any details on al faisal
route if headed to jamaica by plane re fuelling stop in third country
would be necessary
he is persona non grata in most western countries and has been denied transit in
several african countries kenya two previous efforts to deport earlier this
month failed when tanzania and later nigerian airline refused to take him
news of the controversial cleric exit from kenya comes on the eve of fresh
demonstration in mombasa which some muslim groups planned to hold after friday
prayers despite police ban
corrected azerbaijan to double russia gas exports in gazprom
moscow jan afp
azerbaijani gas exports to russia will double next year to about billion
cubic metres russian gas company gazprom said on thursday after talks with the
caucasus republic energy company
in the volume of supplies will total around two billion cubic
metres gazprom said in statement after meeting with azerbaijan socar oil
company on thursday
the two sides confirmed an agreement announced by azerbaijan energy firm socar
in december that in the company would supply one billion cubic metres of
gas to russia doubling an initial figure
last october socar and gazprom signed contract to pump million cubic
metres of gas annually as moscow seeks to extend its grip on potential european
energy supplies in the hydrocarbons rich caspian sea
under the contract gazprom purchases of azerbaijani gas started on january
this year the price for the gas is to be agreed quarterly based on global
market rates
the agreement on increasing gas supplies may ultimately deprive the european
pipeline project nabucco of portion of gas from azerbaijan
from nabucco rival of the russian south stream gas pipeline plans to
deliver gas from the caspian sea to europe through turkey to reduce europe
dependence on russian supplies
rich in oil and gas and strategically located between russia and iran
azerbaijan has been courted by both moscow and the west since gaining its
independence with the collapse of the soviet union
backed by western governments companies such as britain bp have invested
heavily in its energy sector building corridor of oil and gas pipelines from
azerbaijan through georgia and turkey to europe
azerbaijan last year produced billion cubic metres of natural gas
according to government figures and it expects to nearly double gas production
to billion cubic metres by
the nabucco pipeline is billion euro billion dollar venture to feed
billion cubic metres of natural gas each year from the caspian sea to europe
due to start in
vietnam under fire over jailing of dissidents
hanoi jan afp
vietnam jailing of four dissidents for trying to topple the communist regime
came under fire thursday from the united states and european union while
activists said the case made mockery of justice
after day long trial in ho chi minh city on wednesday the four were convicted
of activities aimed at subverting the people administration prompting swift
diplomatic reaction
the trial and verdicts are major and regrettable step backwards for vietnam
the european union delegation to vietnam said in statement
the esteem of the international community and long term economic progress are
not sustainable if peaceful expression is suppressed
american ambassador michael michalak expressed concern about the apparent lack
of due process in the conduct of the trials and urged immediate release of the
prisoners
the convictions also raise serious questions about vietnam commitment to rule
of law and reform he said
british foreign office minister ivan lewis said verdicts like these only serve
to harm vietnam international standing
internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc was sentenced to years in
prison while blogger nguyen tien trung received seven years human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and le thang long were each given five years
the year sentence against thuc is surprising said ben kerkvliet emeritus
professor and vietnam specialist at the australian national university
he said that as far as he is aware it is the longest sentence against
political dissident in the last dozen years
the accused had already been convicted in the pages of the newspapers before
the trial started said shawn mchale director of the sigur center for asian
studies at washington george washington university
some observers see their case the highest profile in series over the past
year as linked to next year communist party congress when high ranking
leadership posts will be determined
london based human rights watchdog amnesty international said the convicted men
were prisoners of conscience who should be immediately freed
the trial made complete mockery of justice disregarding fundamental human
rights such as the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to
defence said brittis edman amnesty vietnam researcher
mchale in an emailed response to questions from afp said the indictment
strained belief
judge nguyen duc sau convicted the men of well organised non violent campaign
in collusion with overseas exile reactionary organisations aimed at
overturning the government with the help of the internet
supporters of trung french trained computer expert have set up website
where they denounced this sham of trial while paris based press freedom
watchdog reporters without borders called it travesty of justice
the central leadership of the government and communist party is getting tougher
with outspoken critics of the state particularly those operating in an
organised way through the internet or self proclaimed political parties
kerkvliet said in an email interview
he said law and order advocates may be gaining ground among the authorities
the other analyst mchale said the case sends message that political
pluralism outside of the ruling party will not be tolerated but even though
