islamist extremists in the region number of local leaders have been killed in
similar attacks in bajaur in recent months
also in bajaur two taliban militants were killed when bomb they were
preparing exploded in savaei village local official farooq khan said
pakistan tribal belt has become stronghold for hundreds of islamist
extremists who fled afghanistan after us led invasion ousted the hardline
taliban regime in kabul in late
bajaur was scene of major anti militant operation in august security
forces in february claimed the six month operation cleared the area of
militants
tennis big guns fire in melbourne but ivanovic flops
melbourne jan afp
the williams sisters stamped their authority on the australian open thursday
alongside novak djokovic and nikolay davydenko but former world number one ana
ivanovic was sent packing
on hot day defending champion serena showed she was still the woman to beat
barely breaking sweat as she crushed petra kvitova of the czech republic
in the second round
much of the talk at this year tournament has been about the return of belgian
pair kim clijsters and justine henin and how either of them could win the
opening grand slam of
but williams sent out clear message that anyone who wants to lift the trophy
will have to get past her to do so
today was better than my first round match was moving better better
energy all round lot better she said
feel like could have played lot better today
sister venus seven time grand slam champion but yet to win in melbourne was
more workmanlike grinding down austrian sybille bammer and then
playing down her chances
don necessarily put lot of importance on if played well one day or not
it really about winning the match and then improving for the next day she
said
not into oh well in form so ll do well or not in form
third seed djokovic overcame some early first set wobbles to ease past swiss
marco chiudinelli on rod laver arena and set up third round
clash with uzbekistan denis istomin
more impressive was russian sixth seed davydenko who is shaping as serious
title contender after extending his win streak to matches
the year old has yet to win grand slam and has never been in final but
his disposal of ukrainian illya marchenko served notice that his
time may have come
for ivanovic it looks like her time has past
the former finalist and world number one put in an error riddled performance to
crash out to argentinian gisela dulko with her
groundstrokes deserting her
she has slipped down the rankings to be outside the top for the first time in
five years and thursday flop was the sixth time in her past seven tournaments
where she had failed to go beyond the second round
just need to keep my head up and improve said ivanovic who lost the
final to maria sharapova who is also out of this year tournament
fellow serb djokovic was off his game in the opening set conceding two service
breaks and hitting double the number of unforced errors than chiudinelli
but he took control of the match to ease through
there are some things that obviously have to improve in order to play
better djokovic said
but the opening rounds especially at australian open are tricky and where
lot of surprises happen
davydenko stayed on track for quarter final with roger federer with his
comprehensive hammering of marchenko
having enjoyed low profile throughout his career he is getting more
attention
it interesting he said we re not talking about tennis we re talking
about my life this is my first experience like this in the press
the attention is there because he has boasted an improved all round game that he
used to beat both federer and rafael nadal in recent weeks
in other matches danish fourth seed caroline wozniacki breezed past germany
julia goerges while ninth seeded russian vera zvonereva had an easy
win over czech iveta benesova
former finalist marcos baghdatis of cyprus advanced past david ferrer
and will next face australian lleyton hewitt who had
straight sets victory
prince william salutes courageous australia fire survivors
melbourne jan afp
britain prince william thursday paid tribute to the courageous survivors of
horrific firestorms that killed people last year as embodying the spirit of
australia
william used his only official speech down under to salute the thousands
who survived last february black saturday wildfires after an emotional day
touring the fire wasted region
today on the outskirts of melbourne was privileged to see the spirit of
australia in its purest most magnificent form the prince told official
reception in melbourne
my family along with millions around the world followed the events of last
february with sense of horror which slowly as the days passed turned to one
of deep deep admiration for the steadfastness of the australian people
william travelled from sydney to the town of whittlesea early thursday to
receive an official briefing with victoria state premier john brumby about the
disaster before touring devastated areas
it terrifying what it can do isn it he remarked leafing through
photographs of the damage
brumby said the young prince was staggered by the scale of the destruction
hundreds of homeless and traumatised victims who took refuge in whittlesea
following the blazes turned out thursday to greet william whose visit comes
just two weeks ahead of the first anniversary of the tragedy
his convoy made stop at the humevale property of richard and diane fox so that
he could speak with them about their ordeal
it an honour it not every day that royalty comes to walk on your lovely
block of land said diane adding that the visit would lift spirits and help
the healing process
there been lot of heartache lot of mud she said
it not just about an area it about the people and there been so many
people affected not just us who lost our houses
the casually dressed royal who wore yellow ribbon on his shirt in memory of
the dead mixed easily with survivors during barbecue lunch inquiring after
the welfare of families and whether they intended to rebuild
delighted local children queued for chance to bat against the prince during
lunchtime cricket game with australian stars matthew hayden and brett lee
william told the melbourne reception being in australia was the realisation of
long held dream recalling his much loved late mother princess diana affection
for australia and the profound impression it made on her
his father prince charles was still misty eyed about an immortal moment on
bondi beach when an australian beauty planted smack on his cheek william
said
it good to see this tradition is still continuing he joked with dig at
his brother harry that other guy with the ginger hair sending ripple
of laughter through the audience
william praised australia as truly country for the st century which the
world respected for its unique ways of life for your vibrancy your
straightforward ways and your classic sense of humour
what has struck me during this visit to the southern hemisphere is what shared
heritage actually means it really is about core values and our way of life
william added
it really is about humour and decency and it is also about courage and an
ability to face down adversity
the young royal requested the trip to australia as way to get to know the
country and its people following official duties in new zealand where he
represented his grandmother queen elizabeth ii for the first time
william last visited australia in the arms of his mother when he was just nine
months old in and commentators say his ready humour and laid back manner
gave him the diana touch with the public
his popular tour has revived debate over whether australia should become
republic with some opinion formers suggesting he had boosted the monarchist
cause
deputy prime minister julia gillard said there were no present plans to have
referendum on becoming republic move the australian people voted against in
media reports suggested william would briefly drop in at the australian open
tennis tournament before taking late night commercial flight back to britain
corrected purported photo unveiled as alleged tiger details emerge
new york jan afp
tiger woods has been photographed leaving sex rehabilitation clinic in
mississippi according to the national enquirer which on wednesday published
what it claimed was photograph of the troubled golf star
if real the picture which shows man with black hooded jacket over his
head and shoulders would be the first new image of woods since november
traffic accident outside his florida home
woods has not been seen in public since the crash which led the star to admit
marital infidelity more than dozen women have claimed to have been his
lovers
woods has taken an indefinite leave from golf and according to undisclosed
sources cited by two television stations has checked into hattiesburg
mississippi sex rehabilitation clinic
the enquirer reported that woods wife elin threatened to take their two
children to sweden unless the golfer went to the clinic
the report also claimed woods will face disclosure day when he must admit to
his wife every affair
report by the hollywoodlife website purported to outline the treatment
schedule patients at the facility face according to an undisclosed inside
source
routine day consists of intense group therapy sessions doctor evaluations and
psychological analysis
typical stay lasts six weeks and celibacy contract upon entry bans patients
from sex with others or masturbation
it also features wake up calls at in the morning and lights out by at
night
woods admissions have led to sting of sponsors walking away from the star
the new york times reported wednesday that at amp has not paid him any of the
millions of dollars remaining in contract after dropping its endorsement deal
with him last month
at amp still sponsors pga event that benefits woods foundation but has
removed its logo from the superstar golf bag and no longer supports his
charity music event
accenture has also dropped an endorsement deal with woods
bad weather slows eurozone output growth survey
brussels jan afp
heavy snow and bitter cold across the eurozone in january stunted growth in
private sector business activity for the first time in months well
watched survey said on thursday
the purchasing managers index pmi for the countries using the single
currency compiled by data and research group markit slipped to points
from points in december signalling weakened expansion
growth was strongest in manufacturing with sixth monthly increase in row
but the rate of growth in the services sector slowed for the first time after
five consecutive months of expansion albeit still above the boom and bust
point line
slight easing in the rate of growth needs to be put in the context of the
adverse weather that affected many businesses during the month said markit
chief economist chris williamson
mexico finds citizens in haiti still missing
mexico city jan afp
mexican authorities have made contact with mexican nationals who went missing
after last week earthquake in haiti but are still searching for others
the country foreign ministry said
in the last hours the number of mexican nationals found in haiti has risen
to so the number of mexicans who remain missing fell from to the
foreign ministry said in statement late wednesday
the ministry said it was aware of mexican citizens living in haiti at the
time of massive earthquake that struck last week
it has confirmed the death of one mexican women in the massive quake which
killed at least people according to haitian government officials
tetris million download hit on mobile phones
san francisco jan afp
classic arcade videogame tetris has taken on new life as the top selling title
for play on mobile telephones
tetris creator alexey pajitnov and blue planet software which owns the rights to
the game are holding press conference on thursday to announce that more than
million copies of the game have been downloaded
as mobile devices get into the hands of more people so does tetris said blue
planet chief executive henk rogers
it testament to the game staying power that it remains popular on today
most modern technology
it was spring in what was then the soviet union when mathematician in moscow
with penchant for puzzles created tetris computer game more than years
ago
for me it was just moment ago said alexey pajitnov who noted that he was
years old when he crafted the computer code for tetris in june
was very fascinated with all kinds of puzzles brain teasers mainly it was
just diversion from the main work said pajitnov who was employed at the
time at government institute researching artificial intelligence and computer
speech recognition
pajitnov made computer program that he came to call tetris which involves
player manipulating variously shaped blocks dropping along screen with the
goal of getting them to mesh into rows without gaps
tetris became computer game hit and has stayed that way commanding about
percent of the market according to rogers
tetris is so popular because it transcends culture rogers said there is no
violence no ideology the player creates order out of chaos
pajitnov and rogers through blue planet license tetris rights to game makers
such as nintendo and electronic arts ea
tetris is the biggest franchise in mobile gaming which speaks to the evergreen
nature of the brand and the fact that it translates to any platform said ea
mobile vice president of worldwide publishing adam sussman
tetris was first available on mobile in as result of collaboration
between rogers and takeshi miyaji of japan mode
tetris provided the crucial building blocks for our company when we started
years ago said miyaji president of mode
just this past year alone our tetris league game in japan has been played
nearly million times
cycling sky boss denies pressure to deliver
adelaide australia jan afp
team sky principal dave brailsford on thursday denied he was under pressure to
deliver after the rich new british outfit set its sights on an ambitious tour de
france title
brailsford key architect of britain eight cycling golds at the
olympics said he welcomed the challenge of trying to produce the country
first ever winner at the blue riband event
it bike racing nobody ever died from lack of bike racing brailsford told
afp during the tour down under in adelaide sky debut race
it sport yes we re here to win yes we re here to be serious yes it
people careers but ultimately every day an opportunity in life isn it
you just go and take those opportunities and as soon as you start seeing those
opportunities as threats it probably the day that you should pack up
brailsford added that he was delighted with sky start after their rider greg
henderson won sunday pre tour down under street race the team very first
outing and he lies second overall after three stages
we couldn ask for much more at this moment in time but you don want to run
before you can walk brailsford said
the team whose sponsor sky tv is closely associated with football globally
popular english premier league reportedly has multi million pound budget
which outstrips its protour competitors
team sky have already gained reputation for meticulous preparations and use of
technology including stringent equipment tests and state of the art team bus
which have caught the eye of rival teams
everyone expecting us to do all these technical innovations but think any
team built on solid foundations and that about the basics communication
having that knowledge of each other looking after each other brailsford said
just doing the basic things before you add on anything else think if you
chase after all the innovations straight away without getting the foundations
right it recipe for disaster
brailsford who also remains performance director of the british cycling team
said he was now searching for way to overhaul tour down under leader andre
greipel who powered to sprint wins on the first two days
think it fair to say greipel the strongest sprinter there no doubt
about it so how do you beat the strongest sprinter
you need team effort with bit of cunning it the only way it going to
happen
so think our plans are around being cunning and smart and thinking it through
and thinking whether there any tactical way we can beat the guy brute
strength
sky have signed number of riders including british olympic star bradley
wiggins who placed fourth in last year tour de france and will spearhead
their inaugural campaign in july
hong kong shares dive almost two percent
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares dropped percent thursday on growing concern that china
will tighten credit after it posted soaring fourth quarter economic growth and
inflation data
the benchmark hang seng index gave up points to finish at
turnover was billion hong kong dollars billion us
analysts said they expect hong kong shares to come under more pressure in the
near term because of worries china will tighten monetary policy further
data out earlier in the day showed gross domestic product in the asian
powerhouse returned to double digit growth in the fourth quarter of at
percent while the full year figure of percent beat expectations
but china consumer price index the main gauge of inflation rose percent
year on year in december prompting risk aversion among investors
the overall macro picture is one of continued strength in activity growth and
rapidly rising inflation yu song an economist at goldman sachs told dow
jones newswires
we believe further policy tightening measures over and beyond what has already
been implemented are needed in order to control inflation in the coming months
said song
banking stocks led the falls in hong kong icbc fell percent to hong
kong dollars bank of china dropped percent to and citic bank dropped
percent to
blue chip developers with property projects in china also fell thursday because
credit tightening in china could increase their borrowing costs
henderson land fell percent to sun hung kai properties dropped
percent to and china overseas land fell percent to
however in shanghai chinese shares rose percent with financial companies
leading the gains on expectations interest rates will rise to curb inflation
higher rates would boost their income
the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was up
points at on turnover of billion yuan billion dollars
analysts warned that the market gains are unsustainable because of uncertainty
over the government next tightening move
the shanghai index will fall to around in the coming weeks as investors
are extremely concerned over credit tightening said simon wang an analyst at
guoyuan securities
banks led the gains with shenzhen development bank surging by percent to
yuan china merchants bank was up percent at yuan
but metals and energy companies continued to fall
baoshan iron and steel slipped percent to yuan after falling
percent wednesday and china shenhua energy shed percent to yuan
following its percent loss in the previous session
chinese tourists splurge on french tax free luxury study
paris jan afp
chinese tourists to france increased their spending massively on tax free luxury
goods last year despite the economic crisis overtaking cash strapped russians
report found on thursday
the chinese bought tax free goods worth million euros million
dollars in france in that was an increase of percent from the level
the previous year according to global refund company specialising in tax
free shopping for tourists
the economic crisis caused russians to curb their spending which dropped by
percent to million euros according to the study which was based on
figures collected by stores partnering with global refund
chinese tourists spent on average euros in tax free goods last year while
russians shelled out euros each
the increase from the chinese is not surprising what was unexpected was the
fall in business done with the russians jean marc leroy director general of
global refund france told afp
tax free shopping by chinese tourists has been increasing for the last two
years rising by percent in and percent in they now represent
percent of sales and percent of transactions
the russians were the only tourists to spend less last year leroy said
russians who came to spend without counting in france saw their revenues fall
even though they are still rich and probably very busy with their businesses
leroy said
spending by japanese tourists rose by percent to million euros or
euros per person owing to favourable exchange rate global refund said
americans opened their wallets again after reducing their spending by
percent in us tourists spent million euros last year modest
percent increase
brazilians ranked fifth as their spending rose by percent to million
euros
ukrainians remained the biggest spenders on average at euros per person
followed by tourists from saudi arabia who spent euros each
they also had big appetite for watches and jewellery with ukrainians spending
euros on average for such goods while saudis spent euros
overall tax free spending rose by percent in compared to between six
and seven percent the previous year leroy said
cricket bangladesh india first test scoreboard
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
full scoreboard of the first test between india and bangladesh on thursday
india st innings tendulkar not out sehwag shahadat hossain
shakib al hasan
bangladesh st innings mohammad mahmudullah zaheer khan mishra
india nd innings decl gambhir laxman not out mishra
mohammad mahmudullah
bangladesh nd innings overnight
tamim iqbal dravid sehwag
imrul kayes karthik zaheer
shahriar nafees sehwag sharma
mohammad ashraful dravid sharma
raqibul hasan lbw sharma
shakib al hasan sehwag mishra
mushfiqur rahim sub ojha mishra
mohammad mahmudullah karthik zaheer
shahadat hossain mishra
shahadat hossain and mishra
rubel hossain not out
extras lb nb
total all out overs
fall of wickets kayes nafees ashraful raqibul
iqbal shakib mahmudullah shahadat
shahadat rahim
bowling zaheer sreesanth nb sharma mishra
nb sehwag yuvraj
note sreesanth sent down two balls of his th over before being injured
yuvraj completed the over
india win by runs
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
second test starts in dhaka on january
avatar leads the way in british award nominations
london jan afp
james cameron sci fi epic avatar received eight nominations including best
film as the contenders for this year bafta awards were announced thursday
an education and the hurt locker also got eight nominations stars including
george clooney and andy serkis will fight it out for the leading actor award
while meryl streep and audrey tautou are up for leading actress
big names in contention for best director include cameron for avatar quentin
tarantino for inglourious basterds and kathryn bigelow for the hurt locker
the winners of the british academy film awards will be announced on february
jerusalem demolitions halted to save settler home radio
jerusalem jan afp
plans to raze illegally built houses in mainly arab east jerusalem have been
halted to avoid having to tear down building used by jewish settlers israeli
army radio said on thursday
rightwing deputy mayor david hadari told the station he had frozen the transfer
of funds to be used for house demolitions
before unblock the funds want the priorities to be determined one cannot
demolish everything in one day or even one year and there is no reason to start
with house inhabited by jews it is better to start with buildings that are
bigger nuisance he said
in jewish settlers were ordered to evacuate an illegally built seven storey
building in the heart of the palestinian neighbourhood of silwan but the
eviction order which is opposed by mayor nir barkat and most of the municipal
council has not been enforced
hadari said that among the buildings in jerusalem under demolition orders it
is the only one in which jews reside
municipal councillor meir margalit hailed the decision saying one can only
welcome measure that postpones the demolition of arab homes
many palestinians in east jerusalem risk having their homes razed because they
were built or expanded without the necessary permits which are nearly impossible
to obtain from the israeli authorities
several western countries including the united states and britain have urged
israel to refrain from such demolitions to avoid further harming the already
hobbled middle east peace process
israel captured east jerusalem with the rest of the west bank in the six day war
of and annexed it in move never recognised by the international
community israel views the whole city as its eternal indivisible capital
the palestinians are determined to make the city eastern sector the capital of
their promised state
alert prompts calls for better security at german airports
berlin jan afp
german police unions called on thursday for tighter airport security after man
sparked major alert in munich by running away after his laptop tested positive
for possible explosives
if you check someone you should be able to stop him german police union
chief josef scheuring told the sueddeutsche zeitung daily
police said after the incident which involved parts of munich airport being
sealed off that the man was most likely businessman in hurry to catch his
flight unaware that security personnel wanted to check his laptop bag
find it unfathomable that someone can simply disappear with his laptop after
security checks harald schneider from the bavarian police union said
therefore it is necessary that there are more security personnel and police
airports around the world have been on high alert since nigerian man allegedly
tried to blow up an airliner over the united states on december with
explosives concealed in his underwear
us homeland security secretary janet napolitano was to press european union
interior ministers at meeting in toledo spain on thursday to install body
scanners at airports in the nation bloc
india revokes pre paid phone ban in kashmir
srinagar india jan afp
india revoked ban on pre paid mobile telephones in kashmir thursday after
authorities earlier accused muslim militants of using them to co ordinate
attacks and trigger bombs
mobile phones were launched in kashmir only in when security agencies gave
the go ahead but separatist militants were soon suspected of relying on pre
paid versions that are harder to trace
the ban on pre paid phones in jammu and kashmir has been withdrawn india
state owned television doordarshan announced
militants in the muslim majority region of kashmir have waged violent uprising
against rule from new delhi for two decades
the pre paid mobile ban was unpopular among young people in kashmir who said
the phones were lifeline for courting couples wanting to avoid detection by
disapproving parents or prying elders
haiti quake is big business for some
port au prince jan afp
haiti devastating earthquake has meant huge profits for traders selling water
oil and phone cards in the capital
general shortages and an influx of foreigners with dollars since the january
quake have led to record price rises for everything from water to gas to phone
cards to taxis
while the haitian capital remains devastated anyone who managed to stash extra
food petrol or cigarettes can now get rich quick
had several cans of gasoline at home for factory on my property and have
been selling them little by little said ludovic now the canisters he sells
disappear in minutes
its haitian gourdes no haggling he said pricing can at around ten us
dollars before the quake gallon of gasoline four liters fetched
gourdes
with the gradual reopening of petrol stations few have to depend on street
vendors but even in official outlets the price has risen percent in week
if we want to get work we have to pay more for gasoline said taxi driver
leonard who waited his turn at one of the reopened stations
at the same time we are earning more if we pick up the foreigners who have
come to the city
where water and soft drinks are sold prices have risen more than percent
milliliter bag of water that once cost gourde now costs three the soda
that cost gourde now costs
phone cards despite having the price labeled on them also cost double so too
cigarettes and alcohol
surely at these prices they rob the goods from any old semi destroyed
supermarket and sell them lamented corinne wheeling trolley full of the
drinks
hotelers faced with legion of journalists are not above price gouging
