tolimir trial will be the last to start before the icty created by the un
security council in to prosecute those accused of serious crimes during the
balkans wars
the icty has indicted individuals
obama wants answers from china over google cyberattacks
aboard air force one jan afp
us president barack obama is troubled by cyberattacks on google and wants
china to provide answers to charges of security breaches his spokesman said
friday
the comment came day after secretary of state hillary clinton urged china to
conduct thorough probe into cyberattacks on google and other us companies and
lamented what she said was beijing increasing efforts to control what its
million web users can see
as the president has said he continues to be troubled by the cybersecurity
breach that google attributes to china white house deputy spokesman bill
burton told reporters aboard air force one traveling to ohio
as secretary clinton said yesterday all we are looking for from china are some
answers burton said
china has rejected the internet censorship criticism by clinton saying it
harmed relations
we firmly oppose such words and deeds which go against the facts and are
harmful to china us relations foreign ministry spokesman ma zhaoxu said
friday in china strongest comments since the google dispute erupted last
week
we urge the united states to respect facts and stop using the so called
internet freedom issue to criticize china unreasonably he said in statement
posted on the ministry website
in major policy speech on internet freedom in washington clinton reiterated
us support for single internet where all of humanity has equal access to
knowledge and ideas
she called on china to conduct thorough investigation of the cyber
intrusions revealed by google and for its results to be transparent
the two sides have become locked in spiralling dispute over chinese web
controls sparked by internet giant google announcement last week it would no
longer obey china censorship rules and might pull out of the country
google said the decision was made after it suffered cyberattacks that the
company believes originated in china and appeared aimed at cracking the email
accounts of chinese human rights activists
football united eye return to the top
manchester england jan afp
with chelsea and arsenal otherwise engaged on fa cup duty manchester united can
steal march on their rivals and return to the top of the premier league table
with victory over hull at old trafford
united third round defeat by league one leeds ensured united were able to
bring forward their meeting with the tigers originally scheduled for the middle
of next week and they can afford to pass up the opportunity of three points
arsenal moved to the top of the table with win over bolton in midweek but
united could return to the summit with win over phil brown side
united manager sir ferguson surprised some with the strength of the team that he
fielded in the league cup semi final first leg against manchester city on
tuesday
that match ended in defeat and now ferguson must decide how many of his
first choice players he can afford to rest on saturday ahead of the second leg
against city at old trafford on wednesday
ryan giggs is likely to sit out the hull match and gary neville may feature
while dimitar berbatov knee problem could mean rare premier league start for
michael owen
in defence rio ferdinand will play his first match in nearly three months after
finally overcoming troublesome back injury
rio has been training very well in the last few weeks ferguson said on
friday he will play tomorrow
the scot added this is the time to bring him back we have gone through the
whole situation with him in terms of enough training and endurance work
it is big boost because the defence has been the weakest part of our game
this season
at various times we have lost ferdinand nemanja vidic edwin van der sar john
shea it has been rough time so to get them back can only be good for us
even though united were beaten at city assistant manager mike phelan saw some
promising signs and insists they can string some victories together if they
start taking their chances
phelan said we want to keep some consistency in our game at city there were
signs that manchester united are on the way forward
if we can stick the ball in the back of the net we are in business
people keep saying the league cup is not on anyone priority list but it is
cup game
when you get to the semi final of cup you want to get to the final both
clubs are desperate for that
hull boss phil brown is hoping that his side relegation battle can be boosted
by the return of captain ian ashbee before the end of the season
ashbee has been out since may with hamstring injury but has also been
diagnosed with recurrence of the degenerative bone condition that he struggled
with early in his career
brown said would never write ian ashbee off never even if he said he
wasn fit still wouldn write him off
the beauty of ash of late is that he got new focus in life and that is
that he can see light at the end of the tunnel
when anyone can see that can understand how they must feel and how hard it
is to motivate yourself
but all of sudden can see realignment of his focus and think he can
see an end to all of this we are seeing different ian ashbee now and long
may that continue
amr zaki the egyptian striker who is joining hull on loan will not be
considered for this weekend match because he is not fully match fit
eu envoy threatens bosnia with sanctions over discriminatory constitution
banja luka bosnia hercegovina jan afp
the top european union envoy in bosnia on friday said the country could face
sanctions if it fails to change its discriminatory constitution before the
october general elections
last month the european court of human rights slammed bosnia for barring jews
and roma from running for high elected office and ordered that the constitution
be changed
cannot say what would be our reaction if the ruling is not executed but
suspension is definitely one of the options provided for in the stabilization
and association agreement with the eu but not the only one the chief of the
european commission delegation in bosnia dimitris kourkoulas told the dnevni
avaz daily
he warned that this was an urgent issue and stressed that changes to the bosnian
constitution to enable anyone regardless of religion to run for office must be
completed so that the effects of those changes can be applied already in
october elections
bosnia will hold general elections in october for the tripartite presidency and
the central parliament as well as the parliaments and presidents of its two
semi independent entities
under the current constitution posts in the federal parliament and its
tripartite presidency are reserved for the three so called constituent peoples
serbs muslims and croats the rules were intended to prevent ethnic strife
in the wake of the country war
however the european court of human rights ruled in december that sarajevo
violated the provisions of the european convention on human rights prohibiting
discrimination and upholding the right to free elections
the bosnian constitution was an annex to the dayton peace accord that ended the
conflict splitting bosnia into the bosnian serb republika srpska and
the muslim croat federation linked by rotating tripartite presidency
europe top human rights court acknowledged that the constitution had pursued
the legitimate aim of restoring peace and that the time was perhaps still not
ripe for bosnia to move from power sharing to majority rule
however it also noted that sarajevo had committed to bring its electoral rules
into line with the european human rights convention as part of the association
agreement signed with the european union in
guantanamo detainees to be held without trial report
washington jan afp
the obama administration wants to keep some guantanamo detainees locked up
indefinitely because they are too dangerous to release and evidence against them
is insufficient for criminal trial the washington post said friday
on the anniversary of president barack obama executive order to close the war
on terror prison within year the daily said justice department led task
force had found that detainees of remaining should be held without
trial under the laws of war
under the supreme court ruling that granted the prisoners the right of
habeas corpus however the individuals may still challenge their detention in
civil cases against the government
the task force divided up the remaining guantanamo bay detainees into three main
groups the washington post said identifying who should be prosecuted in
federal or military courts at least who can be either immediately or
eventually released and around who must be held without trial
the group of prisoners cleared for release consists of two separate
categories one with some detainees including about yemenis who are
eligible for immediate repatriation or resettlement in third country
but second group of yemenis are barred from release until their home
country political stability is assured the post said citing administration
officials
washington had previously halted transfers of detainees back to yemen following
the botched christmas day bomb plot claimed by al qaeda militants in the gulf
state
we re still moving forward and in much more deliberate and less haphazard
manner than was the case before an administration official told the newspaper
all policies encounter reality and it painful but this one holds up better
than most the official said
human rights organizations and legal experts have criticized obama for keeping
prisoners locked up indefinitely
there is no statutory regime in america that allows us to hold people without
charge or trial indefinitely insisted anthony romero executive director of
the american civil liberties union
for the prisoners not pegged for release the government has pinpointed rural
illinois prison to take in an as yet undetermined number decision late last
year that sparked outrage among republicans in congress who don want to see
any detainee transferred to us soil
obama wants answers from china over google cyberattacks
aboard air force one jan afp
us president barack obama is troubled by china cyberattacks on google and
wanted beijing to provide answers to charges of security breaches his
spokesman said friday
the comment came day after secretary of state hillary clinton urged china to
conduct thorough probe into cyberattacks on google and other us companies and
lamented what she said was beijing increasing efforts to control what its
million web users can see
as the president has said he continues to be troubled by the cybersecurity
breach that google attributes to china white house deputy spokesman bill
burton told reporters aboard air force one traveling to ohio
as secretary clinton said yesterday all we are looking for from china are some
answers burton said
golf australian kulacz stuns field in abu dhabi
abu dhabi jan afp
armed with red hot putter australian rick kulacz moved to the top of the
leaderboard at the halfway stage of the million euro abu dhabi golf
championship
the year old from perth playing on sponsor invite made the most of his
opportunity as he added stunning nine under to his first round to take
one shot lead over spaniard world no sergio garcia ireland shane lowry and
swede peter hanson who were tied second at under
garcia making comeback from wrist injury shot five under par the
same as hanson while lowry who won the irish open as an amateur last year
shot round of seven under par
england chris wood welshman rhys davies and german martin kaymer champion
here in were tied for the fifth place at under
the reigning european tour order of merit winner england lee westwood three
over was the most notable casualty as the halfway cut was applied at two
under
kulacz who fell in love with the game as three year old when he was forced to
stay awake at night after an asthma attack and watch aussie legend greg norman
play the open championship on television was three under at the turn with four
birdies and bogey
but once he drained footer birdie putt on the th there was no stopping
him as he made just about every putt and chipped in as well
on the back nine he had seven birdies and one bogey before finishing with
par
the aussie who won the brunei open on the asian tour in his rookie year and
shot superb round of on the final day of the qualifying school to secure
his tour card said got off to really good start
birdied th with two putt and hit it to probably two feet on so the
momentum was there straightaway
got really good break on and holed it from feet up the hill and
maybe better break on the first where chipped in from over the back of the
green
just tried to get it on the green anywhere and the putts just seemed to be
going in it was just one of those days where everything went my way and
hopefully can keep that going the next two days
garcia who could not hit single shot till last week after hurting his wrist
during the third round of dubai world championship in november was on song as
he made six birdies in round of
starting the round with feet birdie putt the world no hit the ball
solid throughout the day but said he still did not control his shots as well as
he would like to
am very pleased with this beginning especially after the break and the
little practice that was able to do said garcia
so it good to see that getting it around obviously not feeling in
total control of my ball flight but feel like more or less know how
hitting it and scoring pretty well
overall it been very positive and hopefully we can keep going on
canada pm fiscal priorities stimulus first then deficit
ottawa jan afp
prime minister stephen harper unveiled friday his fiscal priorities for canada
next parliamentary session saying his government would try to cut its huge
deficit only after the recession ends
in the meantime he told his conservative caucus massive spending to stimulate
the economy would continue
first we must stay the course for now the economic action plan has been
working and we must see it through harper said
second we have been told by canadians to start planning now for deficit
reduction when the recession ends he said
these are the messages that are guiding our work on the speech from the throne
and on the budget that will be presented to the upcoming session of parliament
this week newly appointed treasury board president stockwell day began
preparing the country for years of spending restraint to rein in the
government record deficit set to top billion canadian dollars
billion us over five years
this is not one year road this is going to be journey of few years he
told the daily globe and mail on wednesday
meanwhile indicators are now pointing to the beginnings of turnaround in the
economy
qatari prince ends dispute on paris mansion
paris jan afp
qatari prince who owns rare th century mansion in paris settled dispute
on friday with heritage activists who had feared he would destroy cultural
gem the french government said
french court had blocked plans by prince abdullah bin abdullah al thani
brother of qatar emir to modernise the hotel lambert unesco heritage site
perched on the ile saint louis island in the seine in central paris
the prince had been set to begin turning it into family residence restoring
historic rooms but also putting in elevators and an underground car park under
government permit
judge put the work on hold because of shortcomings in the architect plans
saying it was unclear what their full impact would be
the culture ministry said in statement that the prince signed an agreement on
friday with the heritage association historic paris which puts an end to the
dispute after weeks of delicate government supervised negotiations
the hotel lambert is considered one of the finest examples of mid th century
domestic french architecture complete with mural paintings by charles le brun
and other masters of the day
built in the at the eastern tip of the ile saint louis it was designed
for rich financier nicolas lambert by the architect louis vau who went on
to oversee an expansion of the chateau de versailles for louis xiv
rich with history the mansion uses over the years ranged from hideaway for
the th century philosopher voltaire and his lover to political headquarters
for polish exiles in the following century
the qatari prince acquired the hotel from the rothschild banking family for some
million euros million dollars in
oil prices fall on concerns over weak demand
london jan afp
world oil prices fell friday on worries about weak energy demand in the united
states and over the strength of china economy traders said
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery sank cents to
dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dived dollars to dollars
barrel
the us department of energy doe on thursday said that gasoline or petrol
reserves in the world biggest economy increased by stronger than expected
million barrels in the week ending january striking two year high
it also said refineries operated at percent of capacity last week their
lowest rate in at least two decades apart from the immediate aftermath of
hurricane
the doe report was not very bullish price supportive the refineries
capacities were down at around percent and that was their lowest in the two
decades said anz bank oil analyst serene lim
however us crude stocks fell barrels according to the doe report
confounding expectations of large gain of million barrels
the united states is the world largest energy consuming nation followed by
number two china
meanwhile moves by china to slow down its roaring economy also weighed on oil
prices
think people are very concerned about what the chinese government would do
next to curb the consumption demand growth said lim
china economy expanded percent in the december quarter and by percent
for the whole of
oil prices jumped by about percent in as traders were heartened by
evidence that the battered global economy was on the mend with the eurozone
japan and the united states escaping fierce recession
however crude futures have struggled to make much headway in early as
economic data disappoints
on tuesday the opec oil producers cartel left unchanged its forecast for
annual oil demand growth
the organization of petroleum exporting countries said in its january report
that world oil demand in was forecast to grow by million barrels per
day bpd to average million bpd representing no major change from last
month
opec member the united arab emirates on monday said it was comfortable with
current price levels
uae energy minister mohammad bin dhaen al hamli said world oil prices were very
reasonable at the moment
asked if he preferred prices to be in excess of dollars barrel he told
reporters on the sidelines of four day alternative energy forum in the uae
capital don like over and don like
football spurs rule out van nistelrooy move
london jan afp
tottenham manager harry redknapp on friday all but ruled out move to bring
ruud van nistelrooy to white hart lane because of the level of the real madrid
striker wages
west ham have reportedly made the dutchman an offer of short term deal on
pounds week while turkish side galatasaray german club hamburg and
stoke are also reported to be interested in signing the former manchester united
forward
redknapp admitted that spurs chairman daniel levy would be reluctant to shatter
the club wage structure in order to land van nistelrooy who is keen to be
playing regularly in the run up to the world cup
daniel the chairman here runs good business and wouldn be paying that
sort of money redknapp said
it would break our wage structure by an awful long way he probably worth it
and is probably earning an awful lot more at real madrid he been great
player and could still be that for someone
it gamble because he has been injured fit ruud van nistelrooy is world
class but it gamble as to whether he fit if you have him for months
and he not fit it big problem to have massive wage on your bill
but if he plays and scores he can take the club to another level ve always
been big admirer of him he fantastic player but that sort of basic wage
wouldn be possibility at tottenham not chance
steve bruce has insisted he will not allow kenwyne jones to leave sunderland on
loan and voiced his frustration at persistent speculation linking the trinidad
and tobago striker with move to liverpool
kenwyne jones is not going to go on loan to anybody to help liverpool or
anybody else bruce said on friday would be mad
bruce did not rule out selling the striker but questioned whether liverpool had
the funds to pay the huge amount of money it would take for sunderland to let
one of their prize assets leave
the sunderland boss added haven even got price because don think
liverpool can go there it like me asking for steven gerrard on loan ll
try maybe it hugely disrespectful
burnley meanwhile have signed france under striker frederic nimani from
monaco on an initial five month loan
the year old becomes new clarets boss brian laws first signing since taking
over at turf moor
manchester city have loaned slovakia winger vladimir weiss to bolton until the
end of the season
mother accuses greek policeman of murder
amfissa greece jan afp
the mother of greek teenager allegedly shot dead by policeman in
sparking days of rioting labelled the officer monster in emotional
testimony in court friday
the court in the small central town of amfissa heard evidence for several hours
before adjourning for week in trial held amid tight security after
anarchists made death threats against the accused
police officer epaminondas korkoneas is accused of fatally shooting
year old alexis grigoropoulos during december night patrol in the
bohemian athens district of exarchia
his partner vassilios saraliotis has been charged with complicity in the
crime they reject the charges
appearing before the court for the first time tzina tsalikian described her son
as quiet child who trusted the police
she turned several times to face the officers directly during her more than two
hours of testimony accusing them of murder and of being monsters in the
guise of men
for them my son was as worth much as cockroach year old tsalikian
charged
korkoneas who faces life sentence for murder told the court do not
accept the responsibility of killing of anyone
his lawyer alexis kouyias said the incident was tragic accident which
occurred as police fired warning shots in state of panic to keep back
youngsters who were hurling objects at them
an autopsy report has indicated that the boy was hit by bullet that ricocheted
on to him but lawyers for his family point to the testimony of witnesses who say
the policeman took aim and fired
far left extremist group has threatened to kill the officer accused of murder
prompting authorities to relocate the trial to amfissa kilometres
miles northwest of athens
the incident sparked days of rioting across greece with critics denouncing
police democracy
hudson miracle plane departs for us auction
new york jan afp
for sale second hand airbus condition total wreck with possible traces of
goose feathers
the us airways plane that captain chesley sullenberger landed safely in the
hudson river year ago after smashing into flock of geese is on the auction
block
insurers aig are hosting online bidding until march for the airbus
which is stored in shed in new jersey
pictures on the website of the aig subsidiary handling the sale show the intact
fuselage spooky rows of empty blue seats and the hastily abandoned cockpit
engines are not provided and future owner might want to be handy with the
toolbox
aircraft suffered severe bird strike event resulting in water emergency
landing the sales pitch says severe water damage throughout airframe impact
damage to underside of aircraft
auction details can be viewed at
http www aigaviation com aviationsalvage salvagedetail aspx faano us
the airbus successful splash landing in the icy river just off manhattan on
january last year was quickly dubbed miracle on the hudson and turned
sullenberger into national hero
urgent obama wants answers from china over google cyberattacks
aboard air force one jan afp
us president barack obama is troubled by china cyberattacks on google and
wants answers from beijing about security breaches affecting the internet
giant his spokesman said friday
obama has confidence in bernanke calls for confirmation
aboard air force one jan afp
president barack obama has great deal of confidence in federal reserve
chairman ben bernanke and believes the senate will confirm his reappointment an
obama spokesman said friday
the president has great deal of confidence in what chairman bernanke did to
bring our economy back from the brink deputy white house spokesman bill burton
told reporters traveling with the president with senate vote awaited on
bernanke
the president thinks he is the right person for the job and believes he will be
confirmed
on thursday aides to senate leaders said the chamber would not vote until next
week at the earliest on the nomination of bernanke to second term as federal
reserve chief
bernanke who has faced sharp criticism over his role in the global
financial meltdown was still expected to be confirmed by lawmakers most likely
before his term runs out at the end of the month said one official
small group comprising democrats and republicans has fought against bernanke
confirmation demanding greater accountability from the fed and assailing his
oversight in the years leading up to the financial crisis
the senate banking committee in december recommended bernanke reappointment in
vote
israelis defy police to protest east jerusalem settlements
jerusalem jan afp
hundreds of people mostly left wing israeli activists demonstrated against
jewish settlements in east jerusalem on friday in defiance of police efforts to
crack down on the weekly protests
the gathering modelled on regular palestinian demonstrations in the occupied
west bank was to protest the takeover of several arab homes in the sheikh
jarrah neighbourhood by settler groups armed with court orders
there is nothing holy about an occupied city the demonstrators chanted in
hebrew as several people held signs comparing the israeli occupation to
apartheid south africa
scuffles broke out as police ordered the protestors to disperse saying
organisers had failed to get permit for the gathering police detained
people spokesman said
shortly thereafter fighting broke out as palestinian protesters and group of
ultra orthodox jews who had come to pray at nearby holy site began throwing
rocks at each other an afp photographer said
at least three palestinians were then taken away in ambulances
the neighbourhood became the site of near weekly demonstrations after several
palestinian families were forced out of their homes in recent months by settlers
claiming jewish ownership of the land
last week police arrested demonstrators including the heads of two well
known israeli rights groups in move later condemned by human rights
organisations as an attempt to silence protest
the police argued that the demonstrators had not acquired permit for the
gathering and said there was no political motivation behind the crackdown
but all of the detainees were released the following day when an israeli court
dismissed the charges against them
israel occupied east jerusalem in the six day war and annexed it shortly
afterwards in move not recognised by the international community or the
palestinians who consider the eastern part of the holy city their capital
the status of east jerusalem which includes major christian jewish and muslim
holy sites has been one of the thorniest issues in the decades old middle east
conflict
football del neri explains cassano ommission
rome jan afp
sampdoria coach luigi del neri denied on friday that he has had bust up with
star striker antonio cassano
del neri dropped his errant forward from the squad that will travel to udinese
on sunday but claimed it was purely technical decision
cassano has not been picked due to technical choice there been no dispute
away from home need more effort and less flair said the coach
we ve spoken and explained my ideas to him but there was no argument we had
serious conversation between two men
want forwards who know how to press it normal selection for coach and
normal for player to accept it as has happened
cassano began the season in fine form as sampdoria started with six wins and two
draws from their opening nine league matches leaving them second behind inter
milan
but since then they have won only one of their next serie games dropping
to th while cassano has scored only three times
even the early season clamour for him to be recalled to italy coach marcello
lippi squad have abated
obama has confidence in bernanke calls for confirmation
aboard air force one jan afp
president barack obama has great deal of confidence in federal reserve
chairman ben bernanke and believes the senate will confirm his reappointment an
