than scheduled because of traffic chaos
snow was expected to stop falling later in the day
the seoul city government said it was mobilising civil servants and
vehicles to remove snow from all major roads and streets
british watchdog chief attacks ryanair over fees report
london jan afp
the head of britain business watchdog monday hit out at irish low cost airline
ryanair for slapping new fee on its customers calling it quite puerile
report said
office of fair trading oft chief executive john fingleton specifically
criticised the carrier for charging online customers for using common type of
bank card adding it was operating within the narrow letter of the law
ryanair advertises taxes and other fees upfront but only mentions charges for
paying by plastic at the end of booking on the grounds that customers could
escape the fee by using less common prepaid card the independent said
the airline last month started charging the five pound euro fee per
passenger for ticket bought using commonly used electron card which had
previously been free it said
ryanair has this funny game where they have found some very low frequency
payment mechanism and say well because you can pay with that more obscure
card then the charge is called optional fingleton said in an interview with
the newspaper
it almost like taunting consumers and pointing out oh well we know this is
completely outside the spirit of the law but we think it within the narrow
letter of the law
he added on some level it quite puerile it almost childish
ryanair which in november reported surge in first half profit hit back
saying its customers had no complaints about paying for the low airfares for
flights throughout europe
ryanair is not for the overpaid john fingletons on this world but for the
everyday joe bloggs who opt for ryanair guaranteed lowest fares because we
give them the opportunity to fly across european countries for free five
pounds and pounds said ryanair head of communications stephen mcnamara
the oft is investigating the carrier along with others and ticketing agencies
over online pricing and advertising the paper said
fingleton also questioned the automatic addition of insurance to flights by
airlines such as ryanair unless customers opted out
ryanair has drawn criticism in the past including for proposed money making
schemes such as fat tax on obese passengers which was scrapped and plan
to charge people to use on board toilets
football neill still wary of rovers in league cup semi
blackburn england jan afp
martin neill insists aston villa will not have an edge over blackburn rovers
in tuesday league cup semi final first leg despite victory in the first game
of the teams triple header
ahead of tuesday tie at ewood park villa knocked their premier league rivals
out of the fa cup with home win last weekend
but rovers manager sam allardyce used fringe team in the fa cup and is
concentrating on the league cup tie
neill who made seven changes for the fa cup third round game is also
desperate to bring villa their first trophy since they lifted the league cup in
it won do us any harm winning the game and it is better to have won than
lost said neill whose side will face either manchester united or manchester
city at wembley if they win their two legged clash with rovers
but it different competition different matches and different set of
circumstances
it was good for confidence though and that important
we ve got big semi final to look forward to now everyone is talking about
it blackburn are saying it their biggest game for long long time
there are two games to be played and every single minute in these matches will
be vital
south african star benni mccarthy whose future at blackburn remains uncertain
could return to the rovers line up after he was one of nine changes for the game
at villa park
but senegalese winger el hadji diouf definitely misses the league cup clash
through suspension after he was sent off for challenge on habib beye at the
weekend
swedish defender martin olsson was one of the players drafted in at the weekend
but the full back is sure that villa will face completely different
proposition in midweek
the youngster expects to drop back to the bench for the league cup tie but
admits that ewood park is buzzing at the prospect of the semi final with
allardyce more excited than anyone
olsson hopes blackburn solid home form which has seen them lose just twice in
all competitions at ewood park this season can give them an advantage from the
first leg and thinks cup success can boost them in the league
we changed around lot of players in the fa cup so most of them are rested for
the carling league cup game we had team that hasn been playing lot so
there will be six or seven new faces in the team
we just want to do our best we re playing so well at ewood park and if we keep
doing that we won have any problems in going through
it been while since we ve been in semi finals so of course it good and
everybody is up for it and the chance of going to wembley
the gaffer allardyce is probably talking about it the most all the players
are excited and they know we have the chance of going to the final and that will
help us in the premier league
football barcelona braced for triple test against sevilla
madrid jan afp
barcelona began with disappointing home draw against villarreal on
saturday and have no respite as they prepare to face sevilla three times in
days
holders barcelona turn their attention to the kings cup on tuesday when they
host sevilla at camp nou in the first leg of the last tie
pep guardiola watched on as his side dropped their first home points of the
season with the villarreal draw but real madrid failed to capitalize with
draw at osasuna to stay two points behind the champions
this team have lot of self belief this will make us stronger said
guardiola
it was all very tight and neither team dominated the game there were periods
when we were the better team and times when villarreal were both of us had
chances but think draw was fair result
the important thing now is to fine tune few things and get ready for
tuesday game
with real madrid already eliminated cup holders barca have been handed the
toughest draw possible in sevilla although the latter will be low on confidence
after losing at atletico madrid on saturday
it is nice tie and it is something that you can control in any case said
guardiola it will be good match here at camp nou as well as in seville
the two sides will certainly be seeing lot of each other with the first leg if
the cup on tuesday before the return leg on january in seville and the two
sides also face off in the league at camp nou four days later making it three
meetings in days
it is tall order for barcelona who only recently jetted to abu dhabi for the
world club championship which they went on to win
it is difficult month for us probably the most complicated month of the
year said barca forward thierry henry
we ll see what happens we know we have to play in the cup champions league
and league we have to accept it and put the effort in
barcelona rested lionel messi for the villarreal draw so it will be interesting
to see if the argentine returns on tuesday while andres iniesta may be ready to
start after coming off the bench on saturday
sevilla were victims of stoppage time goal as they lost at atletico and
have personnel problems with defender sebastien squillaci and midfielder adriano
correia both picking up ankle injuries at the vicente calderon
didier zokora frederic kanoute luis fabiano federico fazio lautaro acosta
javi varas and tom de mul are also unavailable as is sergio sanchez who could be
out for some time due to heart condition
everything is negative at the moment but the best way to lift ourselves is at
camp nou against barcelona said sevilla goalkeeper andres palop
sevilla last won the kings cup in while barca have won the trophy record
times having beaten athletic bilbao in last season final
football celtic boss defends mcdonald snub
glasgow jan afp
celtic boss tony mowbray defended his decision to start the old firm derby with
scott mcdonald on the bench despite the australian striker coming on to score in
the draw with rangers
mcdonald the club top scorer who is being courted by wigan and middlesbrough
made an immediate impact when he gave celtic the lead eight minutes after being
called into action at parkhead
but his manager defended the decision to leave the socceroos star on the bench
he has done that before when he came off the bench at falkirk and scored two
mowbray said
scott not very happy at sitting on the bench of course can understand
that
but my job is to pick the team think can go and give rangers the most
problems and don think anyone can sit here and say we didn give rangers
lots of problems today
feel vindicated that the selection of the team was fine we know scott is
goal scorer and we know what he brings to the team and he came off the bench and
did just that
rangers boss walter smith has demanded an immediate improvement if his side are
to retain their scottish premier league crown following late goal in the
draw
smith saw his scottish premier league leaders dominated by celtic side who had
marc antoine fortune goal controversially chalked off before they took well
deserved lead through mcdonald in the th minute
but the ibrox side struck back just two minutes later when lee mcculloch headed
past artur boruc to score with rangers first shot on target
the draw left smith side seven points clear at the top ahead of their city
rivals who have played game less
we can play far better than we played today in all aspects of our game said
smith
we will have to put our whole concentration in making sure that what we do
our record last year in the league was good if the second half of this season
is as good as this last year in terms of number of points gained and number of
wins then we would have good opportunity to retain the championship
rangers held an eight point lead at one stage two years ago before losing the
league to celtic and their rivals suffered similar collapse when they threw
away seven point advantage to allow smith side to claim the title last
season
smith said these statistics show his side can afford to rest on their laurels
despite having healthy lead at the top
people talk about how many points ahead you are in the league smith said
but you have to look at the last couple of seasons where there has been many
times where teams have been good few points in front of the other and they
have managed to claw it back and change it round
the last two seasons have seen big swing in the number of points
the point is far better one for us than it is for celtic at this stage of the
season they will obviously feel little bit aggrieved with the way the game
went when they didn win it
mowbray insisted the league title race was far from over
think we can challenge for the title said the hoops boss
for everybody who watched today it is there in front of your eyes so we will be
ok sure
passengers face tougher checks on us bound flights
washington jan afp
us officials sunday toughened security measures for all us bound airline
passengers and warned those traveling from or via terror linked nations
will undergo mandatory enhanced screening
the new measures came in the wake of the botched christmas day bombing of
northwest airlines plane heading from amsterdam to detroit which has forced many
airports and airlines to boost already tight security
all passengers flying into the united states from abroad will be subject to
random screening or so called threat based screens the transport security
administration tsa said in statement
but it further mandated that every individual flying into the us from anywhere
in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of
terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced
screening
the tough rules go into effect from midnight sunday gmt monday and follow
the failed plane attack blamed on year old nigerian who had recently
traveled to yemen to train with al qaeda
suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly boarded the flight at amsterdam
schiphol airport after flying in from lagos nigeria
cuba iran sudan and syria are currently the only four countries designated
state sponsors of terrorism by the state department
but senior administration official told afp the mandatory stringent measures
which would include pat downs and enhanced screening would apply to all
passengers traveling from or via total of countries including afghanistan
libya nigeria pakistan somalia and yemen
he refused to reveal the remaining four nations on the list
according to us prosecutors abdulmutallab tried to bring down the northwest
airlines airbus using device containing the explosive petn also known as
pentaerythritol
stitched into his underwear it was not spotted by the traditional metal
detectors it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire put out by
passengers
dutch officials have said they now plan to put full body scanners into use
within three weeks and british prime minister gordon brown said sunday british
airports were also going to gradually introduce such equipment
we have recognized that there are new forms of weapon that are being used by
al qaeda so we ve got to respond accordingly brown said
britain has called for top conference on dealing with the terror threat from
yemen to be held in london on january
us president barack obama who vowed to act swiftly to close any security gaps
has accused al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap yemen based cell of
osama bin laden group of targeting the northwest jet
but amid questions over the failures in us security obama top counter
terrorism advisor john brennan said there had been no evidence which would have
unmasked the plot sooner
there was no smoking gun there was no piece of intelligence that said this guy
is terrorist and is going to get on plane none whatsoever brennan told
fox news sunday
it was failure to integrate the bits and pieces of information
the united states and britain meanwhile closed their embassies in the yemeni
capital on sunday as brennan told cnn there were indications al qaeda is
planning to carry out an attack against target inside of sanaa possibly our
embassy
but brennan indicated to fox news sunday the united states was not opening new
front against al qaeda in yemen and has no plans to send troops there
wouldn say we re opening second front this is continuation of an
effort that we had underway as said since the beginning of the
administration said brennan
he also told cnn the united states would continue to repatriate guantanamo
detainees to yemen with about still held at the us military base in cuba
some of these individuals are going to be transferred back to yemen at the
right time and the right pace and in the right way he said
the terror scare has prompted obama to order two reviews of intelligence and
security operations and he will meet with spy chiefs and top officials tuesday
to discuss the findings
meanwhile the family of abdulmutallab who is the son of wealthy banker have
said they will travel from northern nigeria to detroit to attend his arraignment
due on friday
tokyo stocks start year on upbeat note
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks started on an upbeat note monday shooting higher on
optimism about the economic outlook as well as news that the government has
expanded credit line to troubled japan airlines
the benchmark nikkei index was up points or percent to
in mid morning trade
the tokyo stock exchange introduced super fast trading system on the first
trading day of the year as part of its efforts to reinvigorate asia largest
bourse plagued by series of technical problems in recent years
the tse which aims to list its own shares some time after april this year
launched the next generation trading system called arrowhead which handles
each order in seconds as fast as the systems in new york and london
the tokyo exchange introduced the new system much faster than the previous
one which took at least few seconds to process an order following series
of technical problems in recent years
in november the tokyo bourse was forced to suspend trading in all shares
for the first time ever because of software problem tarnishing its reputation
in the face of growing competition from rival asian exchanges
brazil nuclear plants may close as floods kill
angra dos reis brazil jan afp
two nuclear plants close to southern brazilian town hit by landslides may shut
down as precaution the mayor said sunday as the regional toll from deadly
floods rose to
there are no operational problems at angra and angra ii but if landslides
persist in the hills we ll need to shut them down mayor tuca jordao told
press conference in this seaside town some kilometers miles south of
rio de janeiro
angra overlooks ilha grande island where people were killed in friday
landslides including in luxury hotel nestled at the foot of jungle
covered hill another people were killed in the center of angra
the mudslides were triggered by incessant rains that have killed at least
people across rio de janeiro state since wednesday and left dozens missing more
than people have had to evacuate their homes civil defense officials
said
rescue crews sunday continued to search for victims among the mud and rubble at
the hotel sankay which catered to brazilian and foreign tourists seeking
remote beachside hideaway some guests were staying at the hotel when the
landslide hit
it is still not known if there were foreigners among the dead
some firefighters and rescue workers were digging in the worst affected
areas hoping to unearth survivors but hopes were fading fast
mayor jordao said he has requested the two nuclear plants be shut down warning
that in case of catastrophe there was no way to quickly evacuate the city
more than inhabitants since the main road leading out is partly blocked
by landslides
the plants closure would not affect electricity supplies to rio de janeiro
which has alternative power sources the company running the plants said
jordao has also alerted local residents to emergency evacuation plans
this summer in the southern hemisphere high rainfall levels have been
forecast to the people of angra dos reis please at the slightest sign of
rain abandon your homes he said
local authorities said around houses in high risk areas have been condemned
or declared out of bounds in the city
the angra neighborhood of vila velha has been cut off from the rest of the city
for three days as landslides left it without power running water and roads
agencia brasil said
the only way to get to vilha velha it added is by boat
although the rains stopped on friday authorities put rio de janeiro on alert
because of fears of potentially devastating mudslides in its densely populated
hillside favelas or shanty towns
you don play around with nature our problem is the rain and you can live
like that clinging to the hillsides rio state governor sergio cabral said
when he visited the disaster areas
angra dos reis was hit by devastating floods in people were killed
and rescue operations lasted three months
football chelsea won get african nations blues says ancelotti
london jan afp
carlo ancelotti remains convinced his chelsea side can overcome the loss of
their african nations cup stars after the holders started the new year with
crushing fa cup home win over watford
and the chelsea manager reacted to sunday victory here at stamford bridge by
denying reports of rift with french forward florent malouda
ancelotti premier leaguer leaders crushed their championship opponents to earn
fourth round tie away to another second tier side in preston north end
the win was secured by two goals from daniel sturridge his first for the club
strikes from frank lampard malouda and john eustace own goal
the performance of sturridge particularly pleased ancelotti who asked the
year old to lead the attack in the absence of didier drogba on african nations
duty in angola with the ivory coast and injured forward nicolas anelka
and the italian coach believes the morale boost of getting off the mark in only
his third start since his pre season move from manchester city will provide
sturridge with major lift
it was good performance and sturridge played very well said ancelotti
without drogba it was important to have him in good condition he scored two
goals and that important for striker to score
but he deserved that he played very well for the whole match and stayed
well
it was important for him it ll improve his confidence he has lot of
potential and great quality and he can show that on the pitch in january
anelka will be fit for the chelsea weekend trip to hull city and ancelotti is
already thinking about fielding two forwards in the absence of drogba and ivory
coast team mate salomon kalou
he anelka will be ready for saturday ancelotti confirmed he been
training with the team and will do so again this week he and sturridge can play
together
and the manager believes he saw enough signs to suggest chelsea can also cope
with the temporary loss of ghana michael essien and nigeria john obi mikel
think that we can do good january good performances without the african
players
had good answers about other players juliano belletti played very well in
central midfield think we can do good performances without the other african
players ancelotti explained
malouda meanwhile revealed he had sought talks with ancelotti after being left
out of the starting line up in number of major games this season
spoke with malouda before the game against birmingham and explained to him my
position ancelotti said he explained his position
for me that was finished but there no problem it normal that player
wants to play every game above all the important games for us for me
malouda is an important player
watford manager malky mackay meanwhile admitted the gulf in class between the
two sides had been vast
if we started the game the way we started the second half it might have been
different game he said of match where the visitors were down at half
time
it about learning there the standard if you want to be top england
international that what you re up against that was european standard
football out there
football wenger ready to make splash in january sales
london jan afp
arsenal manager arsene wenger admits he is ready to make splash in the january
sales as he searches for the right player to improve his title chasing squad
wenger side are in the hunt for three trophies after coming from behind to set
up an fa cup trip to stoke with win at west ham in the third round on
sunday
the gunners trailed to alessandro diamanti first half strike and were within
minutes of going out at the first hurdle until aaron ramsey capped fine
individual display with the equaliser
eduardo put the seal on arsenal dramatic late fightback when he headed in
carlos vela cross in the rd minute to send the north londoners into
wednesday crucial league clash against bolton on high
arsenal can move into second place in the premier league and within one point
of leaders chelsea if they beat bolton and wenger side also have champions
league last clash against porto to look forward to
with so much to play for and injuries robbing his squad of cesc fabregas robin
van persie and theo walcott wenger knows top class signing could make major
difference as he tries to end the club five year wait for major trophy
at the moment we have nine injuries we could do with player or two we ll
try to be in the market wenger said
have the money and the desire to sign someone but don have the player
basically it depends how the big guns will move speak of manchester city and
chelsea
if they buy from english clubs the market will be busy if not then it won
because there is not lot of money around
knowing how important it is to beat bolton wenger sent out weakened team
against west ham with five changes to eleven that defeated portsmouth last week
for long periods at ice cold upton park it looked as if that gamble would lead
to arsenal exit as diamanti converted valon behrami pass to deservedly put
west ham ahead
but wales midfielder ramsey was at heart of all arsenal best moments and
he helped turn the tide in arsenal favour
ramsey was one of the few in the first half who played at high pace he
improves from game to game wenger said
in pre season set target for him to play to games and it looks like
he will get that quite quickly
he has great physical stamina is quick and can play on the flanks when
fabregas comes back of course his best positon is central midfield because he
is goalscorer
while he searches for the right man to bolster his squad wenger is also
encouraged by the form of croatia forward eduardo who has scored three times in
his last four games as he returns to peak form following the broken leg that
sidelined him for year
he comes slowly back wenger said he has been out for year footballer
is not like an engine where you drive off at mph he is getting better with
each game
west ham boss gianfranco zola took heart from the way his depleted side pushed
arsenal hard and the italian is convinced the hammers will pull clear of the
relegation zone when they get injured stars like scott parker back
trust me this team is going to be hard to beat when we have everybody back he
said
it would be nice to bring someone in but everyone knows the financial
situations and knows we have problems as far as know nobody is going
east timor ticking aids timebomb
dili jan afp
the tiny nation of east timor could face deadly aids epidemic with
promiscuity among youths low condom use and general ignorance leading to
sharp increase in reported cases doctors said
most likely it will be disaster in the near future said dr daniel murphy
founder of bairo pite clinic one of four voluntary aids testing centres in
dili
east timor is considered low prevalence country for hiv but government
statistics point to significant increase in the number of registered cases
rising from six in to in april this year fold leap
the actual number of people living with hiv in east timor however could be
much higher as many people don get tested murphy said
they think they have it under control he said criticising complacency in the
government of prime minister xanana gusmao former guerrilla and hero of the
struggle for independence from indonesia
they should be going around the country and screening everyone the benefit of
being tested is you can get to grips with the epidemic and start therapy earlier
and slow the spread down
study compiled by family health international found an hiv prevalence of
three percent among female sex workers in deeply catholic east timor and one
percent among men who have sex with men
the study found that lot of men who had unprotected anal sex with other men
also had sex with women
but knowledge of hiv did not equate to safe sex it found about percent of
sex workers didn know what condom was while none asked clients to use one
more than percent of east timor population of million are under
years of age women have on average eight children while about percent of
men in east timor are illiterate and misconceptions about hiv are rife
generation in need
of the registered hiv cases most were transmitted through heterosexual
activity and the most affected demographic is year olds health ministry
hiv aids officer narciso fernandes said
most young people have misconception about the transmission of hiv he said
in unaids funded survey found that only seven percent of respondents had
ever used condom some percent didn know how to use one and percent
were unaware condoms could prevent hiv
united nations children fund survey of more than youths aged
in found that although percent had heard of hiv about half thought
transmission could occur through mosquito bites or sharing clothes
only quarter of those surveyed knew condoms could prevent hiv
this is why this is happening to the young people because they don get
education fernandes said
national aids commission member francisco jeronimo said data gathered from
loose network of organizations all over the country indicated the real rate of
infection could be some times higher than officially reported
the number of registered cases is about but the estimate is in excess of
he told afp
lot of the work being done is to find those people who are being hidden from
the official register to make sure we get the correct picture about the reality
of the prevalence of this disease
kit ming leung technical advisor on hiv aids for the east timor red cross said
the government should rethink its strategy adopted from successful campaigns in
other asian countries of targeting high risk groups
it seems many of the hiv cases that are being presented at hospitals are mostly
not from high risk groups she said
my concern is that the current response model is looking primarily at high risk
groups and missing the general population particularly young people
hard route to acceptance
for the people living with hiv in east timor today there are constant
struggles many find themselves out of work and unable to support their
families
maria da costa not her real name is hiv positive and part of the esperanza
hope group in dili formed in the group is made up of about people
living with hiv who met through bairo pite clinic where they go for counselling
and medication
the important thing is for the ministry of health and clinics to spread
information to all the people and go to rural areas da costa said
it even happens that nurses will spread information to the neighbours of people
diagnosed with hiv they tell them not to go close to this family and not to
play with their children they think that if they play together they will get
infected
da costa husband was diagnosed with hiv in and died last year one of
their children six year old boy has also tested positive
the church response is going to be crucial in east timor which is
