alert
us should not dream of security until palestinians secure bin laden
ahmadinejad hints iran resolved to make pct nuclear fuel
tehran jan afp
president mahmoud ahmadinejad hinted on sunday that iran was determined to
enrich uranium to percent level if western powers fail to accept tehran
counter proposal concerning un brokered nuclear fuel deal
ahmadinejad said iran will make an announcement regarding the enrichment of
uranium to percent purity when the nation marks next month the st
anniversary of the islamic revolution which toppled the us backed shah
iran has given chance to western countries ahmadinejad was quoted as saying
by fars news agency when asked by reporters about iran deadline to world
powers over the nuclear fuel deal and when tehran will produce percent
enriched uranium
therefore during the days of dawn february to we will announce good
news regarding the production of percent enriched fuel in our country he
said referring to the period marking the islamic revolution
this news is so sweet that it will make any iranian and any freedom loving
person in the world happy this news is about iran scientific advancement
fars quoted the president as saying
the un atomic watchdog has offered proposal which sees the bulk of iran low
enriched uranium being sent to russia and france in one shot for further
enrichment to percent level and then returned as fuel for tehran research
reactor
iranian officials however have offered counter proposal of phased fuel
swap and foreign minister manouchehr mottaki gave the west two month
ultimatum to accept the iranian plan
iranian officials have threatened that tehran will enrich uranium on its own to
the percent level if the west fails to meet its end january deadline on the
counter proposal
world powers led by washington are against iran enriching uranium the core of
the controversy concerning tehran nuclear programme
they suspect iran is enriching uranium despite three sets of un sanctions
to make atomic weapons tehran denies the charge saying its nuclear programme is
solely aimed at generating electricity
western powers have indicated that iran had effectively rejected the un brokered
proposal put forward in talks in vienna hosted by the international atomic
energy agency the un nuclear watchdog
but mottaki insists iran has not rejected the principle of the nuclear fuel
deal
us secretary of state hillary clinton meanwhile amid increasing international
frustration with tehran has vowed washington will not be waited out and not
back down in the face of iran defiance
urgent bin laden claims christmas bombing al jazeera
dubai jan afp
al qaeda chief osama bin laden claimed responsibility for the botched christmas
day bombing of us airliner and said strikes on us targets will continue in an
audio statement broadcast sunday on al jazeera satellite television
wd bpz
national hockey league results
washington jan afp
national hockey league results and standings after saturday games
saturday january rd results
ottawa boston
philadelphia carolina
montreal ny rangers
new jersey ny islanders
washington phoenix
florida toronto
los angeles detroit
tampa bay atlanta so
anaheim st louis so
minnesota columbus
vancouver chicago
san jose buffalo
eastern conference
atlantic division
new jersey
pittsburgh
philadelphia
ny rangers
ny islanders
northeast division
buffalo
ottawa
montreal
boston
toronto
southeast division
washington
florida
atlanta
tampa bay
carolina
western conference
central division
chicago
nashville
detroit
st louis
columbus
northwest division
vancouver
colorado
calgary
minnesota
edmonton
pacific division
san jose
phoenix
los angeles
anaheim
dallas
note overtime losses ot are worth one point in the standings and are not
included in the loss column
sunday january th schedule
pittsburgh at philadelphia pm
boston at carolina pm
dallas at colorado pm
all times are eastern
afp
basketball nba results and standings
washington jan afp
results and standings after saturday national basketball association games
saturday january rd results
orlando charlotte ot
philadelphia indiana
cleveland oklahoma city
portland detroit
miami sacramento
chicago houston
milwaukee minnesota
denver new orleans ot
phoenix golden state
utah new jersey
eastern conference
atlantic div pct gb
boston
toronto
new york
philadelphia
new jersey
central div pct gb
cleveland
chicago
milwaukee
detroit
indiana
southeast div pct gb
atlanta
orlando
miami
charlotte
washington
western conference
northwest div pct gb
denver
portland
utah
oklahoma city
minnesota
pacific div pct gb
la lakers
phoenix
la clippers
sacramento
golden state
southwest div pct gb
dallas
san antonio
houston
memphis
new orleans
sunday january th schedule
dallas at new york pm
la clippers at washington pm
la lakers at toronto pm
all times are eastern
afp
alert
bin laden says there will be new strikes against us al jazeera
six tv stations forced off air in venezuela
caracas jan afp
an opposition tv station in venezuela along with five others were taken off the
air early sunday for violating rules issued by president hugo chavez
government station spokeswoman said
the new rules require stations to air chavez speeches among other mandates
spokeswoman for opposition channel rctv gladys zapiain said all venezuelan
cable television providers dropped the station and the other channels from their
line ups
we have just been taken off the air said zapiain there was no prior
notification
mario seijas president of the venezuelan chamber of cable television told afp
that in addition to rctv the dropped channels include ritmo son momentum
america tv american network and tv chile
the providers argued that they had failed to comply with government regulation
issued in december zapiain said
under the measure every television or radio station whose programming is at
least percent venezuelan made is considered national media outlet
as such they are obligated to carry speeches by the president and other
officials as well as official government announcements
chavez critics view many of those speeches which can last for hours as
government propaganda
on saturday rctv failed to comply with the regulation for second time
that day chavez addressed thousands of followers in western caracas demanding
absolute loyalty and telling them he embodied the heart and soul of the
venezuelan people
am not an individual am the people chavez told crowd of supporters
it my duty to demand respect for the people
the president asked for voters to renew the ruling party control of both
national assembly houses in upcoming elections in order to be able to continue
building our new socialist state
venezuela will hold crucial legislative elections in september in which chavez
hopes to secure at least two thirds of seats to maintain his current legislative
majority
according to opinion polls the president popularity which approached
percent approval at the beginning of stands now at less than percent
chavez vocal critic of us influence in the region has been in power since
the largest oil producer in south america venezuela slipped into recession in
for the first time in six years due to drop in oil prices and production
amid the economic downturn venezuela recently devalued its currency
the bolivar devaluation was the first since and was designed in part to
bolster public finances that have withered amid dwindling oil revenues and
rapidly contracting economy
critics said the move would allow chavez to boost public spending ahead of
elections in september but would severely damage the health of the economy
chavez has shuttered more than retail stores in campaign to keep lid on
prices in the wake of the bolivar devaluation which will make it more costly
to import goods
alert
bin laden claims december attempt to bomb us airliner al jazeera
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
rescuers still finding survivors despite search end
afghanistan postpones parliamentary polls
port au prince rescuers pull out man from underneath rubble days after the
devastating january quake and despite an official end to the search and
rescue efforts haiti quake
kabul an independent election commission announces that parliamentary polls due
in may are being postponed until september because of funding shortage and
unrest in war torn afghanistan afghanistan unrest politics vote
conakry talks on forming government under new interim prime minister jean
marie dore guinea politics
dubai human rights watch holds press conference for the regional release of its
world report at which the group will discuss rights developments in
in the uae iran iraq and bahrain uae rights hrw
seoul north korea lashes out at south korea plan to launch preemptive
strike against the communist state to thwart any nuclear attacks nkorea
nuclear weapons skorea military
tehran state media reports at least people injured when soviet designed
iranian passenger plane caught fire on landing in the northeastern city of
mashhad iran air accident
tehran president mahmoud ahmadinejad presents in parliament the annual budget
for the iranian year to march picture iran economy budget
tripoli appeal by rashid hamdani swiss businessman caught up in row over
switzerland detention of libyan leader moamer kadhafi son against
month jail term for overstaying his visa libya switzerland trial
alert
al jazeera says will broadcast message from bin laden claiming airline attack
sri lanka president hit by defection
colombo jan afp
sri lanka president suffered major defection on sunday when the matriarch of
his party pledged support for the main opposition candidate ahead of tuesday
fiercely contested election
former president chandrika kumaratunga met the common opposition candidate
sarath fonseka former army general and endorsed his bid to oust incumbent
mahinda rajapakse
took the decision to end four years of silence as am deeply concerned
about the violence intimidation and corruption kumaratunga told reporters and
urged her supporters to vote for fonseka
kumaratunga is key symbol of the sri lanka freedom party slfp the main
constituent in the ruling coalition
the socialist slfp was founded by her late prime minister father who was
succeeded by his widow who also went on to become the world first elected
woman premier in kumaratunga took over the party in
campaigning for tuesday presidential election ended on saturday night with
both fonseka and rajapakse expressing confidence of winning amid highly
personal and bitter contest between the two sides
the two men were the architects of the government victory over tamil tiger
rebels whose year violent struggle for tamil homeland was crushed in may
kumaratunga family has strong support among slfp activists and her endorsement
is seen as boost to fonseka who is backed by the right wing united national
party as well as the marxist jvp or people liberation front
our party has deteriorated in recent years and see an opportunity to revive
it through change of the present culture of violence intimidation corruption
and nepotism she said
police and troops impeded journalists attending kumaratunga meeting with
rajapakse at her ancestral home outside the capital the media bus was searched
by heavily armed troops before it was stopped second time by police
three yemeni soldiers gunned down at checkpoint official
sanaa jan afp
gunmen in car on sunday opened fire on military checkpoint killing three
soldiers in shabwa province where yemeni forces are engaged in battle to
eradicate al qaeda local official said
unknown assailants opened fire from car on checkpoint in ataq killing
three soldiers the official told afp
ataq is the main city in shabwa province which lies kilometres east of
sanaa
yemen has recently sent reinforcements to the eastern part of the country in
stepped up campaign against members of the yemen branch of al qaeda which has
claimed responsibility for the botched christmas day attack on us airliner
over detroit
yemeni authorities announced on january that security forces killed abdullah
mehdar whom they said was the head of al qaeda in the shabwa province
emerging nations meet in india over climate change
new delhi jan afp
environment ministers from brazil south africa india and china met in new
delhi on sunday to agree common position for future talks after the copenhagen
climate change summit officials said
the four emerging economies key bloc within troubled negotiations on how to
tackle global warming lobbied successfully at the copenhagen meeting in
december against binding emissions caps
the nations have come together to chalk out their post copenhagen strategy and
organise an action plan an indian environment ministry spokesman told afp
india environment minister jairam ramesh returned from december summit
praising how the group known by the acronym basic had worked together in
the face of fierce pressure from developed countries
the widely criticised copenhagen accord was non binding document crafted by
small group of countries on the final day of the talks as the meeting faced
collapse
as recriminations continue over the summit the united nations climate change
forum is due to resume shortly with ministerial level meeting planned in
mexico at the end of the year
the basic talks in delhi came ahead of january deadline for countries to
say if they intended to be associated with the copenhagen accord or what sort
of measures they envisaged taking
speaking at press conference on saturday the head of the un climate science
panel pachauri expressed hope that the basic nations would offer some
chance of binding pact in the near future
the copenhagen accord set broad goal of limiting global warming to two degrees
celsius fahrenheit but did not specify the staging points for achieving
this goal or year by which greenhouse gas emissions should peak
instead countries are being urged to identify what actions they intend to take
either as binding curbs on emissions or voluntary action twenty eight billion
dollars in aid have been pledged by rich countries for
many emerging nations say they will not allow emissions targets to be imposed at
the cost of economic development
tennis two chinese in semis possibilty says zheng
melbourne jan afp
history making zheng jie says it is not unreasonable for two chinese players to
make the semi finals of the australian open further boosting the sport image
in the world most populous nation
the year old world number made the bold claim after beating st seeded
ukrainian alona bondarenko on sunday to become the first chinese
player ever to make the quarter finals in melbourne
her reward is last eight showdown against either dinara safina or maria
kirilenko
zheng and li na have already created history by becoming the first two chinese
players into the fourth round of grand slam
li plays her fourth round match on monday against fourth seed caroline
wozniacki with the presence of the two players in the second week sparking keen
interest in china
zheng said her success along with li was giving the sport in china massive
boost
feel tennis is very quickly going up in popularity in china she said
you can see lot of the newspapers coming from china she said pointing to
the large number of chinese reporters in the interview room
think it started to become popular from li ting and tian tian won the
gold medal from the olympic games
zheng won the first of her two grand slam titles at the australian open
when she took out the women doubles with yan zi
yan who lost in the first round of the mixed doubles on sunday said the game
was growing quickly in china with parents now encouraging their children to
play tennis rather than other sports
table tennis and badminton are still the most popular but more mums and dads
are taking their children to tennis clubs now yan said
that popularity will be sure to be grow even more if li can join zheng in the
quarter finals
think we can go further because you can see li na in the fourth round
hope both chinese players can be in the semi finals zheng said
zheng li yan and peng shuai were all part of the chinese national program but
have now been granted the freedom to plan their own careers and to keep the
majority of their prizemoney
for zheng li and peng that freedom has proved blessing with series of good
results throughout bringing further exposure back home
finally can have my own schedule zheng told the china daily last year
can control my time now
only yan has struggled since going out on her own but she told the newspaper
she had no desire to return to the state system
but despite the presence of the chinese women on the world tour the chinese men
have still not made any impact
maybe men need to work harder zheng said with laugh
two us soldiers killed in afghan unrest
kabul jan afp
two us soldiers were killed sunday in bomb blast in troubled southern
afghanistan nato international security assistance force isaf said
the force did not disclose the exact location of the incident but much of
southern afghanistan is beset by an ongoing taliban led insurgency
two isaf service members from the united states were killed today in an ied
improvised explosive device strike in southern afghanistan isaf said in
statement
around international troops are deployed to afghanistan under us and
nato command to fight the islamist militants
the latest deaths took to the number of foreign soldiers serving in
afghanistan who have died this year last year was the deadliest so far for the
troops with deaths
the afp tally is based on that kept by independent website icasualties org
which tracks military deaths in iraq and afghanistan
home made bombs are weapon of choice for taliban militants in their campaign
against the well armed western and afghan troops
thousands protest over indian kashmir killing
srinagar india jan afp
thousands of villagers in indian kashmir held noisy demonstrations on sunday
accusing the army of killing married muslim man
police said mushtaq ahmad mir died in crossfire during clash between muslim
militants and indian troops late on saturday
but villagers in the southern district of pulwama said mir father of four
was used as human shield by the soldiers and killed by them when militants
escaped from siege
protesters who resent india rule over the muslim majority region chanted
blood for blood and we want freedom as they carried the dead body through
the streets
separatist violence routinely increases in kashmir ahead of republic day an
indian national holiday that will be celebrated on tuesday
the insurgency which erupted in against new delhi rule has claimed more
than lives according to an official count
cycling armstrong hits the beers down under
adelaide australia jan afp
relaxed lance armstrong swigged beer with his new team mates on sunday after
successful hit out at the tour down under their first race together
armstrong finished the six stage race around adelaide in th place slight
improvement on last year th as he gears up for his attempt on an eighth tour
de france title in july
having beer with team radioshack he tweeted good week here at tour down
under
armstrong joined the new radioshack outfit from astana moving with team boss
johan bruyneel who masterminded all of his record seven tour de france victories
between and
bruyneel said armstrong was in better condition than last year when he returned
from three and half year retirement and also happier with his new team
armstrong famously fell out with astana team mate alberto contador last season
in feud that came to the boil during the tour de france when he placed third
behind the spaniard
lance is good he lot different than last year physically his form is
lot better he feels good in the bunch and he feels good in the team so that
three things that are better than last year bruyneel said
armstrong earlier said he was happy with the trip although it was too early to
make any predictions for the rest of the season
it still so early not much can be taken from here in terms of what happens
in the summer in fact nothing he said
the main thing is we got good racing in which equals good preparation mixed
with no bad luck illness injuries crashes smooth trip good weather
taliban kill seven us spies in pakistan police
miranshah pakistan jan afp
taliban militants shot dead seven men in pakistan restive northwest tribal
belt after accusing them of spying for the united states officials said sunday
the bullet ridden bodies of five men were found on sunday dumped by the side of
road in kamsarobi village kilometres miles south of miranshah the
main town in the semi autonomous north waziristan tribal region
taliban killed five men overnight accusing them of spying for americans to
help them launch drone attacks local police official mehboob shah told afp
note found on the body said that the victims were spying on taliban and
anyone doing the same would be killed in this manner he added
the body of sixth man was found in qutabkhel village five kilometres three
miles south of miranshah with similar note from the taliban shah said
adding that he too appeared to have been shot dead overnight
another body of man with warning note from the taliban was found near the
town of mir ali some kilometres miles east of miranshah local police
official qayyum khan told afp
an intelligence official and local tribesmen confirmed the incidents
militants frequently kidnap and kill tribesmen accusing them of spying for the
pakistani government or us forces operating across the border in afghanistan
where taliban fighters are leading an insurgency
volley of drone strikes has hit the northwest this month all in north
waziristan bastion of al qaeda fighters the taliban and the haqqani network
known for staging attacks on us and nato troops in afghanistan
more than people have been killed in about us drone strikes in pakistan
since august
separately paramilitary soldier was killed sunday when taliban militants
fired rocket at convoy near malik deenkhel village in khyber another tribal
district bordering afghanistan
one security forces member was martyred and four others were injured after
rocket fired by militants struck their convoy district chief shafirullah khan
told afp
pakistan rugged tribal regions have been beset by violence since hundreds of
taliban and al qaeda rebels fled across the border to escape the us led invasion
of afghanistan in late
washington says the tribal regions where security forces are battling islamist
militants have become safe haven for extremists
saudis urge continued spending in to avoid recession
riyadh jan afp
saudi finance minister ibrahim al assaf said on sunday that world governments
need to keep up their stimulus spending through to avoid double dip
recession
at this time don think it the time to curb spending it could lead to
another dip in the world economy assaf told the global competitiveness
conference an annual gathering of saudi and world businessmen in riyadh
is year in which we need continuous stimulus spending he said
world governments pumped hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus packages in
the wake of the global financial crisis in late and many maintained higher
spending levels last year
however assaf who represents his country at the group of leading
economies cautioned that after this year the world needs to be cautious about
the possible negative effects of over spending such as unleashing inflation and
sparking new sovereign debt problems
at some time we will need to cut back he said
assaf also suggested that the international monetary fund percent growth
forecast for the saudi economy this year could be slightly low though he
declined to offer his own projection
the economy of saudi arabia the world largest crude exporter ended last year
almost flat in real terms while its nominal gross domestic product slumped over
percent due to sharp drop in oil revenues
the kingdom posted billion dollar deficit last year the first shortfall
since it is projecting an billion dollar deficit for the current
year
however it has earmarked billion dollars for public spending this year the
highest ever in the kingdom history
hrw slams acquittal of uae leader brother in torture case
dubai jan afp
