transfer of police and justice powers from london to belfast the final but most
controversial part of the devolution process
the sense of crisis has been heightened by sex and funding scandal involving
robinson wife iris who had an affair with year old whom she helped
financially triggering police investigation
robinson himself has stood aside temporarily as first minister vowing to clear
his own name but remains engaged with the vital devolution talks
sinn fein chief gerry adams has described monday meeting as critical
suggesting his party could walk away unless agreement was found
he has accused the dup of derailing the talks by demanding concessions on
policing controversial protestant orange order parades however robinson has
insisted progress is being made
speaking to reporters as he entered the talks monday mcguinness said sinn fein
had taken historical and monumental move forward on the issue of policing
within three months of the st andrews agreement
three years on we are waiting for the dup to deliver and honour their
commitments that all of us were supposed to have signed up to he added
he said it was time for the dup to stand up and be decisive and be courageous
and promised to make positive and constructive contribution to the talks
the events in belfast are being closely watched in london and dublin
mcguinness said he was in constant contact with both governments and the
british and irish leaders were meeting to discuss the crisis monday
speaking ahead of the london talks with his irish counterpart brian cowen
british prime minister gordon brown said it was critical week of decision for
northern ireland but said he was confident that all these issues are soluble
the devolution process brought together the catholic republican and pro british
protestant communities in northern ireland which had been locked in three
decades of sectarian conflict known as the troubles
the violence was largely ended by the landmark good friday agreement and
all the main paramilitary groups from both sides have now disarmed although
some dissident groups remain active
most recently policeman lost leg in car bomb attack earlier this month
two men aged and were arrested over his attemped murder on monday
alert
iraq chemical ali executed government spokesman
corrected eu hits iron ore giants with new probe
brussels jan afp
european regulators announced new probe on monday into controversial anglo
australian iron ore giants rio tinto already facing bribery allegations in
china and its peer bhp billiton
iron ore mining essential for steel production and therefore the world
automotive and construction industries has become soiled in recent times by
multi billion dollar battles for control stretching from china to brazil
brussels competition watchdogs now have concerns over the latest plans by the
world second and third biggest producers to share lucrative iron ore assets
in remote western australia
their joint venture follows hostile takeover bid for rio by bhp which was
dropped in november amid global economic turmoil and after brussels opened
an investigation into market fixing suspicions then
before the new plans were drawn up billion dollar billion euros
bid for rio by chinese state owned firm chinalco collapsed amid tense annual
iron ore contract talks
just weeks after that australian passport holder stern hu an executive of rio
tinto was arrested in july in china alongside three chinese colleagues
they were initially accused of stealing state secrets although the allegations
were subsequently switched to bribery and prosecutors in shanghai will decide
shortly whether and when to bring the case to trial
hu arrest soured diplomatic relations with australia and raised questions
about business deals with rapidly industrialising china the world biggest
iron ore consumer
the european commission has opened formal antitrust investigation under
the eu rules on restrictive business practices said statement from brussels
spokesman jonathan todd told reporters the case would proceed as matter of
high priority
the agreement signed on december leaves only the marketing activities
of the companies separate
the commission will in particular examine the effects of the proposed joint
venture on the worldwide market for iron ore transported by sea
china steel industry sent delegation to brazil in december according to one
report to discuss ways to lobby brussels with vale the world top iron
producer as part of its opposition to the tie up
brussels insists that the decision to investigate does not imply conclusive
evidence of an infringement and stressed that there is no binding deadline
for the probe outcome
bhp billiton last week posted record iron ore production figures for the second
half of amid rising commodity prices driven largely by chinese demand
also this month rio tinto beat annual forecasts with record breaking fourth
quarter of iron ore production
britain insists afghan aid not be siphoned off by corruption
brussels jan afp
british foreign secretary david miliband stressed monday the need to stop
international aid to afghanistan being lost to corruption three days ahead of
major conference on the country in london
stressing the civil efforts as much as the military efforts in insurgency
wracked afghanistan miliband said it was absolutely key that the money is not
siphoned away in corruption and extortion
thursday conference is important for providing political counterpart to
the military strategy he told reporters at talks with eu counterparts in
brussels while admitting that no one pretends that conferences win wars
the london meeting is chance for the international community to mobilise its
civilian efforts alongside its military efforts miliband added more troops
will not win this war on their own
he underlined that money is important but money has to be spent in an
effective way
the best way to do that according to miliband is through afghan mechanisms
and it needs to be spent at local level not just national level
the combination of new government coming into power there and new military
and civil strategy of the international community signifies decisive period
for the afghan campaign miliband said
miliband said he would meet with afghan president hamid karzai in istanbul on
tuesday ahead of the london talks
re elected in bitterly disputed circumstances in november karzai is struggling
to keep hold on his country in the face of resurgent taliban
according to leaked draft of the london meeting communique international
forces face up to five more years battling the taliban
there are currently some international troops stationed in afghanistan
under us and nato command they are enduring daily losses from the taliban
militia which was forced from kabul after an invasion by us forces in
swedish foreign minister carl bildt arriving for the eu meeting said it was
premature to start speaking of an exit date for the troops in afghanistan
we should look at gradual transitions from an engagement where the overwhelming
emphasis is military to an engagement where it is primarily civilian
commitment he said
any talk of an exit strategy in afghanistan plays into the hands of the
taliban
his german counterpart guido westerwelle said one of the priorities was
integrating into afghan society those who have supported the taliban movement
without playing an active part
that would constitute totally new priority for the international community
he said
not all of them are terrorists the german minister added
cold snap kills in china xinjiang state media
beijing jan afp
thirteen people have died in china western xinjiang region from the worst
snowstorms in six decades state run xinhua news agency reported on monday amid
warnings of more freezing weather to come
the blizzards and bitter cold that have pummelled the region near central asia
since the beginning of the year have also left people ill or injured the
report said
china has endured an unusually harsh winter reaching its height since january
with heavy snow across vast parts of the north and west with xinjiang suffering
the hardest from the siberian cold fronts
twelve of the dead were killed by avalanches while one died from exposure
xinhua said
nearly million people have been affected by the weather with
people evacuated it said
china state run television has carried daily images of driving blizzards
raking the vast region amid government efforts to rescue people and livestock
touring hard hit areas at the weekend premier wen jiabao promised special
subsidies and discounted loans for livestock herders to help them recover from
the cold crisis
the state weather bureau on monday forecast more bitter cold for the next two
days
urgent at least killed wounded in baghdad blasts ministry
baghdad jan afp
at least people were killed and wounded in three car bombings that
targeted hotels in baghdad on monday an interior ministry official told afp
tennis azarenka sets up serena rematch
melbourne jan afp
seventh seeded belarusian victoria azarenka won games in row to beat
russia vera zvonareva and set up an australian open rematch with
defending champion serena williams monday
azarenka played memorable match with williams in the fourth round of the
tournament when she had the eventual champion on the ropes after winning the
first set only to be forced to retire through illness
the belarusian also lost to the world number one in the third round here in
but she will get chance to make amends on wednesday when she meets the
american on the rod laver arena for place in the semi finals
ninth seed zvonareva went into the fourth round match as the favourite having
beaten azarenka on all four previous meetings
the two women were evenly matched and know each other games well having
swapped coaches at the end of last year
and this knowledge of each other showed throughout the first set as the pair
went shot for shot for almost an hour
azarenka looked the more likely to make the breakthrough getting five break
points on zvonareva serve only for the russian to save each one
the set seemed certain to go to tiebreak until at zvonareva took
advantage of some loose play to break azarenka and take the set
zvonareva took control early in the second opening lead and serving to go
to but azarenka refused to give in
she broke zvonareva then surprisingly took complete control winning the next
games to claim the match in two and half hours
had to keep on fighting even when was down azarenka said
knew could stay with her but had to keep fighting and believe in myself
alert
at least killed wounded in baghdad blasts ministry official
fierce storm apparent cause of lebanon plane crash minister
beirut jan afp
fierce storm appears to have caused the crash of an ethiopian airline jet that
plunged in ball of fire into the sea with people on board lebanese defence
minister elias murr said on monday
bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash murr told reporters
we have ruled out foul play so far he added noting that soldiers combing the
lebanese shoreline had recovered pieces of the plane
when there is an explosion on board an airplane nothing is usually left
ethiopian airline flight went down in flames off lebanon coast shortly
after takeoff from beirut airport at am gmt there were no reports
of survivors
we will continue search operations in the hope of finding survivors murr
said adding that no deadline had been set
we are seeking to recover the black box and the recording between the control
tower and the pilot to determine what happened
he added that prime minister saad hariri would chair an emergency ministerial
meeting later monday to assess the situation
gun found at taiwan airport hours before president trip
taipei jan afp
police in taiwan said they had found gun and rounds of ammunition hidden at
one of the island main airports monday hours before president ma ying jeou
travels through the facility
police refused to say whether or not they believed the discovery was related to
ma scheduled visit to the airport on tuesday to catch flight to central
america saying only that they were investigating the case
the handgun and the bullets were found by cleaner hidden behind newspaper
vending machine at the second terminal of taoyuan airport on the north of the
island airport police said
ma is due to fly out of taoyuan on tuesday for honduras where he will attend
the inauguration of president elect porfirio lobo sosa after first making
transit stop in the united states
presidential office spokesman wang yu chi played down concerns about the gun
find saying ma would be using separate restricted area of the airport and
that the president schedule was unaffected
tennis serena sizzles as chinese stamp mark
melbourne jan afp
serena williams stamped her authority on the australian open while older sister
venus was made to look distinctly beatable as the women fourth round was
completed on monday
defending champion serena crushed australian hope samantha stosur on
rod laver arena wiping the th seed off court in just minutes
she will now play victoria azarenka in the quarter finals following the
belarusian win over ninth seeded russian vera zvonareva
the winner of that match will face either venus or chinese surprise packet li na
in the semi finals but what initially looked like straightforward win for
venus over li may not be so easy after all
venus struggled to get past italian th seed francesca schiavone
while li stunned fourth seed caroline wozniacki of denmark
the year old li joined countrywoman zheng jie in the last eight with her win
the first time two chinese players have ever reached that stage of grand slam
there is nothing better li said with broad grin mean this is good for
us for both players to reach the quarter finals
venus had appeared heading for another early exit when she could barely get the
ball in against schiavone in the first set
but she woke up after that and took control winning tough match in shade
under two hours
venus seven time grand slam winner dug deep to overcome schiavone as she
works to win one of the few tournaments to elude her
she is in her th australian open campaign but is yet to take the singles
crown in stark contrast to serena who is four time champion
but venus is not beating herself up about her comparative lack of success in
melbourne insisting major part of her game plan is staying positive
she said she could break the drought this year
yeah ready to go and feel very good said williams who has won five
wimbledons and two us open titles
obviously hitting the ball pretty good especially against her today she
was really playing well
comfortable with my game absolutely
venus and li will both be looking over their shoulders at serena who cruised
past stosur then warned her rivals she can get even better
the world number one gave herself only plus when asked to rate her game
saying perhaps she could have returned better
think sam really burned me on couple of returns but she serving
incredible serena said
it really good to match my game against her serve because she one of the
best servers on the tour
by rating her game only plus serena was being tough on herself as she never
looked in any trouble against the australian number one
she served brilliantly throughout both sets and dismantled stosur serve as the
match wore on quickly silencing the large partisan crowd
serena conceded just two points on serve in the first set and three in the
second to completely demoralise stosur
think today it was all about the serve serena said
honestly just hoping can serve again like that because that was pretty
cool
serena returned well also breaking stosur once in the first set and twice in
the second to wrap up comfortable win
when someone playing that aggressively and not giving you anything at all
she pretty hard to beat admitted stosur
tennis serena sizzles as chinese stamp mark
melbourne jan afp
serena williams stamped her authority on the australian open while older sister
venus was made to look distinctly beatable as the women fourth round was
completed on monday
defending champion serena crushed australian hope samantha stosur on
rod laver arena wiping the th seed off court in just minutes
she will now play victoria azarenka in the quarter finals following the
belarusian win over ninth seeded russian vera zvonareva
the winner of that match will face either venus or chinese surprise packet li na
in the semi finals but what initially looked like straightforward win for
venus over li may not be so easy after all
venus struggled to get past italian th seed francesca schiavone
while li stunned fourth seed caroline wozniacki of denmark
the year old li joined countrywoman zheng jie in the last eight with her win
the first time two chinese players have ever reached that stage of grand slam
there is nothing better li said with broad grin mean this is good for
us for both players to reach the quarter finals
venus had appeared heading for another early exit when she could barely get the
ball in against schiavone in the first set
but she woke up after that and took control winning tough match in shade
under two hours
venus seven time grand slam winner dug deep to overcome schiavone as she
works to win one of the few tournaments to elude her
she is in her th australian open campaign but is yet to take the singles
crown in stark contrast to serena who is four time champion
but venus is not beating herself up about her comparative lack of success in
melbourne insisting major part of her game plan is staying positive
she said she could break the drought this year
yeah ready to go and feel very good said williams who has won five
wimbledons and two us open titles
obviously hitting the ball pretty good especially against her today she
was really playing well
comfortable with my game absolutely
venus and li will both be looking over their shoulders at serena who cruised
past stosur then warned her rivals she can get even better
the world number one gave herself only plus when asked to rate her game
saying perhaps she could have returned better
think sam really burned me on couple of returns but she serving
incredible serena said
it really good to match my game against her serve because she one of the
best servers on the tour
by rating her game only plus serena was being tough on herself as she never
looked in any trouble against the australian number one
she served brilliantly throughout both sets and dismantled stosur serve as the
match wore on quickly silencing the large partisan crowd
serena conceded just two points on serve in the first set and three in the
second to completely demoralise stosur
think today it was all about the serve serena said
honestly just hoping can serve again like that because that was pretty
cool
serena returned well also breaking stosur once in the first set and twice in
the second to wrap up comfortable win
when someone playing that aggressively and not giving you anything at all
she pretty hard to beat admitted stosur
yemen shiite rebels announce withdrawing from saudi land
sanaa jan afp
the leader of yemeni shiite rebels announced on monday the withdrawal of zaidi
fighters from positions they had been occupying inside saudi arabia since
fighting broke out in november
we announce our full withdrawal from all saudi territory said abdul malak al
huthi in an audio message received by afp describing his offer as an
initiative
saudi arabia had on january announced that shiite rebels were ousted from
their last foothold within the kingdom but the rebels swiftly denied the report
saying they were still in control of al jabiri border village
tennis federer williams sisters stride into open quarters
melbourne jan afp
dominant roger federer joined the williams sisters in the australian open
quarter finals monday while li na ensured china has two players in grand slam
last eight for the first time
the world number one swiss shattered the hopes of local fans by crushing lleyton
hewitt for his th consecutive win over the australian nd seed
it was an imperious display which set up the time grand slam champion with an
intruiging last eight showdown with the in form nikolay davydenko who has won
their last two meetings
the russian sixth seed ensured he stayed alive by coming through marathon
five setter against spanish ninth seed fernando verdasco prevailing
in for good match for sure favour my chances in best of five set
match we ll see how it goes federer said of davydenko while paying tribute
to hewitt
have always had some great battles with lleyton he champion and has the
ability to make you nervous in match
third seed novak djokovic the winner also progressed with an emphatic
win over poland unseeded lukasz kubot and will next meet french
th seed jo wilfried tsonga who he beat in the final
tsonga won thriller against spanish th seed nicolas almagro
they join spanish defending champion rafael nadal british fifth seed andy
murray american seventh seed andy roddick and th seeded croat marin cilic in
the quarters
like federer women defending champion serena williams was class apart as
she devoured australia sam stosur
she will play seventh seed victoria azarenka as she guns for fifth title after
the belarrussian beat ninth seeded russian vera zvonareva
it really good to match my game against her serve because she one of the
best servers on the tour williams said of stosur
it important when you re playing local girl to not let the crowd get too
involved or else they ll kill you she added that was the plan to not let
them get involved
her sister venus seeded six found the going tougher against italian th seed
francesca schiavone losing the first set before bouncing back for
win
they join li justine henin nadia petrova maria kirilenko and zheng jie in the
last eight
venus is in her th australian open campaign but is yet to win the singles
crown in stark contrast to serena
but the elder williams is not beating herself up about her comparative lack of
success insisting major part of her game plan was staying positive
she said she could break her australian drought this year
yeah ready to go and feel very good said venus who has won five
wimbledons and two us open titles
she faces li next after the th seed upset danish fourth seed caroline
wozniacki
her victory broke new ground for chinese tennis with the year old joining
compatriot zheng in the last eight the first time two chinese players have
reached that stage of grand slam
li is looking forward to meeting venus who she beat in their only previous
match at the beijing olympics
it was good experience for me for my tennis she said of the olympic win
but just want to forget because play her again want to look forward
djokovic was impressive in his rout of kubot
he struggled with his form in the opening two rounds but has moved up gear
and is back with the touch he displayed in the second half of last year
think the first two sets was very dominant on the court then he lifted up
his level of the game little bit he said
in general was very happy with the way performed today
tennis australian open women singles quarter finals line up
melbourne jan afp
line up for the australian open women singles quarter finals
serena williams usa victoria azarenka blr
venus williams usa li na chn
justine henin bel nadia petrova rus
zheng jie chn maria kirilenko rus
tennis australian open results day eight collated
melbourne jan afp
collated results from day eight of the australian open at melbourne park here
monday denotes seeding
men singles
th round
novak djokovic srb bt lukasz kubot pol
nikolay davydenko rus bt fernando verdasco esp
jo wilfried tsonga fra bt nicolas almagro esp
roger federer sui bt lleyton hewitt aus
women singlese
th round
venus williams usa bt francesca schiavone ita
li na chn bt caroline wozniacki den
serena williams usa bt samantha stosur aus
victoria azarenka blr bt vera zvonareva rus
tennis azarenka sets up showdown with serena
melbourne jan afp
seventh seeded belarusian victoria azarenka set up an australian open rematch
with top seed serena williams after beating russian ninth seed vera zvonareva
in the fourth round on monday
azarenka was set up on williams in the fourth round of the tournament
when she was forced to retire through illness
polish bishop accuses jews of exploiting holocaust
rome jan afp
retired polish bishop accused jews of exploiting the holocaust for propaganda
purposes in remarks that appeared monday on rome based traditionalist roman
catholic website
while it is undeniable that most of those who died in the concentration camps
were jews there were also gypsies poles italians and catholics on the list
tadeusz pieronek wrote on the website pontifex roma it
so it is not permissible to appropriate this tragedy for propaganda he said
in the posting two days ahead of the th international holocaust remembrance
day
there were lots of poles but this truth is often ignored today added
pieronek
the holocaust as such is jewish invention said the former spokesman of
poland bishops conference the shoah is used as propaganda weapon and to
obtain advantages that are often unjustified he charged
pieronek who was friend of the late polish pope john paul ii added you
could speak just as forcefully and establish day of remembrance for the many
victims of communism persecuted catholics and christians and so on
accusing jews of intolerable arrogance he said they enjoy good press because
they are supported by powerful financial means enormous power and the
unconditional backing of the united states
pieronek also criticised israel for building separation wall between its
territory and the occupied west bank which he called colossal injustice
against the palestinians who are treated like animals and whose basic rights
are violated to say the least
calling for day honouring the palestinians pieronek lamented that with the
connivance of international lobbies we don talk about these things much
january marks the liberation of the auschwitz death camp in german occupied
poland in
of course all this does not deny the shame of the concentration camps and the
aberrations of nazism pieronek said
main witness in zimbabwe treason trial tortured judge
harare jan afp
zimbabwe high court on monday struck out evidence from key witness in the
treason trial of top aide to premier morgan tsvangirai after the man said he
had been tortured into testifying
roy bennett the treasurer of tsvangirai party is accused of plotting to
assassinate president robert mugabe in in conspiracy already dismissed by
the courts in an earlier case
peter hitschmann was initially charged with bennett but later was convicted of
lesser charge of illegal possession of firearms in
he had been called as the main witness to testify against bennett but in court
he accused security forces of torturing him while in custody to extract
statement
justice chinembiri bhunu said statements made by hitschmann could not be used as
evidence since they were not signed and hitschmann said his interrogators used
force to make him implicate bennett
he said he involuntarily made the statements under torture the statements were
obviously inadmissible and not used at his own trial bhunu said
it common cause that if they were inadmissible at his own trial they are
equally inadmissible in this case
bennett was tsvangirai pick for deputy agriculture minister in the power
sharing government with president robert mugabe formed nearly one year ago
he is accused of providing hitschmann with funds to buy weapons to be used to
topple mugabe his prosecution is one of the issues hampering the work of the
power sharing government
urgent yemeni shiite rebels announce withdrawing from saudi territory
sanaa jan afp
the leader of yemeni shiite rebels announced on monday the withdrawal of zaidi
fighters from positions they had been occupying inside saudi arabia since
fighting broke out in november
urgent baghdad blasts were car bombs targeting hotels ministry
baghdad jan afp
three massive explosions that killed at least people and wounded in
baghdad on monday were car bombs that targeted hotels an iraq interior ministry
official told afp
african journalists world cup crime case postponed
johannesburg jan afp
south african prosecutors monday postponed case against television journalists
who broadcast story about criminals threatening to rob tourists during the
fifa world cup
two journalists were subpoenaed by police to disclose the identity of the two
men who said they would rob visitors expected to visit the country during the
tournament which kicks off in june
their subpoena received widespread condemnation from media rights advocates
with the south african national editors forum sanef calling it ill advised
journalists mpho lakaje and ben said of the privately owned enews satellite
