hewitt said he felt like he was hitting the ball well against federer and played
good enough to beat most people but was left clueless as to how to bridge the
gap on one the greatest players the game has seen
from my point of view did everything right he said
prepared exactly the way that wanted to prepare for the australian summer
and gave percent every time again
ran into the best player right at the moment would say not sure right
at the moment how to beat federer
if knew would still be out there
hewitt said he felt like there was nothing he could do to blunt federer game
such was his form
he played special tennis he said he hit the ball extremely clean and
just couldn get into his service games which made it tough
felt like he was putting the ball on dime every time
everyone says it wasn an absolutely great year for him last year and he still
won two grand slams and lost in two finals in five sets in the other two
he obviously the benchmark
hewitt said he was disappointed to bow out to federer while players that he
believes he can beat are still in the tournament without saying who he meant
the way hit the ball tonight still think could have taken lot of other
guys still left in the draw he said
that probably little bit more frustrating
there had been rumours hewitt was struggling with recurrence of hip problem
but he dismissed any injury talk
cancel haiti debt now urge world churches
geneva jan afp
the world council of churches on monday called on international creditors to
cancel haiti debt immediately warning that it would be morally unacceptable
if they failed to do so
the appeal by the christian church group came as ministers from major donor
nations gathered in canada to discuss aid for the impoverished and disaster
prone caribbean nation nearly two weeks after the quake shattered the capital
port au prince
authentic development for haiti will take some bold steps by the international
community in addition to the current emergency efforts said wcc general
secretary olav fykse tveit
first among them is the immediate and unconditional cancellation of the
country foreign debt he added in statement
it would be morally untenable to do otherwise at this time of extraordinary
hardship and destruction
haiti was granted billion dollars million euros of debt relief by the
world bank last june
however the wcc estimated that the country one of the poorest in the world
still had to pay about million dollars year just to service interest on
several hundred million dollars of debt
france has also called on the rich creditor countries of the so called paris
club to cancel all haiti outstanding debt to its members
the world bank announced thursday that it was waiving haiti debt payments for
the next five years due to the devastation and was studying efforts to cancel
the remaining debt
any financial assistance to rebuild the country comes as grants rather than
loans said tveit
and those grants cannot be tied to the detrimental conditions that
international financial organisations tend to impose on poor countries
the wcc brings together protestant orthodox and anglican churches
representing about million christians in countries
israel calls un gaza report anti semitic
jerusalem jan afp
israel slammed un report on the gaza war as anti semitic on monday as it
prepared to formally respond to allegations of war crimes during last winter
devastating day offensive
the goldstone report the publications in sweden about organ harvesting and
similar reports are simply type of anti semitism diaspora and information
minister yuli edelstein told the ynet news agency ahead of trip to new york
where he was to present israel rebuttal to un secretary general ban ki moon on
thursday
ynet suggested the israeli leadership was planning an all out attack on the
report to coincide with the anniversary on wednesday of the liberation of
the auschwitz nazi concentration camp in poland
the connection between the goldstone report and the international holocaust
memorial day is not an easy thing on the other hand however we must learn the
lessons from what happened edelstein said
then too those who yelled out were told that hitler is clown and that all
the gloomy predictions of the were nonsense he added
prime minister benjamin netanyahu who was to attend the commemorations in
auschwitz said on sunday that anti semitism was on the rise in the wake of
israel onslaught in the gaza strip one year ago which left some
palestinians dead thirteen israelis were killed in the fighting
the fight against anti semitism is more important than ever because there has
been significant rise in the number of expressions of anti semitism since
operation cast lead netanyahu said
in report issued on sunday israel said was record year for acts of
anti semitism worldwide but included in its count acts that sought to
delegitimise israel including some protests against israeli policies
israel has sought to discredit the un report since its release in september
denouncing it as anti semitic even though its lead author south african judge
and international war crimes prosecutor richard goldstone is jewish
the report accused both israel and palestinian armed groups of having committed
war crimes in the three week gaza offensive which israel launched on december
it recommended that its conclusions should be referred to the international
criminal court prosecutor in the hague if israel and the hamas rulers of gaza
fail to carry out credible investigations
in november the un general assembly endorsed the report and called on both sides
to carry out investigations that are independent credible and in conformity
with international standards by february
israel does not officially recognise the goldstone report but plans to tell the
un chief about its progress in investigating the behaviour of its troops during
the gaza offensive
massive search for survivors of lebanon plane crash
beirut jan afp
massive international task force comprising planes helicopters and ships was
monday scouring the lebanese coast for survivors after an ethiopian jet plunged
flaming into the sea officials said
lebanon the united nations the united states britain france and cyprus
hastily scrambled search and rescue teams after ethiopian airlines flight
carrying passengers and crew crashed shortly after takeoff at around am
gmt on monday
spokesman for germany military said in berlin that german ship forming
part of the united nations interim force in lebanon unifil had taken command
of the operation
supply ship mosel has been in the area since gmt to coordinate the search
with lebanese ships the german minesweeper laboe and several helicopters the
spokesman said
the lebanese navy and army as well as unifil personnel were first on the scene
two unifil helicopters were participating in the search said lieutenant colonel
diegeo fulco spokesman for unifil
lebanese defence ministry official told afp that the us had provided
low wing aircraft designed for maritime patrol for the operation
the united states is making available aircraft from the united states
sixth fleet to assist in rescue efforts the official said
britain sent an raf helicopter and france plane both dispatched from the
nearby eastern mediterranean island of cyprus officials from both embassies
told afp
cyprus communications and works minister nicos nicolaides told reporters at
larnaca airport that his government had sent helicopter to lebanon early
monday and second was on standby
lebanon transport minister ghazi aridi said the french organisation
responsible for technical investigation of civil aviation accidents bea bureau
enquetes et analyses was also taking part in the search
ethiopian airlines announced that team had landed in beirut on monday to
investigate the crash
the accident took place amid heavy rains and storms in lebanon
lebanese prime minister saad hariri stressed all the rescue teams were doing
their utmost in the hope of finding survivors
what is important to us is that we find survivors hariri said adding that
officials hoped the black box will be retrieved and reveal the cause of the
crash
we are working to find the black box that will tell us what really happened on
the plane
lebanese army troops could be seen dragging pieces of the plane including seats
and large chunks of metal that washed up on the foggy beaches south of the
airport
the defence ministry official said the plane sank in metres of water
president michel sleiman expressed regret over the accident
hospitals and medical teams must now be prepared as well as all those who will
be involved in keeping the families updated sleiman said
the weather conditions are terrible but rescue efforts are still underway
lebanese officials said they would maintain an intensive search for at least the
next hours
urgent fiat forecasts net profit of up to million euros in
milan jan afp
italian automaker fiat on monday forecast net profit of between million
and million euros in and recorded operating profit of
billion euros billion dollars
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 his 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
miliband said he would meet with afghan president hamid karzai in istanbul on
tuesday ahead of the london talks
dalai lama envoys to hold talks with china tuesday
dharamshala india jan afp
representatives of tibet exiled spiritual leader the dalai lama will revive
talks with china tuesday on the thorny issue of the himalayan region after
month impasse his office said
the last round of talks collapsed with beijing saying no progress had been made
and insisting it would not compromise on the status of tibet as an integral part
of china
we are meeting the chinese and this is an important process of trying to find
mutually agreed solution the dalai lama spokesman tenzin taklha said on
monday referring to the dispute over tibet autonomy
the agenda of his holiness the dalai lama is the same that the problem has to
be solved only through dialogue he said
taklha added that the venue for the meetings had not been confirmed but said
the envoys would return to india by the beginning of february
after their last interaction in november china said the door would remain
open for future discussions but that serious divergences remained
lodi gyari and kelsang gyaltsen will again lead what will be the ninth round
of talks said officials in dharamshala the indian hill town where the dalai
lama has lived for five decades and where many tibetan exiles are based
last march china said it was open to reviving the dialogue but repeated demands
that the tibetan leader renounce separatist activities which he already
denies supporting
the dalai lama has sought meaningful autonomy for tibet since he fled his
homeland following failed uprising in against chinese rule nine years
after chinese troops invaded the region
china says the dalai lama actually seeks full independence
tibet erupted in violence in march on the th anniversary of the failed
uprising and the himalayan region has since been tightly controlled
beijing had yet to confirm the latest round of talks
alert
fiat forecasts net profit of up to million euros in
french car maker peugeot seeks pct boost in china sales
beijing jan afp
french car maker peugeot said monday it was aiming to increase sales in china by
percent this year double the growth rate for the country whole market
peugeot has ambitions to sell cars in place of the it sold in
china last year company spokesman jean marc gales told reporters at the
launch of its latest model the
peugeot hopes the will boost sales in china the world biggest car market
as it was planned by french and chinese designers in order to appeal to the
asian giant drivers gales said
as well as china the is also being lined up for launch in russia and latin
america while the car maker has still to decide whether to market it in europe
alert
fiat forecasts net profit of up to million euros in
germany issues arrest warrant for argentine ex dictator
berlin jan afp
german justice authorities said monday they have ordered an international arrest
warrant for ex argentine military dictator jorge rafael videla over the killing
of german citizen while he was in power
spokesman for the prosecutor office in the southern city of nuremberg
thomas koch told afp that the warrant pertained to the murder of year old
rolf stawowiok in the
the prosecutor office applied for an arrest warrant at the end of december
and it has come through in the meantime he said
videla now is currently serving life term at an argentine barracks on
multiple charges of human rights violations while he was at the helm of the
country military junta from to
the nuremberg prosecutor office opened probe into the junta former leaders
including videla in the late over the killing and disappearance of germans
during the so called dirty war
but it dropped the cases after argentine authorities rejected an extradition
request
stawowiok german citizen who was born in argentina while his father was doing
development work vanished in february
his father desiderius stawowiok said that rolf was not active in the argentine
underground but was sympathiser of the peronist urban guerrilla group
montoneros which was largely dismantled under videla
according to documents provided by lawyer for the victim family he was
employed as chemist at metalworking factory at the time
stawowiok received telephone phone call at work the day he disappeared and
rushed out of the office saying he planned to meet someone on plaza once in
central buenos aires colleague said
he was never seen again
shortly afterwards four or five heavily armed soldiers appeared at the
stawowiok family home and threatened rolf mother and sister they questioned
the two about rolf and conducted an extensive search of the house
one of the soldiers then grasped the gold necklace the daughter was wearing and
said that is the same chain you were wearing in the picture
the family took as evidence that rolf must have been in military custody because
he regularly carried photograph of his sister with him
desiderius stawowiok who was out of town at the time his son disappeared
immediately sought the help of the german embassy which arranged meetings with
the military junta
he received no information about the whereabouts of his son when he threatened
to hold an international press conference before the soccer world cup in july
on his son disappearance member of the junta told him this would
endanger rolf life
the family received an indemnification payment from the argentine government in
but never received information on the circumstances of his death
german authorities reopened the case last year when stawowiok remains were
discovered in argentina showing that he had been shot several times
during the years of junta rule some people vanished and are still
unaccounted for
videla was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes in but was pardoned
and released in under former president carlos menem only to be arrested
again in for kidnapping children and other charges not included in his
pardons
the nuremberg spokesman koch however said it was unlikely argentina would
extradite videla to face trial
tennis australian open men singles quarter finals line up
melbourne jan afp
line up for the australian open men singles quarter finals
roger federer sui nikolay davydenko rus
novak djokovic srb jo wilfried tsonga fra
andy roddick usa marin cilic cro
rafael nadal esp andy murray gbr
montruis beach offers oasis of calm amid haiti devastation
montruis haiti jan afp
far from the dead bodies and ruins of port au prince children splash in the sea
and laugh in sudden reminder that life continues in the earthquake ravaged
country
at montruis beach just north of the haitian capital there are still soul
soothing sunsets and nature and man appear to be at peace despite the deaths
of tens of thousands in the devastating january quake
as on all the beaches children have good time here
one should not think that they are insensitive commented one man they all
were in port au prince during the quake they have lost their loved ones what
can one do but to keep on living
ginel prince year old businessman gets out of the water observes the
surroundings and returns to his thoughts
like many haitians he has fled the capital and found refuge in this coastal
community he says images of dead bodies twisted metal and broken concrete will
remain forever seared in his memory
but now he is yearning for change
just wanted to swim in the sea that why came here and did it he
reasons we are alive and we need to get on with our lives
farther down an upper class family is quietly enjoying the surroundings from
the back of their truck they came from port au prince and found refuge here
at the home of their in laws
the cines as the family is called went to mass on sunday and the pastor told
them that they had been spared by the grace of god and that they were thus
privileged people
yes that is god grace agrees the mother
after the quake struck maranatha year old office employee spent half
day under the rubble of her three story office building before she was rescued
one of my co workers has died and am thinking lot about her she recalls
have haunting images of earth all in black and try my best not to think
about it and after my first swim after the quake feel better
maranatha husband year old employee of non governmental organization
adds that being at the beach allows him to wash away but he does no specify
if he refers to his haunting bad memories
fishermen have resumed their trade they cook shellfish seasoned with vinegar on
grill
in the first six days after the quake everybody was confused recalls
year old fisherman marc andre dominique everybody was waiting for something
and nobody was buying fish
he said nobody outside the capital realized the true dimension of the
catastrophe only the next day after hearing radio reports they understood how
big the tragedy was
they went to port au prince to look for family members making part of the
journey by foot because of lack of money
when we arrived we saw dead bodies crumbled houses and we understood
continues dominique
he found his parents dead at their house but his two cousins were alive and he
took them with him
along rocky road that runs above the beach procession of buses is moving
north filled with displaced people and their belongings in the distance
funeral procession also passes
tajikistan remittances plunged pct in central bank
dushanbe jan afp
impoverished tajikistan which relies heavily on money sent home by migrant
workers to prop up its economy saw remittances fall percent in the
country central bank chief said monday
the plunge in remittances which the bank says accounted for percent of the
ex soviet state gdp last year illustrates the mounting financial hardships
facing the poorest country in central asia
last year billion dollars billion euros arrived in tajikistan
which is percent less than in tajik national bank chairman sharif
rakhimzod told reporters
this drop in the amount of money was due to the global financial and economic
crisis that affected the labour sphere of migrants working in russia he added
tajikistan which shares rugged border with war torn afghanistan fought
civil war in the against coalition of islamists and liberals that left
as many as people dead and decimated its economy
around citizens out of total population of million have left the
country seeking work abroad according to interior ministry statistics while
many unofficial estimates put the number at over one million
but tajikistan migrant labourers the bulk of whom work in construction in
russia and kazakhstan have found it increasingly difficult to earn as those
countries have struggled with the impact of the economic crisis
the collapse in remittances has pushed authorities to seek other ways to drive
the ailing tajik economy foremost among them the development of the mountainous
country hydroelectric potential
earlier this month tajikistan started mass share sale to raise billion
dollars to complete construction of soviet era hydroelectric power plant it
hopes will allow the country to become net exporter of electricity
japan lower house passes extra budget
tokyo jan afp
japan lower house on monday approved an extra budget to finance its latest
stimulus measures in bid to jump start fragile recovery in the world
second largest economy
it was the first budget compiled by prime minister yukio hatoyama centre left
government since it came to power last september
the budget which contains trillion yen billion dollars for economic
measures announced in december was immediately sent to the upper house
parliament official said
hatoyama ruling coalition has majority in the upper house and the prime
minister hopes to enact the measures by thursday
the budget features plans to help the economy including creating jobs and
extending reward programme for consumers who buy energy efficient appliances
the official said
the government hopes the pump priming will boost japan slow economic recovery
which is being threatened by deflation and the impact of strong yen on
exports
the budget however will pile further pressure on the country ailing finances
as its public debt is set to soar to more than percent of gross domestic
product by
european stocks recover ground after sharp losses
london jan afp
european stock markets mostly rose on monday helped by rebounding financial
shares after recent sharp losses caused by unease at us president barack obama
pledge to come down hard on banks
london benchmark ftse index of leading shares rose percent to
points in late morning trade
the paris cac gained percent to points while in frankfurt the
dax dipped percent to
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares climbed percent to
reach points
it has ended up being much better start to the week than was initially
feared said ig index market strategist anthony grech
banking stocks have helped buoy the market this morning as some investors
have taken the view that the sell off at the end of last week was overdone
uncertainty over obama bank revamp plans and fears of policy tightening by
beijing continued to spook risk averse investors in asian trade on monday as
financial stocks in the region extended their slide
world market sentiment has soured since obama last week unveiled plans for
tough banking reform that would limit excessive risk taking blamed for the
economic crisis move that would affect the scope of financial institutions
the repercussions from obama proposed banking reforms are rumbling on said
robert pike trader at financial betting firm spreadex
the uncertainty surrounding the detail of the reforms is making the markets
extremely nervous
london ftse meanwhile headed higher on the eve of official data widely
expected to reveal an end to britain longest recession on record
the office for national statistics will on tuesday publish data expected to
reveal that britain exited recession in the fourth quarter of analysts
have forecast
return to growth between october and december last year after six quarters of
negative output will see britain following all other major economies out of
recession economists predict growth of percent in the fourth quarter
across the atlantic us stocks tumbled on friday amid doubts on federal reserve
chief ben bernanke renomination
the dow jones industrial average slumped percent to points
posting its third straight session of triple digit losses and its biggest weekly
drop since february
doubts grew over bernanke renomination as key democrats voiced opposition
prompting renewed expression of support from the white house
looking ahead to the us open after friday point sell off the dow looks
set for strong bounceback today reclaiming chunk of those losses said
analyst grech
ethiopia says no terrorist threat prior to crash
addis ababa jan afp
ethiopia had received no threat from terrorist groups prior to the crash monday
of an ethiopian airlines flight carrying people just after takeoff in beirut
government spokesman said
we had not received any threat before from terrorist groups whatsoever
shimeles kemal state minister for communication told afp
lebanese president michel sleiman also said earlier that foul play was not
suspected
the ethiopian government official said the plane reportedly caught fire five
minutes after takeoff
the cause of the accident is being investigated and the government will
disclose the information as soon as the investigation is over he said
ethiopian airlines dispatched team of experts to lebanon to probe the
incident
ethiopia is grappling with rebellions in remote southern and eastern regions led
by groups it describes as terrorist and has been routinely threatened by the
al qaeda linked shebab group in neighbouring somalia country it invaded three
years ago to remove the islamists from power
lebanese defence ministry official said the boeing exploded into four
pieces before crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt
investigators were trying to determine whether lightning had hit the jet
witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea
eu rallies police for haiti but britain opposed
brussels jan afp
european nations sought monday to set up police mission to help ease aid
distribution in quake hit haiti but britain rejected the idea as the united
states already has thousands of soldiers there
six european union countries all members of the so called european gendarmerie
force have said they are prepared to contribute to the mission which could
number officers
all the countries which form part of the european police force are willing to
participate france italy spain the netherlands portugal and romania are
ready to offer personnel each according to its capabilities said spanish
foreign minister miguel angel moratinos whose country holds the eu presidency
together we will represent the eu in this role of guaranteeing the security and
above all the arrival of the emergency aid which the haitians need he said
his french counterpart pierre lellouche confirmed that paris was ready to
contribute more than hundred police officers for the operation based on
un request for eu help
officials said italy would also be ready to provide personnel portugal
and spain from
the eu has earmarked more than million euros in emergency and reconstruction
aid for haiti where at least people were thought killed in the january
quake but its efforts on the ground have little visibility
the united states some kilometres from haiti and with troops in the region
has been able to mobilise vast quantities of aid and resources and has led
supply and search and rescue work in tandem with the united nations
the eu police mission which is expected to be given the green light monday at
meeting of the bloc foreign ministers in brussels is dwarfed by comparison
not sure that that is necessarily the right way to go britain minister
for europe chris bryant told reporters as he arrived for the talks given that
some us troops are already doing the job
british foreign secretary david miliband underlined the security presence that
has been established has been vital and think actually the united states has
done well on that
we back up the american and un efforts because this is un enterprise
germany will not take part due to restrictions under its constitution
lellouche noted that at the meeting we re going to try to do better in terms
of the union visibility we re going to try to do better
the eu has been struggling to find gendarmes to fill out its police mission
in afghanistan where experts needed to build national security force capable
of protecting its own people are in desperately short supply
dollar mixed with eyes on obama bernanke
london jan afp
the dollar traded mixed against it main rivals on monday as investors await
federal reserve policy meeting and key speech by us president barack obama
this week
in london morning deals the euro rose to dollars from late in new
york on friday
against the japanese unit the dollar climbed to yen from yen late
on friday
investors were cautious ahead of the fed two day monetary policy meeting
starting tuesday followed day later by obama state of the union speech
