World News

8 March 2007 German Billiard Team Too Good For Spain

The German billiards team made it through to the quarter finals of the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool as they overcame a hiccup to beat Spain by 9-5.
 The German side, made up of European No.1 Thomas Engert and former WPA World Champion Oliver Ortmann, now face Taiwan on Saturday afternoon in what promises to be one of the matches of the round.

8 March 2007 EBI-NBD merger to create UAE's largest bank

Emirates Bank International (EBI) and National Bank of Dubai (NBD) will merge to create the UAEs’ (United Arab Emirate) largest bank, with assets of 165 billion dirhams (45 billion dollars), newspapers reported on Wednesday.
Gulf News said the UAE government has approved the move to form the as yet untitled bank, which will also be one of the biggest in the Middle East.
EBI chairman Ahmad Humaid al-Tayer did not give the newspaper an exact date for the merger but said it would be a long process.

7 March 2007 USA, BRAZIL SEEK TO EXPAND GLOBAL MARKET FOR BIOFUELS

The USA and Brazil -- the world's two top ethanol producers -- have announced the creation of an International Biofuels Forum to help develop a global biofuels market. The forum also includes China, India, South Africa and the EU, which all are large potential consumers and producers.

1 March 2007 The Australian rock singer Billy Thorpe has died

The Australian rock singer Billy Thorpe has died in Sydney after suffering a heart attack. He and his band, the Aztecs, helped define the sound known as 'pub rock'.
Billy Thorpe singing his signature tune at Sunbury near Melbourne in the early 1970s.
Billy Thorpe was born in England in 1946 and shortly after moved to Australia with his family.
He started playing gigs in his hometown of Brisbane at just 10, and by the time he moved to Sydney at 16, Billy Thorpe was already a seasoned performer.
Bizarrely, for a performer who later personified hard rock, he had his first hit in 1964 with a cover of 'Over the Rainbow'.
But over the next decade his career transformed.
Billy, after he was a teen idol, he went to Melbourne for a few years to sort of, well he only went down there for a few months, he stayed for a few years. With the help of Lobby Lloyd he completely reoriented himself and then turned Australian rock on its ear with sort of a thunderous, pulverizing music.
Billy Thorpe continued to write and perform, spending the next two decades in America.
In the 90s he wrote two best-selling books based on his life in rock 'n' roll.
His career had a resurgence this decade when he headlined and promoted a national tour based on the ABC TV series Long Way to the Top.
He was on tour when he died in Sydney early this morning from a heart attack.
He was 60 and still touring.

1 March 2007 Bangladesh beat Canada in Antigua

One-day international, Antigua: Bangladesh 278-5 beat Canada 265-7 by 13 runs
The last one-day international before the World Cup has been played in Antigua, with Bangladesh beating Canada by the narrow margin of 13 runs.
The match ended a brief triangular series, which also saw Bangladesh and Canada each recording wins over the tournament's rank outsiders Bermuda.
Anderson Cummins reduced Bangladesh to 30-3 before 134 not out from Saqibul Hasan took the Tigers to 278-5.
In reply, Ian Bilcliff's 93 took Canada close as they ended on 265-7.

1 March 2007 Canada poised for air disaster

Canada's air safety system is seriously flawed and the government should launch a system-wide inquiry before a disaster occurs, the head of the inquiry into a 1989 Ontario plane crash that killed 24 people said yesterday.
Nearly two decades after Virgil Moshansky's inquiry report concluded budget cuts at Transport Canada, combined with deregulation of the airline industry, were the root causes of the crash of an Air Ontario jet just after takeoff from Dryden, Ont., the former commissioner warned recent cost-cutting and abandonment of government oversight are creating the perfect conditions for another airline disaster.
Although his report into the 1989 crash made recommendations that led to major changes within Transport Canada, Mr. Moshansky said there are clear indications serious aviation safety problems have resurfaced as a direct result of federal budget cuts and transfer of responsibility to industry.
Last week, the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, the union that represents aviation safety inspectors, issued a sweeping criticism of the proposed changes and accused the federal government of putting lives at risk in order to save money.
But Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon dismissed those concerns yesterday, saying safety is a top priority and the government's plan will add an extra layer of security to Canada's aviation system.

1 March 2007 China labels U.S. peeping tom over defence spending

China's Foreign Ministry likened U.S. doubts about Chinese defence spending on Thursday to a peeping tom poking through Beijing's underwear, describing the Asian giant as a benign neighbour and force for peace.
Vice President Dick Cheney raised concerns about China's military build-up last week when touring Asia
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang quickly rejected Cheney's criticism, but at Thursday's regular news briefing he added a new twist to the rhetoric.
"If someone always tears through your clothes and even wants to lift open your underwear, saying 'Let me see what's inside', how would you feel? Would you want to call the police?" Qin told reporters when asked about Cheney's remarks.
China's defense spending has risen steadily in recent years and, when parliament convenes next week, it is expected to approve another rise in the military budget.

1 March 2007 Match.com plans China, France expansion

Online dating service Match.com has decided to look overseas for some new corporate love interests.
The company planned to announce that it had finalized acquisitions of two foreign Internet services, the online dating site Netclub in France and the eDodo social networking site in China.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Match.com, which was established a decade ago and now has about 15 million users, is already the world's largest online dating and personals service, according to comScore Media Metrix. The addition of eDodo and Netclub would add more than 4 million subscribers, the report said.

1 March 2007 Germany to push G8 for more Africa aid

Germany aims to secure funding for a campaign to fight HIV/AIDS in African women and children at a meeting of industrialised nations in June, Germany's development minister told Reuters.
Germany, which also holds the rotating European Union presidency, will press G8 nations to honour their aid promises to Africa, minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said, after NGO criticism that rich nations are going back on their word.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to continue work started by Prime Minister Tony Blair during Britain's G8 presidency in 2005 to tackle poverty in Africa.
The Social Democrat (SPD) minister urged other G8 member states -- the United States, Russia, Italy, Britain, France, Japan and Canada -- to stand by promises made at the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles where nations pledged to double the amount of aid they give to Africa by 2010.

1 March 2007 In India, Jade's all Goody now!

So, Jade Goody is in town. But let's get the fundas clear first. She's not here because she accepted the invitation that an angry Indian Tourism Ministry office in London had extended to her, suggesting that she visit India for cleansing her inner self.
Nor is she here because she wants to meet and engage in a round of bonding with Shilpa. Goody's here on a private trip, making it clear to all that she's paid for it herself, too.
What's on the agenda, then? While Jade is not willing to talk exhaustively to the media just yet, her publicist Catherine is upbeat about the trip and thinks that the visit will change notions that Indians may have held about her, and that Jade is 'hoping to be liked' by the people of India.
Reacting to her visit, a senior official from the Tourism Ministry told us, "Let her enjoy her holiday, visit Kerala and cleanse her inner self. If she's here to witness what a great civilisation India is, she'll realise that we are a great society too."
Earlier, when asked if people in India recognised her, Jade said, "Yeah, but people are being so nice." And despite her emphasis on the visit being low profile, it is likely to be anything but that. "Jade just needs time to settle a little in India and then if she wishes, she will talk. But right now, just let Jade be by herself!" says Catherine.

1 March 2007 Archbishop defends separate school system for Catholics in Northern Ireland

DUBLIN, Ireland — The leader of Ireland's 4 million Roman Catholics on Wednesday defended the need for a separate school system for Catholics in Northern Ireland, an issue long debated in the divided British territory.
Archbishop Sean Brady rejected the argument that sending Catholics and Protestants to segregated schools encouraged social divisions and sowed the seeds for conflict.
The British government is pressing both the state-controlled, overwhelmingly Protestant schools and the Catholic schools to share facilities, or even merge, in rural communities with declining student populations where they cannot justify funding rival schools with half-full classrooms.
Less than 5 percent of the approximately 200,000 students in Northern Ireland, a territory of 1.7 million, attend deliberately integrated schools. These schools encourage students to discuss their political and religious differences and also to play sports associated with both sides of the community: Gaelic football and hurling on the Catholic side, rugby and soccer on the Protestant side.

1 March 2007 Gunmen abduct another Lebanese worker in Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria, 01/03 - Suspected militants Wednesday kidnapped a Lebanese construction worker near Nigeria's oil city of Port Harcourt, to add to the growing number of expatriate workers abducted this year in the restive Niger Delta region, according to the police.
The kidnapping came about six days after gunmen shot dead a Lebanese engineer in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.
The State police commissioner Felix Ogbaudu confirmed the latest abduction, but gave no details.
Last week, another Lebanese, an oil worker with Agip, reportedly escaped from the camp where he had been held since 7 December 2006 by the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Most of the estimated 60 foreign workers kidnapped in Niger Delta since January have been released unharmed, but the violence has cut Nigeria`s daily oil production of 2.5 million by a quarter.

1 March 2007 Pakistan warns foreign terrorists to leave of face stiff action

Foreign terrorists hiding in Pakistan's mountainous tribal belt have been warned to leave the country or risk stiff military action.
Issuing the warning, President General Pervez Musharraf, declared before a large public gathering:
"People have come there from outside - they are living in our mountains and spreading terrorism not just in Pakistan but in the entire world."
He said Pakistan was facing threat of terrorism and extremism and although things were better in Sindh as compared to the NWFP, the impact was being felt in the entire country.
He dismissed the use of the concept of 'jihad' by these elements, saying it was the prerogative of the government and not individuals.
He urged the people to help the government fight such extremists and terrorists by informing the police.

1 March 2007 Philippine army kills 4 communist rebels in south

Philippine soldiers killed at least four communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels during a raid on a suspected guerrilla base on the southern island of Mindanao, an army officer said on Thursday.
Lieutenant-Colonel Yusuf Jimlani, deputy commander of an army task force in Davao City, said a soldier and a part-time soldier were also killed in the brief clash on Wednesday.
Philippine security forces accuse Bayan Muna and other leftwing political parties represent in Congress of being fronts for the NPA and Jimlani said these materials would confirm the active links.
At least three leftwing parties, including Bayan Muna, are seeking re-election to the lower house in May's congressional elections. Two other leftist groups are seeking seats.
The political parties deny links to the NPA.

1 March 2007 Poland told to stop highway-works in protected site

The European Commission has given the Polish government one week to stop works on a controversial highway running through a site protected under the EU's Natura 2000 programme.
The standoff over the Via Baltica highway project went up a level on 28 February 2007, when environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas sent a second and final warning to Poland to stop the works.
"We expect an answer in seven days," Dimas told reporters, saying he will "ask for an injunction" from the European Court of Justice "at the end of the seventh day" to stop the works, which began on 22 February.
Poland argues that it is not breaking EU law and Environment Minister Jan Szyszko said that he was ready to go to court over the matter, Reuters reported.
The 670km highway linking Prague to Heksinki via Poland and the Baltic states is seen as an important infrastructural project to improve connections between the EU's Central European states.
But Brussels says that it is concerned about "the damage that will be done to primeval woodland and other natural habitats of European importance if the construction of the Augustow bypass and the Wasilkow bypass goes ahead".

1 March 2007 South Africa aims to curb elephant population boom

South Africa -- South Africa's environment minister proposed a package of measures Wednesday to slow rampant elephant population growth--including limited killing and contraception--but stressed there would be no mass slaughter.
The elephant population of 20,000 is growing at a rate of more than 6 percent a year, disrupting the delicate biodiversity in the flagship Kruger National Park and other wildlife parks, Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.
He said the government proposed introducing new management measures, including removal of elephants to other areas, creation of special enclosures to protect other species, expansion of parks, contraception and culling.
But he said slaughter would only be considered as a last resort.