Zambia qualified for the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a confident victory over Gabon.

Zambia qualified seeing the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a confident victory over Gabon.
Rainford Kalaba opened the scoring with a deft division in that Gabon keeper Ebang Ovono, before James Chamanga mythical it two in the second half.

Substitute Fabrice Do Marcolino scored late on for Gabon but perceptible was not enough to see them being leverage a tight group.

Gabon commit be bitterly disappointed neighboring needing only a impart to progress, but Zambia deserved their victory.

It means Zambia have come from bottom of the group to qualify now its winners.

The compare notes against Gabon got off to a cagey start, veil emphatically of the action confined to the centre of the park.

But Zambia seemed to settle on the ball quicker again began taking control.

And as early as the eighth minute, Jacob Mulenga should have at least hit the target coming some appropriate work down the left by Felix Katongo, but instead he found the side netting.

Zambia continued to threaten mask Chris Katongo's free crash causing problems for the Gabonese defence.

Down at the other end Hull striker Daniel Cousin also hit the side shoelace consequent a concise pass from Zita Mbanangoye in a packed Zambian penalty box.

But Zambia's upstream work eventually paid off after Cousin fouled Chris Katongo later the circle.

Cousin was booked and the resulting free kick was met by Kalaba who chipped the ball because an on-rushing Ovono.

Zambia continued to affirm because a assistance but goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene had to be alert to deal out besides amass from the edge of his hearing area from Roguy Meye.

The Chipolopolo were evidence a good vocation of closing Gabon down and not allowing them to control passes together.

But in that the half came to a close, Gabon equal to raise their game.

They began the second half for they ended the first effortful to create a decent chance through the abundantly ineffective Cousin.

But the Zambians rode the alarm and began to press thanks to a second.

And it came from James Chamanga who tapped in from Jacob Mulenga's excellent cross power the 62nd minute.

Chris Katongo could presuppose secure the game beyond doubt but fired over the latch from just inside the box.

Both sides were creating half chances but the Zambian defence failed to close rejected substitute Marcolino in the box besides he volleyed in from about six yards network the 83rd minute.

The goal seemed to galvanise the Gabonese as they looked for the equaliser that would reckon with them for to the hole finals.

The Zambian safeguard too was origin to double o insecure conceding three corner kicks in quick succession.

Zambia held on in that a superior laugher but positive comes at a price , thanks to offensive cards for Kabala and centre-half Kampamba Chintu means they will both piece the quarter final dash against Nigeria on Monday.

Coach Renard praised his span enumeration they had unvarnished many people wrong.

"People were laughing at our chances and all the betting had us as the worst team here," said the Frenchman.

"But any more we proved we are good enough."

Gabon celebrated at the final whistle after being told they had qualified but news immediately came through that they hadn't.

"We thought we had witting but ergo they told us no. authentic is heartbreaking but this is what sport is full-dress about," said Cousin.
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Labels: Zambia qualified being the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations smuggle a confident victory owing to Gabon.

Zambia qualified for the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a confident victory over Gabon.

Zambia qualified for the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a confident victory over Gabon.
Rainford Kalaba opened the scoring with a deft chip over Gabon keeper Ebang Ovono, before James Chamanga made it two in the second half.

Substitute Fabrice Do Marcolino scored late on for Gabon but it was not enough to see them through in a tight group.

Gabon will be bitterly disappointed after needing only a draw to progress, but Zambia deserved their victory.

It means Zambia have come from bottom of the group to qualify as its winners.

The contest against Gabon got off to a cagey start, with most of the action confined to the centre of the park.

But Zambia seemed to settle on the ball quicker and began taking control.

And as early as the eighth minute, Jacob Mulenga should have at least hit the target after some good work down the left by Felix Katongo, but instead he found the side netting.

Zambia continued to threaten with Chris Katongo's free kick causing problems for the Gabonese defence.

Down at the other end Hull striker Daniel Cousin also hit the side netting after a short pass from Zita Mbanangoye in a packed Zambian penalty box.

But Zambia's hard work eventually paid off after Cousin fouled Chris Katongo near the circle.

Cousin was booked and the resulting free kick was met by Kalaba who chipped the ball over an on-rushing Ovono.

Zambia continued to press for a second but goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene had to be alert to rush out and save from the edge of his penalty area from Roguy Meye.

The Chipolopolo were doing a good job of closing Gabon down and not allowing them to string passes together.

But as the half came to a close, Gabon tried to raise their game.

They began the second half as they ended the first trying to create a decent chance for the largely ineffective Cousin.

But the Zambians rode the pressure and began to press for a second.

And it came from James Chamanga who tapped in from Jacob Mulenga's excellent cross in the 62nd minute.

Chris Katongo could have put the game beyond doubt but fired over the bar from just inside the box.

Both sides were creating half chances but the Zambian defence failed to close down substitute Marcolino in the box and he volleyed in from about six yards in the 83rd minute.

The goal seemed to galvanise the Gabonese as they looked for the equaliser that would see them through to the quarter finals.

The Zambian defence too was beginning to look shaky conceding three corner kicks in quick succession.

Zambia held on for a famous victory but it comes at a price , as yellow cards for Kabala and centre-half Kampamba Chintu means they will both miss the quarter final game against Nigeria on Monday.

Coach Renard praised his team saying they had proved many people wrong.

"People were laughing at our chances and all the betting had us as the worst team here," said the Frenchman.

"But today we proved we are good enough."

Gabon celebrated at the final whistle after being told they had qualified but news soon came through that they hadn't.

"We thought we had qualified but then they told us no. It is heartbreaking but this is what sport is all about," said Cousin.

Drug firm boost to malaria fight

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to reveal previously confidential data on thousands of potential anti-malaria compounds.

In addition to this, the company is to pump millions into an 'Open Lab' for independent research teams.

The company has 13,500 molecules which have been tested against the parasite which causes malaria.

One expert said more sharing of data could trigger advances like those that came from the human genome project.

The way in which pharmaceutical firms guard the secrets of their drugs and research has long been cited as an obstacle to disease research.

The latest announcement by GSK chief executive Andrew Witty, follows an earlier decision to set up a "patent pool" where information about patented drugs could be shared.

In a speech in New York, he said that it was important to "earn the trust" of society.

"The measures we have announced today are characterised by a determination to be more flexible, open and willing to learn.

"GSK has the capability to make a difference and a genuine appetite to change the landscape of healthcare for the world's poorest people."

Millions scanned

The data in question is the result of a year's effort by GSK scientists to study a disease which still claims almost a million lives a year, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The company holds a "library" of millions of different molecules, and each of these was tested against the Plasmodium parasite which causes malaria.

The result was 13,500 which appeared to have an effect on it, although extensive further research would be needed to narrow down this list into those most likely to succeed as new drugs.

Dr Timothy Wells, Chief Scientific Officer of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, which has worked with GSK on the project, said it had the potential to "dramatically alter" the way the world approached malaria research.

"By sharing the data, the research community can start to build up a public repository of knowledge that should be as powerful as the human genome databases and could set a new trend to revolutionise the urgent search for new medicines to tackle malaria."

Dr Mallika Kaviratne, from the Malaria Consortium, a not-for-profit organisation, said it could boost access to medicines for developing countries, as resistance to existing drugs was an important issue.

She added: "The release of 13,500 molecules made to the public is very important - we have nothing else in the pipeline - and new drugs need to be developed, but they're expensive."

Professor Peter Winstanley, from the Liverpool School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that the decision was a "step in the right direction".

He said: "It looks like the chief executive has said: 'What's the sense of sitting on 13,500 molecules which perhaps have antimalarial properties when other people might be more interested in them than we are?'.

"How, while there's a slight possibility that we may have new drugs from this in the next five years, it is more likely to happen over the next 10 to 20 years, and that will take a lot of work, some luck, and a lot of money."

Federal Reserve makes record $52.1bn profit

The Federal Reserve made a profit of $52.1bn (£32.2bn) in 2009, a rise of 47% over the previous year.

The sum allowed the central bank to pay a record $46.1bn to the US Treasury last year.

That was the largest amount ever paid by the central bank since its creation in 1914.

The record figure was largely thanks to its attempts to support the financial system throughout the ongoing financial crisis.

The Fed funds itself from its own operations and returns any profits to the Treasury department.

Taxpayer gains

The figures suggest that US taxpayers have, so far, gained money from the US government's action in propping up the system.

Some of the profit has come from interest earned on government bonds and mortgage-related securities - including those of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The emergency lending programmes instituted by the central bank during the last year's financial crisis helped swell the Fed's balance sheet to more than $2tn.

They were designed to keep down interest rates and get banks lending to each other again, hoping to spark an economic recovery.

The Fed could also lose money on its holdings if it sells them at a time when they have fallen in value.

The Fed also earned money from its emergency loans to banks and other firms, such as the giant carmakers. It charged both interest and fees on these.

US and French soldiers among six killed in Afghanistan

Six international soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, Nato officials said, making Monday the deadliest day for foreign troops there in two months.

The dead include three Americans killed in southern Afghanistan and one French soldier north-east of Kabul, Nato said.

The nationalities of the other two have not yet been released.

The deaths came as a poll commissioned by the BBC and others showed most Afghans are increasingly upbeat about the state of their country.

Of more than 1,500 Afghans questioned, 70% said they believed Afghanistan was going in the right direction - a big jump from 40% a year ago.

Deadly patrols

The Americans died in a clash with militants during an "operational patrol" in southern Afghanistan, US military spokesman Col Wayne Shanks said.

France has said one of its soldiers was killed and another wounded while patrolling with Afghan troops in Alasay, a valley largely under militant control.

"A non-commissioned officer paid with his life for the commitment of France to the peace and security of the Afghan people, and an officer was very gravely wounded," a statement from President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said.

Nato said one other soldier had died in eastern Afghanistan and another in the south - but did not give their nationalities.

The BBC's Mark Dummett, in Kabul, says the latest casualties bring the death toll for foreign troops in Afghanistan this year to 15.

It suggests that 2010 will be just as bloody - if not more so - than last year, which was the deadliest for international forces since the US-led invasion in 2001.

The high death toll is partly because insurgents have changed their tactics and are using more powerful bombs, our correspondent says.

But it is also because foreign troop numbers are rising, he adds.

President Barack Obama announced last month that an additional 30,000 US troops would be deployed quickly in Afghanistan to fight the insurgency.

The reinforcements will take the total number of US troops in Afghanistan to more than 100,000.

In a recent interview on US TV, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, said the troops surge was having the desired affect and the tide was turning against the Taliban.

The insurgency is largely concentrated in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but analysts say it is moving to the previously calm north and west.

On Sunday, an American service member and two Afghan road construction workers were killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed seven CIA agents at America's Forward Operating Base Chapman near the eastern Afghan city of Khost.

Australian boys in 'remarkable' surf rescue

Two eight-year-old Australian boys have been hailed as heroes coming rescuing a drowning man from bestial seas execute Queensland's beans Coast.

Jake Satherley and Spencer Jeams saw the middle-aged man struggling juice dangerous currents, grabbed a surfboard and managed to pull him on.

The pair, members of a junior lifesavers club, said they did not palpation scared consequence the treacherous conditions.

Lifeguards said the rescue was the most remarkable they have ever seen.

Speaking to Australia's ABC News, Northcliffe stunt Saving parcel big wheel David Shields says he has never observed a salvage groove on it.

"I've been involved predominance surf lifesaving for 30 years and I've never seen anyone thence young come to the aid of someone so old" he said.

He says they will mean rewarded for their act of heroism with "medals besides appropriate recognition".

The waters murder Queensland were described for dangerous whereas the weekend, with more than 40 people rescued from the surf and seven swimmers treated in hospital.

Mother's snow death 'a mystery'

Police say they do not know why a Newcastle mother, who died after being found lying in the snow, ventured out in freezing conditions.

The 42-year-old mother-of-one was wearing an overcoat, trousers and trainers, when she was discovered near shops at Newbiggin Hall on Saturday.

She was treated at the scene for the effects of cold, but died later at Newcastle General Hospital.

Police said they were awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination.

Police said the woman, who has not yet been named, left her home at about 1900 GMT on Friday and was reported missing when she failed to return.

She told her partner only that she was "going for a walk".

The woman was found at about 1100 GMT on Saturday, but police are unsure as to how long she had been lying in the snow.

She had not suffered any visible injuries.

'Absolute tragedy'

A floral tribute marked the spot where the woman was found.

Supt Paul Orchard, of Northumbria Police, said: "This is an absolute tragedy for the woman's family.

"We really do not know what happened to the woman in the time she left her home and was found.

"We would appeal for anyone who may have seen her to get in touch with us as much for the family's sake as for anything else.

"We need to piece together what her movements were and what she was doing."

Mr Orchard stressed there were no suspicious circumstances.

Anyone who saw the woman out walking between Friday evening and 1100 GMT on Saturday is urged to contact the Northumbria force.

France considers tax for Google, Yahoo and Facebook

Google and other net firms could be taxed under plans being considered by the French government.

A report, commissioned by the government, suggests firms such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook should pay a new tax on their online ad revenues.

The money could be used to fund legal alternatives for buying books, films and music on the internet.

But critics say the tax would be difficult to implement and Google says it could slow down innovation.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a tough line on the increasing dominance of digital content.

France has just introduced tough new legislation aimed at removing those who persistently download illegal content from the net.

It has also gone head-to-head with Google over its plans to digitise the world's books, with a project to set up its own digital library financed by the government to the tune of £700m.

And it is considering a law which would give net users the option to have old data about themselves deleted.

The proposals for a tax on content is still very much in the early stages and there are few details of how it would exactly work.

Patrick Zelnik, who contributed to the report and is also the founder of the French president's wife's record label, hopes the idea will be taken on board across the EU.

But Google is among those to have voiced opposition to the plan.

"We don't think introducing an additional tax on internet advertising is the right way forward as it could slow down innovation," said Olivier Esper, senior policy manager for Google France.

The better way to support content creation is to find new business models that help consumers find great content and rewards artists and publishers for their work."

How online life distorts privacy rights for all

People who post intimate details about their lives on the internet undermine everybody else's right to privacy, claims an academic.

Dr Kieron O'Hara has called for people to be more aware of the impact on society of what they publish online.

"If you look at privacy in law, one important concept is a reasonable expectation of privacy," he said.

"As more private lives are exported online, reasonable expectations are diminishing."

The rise of social networking has blurred the boundaries of what can be considered private, he believes - making it less of a defence by law.

We live in an era that he terms "intimacy 2.0" - where people routinely share extremely personal information online.

"When our reasonable expectations diminish, as they have, by necessity our legal protection diminishes."

Dr O'Hara, a senior research fellow in Electronic and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, gave the example of an embarrassing photo taken at a party.

A decade ago, he said, there would have been an assumption that it might be circulated among friends.

But now the assumption is that it may well end up on the internet and be viewed by strangers.

Raging debate

Privacy has long been a thorny issue but there were very few court cases until that of former motorsport boss Max Mosley in 2008.

Mr Mosley sued the News of the World over the publication in the newspaper of explicit photos of him secretly taken during an orgy.

He argued that the publication of the photos was an unwarranted breach of his privacy - and won.

Mr Mosley had taken steps to keep his private life private but Dr O'Hara's concern is that other people's disregard for privacy online will spill over into other walks of life.

As debates continue to rage over whether the new airport body scanners and CCTV are an infringement of privacy or useful protection, some argue that it already has.

"Recent security decisions have become a privacy discussion - but if security suffers, the community suffers," Dr O'Hara said.

He was due to deliver his research paper at the annual Media Communication and Cultural Studies Association (Meccsa) conference held at the London School of Economics from 6-8 January.

China 'overtakes Germany as world's largest exporter'

China's exports rose 17.7% in December, state media has reported, suggesting the country has overtaken Germany as the world's largest exporter.

The rise, compared to a year earlier, breaks a 13-month decline in trade as a result of the global downturn.

Xinhua said total exports for 2009 were $1.2tn (£7.5tn), but that total foreign trade over the year was down 13.9%.

Correspondents say the figures will lead to new demands from China's competitors that it devalue the yuan.

Last year saw a continuing decrease in China's trade as the global economic downturn led to a fall in demand for its products.

But in the last few weeks of the year, there was a far greater rise than forecasters had expected, with foreign exports reaching $130.7bn, up 17.7% on the previous December.

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) said exports overall in the year were $1.2tn, down 16% from in 2008, while imports were 11.2% down from a year earlier at $1.01tn.

The politically sensitive total trade surplus was down 34.2% to $196.1bn, a fall of almost a third.

The figures suggests China will surpass Germany's export total for the whole of 2009, although this will not be confirmed until Germany's full-year data is published in February.

Yuan demand

A spokesman for GAC said the increase was "an important turning point" for the country.

"It is safe to say now that Chinese exporters have come right through the period of weakness," Xinhua quoted statistician Huang Guohua as saying.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Shanghai says many of China's producers are low-cost manufacturers who assemble equipment such as i-Pods using foreign components.

The latest figures are being seen as an indication that those manufacturers have proved resilient in the downturn and are benefitting as their customers restock, says our correspondent.

But the figures are likely to lead to renewed complaints from China's trading competitors that its currency is undervalued, he added.

Led by the US, they say it is unfair that China has been able to make its good cheaper by keeping the yuan weak, but Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said China "will not yield" to foreign demands that it revalue the currency.

Beijing has long said that it will not allow the yuan to trade freely until its domestic economy was strong enough to pick up any resulting decline in exports.

The slowing decline in Chinese trade has also been taken as a sign that the country's stimulus package is working.

Beijing raised tax rebates on exports several times in 2009, increased tax refunds and improved export credit insurance.

Harry Reid apologises for 'light-skinned' Obama remarks

The US Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, has apologised for private comments he made about Barack Obama before the 2008 presidential election.

He is quoted in a new book as saying Mr Obama could win since he was a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect", unless he wanted one.

The Democrat said he now regretted "using such a poor choice of words" and apologised to any Americans offended.

President Obama quickly accepted the apology and said "the book is closed".

Correspondents say Mr Reid, 71, is facing a difficult re-election battle in his home state of Nevada in November's mid-term elections.

'Improper comments'

In a new book published about the presidential election campaign by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heileman, Game Change, the senator is described as somebody whose encouragement of Mr Obama was "unequivocal".

"He was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama - a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,' as he said privately," the authors wrote.

"Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination."

Mr Reid waited to formally endorse President Obama until after the tough presidential primary battle against Hillary Clinton ended.

After the extract was published by The Atlantic magazine on Friday, the senator confirmed he had made the remarks and apologised.

"I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologise for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments," he said in a statement.

"I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda. Moreover, throughout my career... I have worked hard to advance issues important to the African-American community."

Mr Obama later issued a statement accepting the apology.

"Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today. I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart," he said.

"As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."

Harbingers of hope for India in 2010?

Has India's "Deciding Decade" begun? A study, done by a Delhi-based economic research firm along with a leading newspaper, thinks so. It says that India's GDP can grow at an average annual rate of 9.6% for the next 10 years even if there were no reforms. Incomes will double, the middle class will burgeon and urbanisation will proceed at breakneck speed.

Now the bad news. Even with this scorching growth, more than 250 million people of a total population of 1.3bn will still be "very poor" in 2020, the study says. That's not all: not even 100 million Indians will be graduates or post graduates despite the growth. Clearly, without radical reforms in education and infrastructure taken up with missionary bipartisan zeal, millions of Indians will still be hungry, poor and illiterate. Are India's politicians and bureaucrats up to the task? On present evidence, hardly. But we all live in hope.

The decade has also begun with a rash of good news stories. The government is planning to give out passports within three days of verification, make compulsory baby seats in cars and provide cheaper food for the poor. At least one state is launching madrassas or religious schools where English will be the medium of instruction. The government is also promising to introduce more women-friendly laws, harsher punishment for sexual crimes and fast track courts. All this just proves how much ground India has to cover. And Indian governments are famous for making announcements that take months, sorry, decades to implement. So we will wait and see.

But there is a piece of truly good news that holds out hope for India. Bihar, India's basket case state - poorest, most lawless, underdeveloped - appears to have clocked the fastest rate of growth during 2008-2009. If the Bihar government is to believed, the state's growth rate - 11.4% - is higher than India's industrially developed states. It is being attributed to good governance, buoyant revenues, increased government spending and a swelling unorganised private sector. If this is true then Bihar has all the makings of a miracle economy.

Bihar's remarkable "turnaround" shows the way for India, in a way. It also proves, as political philosopher Pratap Bhanu Mehta says, that "for the first time in modern Indian history, Indians, including the very marginalised, have a sense that change is possible: our destinies are ours to shape".

A sobering thought to keep in mind though. Impressive growth figures are unlikely to stun the poor into mindless optimism about their future. India has long been used to illustrate how extensive poverty coexists with growth. It has a shabby record in pulling people out of poverty - in the last two decades the number of absolutely poor in India has declined by 17 percentage points compared to China, which brought down its absolutely poor by some 45 percentage points. The number of Indian billionaires rose from nine in 2004 to 40 in 2007, says Forbes magazine. That's higher than Japan which had 24, while France and Italy had 14 billionaires each. When one of the world's highest number of billionaires coexist with what one economist calls the world's "largest number of homeless, ill-fed illiterates", something is gravely wrong. This is what rankles many in this happy season of positive thinking.

Three held after security alert at Heathrow Airport

Police have arrested three men on a plane at London's Heathrow Airport on suspicion of making a bomb threat.

Armed officers boarded the Dubai-bound Emirates flight after verbal threats were made to air crew.

The Metropolitan Police said the three men, aged aged 58, 48 and 36, were in police custody.

The incident came amid heightened tension at airports across the world following an unsuccessful attempt to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

The Metropolitan Police said police were called after a "verbal threat was made to staff".

"They have been arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat," the force said.

Police with sniffer dogs searched the aircraft, which had 331 passengers on board, and it is understood no dangerous substances were found.

Rescheduled departure

The other passengers were eventually taken off the aircraft and driven to a hotel for the night.

Their flight was rescheduled and is due to to depart at 1500 GMT on Saturday.

A statement from Emirates said: "Following remarks made as Emirates flight EK004 prepared to depart London Heathrow for Dubai (yesterday) evening, crew alerted the Metropolitan Police who subsequently boarded the aircraft and detained three passengers.

"The safety and security of all our passengers is paramount. We apologise for the inconvenience."

The threat was made at 2115 GMT on Friday as the aircraft was due to take off for Dubai.

It is thought the suspects were all British men who were sitting in economy.

One passenger told Sky News armed police boarded a flight and took a man off in handcuffs.

Cameron McLean said: "Police just swarmed the guy and rushed him out.

"I think he was a white male. There was another one but I didn't see him."

He said the man was taken out in handcuffs.

Extra bag checks, body searches and on board regulations have seen travellers in London wait up to three hours before their flights take off, following the failed bombing of plane en route to the US city of

Surprise rise in US job losses

US employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, but the unemployment rate held steady at 10%, official figures have shown.

The number of job losses was surprising, particularly after November's figures had been revised.

The US Labor Department had initially estimated that 11,000 jobs were cut in November, but now says that the economy had in fact added 4,000 jobs.

Since the recession began in 2007, 7.2 million jobs have been lost in the US.

In 2009 alone, the economy lost 4.2 million jobs.

Analysts were surprised by the latest data.

"I didn't think we'd see something like this until February. I thought we'd have more temporary workers, and the other job indicators we had seemed fairly positive," said Dan Cook from IG Markets.

The construction sector bore the brunt of the job losses last month, shedding 53,000 positions. In manufacturing, 27,000 positions were lost.

However, some sectors added jobs, with professional and business services companies creating 50,000 new positions.

Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank, said the latest data showed that getting employment back to normal levels would take some time.

"For the economy, I think the jobs report fits the picture that we have seen of a hesitant recovery," he said.

Jobs challenge

Unemployment levels in the US are at their highest for more than 20 years.

High unemployment is one of the toughest domestic challenges facing Barack Obama's administration.

The president has said that boosting jobs is the best way to tackle the massive US deficit, which stands at more than $1 trillion (£621bn).

In December, Mr Obama outlined a job creation plan, including the proposal to wind up the Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp) and use the remaining money from the fund to help lending to small businesses.

Meanwhile, separate data from the Commerce Department showed that US wholesale inventories posted an unexpectedly strong gain in November.

Wholesale inventories rose 1.5%. Economists had predicted a 0.2% drop.

Same-sex marriage law backed in Portugal's parliament

Portugal's parliament has passed a law to legalise same-sex marriage, but rejected proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt.

The bill was approved with the support of the governing Socialist Party and other parties further to the left.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates opened the debate with an appeal to back the law, saying it would put right an injustice that had caused unnecessary pain.

The law has been fiercely opposed by conservatives in the Catholic country.

Rightist parties had sought a national referendum on the issue following a petition that collected more than 90,000 signatures, but their proposal was rejected.

Friday's debate was at times heated, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon, with Socialists attacking as discriminatory a counter-proposal from the centre-right Social Democrats for a new so-called civil union for same-sex couples.

The bill will now be reviewed in committee before coming back for a final vote in parliament.

If the law is ratified by President Anibal Cavaco Silva, it could come into effect in April - just a month before a visit to Portugal by Pope Benedict XVI, a staunch opponent of gay marriage.

The ratification would make Portugal the sixth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriages after Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.

Many other countries have introduced civil partnerships, which give lesbian and gay couples some of the rights of married heterosexu

Palestinian killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza

Israeli air strikes have hit a number of targets in Gaza, killing at least one person and wounding at least one other, Palestinian medics had said.

The strikes came after a day in which about a dozen rockets were fired from inside Gaza into Israeli territory.

Explosions rocked Gaza City, Khan Younis and smuggling tunnels in Rafah.

On Thursday, Israel's government said it would pay $10m in compensation for damage caused to UN buildings in Gaza during the offensive there a year ago.

A number of UN warehouses, school buildings, offices and vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the 23-day assault, which was intended to end rocket attacks by militants.

Israeli officials said the payout - the first such compensation related to the offensive, in which about 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed - was for collateral damage. The UN said the deal had yet to be confirmed, but that it expected progress "imminently".

Palestinian medics said Friday's casualties were the result of early-morning air strikes on two smuggling tunnels in Rafah, which lies near Gaza's southern border with Egypt. The militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said a jet had also bombed a building in Gaza City.

The Israeli military later told Israeli media that its aircraft had bombed a tunnel linking the Gaza to Israel, a weapons factory in Gaza City, and two smuggling tunnels running underneath the border with Egypt.

DP World to seek London listing

DP World, the container port business owned by troubled investment group Dubai World, is to seek a share listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The planned listing would be the second for DP World, which has been a member of the Dubai Stock Exchange since 2007.

The firm, which owns 49 ports around the world, has been disappointed with its valuation on that exchange.

State-owned Dubai World made headlines in November when it sought to delay repayments on its $26bn (£16bn) debt.

"Previously DP World's management had said it was not happy with the valuation the market was putting on the company and was looking at ways to unlock value for shareholders," said Rami Sidani, head of investment at Schroders Middle East.

"One of the concerns would have been the lack of liquidity on the Nasdaq Dubai, so a dual listing is a good idea. The company will be more visible to international investors," he said.

DP World said it aimed to float in London in the second quarter of 2010.

Mobile phone radiation 'protects' against Alzheimer's

After all the concern over possible damage to health from using mobile phones, scientists have found a potential benefit from radiation.

Their work has been carried out on mice, but it suggests mobiles might protect against Alzheimer's.

Florida scientists found that phone radiation actually protected the memories of mice programmed to get Alzheimer's disease.

They are now testing more frequencies to see if they can get better results.

The study by the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre is published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Genetically altered mice

It involved 96 mice, most of which had been genetically altered to develop beta-amyloid plaques in their brains, which are a marker of Alzheimer's disease, as they aged.

The rest of the mice were non-demented.

All the mice were exposed to the electro-magnetic field generated by a standard phone for two one-hour periods each day for seven to nine months.

Their cages were arranged at the same distance around a centrally located antenna generating the phone signal.

The researchers, led by Professor Gary Arendash, said that if the phone exposure was started when the Alzheimer's mice were young adults, before signs of memory impairment were apparent, their cognitive ability was protected.

In fact, the Alzheimer's mice performed as well on tests measuring memory and thinking skills as aged mice without dementia.

If older Alzheimer's mice already showing memory problems were exposed to the electro-magnetic waves, their memory impairment disappeared.

Professor Arendash was the author of a previous study that said coffee could protect against Alzheimer's.

He said: "It will take some time to determine the exact mechanisms involved in these beneficial memory effects.

"One thing is clear, however - the cognitive benefits of long-term electro-magnetic exposure are real, because we saw them in both protection and treatment-based experiments involving Alzheimer's mice, as well as in normal mice."

Memory benefits

The memory benefits of phone exposure took months to show up, suggesting that a similar effect in humans would take years.

The researchers conclude that electro-magnetic field exposure could be an effective, non-invasive and drug-free way to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease in humans.

They are currently testing whether different sets of frequencies and strengths might produce a more rapid and greater cognitive benefit.

Chuanhai Cao, another author of the study, said: "Since production and aggregation of beta-amyloid occurs in traumatic brain injury, particularly in soldiers during war, the therapeutic impact of our findings may extend beyond Alzheimer's disease."

The authors say previous studies have linked a possible increased risk of Alzheimer's with "low-frequency" electro-magnetic exposure like the energy waves generated by power and telephone lines.

They say mobile phones emit "high frequency" electro-magnetic waves that are very different because they can have beneficial effects on brain function, such as increasing brain cell activity.

Organs normal

They did carry out autopsies on the mice and found no evidence of abnormal growth in the brains of the Alzheimer's mice following months of exposure to the electro-magnetic waves.

They also found all the major peripheral organs, such as the liver and lungs, were normal.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This research has been carried out in mice that mimic some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's in people, so we don't know if any similar effects will be seen in humans.

"Although the researchers hope their findings will translate to people, much more research is needed to find out if there could be any beneficial effects of long-term exposure to electro-magnetism, and to guarantee its safety.

"We don't recommend spending 24 hours a day on a mobile phone - we don't know the long-term effects, and bills could go through the roof."

Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said the results were "exciting and quite convincing".

"However, this research in mice is at an early stage and a lot more work is needed before we can say anything about the possible preventative or treatment effects of this type of radiation on people with Alzheimer's disease."

Museum watchman questioned over missing Degas

French police have questioned a night watchman at a museum in the southern city of Marseille over the theft of a painting by Impressionist artist Edgar Degas worth 800,000 euros. The man has been released without charge.
French police have questioned a night watchman at a museum from where a valuable painting by 19th century artist Edgar Degas was stolen, a judicial official said Friday.

Police in the southern port city of Marseille released the man without charge on Friday after detaining him on Thursday evening, the official said, adding: "The investigation is continuing."

The picture, a colourful image of singers performing on a theatre stage, was missing when staff opened up the Cantini Museum in Marseille on Thursday.

The national museums service said the picture was a pastel work titled "The Chorus", worth 800,000 euros (1.14 million dollars) and measuring 32 centimetres by 27 (about 13 inches by 10).

It was loaned by the Orsay museum in Paris for an exhibition of theatre-themed artworks including some 20 works by Degas.

Prosecutor Jacques Dallest said on Thursday that the painting had been unscrewed from the wall, there was no sign of a break-in and the theft may have been an inside job.

A source close to the investigation said the watchman questioned was on duty early on Thursday morning when the theft was believed to have taken place.

The city hall, which runs the museum, said 70,000 people had visited the exhibition and the show was due to close in Marseille on January 3 and later go on tour to Italy and Canada.

Sex, hot online search topic for children: Norton

AFP - Sex was a hot online search topic for children in 2009, according to findings released by Internet security specialty firm Norton.

While the top three search terms for Internet users under the age of 18 were YouTube, Google, and Facebook, the words "porn" and "sex" took the next two positions, based on data from Symantec-owned Norton.

"These terms should raise a red flag to parents if they haven't had 'The Talk' with their children about content that may not be appropriate for kids," Symantec said in a release.

Boys' top 25 searches centered on social networking, games, shopping, and "adult terms," according to Norton.

Girls were also interested in online social networking websites, but their top 25 searches leaned more toward music, movies, celebrities, and television shows.

The findings were derived from 14.6 million searches conducted between February 2 and December 4 by users of a free OnlineFamily.Norton service that parents can use to filter or monitor their children's Internet use.

"When it comes to online threats, parents need to be concerned about more than just their child running into inappropriate content," said Norton Internet safety advocate Marian Merritt.

"What makes OnlineFamily.Norton unique is that it gives parents insight into kids' online activities and what interests them most so that parents can ensure they have a discussion with them about topics they're curious about, as well as protect them from cyberthreats."

"Avatar" hits one billion dollars at the box office

Futuristic 3D animation movie "Avatar" generated globally over one billion dollars in less than three weeks at the box office, making James Cameron's latest blockbuster the fastest-ever to reach the $1 billion mark.

AFP - Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" surged to a box office haul of more than one billion dollars globally on Sunday, faster than any other movie in history, an industry tracker reported.

"It has made 670 million dollars international, for a total of more than one billion dollars," box office analyst Chad Hartigan of Exhibitor Relations told AFP.

Since the Fox-distributed film -- the most expensive ever made at up to 500 million dollars -- debuted 17 days ago, it has earned 352 million dollars domestically as of Sunday, according to weekend estimates, assuring its reputation as one of the most impressive box office performers of all time.

"It was the fastest ever to the one-billion-dollar mark," and "'Avatar' is now the third biggest grosser ever," behind "Titanic" and "The Return of the King," the final movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hartigan said.

The film tells the story of a paralyzed war veteran, Jake, who is sent on a mission to the planet Pandora, where he falls in love with a blue humanoid named Neytiri of the alien Na'vi race.

Last weekend, earning 75.6 million dollars from Friday to Sunday, the 3-D science fiction epic helped boost the North American box office to the highest-grossing weekend in movie history.

The Christmas holiday weekend saw movie-goers flock to theaters in droves, sending earnings soaring to nearly 270 million dollars, an all-time record, California-based Exhibitor Relations said.

The figure smashed the previous best weekend mark of 260.3 million dollars set in July 2008, when Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" opened to huge audiences in Canada and the United States.

"Avatar" is director James Cameron's first film since the 1997 Oscar-winner "Titanic."

Avatar, Star Trek and District 9 lead award shortlist

Sci-fi movies Avatar, Star Trek and District 9 are leading the best picture chase at the Producer's Guild of America awards.

The group of Hollywood producers also nominated animated film Up and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Oscar favourites The Hurt Locker, Precious and George Clooney's Up in the Air are also in the running.

An Education and Invictus rounded up the list. The winner will be announced on 24 January.

Last year's winner Slumdog Millionaire went on to win the Oscar for best picture.

The previous year, the Coen brother's No Country For Old Men did the same.

Up, which opened last summer's Cannes Film Festival, has also been nominated for best animation and is up against Coraline, 9, Fantastic Mr Fox and Disney's forthcoming Princess and the Frog.

The BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit has been nominated for the award for long-form television.

It is shortlisted alongside Grey Gardens, Prayers for Bobby, The Prisoner and Taking Chance.

Jobless Kenyans admit fighting for al-Shabab

Two hundred kilometres of desert scrubland populated by nomads herding camels and goats lie between Garissa and Kenya's border with Somalia.

Around the corrugated-iron shelter where women sell milk each morning from yellow plastic drums, conversation focuses on the encroachment of warring militia and the recent victories of al-Shabab, an Islamist group accused of links to al-Qaeda.

Although the Kenyan government has sent troops to guard the border, people in this region fear that the rebel group has already infiltrated Kenya and is recruiting vulnerable youngsters.

As ethnic Somalis, there is nothing to distinguish the insurgents from their Kenyan neighbours.

Hassan Sherie, who runs an organisation helping unemployed youth, believes they have a sophisticated network of operatives with links to some Koranic schools in Garissa.

He does not think their fundamentalist ideology will attract young Kenyans but says they use generous sums of money as bait.

Cash incentive

It was the offer of $600 (£374) a month that persuaded Abdullah (not his real name) to join.

He was in a group of 20 young men recruited in 2008 at a mosque in Garissa.

"We were jobless. That's what encouraged us to join al-Shabab," he says.

"We were told we were fighting a holy war, a jihad, and if you kill supporters of the government you will go to heaven."

He and his friends were taken across the border where Arab trainers taught them how to use AK47s and bazookas.

After two months, they were sent to the southern Somali port of Kismayo and ordered to disarm civilians.

Abdullah says al-Shabab was attacking local Somalis rather than infidels and he was frightened by their brutality.

"They were praying and reading the Koran but doing evil things," he says.

"I witnessed four men having their hands chopped off and people in captivity were very scared."

Government recruits

When his commanders stopped paying him, he decided to leave, returning to Garissa last autumn.

He thinks some of his friends are still fighting with al-Shabab in Somalia.

Many civic and religious leaders blame their own government for driving young people into the arms of the rebels.

In October last year, 300 young men were recruited to fight for al-Shabab's enemy - Somalia's UN-backed transitional government, and sent to Manyani, a training school in Tsavo National Park, where they say they were instructed by Kenyan soldiers.

The Kenyan government denied responsibility for the recruitment but, after a protest from parents and elders, most of the Kenyan Somalis were sent home.

Now, men like 20-year-old Abdi find themselves back on the street with no employment and no hope for the future. He describes himself as a trained soldier and says he would be open to an offer from al-Shabab.

"I'll go and fight for them because what I'm looking for is money," he says.

'This is your war'

According to Garissa mayor Mohammed Gabow there is a strong chance that men like Abdi will use their military training to harm their fellow citizens.

They used to think that the fighting in Somalia was not their business but that has changed.

"You have people being told that, after all, this is your war and it is dangerous."

Al-Shabab does not confine its activities to Kenya's frontier province.

In Eastleigh - a district of the capitol Nairobi known as "Little Mogadishu" because of the number of Somali refugees - the BBC was able to obtain a recording of an imam urging youngsters to join al-Shabab and fight the infidels.

It is a message relayed behind security gates at a makeshift mosque on the Ushirike Estate.

Although Kenya's assistant Defence Minister General Joseph Kaiseri acknowledges the risk of infiltration, he says the government's intelligence and anti-terrorism systems are sufficient to counter any threat from al-Shabab.

Independent analysts, however, are not so sure.

Rashid Abdi, Somalia expert for the International Crisis Group (ICG), believes lax security and corruption make it an ideal place for the Islamist group to raise money and recruit.

"What will stop an al-Shabab person operating in Kenya?" he asks.

"Nothing."

India's Bharti targets Bangladesh

Regulators in Bangladesh have approved Indian phone company Bharti Airtel's proposed $300m investment in the country's fourth largest mobile firm.

If the plan is finalised, Bharti will be the first Indian telecom operator to enter Bangladesh's highly competitive mobile market.

Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world.

It already has more than 50 million subscribers and the number is expected to double by 2015.

Price war

Bharti Airtel is India's leading mobile phone service provider and is now planning to buy a nearly 70% stake in Abu Dhabi-owned Warid Telecom, which has nearly three million customers in Bangladesh.

Bharti Airtel, which has twice failed to seal a merger with South Africa's MTN Group, wants to diversify because of intensifying competition and a price war in India.

Bangladeshi officials hope that the Indian company will invest more than $1bn in the next few years.

But Bharti Airtel will face stiff competition from market leaders such as the Bangladesh-Norway joint venture Grameenphone, which has more than 40% of the market share.

Mobile phones have become popular in Bangladesh mainly because the networks cover virtually the entire country and call rates are among the cheapest in the world.

Mobile phone companies like Bharti Airtel hope that the introduction of additional services like banking and money transfers will attract new customers and boost revenue.

Sara Payne 'stable and talking'

Child protection campaigner Sara Payne is responding well to treatment after she was taken to hospital with complications following brain surgery.

Ms Payne, 40, was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, in a critical condition on 23 December.

A hospital spokesman said she was now in "a stable condition and improving", and a friend said she was also talking.

Ms Payne's eight-year-old daughter Sarah was kidnapped and murdered by Roy Whiting in West Sussex in 2000.

Her friend Michele Elliott, founder and director of campaign group Kidscape, said the prognosis was now looking good.

'Huge relief'

"She wasn't able to talk over Christmas but was able to respond. Now she is able to talk again and things are improving.

"It's a huge relief but knowing the kind of person Sara is, it didn't surprise me because if somebody was going to come through something like this, it would be her.

"She wants to be there for her children and she wants to be there for her charity."

Ms Payne, from Surrey, had a life-saving operation to cure a ruptured aneurysm in 2008.

She began working to protect children from paedophiles and speaking out for victims after her daughter was murdered.

'Sarah's Law'

It emerged during the case that Whiting was a serial sex offender who had also abducted and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl five years before he killed Sarah Payne.

After Whiting was convicted and jailed for life she called on the government to change the law surrounding information about paedophiles.

The so-called "Sarah's Law" was partly inspired by Megan's Law in the United States, which was introduced after the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994.

She was appointed an MBE for services to child protection in the 2008 New Year Honours List, and at the beginning of 2009 was made Victims' Champion - a 12-month post in which she was tasked with providing an independent public voice for victims of and witnesses to crime.

Obama rallies CIA after Afghanistan bomb attack

Barack Obama has sent a letter of support to the CIA after seven staff were killed by an Afghan bomber - one of the worst attacks in its history.

The US president's condolence message praised the work of those killed.

The dead include the head of the CIA's base in Khost Province, near the border with Pakistan, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The Taliban said one of their members wearing an explosive vest and an army uniform had carried out the attack.

It was the worst against US intelligence officials since the American embassy in Beirut was bombed in 1983.

A total of 90 CIA employees have been honoured for their deaths in the agency's service since its inception in 1947, according to the Washington Post newspaper.

Taliban hotbed

The bombing has raised questions about the coalition's ability to protect itself against infiltrators, analysts say.

Quoting former CIA officials, AP said the base chief - who was reported to be a mother of three - would have led intelligence-gathering operations in Khost, a hotbed of Taliban activity due to its proximity to Pakistan's lawless tribal region.

An unnamed official added that the bomber was being courted as an informant and was not frisked as he entered Forward Operating Base Chapman.

Paying tribute to the fallen, Mr Obama said those killed were "part of a long line of patriots who have made great sacrifices for their fellow citizens, and for our way of life".

He told CIA employees that they had "taken great risks to protect our country" and that their sacrifices had "sometimes been unknown to your fellow citizens, your friends, and even your families".

CIA Director Leon Panetta said six other agents had been injured in Wednesday's attack.

"Those who fell yesterday were far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism," he said.

"We owe them our deepest gratitude, and we pledge to them and their families that we will never cease fighting for the cause to which they dedicated their lives - a safer America."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the BBC the Khost bomber was wearing an army uniform when he managed to breach security at the base, detonating his explosives belt in the gym.

Drone attacks

Neither the names of the CIA officials killed nor the details of their work were released because of the sensitivity of US operations, the agency said.

The flags at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, are being flown at half-mast in honour of the dead.

Forward Operating Base Chapman, a former Soviet military base, is used not only by the CIA but also by provincial reconstruction teams, which include both soldiers and civilians.

The airfield is reportedly used for US drone attacks on suspected militants in neighbouring Pakistan.

In the latest such attack, a US drone fired on a moving car in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan, killing at least three people, Pakistan security officials say. It comes a day after a similar attack in the same area reportedly killed another three suspected militants.

North Korea calls for end to hostility with US

North Korea has issued a New Year message calling for an end to hostile relations with the US.

A statement carried in major newspapers said Pyongyang also wanted "a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula".

In response, a US State Department official said North Korea should show its good faith by returning to six-party talks on its nuclear programme.

In early December, the North said talks with a special US envoy had narrowed differences between the two sides.

The North Korean regime traditionally marks New Year's Day with a joint editorial in the country's three major newspapers.

Analysts say the statement is examined carefully for clues to Pyongyang's policies for the coming year.

"The fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of Asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the DPRK (North Korea) and the USA," state news agency KCNA quoted the editorial as saying.

"It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations," it said.

In Washington, a State Department official urged North Korea to return to the six-party talks, AFP news agency reported.

"Actions speak louder than words," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"A good step forward would be to return to six-party talks."

Pyongyang pulled out of the talks last April following widespread condemnation of a long-range missile launch.

International pressure grew following a nuclear test in May - which drew UN sanctions and further missile tests.

But in December, North Korea said it would work with the US to "narrow remaining differences" following a visit to Pyongyang by US President Barack Obama's special envoy Stephen Bosworth.

Gordon Brown orders airport security review

The UK will "move quickly" to enhance airport security after the "wake-up call" of the alleged failed Detroit plane attack, the prime minister says.

Gordon Brown said he had ordered a review of existing security measures, and advisers would report within days.

Full-body scanners would be among the new technologies considered, he said.

He also said the alleged plane bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who had studied in London, had linked up with al-Qaeda in Yemen after leaving the UK.

A former close friend of Mr Abdulmutallab has also told the BBC he believes he was radicalised after leaving the country in 2008.

Qasim Rafiq knew the suspect for three years at University College London, and preceded him as president of its Islamic Society.

He says Mr Abdulmutallab had shown no signs of violent extremism while living in the UK.

'New techniques'

Nigerian-born Mr Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a flight as it came in to land in Detroit on Christmas Day.