okinawa island
the significance of our meeting is to reaffirm the centrality of our year
old alliance clinton said
it provides stability for the region it is much bigger than any one
particular issue she said
in tokyo yomiuri newspaper and other japanese reports said sunday that clinton
and okada will make final arrangements for statement stressing the crucial
contribution of their alliance to global peace
the governments are preparing for the statement with which prime minister
yukio hatoyama and president barack obama will celebrate the th anniversary
and commit to further deepen the alliance japanese defense minister toshimi
kitazawa said according to jiji press
the security treaty signed on january has formed the bedrock of the
post war japan us alliance under which pacifist japan relies on massive us
military presence to guarantee its security
tokyo relations with its most important ally have hit turbulence over the
controversial futenma air base which hatoyama has suggested should be moved off
the southern island of okinawa or even outside japan altogether
the center left hatoyama who took power in september has pledged to review
past agreements on the us military presence including plans to shift futenma
within okinawa and to deal with washington on more equal basis
joseph nye former assistant secretary of defense urged the obama
administration to be patient with the hatoyama government and not allow
second order issue to threaten our long term strategy for east asia
in commentary in the new york times last week nye said the two countries
will miss major opportunity if they let the base controversy lead to bitter
feelings or the further reduction of american forces in japan
the best guarantee of security in region where china remains long term
challenge and nuclear north korea poses clear threat remains the presence of
american troops which japan helps to maintain with generous host nation
support nye wrote
kurt campbell the us assistant secretary of state for asia and pacific affairs
said clinton and okada will also discuss security concerns over the nuclear
ambitions of both north korea and iran
they will also talk about china rising power as well as the military junta in
myanmar
clinton will meet with the us military pacific command and visit the uss
arizona memorial which commemorates the americans who died in the japanese
surprise attack on december that brought the united states into world
war ii
she will arrive in port moresby on thursday to discuss economic development and
efforts to combat climate change it will be the first visit to papua new guinea
by us secretary of state since madeleine albright visited in
on january clinton will travel to auckland new zealand to discuss range
of diplomatic economic and security related issues campbell said
she travels to january to melbourne and canberra australia
in canberra clinton and us defense secretary robert gates will hold the th
australia united states ministerial consultations with counterparts foreign
minister stephen smith and defense minister john faulkner
in both new zealand and australia she will likely discuss these two countries
troop contributions to afghanistan
highlighting the region growing international clout clinton is making her
fourth tour of asia since she became secretary of state one year ago
hatoyama move to shift the futenma base off okinawa or even outside japan
altogether would breach an agreement signed in between previous
conservative governments in washington and tokyo
since its defeat in world war ii officially pacifist japan has relied on
massive us military presence to guarantee its security initially as an occupier
and later as an ally
but the dispute over futenma has raised fears among some japanese that this
alliance might cool at time when rising china is making its presence felt
across asia
baseball star mcgwire admits steroid use
los angeles jan afp
baseball legend mark mcgwire said monday he used steroids during his record
breaking home run season in dealing another blow to the image of america
drug tarnished national past time
in statement which confirmed long held suspicions about mcgwire hitting
exploits the year old former oakland athletics and st louis cardinals star
said he had used performance enhancing products throughout the
wish had never touched steroids it was foolish and it was mistake
truly apologize looking back wish had never played during the steroid
era mcgwire said in statement on the cardinals website
canadian mauled to death by his tiger
ottawa jan afp
the canadian owner of tiger after winning lengthy legal battle for the
right to keep exotic pets was mauled to death by the pound animal police
said monday
norman buwalda was found dead in the tiger pen on his property in rural
ontario on sunday afternoon ontario provincial police constable troy carlson
said
he had gone in to feed the tiger and possibly had been attacked carlson told
afp indicating there were no witnesses family member found him dead in the
tiger cage
we don know what may have provoked or caused the attack he added
buwalda had two tigers as well as two lions and cougar at one time but one
of the tigers died last year police said
in tiger attack on year old boy visiting the property sparked
two year legal battle between buwalda and the nearby southwold township over the
council subsequent ban on keeping wild animals as pets
the boy was hospitalized after reportedly slipping and falling near one of
budwalda tigers which had been brought out of its cage on heavy chain to be
photographed for the boy school report on buwalda exotic pets
buwalda challenged the ban in court and won an ontario superior court judge
ruled the bylaw was flawed and too broad
urgent baseball star mcgwire admits steroid use
los angeles jan afp
baseball legend mark mcgwire said on monday he used steroids during his record
breaking home run season in dealing another blow to the image of america
drug tarnished national past time
rallying dakar rally results
la serena chile jan afp
results from the dakar rally following monday ninth stage kilometres
special stage from copiapo
motorcycling
stage
marc coma esp ktm hr min sec cyril despres fra ktm at sec
francisco lopez chi aprilia min sec pal ullevalseter nor ktm
david fretigne fra yamaha alain duclos fra ktm helder
rodrigues por yamaha olivier pain fra yamaha jakub
przygonski pol ktm ruben faria por ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec pal ullevalseter nor ktm at
hr min sec francisco lopez chi aprilia hr helder rodrigues
por yamaha hr alain duclos fra ktm hr david fretigne
fra yamaha hr jonah street usa ktm hr olivier pain
fra yamaha hr thomas berglund swe ktm hr juan pedrero
garcia esp ktm hr
selected
marc coma esp ktm hr
detained malawi gay couple appeal to constitutional court
blantyre jan afp
gay couple arrested in malawi after holding wedding ceremony on monday asked
the constitutional court to hear their case arguing that their detention
violated their legally protected rights
tiwonge chimbalanga and steven monjeza were arrested two weeks ago in
malawi commercial capital blantyre for holding the country first public
same sex wedding ceremony an act that landed them in detention with three
counts of gross indecency
if convicted they face up to years in prison
our argument is that the penal code under which our clients were charged is
unconstitutional as it is against the spirit of the constitution mauya msuku
lawyer for the couple told packed courtroom
he said his clients had constitutional right to privacy dignity belief
conscience and self expression
msuku who has been hired by the country underground gay rights group centre
for the development of people cedep said his clients cannot be discriminated
against even on the basis of sexual orientation
he argued that laws banning homosexuality violate the right to marry and find
family
but the judge hearing their case insisted on proceeding with their trial until
the constitutional court decides whether to accept their appeal
magistrate nyakwawa usiwa usiwa began hearing witnesses brought by prosecutors
who posed often lurid questions about whether chimbalanga should be considered
woman because he wears women clothes and lives his life as female
monjeza brother egbert monjeza took the stand and questioned he was indeed
woman
woman has breasts aunt tiwonge chest is flat woman bosom is wide
hers is flat he said
asked by the defense lawyer msuku how breasts of year old should look like
monjeza answered they have to be plump so that any man who fondles them would
turn libidinous
this sent laughter and jeers among the court audience
raphael phodi cleric at protestant church the couple attends testified
that he had reservations about chimbalanga femininity
but he said accepted them as married couple and recognised tiwonge as
dedicated member of the women guild
had my doubts but who was to judge whether he was woman or not he
said
another witness jean kamphale blantyre lodge owner who employed chimbalanga
as cleaner at her lodge said that after the wedding ceremony she forced him
to undress to determine his gender
had to organise women workers and we asked him to undress we were all
shocked to learn that he was man complete with male organs she said
the trial which has attracted widespread interest in this conservative society
where homosexuality is outlawed continues wednesday
alert
alert baseball star mcgwire admits steroid use
rcw pi
briton survives metre mountain plunge
grenoble france jan afp
british mountaineer survived metre plunge from frozen cascade at the
french skiing resort of alpe huez monday after snow cushioned his impact
rescuers said
the newcastle resident whose name was not given slipped and fell about metres
feet before landing on fresh snow breaking his ankle
the snow was about one metre three feet deep and acted like mattress which
absorbed the shock rescuer said
children await trial over sect violence in nigeria
kano nigeria jan afp
eleven children aged between five and were being held at juvenile jail in
northern nigeria monday awaiting trial following sectarian clashes that left
people dead last month police said
as far as we are concerned they are suspects and they will be arraigned before
court of law when the on going judicial strike ends bauchi police commissioner
atiku kafur told afp in telephone interview
he did not give details of the charges they are facing
the red cross said the children were part of displaced when their homes were
destroyed during the year end violence
clashes erupted in bauchi between suspected members of radical islamist sect
known as kala kato and security forces at the end of december
at least people were killed many of them children and minors
houses cars and motorcycles were burnt during the clashes
the kala kato sect rejects modernity including western style education and
medicine it bans television and radio in its members homes and rejects any
literature except the koran
we have internally displaced persons from the december sectarian
unrest comprising children whose fathers were killed in the violence and
their mothers adamu abubakar head of the nigerian red cross in bauchi told
afp
jordanian killed in us drone attack in pakistan websites
dubai jan afp
jordanian who moved to afghanistan in and stayed on to fight us led
forces was killed in us drone attack in pakistan waziristan region jihadist
websites monitored by us based site intelligence said on monday
the al fallujah and shamukh al islam forums announced the martyrdom on january
of mahmud mahdi zeidan whose nome de guerre was mansur al shami site
reported
the martyrdom is confirmed of the mujahed sheikh mahmud mahdi zeidan on the
soil of pakistan the land of the diligent and of the mujahedeen
site did not specify which drone strike the jordanian was killed in
pakistani officials said last week that islamist militants were killed in two
us drone strikes in waziristan of whom four were foreign
zeidan had most recently appeared on january in recording by as sahab
website frequently used by al qaeda giving sermon for the muslim holiday of
eid al adha the us monitoring group said
he also recorded an audio message released by as sahab in august last year
giving advice to mujahedeen
humam khalil abu mulal al balawi the man believed to have killed seven cia
agents and his jordanian handler in suicide attack in eastern afghanistan
earlier this month was also of jordanian origin
mayor aide held in chad embezzlement case
djamena jan afp
police on monday arrested and detained the mayor of chad capital djamena and
one of his aides on suspicion of embezzlement police and municipal officials
told afp
the case against mayor mahamat zene bada and second deputy annour djibrine
hinges on complaint lodged on thursday by the ministry in charge of auditing
government departments police source said on condition of anonymity
an official at city hall confirmed the arrests adding that about dozen
municipal officials had been arrested during inspections carried out by the
ministry since october
suspicion centres on alleged bogus expense claims made through non existant
businesses worth around three billion cfa francs nearly million euros
million dollars the official said
monday arrests came few hours after the start of an extraordinary national
assembly session to decide whether to pursue legal action against three
government ministers and lawmaker named in corruption scandal involving the
purchase of school books
the session was convened at prime minister youssouf saleh abbas request
football jefferies long reign ends at kilmarnock
glasgow jan afp
jim jefferies title as the longest serving scottish premier league manager
currently in charge ended on monday as he saw his eight year stint come to an
end after kilmarnock announced he and assistant billy brown were leaving by
mutual consent
rugby park had been plunged into turmoil in recent days with killie chairman
michael johnston denying allegations he had tried to discuss the year old
jefferies tactics with club captain kevin kyle
kilmarnock said in statement an agreement has been reached among kilmarnock
football club team manager jim jefferies and assistant team manager billy
brown which will allow messrs jefferies and brown to leave the employment of
the club with immediate effect
the agreement was reached by mutual consent
everyone at kilmarnock football club wishes to thank jim and billy for their
eight years of service to the club period which witnessed several top six spl
finishes and the league cup final in
the club will now seek new manager with view to restoring its position in
the top six of the spl and challenging for this year scottish cup
scotland striker kyle alleged last week johnston had discreetly asked him to
discuss jefferies tactics although the forward said doing so would have been
going behind his manager back
however johnston told bbc radio scotland on saturday he had not initiated
conversation on jefferies plans with kyle saying if wanted to talk
tactics discuss it with the manager it was subject raised by kevin
jefferies who has yet to make any public comment on the issue was reportedly
angry with johnston but the chairman said the manager anger was directed at
kyle
but jefferies exit suggested his relationship with johnston had broken down
kilmarnock are currently one place off the bottom of the spl table having won
just one of their last nine games
former falkirk hearts and bradford boss jefferies took charge at killie in
february
he led them to fourth place in his first full season in charge
however recent lack of resources at rugby park had started to tell with the
club finishing second bottom in the season and eighth last term
now kilmarnock are just two points in front of basement club falkirk who they
are due to play in the weather delayed fourth round of the scottish cup on
january
jefferies departure means kilmarnock along with this weekend opponents
motherwell and dundee united who recently saw craig levein leave for the
scotland job are one of three managerless teams in the spl
ireland leader stands aside over wife sex scandal
belfast jan afp
northern ireland embattled leader peter robinson stepped down temporarily on
monday vowing to clear his name over financial allegations linked to his wife
affair with teenager
robinson will stand down for six weeks lawmakers were told as the pressure
finally got to the first minister after calls mounted for him to go over the sex
and politics row
as father and husband need to devote time to deal with family matters
said drawn looking robinson in televised statement his voice breaking
continue to contend have acted ethically and it is particularly painful at
this time of great personal trauma that have to defend myself from an
unfounded and mischievous allegation he added
his defence came shortly after northern ireland assembly speaker william hay
told lawmakers that enterprise minister arlene foster has been asked to be
acting first minister during his absence with immediate effect
only hours earlier robinson democratic unionist party dup had promised
their full support for their leader
and foster making statement which had been expected to be made by robinson
himself voiced confidence that he would return
peter robinson is going to clear his name and have no doubt about that
matter me standing here is very much for temporary period of time said
the year old mother of three
robinson wife iris also top politician last week admitted having an affair
with then year old kirk mccambley and securing pounds
euros dollars from two wealthy developers to help him set up cafe
peter robinson has denied any knowledge of the deal which he would have had to
report to parliamentary authorities but there were calls for him to quit over
the weekend
former first minister and nobel peace laureate david trimble was among those to
say that his position was becoming untenable
the dup power sharing partners sinn fein had tabled an emergency motion
calling for robinson to explain himself before the assembly
robinson year old wife who is expected to quit her seats in the northern
ireland assembly and britain house of commons imminently is receiving what he
described as acute psychiatric treatment in belfast
she previously admitted attempting suicide and suffering severe depression
the scandal is playing out against an already tense backdrop in northern
ireland
power sharing between ex foes the dup and sinn fein was under strain due to
failure to agree on the transfer of policing powers from london to belfast the
last stage of the devolution process
the brutal fact is that we were heading for dangerous political crisis in
northern ireland even before the robinson revelations irish political expert
paul bew wrote in the times newspaper monday
robinson conservative dup which is protestant and wants northern ireland to
remain part of britain has since shared devolved powers from london in an
administration with socialists sinn fein which is catholic and wants the
province to join the republic of ireland
their failure to agree when control of the sensitive issue of policing should be
handed to belfast has fuelled concerns that power sharing could break down
there are also fears of return to sustained violence in northern ireland
where three decades of civil unrest known as the troubles killed at least
people but was largely ended by the good friday agreement
last year two british soldiers and policeman were shot dead in attacks
claimed by dissident republicans
in the latest incident friday catholic police officer was seriously injured
after bomb exploded under his car as he drove to work
chile opens museum honoring dictatorship victims
santiago jan afp
chile on monday opened its museum of memory and human rights honoring victims
who were tortured killed oppressed or disappeared during the year old
dictatorship of general augusto pinochet
the museum in the capital city of santiago was cherished project of
socialist president michelle bachelet who along with her mother was
tortured by the regime and spent years in exile while her father died in one of
pinochet prisons
bachelet father was general and associate of socialist president salvador
allende who was killed during the coup
the square meter square foot museum collects under one roof video
and audio recordings personal items and official documents retracing human and
civil rights violations under pinochet rule when more than people were
killed or went missing another cases of torture were recorded during the
dictatorship
the opening of the museum comes shortly before bachelet ends her four year term
in office she is barred from seeking reelection under the country
constitution
bachelet completes her presidency in march amid sky high public support earned
from policies to bridge chile vast rich poor divide mitigate the worst of the
global economic crisis and help the country navigate the brutal after effects of
authoritarian rule
pinochet military regime overthrew allende in he was voted out of office
in
pinochet died on december at military hospital in santiago at the
age of after evading repeated attempts to bring him to trial
jordan pm defends overseas engagement in war on terror
amman jan afp
jordanian prime minister samir rifai on monday defended his country engagement
overseas in the war against terror saying deadly attacks in the capital
had left the government with no alternative
our war against terrorism is continuing and we are part of the world effort
the official petra news agency quoted rifai as saying less than two weeks after
the death of senior jordanian intelligence official in afghanistan spotlighted
his government role in the us led coalition there
we have to coordinate and exchange information with others we will deploy
wherever it is necessary we will not allow anyone to damage our security the
stability of our country or our children future
we will hunt down our enemy anywhere and we will defend our security whatever
the price
the jordanian premier said that after the december suicide bombings of
luxury hotels in amman the government had drawn up security policy that
prioritised preventive action and operating in the rear bases from which
terrorists are targeting us
he said it was now necessary to act beyond our borders and to make big and
honourable sacrifices to attack the terrorists safe havens and infiltrate
them
the bombings in amman were claimed by al qaeda in iraq then led by emigre
jordanian jihadist abu musab al zarqawi who was later killed in us air
strike
last month jordanian intelligence officer captain ali bin zeid member of the
kingdom royal family was killed in suicide bombing in afghanistan along
with seven us central intelligence agency personnel
he was there with man who jordanian intelligence services believed was their
double agent but who turned on his handlers and killed them
during visit to washington on friday foreign minister nasser judeh openly
acknowledged for the first time that jordan had counterterrorism role in
afghanistan and planned to enhance it
six to meet this week on iran sanctions clinton
travis air base california jan afp
the united states russia china britain france and germany will meet late this
week to discuss sanctions over iran nuclear program us secretary of state
hillary clinton said monday
speaking to reporters on flight to hawaii she said the administration was
contemplating sanctions that would target the tehran leadership political and
commercial base but added no decision had been made
the plus will reconvene in new york at the end of this week and they will
be exploring the kind and degree of sanctions that we should be pursuing
clinton told reporters on her way to hawaii
the plus one are the five permanent veto wielding members of the un security
council plus germany the group that has been reaching out to iran in bid to
force the regime to halt its uranium enrichment
at the end of last year clinton and other senior us officials signaled growing
impatience with iran continued balking at united nations nuclear watchdog
offer to build confidence with the international community
the united states has backed the offer un international atomic energy agency
iaea proposal to ship abroad low grade nuclear fuel so it can be further
enriched and returned to refuel tehran medical research reactor
though not completely closing the door on the engagement policy which president
barack obama has pursued toward iran since taking office last year clinton
elaborated on the kinds of sanctions she thought would be effective
it is clear that there relatively small group of decision makers inside
iran clinton said
they are in both political and commercial relationships and if we can create
sanctions track that targets those who actually make the decisions we think
that is smarter way to do sanctions clinton said
but that is all yet to be decided upon she said
obama gave iran until the end of the year to take up his offer of engagement
but us officials have indicated there was no hard and fast deadline
she appeared to dismiss reports that diplomatic solution was in the works
we get constant flow of feelers from the iranians on approaches that they
might consider clinton said when asked if there indications that the iranians
are more conciliatory
but she gave no sign the us would budge from its position
we support the iaea tehran research reactor proposal the chief us diplomat
said
we think that best represents the international community and the kind of
approach we think is likely to be confidence builder for the rest of the world
concerning iran nuclear program she said
such move would buy breathing room as the big powers try to halt iran
uranium enrichment which the west fears masks drive to build nuclear
bomb
denying the charge iran says it seeks peaceful uses of nuclear energy
it was not immediately clear whether the united states could build the political
support needed to impose another set of sanctions three sets of un sanctions
have already been slapped on the islamic republic
last week china un ambassador zhang yesui said it was too early to
contemplate new sanctions against iran over its refusal to halt sensitive
nuclear fuel work and called for more diplomacy
china and russia have been more reluctant to impose sanctions on iran than the
other four powers
croatia president elect vows new era
zagreb jan afp
croatia newly elected president ivo josipovic pledged monday to make the
country shining star of europe by instilling democratic values as the eu
hailed the classical music composer victory
want european croatia croatia that will be one of the shining stars in
the european sky the soft spoken year old told his supporters early monday
as his victory became clear
this would be not only through eu membership but by values that we stand for
democracy freedom human rights rule of law minority rights and religious
freedom
later on monday foreign minister miguel angel moratinos of spain which holds
the rotating eu presidency hailed the election of the pro european josipovic
and vowed to help zagreb conclude its eu accession negotiations
josipovic won sunday run off election by wide margin taking percent
of the vote final results showed
the left wing law professor ran on promise to fight corruption one of the
conditions for entry into the european bloc which croatia is aiming to achieve
by january
monday papers and analysts hailed josipovic victory as new era for the
former yugoslav republic in which it would leave behind the balkan wars
the historic mission of ivo josipovic as the head of state has been already
determined to lead croatia after some years since independence into new
integration the eu the novi list independent daily said
the country born in war should eventually transform into peacetime
civilised european country it said referring to the war
zagreb has in recent months launched several investigations into alleged graft
at state run firms seen as rife with corruption with more than dozen
officials already detained
josipovic is croatia third president since independence and succeeds stipe
mesic who steps down after serving maximum two five year terms
mesic helped transform croatia into parliamentary democracy after being
an isolated autocracy the legacy of franjo tudjman who led the country with an
iron fist from until his death in
mesic hailed his successor triumph saying that democratic european
croatia and values of europe to which we are aspiring have won
croatia northern neighbour slovenia said it expected josipovic to maintain the
improved relations between the two former yugoslav republics
since declaring independence in ljubljana and zagreb have been unable to
resolve border dispute with slovenia even blocking croatia eu accession
negotiations over the issue
but slovenian prime minister borut pahor and his croatian counterpart jadranka
kosor struck compromise deal in november that unblocked zagreb accession
talks with an arbitration tribunal set up to hammer out solution to the
dispute over small piece of land and sea
serbia to the east also welcomed josipovic election
the future for all peoples and states in the region is in the european union
in which we all should be good neighbours and friends serbian president boris
