the us envoy later met israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for talks that
focused on jump starting the peace process with the palestinians and regional
security threats an israeli government statement said
jones did not speak to reporters during the regional tour which has also taken
him to saudi arabia and comes after months of us led peace efforts
obama has been struggling to get the two sides back to the negotiating table
since he assumed office nearly year ago but has thus far failed to get israel
to completely halt settlements or secure arab concessions to the jewish state
the palestinians have said they will not resume talks suspended year ago
during israel war on hamas in gaza until israel halts all settlement
building in the occupied territories
israel has enacted month moratorium on new settlement projects but has
excluded mostly arab east jerusalem public buildings and projects already under
way the palestinians have rejected the move as insufficient
urgent eu aid ministers to hold emergency talks on haiti
brussels jan afp
european development ministers will hold an emergency meeting on monday to
discuss how best to help quake stricken haiti eu foreign policy chief catherine
ashton announced on thursday
britain ireland eye progress in ireland crisis
london jan afp
british and irish leaders gordon brown and brian cowen voiced confidence
thursday that northern ireland can overcome political crisis threatening the
power sharing government in belfast
speaking after talks in london they noted that when they last met in december
they agreed that an accord on transferring police and justice powers from london
to belfast was both realistic and achievable
despite the turbulent events of recent days we remain firmly of that view
they said following the talks two days after northern ireland leader peter
robinson stepped aside after sex and cash scandal involving his wife
we welcome the engagement that is taking place between parties and are
available if required to help bring these discussions to successful
conclusion they added in joint statement
robinson is facing questions over whether he knew his wife obtained
pounds euros dollars from two developers to help her then
year old lover kirk mccambley to set up cafe in belfast he denies it
iris robinson who is currently receiving psychiatric treatment in belfast
formally quit as lawmaker for the couple democratic unionist party dup
wednesday
speaking to reporters after their talks in downing street brown said some
people have also wondered whether the recent turbulence in politics in northern
ireland will slow progress
let there be no mistake intensive work is continuing towards the completion of
the devolution of policing and justice
brown added that he and cowen stood ready to do whatever is needed to secure
this
don contemplate failure in any discussions involved in he said
cowen said there was very constructive engagement between the parties in
northern ireland
in belfast party leaders continue with negotiations on when policing and
justice powers should be transferred from london to belfast the final piece in
the devolution jigsaw
failure by the dup and sinn fein ex foes turned partners in power sharing
devolved government to resolve the sensitive issue has raised questions about
whether their administration could survive even before the robinson scandal
the british and irish governments which helped broker the good friday
agreement which largely ended northern ireland years of civil unrest
argue the recent crisis could focus minds on resolving it
it is thought that the issue of how to deal with parades by the strongly
protestant orange order frequent flashpoint in the past is key sticking
point
despite standing aside to attend to his family issues robinson has pledged to
remain in charge of dup negotiations on policing
first us troops heading to haiti army
washington jan afp
the first members of brigade of us troops will begin arriving in haiti
thursday us army spokesman told afp as the military mobilized to help
victims of devastating earthquake
company of about soldiers from the strong brigade are expected some
time this evening in haiti gary tallman said
they will provide humanitarian assistance and relief and security as required
he said
the soldiers were coming from the nd brigade of the nd airborne division at
fort bragg north carolina
things are in motion he said we re getting folks there as fast as we can to
provide humanitarian assistance
the military had also ordered an aircraft carrier to haiti along with destroyers
and smaller vessels as part of major operation to bolster relief efforts after
tuesday massive quake
football nigeria everton striker yakubu hits out at cup critics
benguela angola jan afp
everton striker yakubu aiyegbeni has lashed out at critics who have questioned
his place in the nigeria team at the africa cup of nations
yakubu rounded on his detractors after nigeria opening defeat to egypt
insisting that the entire team did not play well in tuesday group opener
here
have always given my best to nigeria am one of the best strikers in the
country and my record is there for all to see said yakubu who was sidelined
for most of last year with an achilles tendon injury
but when you have four five defensive midfielders in the team who can get
the ball over to the strikers what can you do we do not have austin jay
jay okocha or sunday oliseh
we have been struggling in most of our games because we do not have creative
midfielder which is not the case for instance at my club where there are
players who can create openings for the strikers
it has been really very difficult for us and even the best strikers in the
world would struggle in such team
there have been suggestions that he is higher on the pecking order of other
strikers as result of his closeness to coach shuaibu amodu
we all want to play coach and so everyone wants to pick the team he
countered
but it is there for everybody to see that have also enjoyed good run with
the coaches before amodu simply because good enough to be in the team
the everton forward said despite the team shortcomings he was confident the
eagles will now put behind them the reversal they suffered at the hands of
the defending champions by beating benin this weekend
obviously we were all very disappointed to have lost that game
we started well in the first minutes but as soon as they drew level we
failed to defend well and eventually lost to better team
we now have to focus on the next game go out there and give our best to beat
benin
tuesday loss has also placed question mark over amodu future and an early
nations cup exit could see him being replaced in time for the world cup
alert
eu development ministers to meet monday on haiti crisis ashton
spain calls for coordinated eu aid for haiti
vienna jan afp
spain which currently holds the rotating eu presidency on thursday called on
the bloc member states to coordinate relief for survivors of haiti deadly
earthquke
we must first coordinate relief measures with the european commission and the
eu president whom ll be talking to this afternoon spanish premier jose luis
rodriguez zapatero said on visit to the austrian capital
we ve determined the most urgent measures with the president of the european
commission and the spanish foreign ministry is coordinating with the eu
foreign policy representative zapatero said
with the different development ministries we aim to draw up an aid plan that
is as structured as possible
the spanish leader did not rule out sending european military aid if it is
necessary and makes sense
team from the spanish army was already in haiti to evaluate the situation
spain sent fourth plane of aid thursday to the island which was hit tuesday by
magnitude quake the strongest in more than century and fifth is
standing by to take off zapatero said
six hanged in sudan for deadly riots
khartoum jan afp
six people were hanged in sudan capital on thursday for their role in deadly
clashes in between police and residents of camp for the displaced the
official news agency suna reported
the clashes broke out in may few months after the end of sudan north
south civil war as authorities tried to forcibly evacuate the soba aradi camp
in khartoum suburb that housed people who had fled the conflict
thirty civilians and members of the security forces were killed most of
those arrested after the violence were acquitted but six people were sentenced
to death
suna said the six were executed in kober prison in northern khartoum after the
appeal process was finally exhausted
five years after the two decade long war which cost an estimated two million
lives soba aradi is no longer considered camp for the displaced but an
impoverished suburb that is home to thousands of people from around sudan
football buffon ready for quick comeback
rome jan afp
italy number one gianluigi buffon on thursday claimed he is ready to reclaim the
juventus goalkeeping jersey following knee operation
buffon has missed juve last three league matches as well as wednesday
victory over napoli in the coppa italia
his absence has coincided with dip in form that has seen juve slip to
points behind league leaders inter milan and during which time they lost at
home to ac milan
after month out due to my knee operation ready to return buffon told
his own official website
all the post op phases have gone as well as possible ve not had any problems
and have been able to concentrate fully on my recuperation
hence expect to be back between the sticks in verona on sunday against
chievo
the win over napoli in the cup served to remount our morale but we all know
that not enough to bring some consistency to our results
juve may have beaten napoli who came into the game on match unbeaten run
but the southerners who knew that next up in the cup would be inter rested
most of their top players showing they are clearly concentrating their efforts
this season on securing top four finish
juve nonetheless came into the game with six defeats in their previous eight
matches
the situation does not favour us from now on we have to give our all every
time we take to the pitch with the same effort we saw wednesday and we have
to stop looking at the table added buffon
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on thursday
us finance economy banks obama
washington us president barack obama will unveil fee on top financial
firms that each hold at least billion dollars in assets in an effort to
recoup billions of taxpayer dollars used to bail out the industry
us economy retail sales
washington us retail sales unexpectedly fell in december government data
showed in disappointing reading on the key holiday shopping season
us economy unemployment
washington new claims for jobless insurance benefits in the united states rose
for the second consecutive week amid persistent labor market concerns even as
the economy recovers from recession official figures showed
ecb eurozone greece trichet
frankfurt european central bank president jean claude trichet said talk of
greece being expelled from the nation eurozone because of its fiscal problems
was an absurd hypothesis
greece eu finance economy
athens greece unveiled blueprint for spending cuts aimed at solving debt
crisis that has shaken the eurozone as the government prepares to present the
plan to the european commission
germany greece eurozone budget economy
berlin german chancellor angela merkel believes the euro faces very
difficult phase with greece budget crisis putting the eurozone under huge
huge pressures
ecb eurozone bank rate forex money decide
frankfurt the european central bank kept its main interest rate steady at
record low of percent
eu eurozone economy industry output
brussels factory output across europe core euro currency zone rose by sharp
percent in november suggesting recovery momentum may be turning after
slew of doubts
us china it internet google
beijing china declared its internet open but defended censorship that has
prompted web giant google to threaten to pull out of the country adding
potential new irritant in china us relations
us china it internet google business amcham
beijing us companies in china are worried about the security of commercial
correspondence business group said after internet giant google said china
based cyberspies had attacked their systems
asean china indonesia trade
danang vietnam new regional trade pact with china is on track the asean
secretary general and jakarta foreign minister said despite concerns from some
indonesian businesses about increased competition
india economy inflation
new delhi india wholesale inflation rose sharply in december data showed
bolstering market expectations of monetary tightening by the central bank when
it meets later this month
eu trade economy china forex
beijing china offered fresh defence of its forex policy saying stable yuan
was vital for the world after the incoming eu trade chief said beijing
deliberately undervalued the currency
fiat workers plan general strike
milan jan afp
unions representing fiat workers in italy voted thursday to stage four hour
nationwide strike on february in the latest protest over the company
decision to shut down factory in sicily
union official told afp that the fiom fim uilm and fismic unions had
approved plans for fiat workers to lay down tools next month
we refuse to allow the closure of the factory uilm eros panicali said
hundreds out of the approximately staff at the termini imerese factory in
sicily the factory threatened with closure were already on strike this
week
fiat chief executive sergio marchionne announced the closure last june to cut
costs
ecb chief trichet calls greek quitting eurozone absurd hypothesis
frankfurt jan afp
european central bank president jean claude trichet on thursday dismissed
financial market speculation that greece might quit or be expelled from the
nation eurozone as an absurd hypothesis
asked about persistent questions in the markets that debt crises could lead to
the expulsion or resignation of greece and possibly other countries from the
eurozone trichet replied do not comment myself on absurd hypotheses
trichet speaking following meeting of ecb policymakers added that being
said there is lot of hard work to do
we have special message for all members of the euro area it is also very
important that some of them which have special difficulty it is for their
their own prosperity for their own recovery that they have to address the
situation in taking the appropriate bold and courageous measures
greece has come under mounting pressure from its eurozone partners to rein in
huge debt and deficits that are threatening to undermine its credibility on
financial markets
wall street whipsawed by weak retail data
new york jan afp
wall street slipped in opening trade thursday as the market was surprised by
weak report on us retail sales that cast further doubts on the strength of the
economic recovery
the dow jones industrial average fell points percent to in
the first trades pulling back from month closing high on wednesday for the
blue chip index
the nasdaq composite was essentially flat losing fractional point to
while the broad market standard amp poor index shed
points percent to
pre market action had suggested higher opening until the news that us retail
sales fell unexpectedly by percent in december poor sign for the critical
holiday shopping season
the report stunned analysts expecting gain of percent in sales the key
driver of us economic activity
some said the report was not as bad as it appeared because sales for october and
november were revised upward but the report capped year in which retail sales
plunged percent the steepest annual plunge since the data series began in
the uneven nature of the retail sales results provides sobering reminder that
the economic recovery isn on truly sound footing given the weakened state of
the labor market said patrick hare at briefing com
ecb chief trichet calls greek quitting eurozone absurd hypothesis
frankfurt jan afp
european central bank president jean claude trichet on thursday dismissed
financial market speculation that greece might quit or be expelled from the
nation eurozone as an absurd hypothesis
asked about persistent questions in the markets that debt crises could lead to
the expulsion or resignation of greece and possibly other countries from the
eurozone trichet replied do not comment myself on absurd hypotheses
trichet speaking following meeting of ecb policymakers added that being
said there is lot of hard work to do
we have special message for all members of the euro area it is also very
important that some of them which have special difficulty it is for their
their own prosperity for their own recovery that they have to address the
situation in taking the appropriate bold and courageous measures
greece has come under mounting pressure from its eurozone partners to rein in
huge debt and deficits that are threatening to undermine its credibility on
financial markets
israel spat raises questions on turkey orientation
ankara jan afp
the latest spat between israel and turkey has furthered poisoned ties between
the estranged allies and raises new questions over whether ankara is drifting
away from the west and towards its middle eastern neighbours
turkey was infuriated over israeli deputy foreign minister danny ayalon public
dressing down of its ambassador over turkish television series and threatened
to withdraw the envoy unless it received formal apology
bowing to the ultimatum ayalon sent letter of apology late wednesday and
prime minister benjamin netanyahu expressed hope the two allies would now put
the crisis behind them ahead of visit sunday by israeli defence minister ehud
barak to ankara
but analysts here say the row will cast lasting shadow on the relationship
between the two countries which flourished under military deal but
nosedived amid ankara harsh criticism of israel gaza war last year
even though israel has apologised to turkey one should not expect this
incident not to have an impact on bilateral ties it is not difficult to
guess that it will become more difficult to conduct relations with israel
columnist sedat ergin wrote in the mass circulation hurriyet daily
israel apology may lead turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan to feel
more justified in his almost daily criticism of israel and adopt tougher line
he said
the dominant view in ankara is that israel needs us more than before israel
cannot risk losing us ergin wrote
at the root of turkey self confidence is its improving ties with middle
eastern countries as result of the islamist rooted government active search
for soft power in the region
turkey predominantly muslim nation is run by strictly secular system and
has for years put the west at the centre of its foreign policy obtaining nato
membership in and seeking to join the european union since the
in less than year erdogan and turkish president gul went to syria three times
and held talks with the leaders of jordan egypt libya and iran signing raft
of agreements on boosting cooperation and lifting visas
when receiving lebanese prime minister saad hariri on monday erdogan again
lashed out at israel questinoning its gaza policy and criticizing its suspected
nuclear arms
is the israeli government in favour of peace or not gaza was bombed again
yesterday why there were no rocket attacks he said
the chill in ties with israel and increased contacts with countries viewed with
suspicion by the west has led many to question whether turkey is deviating from
is decades old pro western policy
it is charge that ankara rejects saying that it remains committed to its bid
to join the european union despite the slow pace of accession negotiations and
european opposition to its aspirations
if israeli policy turns towards policy of peace orientation next day the
turkish israeli relations will change in positive direction foreign minister
ahmet davutoglu told reporters in london on tuesday
cengiz aktar political analyst diagrees
in this incident with israel the government is trying to depart from the
heritage of the military policy followed since but it often falls into
excess in an anti semitic rhetoric he said
among the reasons for ankara attitude were populism electioneering and
fatigue towards europe aktar explained
some analysts on the other hand see turkey increased contacts with the
middle east as an innocent effort to raise its regional profile and brush aside
the risk of ankara deviating from the west
turkey cannot forget the west and it is wrong to think that turkey is moving
away from the west seyfi tashan from bilkent university said turkey is
only trying to advantage of geopolitical situation
up to two million kids at risk in haiti charity warns
washington jan afp
up to two million children may be at risk after the devastating haiti quake
british based charity warned thursday fearing many traumatized injured
youngsters were coping alone in the tragedy
this is an unbelievably traumatic experience for children in haiti said
gareth owen director of emergencies for the british based global charity save
the children
we believe up to two million could be affected and the emotional damage of
what they re going through could last their entire lives
the charity said it was particularly concerned at reports that children were
sleeping among dead bodies and that many had been separated from their families
as the quake hit tuesday afternoon while they were at school
children are petrified and in danger many will have been orphaned or be badly
injured themselves and in urgent need of medical help owen said
thousands more will have lost all contact with their families and friends and
are now struggling to survive alone in the rubble
chavez suspends power cuts in caracas
caracas jan afp
venezuelan president hugo chavez has ordered the suspension of power blackouts
in the capital saying they were having undesirable effects on an angry and
confused population
chavez also called for the resignation of his newly appointed energy minister
angel rodriguez
the government announced sweeping power cuts tuesday across wide swathes of
caracas as well as the whole country amid drought driven energy crisis
have noticed that there have been undesirable effects from the planned cuts
announced yesterday tuesday chavez told state television vtv in comments
aired early thursday
want to tell the people that only in caracas have ordered suspension to
the power cuts the leftist president said adding that he had made his
decision shortly before one of the cuts was to begin at midnight wednesday
the government must be able to recognize and correct errors in time
mistakes have been made on technical level poor decisions have been made and
therefore assume responsibility
the power cuts would continue as planned throughout the rest of the country
venezuelans who already face water supply cuts that can last up to hours
week reacted with anger and confusion wednesday as the government power
saving campaign kicked in
in the capital thriving central la candelaria neighborhood homeowners and
shopkeepers alike threw up their hands in frustration at the cuts
we don know anything nobody knows anything if they turn off the
electricity we ll have to close nothing will be sold and things will go bad
family grocery owner irene de freitas told afp
in caracas power cuts were to take place on alternate days in specific sectors
at certain times the head of state run electricidad de caracas said tuesday
the rest of the country still faces power cuts that could last until the start
of the rainy season in may
there was confusion as to when and where the power cuts would start
rather have it at night because if it happens during the day it would hurt
us lot said jorge costa who runs an arepa cornbread stand that was full
of customers wednesday
in an office building nearby security guards had told workers on all nine
floors that the elevators and faucets would stop working at midday the start of
an announced four hour power cut
in the upscale chacao neighborhood people got together and improvised human
traffic light system to keep traffic flowing during the power cuts
venezuela is flush with oil the country chief export and natural gas but
meets domestic energy demand with electricity generated by its massive guri dam
hydroelectric complex on the orinoco river which supplies percent of the
nation power needs
but with drought affecting large swathes of latin america water levels at the
guri dam have dropped to critical nine meters feet below normal and are
still falling at rate of centimeters four inches daily experts said
the government blames the drought on the cyclical el nino climate pattern
for weeks the chavez government has implemented plan to reduce power
consumption in bid to cut percent of current energy use
it includes tax measures to promote individual commercial and public energy
savings and controversial reduction of shopping hours
as part of the energy savings measures launched on january venezuelan
aluminum and steel companies implemented production line cuts to reduce their
consumption by megawatts per day
just hours before reversing his caracas order chavez fielded public complaints
over the new measures
it hasn rained neither chavez nor the government is to blame it just hasn
rained he said in televised speech
now it the rich and middle class who get angry and what do they want do you
want only the poor to be rationed that how it was before chavez said
calling on everybody to accept the electricity cuts they are necessary
just like when you re fat and you ve got to go on diet and exercise
the power cuts compound daily woes for venezuelans that already include other
cost cutting measures ranging from water rationing to major devaluation of the
bolivar
urgent up to two million kids at risk in haiti charity warns
washington jan afp
up to two million children may be at risk after the devastating haiti quake
british based charity warned thursday fearing many traumatized injured
youngsters were coping alone in the tragedy
france to beef up haiti aid
paris jan afp
president nicolas sarkozy called an emergency meeting thursday to intensify
french rescue efforts in haiti after massive earthquake devastated the
caribbean nation
france has flown rescuers sniffer dogs and tonnes of aid and rescue material
to help survivors in haiti where prime minister jean max bellerive has said the
death toll from tuesday quake may be as high as
this meeting is aimed at assessing the situation following the terrible
earthquake and to intensify the already remarkable mobilisation of the french
authorities to save lives help the local population and french expatriates on
the ground the presidency said in statement
the meeting will also touch on reconstruction efforts after haiti most
immediate needs are met it said
sarkozy will meet with prime minister francois fillon and four other top
ministers and was due to issue statement after the meeting at gmt
fillon said france would on thursday send another military plane loaded with
rescue personnel and five tonnes of supplies and equipment from the french
caribbean island of guadeloupe
the paris based emergency architects aid group said it was rushing team of
five architects and engineers to port au prince to secure damaged buildings and
to help prevent any more buildings from collapsing
our priority will be to make safe public buildings such as hospitals health
centres and schools said patrick coulombel founder of the group set up in
to bring technical help to catastrophe victims across the world
tuesday magnitude quake was the strongest to hit haiti in more than
century
cooperation minister alain joyandet who is responsible for french foreign aid
was thursday preparing to leave for haiti
us missile strike targets pakistan taliban chief officials
peshawar pakistan jan afp
us drone missile strike thursday targeted pakistani taliban leader hakimullah
mehsud officials said but the militia denied reports that he was among
killed in the lawless northwest
at least four missiles from unmanned drones pounded militant training camp in
the morning along the remote and mountainous border area between taliban
strongholds north and south waziristan officials said
both districts border afghanistan and us officials say pakistan tribal belt
is the most dangerous region in the world and have been hammering it with
missile strikes to try to eliminate top al qaeda and taliban leaders
security officials said they were looking into reports that hakimullah mehsud
was present at the time of the attack but spokesman for the tehreek taliban
pakistan ttp group he leads said he had escaped
hakimullah mehsud was present at the same place in shaktoi where the drone
attack took place the spokesman azam tariq told afp by telephone
but he had left the area already when the drone attack took place he is alive
and completely safe
tariq did not say when mehsud left the area which pakistan security officials
described as very remote and under militant control making it difficult for
authorities to confirm if the warlord was dead
the target of this drone strike was hakimullah an intelligence official in
north waziristan main city of miranshah told afp
he was present at this place for quite some time we are not sure whether he
was killed or survived we are investigating it
other security and intelligence officials in the area confirmed he was the
