michelle hoffman
gabrielle chatelain moor
at least more german troops for afghanistan reports
berlin jan afp
germany is considering sending at least more troops to afghanistan reports
said on monday ahead of crunch conference in london later this week on the
future of the international mission
the rheinische post regional daily said chancellor angela merkel has agreed with
her defence and foreign ministers on the increase together with realignment of
its mission to focus more on training afghan security forces
the frankfurter allgemeine faz daily also said that an increase of this
magnitude was being mooted as well as further reserve of the same size
neither report said where it got the information
spokesman for the defence ministry declined to comment on monday on the
reports the german government has said previously that it would make no
decision on more troops until after thursday conference in london
germany currently has around troops in northern afghanistan the third
biggest contingent behind the united states and britain and is under pressure
from washington to send more to back its surge of more us soldiers
on his way to london afghan president hamid karzai was due to hold talks with
merkel in berlin on tuesday and wednesday
merkel was also due to hammer out common german line for the conference with
talks on monday evening with foreign minister guido westerwelle who is going to
london and with defence minister karl theodor zu guttenberg
berlin participation in the strong international force fighting the
taliban insurgency is unpopular among majority of german voters opinion polls
show
zu guttenberg told the faz in an interview published on monday that he wanted
more training of the afghan security forces to take place outside the safety of
the german bases
until now training has taken place mostly within the camp which we call
mentoring and outside the camp only to limited degree our new focus will
be to show more presence in the field not for fighting but to harmonise afghan
army and police training and protection for the afghan population he said
protecting the population is the main aim and we want to guarantee it together
with the afghan security forces and to enable them to do so this will only
work if you have contact with the people
he said that this didn necessarily mean more danger for german troops
if you stay sitting in camp it is conceivable that you can become more of
target in patrols but mission in afghanistan can never be risk free we have
not been open enough about this either to the public or to the troops
hong kong democrats press votes for all campaign
hong kong jan afp
five pro democracy lawmakers said monday they would push ahead with plan to
resign over at the slow pace of democratic reform in hong kong despite growing
opposition from communist mainland china
the group said they would quit on tuesday in the hope that the by election
would be de facto referendum on universal suffrage in the southern chinese
territory years after it was returned to beijing by britain
only half of hong kong legislature is directly elected while largely pro
china committee effectively selects the remainder and appoints the city
leader
the chinese government has said hong kong chief executive could be directly
elected by and the legislature by but pro democracy lawmakers want
universal suffrage by
beijing issued statement earlier this month expressing grave concern over
the campaign and said the referendum was not in line the basic law which
spells out hong kong political system
meanwhile the liberal party has indicated it would not take part in any by
election after the democrats used the word uprising in campaign advert
implying the use of force to overthrow government
audrey eu leader of the civic party which will have two members giving up
their seats in the member legislature asked opponents not to focus on one
word to distort the campaign
you have to put the word in context ours is sensible peaceful and mild
movement in pursuit for hong kong people dream for democracy she told
press conference
it about ballots not bullets
constitutional reform can only take place with the approval of two thirds of
hong kong legislature meaning the democrats who hold seats are unlikely
to be able to force their agenda on policymakers
but eu said her party would stick to the plan even if other pro beijing
lawmakers follow the lead of the liberal party which is widely seen to be
pressured by the mainland to stay away from any by election
even if beijing is so powerful as to make all these parties drop out it
doesn mean we have failed
wong yuk man chairman of league of social democrats who will resign from his
seat with two other core members of his party long hair leung kwok hung and
albert chan vowed that they would not retreat because of their opponents
verbal attack
wong threatened to launch legal action if pro beijing lawmakers block funding
for the by election
stephen lam the city secretary for mainland and constitutional affairs
appealed to the democrats to drop their plan the south china morning post
reported monday
the two parties should rein in the horse at the edge of the cliff if they
want to push forward hong kong democratic development they can stay on the
legislature and do so
eu probes rio tinto bhp billiton iron ore deal
brussels jan afp
european regulators on monday said they are probing deal to share production
between the world second and third biggest producers of iron ore rio tinto
and bhp billiton
the european commission has opened formal antitrust investigation into anglo
australian mining companies rio tinto and bhp billiton under the eu rules on
restrictive business practices said statement from brussels
concerns in brussels over merger plan abandoned by bhp billiton late that
year have now switched to modified agreement signed on december to
share iron ore assets in western australia leaving the marketing activities of
the companies separate
the commission will in particular examine the effects of the proposed joint
venture on the worldwide market for iron ore transported by sea
iron ore is central to the manufacture of steel on which the automotive and
construction industries as well as many consumer goods are based
brussels insists that the decision to investigate does not imply conclusive
evidence of an infringement but stressed that there is no binding deadline
for the probe outcome
bhp billiton last week posted record iron ore production figures for the second
half of amid rising commodity prices driven largely by chinese demand but
soiled by allegations of industrial espionage
also this month rio tinto beat annual forecasts with record breaking fourth
quarter of iron ore production
eu probes rio tinto bhp billiton iron ore deal
brussels jan afp
european regulators on monday said they are probing deal to share production
between the world second and third biggest producers of iron ore rio tinto
and bhp billiton
the european commission has opened formal antitrust investigation into anglo
australian mining companies rio tinto and bhp billiton under the eu rules on
restrictive business practices said statement from brussels
urgent eu probes rio tinto bhp billiton iron ore deal
brussels jan afp
european regulators on monday said they are probing deal to share production
between the world second and third biggest producers of iron ore rio tinto
and bhp billiton
alert
eu says it is probing rio tinto bhp billiton iron ore deal
karroubi recognises ahmadinejad as iran president son
tehran jan afp
iranian opposition leader mehdi karroubi who had refused to accept the re
election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad now recognises the hardliner as the
country president karroubi son told afp on monday
hossein karroubi quoted his father as saying am still of the same belief
that the election was unhealthy and massively rigged but since the supreme
leader ayatollah ali khamenei endorsed ahmadinejad victory believe that
he is the head of the government meaning he is the president
somalia shebab name market after slain qaeda boss
mogadishu jan afp
somalia shebab islamist rebel group said monday it had renamed market in
their coastal stronghold of barawe after saleh nabhan top al qaeda leader
killed last year in us helicopter raid
barawe is small port located miles kilometres south of mogadishu in
the heart of region controlled by the shebab hardline somali insurgent
group whose leader recently swore allegiance to osama bin laden
the islamic administration in the region decided to name this market after the
great martyred islamic figure who was killed by the enemy of allah on our soil
sheikh mohamed ali top local shebab official told afp
he will be remembered forever he added
there is board with the name of salah nabhan on the front gate of the market
which is traditionally the place where milk is sold local resident abdi gacal
told afp
saleh nabhan kenyan born muslim was killed in us helicopter raid near
barawe in september
he was one of four top al qaeda militants behind the attacks in which an
israeli owned hotel in the kenyan resort of mombasa was bombed and rockets were
fired at an israeli airliner
according to somali and western intelligence sources hundreds of foreign
fighters some of them with ties to al qaeda have flocked to somalia in
recent months and are working with or being sheltered by the shebab
the shebab have since may been engaged in bruising insurgency against the
internationally backed transitional federal government but controls and
administers large swathes of land in central and southern somalia
we have renovated several market places in this region ruined by civil strife
and at least one of them had the fortune of being given the name of our brother
nabhan sheikh mohamed ali said
urgent dalai lama office says envoys to hold talks in china tuesday
dharamshala india jan afp
envoys of the dalai lama tibet exiled spiritual leader will travel to china
on tuesday to re open talks with beijing after gap of months his office
said monday
ethiopian plane crashes off lebanon no sign of survivors
beirut jan afp
an ethiopian airliner carrying people exploded in ball of flames and
plunged into the sea off lebanon just after takeoff in stormy weather early
monday officials and witnesses said
massive international search and rescue operation involving helicopters and
ships was hastily scrambled as president michel sleiman ruled out foul play and
grim faced officials played down hopes of any survivors
lebanese security official said that by noon gmt bodies had been
pulled from the sea including that of child one rescue official told afp
that the bodies recovered were dismembered
debris from the boeing as well as luggage and personal belongings had
started washing up on the lebanese shoreline officials and witnesses said
defence ministry official said the plane exploded into four pieces before
crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt investigators were trying
to determine whether lightning had hit the jet
witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea
one employee of gas station near the site of the crash said he heard an
explosion and saw huge ball of fire as the plane crashed
another witness said it was like the whole sea lit up
transport minister ghazi aridi said ethiopian airlines flight lost contact
with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the
mediterranean sea nautical miles off the coastal town of naameh south of
the airport
the control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly
lost contact for no known reason aridi told reporters
the lebanese army navy as well as the united nations interim force in lebanon
unifil and aircraft from france britain and the united states were assisting
in the rescue officials said
families of the passengers some of them weeping uncontrollably huddled at the
vip lounge of beirut international airport to await news of their loved ones
prime minister saad hariri parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number
of ministers and deputies were at the airport to comfort the families
one woman was sobbing and screaming why why as others fainted and had to be
carried away by red cross volunteers
know they won find him wailed one woman referring to her husband who was
on board the flight
we are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from
this tragedy hariri told reporters we are working to find the black box that
will tell us what really happened on the plane
an afp correspondent saw eight empty airplane seats that had washed up on the
shore just south of the airport soldiers could also be seen on beach
dragging large metal chunks of the plane
sleiman said authorities had ruled out terrorism or sabotage as the cause of the
crash
up until now we have ruled out foul play sleiman told reporters
this is painful tragic event we are sparing no efforts in trying to find
survivors he added
our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of those on board
the ethiopian news agency in addis ababa said ethiopian airlines has sent team
to beirut to investigate the crash
lebanon has been lashed by heavy rains and storms in the past two days that have
caused flooding and damage in some parts of the country
officials listed passengers and seven crew members as having been on board
the flight
the passengers include lebanese ethiopians one french woman one british
national and seven crew members among the lebanese were two children and three
dual nationals
lebanese deputy yassin jaber said of those on board hailed from the
southern town of nabatiyeh
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton the wife of
france ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
many lebanese especially from the south of the country work in africa and
addis ababa is transit point
aridi said he had formed an investigative committee to determine the cause of
the crash and had contacted nearby countries to assist in the search and rescue
effort
hariri declared monday national day of mourning as parliament cancelled
scheduled legislative session and schools shut down early
the boeing which entered into commercial service in is one of the
latest versions of the world most widely used short to medium haul airliners
and is capable of carrying up to passengers
taiwan whisky beats scotch in blind taste test report
london jan afp
taiwanese whisky beat trio of top scottish blends in connoisseurs blind
taste test organised to mark scotland annual burn night festivities the
times reported monday
the taiwan distilled kavalan brand described as far eastern incomer came
top in test against three scottish and one english whisky in historic
hostelry in leith north of edinburgh said the paper
oh my god author and whisky connoisseur charles maclean told the paper when
the unexpected result was confirmed
the newspaper organised the test itself in what it called piece of mischief
making inspired by the launch of an english whisky st george last
november
its hope was to catch the experts out with the tipple from scotland
traditional sassenach english rivals but to their surprise it was the asian
whisky which came up trumps
it tropical fruits tropical fruit jam said maclean chairman of the panel
after kavalan which is not marketed in britain came out top with
points out of possible maximum
langs three year old scottish premium blend scored points followed by
king robert also from north of the border on and the english three
year old malt on
last came quadruple distilled scottish blend bruichladdich on only
points described by maclean as not cooking oil not diesel oil sewing machine
oil
in commentary the times noted asians are not only some of the world most
sophisticated consumers of scotch but have begun distilling malts that compete
with the best scottish distilleries
burns night named after th century poet robert rabbie burns competes with
st andrew day as focus for traditionally whisky fueled celebrations in
scotland and by scots around the world
southeast asian nations launch new tourism offensive
bandar seri begawan jan afp
the member association of southeast asian nations asean on monday rolled
out new tourism campaign with the slogan southeast asia feel the warmth
the campaign will target visitors from asian markets such as australia and
india as well as further afield in britain hong kong and north america the
asean tourism association said in statement
the campaign launched at an industry forum in brunei on monday is focused on
new promotional website southeastasia org
pehin yahya brunei minister of industry and primary resources told delegates
that the region offers tremendous opportunities to visitors including
ecotourism and culinary experiences
asean tourism association chairman felix cruz said the initiative will
promote travel to multiple destinations in southeast asia and could be tool
to fight poverty for its poorer members
asean consists of brunei cambodia indonesia laos malaysia myanmar
philippines singapore thailand and vietnam
the un world tourism organisation said last week that international tourist
arrivals should increase to percent in after difficult year
international tourist arrivals fell by an estimated percent in it said
in its world tourism barometer
football mozambique not firing coach official says
maputo jan afp
the head coach of mozambique national team is not being fired top football
official said monday backtracking from statements made last week by the head of
the national federation
mozambican football federation boss feizal sidat had spoken in the heat of the
moment when he told reporters that mart nooij contract would not be renewed
after mozambique elimination wednesday from the africa cup of nations said
antonio chambal the federation vice president for national teams
there no firing of the coach here chambal told afp
there process of negotiation that in progress
chambal said nooij and his agent are scheduled to meet monday with the
federation board to discuss proposed renewal of the coach contract which
expires january
chambal said nooij had achieved the objectives of his current contract which
included qualifying for the nations cup football officials have sent the coach
draft renewal contract even before the nations cup began he added
he achieved mozambique objectives for the nations cup we are satisfied with
the mozambican team performance chambal said
nooij who has coached mozambique since led the team to its first nations
cup appearance in years this year
but the mambas failed to win any games in their group matches in angola
taking only one point in draw with benin
after the team elimination in loss to nigeria sidat told reporters we
aren going to renew our contract with nooij adding that the results
haven corresponded to the expectations
but sidat backtracked on the statements after returning to mozambique telling
independent newspaper pais didn say we were going to interrupt the
negotiations
what said and it fact is that anywhere in the world when team
doesn win it has to undergo changes
chambal said sidat had exploded when he made his earlier statement to
reporters
maybe because he was seeing the negative results of the team and in the heat
of the moment he reacted hotly without reflection and without consulting his
colleagues on the board chambal said
mozambique lost and he exploded and said that
tennis federer masters hewitt in straight sets
melbourne jan afp
swiss top seed roger federer outclassed australian nd seed lleyton hewitt in
straight sets on monday to reach the quarter finals of the
australian open where he will play russian nikolay davydenko
urgent karroubi recognises ahmadinejad as iran president son
tehran jan afp
iranian opposition leader mehdi karroubi who had refused to accept the re
election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad now recognises the hardliner as the
country president karroubi son told afp on monday
alert
dalai lama office says envoys to hold talks in china tuesday
taiwan opposition says pandas waste of money
taipei jan afp
two pandas donated to taiwan by china have failed to attract the expected number
of visitors to taipei zoo anti beijing opposition politicians said monday
calling them waste of money
the taipei city government had forecast six million visitors in but the
actual number was little more than half that
since the pandas have failed to attract visitors it hard to see why we
should set aside such high budget for them said an official with the
opposition democratic progress party who declined to be named
it not obvious why they should get more money than the koalas or the
penguins
the zoo budgeted million taiwan dollars million us for the pandas
from their arrival from china in december to the end of
beijing sent over the pandas as sign of goodwill amid warming ties between
taiwan and china
german rebound boosts eurozone industrial orders eu
brussels jan afp
new industrial orders shot up by percent in november across the countries
that share the euro thanks to german rebound massively revised figures
showed on monday
the european union originally issued figure of percent on friday but
published new numbers on monday after corrected german data was received
underlining huge turnaround from october percent fall also upwardly
revised
the even healthier than previously reported pick up bodes well for
production in the near term at least and gives welcome boost to eurozone
growth prospects for the first quarter of said ihs global insight analyst
howard archer
as such it may modestly dilute concerns that the eurozone recovery from deep
recession could be already struggling for momentum
the amended eurostat data also showed that factory orders in the eurozone were
down just percent as against the percent originally announced
compared to one year earlier
in the nation eu as whole industrial orders followed similar course
rising by percent in november from october the increase was originally
pegged at percent but falling by percent instead of percent over
months
among the member states for which data was available orders rose in
during november two more than initially thought with greece notably
posting percent increase
on an annual basis countries saw reduced orders with ireland recording the
largest drop at percent
archer underlined that the euro retreat from late november month high of
dollars it is currently trading at around dollars is offering
further respite
alert
opposition leader karroubi recognises ahmadinejad as iran president
tennis tsonga sets up aussie final replay
melbourne jan afp
tenth seed jo wilfried tsonga set up replay of the australian open final
on monday when he held his nerve to take out thrilling five setter against
nicolas almagro
the frenchman emerged from the titanic fourth round battle
winner and will next play third seeded serbian novak djokovic who
beat him in final two years ago
while tsonga struggled djokovic booked his place in the quarter final with an
easy romp against poland unseeded lukasz kubot
provided he can recover in time for wednesday clash tsonga will go into the
match with the edge having won won four of their five clashes since their
meeting here
he welcomed the challenge
beat him four times think since that moment he said so have learned
to beat him don have any fears
have to recover and will be ready for that against him have to say stay
aggressive very aggressive and give everything
the match against almagro was the first five setter of tsonga career amd
although he won the first two sets and hit winners to he could not shake
off the spaniard
almagro clearly looked more solid in the last set and had three break points on
the tsonga serve
had he been able to convert any of them he would surely have been playing
djokovic in the next round
however when the frenchman got his lone chance he grabbed it with both hands to
snatch the win big forehand forcing almagro so wide he could only net the
return
tsonga complimented almagro on the way he played after the first two sets
after the first two sets missed some chances and he began to believe in
himself he said
he played just unbelievable and it was just tough to play against him because
he hit the ball very hard
malaysian court overturns ban on islam book
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian court on monday overturned government ban on book about islam
in decision hailed as landmark for freedom of speech
the book muslim women and the challenges of islamic extremism published by
pressure group sisters in islam was banned in after complaints it could
confuse the muslim community and cause public disorder
high court judge mohamad ariff md yusof said that the reaction to the seven
disputed pages of the page book was wholly disproportionate to the concerns
expressed
the book itself was in circulation in malaysia for two years before the home
minister decided to ban the book he said
to conclude it creates public order issue is something that cannot stand
objective scrutiny to that extent an error of law is established on facts
the book editor noraini othman applauded the decision saying she was
overjoyed and that the book would in no way threaten public order or lead
muslims to question their faith
it an excellent judgement it marks new day for malaysia in terms of
academic freedom freedom of speech she told reporters
it is very serious academic book which deal with the implementation of
certain aspect of islamic family law the implementation of certain provisions
in the sharia criminal law and how it affects women
the government lawyer declined to comment on the ruling
religion is sensitive issue in multiracial malaysia which experienced deadly
race riots in
about percent of the country million population are muslims and the
minority ethnic chinese and indian communities have raised concern that creeping
islamisation is causing their rights to be eroded
attackers fire shots at islamist leader oslo home police
oslo jan afp
unidentified attackers fired shots overnight at the oslo apartment of mullah
krekar the founder of radical iraqi kurdish islamist group ansar al islam
norwegian police said on monday
one person krekar son in law year old british national was injured in
the attack when bullet hit him in the hand
the person in question was hospitalised but he does not appear to be seriously
wounded police said in statement
krekar has lived in norway for nearly years he and four other people
were in the fourth floor apartment when the attack occurred
investigators said they had no leads
police have opened an inquiry but no arrests have been made yet the
statement said
two people were seen leaving the scene after the shooting but it is too early
to say whether they are linked to the incident it said
police were alerted to the attack at am gmt which took place in
working class neighbourhood of eastern oslo where krekar has lived with his
family since
the whole family is shaken krekar lawyer brynjar meling told television
news station tv nyhetskanalen
in the past there were threats from nationalist circles that could be related
to his activities in northern iraq he said
krekar whose real name is fateh najmeddin faraj admits that he co founded
ansar al islam in but insists he has not headed it since may
he and the group figure on united nations and us lists of terrorist groups or
individuals
according to the bush administration ansar al islam served as link between
ex iraqi leader saddam hussein and al qaeda disputed claim partly used to
justify the us led invasion of iraq in
neighbour of krekar told afp he heard three shots fired at the apartment
lots of police arrived quickly and took the entire family away under heavy
security he said
krekar has been living under risk of deportation since after norwegian
authorities ordered him expelled claiming he posed threat to national
security
while norway court system has upheld the ruling norwegian law however
prevents him from being deported to iraq where he risks the death penalty
krekar has often supported the insurgency in iraq comparing the us occupation
of the country to the nazi occupation and has also described al qaeda chief
osama bin laden as good muslim
ethiopian airlines an expanding african carrier
nairobi jan afp
ethiopian airlines whose jet crashed on monday after takeoff from beirut is
one of africa fastest growing airlines and has had good safety record for
more than decade
