washington jan afp
the banker father of the young nigerian suspected of trying to blow up us
bound jet on christmas day with bomb sewn into his briefs has been asked to
testify before the us congress committee said monday
mr mutallab who identified his own son as an extremist and threat to the
united states has an important story to tell and the committe would like to
hear from him said frederick jones spokesman for the senate foreign relations
committee
congress is wrestling with the specific questions of the christmas day bombing
plot and the broader questions of how yemen has become touchstone for
radicalization added jones
the impoverished country long standing experience with extremism has drawn
close attention since an al qaeda branch claimed responsibility for the
narrowly averted christmas day bombing on the detroit bound jet
the committee led by senator john kerry had not yet heard from the suspect
father on any potential appearance as of monday the spokesman said
but source in nigeria speaking on condition or anonymity said mutallab
prominent banker intends to honor the invitation to appear on january
in october or november alhaji umaru mutallab the father of the nigerian
accused of trying to blow up northwest flight approached us embassy
officials in abuja and told them he was worried his son had become radicalized
by extremists in yemen officials have said
his son name umar farouk abdulmutallab was passed on to intelligence
agencies including the national counterterrorism center and entered into
vast data base of individuals with suspected links to militants or terrorist
groups officials have said
but as the father apparently gave no indication that his son planned an attack
us authorities did not add abdulmutallab name to higher level terrror watch
list or to the no fly list designed to prevent suspected terrorists from
boarding aircraft
moreover state department officials remained unaware that abdulmutallab had
valid us visa due to misspelling of his name and therefore did not review his
visa status
vw posts record sales amid tough year for auto industry
frankfurt jan afp
volkswagen the biggest european car maker on monday reported record results in
despite difficult year for the auto industry as it pursues japanese
rival toyotoa for the title of world number one
vw said it sold million vehicles an increase of percent from the
figure and garnered percent of the global market up from percent
year earlier
the global market contracted meanwhile by more than six percent the group said
in statement
it added that market share should be even stronger as it works to overtake
toyota by as the biggest car maker in the world
toyota has not yet posted results for
vw vice president christian klingler was quoted as warning however that
would be another challenging year
there are no signs of sustained recovery on the global automotive market
klingler said though he added that two markets where vw has strong presence
should improve
emerging markets such as china and brazil will however show an upward trend
he said
among the german group brands the vw nameplate reported percent
increase to million vehicles last year while its high end unit audi posted
separately drop of percent to
that was nonetheless better than fall of percent by rival bmw which said
it had delivered million cars owing to weaker consumer confidence and
tighter credit markets
vw benefitted from car scrapping premiums worldwide in as buyers focused
on smaller less expensive autos to make the most of state subsidised windfalls
in china now vw biggest market sales soared by percent to million
units while the broader asia pacific region posted gain of percent to
million vehicles
makers of luxury cars said their results had begun to pick up towards the end of
the year and bmw sales chief ian robertson told reporters at the detroit car
show that sales were expected to rise in the single digit percentage range in
audi exceeded its sales target and said it aimed to deliver more than one
million autos this year
on friday daimler said its sales had dropped by percent to almost
million mercedes benz smart city cars and other autos
volkswagen preference shares showed gain of percent to euros in
late frankfurt trading while the dax index of german blue chips was
percent lower overall
dow jones newswires contributed to this story
india bangladesh sign five pacts to cement ties
new delhi jan afp
leaders of india and bangladesh met in new delhi on monday with talks focused on
strengthening the previously difficult ties between the two south asian
neighbours an indian official said
cross border relations have improved in recent years and bangladeshi prime
minister sheikh hasina delegation signed five cooperation agreements with
india in areas ranging from cultural exchanges security preventing crime and
power supply
hasina who has received strong support from delhi since she came to power
year ago discussed ways to boost trade and dhaka crackdown on bangladesh
based indian separatist rebels with indian prime minister manmohan singh an
indian foreign ministry official said
new delhi has often accused dhaka of providing shelter to militant groups active
in india northeast but hasina has detained several senior rebels and handed
them over to india
both countries resolved bitter dispute on sharing the waters of the ganges
river in and will work to end disagreements over how to use waters of
smaller rivers flowing through both countries the official said
other thorny issues bedevilling ties include dhaka apparent reluctance to
allow new delhi transit rights through its territory to india landlocked
northeast and india refusal to grant bangladeshi goods duty free access
sheikh hasina visit is an opportunity to lay the foundations of much more
stable relationship arundhati ghosh retired indian official formerly posted
in dhaka told afp earlier monday
it is india strategic interest to cooperate with its small neighbour she
said
football mourinho to face charges for insulting journalist
rome jan afp
inter milan coach jose mourinho looks set to face penalty for insulting
journalist after the football league referred his case to the sporting justice
disciplinary committee
following inter draw at atalanta in december mourinho allegedly screamed
abuse at corriere dello sport journalist andrea ramazzotti
ramazzotti had strayed into restricted area to listen in to interviews the
official inter tv channel were conducting with players after the game
according to press reports mourinho who later claimed he had told ramazzotti
several times before not to come into that area beside the club team coach
swore at the reporter
corriere alongside several other major italian newspapers boycotted mourinho
next press conference in protest
mourinho is accused of having violated article of the sporting justice code by
using hurtful language towards sports journalist andrea ramazzotti and of
having grabbed him by the forearms
inter have also been called before the sporting justice to explain their
employee actions
mourinho has often found himself in hot water this season in italy twice being
sent off and serving one match touchline bans
newspapers still generate most news despite internet
washington jan afp
newspapers and other traditional media still generate the bulk of news that
gets to us consumers despite the rising importance of online media according to
study released monday
the report by the pew research center project for excellence in journalism
based on study of media in baltimore maryland found that percent of
stories with new information came from traditional media mainly newspapers
most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional
media particularly newspapers the report concluded
these stories then tended to set the narrative agenda for most other media
outlets
the study found that most of the newer providers including online blogs and
those that use social media such as twitter did not produce any local content
during the period studied
in studying six major news threads the researchers concluded that fully
percent of stories were essentially repetitive conveying no new information
of the percent that did contain new information nearly all came from
traditional media either in their legacy platforms or in new digital ones the
researchers said
the report found general interest newspapers generated percent of the news
and specialty newspapers such as those dedicated to business or law produced
another percent
local television accounted for percent of news gathering and new media
outlets just four percent of enterprise reporting pew said
the researchers said this raises concerns for journalism because of the crisis
faced by newspapers and other traditional media that have forced cutbacks in
news coverage
as the economic model that has subsidized professional journalism collapses
the number of people gathering news in traditional television print and radio
organizations is shrinking markedly they wrote
this may lead to greater government influence over the news since much of the
new media reports simply convey the official version of events without
attempting to offer different points of view
as news is posted faster often with little enterprise reporting added the
official version of events is becoming more important the study concluded
we found official press releases often appear word for word in first accounts
of events though often not noted as such
in other problems with online news pew said formal procedures for citing and
crediting can get lost
we found numerous examples of websites carrying sections of other people
work without attribution and often suggesting original reporting was added when
none was the report added
and sometimes old stories that were already obsolete were posted or linked to
after events had changed and the original news site had updated them
thaksin supporters rally at thai royal aide house
bangkok jan afp
thousands of supporters of fugitive former thai prime minister thaksin
shinawatra rallied monday outside the house of royal adviser to protest
against alleged judicial double standards
around people chanted slogans saying that the home of ex premier and
privy councillor surayud chulanont in the khao yai tieng forest kilometres
miles northeast of bangkok was built illegally in national park
the protest is the first by thaksin so called red shirts in and is
apparently aimed at building support for big new anti government rallies
promised by the movement later this month in the capital
thaksin who is living abroad to avoid two year jail term for corruption
imposed in gave speech via video link to the rally saying that the
deeply divided kingdom needed justice for reconciliation
we came here today because we cannot stand unfair treatment we will fight
until the truth is revealed we will fight fairly thaksin said we will not
give up until there is justice in this society
police said around protesters had gathered and that there were about
police officers guarding surayud house
surayud house is encroaching on the forest core red shirt leader jatuporn
prompan told reporters earlier adding that forestry department officials had
failed in their duty by allowing surayud to build there
another red shirt leader suporn attawong said that people who trespassed in
the forest normally faced legal action but surayud had escaped censure because
he was part of thailand powerful establishment
surayud headed the military administration that ran the country from after the
coup that toppled thaksin until elections in december that were won by
thaksin allies
support for thaksin is strongest in thailand impoverished rural northeast
where the forest is located while the billionaire tycoon remains loathed by the
bangkok based cliques in the palace military and bureaucracy
the red shirts are pressing for the resignation of current prime minister
abhisit vejjajiva who took power in december following the collapse of the
previous pro thaksin government
they have held series of protests which turned violent last april when they
derailed major asian summit hosted by thailand and then rioted in bangkok
leaving two people dead and injured
monday rally comes day after abhisit embattled coalition government faced
fresh pressure when the deputy public health minister resigned after being
implicated in corruption scandal
manit nopamornbodee was the second minister to quit over the case which
involves billion dollar healthcare scheme following the resignation of
public health minister witthaya kaewparadai on december
the thai government is also locked in drawn out diplomatic stand off with
neighbouring cambodia over phnom penh appointment late last year of thaksin as
an economic adviser
cambodian foreign minister hor namhong monday hit back at comments made by thai
foreign minister kasit piromya in newspaper interview that the two countries
could not normalise relations until cambodia revoked thaksin job
it the appointment of thaksin is the sovereign right of cambodia thailand
has no right to interfere in this issue hor namhong told afp
both recalled their ambassadors in november and expelled senior diplomats while
diplomatic tensions soared further when phnom penh refused to extradite thaksin
during his first visit to cambodia
the two countries have fought series of gunbattles in the past year over land
surrounding disputed temple on their border
egypt reports percent fall in suez canal revenue
ismailiya egypt jan afp
revenue from egypt strategic suez waterway plunged percent in because
of the global economic crisis suez canal authority official said on monday
revenue reached billion dollars in compared with billion
dollars in the official said on condition of anonymity
the official blamed the continuing global financial crisis for the fall
the canal which connects the mediterranean sea and the red sea and is one of
the world most heavily used shipping lanes is egypt third largest source of
revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers
traffic volume through the kilometre mile canal is seen as an
indicator of the state of health of maritime trade worldwide
corrected imf mission heads to debt stricken greece
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said monday it is sending mission to athens
this week for talks on helping debt stricken greece overcome its financial
crisis
the mission at the request of the greek authorities would begin tuesday and
last for about week to explore possibilities for technical assistance from
the imf in the coming months on pension reform tax policy tax administration
and budget management the fund said in statement
the mission is within the context of the regular surveillance that the imf
provides to its membership the brief statement said
the greek government on friday announced percent increase in tobacco and
alcohol taxes and higher inheritance tax as it fended off european union
pressure for drastic action to tackle its debt mountain
greece whose public spending deficit rose to percent of output last year
and debt to percent of gross domestic product gdp must present its crisis
program to the eu by the end of the month
european commission and european central bank experts met with greek officials
from wednesday through friday to discuss what crisis measures would be taken
finance minister georges papaconstantinou announced the tax hikes as he
reaffirmed the need for the country to establish financial credibility in europe
where greece troubles have raised fears over the eurozone stability
the socialist government is aiming to bring the deficit to below three percent
of gdp the limit imposed by the eurozone in
the eu and the imf already have acted jointly to help two eu members to cope
with sharp downturns amid the global economic crisis hungary in november
and latvia the following month
the greek government has said it will get the spending deficit down to
percent in by cutting government spending and fighting tax fraud pension
reforms are to be proposed by april
greece will have to endure monthly visits by eu officials from february as part
of the tighter surveillance ordered by its european partners the finance
ministry said
the spanish eu presidency warned greece last week that it should not expect an
eu bailout
papaconstantinou told the italian newspaper il sole recently that we will
solve our fiscal problems alone
we have not asked for and do not expect any help from the european central
bank or member state from the european union he said
football malawi exact revenge on disappointing algeria
luanda jan afp
algeria were handed world cup reality check when supposed minnows malawi meted
out thrashing to the desert foxes in the africa cup of nations here on
monday
malawi were whipped by algeria on their only previous appearance in this
competition years ago
but thanks to russel mwafulirwa ivis kafoteka and davie banda it was algeria
who were on the wrong side of lopsided scoreline this time around
after sunday draw between angola and mali these three points put malawi in
strong position to make it out of group and into the quarter finals
algeria coach rabah saadane put the shock loss down to cocktail of well
organised rivals the searing mid afternoon heat and errors on the part of his
players
we hope the confederation of african football organisers can organise matches
later because the weather was very hot and we didn perform well
our best players did not do their best it was difficult time to play
they weren in their best shape there was lot of humidity we hope to play
later next time
turning to malawi he added they play simple and precise soccer defeat
did hurt our hearts but we must be humble and accept it and congratulate
malawi
opposite number kinnah phiri suggested the result while unexpected was not
totally out of the blue
we came here as underdogs but we ve been playing well the signs were there we
drew with egypt drew with ghana and beat mozambique in warm up games
the game was held in near ghostly silence with all but couple of hundred of
the november stadium shiny new seats vacant
with few visiting fans the locals were either at work it being monday afternoon
and all or nursing severe hangovers after watching their heroes let slip four
goal lead against mali the night before
you could have heard pin drop or ball kicked and the atmosphere for want
of better word was in stark contrast to algeria last competitive fixture
in the cauldron of khartoum which sealed their world cup ticket at the expense
of bitter rivals egypt
mwafulirwa put malawi into th minute lead when the swedish second division
striker pounced on mistake by algeria keeper faouzi chaouchi
rafik saifi could have levelled shortly after but the al khor midfielder lob
over malawi stopper swadick sanudi went the wrong side of the crossbar
on minutes malawi deservedly extended their advantage when moses chavula
swept the ball into the box from the left with kafoteka bullet header leaving
chaouchi bewildered
malawi went into the break sensing sweet revenge for years ago and the second
half was only in its infancy when banda first hit the near post and then slammed
the ball past chaouchi on the rebound to turn the screw
algeria were having trouble breaking down malawi tight defence although
abdelmalik ziaya and saifi both had headers on target
malawi held on comfortably enough avoiding an angolan style last quarter
collapse for their first win ever in the competition which swept them to the
top of the table with the hosts awaiting on thursday
corrected israel arrests foreign activist in west bank raid lawyer
jerusalem israel jan afp
israeli security forces arrested foreign activist in raid in the west bank
town of ramallah overnight on monday according to her lawyer
immigration police accompanied by israeli soldiers carried out the late night
operation to seize eva novakova czech citizen from her home in downtown
ramallah lawyer omer shatz told afp
her visa was expired but that not reason for them to arrest her he said
adding that the israeli interior ministry has no authority to operate in the
palestinian territories
the ministry of the interior was acting outside of the sovereign territory of
israel they wouldn invade poland to arrest someone
he added that novakova had since been escorted to ben gurion airport in tel
aviv where the authorities appeared intent on deporting her
the year old had been working as media coordinator for the pro palestinian
international solidarity movement
the israeli military would not immediately comment on the incident
in recent months israel has arrested scores of palestinian activists involved in
weekly west bank protests against its controversial separation barrier but
arrests of foreigners are extremely rare
it is also rare for israel military to carry out raids inside major towns in
the occupied west bank which are governed by the western backed palestinian
authority
last week amnesty international protested against the detention without trial of
three leading palestinian activists saying they may be prisoners of
conscience held for protesting over the barrier
two of the men have not been charged with any offence while abdullah abu rahma
has been charged with incitement stone throwing and possession of arms the
latter for collecting spent cartridges and tear gas grenades used by israeli
forces to disperse protesters
protest organisers say israel has arrested people from the west bank village
of bilin in the past six months and from the neighbouring village of nilin in
the past months most have since been released
israel says the barrier helps prevent attacks against its citizens but
palestinians say the fences walls and closed roads snaking across the west bank
are aimed at snatching land that should be part of their future state
ireland leader vows to fight mischievous allegation
london jan afp
northern ireland first minister peter robinson vowed monday to fight an
unfounded and mischievous allegation against him after temporarily stepping
aside following his wife affair with teenager
it is particularly painful that at time of great personal trauma and turmoil
have to defend myself from an unfounded and mischievous allegation robinson
said in televised statement his voice breaking
robinson wife iris last week admitted having an affair with year old 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
football burkina faso ivory coast teams
cabinda angola jan afp
teams for africa cup of nations group match between burkina faso and ivory
coast at chiazi stadium on monday
burkina faso
diakite kone koulibaly panadetiguiri capt tall kabore kere pitropia
rouamba dagano yameogo
coach paulo duarte por
ivory coast
barry toure zokora toure tiote yao drogba capt kone tiene
eboue bamba
coach vahid halilhodzic bih
referee kacem bennaceur tun
latvia remains on deflation slope data
riga jan afp
consumer prices in latvia fell by percent in december compared with the same
month in the third decline running in the recession afflicted baltic
state official data showed on monday
the rate was the same as that recorded in november according to latvia
national statistics office
in october latvia had swung into deflation for the first time since records
began after independence from the soviet union in as prices fell by
percent
latvia had been in the grip of rampant inflation which hit year high point
of percent in may
prices fell progressively however following government measures to dampen the
overheated economy compounded by withering demand amid deep recession and an
austerity drive overseen by international lenders
while deflation sustained drop in prices may give struggling consumers
some respite it is also seen as harmful economically since buyers can hold off
while waiting for even better deals
in the crisis hit baltic deflation is also seen as result of what economists
call internal devaluation whereby governments and companies slash spending and
wages in bid to boost competitiveness instead of breaking their national
currencies pegs with the euro
compared to november prices in latvia fell by percent in december
monday data showed they had fallen by percent in november and percent
in october
latvia had enjoyed several years of robust economic growth notably after
joining the european union in with domestic demand snowballing thanks to
rising wages real estate bubble and easy credit
but the country of million people swung into recession in and remains
locked in one of the deepest crises in the nation eu
latvian authorities estimate that the economy may have shrunk by percent in
compared with and could contract percent this year
at the end of latvia signed billion euro billion dollar
bailout with lenders including the international monetary fund and the eu
under its terms latvia must gradually plug its public deficit the shortfall
between public revenues and spending
deficit control rules and clamping down on inflation are among the criteria for
would be eurozone members set down in the eu maastricht treaty on economic and
monetary union
rampant inflation dashed latvia hopes of switching from its currency the lat
to the euro by it is now hoping to adopt the euro by
the maastricht measure is annual average inflation which in latvia fell to
percent in december from percent in november
football british football falls victim to weather
london jan afp
freezing weather in britain has once more played havoc with senior football
fixtures in england and scotland
all of last weekend postponed scottish cup ties that were due to be played on
tuesday were called off again on monday including morton home match against
glasgow giants celtic
although the draw for the fifth round was held on sunday none of the ties for
the last have yet to be finalised because of the cold snap
as happened at the weekend combination of frozen pitches and spectator safety
concerns following inspections by police have led to the latest round of call
offs
the scottish football association sfa said on monday that ties postponed this
week will be rescheduled for january or
if the ties are postponed again or require replay matches will be played on
january
meanwhile england football association said on monday that tuesday fa cup
third round ties between accrington stanley and gillingham and brentford and
doncaster had been postponed and would now take place on january
elsewhere tuesday english third division match between walsall and norwich
and the fourth division fixtures between aldershot and bradford and bury and
macclesfield have also fallen victim to the weather
yemenis know where hostages are german fm
sanaa jan afp
germany foreign minister guido westerwelle said on surprise visit to sanaa on
monday that yemeni authorities have assured him they know the whereabouts of
five germans and briton held hostage since june
westerwelle told reporters that president ali abdullah saleh had told him during
late morning talks that he had information little than two hours ago that
they know where the german hostages are being held
the family of five germans and briton were abducted in northern yemen last
june along with two german bible students and south korean who were shot dead
soon afterwards
westerwelle said the german embassy was doing everything it could to bring the
intolerable situation of the german hostages in yemen to good end
senior official said last week that yemen had information that the six
hostages were still alive and that there appeared to be an al qaeda link to
their abduction
the three possible places they could be in are the provinces of maarib al
jouf and saada the deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs
rashad al aleemi said
available information confirm that there is coordination between the northern
shiite rebel huthis and the al qaeda in this matter
state run saba news agency meanwhile reported that westerwelle thanked saleh
for yemen efforts to secure the hostages release before leaving the country
at the end of his visit
saleh and westerwelle also discussed bilateral cooperation in the fields of
development and in the fight against terrorism and maritime piracy saba said
westerwelle visit the first by senior western diplomat since the botched
christmas day bid to bomb us airliner came as pressure mounted on yemen to
rein in al qaeda militants believed to be behind the attempt
his visit sanaa came after stops in saudi arabia qatar and the united arab
emirates where he held talks on regional issues including the situation in
yemen
based on his talks in the gulf westerwelle made the quick decision to go to
yemen to get the feeling of the situation on the ground member of his
delegation said
westerwelle is concerned that further destabilisation in yemen could have
negative impact on the entire region and beyond the delegate said
impoverished yemen long standing scourge of extremism was highlighted after
senior yemeni officials said umar farouk abdulmutallab the nigerian man who
allegedly tried to blow up the us bound jet had spent time in the country with
al qaeda extremists
london and washington have announced plans to fund counter extremism police in
the country but us president barack obama said in comments published sunday he
has no intention of sending american troops to yemen
recent strikes on al qaeda positions in yemen including cruise missile attacks
were however reportedly led by the united states which has vowed to boost its
economic and military aid to sanaa
yemen has been hostile to any suggestion of us military intervention but
