reid and his deputy senator dick durbin were to join by telephone
democrats say they want final passage before obama state of the union speech
which pelosi has suggested could slide to early february from its typical late
january date
the house approved its version of the bill on november the senate adopted its
version december
according to media reports democrats may look to blunt republican delaying
tactics by skirting the traditional conference in which formally appointed
delegates from each chamber meet to work out final compromise
instead key lawmakers and top white house officials would put together final
plan from the house and senate version in informal talks sometimes known as
ping pong because the process can include the two chambers sending bills to
each other until final compromise is achieved
democrats have virtually no margin for error the senate christmas eve vote
rallied exactly the votes needed to pass the bill and some centrists have
said they will oppose any major changes
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
as nation the united states spends more than double what britain france and
germany do per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
attendance at pope events up in vatican
vatican city jan afp
more than two million people took part in events presided over by pope benedict
xvi in an increase of several thousand on the number of the previous year
the vatican announced tuesday
some people took part in various masses prayers and audiences with
the pope last year the vatican said in statement this was about
higher than for it said
the figures were only for public events at the vatican and the pope summer
residence at castel gandolfo just outside rome it said
according to the media information agency that covers the vatican the rise is
the first in attendance figures since the year old became head of the roman
catholic church on april
attendance at pope events up in vatican
vatican city jan afp
more than two million people took part in events presided over by pope benedict
xvi in an increase of several thousand on the number of the previous year
the vatican announced tuesday
some people took part in various masses prayers and audiences with
the pope last year the vatican said in statement this was about
higher than for it said
the figures were only for public events at the vatican and the pope summer
residence at castel gandolfo just outside rome it said
according to the media information agency that covers the vatican the rise is
the first in attendance figures since the year old became head of the roman
catholic church on april
congo warlord defence opens tuesday icc
the hague jan afp
lawyers for congolese warlord thomas lubanga accused of recruiting child
soldiers will open their defence at the international criminal court on
thursday the court announced
lubanga went on trial year ago charged with war crimes for using children
under the age of to fight for his militia during the civil war in
the democratic republic of congo he has pleaded not guilty
on january at am gmt the defence team of thomas lubanga
dyilo will start the presentation of its case said court statement
the defence case led by catherine mabille is expected to last several months
and call around witnesses it said
prosecutors say lubanga role in the conflict was driven by desire to
maintain and expand control over the eastern ituri region one of the world
most lucrative gold mining areas rights groups claim inter ethnic fighting has
killed people in ituri over the last decade
prosecutors say his militia abducted children as young as from their homes
schools and football fields and took them to military training camps where they
were beaten and drugged the girls among them were used as sex slaves
the prosecution wound up its case on july after calling witnesses
including former child soldiers over days of hearings
its first witness child soldier retracted his testimony under lubanga
constant glare from the dock forcing the court to examine new ways of shielding
witnesses
the icc is the world only independent permanent court set up to try genocide
crimes against humanity and war crimes
french foreign minister on africa tour
paris jan afp
french foreign minister bernard kouchner on tuesday starts six nation africa
tour that will include talks in rwanda after the resumption of diplomatic ties
spokesman said
kouchner headed first to egypt for talks on the middle east before travelling to
burkina faso congo republic the democratic republic of congo ivory coast and
rwanda
on thursday he will meet in kigali with rwandan president paul kagame to re
launch bilateral ties said foreign ministry spokesman bernard valero
kouchner will be the first french official to visit kigali since france and
rwanda decided in november to restore diplomatic relations rwanda broke ties in
after french judge issued warrants for nine officials close to kagame
suspected of being implicated in the shooting down of the plane of former
rwandan president
that incident is considered to have triggered the start of the genocide in which
people mainly minority tutsis were killed in
kouchner will hold talks with president joseph kabila in kinshasa and president
denis sassou nguesso in brazzaville before heading to burkina faso where
president blaise compaore is mediating several west african crises in togo
guinea and ivory coast
the foreign minister winds up his tour in abidjan as ivory coast prepares for
elections in the coming months
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor chris otton
tel
afghanistan cia suicide bomber duped handlers
obama to unveil new airport security measures
millions hit by german cash card software bug
iceland president stalls bank compensation bill
afghanistan unrest us jordan qaeda newseries
washington
cia officials reel after being duped by double agent who killed eight in
suicide bombing in afghanistan as top military spy chief slams intelligence
operations there
words gmt
attacks us nigeria
washington
president barack obama will unveil more new airline security measures aimed at
thwarting repeat of the christmas day attack on us jet after classified
meeting on intelligence failures with his inner national security cabinet
words gmt by stephen collinson
germany banking it rdlead
frankfurt
more than million german bank cards are hit by new year software bug
that leaves owners empty handed at cash machines and unable to buy goods across
the country public and private banks say
words gmt picture
europe
attacks security aviation world lead wrap
paris
the european union protests the use of body scanners and other tough new
security measures at airports after the failed christmas jet attack threw up
major privacy and health concerns
words gmt
iceland britain netherlands politics banking thlead
reykjavik
iceland president says he will not sign an unpopular bill to compensate
britain and the netherlands over the failure of icesave bank threatening the
survival of the government and triggering anger in london and the hague
words gmt by svanborg sigmarsdottir
britain iraq military politics inquiry ndlead
london
britain public inquiry into the iraq war resumes after the christmas break as
questions grow about the looming appearance by ex prime minister tony blair who
led the country into the controversial conflict
words gmt by katherine haddon picture
sweden environment hunting animal
stockholm
sweden first wolf hunt in years comes to an end after hunters meet their
quota in just four days as ecologists blast the hunt as rushed and cruel and
criticise the government decision to allow the cull
words gmt by marc preel picture and video
americas
health us politics
washington
us president barack obama and his top congressional allies huddle to plan their
strategy for pushing sweeping overhaul of us health care before his annual
state of the union speech
words gmt by olivier knox
mideast
attacks yemen newseries
sanaa
the us embassy in yemen reopens after two day closure prompted by al qaeda
threats as us secretary of state hillary clinton warns that unrest in the arab
country is threat to global stability
words gmt by hammoud mounassar picture graphic
we have moved attacks us yemen qaeda awlaqi profile
asia
philippines politics massacre trial rdlead
manila
the prime suspect in the massacre of people in the volatile southern
philippines last year pleads not guilty to multiple counts of murder
words moved by jason gutierrez picture graphic
africa
somalia unrest un relief ndlead
nairobi
the un food agency says it has been forced to suspend food aid to million
hungry people in southern somalia after months of attacks and extortion by al
qaeda linked rebels
words by jean marc mojon
iraq records executions for terrorism offences in
baghdad jan afp
iraq executed people last year all of whom were convicted of terrorism
related offences the country supreme court said on tuesday
seventy seven death sentences were enforced in the head of the court
medhat al mahmud said in statement
according to the court the prisoners were found guilty in cases related to
terrorism and their punishment was applied as matter of priority
last month human rights group amnesty international said at least prisoners
had been executed by iraq in and further remained on death row
there was no immediate explanation of the discrepancy between the court
figures and those given by the london based watchdog
an amnesty spokesman said it had obtained its figure via officials and had
verified it with multiple sources
we are concerned and we ve been calling publicly for the government of iraq to
declare moratorium and we will continue to do that said boumedouha
spokesman for amnesty in london told afp
the un the eu as well as lots of organisations are putting pressure on iraq
to declare such moratorium
in its december report amnesty urged baghdad to stop the executions of all
people condemned to death adding some are likely to have been sentenced after
unfair trials
baghdad reintroduced the death penalty in after brief moratorium
immediately after the us led invasion of those sentenced to death are
usually hanged
according to amnesty at least people were sentenced to death in iraq and
executed in in at least were sentenced and executed
iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki is an ardent supporter of capital
punishment but president jalal talabani opposes its use
two dead one fighting for life after czech factory blast
prague jan afp
man was fighting for his life on tuesday with severe wounds after two steam
accumulators exploded and demolished czech factory on monday killing two
other people hospital official said
he is in intensive care supervised by traumatologists and plastic surgeons
said karel kabelac deputy head of the hospital in the central czech city of
hradec kralove
the man has severe internal injuries and burns is in stable condition we
can predict further developments kabelac told afp
the explosion in plant producing rubber car parts in rudnik small town
about kilometres miles northeast of prague claimed two lives and left
two people seriously injured and lightly
it also caused extensive damage as the factory roof and some walls collapsed
the blast wave stopped the factory clock at am gmt on monday and
toppled truck that killed year old woman on the spot
man died of injuries in the hradec kralove hospital later monday kabelac
said refusing to give details
one seriously wounded man was taken to another hospital and his life is no
longer threatened said the ctk news agency
the explosion was in an avon automotive plant which is owned by us based avon
automotive holdings according to the plant secretary
the plant employing staff has suspended production said ctk
the police fire brigades and other experts are now checking and cleaning the
debris they expect the investigation of the blast to take weeks the agency
wrote
europe anxious about body scanner privacy
paris jan afp
the european union demanded tuesday that privacy and health concerns over the
use of body scanners be answered before it backed their mass introduction after
the failed christmas jet attack in the united states
eu security experts are to meet in brussels on thursday to discuss the emergency
measures ordered after nigerian tried to set off bomb on us jetliner
arriving at detroit airport on december
spain transport minister said his country would not allow scanners until there
is eu wide agreement though many countries around the world have already
started body pat downs and searches of carry on baggage on flights heading for
the united states and reported few delays
britain and the netherlands have said they will introduce scanners and germany
and italy support tougher security but the executive european commission has
insisted that privacy concerns must be answered
the eu considers body scanners if they meet the health standards and security
standards as useful additional tool providing they do not contradict existing
european legislation commission transport spokeswoman said
they should be considered additional to other security measures she said
in britain privacy campaigners said the scanner images were so graphic they
amounted to virtual strip searching and have called for safeguards to guard
against indecent images of children getting onto the internet
spanish transport minister jose blanco said spain would not bring in additional
measures such as scanners without an eu agreement he stressed that any new
security measures must be compatible with the freedom and privacy of
individuals
the main health concerns are over the rays and electro magnetic waves given
off by the scanners but many health experts say the risk is minimal
italian foreign minister franco frattini said safety was more important than
concerns that full body scanners which can see through clothing invade
privacy
it is the most reliable instrument frattini former eu justice
commissioner added
even if the scanners meant sacrifice for passengers privacy the right to
security is essential for all other freedoms he said
the united states has demanded compulsory extra security on all flights from
nations and random extra checks on flights from other nations
pakistan is one of the nations singled out however sultan hasan spokesman
for pakistan international airlines pia said there had been no resistance or
protests to the new security measures
in fact they are very cooperative as they realise that we do all this for
their own safety
lebanon is also on the list the arab language an nahar daily citing well
informed sources said the decision to place lebanon on the list was linked to
security at beirut airport which is in the southern suburbs controlled by the
muslim militant group hezbollah
brett henry vice president for marketing at asia leading air ticketing and
reservations firm abacus said the new security may cause some inconvenience but
it would not deter travel from asia to the united states
henry highlighted the drastic changes already made since the september
attacks in the united states by al qaeda
these measures may cause some hassle but they don change the fact that
commerce needs to go on and friends need to meet with friends and families with
families
at singapore changi airport many passengers agreed that the enhanced
screening would make travel more difficult briton john ras raised
questions about whether pat downs and body scans would prevent attacks
ras manager and frequent traveller to the united states said it pain
because it useless when travel get served wine in glass bottle with
nice knife and fork to eat my meals yet can take small scissors on my
flight
thailand said it was planning to deploy body scanners at bangkok suvarnabhumi
airport on top of other additional security
but airport general manager nirandra theeranartsin said only small number of
the passengers handled each day were from the countries targeted by
the united states and that there were few delays
so far the airlines have no complaints and they say the new security measures
are acceptable to them he said
in japan us bound passengers have been told to be at airports earlier
fortunately we experienced no significant delays said spokesman for japan
airlines the country biggest carrier
end in sight for chile copper mine strike
santiago jan afp
striking copper miners in chile began voting tuesday on proposal by the the
world biggest mining concern codelco which could end their one day walkout
workers at two codelco mines chuquicamata and mina sur which together account
for four percent of the world copper production went on strike monday
demanding percent pay hike as copper prices hit month peak at more
than dollars per tonne
the proposal from government owned codelco presented to an emergency meeting of
rank and file workers was given good chances of approval
an overwhelming majority of people want to accept the offer said union leader
jaime graz head of three unions that backed the strike
codelco was offering percent wage hike and bonus payment of
dollars with the contract to last months
balloting was expected to last about eight hours labor officials said
codelco produces around million tonnes of copper per year and employs
workers
union leaders said percent of the work force at the two mines took part in
the labor action
the miners demands came as the price of copper which fell significantly during
the global economic crisis increased sharply in recent months amid renewed
demand from china the world largest copper consumer
since early last year copper prices have rocketed by more than percent
spurred upward by signs of global economic recovery after the steep worldwide
downturn
chile had copper output of some million tonnes in and was estimated
to have produced similar amount last year accounting for about one third of
global production
pope security boosted after assault media
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi security has been reinforced including by widening his
safety cordon after woman knocked him to the ground at midnight mass on
christmas eve media reported tuesday
illustrating the changes il giornale daily published images of the pope as he
walked through st peter basilica prior to the christmas attack and images of
him with in the church with the new security measures in place
they show the cordon around him enlarged by about metre feet on all
sides
the larger space would give security services more time to react if someone
tried to approach the year old pontiff and more space in which to intervene
if necessary the paper said
the photos also show that the pope escorted by four security agents rather than
two as in the past
the pope was unhurt in the assault by year old susanna maiolo assault but
french cardinal roger etchegaray fell and fractured the top of his femur il
giornale said he had been jumped on by security agent trying to intervene
etchegaray underwent hip replacement operation few days later
according to the religious information agency media there will be also be
more security personnel along the path the pope takes as he moves through st
peter
vatican spokesman father federico lombardi would not comment about the report
after maiolo assault vatican authorities said it would be impossible to
entirely protect the pope without putting wall between him and the masses who
come to see him
that would be unthinkable and like stopping him from breathing lombardi has
said
the pope security detail is made up of about people from the swiss
guard about from the vatican police and italian police
maiolo who has swiss and italian nationality has been in psychiatric
hospital since the attack and has been described as mentally unbalanced she had
also lunged at the pope at the midnight mass
she has reportedly told doctors that she did not want to hurt the pope just
ask him to help the weak
but vatican sources cited by said media said the young woman had confessed
last year to wanting to scratch the pontiff face
football gunners momentum born of mental strength wenger
london jan afp
arsene wenger has urged his on form arsenal squad to maintain the mental
discipline that has lifted them back into the premier league title battle when
they take on struggling bolton on wednesday
having seemed out of contention following home defeat by chelsea at the
end of november the gunners have since revived their challenge with five wins
from six league matches
another win at the emirates on wednesday would move wenger men to within
point of leaders chelsea and the frenchman believes his young squad has proved
its resilience
we have good opportunity to come back very close to chelsea and we want to
take it to make it more interesting for everybody wenger said one month ago
we were far from the top teams and since have created momentum
we refused to give up and continued to fight and believe in our strengths
the biggest test in our camp was the mental strengths of the players and the
solidarity of the players that has been tested
what we have realised in one month gives us good springboard to go even
further why should we stop here
the next two months will determine how ambitious and how hungry we are
wenger added it does not mean chelsea or manchester united do not have hunger
but what know is that within our team we have great hunger for success we
have great solidarity and team spirit
we are team who has grown up together and wants to achieve things we have
not won anything yet together and that makes us hungry for success
wenger has admitted he would like to bring one or more new players into his
squad during the january transfer window notably striker but believes his
faith in his policy of developing the club own youngsters is finally paying
off
in the modern game there is lack of patience and one response when you lose
game people say to you buy buy buy he said believe sometimes when
you have players who are that they can only become better
when they are they can only be worse at and that is why we are in
position where we need to have the needed strengths to be patient because we
have the quality
hopefully we can show until the end of the season that we can be successful
arsenal will be without injured skipper cesc fabregas on tuesday while
midfielder alex song is away with cameroon at the african nations cup
offsetting those losses is the fact that denilson is fit again following back
problem and wenger is confident the brazilian can fill song boots
denilson is an all rounder but he can play in this position and will come in
for song wenger said he is very strong in reading the game and winning the
ball back
denilson has games in the premier league people do not notice how
important he is for us and he can play in every single position in midfield
tennis chennai men results
chennai jan afp
results from the nd day of the chennai open here on tuesday denotes
seeding
st round
dudi sela isr bt denis istomin uzb
lukas lacko svk bt lu yen hsun tpe
michael berrer ger bt santiago ventura esp
robin haase ned bt tsung hua yang tpe
robby ginepri usa bt robin soderling swe
michael russell usa bt prakash amritraj ind
marcel granollers esp bt james ward gbr
gm output slumps percent at polish plant report
warsaw jan afp
us giant general motors polish arm said tuesday that its output slumped
percent in as demand withered amid the global economic crisis
the opel plant in gliwice in southern poland turned out vehicles compared
with in gm poland przemyslaw byszewski was quoted as saying by
the news agency pap
the plant mainly produces the opel zafira minivan making last year
in november it also began production of the new opel astra iv car and turned
out over the final two months of
the gliwice plant employs around people
japan govt accepts finance minister resignation kyodo
tokyo japan jan afp
the japanese government has accepted finance minister hirohisa fujii offer to
resign because of his poor health kyodo news reported tuesday citing ruling
party lawmaker
during talks earlier in the day prime minister yukio hatoyama had asked fujii
to stay in the cabinet but he finally decided to accept the finance minister
resignation as he was adamant kyodo said
football more marital woes for matthaus
berlin jan afp
former german international and world cup winning skipper lothar matthaus has
split from fourth wife liliana and is set to enter divorce proceedings after
just year of marriage bunte tabloid reported tuesday
don like the word divorce but am going to consult with lawyers said
world cup star matthaus have the impression liliana is subject to some
bad influences added the former bayern munich and inter milan star
former model liliana met matthaus at the munich beer festival in and
the pair rapidly became couple
but she left the family home early last month while insisting nobody else was
involved
sunday evening she came to see me saying she still loved me and that she missed
me but that she needed time to think said matthaus who tied the knot with
liliana on new year day last year in las vegas
matthaus who has yet to shine as coach has regularly had his colourful life
pored over by the media
he was married to first wife sylvia from to swiss second wife lolita
from to and then was with serbian marijana from to
gobble meter helps fight against child obesity study
paris jan afp
new device aimed at discouraging eaters from bolting their food is useful
tool in combatting childhood obesity according to study published online on
wednesday by the british medical journal bmj
doctors carried out an month assessment of small computer linked scale
called mandometer which has been developed by scientists at sweden
karolinska institute
the gadget entails an electronic scale which sits underneath the diner plate
weighing the remaining food as the meal is consumed
sitting next to it on the table is small screen which shows graph
indicating the rate at which the food is being eaten this line is matched
against an ideal graph for consumption as programmed by food therapist
too much deviation from the ideal graph prompts the computer to make spoken
request for the eater to slow down the idea is to train overweight people to
eat less and more slowly thus helping them to feel satiated
researchers at bristol royal hospital for children and the university of bristol
in western england carried out test among patients aged between nine and
years
all were clinically obese meaning they had body mass index bmi of or
more bmi is determined by one weight in kilos divided by one height in
metres squared
some of the volunteers were trained on using the mandometer while the others
were given standard anti obesity care both groups were encouraged to raise
their levels of physical exercise to minutes day and follow healthy diet
year later the mandometer group had fallen points in bmi on average
around triple that of counterparts in the standard care group this
improvement was maintained when the investigators carried out follow up test
at the month mark
portion sizes among the mandometer group were also somewhat smaller by the end
of the study falling by grammes one and half ounces the volunteers
speed of eating had reduced by percent whereas it accelerated by four
percent in the other group
levels of good cholesterol were also much better in the mandometer group
the authors led by julian hamilton shield say the mandometer is useful
adjunct in treating obesity among adolescents health area where the options
outside the use of drugs are few and call for further tests
they point out though that mandometer was not stand alone device in the
