term threat to the nation security officials and residents said
words gmt by lynne donnell graphic picture video
pakistan unrest us missile rdlead
miranshah pakistan
us drone missile attack kills at least three suspected militants in the th
such strike targeting pakistan northwest taliban stronghold this month
officials say
words gmt
us troops land at haiti presidential palace afp witness
port au prince jan afp
us troops descended by helicopter to take control of haiti ruined presidential
palace tuesday afp reporters saw as the military earthquake relief operation
gathered pace
paratroopers from the nd airborne division arrived in at least four choppers
to secure the executive mansion once elegant white building in the devastated
city center now surrounded by vast refugee camp
from the palace strong squad of soldiers headed on foot to the city
general hospital swamped with injured left behind by last week catastrophic
earthquake which the haitian government says killed at least
the arrival was the most spectacular deployment so far in the us military
operation to bring relief to port au prince but was not welcomed by some in the
crowd who saw the arrival as an affront to haitian sovereignty
haven seen the americans in the streets giving out water and food but now
they come to the palace said wilson guillaume as some of the homeless living
rough in the champ de mars square before the palace shouted abuse
it an occupation the palace is our power our face our pride said feodor
desanges
while army paratroopers took charge of key downtown sites marines were landing
southwest of the city to link up with un peacekeepers and prepare to land
larger flow of troops and equipment us military official said
austria wants to tighten immigration rules
vienna jan afp
austria coalition government adopted new action plan to tighten rules for
immigrants tuesday including compulsory german tests for foreigners wanting to
move to austria
no timetable has yet been drawn up for the government proposals to be put to
parliament or when they might likely come into effect but they came under fire
from the opposition green party and non governmental organisations as too
strict
another opposition party the far right bzoe called for green card along
the lines of the rigorous immigration rules in force in the united states
under the government proposals foreigners wanting to live in austria and family
members wanting to move with them must prove they have sufficient knowledge of
german before they take up residence in the country
the rule does not apply for highly qualified personnel asylum seekers or
seasonal workers
chancellor werner faymann who presented the national action plan for
integration following cabinet meeting said compulsory language tests would
allow family members of non european immigrants to better integrate into the
austrian labour market
un agrees to send extra troops police to haiti
united nations jan afp
the security council voted unanimously tuesday to send extra un troops and
police to quake haiti to help maintain order and protect humanitarian convoys
the member security council recognizing the dire circumstances and urgent
need for response endorsed reinforcement request made by un secretary
general ban ki moon on monday
magnitude quake rattles cayman islands
washington jan afp
magnitude earthquake rattled the cayman islands on tuesday us geologists
said but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties
the united states geological survey usgs said the quake with depth of some
kilometers miles struck the caribbean island at gmt
the usgs said the quake one of several to hit south america and the caribbean
in recent days struck some kilometers miles east southeast of bodden
town on grand cayman
it struck one week after massive magnitude quake hit haiti leveling the
capital city of port au prince and surrounding towns and villages killing as
many as people according to some preliminary estimates
urgent un agrees to send extrat troops police to haiti
united nations jan afp
the security council voted unanimously tuesday to send extra un troops and
police to quake haiti to help maintain order and protect humanitarian convoys
haiti shows need for eu aid rapid force president
london jan afp
the european union should consider setting up humanitarian rapid reaction
force to help deal with future disasters like haiti devastating earthquake
the bloc new belgian president said tuesday
herman van rompuy speaking day after the eu nations earmarked nearly half
billion euros for haiti said the caribbean island catastrophe showed the
need for the eu to think in the longer term
we have to reflect afterwards after we have done everything we can do we have
to reflect about better instrument for reacting he said after talks with
british prime minister gordon brown in london
we need also in europe some kind of humanitarian rapid reaction force he
said while adding that for later first things first and we have to do
everything we can for the relief of the people of haiti
at emergency talks on monday eu development ministers agreed to provide some
million euros million dollars in emergency humanitarian aid
rehabilitation funding and medium to long term reconstruction money
international aid workers are struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster
in the caribbean island nation where officials fear the final death toll could
top
the british premier hosting van rompuy for the first time since the belgian
took office last month meanwhile voiced support for plans for european police
mission to help delivery of aid in quake stricken haiti
france has proposed sending strong mission from european gendarmerie
force created in which would include france italy spain portugal and the
netherlands
if there is need for police to be provided from europe then that need should
be met if there is need for special medical facilities to be provided from
britain or from any other country we are ready to provide it said brown
what we ll be looking for in the next day is the coordination that is essential
and the mobilisation of the effort from all the different parts of the world
marines land near haitian capital
port au prince jan afp
us marines landed tuesday southwest of quake hit port au prince to link up with
un peacekeepers and assess conditions for larger flow of troops and equipment
us military official said
marines just arrived miles southwest of port au prince colonel greg kane
operations officer for the joint task force haiti told afp elements from the
battalion landing team from the uss bataan are in leogane
kane said the marines who arrived by helicopter were going into the locales of
leogane grande goave and petite goave where they were linking up with un
peacekeepers from sri lanka
alert
un agrees to send extra troops police to haiti
killed in fresh nigeria clashes muslim cleric
kano nigeria jan afp
at least people have been killed in renewed muslim christian clashes in the
central nigerian city of jos senior muslim cleric said on tuesday
we received dead bodies this morning and another this afternoon in
total we have dead bodies said the head of the city central mosque
balarabe dawud
urgent killed in fresh nigeria clashes muslim cleric
kano nigeria jan afp
at least people have been killed in renewed muslim christian clashes in the
central nigerian city of jos senior muslim cleric said on tuesday
rugbyu best and horan back in ireland squad
dublin jan afp
ireland coach declan kidney recalled front row forwards rory best and marcus
horan when he named an enlarged man squad for the defence of the champions
six nations title on tuesday
ulster hooker best has not played this season having undergone surgery on neck
injury in the pre season but has recently returned to contact training
munster prop horan returns having missed out on the november internationals
after undergoing routine medical procedure for minor heart ailment
the loosehead has not played for his province since the european cup win over
treviso in october but played minutes for shannon in their all ireland league
clash with dolphin on saturday
there are nine uncapped players in the squad with ulster forwards dan tuohy and
declan fitzpatrick among the new faces
other squad members still waiting for their ireland debuts are the leinster
quartet of fergus mcfadden kevin mclaughlin devin toner and john fogarty
leicester wing johne murphy ulster no chris henry and connacht prop brett
wilkinson are also uncapped
kidney said he would bring players in from outside the squad for the ireland
squad to to face england saxons in bath western england on january
the side will then face scotland at ravenhill on february
kidney unable to pick wing luke fitzgerald and no denis leamy due to injury
said his latest squad selection had taken into account next year world cup in
new zealand
when naming the squad we had three main considerations with the most
important being the opening game against italy followed by the games and
further down the line with the rugby world cup
kidney added while there were new players who gained vital experience during
the november series the goal is to keep that experience ticking over with all
the players who need international level game time
by having the games early it allows us to get people on the pitch so they
can keep their own performance levels up as we progress through to the later
stages of the championship
jonathan sexton looks like giving ronan gara run for his money at outside
half while peter stringer isaac boss tomas leary and eoin reddan will all
compete for the scrum half berth
ireland took the title last season with their first grand slam in years and
went through unbeaten rounding off the year with home win over
world champions south africa
now senior players such as brian driscoll and paul connell will help ireland
to try to become the first team since france in and to win back to
back slams
ireland begin the six nations against italy in dublin on february
ireland squad
backs
isaac boss tommy bowe gordon arcy ian dowling keith earls shane horgan
denis hurley robert kearney fergus mcfadden kevin mclaughlin johne murphy
brian driscoll ronan gara tomas leary eoin reddan jonathan sexton
peter stringer andrew trimble paddy wallace
forwards
rory best tony buckley tom court sean cronin leo cullen stephen ferris
declan fitzpatrick jerry flannery john fogarty john hayes cian healy jamie
heaslip chris henry marcus horan shane jennings kevin mclaughlin donncha
callaghan paul connell mick driscoll sean brien mike ross donnacha
ryan dan tuohy david wallace brett wilkinson
german eurowings to ditch planes cut jobs carrier
frankfurt jan afp
eurowings german airline that flies on regional routes for parent group
lufthansa said tuesday it will get rid of more than half its aircraft and
eliminate several hundred jobs
eurowings plans to progressively eliminate of its planes starting in
march mainly seat aircraft that are no longer suited to their markets while
retaining larger jets spokesman told afp
several hundred jobs would be cut as result the spokesman added and talks
with unions would begin in the coming days
the regional carrier currently employs around workers
lufthansa is trying to cut costs in its passenger operations by around one
billion euros billion dollars over the next two years
alert
killed in fresh muslim christian clashes in nigeria muslim leader
beshir says sudan would recognise south independence
khartoum jan afp
sudan will recognise the south independence if it chooses to break away from
the rest of africa largest country in january referendum president
omar al beshir said on tuesday
the ruling national congress party favours unity beshir said in speech to
mark the fifth anniversary of the end of sudan north south civil war
but if the result of the referendum is separation then we in the ncp will be
the first to take note of this decision and to support it we will be good
neighbours sudan president said
the speech delivered at the stadium in yambio capital of western equatoria
state was broadcast on national television
the mostly muslim north and largely christian south signed comprehensive peace
agreement on january to end year civil war that was fuelled by
religious political and economic differences and cost two million lives
the cpa provides for general election due in april and referendum on
independence for the oil rich south
khartoum will be the first capital to recognise the new state and to support
it said the president who is due to stand for re election in april
the sudanese parliament ratified key law in december setting up the planned
referendum on southern independence after northern and southern leaders
overcame dispute that had threatened to derail the peace deal
parliament also passed law for referendum in the disputed oil rich region of
abyei on the border between north and south sudan to let residents decide
if they want to remain part of the north or join the south
urgent marines land near haitian capital
port au prince jan afp
us marines landed tuesday southwest of port au prince to link up with un
peacekeepers and assess conditions for larger flow of troops and equipment
us military official said
urgent marines land near haitian capital
port au prince jan afp
us marines landed tuesday southwest of port au prince to link up with un
peacekeepers and assess conditions for larger flow of troops and equipment
us military official said
arcelormittal strike ruling delayed in algeria official
algiers jan afp
court ruling on management petition opposing strike by workers at
steel giant arcelormittal algeria plant was postponed tuesday company
official said
the judge was due to give his decision this morning tuesday on the request by
management to suspend the strike but it has been postponed until wednesday the
official mohamed guedha told afp
the management had on monday also asked the court at el hadjar to recognise the
illegality of the strike he added
workers at the el hadjar complex in eastern algeria went on strike on january
to protest against the planned closure of the factory coking plant which
employs people and would cost million dollars million euros to
renovate
an investment plan for worth million dollars has been challenged by
the union on grounds that it does not include the coking plant
the factory subsidiary of the worldwide steel giant is former state
enterprise in which the indian ispat firm in the arcelormittal group bought
percent of shares in october
the factory produced tonnes of steel in according to the
management
zimbabwe angling to score from africa wc minister
harare jan afp
zimbabwe tourism ministry will seek treasury approval for million dollar
plan to cash in on neighbouring south africa hosting of the world cup
minister walter mzembi said on tuesday
we have received budget proposal of million million euros from
various ministries and we have asked them to come up with projects that can be
completed around march mzembi told afp
five million dollars is earmarked for an extensive media campaign to advertise
our tourist facilities to the outside world and one million dollars to set up
fun parks for visitors
we want to create an atmosphere away from the match venues to connect the
people to the event said mzembi
two million will go toward training police officers branding and transport
other projects include improving water and power supplies upgrading health and
telecommunication services and securing computers for the immigration department
to avoid congestion at border posts
we want to rehabilitate our roads to ensure that potholes are filled and also
upgrade our rail transport network mzembi said
we are also going to set aside funds for hosting teams that might want to stay
in zimbabwe during the tournament the money will cover the transport and
security for the teams
government and private companies in zimbabwe are working on various projects to
cash in on the hosting of the world cup by south africa
most of the projects have been hampered by lack of money as the country is
battling to recover from nearly decade long economic crisis
mzembi said zimbabwe had received various enquiries from national teams seeking
to camp in the country during the tournament which kicks off in johannesburg on
june
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on tuesday
britain us food company takeover cadbury kraft
london british chocolate bar maker cadbury melted into the arms of us giant
kraft in multi billion dollar deal to create world leader in food and
confectionery that sparked fears of job losses
japan airline company distress jal
tokyo japan airlines went bankrupt with billion dollars of debt in one of
the country biggest ever corporate failures beginning painful overhaul
involving more than job cuts
us company banking earnings citigroup
new york battered financial giant citigroup said it suffered net loss of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of resulting in full year loss of
billion dollars
entertainment skorea us universal film resort
seoul us film giant universal studios signed deal with south korean partners
to build its largest theme park in asia at cost of around three trillion won
billion dollars
china us it internet google telecom mobile
beijing google said it had postponed the launch of two mobile handsets in
china in the latest fallout from its threat last week to withdraw from the
asian giant over cyberattacks and censorship
haiti quake finance parisclub
paris major grouping of creditor countries pushed for all of haiti public
lenders to cancel the country debts to help it recover from the massive damage
of last week earthquake
greece finance economy ratings
paris international rating agency moody said it was maintaining negative
outlook on greece because it was unclear whether the government could implement
plan to shore up public finances
uae economy dubai finance banks
dubai cash strapped dubai said that the financial lifeline extended by abu
dhabi last month is only half of what was originally announced because it
included previously committed funding
iceland britain netherlands politics banking referendum
reykjavik iceland will hold referendum on march on controversial
compensation deal for britain and the netherlands for the icesave bank collapse
the government said
alert
helicopter borne marines land near haitian capital us military
yachting oracle on the water amid america cup confusion
valencia spain jan afp
the giant trimaran of america cup challenger oracle took to the water off
spain for the first time on tuesday as confusion continued to surround its
planned duel with swiss defender alinghi next month
the us yacht with its metre fixed wing sail sailed in the bay off the
mediterranean port of valencia with australia james spithill at the helm
oracle and alinghi are due to face off in best of three event from february
in valencia to decide the rd edition of yachting most prestigious
competition
but the event remains in doubt amid new legal row between the two bitter
rivals
oracle last week asked the supreme court of the state of new york to rule on
whether alinghi had infringed nationality rules by allegedly using us made sails
for its catamaran
alinghi has said the sails are made in switzerland
oracle on monday had offered to drop the court action if alinghi signed deal
to resolve the issue that the two had negotiated in singapore
alinghi refused saying it isn possible to negotiate under the threat of
lawsuit
oracle has said it is prepared to give alinghi several weeks to change the
sails if the new york court rules in its favour on the issue
if the court does not make decision before february oracle said it would
take part in the competition under protest and the result could be overturned
oracle and alinghi owned respectively by billionaires larry ellison and
ernesto bertarelli have been arguing over the rules of the america cup in
court since the swiss syndicate won the last edition in valencia in
the new york court ruled in april that the cup should be settled by one on one
multihull duel between the two sides next february instead of the traditional
fully fledged regatta involving several teams
china trims us bond holdings amid sharp overall surge
washington jan afp
china reduced its holdings of us treasury bonds in november amid an unexpectedly
strong surge in overall foreign purchases official data showed tuesday
china the largest holder of us treasury bonds lowered its holdings of treasury
securities to billion dollars by november from billion in
october the treasury reported
overall net foreign purchases of long term securities which largely are
treasury bonds but also include other assets such as corporate bonds and
equities leapt to billion dollars in the month
that was sharp jump from the downwardly revised billion dollars in
october
net foreign purchases of long term us securities tripled to billion
dollars net buying by private foreign investors was billion dollars while
those by foreign official institutions were billion
the november figure represented tripling in the pace of foreign buying
compared to the slow pace in the past several months said ed friedman of
moody economy com
us residents by contrast sharply reduced their investments purchasing net
billion dollars of long term foreign securities about tenth of what they
had bought in october the treasury reported
net capital flows swung into positive territory in november reaching
billion dollars after negative flows of billion in october
the increase was led by surge in private net foreign private flows of
billion dollars that eclipsed net foreign official flows of negative billion
dollars
foreign holdings of dollar denominated short term us securities fell by
billion dollars foreign holdings of treasury bills decreased by billion
japan the second largest holder of the us investments increased its holdings
to billion dollars from billion
britain the third largest holder of us bonds raised its holdings to
billion dollars from billion
haitians seek hospital care in dominican republic
santo domingo jan afp
in hospitals in the dominican republic which borders haiti survivors of last
week earthquake are spilling over in wards and operating theaters
aguena mondesi is just one young haitian looking for relatives she believes made
it to facility in santo domingo looking for help
ve lost trace of relatives including my mother dasina have no idea
what happened to them can stand it anymore going to cry she told
afp
was told my family home fell over and in the rubble noone saw any body or
anybody injured she added
while aguena continued her search another haitian entered the hospital
nandez emil was still in shock from the quake he told afp that wall fell on
top of him trapping him for two days relatives finally managed to free him and
took him to the dominican republic for his injuries
didn know what to do thought was going to die he murmured as he
waited to see medical staff
going from bed to bed in one of the wards was marilin gerard she was patient
but had taken on additional duties as an interpreter in the hospital
translating the french and creole of the haitians and the spanish of the
dominicans
the facility the dario contreras hospital said more than patients had come
in for trauma treatment since last wednesday
other hospitals reported similar scenes and medical posts near the haitian
border mainly in the frontier town of jimani said they were very busy
most of the injuries were for fractured arms or legs amputations were common
there were also many head wounds
what affected me the most personally was to amputate leg of two year old
girl who was at the hospital without family one doctor told reporters
he said one night he had carried out amputations
at least here we are using anesthetics and maintaining the patient dignity
he said
rugbyu best and horan back in ireland squad
dublin jan afp
ireland coach declan kidney recalled front row forwards rory best and marcus
horan when he named man squad for the defence of the champions six nations
title on tuesday
ulster hooker best has not played this season having undergone surgery on neck
injury in the pre season but has recently returned to contact training
munster prop horan returns having missed out on the november internationals
after undergoing routine medical procedure for minor heart ailment
the loosehead has not played for his province since the european cup win over
treviso in october but played minutes for shannon in their all ireland league
clash with dolphin on saturday
there are nine uncapped players in the squad with ulster forwards dan tuohy and
declan fitzpatrick among the new faces
ireland took the title last season with their first grand slam in years and
went through unbeaten rounding off last year with home win over world
champions south africa
they begin their six nations campaign against italy in dublin on february
ireland squad
backs
isaac boss tommy bowe gordon arcy ian dowling keith earls shane horgan
denis hurley robert kearney fergus mcfadden kevin mclaughlin johne murphy
brian driscoll ronan gara tomas leary eoin reddan jonathan sexton
peter stringer andrew trimble paddy wallace
forwards
rory best tony buckley tom court sean cronin leo cullen stephen ferris
declan fitzpatrick jerry flannery john fogarty john hayes cian healy jamie
heaslip chris henry marcus horan shane jennings kevin mclaughlin donncha
callaghan paul connell mick driscoll sean brien mike ross donnacha
ryan dan tuohy david wallace brett wilkinson
russia to end freeze in ties with ukraine medvedev
moscow russia jan afp
russian president dmitry medvedev said tuesday he would send an ambassador to
ukraine after five month freeze following the election defeat of ukraine
pro western president
think you should begin your duties as ambassador to ukraine and try to do the
most to strengthen the friendly character of our countries relations he was
quoted as saying by russian news agencies at meeting with ambassador appointee
mikhail zurabov
medvedev appointed zurabov ambassador to ukraine last year but announced in
august that he would not be sending him to kiev to protest the anti russian
policies of ukrainian president viktor yushchenko
on sunday yushchenko re election bid failed miserably in presidential polls
as voters gave him humiliating fifth place finish
two candidates viewed as friendly to moscow pro russia politician viktor
yanukovich and prime minister yulia tymoshenko took the largest share of votes
on sunday and are now set to compete in february run off
hope the tallying of the final results in ukraine will lead to capable
effective government oriented on the development of constructive friendly and
multidimensional relations with russia medvedev said
medvedev had blocked sending an ambassador to ukraine for five months amid
bitter feuding with yushchenko who came to power in the pro western orange
revolution of
yushchenko angered moscow by seeking to bring ukraine into the nato military
alliance supporting russia foe georgia and campaigning for stalin era
famine that killed millions of ukrainians to be classified as genocide
but he won only five percent of the vote in sunday first round election
according to near final results as voters punished him for failing to bring
about promised reforms and extract ukraine from deep economic crisis
separately russian foreign minister sergei lavrov also indicated moscow
pleasure with yushchenko departure from power
regarding the prospects of russian ukrainian relations we have always been
against approaches that are politicised artificial and have nothing in common
with the interests of the ukrainian people lavrov said
we hope the new president whose name we will most likely find out on february
will fully understand the need to build relations in this manner and not hold
them hostage to his or her ambitions he told reporters
under fire bulgarian eu commission nominee pulls out
strasbourg jan afp
bulgaria eu commission nominee rumiana jeleva withdrew tuesday amid
allegations of incompetence and financial irregularities disrupting the timely
formation of the eu new executive team
jeleva decision solved one problem for commission head jose manuel barroso as
he puts together team of policy commissioners for his second five year term
in office but it scuppered his bid to get new cabinet up and running on
february
jeleva also offered her resignation as bulgaria foreign minister which prime
minister boyko borisov turned down
please accept my resignation from all the posts that currently hold and
undertake the necessary action to withdraw my candidature for eu
commissioner jeleva wrote in resignation letter to borisov
while accepting her withdrawing as nominee for the european union executive
