to use as an excuse to attack the rebels
the yemeni army has been waging an all out offensive against the rebels based in
the saada province and its surroundings since august in bid to end their
five year rebellion
the three children were seen in new video last month but the footage featured
no sign of their parents at the time germany said it had no evidence that al
qaeda was behind the kidnappings
german officials who requested anonymity said the apparently recent recording
indicated at least that the three children aged one three and five were still
alive
in london foreign office spokesman said only that the british government was
working with the yemeni and german authorities to resolve the issue
abductions of foreigners are common in yemen as tribesmen often use them to
twist the government arm in local disputes more than foreigners have been
abducted over the past years
apart from the three women killed in june all other hostages have been freed
unharmed except for three britons and an australian seized by islamists in
december who were killed in botched yemeni rescue bid
yemen ancestral homeland of al qaeda chief osama bin laden has also seen
spate of attacks on foreign and government targets in march four south korean
tourists were killed by bomb attack in the historic city of shibam
european stocks slide after poor alcoa earnings
london jan afp
european stock markets fell sharply tuesday as investors reacted to weak
earnings data from us aluminium producer alcoa which kicked off the latest
results season in the world biggest economy
london benchmark ftse index of leading shares slumped percent to
points dragged down by heavyweight mining groups whose share prices
suffered after alcoa earnings missed analyst expectations
the ftse had on monday struck the highest level for months in the wake of
robust chinese economic data
elsewhere on tuesday frankfurt dax slid percent to points
and in paris the cac shed percent to approaching the half way
mark
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares declined by percent in
value to reach points
us earnings season kicked off last night with alcoa missing its expectations
this coming on the back of last week weaker job data has contributed to
slightly uncertain start and feeling that equity markets have got ahead of
themselves said equity trader arifa sheikh usmani at financial betting firm
spreadex
after the wall street close alcoa said that it had earned one cent share in
the fourth quarter which compared with analyst expectations of six cents
share
ahead of the data wall street indices ended mixed on monday
the dow jones industrial average rose percent to points clawing
higher in the final hour of trading the blue chip index hit an intra day high
of its best price since october
the technology heavy nasdaq composite fell percent to points while
the broad market standard amp poor index added percent to
points after languishing in the red for most of the day
all three key stock indices had opened on positive note mirroring sharp gains
in europe after robust china trade data at the weekend but shares turned mixed
in choppy trading later on caution ahead of alcoa earnings news
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index closed up percent to
reach points on tuesday hitting new month high as overall market
sentiment remained upbeat despite fears that japan airlines is headed for
bankruptcy traders said
vietnam singapore boost economic ties with deal flurry
hanoi jan afp
firms from vietnam and singapore including property giant capitaland and
banking group dbs signed deals tuesday aimed at boosting close economic links
between the two sides the companies said
the signings came during an official visit by the city state prime minister
lee hsien loong who witnessed the ceremony with his vietnamese counterpart
nguyen tan dung
singapore property developer capitaland said it signed joint venture agreement
with vietnamese developer to build four residential towers in ha dong
district near hanoi at an estimated cost of million us dollars
another singaporean real estate firm keppel land signed joint venture
agreement to develop villas on the saigon river in southern ho chi minh city
keppel land said
at the ceremony the state bank of vietnam presented foreign bank branch
licence for ho chi minh city to singapore dbs bank ltd trade promotion group
international enterprise ie singapore said
dbs is the latest foreign financial institution lured by growing market in the
country of about million people
trade between vietnam and singapore amounted to billion singapore dollars
billion us in the first months of last year ie singapore said
vietnamese government data say singapore was the eighth largest provider of
registered foreign direct investment in the communist country to late november
after percent economic growth in vietnam is targeting percent
this year
urgent weak chinese currency major problem eu trade boss
brussels jan afp
new eu trade chief karel de gucht on tuesday ramped up brussels concerns over
the weak chinese yuan saying deliberate policy in beijing was major
problem for global economic recovery
three britons one colombian kidnapped in nigeria
lagos jan afp
gunmen kidnapped three britons and colombian working for anglo dutch oil giant
shell early tuesday shooting dead their police escort police and security
sources said
the four were seized around am gmt on road leading from the
southern oil city of port harcourt to the shell operated afam power plant
police said
they were ambushed by gunmen rita abbey police spokeswoman for rivers state
told afp
they are shell contractors who were going to aba in abia state she said
adding police had launched search in and around the town situated northeast of
port harcourt
the gunmen shot dead the police officer escorting the group and wounded their
driver
it is the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria for months following
lull in the wake of government amnesty which saw thousands of militants lay
down their arms
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for local
communities have since staged attacks on oil installations in the niger
delta playing havoc with crude output and international oil prices
china shows off air defences with anti missile test
beijing jan afp
china said tuesday it had successfully tested missile intercept system in what
analysts described as show of its advanced air defence capabilities amid
tensions over us arms sales to taiwan
china conducted test of ground based mid range missile interception
technology within its territory which achieved its objective foreign ministry
spokeswoman jiang yu told reporters
this test is defensive in nature and not targeted at any other country and is
consistent with the national defence policy of china jiang said
the news comes soon after us official in taipei said the pentagon had approved
the sale of patriot missile equipment to taiwan as part of package passed by
congress more than year ago
beijing which considers taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take
the island back by force if necessary has repeatedly voiced its opposition
to the sales and urged washington to cancel the deal
china defence ministry had warned at the weekend that it reserved the right to
take unspecified action if washington followed through with the sale which it
called severe obstacle to china us military ties
the united states is the leading arms supplier to taiwan even though it
switched diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in
but analysts said while china test would keep pressure on the united states
over the taiwan deals it was likely to have been conducted as general show of
force
it sounds pretty significant to me richard bitzinger an expert on china
military at nanyang technological university in singapore told afp
the information is pretty thin but the critical fact is that they conducted
successful missile intercept
scott harold an analyst at the rand corporation agreed saying would be
inclined to view the test as stride but how much of one is unclear in the
absence of more information towards missile defence capability
arthur ding an expert at taiwan national chengchi university said the test
would send political signal to the united states and to other countries that
china is prepared for air operations full scale operations by whatever
country
there is no detailed information so it is very hard to assess how much china
has achieved but at least it can show trend that air defence is an area of
focus for the overall military modernisation he said
beijing has poured money into its military in recent years as part of major
drive to upgrade the equipment used by the nation million strong armed
forces
china military spending rose percent in to billion dollars
according to budget submitted to parliament in march the latest in more than
decade long string of double digit increases
but amid growing concern overseas about china military intentions beijing
frequently stresses the defensive nature of its armed forces
china defence modernisation is for the legitimate needs of safeguarding
national sovereignty security and territorial integrity jiang said tuesday
the global times quoted senior military strategist yang chengjun as saying that
the test had ushered china into new phase in terms of missile interception
technologies
china needs an improved capability and more means of military defence as the
country faces increasing security threats yang was quoted as saying
one western military expert based in beijing who asked not to be identified
told afp what important is that they showed their willingness to demonstrate
china capabilities
ding said the latest military display could not be compared to test that
saw china destroy one of its own orbiting satellites with missile sparking
international concerns
that test came after the united states under former president george bush
announced plan to weaponise space move opposed by beijing and moscow
monday missile intercept has to do with china own comprehensive air defence
system defence against cruise missiles and against ballistic missiles in the
future or any other air war operations ding said
the state run global times newspaper said it conducted an online poll that
showed percent of chinese respondents supported the development of the
anti missile system
alert
undervalued yuan major problem new eu trade chief
dr congo refugees in centrafrica could reach
bangui jan afp
the number of democratic republic of congo nationals who have fled to the
central african republic could reach up to gaspard nogode sub prefect
of mongoumba south of bangui told afp
there are more refugees than we think because not all of them have been been
recorded on the census yet added rodrigue kopa of the jesuit refugee services
non governmental organisation which is distributing food supplies
the refugees come from the likouala region along the oubangui river which marks
the border between congo and dr congo where inter tribal clashes erupted in late
october in dispute over rich fishing waters
according to official figures at least people including civilians
were killed in the violence and more than people displaced within the dr
congo and in congo
the un had estimated another refugees were currently in the central
african republic
since the start of december the refugees have been living in very precarious
conditions along the oubangui river
there have already been six deaths among us mostly children pregnant women
have no help and no place to give birth one refugee mami etchaune told afp
the un world food programme plans to send tonnes kilograms of food
supplies over the next two months
we are going to alert the other agencies in the united nations to provide
adequate aid for these people in need regional director of the un world food
programme thomas yanga said on visit to the central african republic
gulf banks debt provisions rise sharply report
kuwait city jan afp
gulf banks are estimated to have made provisions worth billion dollars for
against impairment of assets and credit loss massive percent rise
from the previous year report said tuesday
the provisions which gulf banks started to increase rapidly in the wake of the
global economic crisis are however expected to decline slightly in kuwait
financial centre markaz said in an economic report
the banks in the six nation gulf cooperation council gcc made provisions
worth billion dollars in the first three quarters of last year during which
provisions continued to rise quarter on quarter
provisions last year were five fold surge over the modest billion dollars
set aside in and which grew to as much as billion dollars in
the report said
this was due to heightened provisions taken by many of the gcc largest banks
in order to withstand the possibility of defaults in their loans books the
report said
in provisions to loans ration rose to percent from an average of
percent between it said
the ratio is estimated to have gone up to percent in and is forecast
to decline to percent this year
the largest provisions were made by kuwait gulf bank and bahrain arab
banking corp at one billion dollars each
kuwait finance house the emirate largest islamic lender followed with
million dollars and national bank of dubai with million dollars
the first nine months of last year saudi banks set aside billion dollars of
provisions kuwaiti banks billion dollars while banks in the united arab
emirates made billion dollars due to their higher exposure to troubled
saudi groups algosaibi and saad
moderate quake strikes off indonesia
jakarta jan afp
moderate magnitude earthquake rocked the eastern indonesian province of
maluku tuesday but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami
warning was issued officials said
the quake struck at pm gmt kilometres miles northeast of
tual city at depth of kilometres the meteorology and geophysics agency
said
indonesia sits on the pacific ring of fire where the meeting of continental
plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity
magnitude quake that struck sumatra island on september killed more
than people
israel media splashes hazing of turkish envoy
jerusalem jan afp
israeli newspapers on tuesday played up what they called the hazing of
turkey ambassador by israel in an incident likely to ratchet up already high
tensions between the two allies
the media highlighted the fact that deputy foreign minister danny ayalon made
ambassador ahmet celikkol sit on low couch while the israelis sat on high
chairs as he reprimanded the envoy over turkish television thriller which
portrays israeli mossad agents as baby snatchers
the incident mirrored the deterioration in ties since israel devastating
offensive in gaza one year ago which stirred blunt criticism from turkey with
prime minister recep tayyip erdogan again lashing out at israel on monday
but it also came ahead of planned visit to turkey by israeli defence minister
ehud barak on sunday
barak who heads the centre left labour party is scheduled to hold talks with
his counterpart vecdi gonul president abdullah gul and foreign minister ahmet
davutoglu an official in his office said
we give this visit much importance the ties between the two countries are
important and they must be maintained even if there are ups and downs the
official told afp
haaretz newspaper said barak was keen to mend relations with turkey but that
ultra nationalist foreign minister avigdor lieberman sought to torpedo those
attempts
rather than summoning celikkol to the ministry as is the norm ayalon saw him in
his parliamentary office after making him wait in the corridor and telling staff
to remove the turkish flag and refreshments from the table
the important thing is that people see that he sitting low down and we re
high and that there is one flag israeli television aired ayalon as telling
invited photographers and camera crews
israeli dailies all splashed the story on the front page with maariv
headlining the ambassador gets hazing above picture showing the turkish
envoy sitting much lower than ayalon and looking uncomfortable
israel had already issued protest in october when another turkish series
showed israeli soldiers shooting young palestinian children in cold blood
on monday the foreign ministry objected to the broadcasting of the tv show
valley of the wolves which it said showed israel and jews as baby snatchers
and war criminals
the reaction of pana the makers of the turkish series did little to ease the
tension
why does the israeli administration which does not hesitate to bomb children
seeking refuge under the un flag feel so uneasy about the real facts related in
valley of the wolves it asked
maariv said the israeli response was way overdue
the hazing that the deputy foreign minister carried out yesterday was the right
thing but not at the right time we should have done this few months ago
in ankara the turkish foreign ministry planned to issue statement later on
tuesday as an official at the ministry acknowledged relations with israel are
passing through delicate period
turkey has been israel main regional ally since when the secular muslim
country and the jewish state signed military cooperation deal
relations took sharp turn for the worse when turkey responded angrily to
israel devastating gaza offensive
in memorable outburst erdogan stormed out of debate at the world economic
forum accusing israel of barbarian acts and telling its president shimon
peres sitting next to him that you know well how to kill people
in october turkey excluded israel from joint military drills and said that
bilateral ties would continue to suffer unless israel ends the humanitarian
tragedy in gaza
but in december peres and his turkish counterpart abdullah gul met in bid to
heal the rift
eu regulator demands patent papers in pharma probe
brussels jan afp
the european union competition regulator demanded tuesday to see selected
number of patent deals reached by pharmaceutical companies as part of sector
wide probe into generic medicines
the european commission said that on the basis of eu antitrust rules it
addressed requests for information to certain pharmaceutical companies asking
them to submit copies of their patent settlement agreements
brussels is seeking patent settlements reached between originator and generic
pharmaceutical firms from july to the end of notably those where an
originator company pays off generic competitor in return for delayed market
entry of generic drug
the commission which polices competition in the eu said its sector wide probe
had found that some settlements might deprive consumers of broader choice of
medicines and at lower prices
it did not identify the companies involved saying only that selected number
had received requests for copies of these deals
we need to monitor this type of agreement in order to better understand why by
whom and under which conditions they are concluded said outgoing competition
commissioner neele kroes
the monitoring will also provide us with the possibility to act should this
become necessary
her services said they would analyse the details and request more specific
information if necessary the regulator also threatened to continue to do so
each year until the problem is addressed
the demand is part of an investigation announced in july into the relationship
between companies that patent their products as brand named medicine as well as
their ties with generic drug producers
according to commission report produced in the summer generic drugs cost on
average percent less two years after they enter the market and save patients
and insurance firms money without compromising on effectiveness
but some companies have in the past been accused of using patent strategies to
stop generic medicines hitting the market or tying up potential competitors in
legal disputes
airbus warns failure threatens company
seville spain jan afp
european aircraft maker airbus pressed governments on tuesday to open their
wallets to save the troubled military plane project warning that the
company viability depended on it
airbus chief executive tom enders warned that the company might be forced to
scrap the long delayed programme if european clients fail to put up more money
to cover cost overruns by the end of the month
now it high time for decision enders told reporters in seville spain
adding that the viability of airbus as whole was at stake
we should not accept the situation and continue this stupidity that could
seriously jeopardise airbus and its commercial competitiveness he said
developing the high tech transport planes has proved much more costly and
time consuming than anticipated when the project was agreed in by nato
members germany spain france britain turkey belgium and luxembourg
total of aircraft have been ordered for about billion euros billion
dollars but clients are being asked to plough in more to cover unexpected costs
and some countries have voiced unease about the extra costs
airbus and its parent group the european aeronautic defence and space company
eads have been in discussions over cost overruns for several months with the
seven partner countries
the negotiations are to be wrapped up at the end of this month
deliveries are at least three years behind schedule and the project could end up
costing up to billion euros more than expected
eads has put aside billion euros in provisions and is spending million
euros per month on the programme enders said
ring the alarm bell he said
turkey said last week it did not want to provide more money
france has insisted that the programme must go ahead while germany looks
unwilling to plough more money into the project germany and france are the
project biggest customers with and orders respectively
we want this programme to be completed french defence minister herve morin
said in televised interview
source close to the german defence ministry was quoted last wednesday in the
newspaper handelsblatt as saying it is out of the question for us to pay more
than the million euros extra stipulated in the contract
according to report in the financial times deutschland last week enders told
group of airbus directors he no longer believed in pursuing the programme
and had begun to prepare for it to be terminated
we made big mistake when we entered into contracts for this aircraft six or
seven years ago enders said in an interview with bbc world business report
late monday
we should not again take decision which would lead us to further problems in
the years to come
eads chief executive louis gallois said the programme cannot go on without
knowing whether it will get the necessary funds
our duty is to protect the interest the capacity and sustainability of
airbus he told reporters in seville
despite its project problems airbus said it had outperformed us rival
boeing in with plane deliveries and orders although net orders
totalled owing to cancellations caused by the global credit crunch
airbus commercial director john leahy said the company is forecasting between
and orders in
but turnover dropped last year and airbus only delivered of its super jumbo
in compared to in company executives said
airbus turnover reached billion euros in drop from billion
euros in according to preliminary figures
hong kong milkshake murderer in final appeal
hong kong jan afp
an american woman dubbed the milkshake murderer for the killing of her high
flying banker husband in one of hong kong most sensational crime cases
launched her final appeal on tuesday
nancy kissel appeared in hong kong highest court to appeal her conviction
for murdering her husband in by lacing strawberry milkshake with
cocktail of sedatives and bludgeoning him to death with lead ornament
she was sentenced to life in prison in after three month trial which
unveiled heady mix of adultery violence spying greed and enormous wealth
gripping the former british colony and inspiring book and tv movie
gruesome details emerged in the trial including evidence that kissel rolled up
her husband robert body in carpet and left it in the bedroom of their
luxurious apartment for days before hiring workmen to carry it to storeroom
prosecutors claimed kissel stood to gain up to million us dollars in
insurance payouts from the death of her husband senior investment banker at
merrill lynch
kissel admitted from the witness box that she killed her husband but claimed
she was acting in self defence after he attacked her with baseball bat on the
night of the murder
her defence team is challenging the conviction before the court of final appeal
on the grounds that prosecutors breached evidence rules during kissel trial
her last appeal was dismissed by the court of appeal in
it has been six and half years nancy has got great spirit although her
physical condition is not great kissel mother jean mcgothlin told afp
kissel father ira keeshin and half brother brooks keeshin were also at the
appeal
the year old appeared frail in her dark suit and had to clutch the bars to
help herself up but she smiled at her family and lawyers from time to time and
was constantly jotting notes down about the proceedings
she was later wheeled out of the court in wheelchair to the prison van
at the trial kissel defence team painted her as loving but long suffering
wife who had been subjected to regular violent attacks by husband who abused
cocaine and alcohol
but the prosecution argued that kissel mother of three wanted to take her
husband money and run away with tv repairman whom she admitted having an
affair with in the united states
robert kissel family suffered further tragedy in when his brother
andrew was found murdered in his house in connecticut bound with multiple stab
wounds he was reportedly about to plead guilty to bank fraud
the double tragedy inspired the book never enough by american author joe
mcginniss who is most famous for his best selling debut about the election
campaign of richard nixon the selling of the president
it also led to the production of us television movie killing mr kissel
airbus warns failure threatens company
seville spain jan afp
european aircraft maker airbus pressed governments on tuesday to open their
wallets to save the troubled military plane project warning that the
company viability depended on it
airbus chief executive tom enders warned that the company might be forced to
scrap the long delayed programme if european clients fail to put up more money
to cover cost overruns by the end of the month
now it high time for decision enders told reporters in seville spain
adding that the viability of airbus as whole was at stake
we should not accept the situation and continue this stupidity that could
seriously jeopardise airbus and its commercial competitiveness he said
developing the high tech transport planes has proved much more costly and
time consuming than anticipated when the project was agreed in by nato
members germany spain france britain turkey belgium and luxembourg
total of aircraft have been ordered for about billion euros billion
dollars but clients are being asked to plough in more to cover unexpected costs
and some countries have voiced unease about the extra costs
airbus and its parent group the european aeronautic defence and space company
eads have been in discussions over cost overruns for several months with the
seven partner countries
the negotiations are to be wrapped up at the end of this month
deliveries are at least three years behind schedule and the project could end up
costing up to billion euros more than expected
eads has put aside billion euros in provisions and is spending million
euros per month on the programme enders said
ring the alarm bell he said
turkey said last week it did not want to provide more money
france has insisted that the programme must go ahead while germany looks
unwilling to plough more money into the project germany and france are the
project biggest customers with and orders respectively
we want this programme to be completed french defence minister herve morin
said in televised interview
source close to the german defence ministry was quoted last wednesday in the
newspaper handelsblatt as saying it is out of the question for us to pay more
than the million euros extra stipulated in the contract
according to report in the financial times deutschland last week enders told
group of airbus directors he no longer believed in pursuing the programme
and had begun to prepare for it to be terminated
we made big mistake when we entered into contracts for this aircraft six or
seven years ago enders said in an interview with bbc world business report
late monday
we should not again take decision which would lead us to further problems in
the years to come
eads chief executive louis gallois said the programme cannot go on without
knowing whether it will get the necessary funds
our duty is to protect the interest the capacity and sustainability of
airbus he told reporters in seville
despite its project problems airbus said it had outperformed us rival
boeing in with plane deliveries and orders although net orders
totalled owing to cancellations caused by the global credit crunch
airbus commercial director john leahy said the company is forecasting between
and orders in
but turnover dropped last year and airbus only delivered of its super jumbo
in compared to in company executives said
airbus turnover reached billion euros in drop from billion
euros in according to preliminary figures
india infosys beats estimates despite profit drop
bangalore india jan afp
india second largest software exporter infosys posted tuesday smaller than
expected fall in net profit due to fresh overseas business and predicted strong
