which obama has blamed on yemen based affiliate of al qaeda
obama high powered meeting included the heads of the cia the fbi the
national security agency and the national counterterrorism center as well as
secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates
republicans meanwhile again hit out at the administration decision to treat
the alleged attacker of the northwest jet within the civil justice system rather
than as prisoner of war
think the american people know full well what this is they view it as war
against terrorism they view terrorist as terrorist not as criminal
said republican national committee chairman michael steele
he added people who try to hijack or bomb plane could not be dealt with in the
same way as the guy who robbed eleven
us deeply disappointed by taiwan beef ban
washington jan afp
us officials expressed dismay tuesday after taiwan parliament resumed ban on
certain us beef imports over fears about mad cow disease
we are deeply disappointed with the decision by taiwan legislative yuan to
amend the food sanitation act to unjustifiably bar the import of certain us beef
and beef products said joint statement by us officials
deputy us trade representative demetrios marantis and us agriculture
undersecretary jim miller said the new measures by taiwan do not have basis
in science and constitute unilateral violation of bilateral agreement
concluded in good faith by the united states with taiwan little over two
months ago
they said that findings of taiwan own studies concluded that all us beef and
beef products are safe
the statement added that the action will also undermine taiwan credibility as
responsible trading partner and will make it more challenging for us to
conclude future agreements to expand and strengthen bilateral trade and economic
ties
the state department also expressed disappointment over the parliament action
but spokesman said the united states remained committed to further developing
our broad ranging and positive relationship with the people of taiwan
the reaction came after taiwan lawmakers unanimously passed an amendment to the
food health law banning imports of cow organs minced beef and other items seen
as high risk such as spines and eyes
us beef had been restricted for years over concerns about mad cow disease
in taipei relaxed the rules to permit imports of boneless beef
some scientists believe that consumption of the brains and spinal cords of
animals infected with mad cow disease can lead to the potentially fatal
creutzfeldt jakob disease in humans
separately in washington the american meat institute voiced its displeasure
with the action by taiwan
in taking this action the government of taiwan clearly is failing to live up
to its obligations under the bilateral agreement between our governments to
expand beef trade said ami president patrick boyle
there is simply no scientific basis for taiwan action and at this point we
must question the seriousness of their commitment to being true trade
partner
the american institute in taiwan ait earlier expressed its dismay at the
latest move and warned it would undermine taiwan credibility as responsible
trading partner
ait acting spokesman christopher kavanagh said the ban will make it more
difficult for the us to conclude further agreements to expand and strengthen
bilateral trade and economic ties
the ait handles unofficial ties with taipei after washington switched diplomatic
recognition to beijing in
taking aim at google apple buys mobile ad firm
las vegas nevada jan afp
apple has bought mobile advertising company quattro wireless as cellphone
competition heats up between the maker of the iphone and internet giant google
quattro wireless announced its acquisition by apple on its website on tuesday
but did not reveal purchase price the dow jones owned technology blog all
things digital said it was million dollars
the acquisition comes two months after google bought quattro wireless rival
admob for million dollars and on the same day that google threw down the
gauntlet to apple by unveiling plans to sell its own smartphone the nexus one
google took the wraps off the eagerly anticipated nexus one at an event at its
mountain view california headquarters billing the htc built touchscreen device
which runs on google android software as superphone
quattro wireless chief executive andy miller using his new title of apple vice
president for mobile advertising announced the purchase of the company he co
founded in blog post
we are thrilled to let you know that apple has acquired quattro miller said
we remain focused on delivering more engaging relevant and useful ads to
mobile devices and improving the measurement and execution of digital
campaigns
together with apple we look forward to developing exciting new opportunities
in the future that will benefit our customers he said
quattro describes itself as the leading global mobile advertising company and
its clients include ford procter amp gamble netflix viacom disney visa
and microsoft
google purchase of admob is currently being examined by the us federal trade
commission and two consumer groups the center for digital democracy and
consumer watchdog have urged the ftc to oppose the deal on anti trust grounds
google which has previously drawn scrutiny from us anti trust regulators hopes
admob will help it more effectively extend its lucrative internet search and
advertising domain into the booming world of mobile devices
commenting on apple quattro purchase analyst douglas mcintyre of
wallst com said apple and google are competing for what many analysts
believe is the next big frontier of online ad sales
the risk that both apple and google are taking is that people will react to
advertising on their handsets in much the same way that they have reacted to pc
based online ads mcintyre said
it may be that people who pay to subscribe to wireless services will create
backlash against handset based marketing when they realize that they are being
forced to view advertising he said
the outcome of the wireless advertising war will determine to large extent
the growth rate of internet advertising over the next several years mcintyre
added from that standpoint apple and google are making relatively risk free
bets on the market given their sizes and cash resources
the apple and google moves came as representatives of leading electronics firms
from around the world gathered in las vegas for the annual international
consumer electronics show which opens on thursday
oil extends gains as cold weather boosts buying
new york jan afp
world oil prices extended their gains tuesday with new york crude holding above
dollars on increased heating fuel demand spurred by frigid weather in the
northern hemisphere
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
gained cents to close at dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february delivery added cents to settle at
dollars in london trading
the market extended the rally that began on monday but with less conviction
analysts said cold weather was boosting demand for heating fuel but that would
be temporary additionally some of the optimism about economy recovery had
waned
yesterday enthusiasm seems to have cooled bit said mike fitzpatrick at mf
global who cited renewed skepticism about the economic outlook
how can china be the engine for global recovery when it is still largely
export driven economy while series of upbeat economic readings from the
us china and india are clearly cheered by oil market participants it is the
freezing weather across lot of the northern hemisphere that will actually
drive demand he said
independent oil analyst ellis eckland said the market is digesting the gains
from the prior session
it cold all over the world which is definitively adding to oil demand but
the american weather looks it is going to ease up so it slightly bearish for
oil he said
phil flynn at pfg best said the market appears to be getting support from the
notion that government stimulus including ultra low interest rates from the
federal reserve will help keep the economic recovery on track
it is not so much the transitory issue that we are freezing that inspired the
big move but growing sense that interest rates will be frozen for longer
time than the market anticipated he said
he said the rally had been sparked by dovish comments over the weekend from fed
chairman ben bernanke who suggested no quick move away from near zero rates
even amid signs of strengthening economy
this rally was about more than just weather he said this was about the
changing attitudes of when the fed will raise rates and the resumption of the
dollar carry trade that helped drive last year fed inspired commodity rally
us intel operations in afghanistan under fire
washington jan afp
us counter terrorism efforts in afghanistan were under scrutiny tuesday after an
al qaeda double agent killed seven cia officers and military spy chief slammed
intelligence failings in the country
major general michael flynn the top nato and us military intelligence chief in
afghanistan said us led forces were so starved of accurate on the ground
intelligence many say their jobs feel more like fortune telling
don want to say we are clueless but we are we re no more than
fingernail deep in our understanding of the environment one operations officer
was quoted in the report as saying
flynn scathing criticism comes as the central intelligence agency cia
investigates last week attack at base in khost eastern afghanistan in
which seven us agents and jordanian officer were killed
jihadist websites boasted tuesday that the suicide bomber was an al qaeda double
agent who tricked western intelligence services for months
jordanian intelligence had brought him to eastern afghanistan hoping he would
help hunt down elusive al qaeda number two ayman al zawahiri the websites and
western intelligence agents cited by us media said
but instead he blew himself up killing eight including his jordanian handler
top intelligence officer and member of the royal family marking the cia worst
single loss of life since beirut bombing in
flynn said radical structural changes were needed in afghanistan to help an
intelligence gathering apparatus which still finds itself unable to answer
fundamental questions about the environment in which we operate and the people
we are trying to protect and persuade
while at local level many agents knew lot about their districts such
information was rarely collated and disseminated through the intelligence
hierarchy
too often intelligence teams were focused on reacting to enemy tactics at the
expense of finding ways to strike at the very heart of the insurgency
failure to understand who the local afghan powerbrokers are and ignorance of
local economics and landowners had contributed to hazy knowledge said the
report released monday by the center for new american security
and some officers said they acquired more helpful information on the situation
on the ground and the local population from reading us newspapers than through
reviewing regional command intelligence summaries
flynn acknowledged the report entitled fixing intel blueprint for making
intelligence relevant in afghanistan and published on the think tank website
was unconventional
but he said its recommendations aimed to provide shift in emphasis and
departure from the comfort zone of many in the intelligence community
senior intelligence official however told afp it was aimed at military
intelligence not the cia
the focus of the report is military intelligence that makes sense given the
authors and the large us military presence in afghanistan he said adding that
he hoped they were trying to fix the problems they ve identified in their own
organization
the khost attack will however be blow to cia services wiping out years of
intelligence work in the notoriously complex afghan conflict riven by tribal
rivalries
both jihadist websites and western intelligence agents cited by us network nbc
news identified the bomber as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi alias abu dujana
al khorasani arrested in late and recruited as double agent by the
jordanian intelligence services
but senior jordanian official who asked not to be named said there was no
evidence balawi was the bomber adding he had supplied valuable information
balawi was reportedly taken to the cia base in khost because he claimed to have
urgent information about zawahiri the ana muslim website said
he was not searched as he went in because cia agent boasted he is our man
so there is no need the website claimed
he then pretended to detail plans for an operation on piece of paper and asked
the agents to gather round to look before blowing himself up it added
nbc news said his handler in afghanistan captain in the jordanian
intelligence services identified by the jordanian state news agency petra as ali
bin zeid was killed in the attack along with seven cia officers
that report has not been confirmed in jordan
spain celebrates epiphany with parades
madrid jan afp
thousands of people filled the centre of madrid on tuesday to watch the annual
three kings parade which celebrates the visit paid by the three wise men to the
newborn baby jesus in bethlehem
antique firetrucks giant mechanical elephant and floats featuring storybook
characters paraded from the plaza de san juan toward the central plaza de
cibeles in what is the biggest of spain annual processions
musical bands dancers dressed in colourful costumes and horses accompanied the
floats
children in spain traditionally receive presents on epiphany the day after
the procession and participants in the parade threw gifts of sweets to the
crowd
many children held up plastic bags opened wide or upturned umbrellas to increase
their chances of catching the candy
fireworks show lit up the sky after the three kings gaspar melchior and
balthasar arrived at the end of the parade route at the plaza cibeles where
they read out their annual message to the children of the city
in the mediterranean port of barcelona the magi arrived by boat where they were
welcomed by the city mayor jordi hereu who gave them symbolic key that
opened all the doors to the city
the kings then led parade of floats involving performers from over dance
and theatre schools through the streets of spain second largest city
the magi also arrived by boat in the northern port of gijon while in the basque
seaside resort of san sebastian the kings arrived on the beach of the city
famous shell shaped bay on camels
in the southwestern city of seville the kings showered several tonnes of sweets
onto streets filled with revelers
us revoking additional visas after plane plot
washington jan afp
the united states said tuesday it has revoked additional visas since the
christmas day plane plot amid continuing fears of terror attacks
additional visas have been revoked for people that we believe have suspected
ties to terrorism us state department spokesman pj crowley told reporters
it based on our assessment of the risk associated with specific
individuals on information that we have you know from various sources
crowley said
but he declined to say how many visas have been revoked or from which countries
the people concerned were from asked if the revocations of visas concerned
particular regions he replied it global
the obama administration has tightened security procedures for passengers flying
to the united states after year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab
allegedly tried to bring down northwest airlines jet
us prosecutors charged that abdulmutallab tried to blow up flight using
device containing the explosive petn also known as pentaerythritol but was
overpowered by passengers
allegedly stitched into his underwear it was not spotted by the traditional
metal detectors it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire that
was swiftly put out
president barack obama administration has had to fend off criticism of lax
safety and intelligence procedures exposed by the foiled bombing attempt
football pompey fail to pay players for third time
london jan afp
crisis hit portsmouth took another step into the unknown tuesday after failing
to pay their players for the third time this season
despite stating monday the players would be paid their wages for december
believed to be million pounds portsmouth officials told the professional
footballers association further delay has now arisen
pfa chief executive gordon taylor said the club whose side is propping up the
english premier league were hopeful of paying the players wednesday
taylor told press association sport we were expecting the players to be paid
today tuesday but that has not happened we have been told by the club that
they are hopeful of paying them tomorrow wednesday
the club told the pfa the latest delay was due to paperwork needing to be
completed after short term loan was negotiated to cover the shortfall
in further blow for the club the premier league have told portsmouth they
will not be able to re register jamie hara as loan signing unless the
transfer embargo is lifted and there is virtually no chance of that happening
during this transfer window
the tottenham midfielder deal runs out on january but spurs had indicated
they were happy to let him stay at pompey
premier league spokesman said if the registration embargo is still in place
portsmouth will not be able to re register him
daniel azougy the lawyer taken on by portsmouth to restructure their debts has
said the club is in mess
azougy told the guardian first of all hope we are going to pay the players
salaries as promised but nobody knows how much the club is mess when
people and the fans of portsmouth know how big they will appreciate what we
trying to do
former owner alexandre gaydamak says he is owed almost million pounds and
there is also winding up petition from hm revenue and customs
google unveils new smartphone
mountain view california jan afp
google unveiled its new nexus one smartphone tuesday in direct challenge to
heavyweight apple iphone handsets
the touch screen device was billed by google as superphone and the next step
in the evolution of its android software
the internet giant worked with taiwanese electronics titan htc to make the nexus
one
think you will see it pushes the limits of what possible on smart phone
htc chief executive peter chou said as the smartphone debuted at google
headquarters in mountain view california
it is very thin and feels good in your hand he added
nexus one handsets are no thicker than pencils and no heavier than keychain
swiss army knives google engineer erick tseng said while demonstrating one of
the smartphones
it is great marriage of form and function tseng said it is really light
nexus one smartphones are built on the same android software that runs droid
smartphones that recently hit the market but feature innovations including
graphics according to tseng
google also launched its own online store at which the nexus one will be sold
nexus one smartphones will be sold at the google hosted web store for
dollars us unlocked without ties to telecom carrier
nexus one handsets will be offered at prices starting at dollars us if
paired with mobile service contracts in the united states
google has made strategic partnerships with telecom firm verizon in the united
states and vodaphone in europe
nexus one devices linked to service from verizon in the us and vodaphone in
europe should be available by mid year according to google
google said it will ship nexus one devices to buyers in the singapore hong
kong britain and the united states
nexus one smartphones are designed to work with variety of telecom carrier
networks
you can take out your sim card from any provider and put it in the phone said
google vice president of product management mario queiroz
the internet search and advertising giant has already gained foothold in the
market with its android mobile operating system featured in number of phones
starting with mobile in october and more recently with the droid
from motorola
but the nexus one represents significant departure in that google is selling
the google branded phone directly to consumers who will not be tied to any one
telecom carrier
apple popular iphone for example is available exclusively in the united
states through at amp
analysts have expressed concern that google wading into the smartphone market
could irk partners backing handsets based on the internet firm open source
android software
don see it as threat said sanjay jha chief of mobile devices at
handset titan motorola which recently brought to market droid smartphone
based on android software
think the nexus one is good phone think we will upgrade droid to the
software available on nexus one
chou and jha took part in the google press conference saying they supported the
internet firm new phone and web store as healthy expansion of the mobile
phone ecosystem
google executives sidestepped questions about whether the nexus one is intended
as an iphone killer but did say that it should prove to be powerful
competitor
the message isn to the iphone specifically it is to consumers said google
vice president of engineering andy rubin
choice is good thing all the technology we can build into phone is
available
brazil air force favors swedish fighter over lula pick report
brasilia jan afp
the brazilian air force first choice in the contest for seven billion dollar
contract for high tech fighter jets is the ng gripen by sweden saab and
not the government pick the french rafale folha de sao paulo reported
tuesday
citing an air force technical report the newspaper said the french jet was not
even the air force second pick for the new fighters the runner up was the
super hornet by us group boeing
the rafale an multirole fighter made by dassault had been seen as leading the
pack since president luiz inacio lula da silva and french president nicolas
sarkozy announced jointly in september that brazil was negotiating to buy the
delta winged aircraft
if that intent to purchase is confirmed it would be the first export sale of
the rafale possibly making it more attractive to other potential buyers
switzerland and india
but saab and boeing are fighting fiercely to land the brazilian contract
reportedly slashing prices to do so
lula government has said the deal is not yet done with dassault
it is waiting for an air force evaluation of the three contenders to be
completed still lula has stressed that the final decision is his and will be
based on political and strategic considerations
the priority for brazil is to acquire technology through the purchase so it can
end up with the capability to build its own st century fighters
folha said the air force preferred the swedish model because it was less costly
and potentially had better commercial possibilities and profit margins on
future local production of the french jet were theoretically less interesting to
local aviation giant embraer the folha report added
us to unveil new air security steps
washington jan afp
us president barack obama was unveiling tuesday tough air security reforms after
an attempted attack on us passenger jet as new details emerged about the
would be bomber
obama who has denounced systemic intelligence failures after the botched
christmas day bombing was huddling with his top national security and spy
chiefs at the white house to discuss the findings of two reviews
as the probe continued into the thwarted attack on northwest flight the
white house said the suspect year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab
was providing useful information during fbi interrogations
dutch prosecutors said tuesday that abdulmutallah had probably obtained the
explosives which were stitched into his underwear before he arrived at
amsterdam schiphol airport where he boarded the flight to detroit
at the moment it appears that he was already in possession of the explosives
before he reached schiphol the prosecutors office said presenting the initial
findings of an official inquiry
investigations spanning from west africa to europe to the middle east have been
trying to piece together abdulmuttallab whereabouts and actions leading up to
the strike when the explosives failed to detonate properly
abdulmutallab currently detained in detroit spent number of hours with fbi
investigators in which we gleaned usable actionable intelligence white house
spokesman robert gibbs said
responsibility for the christmas day attack has been claimed by al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap which has also urged attacks on western interests in
yemen
the us embassy in yemen reopened tuesday after two day closure prompted by the
al qaeda threats as us secretary of state hillary clinton warned unrest in the
arab country was threat to global stability
the us embassy said on its website that yemeni security forces had addressed
specific area of concern in the north of the capital sanaa on monday paving
the way for the reopening
the british and french authorities also closed their embassies while japan
suspended consular services at its embassy full services at the three latter
missions have yet to resume
the west has had long standing concerns that yemen country on the southern
tip of the arabian peninsula has become haven for islamic terror groups the
nigerian would be bomber allegedly claimed he was trained there
the white house said on tuesday it had decided not to transfer any more
guantanamo bay prisoners to yemen for now following the plot
the obama administration has been under intense pressure from domestic critics
and some friendly lawmakers not to send any more inmates back to yemen because
of fears they will slip into extremism
obama meanwhile was to make public remarks focusing on an initial series of
reforms to the us terrorist watch list system at pm gmt after his
meeting in the secure white house situation room us official said
the bombing attempt triggered an overhaul of us terrorist watchlists and added
dozens more suspects to no fly lists
further boosting security measures all travelers coming from or via terror
linked countries will have to undergo compulsory enhanced screening
nigeria one of the countries on the list on tuesday protested to the us
ambassador over washington new rules
made it clear through the us ambassador to the us government that this is
unacceptable to nigeria foreign minister ojo maduekwe told journalists
eu security experts will meet in brussels on thursday to discuss the emergency
measures amid privacy and health concerns over broader use of full body
scanners
spanish transport minister jose blanco said spain would not bring in additional
measures such as scanners without an eu agreement
he stressed any new security measures had to be compatible with the freedom
and privacy of individuals
miners in montenegro end week long strike
podgorica jan afp
sixty miners in montenegro largest bauxite mine have ended an eight day strike
after demands that wage arrears be paid were met one of them said tuesday
we came out of the pit and got written guarantees from prime minister milo
djukanovic that our demands have been met miner ratko batricevic told afp by
telephone
the miners locked themselves up in the pit of the zupa mine near the
northwestern town of niksic some kilometers miles from the capital
podgorica on december demanding payment of their wages
they decided to go down to the pit after the majority owner of the mine
central european aluminium company ceac of en plus group of russian oligarch
oleg deripaska said only two of five wages could be paid
the mine currently employes people it was expected that employees
would accept severance pay to voluntarily leave the company
zupa mine provides bauxite for the biggest montenegrin aluminium smelter kap
which is also owned by ceac
union leader ratko radulovic said the mine had not worked for year due to
kap lower needs
kap has been in trouble since last year owing to the global financial crisis and
the fall of aluminium prices on global markets halving annual production from
to tonnes
deripaska company in november reached deal with the montenegrin government
to share the ownership of kap to revitalise the plant
israel barak receives death threat over settlements media
jerusalem jan afp
israeli defence minister ehud barak has received death threat apparently from
jewish settler angry over temporary settlement moratorium israeli media
reported tuesday
if you think of destroying the settlements you are mistaken and will kill
you said the anonymous letter shown on channel news
if don succeed now then when you are no longer minister and have no
security around you the letter said
channel said the letter was received at barak office tuesday morning and
had been handed over to israel shin bet security agency
barak office declined to comment on the report
the defence ministry is responsible for implementing the month moratorium on
the building of new houses in settlements in the occupied west bank announced
by prime minister benjamin netanyahu in november after months of us pressure
nearly half million israelis live in dozens of settlements scattered across
the occupied west bank and annexed east jerusalem all of which are considered
illegal by the international community
western backed palestinian president mahmud abbas has said he will not relaunch
peace talks suspended nearly year ago during the gaza war unless israel
freezes all settlement construction
us revoking additional visas after plane plot
washington jan afp
the united states said tuesday it has revoked additional visas since the
christmas day plane plot amid continuing fears of terror attacks
additional visas have been revoked for people that we believe have suspected
ties to terrorism state department spokesman pj crowley told reporters
white house halts guantanamo transfers to yemen
washington jan afp
the white house said on tuesday it had decided to suspend transfers of
guantanamo bay prisoners to yemen following plot to bomb us airliner
apparently planned in the arab country
the obama administration has been under intense pressure from domestic critics
and some friendly lawmakers not to send any more inmates back to yemen because
of fears they will slip back into extremism
while we remain committed to closing the facility the determination has been
made that right now any additional transfers to yemen is not good idea white
