turkey georgia uae bankroll caucasus rebels russian television
moscow jan afp
militants in russia volatile north caucasus region of dagestan have received
financing from supporters in turkey georgia azerbaijan and the united arab
emirates television said saturday after special operation yielded notebooks
of expenses kept by rebels
the notebooks seized during special operation in dagestan conducted by the
federal security service fsb on new year eve shows the rebels had received
hefty donations from their foreign sponsors national television said airing
footage from the press department of the dagestan branch of fsb
tens of millions of rubles came from the united arab emirates georgia turkey
and azerbajan ntv channel said
the coffers were also replenished at the expense of dagestani businessmen from
whom the money was extorted ntv said
the money was distributed among various groups in dagestan and was used to
finance purchases of arms medicine and cars reports said
the notebooks belonged to one of the four rebels killed during the operation in
the town of khasavyurt reports said
among the killed militants was the leader of dagestan rebels umalat magomedov
also known by his nom de guerre as al bara spokesman for the dagestan branch
of fsb said
authorities have also seized machine guns grenade launchers and cell phones
containing rebels phone numbers
clashes between government forces and islamist rebels are common in dagestan
dagestan neighbour chechnya was the site of two bloody separatist wars after
the collapse of the soviet union and low level insurgency persists in
the region despite the end of major hostilities
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor martin bennitt
tel
top stories
somali to be charged with attempted murder of danish cartoonist
obama blames al qaeda affiliate in yemen for airliner attack
scores killed in blast at volleyball match in pakistan
denmark attacks media islam police lead
copenhagen
somali suspect shot by police while trying to kill danish cartoonist over
his drawing of the prophet mohammed remains hospitalised but authorities say
they plan to charge him with attempted murder
words gmt picture
us attacks nigeria obama ndlead
honolulu hawaii
us president barack obama for the first time accuses an al qaeda affiliate of
arming and training young nigerian man for thwarted suicide mission to blow
up us airliner
words gmt by stephen collinson
pakistan unrest rdlead wrap
peshawar pakistan
investigators sift through rubble after suicide car bomber detonated his
explosives filled vehicle in crowd watching volleyball game in northwest
pakistan killing at least
words gmt by lehaz ali picture
middle east
yemen unrest rebels thlead
dubai
shiite rebels battling government forces in north yemen tell afp they are ready
for talks with sanaa once the government declares definitive end to
hostilities against them
words gmt by mohamed hasni
americas
brazil floods newseries
rio de janeiro
brazilian rescue teams search for survivors after mudslide struck small
luxury hotel filled with new year revelers on an island southwest of rio de
janeiro killing at least people and leaving many others missing
words moved picture
asia
afghanistan unrest politics cabinet
kabul
afghanistan parliament votes on president hamid karzai cabinet nominees
nearing the end of long process that should fill the political vacuum with
government officials say
words gmt by sharif khoram picture
philippines volcano lead
legaspi philippines
thousands of evacuees prepare to return home after philippine volcanologists
lower the alert level around the mayon volcano indicating that dangerous
eruption is less likely three weeks after it began spewing ash and lava
words moved by tony macasinag
british flagged ship hijacked off somalia sofia
sofia jan afp
british flagged cargo ship with crew including eight bulgarians has been
hijacked miles kilometres off somalia the bulgarian foreign
ministry announced saturday
the asian glory which was hijacked on friday evening was transporting cars
from singapore to jeddah in saudi arabia
as well as the bulgarians including the ship captain the crew includes
ukrainians romanians and indians according to zodiac shipping which hired the
bulgarians
there were five bulgarians among the crew from nine different countries on the
st james park british flagged chemical tanker which was seized on monday in
the gulf of aden en route from spain to thailand
that ship is now on the somali coast and the crew have been able to telephone
their families foreign ministry spokesman dragovest goranov said
they are in good health and they have food and water he said without
indicating whether ransom had been demanded
die as trains collide in fog bound northern india
lucknow jan afp
at least people were killed and dozens injured in three separate accidents
involving trains in the fog bound northern indian state of uttar pradesh on
saturday police and railway officials said
in the first accident an inter city express rammed into the back of
stationary passenger train near the town of sarai bhupat kilometres
miles southwest of the state capital lucknow
additional police director general brij lal said passengers were injured
including three whose condition doctors described as grave
ten people were killed in the second accident minutes later when two other
express trains collided in similar fashion around kilometres miles
southwest of lucknow lal said
three of those killed were women rail officials at the accident site said
we have rushed injured passengers to hospitals but the condition of of
them is critical officer lal told afp
senior railways official srivastava said the impact in both train
collisions had been minimised by the fact that the trains were travelling at low
speeds because of the dense fog
in third accident passenger train slammed into tractor at an unmanned
rail crossing officer lal said adding that three people on the tractor were
injured in the mishap near allahabad city also in uttar pradesh
there were no injuries to passengers on the train he said
visibility at the three accident sites was down to around metres feet
the string of accidents threw train services into disarray across india rail
officials said in new delhi
obsolete safety measures and unmanned crossings result in frequent rail
accidents in india where more than million people travel on state run
railways every day
yemen rebels say ready to talk if war stops
dubai jan afp
shiite rebels battling government forces in north yemen told afp on saturday
they are ready for talks with sanaa once the government declares definitive
end to hostilities against them
when the war stops we will be ready for dialogue mohammed abdelsalam told afp
in dubai by telephone adding that he was reacting to an appeal from president
ali abdullah saleh
in an article published on friday to mark the new year saleh appealed for
reason from the insurgents
he urged the zaidi rebels also known as huthis to agree to the conditions laid
down by the government for return to peace saying they should cease
hostilities withdraw from official buildings and respect the law
if these elements accept this plea for peace the state will offer the hand of
peace he wrote in the government daily al thawra
abdelsalam said today we favourably welcome the proposal of the president of
the republic to renew dialogue which we view as positive gesture and step
toward peace and the re establishment of security and stability
saleh also called on the rebels to end their incursions into saudi arabia
saudi forces entered the fray on november after the rebels protesting against
alleged saudi backing for sanaa killed saudi border guard and occupied two
small villages inside saudi territory the previous day
abdelsalam said the rebels had never sought to attack saudi territory and were
simply acting to rebel saudi aggression against yemeni territory
sanaa has been engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebels since
on august government forces launched operation scorched earth an
all out offensive to stamp out the uprising among the zaidis minority in
mainly sunni yemen but the majority group in the northern mountains
the rebels complain of being marginalised and oppressed by the government which
accuses them of seeking to reinstate form of clerical rule that ended in
republican coup in the rebels deny the claim
aid agencies estimate that the violence has caused people in northern
yemen to flee their homes in the five years since the fighting first broke out
the conflict with northern rebels is just one issue threatening the stability of
the country
on other fronts al qaeda has been moving to make yemen one of the poorest
countries on earth base for its activities
long standing concerns about that were highlighted on christmas day when
nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was charged with trying to blow up us
airliner
umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly confessed to being trained by an al qaeda
bomb maker in yemen to blow up the plane as it came in to land in detroit
yemen is also troubled by separatist movement in the south
south yemen was an independent nation from the british departure until
when north and south united
the south seceded in may sparking short lived civil war that ended with
northern troops invading the region
british flagged ship hijacked off somalia sofia
sofia jan afp
british flagged cargo ship with crew including eight bulgarians has been
hijacked miles kilometres off somalia the bulgarian foreign
ministry announced saturday
the asian glory which was hijacked on friday evening was transporting cars
from singapore to jedda in saudi arabia
as well as the bulgarians including the ship captain the crew includes
ukrainians romanians and indians according to zodiac shipping which hired the
bulgarians
the ship is now on the somali coast and the crew have been able to telephone
their families foreign ministry spokesman dragovest goranov said
they are in good health and they have food and water he said without
indicating whether ransom had been demanded
urgent british flagged ship hijacked off somalia sofia
sofia jan afp
british flagged cargo ship with crew including eight bulgarians has been
hijacked miles kilometres off somalia the bulgarian foreign
ministry announced saturday
nine dead in china firework factory blast state media
beijing jan afp
nine workers were killed and eight others injured by an explosion in fireworks
factory in northern china state run media reported saturday
the blast happened friday at the xinping firecrackers co ltd in shaanxi
province destroying all of the seven workshops producing festive explosives
xinhua news agency said citing the local work safety bureau
more than people were in the factory at the time
the eight injured workers were taken to hospital four were in serious
condition
the factory boss qu pingxin who fled after the blast surrendered to police on
saturday xinhua said
china has huge fireworks industry notorious for its lax safety standards
the central government has announced number of campaigns in recent years to
make the industry safer but accidents mostly at illegal or poorly run
workshops continue to occur in the drive for profits
alert
british flagged ship hijacked off somalia bulgarian foreign ministry
tennis romanians stun home team in perth
perth australia jan afp
romania stunned top seeds australia with an upset win in their group tie
at the mixed teams hopman cup at perth burswood dome on saturday
with the tie split after the respective singles matches the romanian pairing of
sorana cirstea and victor hanescu shocked australia samantha stosur and
lleyton hewitt in the deciding mixed doubles
with cirstea continuing the good form she earlier showed in beating stosur in
the women singles and hanescu overcoming the cramp that plagued him in his
singles loss to hewitt the romanians won the doubles in straight sets
to clinch marathon tie
the opening day of the tournament got off to bad start for the australians
when the th ranked cirstea trumped the th ranked stosur in three sets
to give her side the early advantage
hewitt then kept the host nation in the tie with gritty three set win over
hanescu coming from set down to win
both hewitt and stosur boast grand slam doubles titles and the australians were
expected to be the most accomplished doubles team in the tournament but the
romanians had all the answers dominating the second set as stosur form woes
continued
cirstea was thrilled with her start to
for me today was perfect day she said
started with really good singles match and beat sam who is in the
world and is playing great
then coming out and playing mixed with victor for the first time in my life and
cannot expect more than this
having only been in australia for three days after spending christmas in much
cooler climes in his home country hanescu was exhausted by the end of the
doubles
am very tired it is very hot and humid here coming from romania after
white christmas and lots of food he said
earlier the nd ranked hewitt had his hands full against the towering hanescu
in marathon match that couple of times looked to be heading the romanian
way
however hanescu suffered from cramp in the dying minutes of match that went
to minutes
hanescu was clearly struggling in the last few games of the match and tried to
keep the rallies short by hitting winners and even attempted an underarm serve
on match point in the tie break
the world number sought treatment at the end of the ninth and th games in
the third set but was not allowed an injury time out under new rules introduced
this year that prevent players being treated for cramp during matches
hewitt himself appeared to be in little discomfort from right foot problem
at times but said he was in better shape when the match needed to be won
was glad the match went three sets because got better as the match went
on he said
was doing lot better than him can tell you that
hewitt also welcomed the change to the rules on cramp
cramp is lack of condition he said
for those players that do all the hard work there has to be some bonus for
doing all the hard yards and putting yourself on line day in day out and
think it is good thing
stosur seemed to have control of the match with cirstea after cruising through
the first set on the back of her powerful service
however cirstea started to find the range with her groundstrokes in the second
set stosur serve dropped off and she also started making elementary forehand
errors
it was the year old cirstea first win over stosur in three meetings the
australian winning both previous encounters in straight sets
yemen rebels say ready to talk if war stops
dubai jan afp
shiite rebels battling government forces in north yemen are ready for talks with
sanaa once the government declares an end to hostilities rebel spokesman said
on saturday
when the war stops we will be ready for dialogue mohammed abelsalam told afp
in dubai by telephone adding that he was reacting to an appeal from president
ali abdullah saleh
in an article published on friday to mark the new year saleh appealed for
reason from the insurgents
he urged the zaidi rebels to agree to the conditions laid down by the government
for return to peace saying they should cease hostilities withdraw from
official buildings and respect the law
if these elements accept this plea for peace the state will offer the hand of
peace he wrote in the government daily al thawra
abdelsalam said on saturday the rebels would announce their acceptance of the
government terms once it brings definitive end to military operations
against them in the north
sanaa has been engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebels also known as
huthis since
last august government forces launched operation scorched earth an all
out offensive to stamp out the uprising among the zaidis minority in mainly
sunni yemen but the majority group in the northern mountains
football bayern loan breno and ottl to nuremberg
berlin jan afp
bundesliga strugglers nuremberg have taken brazilian defender breno and
midfielder andreas ottl on loan from bayern munich until the end of the season
neither player has been able to command regular place in the starting line up
under dutch trainer louis van gaal who has also made it clear he wants to
offload some of his squad
bayern have already loaned out unsettled italian striker luca toni to roma as he
seeks to seal place in his country world cup squad
the year old breno was bought by bayern for million euros in january
but has never neen able to establish himself and recently made it clear
that he would prefer move back to brazil
the year old ottl is product of the bayern youth development programme but
he too has seen few first team starts
nuremberg who are second bottom of the first division recently appointed
dieter hecking as head coach in bid to avoid the drop
yemen rebels say ready to talk if war stops
dubai jan afp
shiite rebels battling government forces in north yemen are ready for talks with
sanaa once the government declares an end to hostilities rebel spokesman said
on saturday
when the war stops we will be ready for dialogue mohammed abelsalam told afp
in dubai by telephone adding that he was reacting to an appeal on friday from
president ali abdullah saleh
dead after suicide car bomb at pakistan volleyball game
peshawar pakistan jan afp
investigators sifted through rubble saturday after suicide car bomber
detonated his explosives filled vehicle in crowd watching volleyball game in
northwest pakistan killing at least
friday bombing marked bloody start to for pakistan which has seen
surge in attacks blamed on the taliban in recent months as islamist fighters
avenge military operations aimed at crushing their northwest strongholds
the huge blast was pakistan deadliest in more than two months triggering the
collapse of more than houses some with families inside in village
bordering taliban stronghold officials said
the attack was condemned by britain and the united states with us secretary of
state hillary clinton vowing her country would continue supporting pakistani
people in their efforts to chart their own future free from fear and
intimidation
the bomber detonated the explosives as fans gathered at volleyball court to
watch two teams compete in shah hasan khan village in bannu district which
borders the taliban stronghold of south waziristan
the villagers were watching the match between the two village teams when the
bomber drove his double cabin pick up vehicle into them and blew it up
district police chief mohammad ayub khan told afp
five more people died overnight in the government main hospital in lakki
marwat town raising the death toll to he said
six children and five paramilitary soldiers were among the dead he said
the bomber appeared to have used kilograms of explosives khan said adding
that three member team had been formed to investigate the attack
the tournament was organised by local peace committee who had supported
government operation to expel militants from the area khan said
it was the highest death toll from suspected militant strike since massive
car bomb on october killed people in crowded market in peshawar the
northwestern provincial capital
ramzan bittani year old driver told afp by telephone from local
hospital that he had left the match to take call
as was listening saw huge blue and white flash followed by an ear
piercing blast when was able to figure out what had happened saw bodies
and smoke all around my hand was fractured he said
anwer khan student said that he had just stepped out of his house and he
saw black pick up speeding up towards the spectators
giant flame leaped towards the sky there was bright light everywhere just
like flash and then very huge blast shook everything two pellets hit my
forehead and blood started flowing khan said
many of the injured complained of lack of facilities at the lakki marwat
hospital
there are no medicines and bedding available in the hospital and the government
should take note of the situation taj alam labourer with shoulder injury
told afp
he said that locals helped the hospital administration by bringing beds from
their houses for the injured
resident of bannu riaz ahmad said that pieces of human flash and dried blood
could still be seen on the ground adding that people were still sifting through
the rubble to find dead bodies and injured
khan the district police chief blamed the bomb attack on islamist extremists
who last year had been the target of military operation in bannu
meanwhile prime minister yousuf raza gilani told reporters in islamabad that
the government and the people were determined to wipe out terrorism from the
country
the entire nation is against terrorists he said their terrorist agenda is
foreign their agenda is to destabilise the government deteriorate law and
order and create fear and panic
gilani said that we have the ability and resolve to eliminate terrorists and
that the international community would help pakistan in this quest
security has plummeted over the past two and half years in pakistan where
militant violence has killed more than people since july
the northwest has suffered the brunt of the militants campaign with suicide
bombings increasingly targeting civilians
elsewhere militants blew up two boys schools and basic health unit in the
lawless bajaur tribal region late on friday officials said
pakistan northwestern tribal belt has become stronghold for hundreds of
extremists who fled afghanistan after us led invasion toppled the hardline
taliban regime in late
afptv advisory
paris jan afp
we will file the following videos
deadly bomb rips apart volleyball game in pakistan
peshawar pakistan
investigators sift through rubble on saturday after suicide car bomber
detonated his explosives filled vehicle in crowd watching volleyball game in
northwest pakistan killing at least
news
images to be transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
wild west in east thailand
pak chong thailand
in wide brimmed hats and breeches these cowboys look like they re straight out
of america wild west as they celebrate the new year with country music and
hearty steak dinner but this is thailand northeast region where an unusual
obsession with cowboys and indians has attracted thousands of revellers to
saddle up and join in the fun
culture amp lifestyle
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
we have filed the following videos
dubai to open world tallest building
dubai
once bustling dubai will open the world tallest skyscraper on monday boasting
new limits in design and construction hopeful of polishing an image tarnished
by the debt woes afflicting the gulf emirate
news culture amp lifestyle
voiced report
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
battling cancer with karate
paris
french cancer specialist is trying to help his patients combat their cancer
with the exercise of martial arts and yoga his claims that cancer symptoms and
resistance to treatment can be improved that way are backed up by scientific
evidence refile of previously offered report
health amp medicine culture amp lifestyle
voiced report
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
winter brings perilous conditions for french homeless
lille france
as temperatures drop over the winter months the situation for homeless people
becomes critical emergency workers in france are stepping up their rounds but
too often they have little more than sandwiches and coffee to offer the
destitute
special report
voiced report
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
contact
saya oka
afptv
place de la bourse
paris france
tel
fax
afp
urgent yemen rebels say they are ready for talks with government
dubai jan afp
shiite rebels battling government forces in north yemen they are ready for talks
with sanaa once it declares an end to hostilities rebel spokesman told afp on
saturday
strong quake hits western pacific geologists
hagatna guam jan afp
strong magnitude earthquake struck in the western pacific west of the us
territory of guam saturday us geologists said although there was no immediate
indication of any tsunami
the quake which struck at gmt was shallow with its epicentre
kilometres deep and kilometres miles west of guam capital hagatna
the us geological survey usgs said
there was no indication of tsunami from the us pacific tsunami warning centre
tennis federer and nadal on course for early showdown
doha jan afp
roger federer and rafa nadal will face the same question here next week when the
qatar open begins the atp tour can they possibly be what they were
tennis two greatest heroes will be wanting to answer that for different reasons
federer because of his apparent state of emotional bliss and nadal because
of his increasingly frequent physical problems
federer has the difficult task of finding new motivation now that he has
achieved every tennis goal of which he can ever have dreamed and gained new
focus in life with five month old twin daughters
nadal needs to end worrying eight months without tour title and to prove
that he can still challenge for grand slam trophies after what seems to have
become semi permanent knee problems
each player has been making optimistic noises as they must
federer cites two new inspirations with which to sustain his very high
standards whilst nadal sees his immediate difficulties as stemming from other
than chronic injury
federer scenario is the most innovative
want the achievement of competing against three generations of players he
said referring to his having started during the sampras agassi era continuing
in the nadal era and hoping to compete against the next wave of leading
players
and want to stay around long enough for my children to see me playing
federer said remark suggesting the year old may try to remain at or near
the top until he is that is tough ask
but nadal scenario admits more difficulties
he may have under trained he volunteers and for the first time agrees that to
succeed in future he may have to modify his schedule
because he helped spain to victory in the davis cup final only four weeks ago
nadal has had less than month of close season training and will he believes
start in worse shape than last year
believe that this year ll arrive little bit less prepared than for the
start of last season he told spanish sports newspaper as my preparation has
been short but good
he added did get the chance to be with friends for couple of days and
