on visit to pakistan which has come under intense us pressure to do more to
wipe out islamist extremists along its border with afghanistan gates said the
taliban had to prove they wanted role in afghanistan future
the question is whether they are prepared to play legitimate role in the
political fabric of afghanistan going forward meaning participating in
elections meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families he
told reporters
gates had said earlier that some lower ranking insurgents might be open to
making peace with kabul but warned that the senior most taliban leaders would
unlikely reconcile with afghanistan government
in washington on thursday us secretary of state hillary clinton unveiled
long term non military strategy to stabilise afghanistan and pakistan
the strategy aims to to rebuild the afghan farm sector improve governance and
bring extremists back into mainstream society
it complements military strategy in which president barack obama announced on
december he would deploy another us troops to afghanistan
extra troop commitments from nato allies are expected to take to around
the total number of foreign troops operating in afghanistan under us and nato
command in the coming year
no breakthrough in talks germany
berlin jan afp
talks in berlin on the troubled airbus military transport plane ended
without breakthrough on friday but the parties still aim to reach an agreement
by january germany said
the talks on thursday and friday among representatives from seven nato powers
that have ordered the aircraft and airbus parent eads were conducted in
constructive atmosphere defence ministry spokesman christian dienst said
the countries and eads are to meet again soon with the goal of reaching
solution acceptable to all by the end of january dienst told regular
government briefing in berlin
the seven countries have ordered of the aircraft for billion euros
billion dollars from european plane maker airbus but the project is three years
behind schedule and reported billion euros over budget
airbus has threatened to pull the plug unless the seven germany france
spain britain belgium luxembourg and turkey stump up more cash warning
that the fate of the european aerospace giant depended on the project
france has said it is ready to pay more as long as others follow suit but
germany is seen as more reluctant berlin has ordered of the aircraft and
france and are the two biggest customers
we stand by the but not at any price dienst said
french business daily la tribune cited an unidentified source on its website as
saying the programme needs an extra billion euros and that eads in berlin
had offered to provide million euros of this
contacted by afp eads declined to comment on the report
airbus has employees around europe with about working on the
state of the art new aircraft that can carry troops armoured vehicles
and helicopters which would replace europe ageing fleet of transport planes
the date and location of the next round of talks were under discussion dienst
said
german chancellor angela merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy spoke on
the phone on thursday but the was not among the issues discussed merkel
spokesman ulrich wilhelm said
instead the two discussed preparations for next thursday meeting in london on
afghanistan and upcoming franco german talks in paris on february wilhelm
said
new french ambassador accredited in kigali
kigali jan afp
france new ambassador to rwanda laurent contini was friday officially
accredited after three year breakdown in diplomatic relations officials here
said
let us remain modest and humble contini said when asked by journalists after
his meeting with rwandan president paul kagame about his projects
we are reopening the embassy we have ambitions to reopen the cultural centre
and the french school all that will take time it going to be difficult
task and long drawn out one he said
contini said french president nicolas sarkozy who is expected in rwanda on
february will spend around half day here adding obviously it very
important visit
sarkozy visit aimed at consolidating the renewal of relations in november
will be the first to rwanda by french president in some years
rwanda broke ties in after french judge issued warrants for nine
officials close to kagame who were suspected of being implicated in the shooting
down of former rwandan president juvenal habyarimana plane
habyariman death in is considered to have triggered the start of the
rwandan genocide of minority tutsis by the majority hutus some people
were estimated killed before kagame then tutsi rebel leader took power
relations with paris remained difficult as kagame accused france of backing hutu
extremists responsible for the genocide
haitians should not flee to the united states napolitano
toledo spain jan afp
haitains should remain in their quake hit country to help rebuild it instead of
trying to flee to the united states us homeland security secretary janet
napolitano said friday in spain
haitians who enter us territory illegally will be repatriated she told news
conference in the central city of toledo where she attended meeting of
european union interior and justice ministers
haitians need to be there to rebuild the country this is not an opportunity to
immigrate to the united states she said
only haitians in the united states before january the day the devastating
earthquake hit port au prince and surrounding areas will be granted temporary
protected status letting them continue to live and work in the country for an
additional months as humanitarian gesture she said
this is an indirect form of aid as they can send remittances to their
families napolitano said
us authorities have said that they have not observed any massive influx of
haitian boat people since the devastating earthquake although long lines have
formed outside of the us embassy in port au prince of people seeking
authorisation to travel or move to the united states
alpine skiing cuche wins kitzbuehel super
kitzbuehel austria jan afp
swiss star didier cuche won friday super world cup race at kitzbuehel for
his third win of the season and th overall
cuche world champion in the discipline won in min sec to land his third
success at the venue as he edged out austrian pair michael walchhofer current
super leader and georg streitberger by and sec respectively
football ferdinand in united comeback
manchester jan afp
rio ferdinand will play his first match in almost three months when manchester
united entertain hull on saturday united boss sir alex ferguson revealed in an
announcement that will be equally welcome news for england manager fabio
capello
the centreback last featured for united in defeat at liverpool on october
and has since been battling complex back injury which had led some to question
whether the year old would be fit for england world cup campaign at the end
of the season
rio has been training very well in the last few weeks ferguson told his
regular friday press conference he will play tomorrow
the scot added this is the time to bring him back we have gone through the
whole situation with him in terms of enough training and endurance work
it is big boost because the defence has been the weakest part of our game
this season
at various times we have lost ferdinand nemanja vidic edwin van der sar john
shea it has been rough time so to get them back can only be good for us
with chelsea and arsenal involved in the fa cup this weekend united can return
to the top of the premier league with victory over struggling hull
united then follow that fixture with visit to the emirates before arsene
wenger club face chelsea the following week
ferguson said the nature of this league is that points are being dropped
everywhere if you win your games consistently you re top of the league and
that the best place to be
arsenal proved that recently they ve won their games and now they re top of
the league having been written off few weeks ago that the nature of the
league this season
but tomorrow is an opportunity for us to get that top position arsenal for
us next sunday is massive game and then they play chelsea the week after so
it interesting times now
you got to win your games now and hopefully we can see light at the end
of the tunnel with the defenders being back and goalkeeper edwin van der sar
being back
while the general injury news for united is good england midfielder owen
hargreaves still appears no closer to return from the knee injury which has
seen him sidelined since september
although ferguson intends to name him in the united squad for the next phase of
the champions league hargreaves has no return date set
owen is training with the reserves and is now into two days on one day off as
he prepares to get to the proper fitness levels said ferguson
it is process and hopefully we get to the point where he feels confident
about playing
boat lands migrants in corsica
bonifacio corsica jan afp
boatload of illegal migrants landed on beach in corsica on friday
maritime authorities on the french mediterranean island said
the migrants including women and children were dropped off near the
southern town of bonifacio by boat which then departed officials said the
migrants were being taken to gymnasium to be treated by doctors and aid staff
they were put ashore from boat by traffickers apparently on thursday
evening but were not discovered on the isolated beach until friday morning
corsican official said
he said the migrants were believed to be from the middle east or north africa
officials had said earlier that some of them were believed to be from iraq or
syria
spokesman for the local maritime authorities bernard celier said they were
patrolling to see if there were other trafficking vessels nearby and police and
helicopters were scanning the shore for migrants
yen rises on safe haven flows
london jan afp
the yen rose friday against the dollar boosted by safe haven flows as
prospects for the global economy dimmed in light of recent economic data and
moves by governments to curb lending dealers said
against the japanese unit the dollar slid to yen from yen late in
new york on thursday
the european single currency rose to dollars which compared with
late on thursday
risk appetite has receded since the end of last year because of lacklustre
economic data in the united states europe and japan as well as recent signs
china is moving to cool an overheating economy dealers said
hopes for sustainable global recovery declined as stocks fell in response to
us president barack obama proposal unveiled on thursday to limit the size and
scope of us banks and finance firms
optimism for global economic recovery is receding prompting investors to
reduce their risky positions and favoring the yen as safe haven said
mitsubishi ufj trust and banking currency strategist toshihiko sakai
investors were waiting for more details surrounding obama plan which would in
effect force financial institutions to choose between commercial banking and
proprietary trading
obama laid out tough programme on thursday to limit excessive risk taking
and protect us taxpayers by preventing banks or financial institutions from
owning investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail vowed obama
citi analyst michael hart said that the obama proposals had sparked move away
from riskier currencies
following week during which risk aversion kept on rising sentiment reached
new trough after president obama yesterday outlined his plans to curtail
financial sector risk taking hart said
on thursday meanwhile the euro had stuck six month low against the dollar as
worries that china will cool its booming economy curbed demand for risk
sensitive currencies
in london on friday the euro was changing hands at dollars against
dollars late on thursday yen pounds and
swiss francs
the dollar stood at yen and swiss francs
the pound was at dollars
on the london bullion market the price of gold dipped to dollars an ounce
from dollars on thursday
urgent children missing from haiti hospitals unicef
geneva jan afp
children have gone missing from hospitals in haiti since the devastating
earthquake struck raising fears of trafficking for adoption abroad the un
children fund unicef said friday
armenia warns of breakdown in turkey reconciliation
yerevan jan afp
historic efforts to establish ties between armenia and turkey may break down
the armenian foreign minister warned on friday blaming ankara for obstructing
the process
if turkey is not ready to ratify the protocols if it continues to speak in
ultimatums to set preconditions and to obstruct the process then do not
exclude that negotiations will break down eduard nalbandian said at press
conference
his comments came after armenian and turkish efforts to establish ties after
decades of hostility hit fresh snags this week as the two sides traded
accusations of trying to modify the landmark deal
turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan accused yerevan of trying to
doctor the agreement saying that ruling by armenia constitutional court
this month had set new conditions
nalbandian dismissed ankara accusations as absurd
statements by turkey that the constitutional court decision creates
preconditions or contradicts the principles of the protocols do not
correspond with reality and are absurd he said
these statements will not be believed not only in the international community
but also in turkey itself he said
yerevan has accused turkey of trying to set new conditions on the deal by
linking it with armenia conflict with turkish ally azerbaijan over the
disputed nagorny karabakh region
nalbandian said he did not expect breakthrough in talks on karabakh in the
near future
it is difficult to say what will happen in if the azerbaijani side shows
more constructive approach then there may be changes but cannot say that in
the near future we can expect breakthrough he said
turkey and armenia signed two protocols in october to establish diplomatic ties
and reopen their shared border in deal hailed as historic step towards
ending decades of hostility stemming from world war era massacres of armenians
under ottoman turkish rule
armenia constitutional court on january upheld the legality of the
agreement but also said the two protocols cannot be interpreted to contradict
paragraph in armenia declaration of independence that refers to the
genocide in ottoman turkey and western armenia
turkey refusal to establish ties with armenia stems in part from yerevan
attempts to have the massacres internationally recognised as genocide
references to western armenia are also sensitive as some in turkey see use of
the term as making territorial claims on areas in eastern anatolia
neither country parliament has yet ratified the two protocols
turkish officials have repeatedly said the agreements will not be ratified
without progress in the dispute over nagorny karabakh
backed by yerevan ethnic armenian separatists seized control of karabakh and
seven surrounding districts from azerbaijan during war in the early that
claimed an estimated lives
turkey closed its border with armenia in in show of solidarity with
azerbaijan with which it has strong ethnic trade and energy links against
yerevan support for the enclave separatists
the head of armenia parliament said last month that it will not ratify the
deal before the turkish parliament does
no breakthrough in talks germany
berlin jan afp
talks in berlin on the troubled airbus military transport plane ended
without breakthrough on friday but the parties still aim to reach an agreement
by january germany said
the talks on thursday and friday among representatives from seven nato powers
that have ordered the aircraft and airbus parent eads were conducted in
constructive atmosphere defence ministry spokesman christian dienst said
the countries and eads are to meet again soon with the goal of reaching
solution acceptable to all by the end of january dienst told regular
government briefing in berlin
the seven countries have ordered of the aircraft for billion euros
billion dollars from european plane maker airbus but the project is three years
behind schedule and reported billion euros over budget
airbus has threatened to pull the plug unless the seven germany france
spain britain belgium luxembourg and turkey stump up more cash warning
that the fate of the european aerospace giant depended on the project
france has said it is ready to pay more as long as others follow suit but
germany is seen as more reluctant berlin has ordered of the aircraft and
france and are the two biggest customers
we stand by the but not at any price dienst said
french business daily la tribune cited an unidentified source on its website as
saying the programme needs an extra billion euros and that eads in berlin
had offered to provide million euros of this
contacted by afp eads declined to comment on the report
airbus has employees around europe with about working on the
state of the art new aircraft that can carry troops armoured vehicles
and helicopters which would replace europe ageing fleet of transport planes
the date of location of the next round of talks was under discussion dienst
said
ge beats expectations with billion dollar profit in th quarter
new york jan afp
us mega firm general electric on friday reported better than expected net
profits of billion dollars for the last quarter of
ge environment has improved and we saw some encouraging signs at year end
chairman and ceo jeff immelt said
brazil ups aid for haiti as other neighbors pitch in
brasilia jan afp
haiti latin american neighbors have stepped up support for the earthquake
ravaged nation with brazil stumping up million dollars worth of assistance
and cuba launching drive for blood donors
the brazilian government on thursday adopted measures that would take assistance
to million dollars according to the junior minister alexandre padilha
some million dollars of the aid will go toward brazilian army mission to
the country which will reinforce the brasilia led un peacekeepers
brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva is soon expected to send to
congress proposal to double brazilian troop numbers in haiti from to
in havana the cuban government launched nation wide drive for blood donations
to help their caribbean neighbor
cuba currently has medics working on the ground in haiti
meanwhile guatemala announced that it was offering asylum to haitians
allowing them to stay in guatemala for an indefinite period
officials told afp the group had arrived in guatemala aboard an air force plane
from port au prince
tennis perfect murray breezes into open fourth round
melbourne jan afp
andy murray serve was back in the groove as the scot maintained his impeccable
australian open form by advancing to the fourth round with straight sets win
over frenchman florent serra on friday
the year old equalled his best ever performance here with the
win and has not dropped set in three matches as he takes aim at maiden
grand slam title
the fifth seed out to become the first british man to win grand slam since
will face giant american john isner in the next round and then quarter
final against defending champion and world number two rafael nadal looms
but murray the us open runner up said he was not looking beyond isner to
the spaniard
isner is playing really well and won the tournament last week he said
the guy is and has close to the best serve on the tour
ve got to try to take care of that one first
serra who won five setter against jarkko nieminen in the second round came
out aggressively in the first set and traded groundstrokes with the scot
murray got an early break to race to lead but serra soon fought back to
level the set
the pair both played some fantastic passing shots until murray made what
appeared to be pivotal break in the eighth game on the back of three brilliant
passing shots
however murray was broken to love as he attempted to serve for the set
murray broke straight back again and made no mistake the second time he served
for the match another big forehand securing the set
serra was unable to regroup and murray dominated the remainder of the match
unveiling his full repertoire of shots thumping down aces and hitting
winners
murray was delighted with how he played and particularly his serve
don think my serve is an issue at all he said
everyone is panicking about my serve but happy with how it gone
it got better in each match like thought it would and when the important
moments have come ve served well and that the most important thing
two shots the first running forehand pass in the first set and the second
an audacious backhand chip in the third set were as good as any shot will be
played this fortnight
the only scare for murray was when he clutched at his back after stretching for
backhand late in the first set
however he said it was nothing to worry abput
sometimes it happens on these courts he said
they re just really sticky
it back just gets little bit stiff but it was fine
murray charge towards victory was temporarily stalled during the third set
when serra reluctantly had scrape on his arm attended to
the scot growing confidence was displayed when he passed the time by balancing
his racquet on the end of his finger to entertain the crowd
nigerian cabinet gets days to decide on ailing president
abuja jan afp
the high court in nigeria on friday gave the cabinet days to decide if ailing
president umaru yar adua was fit to stay in office
judge dan abutu directed the cabinet to resolve whether the president in
hospital in saudi arabia since november is incapable of discharging the
function of his office
hungary to go to polls on april
budapest jan afp
hungary will hold general election on april with second round of voting
set for april president laszlo solyom announced friday
the official announcement of the date of the vote is the starting gun for the
election campaign
under the hungarian constitution there are two rounds of voting in the general
election two weeks apart
the second round is held in constituencies where turnout in the first round is
less than percent or no candidate wins sufficient majority
according to the latest polls conservative opposition party fidesz looks set to
win over the current socialist administration of prime minister gordon bajnai
according to poll by median fidesz would win more than two thirds of votes
followed by the socialists with percent and the far right jobbik party with
percent
this would mean jobbik being represented in parliament for the first time
the socialists won out of total parliamentary seats in the last
general election in compared with fidesz with seats
but the socialists have seen their popularity nosedive since the then prime
minister ferenc gyurcsany admitted lying in the election campaign
gyurcsany stepped down last april amid criticism over his handling of the
economic crisis where hungary was forced to ask for bailout from the
international monetary fund
his successor gordon bajnai has prescribed deep spending cuts and drastic
belt tightening measures further eroding the popularity of the socialists in
favour of the right wing opposition fidesz and the far right jobbik which so
far has not held seat in parliament
bal spm mb
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
we shall move the following graphics
haiti quake toll map
updated graphic on the devastation caused by the haiti earthquake
text slug haiti quake
mm
available now
sri lanka factfile
factfile on sri lanka set for presidential elections on tuesday
text slug srilanka vote violence
mm wide
available now
us military japan guam map
map locating guam where around us military personnel and their families
are set to relocate from southern japan
text slug guam us japan defence
mm
available now
jesus scopes
graphic on the controversial biblical messages inscribed on us manufactured
combat weapons that have been bought by british new zealand and australian
military units
text slug us military religion weapons
mm
available now
japan stocks
chart showing changes in japan benchmark nikkei index
text slug stocks japan
mm
available now
hong kong stocks
chart showing changes in hong kong hang seng index
text slug stocks hongkong
mm
available now
asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
mm
available now
still available
haiti quake graphics
usns comfort hospital ship mm
un mission factfile mm
identification using dna mm
search and rescue methods mm
tectonic plates caribbean map mm
earthquakes world mm
country factfile mm
china economic data released thursday
gdp mm
industrial output mm
consumer prices mm
urban fixed asset investment mm
retail sales mm
moved earlier
afghanistan uruzgan map mm
yemen maarib map mm
full body scanner factfile mm
solar powered plane factfile mm
multiple sclerosis factfile mm
tasmanian devil factfile mm
paris hong kong
tel
tennis perfect murray breezes into open fourth round
melbourne jan afp
andy murray serve was back in the grrove as the scot maintained his impeccable
australian open form by advancing to the fourth round with straight sets win
over frenchman florent serra on friday
the year old equalled his best ever performance here with the
win and has not dropped set in three matches as he takes aim at maiden
grand slam title
the fifth seed out to become the first british man to win grand slam since
will face giant american john isner in the next round and then quarter
final against defending champion and world number two rafael nadal looms
but murray the us open runner up said he was not looking beyond isner to
the spaniard
isner is playing really well and won the tournament last week he said
the guy is and has close to the best serve on the tour
ve got to try to take care of that one first
serra who won five setter against jarkko nieminen in the second round came
out aggressively in the first set and traded groundstrokes with the scot
murray got an early break to race to lead but serra soon fought back to
level the set
the pair both played some fantastic passing shots until murray made what
appeared to be pivotal break in the eighth game on the back of three brilliant
passing shots
however murray was broken to love as he attempted to serve for the set
murray broke straight back again and made no mistake the second time he served
for the match another big forehand securing the set
serra was unable to regroup and murray dominated the remainder of the match
unveiling his full repertoire of shots thumping down aces and hitting
winners
murray was delighted with how he played and particularly his serve
don think my serve is an issue at all he said
everyone is panicking about my serve but happy with how it gone
it got better in each match like thought it would and when the important
moments have come ve served well and that the most important thing
two shots the first running forehand pass in the first set and the second
an audacious backhand chip in the third set were as good as any shot will be
played this fortnight
