southern sudan could descend into new war unless the world community takes
action to salvage the peace accord that ended one of africa longest conflicts
five years ago aid agencies warned thursday
the agencies said lethal combination of rising violence crippling poverty
and political tensions has left the peace deal close to collapse as its fifth
anniversary approaches this week
it is not yet too late to avert disaster but the next months are
crossroads for africa largest country said the report co author maya
mailer from oxfam
last year saw surge in violence in southern sudan this could escalate even
further and become one of the biggest emergencies in africa in she added
in some people were killed and fled their homes higher
death toll than occurred in war torn darfur in the same period
the agencies said the rest of the world had largely overlooked the suffering
communities said women and children have increasingly been targeted in attacks
and the government of southern sudan and international peacekeepers had been
powerless to protect them
the peace agreement was struck between the sudanese government and the sudan
people liberation movement ending two decade civil war which cost two
million lives
the report said the next months would see number of potential flashpoints
including the first multi party elections in years and referendum in which
southerners would vote on whether to remain united with the north or to secede
and become independent
the aid agencies urged the un security council to ensure that protecting
civilians becomes priority for the un peacekeeping force unmis at this
crucial juncture
growing frustration over the lack of development in southern sudan was hampering
the chances of peace they warned
less than half the population has access to clean water and maternal mortality
rates are among the worst in the world aid distribution is held back by the
lack of proper roads in southern sudan an area the size of france
one in seven children die before they are five and percent of adults are
illiterate
francisco roque of save the children in south sudan said the region remained
one of the poorest on earth
people hoped the peace would bring economic benefits and development but this
has happened far too slowly and in some areas not at all
paul valentin international director of christian aid said sustained
diplomatic efforts from the international community were desperately required
this helped achieve what many thought was impossible and secure the peace
agreement in the first place now engagement is needed again to ensure all that
effort does not go to waste
britain minister for africa glenys kinnock who will visit sudan from sunday
insisted there was still time to avert new conflict
certainly would not say that conflict is inevitable there is still time and
we do understand what needs to be done she told journalists
kinnock said she would put pressure on the leadership in khartoum and the south
of the country to engage urgently in dialogue backed by concerted
coordinated targets efforts from the international community
such has been the terrible suffering and misery of the people of sudan it is
actually time now that real pressure was put on to make sure that all sides come
together in the interests of peace and stability
britain announced million pound million euro million dollar aid
package for sudan on wednesday of which million pounds will go into an
international humanitarian fund
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
music stars to drum for peace in sudan
khartoum jan afp
drummers from pink floyd radiohead and the police are joining other musicians
to drum for peace in sudan as part of an international campaign to press world
leaders to prevent more bloodshed in africa largest nation
the sudan campaign launched on saturday calls on global leaders to take
urgent diplomatic action over the next days to prevent all out conflict
returning to sudan statement by the organisers said
it comes as sudan marks the fifth anniversary of the north south comprehensive
peace agreement cpa which ended devastating year war between majority
muslim north sudan and the mainly christian and animist south
the cpa also paves the way for sudan to hold its first general election in
years in april ahead of key referendum on southern independence in
celebrity drummers are taking part in beat for peace film that features
drumroll starting in the war wracked nation and being picked up and passed like
baton between drummers in over countries including brazil egypt
france japan south africa and the united states
drummers will include radiohead phil selway stewart copeland of the police
nick mason of pink floyd as well as egyptian musicians yehia khalil and
mohammed munir and ghana mustapha tettey addy
nine organisations including amnesty international human rights watch and the
us group save darfur have joined efforts to organise the campaign along with the
drummers
gatherings are due to take place in dozen cities across the world on saturday
when the film will be launched on www sudan org and the front page of
youtube organisers said in statement
wanted to be involved in this project because think music is such
powerful way of bringing people together selway was quoted as saying
hopefully this film will show that together people can make huge noise and
through this film hope people focus will be brought back to what is
happening in the sudan over this very important next year selway said
five years after the end of the north south civil war the political situation
remains tense between the two sides while south sudan continues to be rocked by
bloodshed and deadly tribal clashes
at least people were killed in the remote wunchuei region of southern warrap
state over the past week the united nations reported on thursday
the dead were from the dinka people and local sources suggested they were
killed by rival nuer group but this could not be confirmed
since the volatile region of darfur in western sudan has also been the
scene of devastating civil war in which people have been killed
according to the united nations khartoum puts the death toll at
the next days will be critical for the people of sudan said drummer jamie
catto founding member of giant leap and faithless and the brainchild of the
film
this global drumbeat is cry for positive action from world leaders to prevent
conflict from returning
egypt mohammed munir added sudan has experienced too much pain and suffering
in the last three decades now is the time to make sure that the future is one
of peace and prosperity for all those in darfur and the rest of sudan
football togo want to quit cup after attack adebayor
london jan afp
togo captain emmanuel adebayor said many of his teammates wanted to leave the
african nations cup after gunman opened fire on the bus carrying the team to
the tournament in angola on friday
the manchester city striker told bbc radio five live in britain he would convene
team meeting at which the squad would discuss whether to stay in angola or
return to their clubs
two players suffered bullet wounds and driver was killed as shots were fired
at the togo team vehicles as they crossed into the troubled angolan province
of cabinda from congo brazzaville
adebayor told the bbc think lot of players want to leave don think
they want to be at this tournament any more because they have seen their death
already
most of the players want to go back to their family no one can sleep after
what they have seen today
they have seen one of their team mates have bullet in his body who is
crying who is losing consciousness and everything
so we will have good meeting tonight everyone will go to their room they
will rest and we will see tomorrow morning we will make decision which is
good for our life
adebayor who angolan television showed looking dazed and in tears shortly after
the attack added we are still in shock if the security is not sure then we
will be leaving tomorrow
don think they will be ready to give their life we will discuss everything
as team and we will take decision that we think is good for our career is
good for our life and good for our family
the two injured players were goalkeeper kodjovi obilale and defender serge
akakpo squad member thomas dossevi told afp
togo were due to play their first match in the tournament against ghana in
cabinda on monday
the armed wing of the front for the liberation of the enclave of cabinda flec
embroiled in decades long separatist struggle claimed responsibility in
statement cited by portugal lusa news agency
beware restaurant frozen meal calorie counts us study says
washington jan afp
weight watchers who swear by the calorie counts that many restaurants in the
united states display on their menus take heed the numbers don always tell
the truth
researchers at tufts university friedman school of nutrition science and
policy found that around half the dishes served in popular us restaurants
delivered more calories than stated on the menu with some packing double the
stated energy value
and the researchers found discrepancies in the portion sizes the restaurants
said they were serving and the actual size of the meal that showed up on the
diner plate said the study published in the january edition of the journal of
the american dietetic association
the researchers analyzed the calorie content of side dishes and main courses
from five popular sit down restaurant chains applebee denny olive
garden chang and ruby tuesday and sides and main courses from fast
food restaurants domino dunkin donuts mcdonald taco bell and wendy
ten frozen meals bought at supermarkets were also analyzed
on average restaurant foods were found to contain percent more calories than
what was stated on the menu and frozen meals averaged eight percent more
calories than stated on their packaging
those don sound like huge numbers but that really adds up over time said
susan roberts the study lead author
it the difference between maintaining your weight and gaining pounds she
told afp
some of the restaurant items contained more than twice the calories listed on
the menu including chang sichuan style asparagus
it delivered calories for gram serving rather than the calories
listed on the menu according to the testing done by the tufts researchers
frozen dinners fared somewhat better but even there three meals including
from weight watchers and lean cuisine delivered around quarter more
calories than stated on the packet
restaurant side orders were among the biggest villains often bringing more
calories to the plate and eventually the waist than the main food item of
meal
to illustrate the gravity of the problem imagine ordering veggie cheese
omelet at denny with side of dry toast
the omelet is listed as being gram serving with calories but the dish
analyzed in the lab by the tufts team weighed in at grams and calories
the seemingly innocuous side dish of dry toast was listed as weighing grams
and containing calories
but the dry toast analyzed by the tufts team was two and half times heavier
at grams and packed calories
if you re getting calories more that the difference between weight loss
and no weight loss roberts said
roberts was inspired to do the study after writing book called the diet
which took the results of volumes of research she had done during decades as
nutrition scientist and crafted them into weight loss program
in the process of doing the book decided to test the scientific menus on
myself have two menu tracks one you cook everything yourself at home and
did great on that lost lots of weight it was easy
then switched over to the supermarket track no cooking just pick up the
stuff in the supermarket or if you go out eat certain meals weight loss
completely stopped
came into the lab one day and said something not right don believe
the numbers in these foods
second study is being set up to delve more deeply into the truth behind the
calorie counts
angola vows to strengthen security at african nations cup
luanda jan afp
angola on friday vowed to strengthen security at the african nations cup after
deadly shooting attack earlier in the day on togo football squad en route to
the continent premier tournament
we are going reinforce and strengthen all security mechanisms for the event so
that we have all the conditions which will guarantee success tranquillity and
the security of people and their property sports minister goncalves muandumba
said on the state news agency angop
angola government reiterated its total commitment to guaranteeing everyone
security in communique read on national radio by manuel rabelais the
minister for social communication
he said nine people were wounded in the attack eight togolese and one angolan
and blamed the shooting on the separatist front for the liberation of the
enclave of cabinda flec
the flec group that conducted this terrorist attack came from the republic of
congo where they returned after committing this action he said
the driver of the bus carrying togo side to the african nations cup was killed
in the attack according to the country football federation
according to angop the attack took place at gmt friday as the togo team
which includes manchester city striker emmanuel adebayor and aston villa
midfielder moustapha salifou crossed into the northern province of cabinda
from congo brazzaville
cabinda one of four angolan cities hosting the can is physically separated
from the rest of the country by strip of the democratic republic of congo and
has been embroiled in long running independence struggle
deal was signed in which officially brought peace to the oil rich
province but flec has claimed several recent attacks and there were concerns
ahead of the tournament about possible violence
security alert on plane at london airport operator
london jan afp
authorities at london heathrow airport were on friday investigating security
alert on board plane bound for dubai amid reports that armed police had
surrounded passenger
spokesman for airport operator baa said can confirm there was security
incident on an emirates plane going to dubai
he said he had no further details about the incident and added it is only
affecting that one plane the rest of the flights at heathrow are operating
sky news television reported that armed police had boarded the plane after
passenger made verbal threat and took man off in handcuffs
the broadcaster showed photograph purportedly taken by passenger of police
in black overalls standing among passengers inside plane
the alert came amid heightened security at airports around the world following
an alleged attempt by young nigerian to bomb plane landing in detroit on
christmas day
one dead nine hurt in attack on african football stars
luanda jan afp
gunmen shot at buses carrying togo football team to the african nations cup in
angola on friday leaving one dead and nine wounded but organisers insisted the
tournament would go ahead
two players were among the injured while driver was killed as bullets sprayed
at the team vehicles as they crossed into angola restive cabinda province
from congo brazzaville according to togo official
many dived under their seats when the gunfire started squad member thomas
dossevi said the team one of the strongest in african football had been
fired on like dogs
two players goalkeeper kodjovi obilale and defender serge akakpo were
among the wounded dossevi told afp
the assailants were hooded and armed to the teeth we stayed under the seats
for minutes it was horrible
two english premiership players manchester city striker emmanuel adebayor and
aston villa midfielder moustapha salifou emerged unharmed from the attack
their clubs said
angola government denounced the attack by the separatist front for the
liberation of the enclave of cabinda flec and in statement reiterated its
total commitment to guaranteeing everyone security
flec embroiled in decades long separatist struggle said the team military
escorts were the intended target saying one person had been killed and three
seriously injured
this operation is only the start of series of targeted actions that will
continue in all the territory of cabinda it said in statement on portugal
lusa news agency
flec signed peace deal with angola government in but in recent months
has claimed spate of attacks on the military and foreign oil and construction
workers in the province
togo football federation said members of the team sporting administrative
and medical staff were injured all were being treated in hospital in cabinda
city
alaixys romao togolese player for the french top flight side grenoble said
the team was in shock and did not want to take part in the tournament
if it is possible there should be boycott of the tournament why not cancel
all the matches we just want to go back home romao told france infosport
television
his concerns about security echoed across the continent but organisers said the
games would go on
our great concern is for the players but the championship goes ahead said
souleymane habuba spokesman for the confederation of african football
he said the group vice president had set off for cabinda to find out first
hand what had occurred but questioned why togo had elected to travel by road
rather than flying
caf regulations are clear teams are required to fly rather than travel by
bus he said
togo one of africa top sides and who appeared in the last world cup in
germany were scheduled to start their campaign against ghana on monday in
cabinda
the other teams in their group are burkina faso and the star studded ivory coast
squad which includes chelsea striker didier drogba and barcelona midfielder yaya
toure
despite long running security concerns oil rich cabinda is to host seven
nations cup matches this month
angola as whole is only just emerging from year civil war which erupted
shortly after it received independence from portugal and finally ended in
new samsung remote control features tv screen
las vegas nevada jan afp
you re watching movie on television but really want to step away to fix
sandwich or nature calls when the game is tied and there are just few seconds
left
samsung does not want you to miss any of the action so the south korean
electronics giant is coming out with remote control with built in tv screen
the all in premium remote resembles an elongated iphone with screen for
viewing about the same size as the screen on the popular apple smartphone
you can actually use it to put the image that you re watching on to the remote
and take it into another room said samsung spokeswoman kimberly unland
the touchscreen device can come in useful in ways other than satisfying hunger
pangs or calls of nature
like say you re watching something and someone else doesn want to watch it
or say there two games you re following on at the same time the samsung
spokeswoman said
or if you re watching say blu ray on the tv you can watch something different
on the remote unland said
it also standard tv remote with all the functions you would normally get
she said although you can also use it to get files pictures audio and video
from your pc to your tv
unland said she didn know the range of the device but you could probably not
watch at your neighbor house
the all in one premium remote is scheduled to come out later this year with
samsung new series high definition tvs
us plane plot suspect says more in training report
washington jan afp
young nigerian charged with trying to blow up us airliner boasted during his
interrogation that some others were being trained to carry out similar
attacks cbs reported friday
british intelligence officials said umar farouk abdulmutallab had boasted
that close to other young muslim men were being prepared in yemen to use the
same technique to blow up airliners cbs reported
abdulmutallab friday pleaded not guilty to six charges arising out of the
botched christmas day bombing of northwest flight from detroit to amsterdam
he allegedly stitched two highly explosive substances into his clothes and
tried to detonate them as the plane carrying people approached detroit
but the device failed and instead abdulmutallab was arrested after being
overpowered by passengers and crew
he has since been interrogated by fbi and us agents who are leading the
investigation us officials have said he is providing useful leads
two journalists abducted body of one found in north mexico
saltillo mexico jan afp
police on friday found the body of one of two recently abducted mexican
journalists in saltillo northern mexico their newspaper reported online
the body of valentin valdes espinosa local news reporter lay outside hotel
along with warning message in the city in northern coahuila state the daily
zocalo saltillo said on its website
the text said this will happen to those who don understand the coahuila
prosecutor office said in statement
brutal competing drug gangs often send their adversaries grim warnings with
written messages beheadings or dismemberments
valdes body bore five bullet wounds and signs of torture the prosecutor
office said
the other journalist who was not named was abducted with valdes on thursday
night and third journalist who had been traveling in the same vehicle was not
taken according to the newspaper
mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press
according to international rights groups
total of journalists were killed in mexico in according to recent
report by the geneva based press emblem campaign pec
mexico north has seen the country worst suspected drug violence in the past
three years leaving more than dead despite military crackdown on
organized crime involving some troops
seventeen people were killed including two men who were tortured and hung from
tree in the past hours in northern chihuahua the country most violent
state local officials reported
swede picked for afghan un post us envoy
washington jan afp
the united nations has offered the job of top representative to afghanistan to
veteran swedish diplomat steffan de mistura the us pointman on the country said
friday
richard holbrooke the us special envoy on afghanistan and pakistan told
foreign policy magazine that washington was very pleased with the selection of
de mistura and looked forward to working with him
de mistura has the unanimous support of the us government holbrooke told the
magazine blog the cable
but the united nations denied that secretary general ban ki moon had made
decision
any announcement is going to be made by the secretary general the secretary
general has said himself that the selection process is not yet completed said
martin nesirky ban spokesman
the current un envoy to afghanistan kai eide of norway steps down in march
british prime minister gordon brown said his successor would be unveiled at
january summit in london on aiding war weary afghanistan
eide faced criticism from his former deputy american peter galbraith that he
failed to take action to prevent what international observers said was
widespread fraud in afghanistan election last year
de mistura has worked in the world trouble spots for more than three decades
he last year ended two years as the un special envoy to iraq
he was personal representative of the un secretary general for southern lebanon
from to and has also served in somalia the balkans and nepal
the new york times in an editorial last week had urged the united nations to
give the job to jean marie guehenno of france the former head of the un
peacekeepers
the newspaper saluted de mistura experience but voiced concern that his low
key style and bureaucratic instincts were ill suited to afghanistan at this
critical time
the new york times said that guehenno enjoyed the credibility to stand up to us
leaders and afghan president hamid karzai if needed
angola vows to ensure security at african nations cup
luanda jan afp
angola on friday vowed to ensure security at the african nations cup after
deadly shooting attack earlier in the day on togo football squad en route to
the tournament
angola government reiterated its total commitment to guaranteeing everyone
security in communique read on national radio by manuel rabelais the
minister for social communication
he said nine people were wounded in the attack eight togolese and one angolan
and blamed the shooting on the separatist front for the liberation of the
enclave of cabinda flec
the flec group that conducted this terrorist attack came from the republic of
congo where they returned after committing this action he said
the driver of the bus carrying togo side to the african nations cup was killed
in the attack
rugby union perpignan back to winning ways
paris jan afp
french top reigning champions perpignan returned to winning ways after poor
run on friday with win over racing metro
the catalan side bounced back from their recent european cup exit as they handed
racing metro second straight loss the club having last weekend seen nine
match winning streak ended by bourgoin
down at the interval perpignan rallied strongly with strong wind at their
backs to roar to the finish line and move back into the top three bagging an
attacking bonus point into the bargain leaving their european woes against
munster and league losses to toulouse and brive behind them
given the tough conditions we didn expect to land five tries we just wanted
the win said perpignan coach jacques brunel
jonathan wisnieski sent over an early penalty for the visitors but scrum half
nicolas durand went over with th minute try before penalty and drop goal
from wisnieski forced perpignan to chase the game once more
gavin hume and benoit bourrust then went over in quick succession as perpignan
gradually began to take control and although wisnieski landed third penalty on
minutes further tries from second rower olivier olibeau and farid sid at the
death sealed the win with something to spare
jerome porical kicked three conversions for good measure as perpignan survived
the absence owing to angina of skipper nicolas mas who was replaced by
bourrust
we showed our spirit out there tonight we put them under pressure and it paid
off tonight we wanted to go for it and we did just that olibeau said
on saturday french rugby giants stade francais and biarritz meet at the stade
de france with both looking for much needed victory to boost their flagging
morale after disappointing campaigns so far this season
stade fortunes have barely improved since australian coach ewen mckenzie was
sacked by owner max guazzini and replaced by former biarritz handler jacques
delmas in september last year while biarritz sit two places above them in sixth
but having already lost eight of their matches
delmas who guided biarritz to two domestic titles and european cup final loss
to munster before being sacked in has had to cope with massive injury
crisis with such experienced campaigners as south african born french
international centre brian liebenberg and italian captain sergio parisse on the
sidelines
biarritz french international flanker imanol harinordoquy will make his return
to competitive action after almost two months out with knee injury
leaders castres are away to montpellier on saturday with the hosts barely making
any changes to the side that defeated stade francais last weekend
only winger thierry brana and hooker mickael ladhuie drop out to be replaced by
benjamin thiery and fabien rofes respectively as montpellier bid to put dent
in castres title ambitions
sunday sees the mouthwatering clash between toulouse and clermont who ran
rampant against title pretenders toulon last sunday and who are determined
finally to land first ever title this season
rugbyu french top table
paris jan afp
french top standings after friday match played won drawn lost points
for points against bonus points points
castres
clermont
perpignan
toulouse
racing metro
biarritz
toulon
stade fran ais
brive
montpellier
montauban
bourgoin
bayonne
albi
rugby union perpignan back to winning ways
paris jan afp
french top reigning champions perpignan returned to winning ways after poor
run on friday with win over racing metro
the catalan side bounced back from their recent european cup exit as they handed
racing metro second straight loss the club having last weekend seen nine
match winning streak ended by bourgoin
down at the interval perpignan rallied strongly with strong wind at their
backs to roar to the finish line and move back into the top three bagging an
attacking bonus point into the bargain leaving their european woes against
munster and league losses to toulouse and brive behind them
given the tough conditions we dodn expect to land five tries we just wanted
the win said perpignan coach jacques brunel
jonathan wisnieski sent over an early penalty for the visitors but scrum half
nicolas durand went over with th minute try before penalty and drop goal
from wisnieski forced perpignan to chase the game once more
gavin hume and benoit bourrust then went over in quick succession as perpignan
gradually began to take control and although wisnieski landed third penalty on
minutes further tries from second rower olivier olibeau and farid sid at the
