putin said he had floated the signing of tripartite agreement between italy
russia and turkey on the pipeline and added that erdogan had agreed
turkey in november scrapped tender won by russian led consortium to
build the country first nuclear power plant but the two sides wednesday
signed joint statement on building nuclear facility
the two countries have also joined efforts to broker peace between ex soviet
states azerbaijan and armenia which are still technically at war over the
mountainous nagorno karabakh region
shared concerns over stability in the caucasus were tested as russia fought
brief war with georgia in august but moscow has since played role in the
recent rapprochement between turkey and its ally armenia
but putin said the issue of karabakh which is complicating the ratification
of deal re establishing diplomatic ties should not be linked to turkish
armenian relations
do not think it is right to put them in one package he said
russia is turkey main gas supplier accounting for about percent of the
country gas imports
yemen rebels insist they still control saudi border posts
dubai jan afp
yemen shiite zaidi rebels insisted on wednesday they remain in control of
border posts inside saudi arabia denying report from the saudi defence
ministry
al jabiri is still under our control rebel spokesman ali mustapha told afp in
telephone call
on tuesday saudi arabia deputy defence minister prince khaled bin sultan
said his country armed forces had retaken the small border village occupied by
rebels since fighting broke out in november
the infiltrators have been eliminated from al jabiri and the whole district
has been taken under our control he said
but mustapha said the prince statement was aimed solely at boosting the morale
of his troops our men took the post inside saudi territory almost month ago
because it was being used to fire rockets at us he said
the battle for al jabiri is not over the spokesman said adding that the
rebels were also in control of mountain areas inside saudi territory in jebel
el dukhan and jebel el daud
prince khaled had said on december that the bulk of operations against the
yemeni rebels was over although al jabiri in the southern province of jizan
remained under rebel control
saudi arabia launched operations against the rebels already locked in battle
with yemen military after accusing them of killing saudi border guard and
occupying two border villages on november
football algeria on the ropes target mali angola ko
luanda jan afp
world cup qualifiers algeria must win their next two africa cup of nations
matches to ensure qualification for the quarter finals coach rabah saadane
insisted on wednesday
algeria who are drawn in the same group as england in south africa were
never at the races in their shock opening loss to malawi here on monday
saadane is now looking for positive reaction starting with mali on thursday
and again against hosts angola next monday to seal their last eight place
saadane put much of the blame on algeria error strewn and lacklustre
performance on the hot and humid mid afternoon conditions in which they played
malawi thursday game is later at local time gmt and he reckons
that will be major plus
we have to take revenge on ourselves after our defeat to malawi he told media
here
we ll be starting at that good thing for us it ll be less hot than
at the time of monday kick off
he added we re aiming at taking six points from the games against mali and
angola which should guarantee our path to the quarter finals
we have to win both matches it not going to be easy but we ll be doing our
best
mali international frederic kanoute who was among the scorers in his side
remarkable comeback from four goals down to snatch draw against angola last
sunday says his team can afford to make any mistakes on thursday
it big game which could open the doors for us to the second round said
the sevilla striker and african footballer of the year
it ll be tough against good algerian side invigorated by their status as
world cup qualifiers but that won put us off getting good result
looking back on sunday fightback in which mali hadn scored one goal by the
th minute kanoute said mentally we responded well but it wasn sufficient
for mali team that is capable of much better
our start was catastrophic but we ll have sorted ourselves out by the time we
face algeria
canada to provide haiti with relief funds
ottawa jan afp
canada will immediately provide five million canadian dollars million us
to haiti for emergency shelter medical services food water and sanitation
services as well as protection international cooperation minister beverly oda
announced wednesday
we want to ensure that the immediate basic needs of the haitian people are met
quickly and effectively said oda
haiti is already the second largest recipient of canadian development aid after
afghanistan
haiti quake is devastating blow to un
united nations jan afp
the powerful earthquake that hit haiti dealt devastating blow to the united
nations which may have lost dozens of staff in impoverished country it was
trying to stabilize un officials said wednesday
un chief said tuesday magnitude quake tuesday which raised fears that
thousands may have been killed was tragedy for haiti and for the united
nations
the un mission in haiti minustah was hit particularly hard with its main
headquarters building in port au prince flattened and dozens of staff missing
including the civilian head of the mission hedi annabi of tunisia and his
deputy
ban said annabi was in the building along with to members of his staff
when the quake haiti worst in more than years struck after pm tuesday
the respected tunisian official who served as deputy head of un peacekeeping
operations from to was having talks with visiting chinese
delegation he added
in paris french foreign minister bernard kouchner said annabi personal
friend and all those around him were believed dead
the tragedy is the worst disaster to hit the world body since the august
suicide attack on un offices in baghdad in which people including un
special envoy sergio vieira de mello were killed
in december two suicide blasts targeting un offices in algiers killed at
least people including un staffers three of them foreign nationals
information on the full extent of the damage is still scanty ban told press
conference we are facing major humanitarian emergency and major relief
effort will be required
basic services such as water electricity have collapsed almost entirely we
have yet to establish number of dead or injured which we feel may well be in
the hundreds he added
he said he was sending edmond mulet the deputy head of the un department of
peacekeeping operations dpko and annabi predecessor to haiti to run the un
mission
and the un boss added that he was committed to visiting the impoverished
caribbean island himself as soon as practically possible
ban said the un system was mobilizing an emergency response team to coordinate
relief aid which was expected to arrive in port au prince soon
dpko head alain leroy said port au prince airport is operational
he added that at least five people were confirmed dead in the collapsed minustah
headquarters five story concrete building known as the christopher hotel and
located on the road to petionville
as we speak there are still over people unaccounted for under the rubble
we don know about their fate leroy said some people have been extracted
but only less than for the time being some dead some alive
we are extremely extremely concerned he added
at least brazilian minustah peacekeepers were killed and many others were
missing according to brazilian military official
brazil which is in charge of minustah military component and the biggest
contributor with soldiers sent its defense minister nelson jobin and army
chief general enzo martins peri to haiti to get first hand information
brazilian troops ringing the minustah building worked throughout the night to
extract as many people as possible from the building un officials said
in beijing the state council meanwhile said eight chinese peacekeepers were
buried under the collapsed building
and the jordanian army said three of its peacekeepers were killed and wounded
in the quake
john holmes the head of the un office for the coordination of humanitarian
affairs ocha meanwhile said his office would soon launch major flash appeal
for funds and had already released ten million dollars in emergency aid
washington said the first three us rescue teams would leave wednesday for haiti
between and us citizens live in haiti but it was not yet clear
how they had fared
un officials meanwhile said minustah other headquarters building located near
the airport and which serves as logistical base was also damaged but not
seriously
nearby argentinian hospital also escaped without severe damage and was
operating and receiving casualties
minustah which comprises troops and police has been deployed since
mid to help stabilize the impoverished caribbean island nation of eight
million people
tens of thousands of haiti casualties envoy to oas
washington jan afp
huge earthquake in haiti left tens of thousands of casualties the nation
envoy to the organization of american states told afp wednesday
there are tens of thousands of victims and considerable damage ambassador
duly brutus said without specifying the number of dead
in the name of the government am launching an appeal to the international
community to come to our aid
the most urgent need is to help the thousands of people who are still alive and
trapped in the ruins he added
more than ever before haiti needs the solidarity and the vision of its brothers
and the international community
he said the last quake of this magnitude to strike the nation was in and
devastated the nation second largest city cap haitien
jordan jails brazilian woman for cocaine smuggling
amman jan afp
jordanian military tribunal on wednesday sentenced three people including
brazilian woman to years hard labour for smuggling kilos of cocaine into
the country
two men jordanian and year old lebanese as well as brazilian
woman brought kilos more than pounds of cocaine from brazil to
jordan in order to take it to lebanon court official told afp
they were arrested at amman international airport in january last year
the state security court acquitted another year old brazilian woman because
of lack of evidence the official said
he gave no further details but estimated the value of the drugs at around
million dinars million dollars
the verdict can be appealed within days
last year the same court jailed two peruvian women for smuggling hundreds of
cocaine capsules into jordan in their stomachs
bulgaria foreign minister controversial eu candidate
sofia jan afp
bulgarian foreign minister rumiana jeleva whose nomination for senior
position on the eu commission in brussels has sparked controversy was little
known in her country until few years ago
the year old university lecturer appeared on the political scene in when
she was elected european parliament deputy from the then newly formed right wing
gerb party of the current prime minister boyko borisov
jeleva was re elected last june for second term at the european legislature
and deputy chair of the european people party faction
the petite blonde gave up her seat in the european parliament month later to
take up the foreign affairs portfolio
fluent in german and the holder of doctorate in sociology from the otto von
guericke university in magdeburg germany jeleva has held number of teaching
jobs
but analysts were sceptical about her suitability as bulgaria top diplomat
borisov decision to nominate her as candidate for the post of eu
humanitarian aid commissioner has fueled media reports of her husband alleged
links to powerful but controversial business group in the black sea city of
burgas
during an interview for the job at the european parliament development
committee earlier this week jeleva underwent grilling about alleged
irregularities in her financial declarations
in particular she came under fire for failing to list her position as manager
and owner of private consulting company global consult while serving as mep
between and
jeleva dismissed the rumours about her husband as speculation and argued that
global consult has not been active since she was first elected as european
deputy
but she failed to explain why she did not include the company in her declaration
regarding potential conflicts of interest
after the hearing parliamentarians said she had been vague in responses to
questions about her potentially future portfolio
sofia university political analyst vassil penev openly accused her of not
knowing where the gulf of aden was and even proposing to meet with the moderate
talibans in afghanistan
the development committee will issue statement on jeleva performance later
on wednesday
football strachan raids former club celtic to sign trio
middlesbrough england jan afp
middlesbrough coach gordon strachan has signed barry robson chris killen and
willo flood from his former club celtic the championship side announced on
wednesday
scotland midfielder robson has signed two and half year contract with the
option of further year after the two clubs agreed an undisclosed fee
flood former ireland under international and new zealand international
striker killen have joined the teessiders on free transfers with flood deal
running until june and killen until the end of this season
strachan had also hoped to take scotland centre back gary caldwell to
middlesbrough but he opted instead to sign for premier league club wigan
relegated from the top flight last season middlesbrough are currently in th
place in the championship having won just two of the games since strachan
took over following the dismissal of gareth southgate in october
middlesbrough meanwhile announced that egypt midfielder mohamed shawky has
joined turkish club kayserispor on free transfer
cricket sri lanka beat india to win tri series
dhaka jan afp
sri lanka defeated india by four wickets in the final of the triangular one day
series here on wednesday
brief scores
india in overs sri lanka in overs
seven dead in afghanistan koran protest shooting official
kandahar afghanistan jan afp
seven people were killed during protests in afghanistan sparked by rumours
foreign troops had desecrated koran an official said wednesday blaming
taliban for inciting the unrest
investigators sent to the southern province of helmand found that no desecration
of the muslim holy book had taken place in the military operation monday said
daud ahmadi spokesman for the provincial governor
the probe also found that only afghan intelligence officers had opened fire at
the protest the following day not foreign soldiers
all the responsibility lies with the taliban as it was the taliban who incited
the incident he said citing the report which was completed wednesday and
accused taliban of starting the rumours about the koran
neither international forces nor any american soldiers were involved in the
firing they arrived on the scene during the fray and protesters threw stones at
them there was no shooting at this stage he said
only intelligence officers opened fire
the investigation ordered by gulab mangal the governor of helmand followed
earlier reports that nine people were killed and up to wounded in gunfire
during the demonstration on tuesday by hundreds of people in gamsir district
officers of afghanistan national directorate of security nds had fired on
demonstrators in self defence after one intelligence officer was shot dead in
gunfire that came from the protesters ahmadi said
total of six demonstrators were killed and around were wounded he said
anyone with gun was not demonstrator he was taliban militant
the demonstrators had descended on the local nds office after word spread that
foreign soldiers had desecrated koran during an operation against taliban
linked drug dealers on monday ahmadi said
the crowd attacked the building in an attempt to free the prisoners he said
adding that the shooting started during this melee
the investigators found that when foreign soldiers arrived on the scene they
were pelted with stones by the demonstrators but did not open fire he said
the protesters fired at intelligence officials killing one the intelligence
officials fired back in self defence he told afp citing the report
earlier nato international security assistance force isaf said it had no
information to back up claims of civilian deaths in the incident but that
during the protest an insurgent sniper shot an afghan official who was within
fob forward operating base delhi in garmsir district
isaf service members identified the insurgent sniper shot and killed him
there were no other injuries or shots fired it added
civilian casualties are sensitive issue in afghanistan used by president
hamid karzai to criticise his backers in the international community and boost
support for his unpopular government
they are routinely used by the taliban in its sophisticated propaganda war to
whip up public hostility towards the troops fighting the insurgency
under us and nato command set to rise to this year
most civilian deaths in the war however are caused by taliban attacks which
include suicide bombings and remote control bombs that are exacting huge toll
on foreign and afghan troops as well
the united nations released report wednesday that found civilians killed in
the war jumped last year to making the deadliest year for ordinary
afghans since the us led invasion toppled the taliban regime
the vast majority of the dead were killed in taliban attacks the un mission
for afghanistan said by comparison civilians were killed in
civilian deaths caused by western troops fell percent last year compared to
the year before it said attributing the drop to measures taken specifically to
protect civilians
top bankers admit missteps in financial crisis
washington jan afp
top us bankers wednesday acknowledged mistakes that led up to the global
financial crisis as special commission launched its inquiry into the economic
calamity
the congressionally mandated member panel which has been compared to the
panel that studied the september terror attacks on the united
states began its first hearings on wednesday
while we were able to withstand the crisis and believe emerge as stronger
institution we like many others made mistakes admited jamie dimon chairman
and chief executive of jpmorgan chase
phil angelides chairman of the the financial crisis inquiry commission said
the forum may be our last best chance to take stock of what really happened so
that we can learn from it and restore faith in our economic system
if we ignore history we re doomed to bail it out again said angelides
former california state treasurer
the crisis which peaked in september triggered by home mortgage
meltdown sent financial tsunami across the globe slamming the brakes on
growth and plunging the united states and many other nations into the worst
recesssion in decades
the government pumped trillions of dollars into the system to save the world
biggest economy from collapse
more than seven million americans lost their jobs in the recession and nearly
million americans are unemployed underemployed because they could not find full
time work or have given up looking for work commission report said
in addition more than two million families have lost their homes in the last
three years and over million have been in the foreclosure process during that
period
goldman sachs chairman and chief executive lloyd blankfein said one of the
problems was that many financial institutions and investors outsourced their
risk management
rather than undertake their own analysis they relied on the rating agencies to
do the essential work of risk analysis for them this was true at the inception
and over the period of the investment during which time they did not heed other
indicators of financial deterioration he told the panel
he called for more efforts to enhance and improve scenario analysis and stress
testing
almost all of the losses that financial institutions sustained over the course
of the crisis revolved around bad lending practices particularly in real
estate blankfein said
the vast majority of the losses can be traced to bad credit decisions in
general and most of those can be traced back to bad real estate loans he said
but blankfein cautioned against overregulation including erasing financial risk
taking
taking risk completely out of the system will be at the cost of economic
growth we know from economic history that innovation and the new industries
and new jobs that result from it require risk taking he said
medical charity struggles to treat haiti quake victims
washington jan afp
international medical charity medecins sans frontieres struggled wednesday to
cope with massive influx of survivors of the powerful earthquake in haiti
many seeking help for severe injuries spokesman said
all of our health structures are either condemned or collapsed so we can use
them toronto based paul mcphun part of medecins sans frontieres msf global
emergency management team for haiti told telephone news conference
the medical charity has set up temporary structures in and around port au
prince but is able to offer only basic medical care to the huge numbers of
victims of the quake who have been pouring into the centers seeking help for
severe traumas head wounds crushed limbs said mcphun
we are able to provide stabilization basically first aid because we don
have the infrastructure to manage surgery right now and unfortunately what
we re seeing is large number of patients in critical condition mcphun said
port au prince has been without power since the quake struck shortly before
nightfall on tuesday and telephone lines were also down said mcphun
destruction widespread in haitian town of jacmel
washington jan afp
the earthquake that devastated haiti capital also caused widespread
destruction in the resort town of jacmel south of the capital witness said
wednesday
it is complete devastation here personally am lucky to be alive said
emmet murphy head of the haitian office of the us non governmental organization
adci voca
was driving back to jacmel in the mountains when the entire mountain seemed
to fall down all around me people were panicking building collapsed on the
roadside and huge dust plume raised from the valley floor
seconds later and would have been crushed by an avalanche that blocked the
road and had to abandon the car and continue on foot murphy said in an email
obtained by afp
the resort town lies south of port au prince which was devastated tuesday by
major strength earthquake
jacmel is disaster zone many houses are collapsed or severely damaged
everyone was on the streets when got to town there must be many deaths
judging from the way the houses collapsed and given the poor construction
practices and materials murphy added
in addition to many houses collapsed in jacmel town one hotel called the peace
of mind hotel collapsed completely and we fear that many perished this is on
the road to our office in place called meyer
murphy said displaced people were in urgent need of water but it was unclear
when any assistance would come their way
football strachan raids former club celtic to sign trio
middlesbrough england jan afp
middlesbrough coach gordon strachan has signed barry robson chris killen and
willo flood from his former club celtic the championship side announced
wednesday
scotland midfielder robson has signed two and half year contract with the
option of further year after the two clubs agreed an undisclosed fee
flood and new zealand international striker killen have joined the teessiders on
free transfers with flood deal running until june and killen until the
end of this season
strachan had also hoped to take scotland centre back gary caldwell to
middlesbrough but he opted instead to sign for premier league club wigan
angola mps to approve constitution next week state media
luanda jan afp
angola parliament was set to approve the country constitution next week
state media reported wednesday in move which should end confusion over the
long delayed presidential election
on the day of january the constitution will be approved state owned
national radio said
critics quickly accused the government of trying to stifle public debate by
holding the parliamentary vote while angola is hosting the africa cup of
nations the continent premier football event marred by guerrilla attack
that killed two of togo squad
president jose eduardo dos santos has been in power for years but has only
faced an election once in abortive polls that triggered new phase in
angola civil war
angola held parliamentary elections in six years after the end of its
nearly three decade civil war presidential poll was expected last year but
was put on hold to allow preparation of the constitution
committee on tuesday approved draft constitution put forward by dos santos
popular movement for the liberation of angola mpla has an percent majority
as it does in parliament
under that charter the president would be chosen through party list system
meaning dos santos would not have to face direct popular vote
the proposed system would also replace the position of prime minister with
vice president in order to give more power to the president who heads the
government and the armed forces
members of parliament are due to vote on the proposals next week instead of
march as originally expected
the government is taking advantage of the cup of nations to sneak this through
without any proper debate alcides sakala spokesman for the main opposition
party unita union for the total independence of angola told afp
unita has been highly critical of the reform process and the indirect election
idea which dos santos suggested himself during public press conference
this means it could be before we have any election because that is when
the parliamentary period finishes and it means the president will be merely co
opted rather than truly elected by the people sakala said
it total subversion of democracy he added
angolan journalist and activist rafael marques said the government hoped to mute
criticism of the charter by holding the vote during the football tournament
because of the football and what happened in togo the international community
will not be paying attention to what is happening and the vote will be passed
and the new constitution made law this is deliberate strategy he said
dos santos took over from angola first president agostinho neto in civil
society campaigners accuse him of clinging to power and manipulating the
constitutional process something the party has denied
bodies line the streets of port au prince
port au prince jan afp
streets in the haitian capital port au prince were lined with the bloodied
twisted bodies of the dead and injured wednesday after massive earthquake
ripped apart the city
as daylight rose after terrifying night rocked by scores of aftershocks the
pitiful cries of those still trapped rose up from under tonnes of twisted
rubble cement and metal
lacking heavy equipment in the poorest nation in the americas haitians
frantically dug with their hands as they sought to pull victims from the ruins
of port au prince witnesses said
hours after the magnitude quake wrecked even the capital most sturdy
buildings the dust and debris covered city was wracked by dozens more powerful
aftershocks forcing survivors to seek shelter on streets
people have been screaming and praying all over the place throughout the
night the catholic relief service which has operations in the country said
in message on the micro networking service twitter
two million people live in the densely populated capital of the impoverished
caribbean nation many of them crammed into flimsy shantytowns thrown up around
the coastal town and perched on its hillsides
president rene preval told the miami herald that he feared thousands had died
and launched an appeal for help we have to do an evaluation preval said
describing the scene as unimaginable
parliament has collapsed the tax office has collapsed schools have collapsed
hospitals have collapsed he said there are lot of schools that have lot
of dead people in them
first lady elisabeth preval told the daily this is catastrophe
stepping over dead bodies lot of people are buried under buildings the
general hospital has collapsed we need support we need help we need
engineers
as day broke over the largely unstable country where un peacekeepers have been
based since looting broke out with residents snatching items from
partially destroyed supermarket early wednesday
in just one terrifying minute at gmt on tuesday the earth convulsed
flattening buildings and casually tossing chunks of twisted metal and concrete
into the air hundreds are feared to have been killed
communications remained patchy wednesday as telephone lines were snapped and
the early prolific feed on websites and twitter appeared to have dried up
apparently as power supplies ran out
no corner of the city was spared from the wave of destruction witnesses said
with plumes of smoke and dust towering over port au prince many shanty towns
and its affluent suburbs alike
the normally gleaming white presidential palace on the central champs de mars
square was seen in ruins its central cupola now collapsed symbol of nation
upended
hospitals hotels schools and government ministries were also leveled
few residents dared to return indoors terrified of being buried in one of the
large aftershocks which continued to rock the nation
sara fajardo of catholic relief services told afp that staff were terrified the
shocks some measuring as much as would topple more buildings
most of the catholic relief services staff is going to be sleeping on the crs
office compound but they re sleeping outside because they re too afraid to sleep
indoors she said
