americas
us it books media internet ces
las vegas nevada
flood of electronic book readers hits the annual international gadgets show in
las vegas as manufacturers seek to steal the limelight from amazon kindle
words moved by chris lefkow
spain hopes to speed up turkey eu talks
madrid jan afp
spain which has assumed the rotating eu presidency hopes to speed up turkey
passage towards european union membership foreign minister miguel angel
moratinos said on friday
he said he hoped to open talks on another four of the policy chapters which
all eu candidate nations must successfully negotiate prior to membership
madrid has long backed turkey entry into the eu move opposed by
heavyweights like france and germany which have proposed privileged
partnership between the bloc and the mainly muslim country rather than full eu
membership
we have four chapters in mind and we hope to open them moratinos told
reporters in madrid
the biggest hurdle to turkey eu membership is its lack of relations with
cyprus
eight chapters remain totally blocked due to ankara failure to open its
borders to eu member cyprus
cyprus itself has reserved the right to block six others
the island of cyprus has been divided since when turkey occupied the north
in response to an athens engineered coup in nicosia aimed at uniting the island
with greece
we are trying to get some progress in the talks on cyprus said moratinos
we know it very tricky issue but hope the negotiations about the future
of the island will present some results some openings he added
last month the eu nations opened talks with turkey on the policy chapter on
environment bringing the total of chapters opened to since its eu accession
talks began in
however so far only one of these has been successfully negotiated and closed
in contrast croatia which opened formal eu accession talks at the same time as
turkey has just handful of chapters still to open and has already completed
spain will hold the eu presidency for the first six months of this year making
moratinos plan seem at least ambitious
all the negotiators in the cyprus talks including turkey and greece are aware
of the timing factor moratinos stressed referring to elections to be hold in
april in the island turkish north when partisan hardliners could win the day
last month the island president demetris christofias greek cypriot and
turkish cypriot leader mehmet ali talat agreed to intensify the united nations
led peace process in efforts to reunify the long divided island this year
myanmar sentences two to death for korea leak
yangon jan afp
court in myanmar has sentenced two officials to death for leaking confidential
information sources said friday in case reportedly involving secret trips by
junta leaders to north korea and russia
the men were arrested last year after details and photos were passed to exiled
media about the visits by senior regime officials and about military tunnels
built in myanmar by nuclear armed north korea reports said
third man was jailed for years official sources said
two officials got the death sentence and another one was jailed for years
for leaking information they were sentenced at the special court in insein
prison on thursday an official source said on condition of anonymity
the two condemned men were retired army major win naing kyaw and foreign
ministry official thura kyaw while the jailed man was pyan sein also foreign
ministry employee the sources said
myanmar formerly known as burma and ruled by the army since has the death
penalty but sentences are almost always commuted to life imprisonment
details about possible links between north korea and military ruled myanmar
prompted the united states to express concerns about regional security even as
washington pursued new policy of engagement with the junta
thursday sentences were passed under the state emergency act for leaking
military secrets the website of thailand based irrawaddy magazine said citing
sources at the notorious jail in yangon where hundreds of dissidents are held
it said win naing kyaw also received year sentence for violation of the
electronic act and holding illegal foreign currency the act prohibits sending
information photos or video damaging to the regime abroad via the internet
the leaks by the three men included details of trip to communist north
korea by junta number three general shwe mann who is also the joint chief of
staff of myanmar armed forces exile run media said
shwe mann visit involved procuring arms and discussing tunnel building and
other matters irrawaddy reported
the men were also accused of leaking pictures of the alleged secret network of
tunnels built by north korean experts inside myanmar which were published in
june by the democratic voice of burma dvb based in oslo norway
the documents the men released further showed that junta number two maung aye
visited russia in to discuss the procurement of guided missile system
with moscow officials the dvb said on its website friday
the myanmar government has not commented on the allegations
the death sentences imposed thursday were part of wave of harsh punishments
handed down by myanmar courts as the regime cracks down on dissent ahead of
elections promised by the generals some time in
dozens of other officials in the defence and foreign ministries were arrested
after the leaks but the status of their cases is not known irrawaddy said
video journalist who had worked with the dvb was last week jailed for years
for violating the electronics act rights groups said wednesday although they
did not mention any link with the myanmar north korea case
myanmar severed ties with pyongyang in following failed assassination
attempt by north korean agents on then south korean president chun doo hwan as
he visited the southeast asian nation the attempt left people dead
but with both countries branded outposts of tyranny by the united states in
recent years they later sought to rebuild relations
during visit to thailand in july us secretary of state hillary clinton said
north korea could be sharing atomic technology with myanmar posing major
threat to the region
but the obama administration has recently sought engagement with the junta
despite its continued detention of pro democracy icon aung san suu kyi and
alleged rights abuses
ugandan ministers contest anti gay bill
kampala jan afp
senior ugandan minister on friday came out against proposed new law calling
for punishment up to the death penalty for gays which has faced international
condemnation
the government position is that the existing provisions in our penal code
against homosexuality are strong enough and that this new bill is not
necessary aston kajara the state minister for investments told afp
the penal code already sufficiently covers this issue he added
another top minister contested kajara comments however
ethics minister james nsaba buturo staunch supporter of the bill who has
repeatedly stated that homosexuals can forget about human rights said kajara
could not speak on behalf of government would be the right person to speak
for government on this issue not mr kajara buturo told afp
the bill already before parliament would impose the death penalty for
aggravated homosexuality including by those who are hiv positive
it would also criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and could penalise
an individual who knowingly rented property to homosexual
homosexuality is already illegal in uganda punishable by terms of imprisonment
of up to life
the bill has sparked widespread condemnation by rights groups and western
nations who have criticised it as setback to equal rights
last month buturo told reporters nobody nobody nobody has the right to think
for ugandans nobody has the right to impose their values on sovereign state
ireland policeman seriously injured by car bombing
belfast jan afp
northern ireland policeman was on friday seriously injured in car bomb
attack after device was planted under his vehicle police said
the police officer was on his way to work when the device went off in
randalstown northwest of belfast
serving police officer has been seriously injured following the explosion of
device under his car said spokeswoman for the police service of northern
ireland
the psni were made aware of the incident at am gmt the officer who
was on his way to work was taken to hospital police asked media not to name
the officer
army bomb disposal experts were called to the scene detectives urged witnesses
to come forward if they noted any suspicious activity in the area
no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack
the incident happened short distance from the british army massereene
barracks where two soldiers were shot dead on march last year the first such
killings in more than decade that triggered fears of an upsurge in
paramilitary violence
it is the latest in string of attempted car bombings since then further
underscoring the threat posed by dissident groups to northern ireland fragile
peace
the northern ireland assembly member for the local south antrim area alliance
party leader david ford called it sickening attack that was absolutely
despicable
am outraged that very small number of people still believe that using
violence will achieve anything they are seeking to drag us backwards into the
dark days he said
these people must be stopped to allow this country to continue to live in
peace
barry gilligan the chairman of the northern ireland policing board said this
was an attempt to murder and those behind this attack cannot be allowed to
succeed in bringing any further terror to our community
political tensions are high in northern ireland with the first minister peter
robinson vowing to carry on despite making an emotionally charged admission this
week that his wife had an affair with teenager and tried to commit suicide
while suffering from depression
furthermore the main protestant and catholic parties who share power in the
province devolved assembly are at loggerheads over when policing and justice
responsibility should be transferred from london
northern ireland has been largely peaceful since the good friday agreement
paved the way to powersharing after three decades of bloodshed between pro
british protestants and catholic opponents of british rule
but the killings of two british soldiers and police officer in march last year
highlighted the renewed threat posed by dissident paramilitary groups
first direct flight between russia and georgia since war
tbilisi jan afp
russia and georgia on friday re opened air links with the first direct flight
from the georgian capital since the two countries war in august an afp
journalist witnessed
the georgian airways boeing charter flight took off from tbilisi at gmt
and was expected in moscow at gmt officials said
three charter flights will shuttle between tbilisi and moscow between friday and
sunday but moscow has not so far authorised the georgian airline request for
the resumption of regular flights
georgian and russian aviation authorities will hold negotiations and hope the
regular flights will be resumed soon georgian airways chief executive tamaz
gaiashvili told afp
passengers in the tbilisi airport said they hoped flights would be given the go
ahead soon
charter flights are good beginning but what people really need is regular
flights to be resumed passenger elene matureli told afp just before boarding
the first charter flight to moscow
hope the russian authorities will act according to the needs of the ordinary
people
direct flights have been suspended since the two countries went to war over the
russian backed separatist georgian region of south ossetia
last month under swiss mediation georgia and russia also agreed to open the
land crossing at upper lars the only road that does not pass through either
south ossetia or georgia other rebel region of abkhazia
the flights signalled an easing of tensions between russia and its former soviet
satellite with russian president dmitry medvedev saying last year he saw no
obstacles to re opening the border crossing and resuming flights
but observers said the move also coincided with bitterly aggressive rhetoric
from both sides
fighting erupted in august when russian forces poured into georgia to
repel georgian military attempt to retake south ossetia
russian forces later mostly withdrew to within south ossetia and abkhazia both
of which moscow recognised as independent states move so far followed by only
nicaragua venezuela and the pacific island state of nauru
moscow cut air links with western leaning georgia during the war only four
months after they had resumed following an month embargo over spy row in
october
ubs data transfer to us violated secrecy laws swiss court
zurich jan afp
swiss court ruled on friday that banking watchdog finma violated swiss laws by
authorising the transfer of data of ubs clients to us tax authorities
the federal administrative tribunal ruled that the decision of the finma on
february to order the transfer of banking data of ubs clients to
authorities of the united states of america violates the law it said
in bid to settle charges of tax fraud in the united states switzerland
banking flagship ubs agreed in february to pay us authorities million
dollars and hand over details of about clients
but the swiss court noted that even if finma is in critical situation due to
threats of penal proceeding against ubs from the us authorities it is not
authorised to allow the transmission of banking data concerning clients outside
of the ordinary international administrative assistance procedure
only the swiss government and the parliament are authorised to allow for banking
secrecy rules to be lifted by evoking the law of constitutional necessity
banks in switzerland are not authorised to provide any data on their clients to
authorities unless there is clear evidence of fraud or money laundering
hutchison offers to buy out loss making telecoms unit
hong kong jan afp
hong kong ports to retail conglomerate hutchison whampoa on friday offered to
take its loss making telecoms subsidiary private in deal valued at million
us dollars
the group headed by tycoon li ka shing said the proposal to take over
hutchison telecom would allow it to manage the troubled firm investments more
flexibly
shareholders in the telecoms group will be offered hong kong dollars
us share that was percent premium to the company price when its
shares were suspended on monday
shares of telecom which resumed trading friday after monday suspension
surged percent to hong kong dollars following the buyout announcement
hutchison whampoa which currently holds percent stake in the firm
closed flat at hong kong dollars
as well as telecoms hutchison whampoa has holdings in ports retail property
energy and infrastructure across the world
hutchison telecom an emerging markets focused group has undertaken string of
asset disposals in recent years including in india and hong kong and macau
but it said in joint statement with its parent that the remaining operations
in indonesia sri lanka thailand and vietnam all generate negative cash flow
the statement said that in the short and medium term hutchison telecom faces
potential uncertain financial performance with the associated risk of
significant share price volatility thus making it less suited to remain
publicly listed entity
it added that the privatisation would better enable hutchison telecom to make
investment decisions without the pressures associated with being publicly
listed company
brewing giant inbev says to cut percent of european staff
brussels jan afp
the world biggest brewer anheuser busch inbev is planning to cut percent of
its strong workforce across europe spokeswoman for the company in
belgium said on friday
because of generally declining trend in beer consumption across europe it is
planned especially in belgium germany britain the netherlands and
luxembourg that staff numbers will be broadly reduced by percent karen
couck said
the spokeswoman said the plans were communicated to staff represenatatives on
thursday
german industrial output inches up
berlin jan afp
industrial production in european powerhouse germany inched up in november as
recovery gathered pace government data showed on friday partly reversing dip
the previous month
output rose by percent from october preliminary figures adjusted for
seasonal effects and inflation from the economy ministry showed following
fall of percent the month earlier
economists polled by dow jones newswires had forecast on average for november
slightly stronger increase of percent however
the recovery in industrial production is continuing despite the drop of the
previous month the ministry said in statement warning meanwhile that
modest recent order intake might temper further rises
government figures published on thursday showed industrial orders edging up by
percent significantly weaker than the percent rise expected by
economists
germany which accounts for third of euro zone output suffered last year it
worst recession since world war ii as the global downturn hit demand for its
exports but recent data have shown it is on the road to recovery
german trade figures published on friday suggested the country lost in its
crown as the world biggest exporter to china
ugandan minister says anti gay bill not needed
kampala jan afp
senior ugandan minister on friday came out against proposed new law calling
for punishment up to the death penalty for gays which has faced international
condemnation
the government position is that the existing provisions in our penal code
against homosexuality are strong enough and that this new bill is not
necessary aston kajara the state minister for investments told afp
the bill already before parliament would impose the death penalty for
aggravated homosexuality including by those who are hiv positive
another top minister contested kajara comments however
unemployment hits percent across eurozone
brussels jan afp
ten people in hundred who could be working are now unemployed across the
countries that use the euro the eu said on friday as the human cost of the
economic crisis was laid bare
new figures for november showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment
rate hit miserable percent with more people left without their
own income compared to october
in spain one of continental europe biggest economies the rate has now hit
shocking percent
experts have repeatedly expressed fears of double dip recession on the iberian
peninsula which could itself stunt nascent recovery among neighbours already
struggling with unfavourable exchange rates against the dollar and the chinese
yuan
and trade figures released on friday by the german national statistics office
showed that china has surpassed euro powerhouse germany as the world leading
exporter for the first time further dampening fears of meaningful recovery
throughout
unemployment is the last indicator to turn around as economies re configure to
get over the pain of recession
as if to underline the problem the world biggest brewer anheuser busch inbev
announced friday it plans to cut percent of its strong workforce across
europe
while europe formally exited recession in the third quarter of last year with
percent eurozone growth and downwards adjusted percent growth across the
eu as whole figures confirmed on friday still rising jobless numbers will
act as brake on consumption and economic renewal
already the latest data showed that more than three million people have exited
the eurozone workforce over the past months when the rate stood at
percent and almost five million more across the full member european union
the eurostat agency estimated that million men and women across the eu
which also takes in non euro and recession mired britain as well as eastern
industrial powerhouse poland were out of work in the run up to christmas
of those million were in the euro economy
the unemployment rate throughout the eu as whole was registered at percent
in november
male unemployment rose much more sharply over the past year than female
unemployment with youth unemployment having increased at similar rate by
almost third
more than one in five among the under age group are now out of work both in
the eurozone and the full eu
howard archer of ihs global insight analysts said that the figures will likely
rise significantly still despite being held down to an extent by even
sluggish growth and government jobs support in number of countries most
notably in germany
he added that modest wage growth would also impede growth prospects
the wider picture was illustrated sharply on thursday by fall in euro retail
sales and with the bank of england leaving its key interest rate at record
low
fears abound for stretched households across the continent over the impact of
rising credit repayments when interest rates begin to rise
meanwhile analysts also cite real risk that action to slash greece massive
public deficit will only trigger severe contraction in its economy there
uzbekistan halves energy to tajikistan company
dushanbe jan afp
uzbekistan has halved supplies of natural gas to neighbouring tajikistan over
payment dispute tajikistan state gas company tajiktransgaz said friday
the supplier uzbektransaz demanded pre payment for gas but we don have such
means and there are no free resources shavkat shoimov the deputy head of
tajiktransgaz told reporters
this is the reason for gas supply cuts from cubic metres to
cubic metres per day
due to supply shortages the tajik gas distributor has in turn cut energy
supplies to factories including the countries main aluminum smelter and cement
factory shoimov added
an impoverished central asian state with population of million tajikistan
has struggled in recent years to meet the basic energy requirements of its
mostly rural population and industry
similar payment dispute in september saw uzbekistan completely halt shipments
of gas to its neighbor exacerbating the energy crisis
in and around the capital dushanbe electricity has been severely rationed and
areas of the mountainous country have been plunged into darkness for all but two
hours day
the country depends on uzbekistan for percent of its natural gas
but the two countries have long been at loggerheads over number of issues from
water and energy supplies to long standing cultural strains
tajikistan bought uzbek gas at rate of dollars per cubic meters in
and dollars in the purchase price for gas this year is not yet
clear but the state plans to buy million cubic meters of gas
indian railways fires rebel leader after years
guwahati india jan afp
one of india most wanted militants has finally been sacked from his government
job after officials realised he was still on the payroll years after he last
turned up for work
paresh baruah commander in chief of the outlawed united liberation front of
asom ulfa joined the state run northeast frontier railways as porter in
one year later he went underground as founder member of the ulfa fighting for
an independent homeland for ethnic assamese in the northeastern state of assam
the group went on to become powerful rebel army which has been blamed for more
than bomb blasts over the last three decades including attacks on the
railways network
despite being absent from his porter job from january baruah name was
never removed from the list of state railway employees although his salary was
frozen local officials said
when recent media reports exposed the fact embarrassed state railway officials
moved to have his name struck off
but rather than simply erasing any mention of baruah they felt compelled to go
through an official dismissal procedure
formal hearing date was fixed last month and only after baruah who is
wanted for crimes that carry the death penalty failed to turn up was he
officially dismissed
sufficient opportunities have been given to him to represent and defend his
case but he neither attended nor reported to any higher authorities the
railways said in an official dismissal letter published thursday
subsequently paresh baruah has been removed from the railway service with
immediate effect it added
the presence of former dismissed or even dead employees on state payrolls is
common occurrence in india with its bloated civil service
the new delhi authorities recently admitted paying salaries to non
existent employees at cost of more than million dollars annually
general strike call in french caribbean island guadeloupe
paris jan afp
the trades unions that last year paralysed the french caribbean island
guadeloupe with strike that sparked rioting on friday called for fresh
general strike
we call on the population to take part in general strike from january to
continue for an indefinite period elie domota leader of the lpk collective
which groups unions and other activists told le parisien newspaper
domota said he was calling for the stoppage because the french government had
still not properly addressed the issue of high prices and low wages that sparked
the strike year ago
the call came as the neighbouring french caribbean island of martinique and
french guiana on the south american continent were due to hold referendums
sunday on greater autonomy from paris
guadeloupe was the starting point for six week strike called last january to
demand wage rises and steps to bring down the high living costs that are due to
the large number of goods shipped from mainland france
the protest movement spread to martinique and as far as the indian ocean island
of la reunion
the protests were fuelled by tensions between the islands black majority and
local whites descendants of colonisers and slave traders who control
large part of the economy and retail trade
france was forced to deploy hundreds of extra police to quell the protests in
which one activist was shot dead the movement was called off after the
government promised pay rises for low wage earners
iran opposition leader karroubi car hit by gunfire web
tehran jan afp
the armoured car of one of iran opposition leaders mehdi karroubi was hit by
gunfire in the northern town of qazvin his party website reported on friday
but only the windows were damaged
karroubi was in town to attend mourning ceremony for slain opposition
protesters organised by reformist former mp sahamnews org said
around basiji members of the basij islamic militia and residents of
nearby villages surrounded the place where he was and attacked the building with
stones breaking windows it said
after four hours anti riot police finally intervened to get karroubi out of the
building
as his car was pulling away it was attacked and hit by gunfire but as it is
an armoured car only the windows were damaged
there was no immediate word from the authorities on the incident
the website quoted karroubi as saying there had been no return of fire by his
guards
my bodyguards did not return fire as unlike the assailants they would have
been brought before the courts and faced prosecution karroubi said
the attackers chanted slogans in support of the islamic regime and supreme
leader ayatollah ali khamenei the website added
our town is not place for hypocrites they reportedly chanted using the
regime standard term of abuse for the outlawed rebel people mujahedeen
the conservative rajanews com website which is close to the government
confirmed that karroubi motorcade had come under attack by stonethrowing
crowd but made no mention of gunfire
several thousand angry people surrounded the house where mehdi karoubi was
the website said
anti riot police tried several times to clear way through the crowd to
extricate karroubi vehicle which finally left under hail of stones eggs and
tomatoes
the enraged crowd chanted death to karroubi death to mousavi death to
khatami it added
reformist former speaker of parliament karroubi stood against hardline
president mahmoud ahmadinejad in june election along with moderate former
premir mir hossein mousavi both men have charged that the vote was marred by
massive fraud and have led series of mass protests over the months since
reformist former president mohammad khatami was leading backer of mousavi
campaign
ireland leader slams innuendo over wife lover charges
belfast jan afp
northern ireland first minister peter robinson denied friday innuendo that he
was in any way implicated in alleged financial dealings linked to his wife
affair with young lover
the story erupted this week in an emotionally charged admission of the affair by
robinson and his wife iris who also tried to commit suicide last year while
suffering from depression
but it threatenined to develop into political crisis after bbc programme
alleged that iris robinson had secured funding from wealthy developers for
her year old lover so that he could open restaurant
iris robinson who is also politician but announced her resignation last month
on health grounds faces charges she failed to declare her financial interest
since she sat on the council which approved the business project
the bbc investigation made number of other allegations leaving the first
minister saying he was going to consult his lawyers
completely reject bbc spotlight attempt to implicate me by insinuation and
innuendo he said
am even more appalled by the inclusion on that programme of comments and
conclusions made without any supporting facts indeed with facts in the
programme which support contrary position
while have learned from spotlight for the first time some alleged aspects of
my wife affair and her financial arrangements will be resolutely defending
attacks on my character and contesting any allegations of wrongdoing
the new revelations come amid heightened tension between robinson pro british
democratic unionists dup and its partners in the power sharing government in
belfast sinn fein who want united ireland
robinson sinn fein deputy martin mcguinness said he wanted urgent
clarification
