but to do this we must stop the trade in tiger parts rampant poaching and
secure the tiger habitats
hong kong democrats vow to move ahead with referendum
hong kong jan afp
five pro democracy lawmakers said monday they would push ahead with their plan
to resign in protest at the slow pace of democratic reform despite growing
opposition from beijing and its allies
the group said they would quit on tuesday in the hope that the by election that
follows would be de facto referendum on universal suffrage
but the plan experienced hiccup last week when the liberal party major pro
beijing political group in hong kong said it would not take part in any by
election after the democrats used the word uprising in campaign advert
the party said the word implies the use of force to overthrow government
something they would not support
audrey eu leader of the civic party which will have two members giving up
their seats in the member legislature asked its opponents not to focus on
one word to distort the nature of the campaign
you have to put the word in context ours is sensible peaceful and mild
movement in pursuit for hong kong people dream for democracy she told
press conference
it about ballots not bullets
eu said they would stick to the plan even if other pro beijing lawmakers follow
the lead of the liberal party which is widely seen to be pressured by the
mainland to stay away from any by election
even if beijing is so powerful as to make all these parties drop out it
doesn mean we have failed
at present only half of the city legislature is directly elected while
largely pro beijing committee effectively controls the selection of the
remainder and appoints the city chief executive
the chinese government has said hong kong chief executive could be directly
elected by and the legislature by while pro democracy lawmakers want
universal suffrage in
beijing issued statement earlier this month expressing grave concern over
the campaign and said the referendum was not in line the basic law which
spells out hong kong political system following its return from british to
chinese rule in
families hope for best but fear worst in lebanon plane crash
beirut jan afp
families of passengers on board doomed ethiopian airlines plane that crashed
in ball of flame off the lebanese coast on monday huddled at beirut airport
hoping for the best but fearing the worst
as grim faced officials played down expectation that any of the passengers
and seven crew may have survived the crash family members gathered in the vip
lounge weeping softly wailing loudly or making frantic phone calls
prime minister saad hariri who declared monday national day of mourning
arrived at the airport to offer comfort to the families
parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number of other ministers and
deputies also rushed to the airport
one woman was sobbing and screaming why why as other anguished relatives
fainted and had to be carried away by red cross volunteers
another woman said she had lost all hope of finding her husband who was one of
those on board ethiopian airlines flight when it crashed into the sea off
the town of naameh shortly after takeoff at am gmt monday
he my life they won find him know it they won find him she wailed
as her mother hugged her
one woman wearing black headscarf cried out to her missing father you re
good man you don deserve this why did you do this to us god
young boy named ali comforted his mother who tearfully asked him repeatedly
if he had any news of his father who was also on board
one couple gave up after few hours of trying to get any information on
family member
the officials here aren telling us anything at least if we go home the
television will tell us something they said as they left the lounge
one of the anguished relatives suddenly announced that he had news of survivors
bringing stampede of families rushing towards him calling out inshallah
god willing
but their hopes were quickly dashed by official reports that no survivors had
been found
defence ministry official said bodies had been recovered at the crash site
by mid morning
the airport control tower lost contact with the ill fated flight shortly after
takeoff
the control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly
lost contact for no known reason transport minister ghazi aridi aridi told
reporters
the accident took place amid heavy rains and storms in lebanon and witnesses
reported seeing ball of fire as the plane plunged into the sea
investigators were trying to determine whether lightning had hit the jet
this is painful tragic event we are sparing no efforts in trying to find
survivors president michel sleiman said ruling out foul play
our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of those on board
copy of the passenger roster obtained by afp listed lebanese
ethiopians one french woman one syrian and seven crew members there were also
three dual nationals one british lebanese one canadian lebanese and
russian lebanese
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
the lebanese army navy and the united nations interim force in lebanon unifil
dispatched vessels and helicopters to assist in the search and rescue operation
cyprus leaders launch second phase of intensive talks
nicosia jan afp
rival cypriot leaders on monday began second round of day long talks in an
accelerated un push to try and reunify the island this year to end years of
division
after three days of un led negotiations ended without progress on january
the onus is on this second series of intensive talks to produce results
the greek and turkish cypriot leaders say they are committed to finding
solution this year while the united nations is hoping will usher cyprus
settlement
president demetris christofias greek cypriot and turkish cypriot leader
mehmet ali talat are hoping to secure much needed breakthrough after months
of sluggish negotiations
they had three marathon sessions earlier this month and now continue this
process through to wednesday
the leaders will pick up where they left off on governance and power sharing in
federal cyprus they are also aiming to accelerate convergences on the
economy and eu issues
christofias has ruled out any draft agreement at this stage as both the greek
and turkish cypriot sides are adamant that nothing is agreed until everything is
agreed
any deal which emerges must be put before the cypriot people in separate
simultaneous referenda
these lengthy sessions are taking place at un chief of mission taye brook
zerihoun official residence located inside the nicosia buffer zone close to
the capital disused airport
the international community has called for the momentum of the negotiations to
quicken with un chief ban ki moon mulling cyprus visit before april if
progress is made
british pm gordon brown and us secretary of state hilary clinton have spoken to
both leaders over the telephone to give their encouragement
there is talk of the process being extended into february before recess to
allow talat to campaign in april leadership elections in northern cyprus
he is eager to nail down the outline of deal by then as he could lose out to
hardliners that may derail the process altogether
peace talks were launched amid much optimism in september but the two
sides remain divided on the core issues of property security and territorial
adjustments
cyprus has been split since turkish troops seized and occupied its northern
third in in response to greek led coup aimed at uniting the island with
greece
cricket tendulkar dravid boost india
dhaka jan afp
sachin tendulkar closed in on his th test century as india strengthened their
position in the second and final test against bangladesh in dhaka on monday
tendulkar not out and rahul dravid not out added for the
unfinished third wicket as india posted in their first innings at tea on
the second day in reply to the hosts modest total of
india dominated the first two sessions scoring in the morning and in
the afternoon for the loss of just two wickets
all of india top order batsmen were among the runs with openers gautam
gambhir and virender sehwag earlier putting their team on course for
big total with run stand
dravid and tendulkar both survived few anxious moments before completing their
half centuries
tendulkar was dropped on by raqibul hasan at gully off seamer rubel hossain
before reaching his half century with firmly driven four off paceman shahadat
hossain
dravid was on when he edged short pitched delivery from rubel into the
slips where junaid siddique took superb catch but it was ruled no ball
dravid completed his half century when he drove past bowler rubel for four he
has so far struck nine boundaries in his ball knock and tendulkar nine fours
in his ball innings
bangladesh who failed to get wicket in the afternoon removed both the
openers in the first session
gambhir aiming to equal australian don bradman world record of scoring
century in six successive tests was caught behind while fending off rising
delivery from paceman shafiul islam
gambhir who was on in his team overnight total of for no loss hit nine
fours in his solid ball knock for his th half century in tests
sehwag fell soon after reaching his st test half century when he gloved
rising ball from shahadat to wicket keeper mushfiqur rahim
he added just to his overnight score of hitting eight fours in his
ball knock
india lead the series following their run victory in the opening test in
chittagong
tennis serena cruises past stosur into quarter finals
melbourne jan afp
defending champion serena williams ended local hopes in the women draw when
she crushed samantha stosur on monday to reach the quarter finals of
the australian open
williams will now play either victoria azarenka of belarus or russia vera
zvonareva in the last eight after dismissing stosur in just minutes in
dominant display
the world number one remains on track for semi final against sister venus and
possible blockbuster final against belgium justine henin
sam beat me last time convincingly so knew had to do well out there
williams said
the australian had gone into the fourth round clash on rod laver arena with some
expectation of an upset after beating williams the last time the pair met
stosur had also complained that williams had not given her much credit for that
win saying the american had implied she was lucky player with many of her
winners coming from miss hits
but on monday she came up against fiercly determined williams and simply had
no answers
the defending champion served brilliantly conceding just two points on serve in
the first set and three in the second to completely demoralise stosur
the world number one was almost as ruthless on return breaking the big serving
stosur once in the first set and twice in the second to wrap up comfortable
win
williams has continued her love affair with melbourne park where she has won
four times in and
the year old has now reached the quarter finals in melbourne four times in
the last five years and showed against stosur that she must is the hot favourite
to win fifth crown
if she does win again it will be the first time woman has successfully
defended her title since fellow american jennifer capriati in
ethiopian airlines sends team to probe lebanon crash
addis ababa jan afp
ethiopian airlines has sent team to beirut to investigate monday crash of
one of its airliners carrying people shortly after takeoff the airline said
ethiopian regrets to confirm the unfortunate accident of et which took
place shortly after departure from beirut international airport today january
the airline said in statement posted on its website
an investigative team has already arrived at the scene it said
toyota global sales slide cutting lead over vw
tokyo jan afp
japan toyota motor corp said monday its global vehicle sales fell percent
in to about million vehicles reducing its lead over germany
volkswagen which enjoyed record year
it was dramatic turnaround from when toyota ended the year reign of
us giant general motors as the world top selling automaker with sales of
million vehicles including subsidiaries hino and daihatsu
now volkswagen europe biggest carmaker aims to overtake toyota by as
the global number one
vw has reported sales of million vehicles up percent from the
previous year last month it said it would buy percent of japan suzuki
for more than billion dollars boosting its global expansion
toyota the maker of the corolla lexus and prius vehicles was battered by
the global economic crisis and fell into the red for the first time in the year
to march it has slashed thousands of jobs
under president akio toyoda the grandson of its founder who took the helm
in june it has exited formula one racing and ended joint venture with gm
more recently toyota reputation for top notch safety has been hit by series
of recalls affecting millions of vehicles in the united states and tens of
thousands of cars in china
last week toyota said it was recalling million vehicles in the united states
to fix problem with sticking accelerator pedals
the action was separate to an ongoing recall of about million toyota and
lexus vehicles that was begun last year due to risk that loose floor mats
could slip forward and jam the pedals it said
toyota will also recall about two million vehicles in europe to fix faulty
accelerator pedals the yomiuri newspaper reported monday in its evening
edition
chinese economy heats up global crisis debate
davos switzerland jan afp
global leaders and bankers will be looking for firm signs at the davos forum
this week of china determination to control the hot money pouring into its
economy
year after china premier wen jiabao sternly lectured the united states and
other western nations at the world economic forum for causing the international
financial crisis markets are now jittery over asset bubble warnings around
his country
with china and india two of the hottest economies around comments by chinese
first vice premier li keqiang and top indian cabinet member kamal nath will be
seized upon at this year forum which starts in the swiss resort on wednesday
chinese officials have already indicated that the focus of the speech by li
senior member of the communist party ruling politburo will be the financial
crisis and reforms
the world major emerging economies china and india have survived the storms
of the past two years better than their western rivals
but the state of china property and stock markets and its soar away growth
percent in the fourth quarter has heightened inflation fears which has
already forced the beijing government to cut back on bank lending to deter
consumer splurge on cars and property
inflation is also rising in india where increased manufacturing has spurred
new growth surge in recent months india central bank the reserve bank of
india meets on friday and is expected to drain some of the liquidity pumped
into the financial system last year to encourage lending analysts said
many institutions see the frantic activity in the two economies producing storm
clouds with china by far the bigger risk
the potential formation of ew financial market bubble in the region is
an increasing cause for concern the world bank said referring to asia in its
annual report released last week international monetary fund chief dominique
strauss kahn made the same warning
davos hosts the wef said in its annual report said that china economy is on
very unbalanced growth trajectory
economists say china runs the risk of sharp recessionary correction which
could hit recovery around the world particularly the united states its main
trade partner
but many also praise china course in steering the through the crisis with its
billion dollar stimulus plan and there are divisions over how likely new
crisis is
crash landing is worry but not high probability at the moment nariman
behravesh chief economist for ihs global insight who will be speaking at
davos told afp
behravesh predicted more credit controls to control the hot property and stock
markets they have to be little careful china growth is uni dimensional as
it comes from the government capital spending they need policies to encourage
consumer spending
but peter morici professor of international economy at the university of
maryland in the united states said you never really know when bubble is
going to burst
as long as they can keep up percent growth they can maintain that bubble
its when the growth comes down that the trouble starts
morici has been an outspoken critic of china economic tactics including the
impact on the united states of keeping china currency artificially low to keep
its exports flowing to the west
in china the fixed exchange rate for the yuan against the dollar requires
beijing to print lots of yuan to sweep dollars off foreign exchange markets and
return to china as payment for exports
this causes inflation too easy credit and an asset bubble instead of fixing
the problem by steady and significant revaluation of the yuan dollar peg the
chinese government is pulling back on credit and that could cause second
crisis on both sides of the pacific chinese asset crash could be the next big
thing and that won be good thing
factfile on yemen
sanaa jan afp
britain hosts on wednesday an international meeting aimed at strengthening
support for yemen one of the world poorest nations in its efforts to
combat al qaeda
here is brief factfile on the only republic in the arabian peninsula
geography situated in the southwest of the peninsula yemen covers
square kilometres sq miles it is flanked by saudi arabia to the
north oman to the east the indian ocean to the south and the red sea to the
west
population million inhabitants world bank the united nations
arab human development report puts the population count at million an
estimated million yemenis live abroad
capital sanaa around two million inhabitants aden the main port and capital
of the former marxist south has some inhabitants the rural population
is estimated at percent
official language arabic english is also used in official and business
circles
religion sunni muslim majority while zaidism moderate shiite sect is
dominant in the northwest
history yemen formed part of the region known to the romans as arabia felix
happy arabia and was home to the legendary queen of sheba from the eighth
century bc followed by the himyarite dynasty before the muslim conquest in the
seventh century ad it was conquered by the ottomans in the british
invaded the south in
the north won independence in but the british ruled the south until
the northern and southern states were unified on may to form the
republic of yemen northern troops defeated southern secession bid in may
july civil war
in august the army launched an wide scale offensive against zaidi shiite
rebels in the north while the south has been gripped by frequent pro secession
protests since april
after the botched christmas day bombing of us airliner yemen has come
under heavy pressure to uproot the al qaeda affiliate al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap which claimed responsibility for the failed attack
society tribal structure especially in the north the strongest northern
tribes the bakil and the hashed are capable of raising fighting force of
and hold sway over large areas
political institutions yemen is republic headed by president ali abdullah
saleh who was re elected in for new seven year term it has member
parliament
it has multi party system and an elected parliament parliamentary elections
which were due in april have been postponed by two years after an agreement
was reached between the government and the opposition
economy resources yemen one of the world least developed countries
committed itself in to an economic reform programme supervised by the world
bank and the international monetary fund
non opec producer yemen oil accounts for percent of state revenues but
production is falling by five to six percent year it produced less than
barrels of oil day in
the impoverished nation is blessed with natural gas reserves estimated at about
billion cubic metres trillion cubic feet in november yemen
joined the international club of gas exporters with pumping starting at newly
built liquefied natural gas plant in balhaf in the gulf of aden
agriculture and fishing are the other important economic sectors tourism has
been hard hit due to the kidnapping of foreigners and the rise of islamist
extremism linked to al qaeda
total debt amounted to six billion dollars by the end of world bank
gdp billion dollars in
gnp per capita around dollars in world bank
poverty affects percent of yemen million strong population according to
the united nations arab human development report the international
monetary fund and government data show that percent of yemenis live below
the poverty line
armed forces men plus some reserves according to the
international institute for strategic studies in paramilitary forces
number an estimated
al qaeda in yemen confrontation and attacks
sanaa jan afp
yemen has come under pressure from washington to eradicate al qaeda militants
since al qaeda in the arabian peninsula claimed responsibility for botched
christmas day bombing of us airliner
an international conference on extremism in the poorest arab state will be held
on wednesday in london
here is chronology of activities linked to al qaeda in yemen
dec bombers strike hotel which formerly housed us marines in the
southern port of aden the first known al qaeda attack in yemen two non
american citizens killed
oct us military personnel killed and wounded in an al qaeda suicide
attack on the uss cole destroyer at aden port
oct bomb targeting the british embassy in sanaa causes damage but no
casualties
oct the french tanker limburg is damaged by bomb laden boat in the
southeast port of ash shir killing bulgarian sailor
july eight spanish tourists and two local drivers killed and nine wounded
by car bomb at historic site in maarib in northeast yemen
jan two belgians yemeni guide and yemeni driver shot dead and four
belgians are wounded in an attack in wadi hadramout east of sanaa
march policeman and student killed and wounded in an attempted
bombing of the us embassy
sept people killed in double car bomb attack outside the us embassy
jan saudi and yemeni al qaeda branches announce they have merged to form the
yemen based al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap
march four south korean tourists killed and four others wounded by
suicide bomber in shibam in southeast yemen
april saudi arabia says it broke up an member al qaeda cell on the yemen
border
june yemen says it arrested wanted saudi al qaeda financier hassan
hussein bin alwan
aug saudi arabia says it arrested people in an al qaeda cell linked to
aqap and seized weapons
aug aqap operative abdullah hassan al asiri killed by bomb on his body
in failed bid to assassinate saudi deputy interior minister prince mohammed
bin nayef
dec security forces kill at least al qaeda militants and capture
the defence ministry says
dec yemeni aircraft kill suspected al qaeda members including senior
leaders in dawn raid
dec nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab allegedly tries to explode bomb
on detroit bound us airliner in plot claimed by aqap on december
jan us president barack obama accuses aqap of arming and training the
nigerian bombing suspect
yemen says it will prevent infiltrations by foreign fighters after somali al
shebab insurgents say they will send militants to help aqap
jan the us embassy closes over possible al qaeda plot but reopens two
days later the british and french missions also close then reopen
london and washington agree to fund special counter terrorism police unit in
yemen
jan the nigerian bombing suspect pleads not guilty
jan yemeni authorities announce they have killed abdullah mehdar who they
said was the leader of aqap in eastern shabwa province
jan yemen says aqap military chief qassem al rimi is among six leaders
killed in an air raid
jan aqap denies yemeni government claim that six of its military leaders
were killed in strike on january
jan al qaeda chief osama bin laden claims the failed christmas day attack
on an american airliner and threatens further attacks against the us if it
continues supporting israel
yemen uses al qaeda spectre to demonise opposition analysts
sanaa jan afp
yemen embattled government links armed shiite rebels in the north southern
secessionists and resurgent al qaeda militants saying all three belong to an
axis of evil in the arabian peninsula state
but analysts and diplomats say this is willful deception intended at
demonising even legitimate dissent and preparing the ground for crackdown on
challenges to the year rule of president ali abdullah saleh
earlier this month yemen prime minister ali mujawar warned countrymen that
the southern secessionists and northern rebels stood together in an axis of
evil with al qaeda
but mujawar who will lead the government delegation to talks in london on
wednesday to seek support and foreign aid for sanaa anti extremism drive did
not provide any evidence to prove such link
the government rolls out this theory which for the moment no one believes
that all this is vast plot said one diplomat in the capital who did not want
to be identified
the government claims that the shiites of the north are related to al qaeda
and political opponents of any kind in the south also he said do not
believe that at all
franck mernier the french co author of contemporary yemen said that linking
the southern and northern rebels to al qaeda de legitimises campaigns in the
eyes of the international community
putting everyone in the same basket and playing the al qaeda card grants yemen
the authority to violently and arbitrarily suppress any challenge he said
it de legitimises any opposition and also makes it possible to obtain
international support mernier added
yemen the ancestral home of al qaeda leader osama bin laden and staging
ground for islamic militants who hide in its largely lawless tribal regions has
been under intense international pressure to uproot the extremists
sanaa says it needs arms money and training to do that yemeni officials have
said they will insist on economic aid to fight extremism and poverty at the
london conference
the meeting to be attended by about countries was called by british prime
minister gordon brown after an alleged attempt last month to blow up us
airliner threw the spotlight on militancy in yemen
long standing concerns that yemen has become haven for islamist militant
groups materialised on christmas day when nigerian man allegedly trained in
yemen was charged with trying to blow up the northwest airlines jet
but what could have been christmas catastrophe for the west was windfall for
yemen the diplomat in sanaa said
this business of the young nigerian was great windfall for the yemeni
regime he said
according to european economist in sanaa the official theory is that they
the movements are all linked that they are all together in fact they are
incompatible
al qaeda chiefs and militants in yemen and elsewhere are sunni muslims while
the rebels fighting in the north are shiites and the southern secessionists are
fighting not over religion but for more rights
the northern huthi rebels have agitated against the growing influence in the
northern mountains of radical salafi sunnis who are largely sympathetic to al
qaeda
the south was an independent socialist state and at war with the traditionalist
north until unification in when yemen became the only republic in the
arabian peninsula
southerners complaining of discrimination and lack of financial aid hold
frequent demonstrations demanding either increased autonomy or independence
am member of the socialist party and yet they officials say that am
from al qaeda said aidaroos al naquib who heads the yemen socialist party
bloc in parliament
this is false of course we want nothing to do with terrorists if you raise
the spectre of al qaeda the whole world comes to your help and you can obtain
moral political financial and military backing naquib said
that is what ali mujawar will seek in london
paris menswear plays with pants
paris jan afp
short flared skinny and large designers played variation on pants at the
crammed four day whirl of paris men autumn winter catwalk shows that wound
up on sunday
as buyers and other fashion types scurried under grey skies and rain to catch
shows in museums luxury hotels and underground garages paparazzi stuck close
to us rapper kanye west and glam girlfriend amber rose whose get ups at score
of collections included tiny striped see through dress over minuscule body
won talk to the press west said repeatedly when asked for comment on the
shows
in times of crisis casual comfort seemed the dominant sartorial theme for next
autumn winter and winner on the catwalks was onetime cold weather underwear
