out of countries have criminalised consensual gay sex in what human rights
watch says is method of political manipulation
uganda has come under fire for the tabling of bill against the sinful
lifestyle that would toughen penalties for gays and also punish anyone who
promotes homosexuality
in malawi where discussing sex is taboo the attempt by the gay couple to get
married was labeled matter of gross indecency judge is expected to decide
next week whether they will face trial
in nigeria northern muslim states have the death penalty for homosexuality
while anti gay incidents have flared in senegal where bodies of gay men have
been exhumed and tossed out of muslim cemeteries
scott long human rights watch director for gay issues says anti gay sentiment
in africa soared about years ago when zimbabwean president robert mugabe
started manipulating the issue for political gain
mugabe who has called gays worse than dogs and pigs latched onto the issue
to distract attention from economic and political crises and shore up political
support long said
it was very successful in bringing together different groups said long
adding this trend had spread across the continent to countries such as nigeria
where it also proved rare unifier among the muslim north and christian south
mahlatjie says that even in liberal south africa legal protection has not made
way for social acceptance
it is difficult everywhere we have white south africans disowned by families
because they are gay we have black lesbian women raped and battered by people
in their neighbourhood in bid to cure them
south africa post apartheid constitution ensures equal rights for gays but
the government was forced by the courts into recognising same sex marriage with
law after months of protests by both the gay community and thousands of
opponents
unlike many gay africans mahlatjie says he was never forced to take
girlfriend to conform to societal expectations but my wedding band shocked
lot of people
while south africa now has prominent gay judge on its constitutional court
president jacob zuma was forced to apologise in for saying that same sex
marriages were disgrace to the nation and to god
south africa was not necessarily more advanced than the rest of africa said
dawie nel director of the gay rights group out he said it still very
homophobic society
two die in indian kashmir gunbattle police
srinagar india jan afp
indian troops killed two suspected militants in kashmir on friday day after
nearly hour siege at hotel that left four people dead police said
one of the militants killed in friday gunbattle was involved in car bombing
last year near the region main jail in the indian kashmiri summer capital of
srinagar that killed four people police said
he was also involved in killing two policemen in separate attack police
spokesman said without naming the rebels
the two both from the hardline pro pakistan group lashkar toiba according
to police were killed during gunbattle in andrusa village about
kilometres miles south of srinagar
india blames let for the deadly attacks on mumbai in that claimed the lives
of people after highly organised rampage by islamist gunmen who
attacked two luxury hotels among other targets
on thursday indian commandos stormed hotel in srinigar where two militants
had been holed up for nearly hours killing the gunmen and bringing an end to
the siege
the gunmen one pakistani and the other an indian kashmiri according to
police had taken refuge in the hotel on wednesday after throwing grenades and
opening fire in srinagar main market area
policeman and civilian were killed
kashmir police chief kuldeep khuda said thursday there were intelligence reports
that militants may increase strikes in the state
there are inputs in that regard we are taking measures khuda said noting
that there was desperation among insurgents to launch attacks after last
year percent fall in violence
unrest in indian kashmir has left more than people dead since the
insurgency started two decades ago according to official figures
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 friday but
only the windows were damaged
karroubi was in the town to attend mourning ceremony for slain opposition
protesters organised by reformist former member of parliament 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
japan finance chief talks down yen
hong kong jan afp
japan outspoken new finance minister drove the yen lower friday boosting
japanese exporters as asian stocks in general benefited from wall street best
finish since october
day after rattling markets with call for weaker currency naoto kan cooled
his rhetoric friday saying that markets should determine foreign exchange rates
but added tokyo would intervene over strong yen if needed
basically the market determines foreign exchange rates kan said at news
conference as finance minister however it was his duty to take action on
foreign exchange when necessary he added
the dollar rose to yen in tokyo afternoon trade up from in new york
late on thursday when the japanese currency had fallen sharply in response to
kan remarks
the euro was little changed at dollars after and at against
stock markets in tokyo and sydney hit highs not seen for more than year in
tokyo the nikkei closed up percent or points to the
best finish since october
sydney closed up percent or points with the amp asx at
after peaking at its highest level for months intraday
chinese shares rebounded late to close up points or percent at
in choppy trade which saw selloff in metal companies on lower
commodity prices as beijing reportedly warned state run companies about
investment risk
sentiment was also hit by the central bank surprise hike of the auction yield
on three month bills shifting the balance of fears from monetary policy being
too loose to it being too tight ing tim condon said
hong kong closed up points or percent at on bargain
hunting following earlier falls
wall street had earlier prompted strong start in the region after the dow
jones industrial average closed up percent to its highest level since
october on better than expected sales results from retailers
however gains were capped by caution ahead of friday key unemployment data
seen as barometer of any us recovery
kan remarks thursday in which he said he wanted to see weaker yen prompted
thinly veiled rebuke from japan prime minister yukio hatoyama who warned him
not to comment publicly on currency levels
it nevertheless signalled that tokyo was toughening its stance against the
unit strength which is bad for exporters
the market confirmed the new finance minister stance of favouring weaker
yen so the dollar is staying higher said hideaki inoue chief foreign
exchange manager at mitsubishi ufj trust and banking
in november the dollar fell to around yen its lowest level since the mid
raising fears for the country export led economy
exporters such as toyota and sony were boosted by the weaker yen but japan
airlines plunged more than percent as fears grew that it will be forced to
file for bankruptcy
there is no point in holding jal shares any longer trader at japanese
brokerage firm told dow jones newswires
seoul was percent higher at due to bargain hunting after day of
sell offs brought about by the central bank holding interest rates steady for
the th consecutive month
crude oil prices were lower in asian trade after overnight falls following
recent rally new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february
delivery shed cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february dropped cents to dollars
hong kong gold closed lower at us dollars an ounce down from
thursday finish of dollars
in other markets
taipei stocks closed up percent the weighted index added points
to buying focused on select old economy sectors in particular steel
firms on continued recovery in product prices dealers said
singapore straits times index closed up points or percent
higher at
malaysian shares finished percent higher at earlier gains were
pared back by profit taking dealers said
profit taking reversed earlier gains dealers said
in jakarta indonesian shares gained points or percent to
in manila the composite index closed flat down points to as
investors took profits after three day rally
new zealand closed up percent the nzx index rose points to
close at
blast kills eight at alleged pakistan militant den
karachi jan afp
blast flattened house being used by militants in pakistan financial
capital karachi on friday with eight people killed when explosives apparently
detonated accidentally police said
guns grenades and suicide vests were recovered from the house in poor karachi
neighbourhood which officials said was den for islamist insurgents waging an
escalating campaign of violence across the nuclear armed nation
in separate incident in northwest khyber district five militants were killed
when suicide bomber from rival islamist militia blew himself up
attacks have intensified as pakistan military with vocal support from
washington pushes into northwest taliban strongholds karachi suffered its
worst attack in two years when bomb killed people in december
fayyaz khan senior police official in southern karachi said eight people
were killed in friday early morning house blast
we have pulled out all the eight bodies from the rubble and shifted them to
hospital for the autopsies he said
another police official abdul majeed dasti said grenades kalashnikov rifle
and suicide vests were found at the scene while city police chief waseem ahmad
said the explosives appeared to have been detonated unintentionally
it seems that explosives which were stored in the house caused the explosion
the house was being used by terrorists ahmad said adding that two people had
been arrested at the scene
interior minister rehman malik told reporters the people living in the house
were from swat northwestern district where the military launched an operation
last year to quash two year uprising by taliban fighters
suicide bombings and attacks by the taliban and other islamist militant groups
have intensified in recent months as the military pursues an aggressive
offensive to quash insurgent strongholds near the afghan border
karachi had until recently been spared the worst of the bloodshed then on
december bomb ripped through procession of shiite muslim worshippers
killing people and turning their holy day of ashura into bloodbath
the victims of friday blast appeared to be residents of the rented house
officials said
in khyber tribal district meanwhile five people was killed and wounded when
suicide bomber blew himself at the offices of rival militant group top
local administration official shafeerullah khan told afp
the bomber blew himself up when stopped by security guard from entering the
headquarters of militant group ansar ul islam khan said
this was suicide attack on ansar ul islam headquarters in which five
militants belonging to the outfit were killed
ansar ul islam companions of islam is rival of lashkar islam army of
islam the main militant group staging attacks in khyber which borders
afghanistan
more than people have been killed in attacks in pakistan since militant
violence intensified in july
although karachi cosmopolitan port city far away from the troubled northwest
sees fewer attacks there are fears militants are using the cover of city of
about million people to regroup and plan attacks
islamist militants say their campaign is to avenge the military offensives and
pakistan unpopular alliance with the united states in the eight year war
against the taliban in neighbouring afghanistan
washington has praised pakistan action against the taliban but is urging the
country to also crack down on militants who hide out in the lawless northwest
and cross the border to attack nato and us troops in afghanistan
the two nations are also at odds over increasing missile strikes by unmanned us
aircraft targeting high level militants in pakistan northwest
speaking during visit to islamabad on friday us republican senator john
mccain defended the attacks as necessary to protect troops in afghanistan
friends don always agree on every issue but we certainly are in agreement on
common goal and we also face common enemy he said
the enemy of radical islamic extremism that wants to destroy everything that
we stand for and believe in
finnish industrial output falls pct in november
helsinki jan afp
finnish industrial output shrank in november for th straight month as the
global crisis drained demand for finnish products statistics finland said
friday adding the deepest slump may be over
november production fell percent year on year with output declining in
several of the nordic country main industries including the electronics
sector dominated by mobile phone giant nokia as well as forestry
the revised reduction for october was percent year on year the statistics
office said in statement
industrial output appears to have bottomed out as when adjusted for seasonal
variation output has gone up in the october to november period it said
in separate statement the statistics office said the value of new orders in
manufacturing had grown for the first time since the summer of and was up
percent year on year in november
growth of new orders was strongest in the metals industry which was boosted by
the strength of the shipping sector
urgent iran opposition leader karroubi car hit by gunfire web
tehran iran 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 friday but
only the windows were damaged
egypt police arrest three suspects in christmas eve shooting
cairo jan afp
egyptian police said on friday that they have arrested three suspects in
christmas eve shooting that killed six copts and sent shock waves through the
country christian minority
police had scoured sugarcane fields for the three suspects in the shooting which
struck the southern egyptian town nagaa hammadi on wednesday the night before
coptic christmas
police arrested them in sugarcane field one official told afp
gunmen opened fire on the copts as they emerged from midnight mass they raked
pedestrians along stretch of road that housed two churches and shopping
mall leaving pools of blood on the roadside
muslim policeman was also killed in the attack
coptic mourners clashed with police the following day as they buried their dead
the shooting raised tensions in southern egypt where there have been repeated
sectarian clashes in the past
copts who account for up to percent of egypt population of million are
the middle east largest christian community but complain of routine
discrimination and harassment
myanmar court sentences two to death for korea leak
yangon jan afp
court in military ruled myanmar has sentenced two officials to death for
leaking information sources said friday in case reportedly involving secret
ties between the ruling junta and north korea
the men along with third who was jailed for years were arrested last year
after details and photos about trip to nuclear armed north korea by the
myanmar regime third in command were leaked to exiled media reports 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 man given year sentence was pyan
sein also foreign ministry employee the official sources said
myanmar has the death penalty but sentences are almost always commuted to life
imprisonment
thursday sentences were passed under the state emergency act for leaking
military secrets the website of thailand based magazine irrawaddy said citing
sources at the notorious jail in yangon where hundreds of dissidents are kept
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 trip to north korea by junta number three general shwe mann who is also the
joint chief of staff of myanmar armed forces involved procuring arms and
discussing tunnel building and other matters irrawaddy reported
in june group of exiled myanmar activists released leaked pictures of what
they said was secret network of tunnels built by north korean experts inside
myanmar raising alarm over the country links with nuclear armed pyongyang
the democratic voice of burma dvb based in oslo norway said most of the
vehicle width tunnels were constructed around the junta new capital
naypyidaw
details of the tunnels and of shwe mann trip prompted the united states to
express concern about myanmar relations with north korea even as washington
pursued new policy of engagement with the military regime
during visit to thailand in july us secretary of state hillary clinton said
the communist state could be sharing atomic technology with military ruled
myanmar posing major threat to the region
at the same time us warship acting on the basis of sanctions introduced when
pyongyang restarted its nuclear programme tracked suspect north korean ship
reportedly heading for myanmar
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
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
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 bombing killed of chun entourage including cabinet ministers while
four myanmar officials also died but with both countries branded outposts of
tyranny by the united states they later sought to rebuild relations
suicide blast kills five militants in nw pakistan officials
peshawar pakistan jan afp
suicide bomber targeting rival islamist militant group killed five
insurgents and wounded others on friday in pakistan northwest tribal
district of khyber local official said
the district home to the fabled khyber pass into afghanistan is rife with
different militant groups including the taliban and pakistan military is
currently locked in an offensive against insurgents in the area
the bomber blew himself up when stopped by security guard from entering the
headquarters of militant group ansar ul islam killing five people and wounding
others top local administration official shafeerullah khan said
this was suicide attack on ansar ul islam headquarters in which five
militants belonging to the outfit were killed
the incident took place in tirah valley about kilometres miles
southwest of the provincial capital peshawar
ansar ul islam companions of islam is rival of lashkar islam army of
islam the main militant group active in kyber and led by feared warlord mangal
bagh lei has loose ideological ties to the taliban but operates independently
khyber is key supply route for western troops battling the taliban in
afghanistan and convoys of supplies are frequently ambushed by militants
more then people have been killed in attacks in pakistan since militant
violence intensified in july
earlier friday eight suspected militants were killed when an explosion brought
down house in the southern port city of karachi police found suicide vests
grenades and guns in the collapsed house
alert
iran opposition leader karroubi car hit by gunfire website
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
jet bomb plot suspect in court
spain inaugurates eu presidency
detroit umar farouk abdulmutallab the nigerian accused of trying to bring down
us bound airliner on christmas day is scheduled to appear in court gmt
attacks us nigerian picture video graphics
madrid spain officially inaugurates its six month presidency of the european
union prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero new eu president herman van
rompuy and european commission president jose manuel durao barroso give joint
news conference at gmt eu spain pictures
abu ghosh israel an arab israeli village to stir up world record beating
four tonnes of hummus lifestyle mideast gastronomy record offbeat picture
conakry opposition leaders meet to discuss an offer by guinea junta to share
power in transition government meeting begins at gmt guinea politics
military opposition
lisbon portugal traditionally one of europe most socially conservative
countries is expected to approve the legalisation of gay marriage portugal
society gay pictures
memphis fans around the world mark years since the birth of elvis presley
entertainment us people elvis birthday pictures
seoul north korea celebrates the birthday of leader kim jong il youngest son
as holiday in sign he is being readied to take control of the country
nkorea politics kim succession
tbilisi moscow georgia and russia resume direct flights after the two
countries war in august first flight from tbilisi lands in moscow around
gmt georgia russia conflict diplomacy border
vienna austrian prosecutors give press conference around gmt on the case
of natascha kampusch the girl who was kidnapped and held in basement for
eight years before escaping austria crime kidnap kampusch
washington us releases monthly unemployment figures at gmt amid analyst
expectations that jobs were lost in december us economy jobs
washington secretary of state hillary clinton meets the foreign ministers of
jordan and egypt as part of us efforts to kickstart the stalled middle east
peace process us diplomacy mideast jordan egypt picture
tennis britain murray on roll
perth australia jan afp
having led great britain to its first ever hopman cup final scotsman andy
murray declared he was playing well enough to win the upcoming australian open
the world no who chose the mixed teams tournament over chasing third
successive title in doha hasn dropped singles match here and got better
with each outing
he opened the tournament with win over kazakhstan unheralded andrey
golubev an easy winner in his other two singles matches here then thrashed
world no philipp kohlschreiber in straight sets
the year old then took it to another level to demolish the th ranked igor
andreev in just minutes in an ominous performance ahead of the
year first grand slam starting on january
andreev who has been ranked as high as th looked nonplussed by the
unrelenting murray assault which included some incredible shots on both wings
speaking after the win over andreev murray said he was on target for what he
hopes will be his first grand slam title and britain first since
if can play like that didn feel like was making any bad decisions
didn feel like was overplaying it was just really good tennis he said
of his form
if play like that can win australia for sure
need to make sure do it in couple of weeks and play like that from the
start of the tournament to the end
murray said he had never enjoyed better early season form
have always started the years pretty well he said
have always started playing pretty well going into australia and prepared
well with my training
but in terms of the way am striking the ball and moving and playing well up
at the net and taking chances that is probably the best have played at the
start of year
in mark of his rising confidence murray declared he would beat spain tommy
robredo ranked th in the world in the hopman cup final
not going to lose tomorrow he said
formula one boss in last minute saab rescue bid
london jan afp
formula one boss bernie ecclestone has teamed up with luxembourg investment
firm to launch last minute rescue bid for swedish carmaker saab
genii capital announced its interest in making an offer for the acquisition of
majority stake in saab sas in partnership with mr bernard ecclestone in
statement just as the deadline for final bids for saab expired at gmt
thursday
the privately held firm said it would aggressively work towards successful
closing of the transaction with all the relevant stakeholders of the company
saab has tremendous brand value in number of key automotive markets as well
as an innovative image it underlined
saying it had been brought into the bidding process at late stage by advisors
close to the deal genii is angling its offer around high end on board
entertainment systems
it said it wanted to work on synergies with some of its portfolio companies in
the areas of energy efficient engines oem computing components and on board
it and media technologies
the bid focused on on technologies that enable use of on demand systems as
well as innovative communications platforms such as voip speech based
communications over the internet and gps location based services
genii already has links with ecclestone after it last month bought stake in
the renault formula one team allowing the team to remain in the sport
us carmaker general motors announced in december it would wind up saab which
employs people in sweden
however gm extended deadline to consider offers for saab after dutch sports
car maker spyker approached the us automaker with last ditch proposal
spyker chief executive officer victor muller said on thursday it would submit
definitive updated bid for saab
saab is one of four storied brands that gm is shedding as part of massive
restructuring effort that began in and accelerated last year when the
largest us automaker went bankrupt
analysts have warned that some jobs could be lost with saab closure
iraq bars politicians parties from election
baghdad jan afp
fourteen iraqi politicians and parties accused of having links to saddam
hussein baath party have been barred from taking part in parliamentary
elections in march senior lawmaker said on friday
the decision to bar them from the polls the second since saddam ouster after
us led invasion in might undermine efforts towards national
reconciliation in iraq which was ruled by sunni arabs for the majority of the
th century but whose government is now shiite led
among the most prominent politicians banned was saleh al mutlak secular sunni
who heads the national dialogue front
the decision has been taken by the commission after the emergence of evidence
showing that mutlak promoted and glorified the forbidden baath party said
falah shanshal an mp loyal to radical shiite cleric moqtada al sadr and head of
the parliamentary panel charged with de baathification
mutlak said in parliament will vote in the name of the baath these words
themselves are propaganda for the baath party of saddam hussein and the
constitution prevents voting for the baath
shanshal confirmed that other individuals or parties had been barred but did
not give details they can all appeal the ruling in court he added
haidar al mullah spokesman for the national dialogue front said the bloc had
not been officially informed of the decision
he accused iran of being behind the decision to bar mutlak from contesting the
polls just day after iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki completed
one day visit to baghdad
there are regional influences particularly from iran taking such decisions
which aim to destabilise the iraqi political process he said
meanwhile hamdia al husseini senior election official told afp iraq
independent high electoral commission had not received any request to block any
names from participating in the election
on october the national dialogue front confirmed that it was joining forces
with iraq sunni vice president tareq al hashemi and the bloc headed by ex
prime minister iyad allawi secular shiite to contest the march election
profiles of croatia presidential run off rivals
zagreb jan afp
ivo josipovic law professor of the main opposition social democrats and
milan bandic the zagreb mayor running as an independent face each other in
croatia presidential election run off on sunday
josipovic who in the december first round garnered percent of the vote
more than double the support for bandic his former party colleague continues
to dominate in opinion polls with to point lead
the candidates share similar agenda stressing the fight against corruption
and the country integration into the european union that zagreb hopes to
achieve by as their priorities however in terms of their image and
rhetoric josipovic and bandic are worlds apart
here are short profiles of the two candidates
ivo josipovic josipovic the candidate of the main opposition social
democratic party sdp was born and educated in zagreb where he graduated with
law and music degrees to become both legal expert and composer of classical
music
criminal and international criminal law lecturer at zagreb university
josipovic was elected to parliament in after nine year absence from
politics
analysts say josipovic has reputation for competence and an untarnished
political career but some feel he lacks charisma with grey hair and glasses
critics say he colourless and failed to shake his boring image of jurist and
professor
however croatia public bombarded by series of high level corruption
