shell no longer depends on nigeria for growth ceo
london jan afp
the head of anglo dutch oil giant shell said tuesday the company no longer
looked to nigeria where gunmen have just seized four shell contract workers to
support corporate growth
nigeria is still heartland for shell chief executive officer peter voser
said on the company website
but we no longer depend on it for our growth aspirations this gives us more
flexibility in deciding when and how to develop oil and gas resources in
nigeria
gunmen on tuesday seized three britons and colombian shooting dead their
police escort in the first major kidnapping for six months in the niger delta
region of nigeria
the four contract workers for shell were abducted as they travelled to
work from the southern oil city of port harcourt to the shell operated afam
power plant police said
the incident was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since july last
year following lull after government amnesty that saw thousands of
militants lay down their arms
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for locals have
since staged attacks on oil installations in the niger delta playing havoc
with crude output and international oil prices
last year shell said of its workers and contractors had been kidnapped
between and
at the peak of the violence in the delta production dipped by up to third of
pre levels in the world eighth largest oil exporter
the wall street journal last month said shell was looking for buyers for
production sites in nigeria with the china national petroleum corporation among
those interested
turkish fm blames israel fall out on gaza war
london jan afp
turkish foreign minister ahmet davutoglu on tuesday blamed the downturn in
ankara relations with israel on the gaza war year ago
however he said turkey stood ready to resume positive relations with israel if
it turned towards policy of peace
speaking in london following talks with his british counterpart david miliband
davutoglu said of the chill in relations definitely it is not symptom of
islamisation of turkish foreign policy
we worked very hard with the israeli government to achieve peace between
syria and israel
when we were so close to peace one day before they attacked gaza
after that it was the turning point of our relations
we made so much effort about the peace in the region and one attack destroyed
all the infrastructure of peace
if israeli policy turns towards policy of peace orientation next day the
turkish israeli relations will change in positive direction
turkey summoned israel ambassador to ankara on tuesday to demand an apology
over the treatment of its own envoy to tel aviv as row between the regional
allies over television drama series escalated
turkey has been israel main regional ally since when the two signed
military cooperation accord
iran accuses us israel of murdering nuclear scientist
tehran jan afp
leading iranian nuclear scientist was murdered in tehran on tuesday in rare
bomb attack that the government quickly blamed on mercenaries in the pay of
archfoes the united states and israel
the daylight killing came amid an increasingly bitter standoff between iran and
world powers over tehran controversial nuclear drive which the west suspects
is masking an atomic weapons programme
massoud ali mohammadi particle physics professor at prestigious tehran
university died when bomb strapped to motorcycle was triggered by remote
control as he was getting into his car outside his home in the capitals well to
do northern suburbs state media and senior official said
one can see in preliminary investigations signs of evil by the triangle of the
zionist regime america and their mercenaries in iran in this terrorist
incident foreign ministry spokesman ramin mehmanparast said
the united states dismissed the allegations out of hand
charges of us involvement are absurd state department spokesman mark toner
said in washington
tehran chief prosecutor also implicated the united states and israel saying
their intelligence services were likely behind the attack
given the fact that massoud ali mohammadi was nuclear scientist the cia and
mossad services and agents most likely have had hand in it abbas jafari
dolatabadi told the state broadcaster news service
last month iran accused the united states of seizing an iranian scientist while
he was on pilgrimage in saudi arabia claim washington refused to comment on
and that riyadh denied and an iranian statement drew parallels
on the one hand us government spy agents kidnap iranians in third countries
and transfer them to america and on the other hand their sellout agents in iran
assassinate scholarly citizen
intelligence and security bodies will try to identify and arrest the
perpetrators of this crime and expose their foreign backers added the
statement carried by the fars news agency
tehran university basij or voluntary islamist student militia said
mohammadi named had been included on an international blacklist linked to
iran atomic drive
dr massoud ali mohammadi whose name was on the list of sanctioned individuals
was one of the outstanding professors of tehran university physics
faculty said the statement carried by the official irna news agency
the students were referring to sanctions imposed by the united nations united
states and european countries on individuals and institutions linked to iran
nuclear programme
bomb attacks are rare in iran although several security officials and members of
the elite revolutionary guards have been killed in bombings by rebels in the
restive southneastern province of sistan baluchestan
witness told afp tuesday explosion was strong blast breaking windows in
neighbouring houses and cars
iranian authorities have consistently accused the united states and israel of
seeking to foment unrest in iran and the two countries have never ruled out
military strike to thwart iran controversial nuclear drive
none of the reports said whether ali mohammadi was connected to iran nuclear
enrichment programme and colleague described him as non political
he was prominent full professor but he was not political figure he had no
political activity ali maghari who heads the faculty of sciences at tehran
university told the mehr news agency
however ali mohammadi name appeared on list of academics backing iranian
opposition leader mir hossein mousavi for the disputed june presidential
election which gave president mahmoud ahmadinejad second term
the opposition claims the vote was massively rigged in ahmadinejad favour for
the past six months it has been holding anti government protests at every
opportunity many of which have been broken up by police who have arrested
hundreds of demonstrators
iran has been under international pressure to suspend uranium enrichment the
sensitive process which is at the centre of western fears about its ambitions as
it can make nuclear fuel but can also be used to make atom bombs
despite three sets of un security council sanctions iran has continued to
expand its nuclear programme which it insists is for peaceful purposes only
representatives of the six powers dealing with iran over its nuclear programme
britain china france germany russia and the united states are to meet
in new york on sunday to discuss whether to propose further sanctions
diplomat at the united nations said
football benin lead mozambique at half time
benguela angola jan afp
benin led mozambique at half time on tuesday in the second match of an
africa cup of nations group double header at ombaka stadium
razak omotoyossi converted penalty after minutes for the beninese and dario
khan conceded an own goal soon after before sloppy defending allowed almiro lobo
to head the mozambicans back into contention
chad court charges mayor and deputy over corruption
djamena jan afp
the authorities in chad on tuesday charged the mayor of djamena and one of his
deputies with forgery and using false documents judicial official said
tuesday
mahamat zene bada and his deputy annour djibrine were detained on monday
following an accusation of embezzlement and judge remanded the pair in
custody the source said speaking on condition of anonymity
the complaint against them came from state ministry in charge of auditing
government departments according to police source
around dozen municipal officials have been arrested during inspections carried
out by the ministry since october city hall official said
suspicion centres on alleged bogus expense claims made through non existent
businesses worth around three billion cfa francs nearly million euros
million dollars the official said
donors ready to fill palestinian budget in coming weeks
brussels jan afp
major international donors said tuesday that they would inject funds in coming
weeks to finance the palestinian budget for this year and stood ready to do
more once peace talks with israel resume
we enter ready and able to support the palestinian budget norwegian
foreign minister jonas gahr stoere told reporters after talks with us eu and
french officials in brussels
we will make our total annual support to the budget in the coming weeks said
stoere whose country chairs the group of major donors to the palestinians
we encourage our arab and gulf partners to come up with their commitment he
added saying their funds were vital to ensure that the institutions of
palestinian state are in place should conditions arise for one to be declared
the day there is resumption of negotiations the sooner the better we
feel confident in this group that donors once again will rally to the challenge
and stand up to support the creation of palestinian state
officials declined to say exactly how much money would be provided
during the meeting the officials including french foreign minister bernard
kouchner and his spanish counterpart miguel angel moratinos representing the eu
presidency also heard about washington plans from us envoy george mitchell
on monday israel maariv newspaper said washington was pushing plan to
restart peace talks that foresee reaching final deal in two years and agreeing
on permanent borders in nine months
mitchell said nothing about the approach but underlined that international
efforts must be coordinated and concerted to help build palestinian
institutions
no one country no one person can do this alone our american partnership with
our european allies and the broader international community is critical to our
effort and will be essential to our achieving these objectives he said
stoere said the intention of donors is really to be able to divert our support
towards investments and projects and value creation and jobs and welfare and
progress in the occupied territories
the european union provides about one billion euros billion dollars in
financial support each year to the palestinians
croatia newly elected president says has too many facebook friends
zagreb jan afp
croatia newly elected president ivo josipovic said on tuesday he faced
problem as he had thousands of friend requests on social networking site
facebook
it is big problem since facebook at least the private one allows up to
friends josipovic told national radio
have facebook friends and almost of those who would like to be
my friend but simply cannot accept them josipovic said adding he had asked
computer experts to see if they could fix that
the year old law professor from the opposition social democrats won sunday
run off vote on pledge to fight corruption key criteria for croatia bid
to join the european union
zagreb hopes to join the bloc by
josipovic who is to be sworn in on february vowed to transform the former
yugoslav republic into star of europe
carbon tax wrong way to tackle climate eu trade chief to be
brussels jan afp
incoming european union trade chief karel de gucht on tuesday ruled out pursuing
french led calls to impose carbon tax at the eu borders warning that such
ideas risk triggering trade wars
in terms of border adjustments against it de gucht told lawmakers in
response to question during european parliamentary confirmation hearing in
brussels
don see that as the right approach it one that will lead to lots of
practical problems
we ve seen it in the past the big risk is that it will also lead to an
escalating trade war on global level
it is clear that we need to take account in our trade policy of what is
happening in terms of preserving our environment and climate
but think we have to take other approaches and find strong policies which
are in tune with market laws he stressed
outgoing economic and monetary affairs commissioner joaquin almunia also argued
against the idea during his own hearing for the post dealing with competition
really believe that if we try to find climate change solutions with
protectionist instruments we will lose in every way almunia said during an
audition that proved breeze for the hugely experienced spaniard
france and germany in september called for the united nations to support
carbon tax on imports from countries that failed to back international efforts
to fight global warming
however un climate change conference held in copenhagen in december ended
with non binding agreement that did not address the issue and that brussels
said was chinese us stitch up that will do little to curtail global warming
the french government decided last week that new national carbon tax to fight
global warming will go into force in july
that announcement came week after the constitutional court struck down
previous version of the measure
iceland seeks talks with britain netherlands minister
reykjavik jan afp
iceland said tuesday it hoped to re open talks with britain and the netherlands
on plan to compensate them following the failure of an icelandic bank warning
that the proposal was likely to be rejected by icelandic voters in referendum
think it will become clear in the next few days whether window has opened
and new opportunity has emerged for negotiations foreign minister ossur
skarphedinsson told the national radio ruv
the talks would center on new arrangement to compensate britain and the
netherlands for having reimbursed british and dutch clients who lost money in
the failure in october of the icelandic bank icesave
the president of iceland olafur ragnar grimsson has refused to sign
legislation approved by parliament that would pay the british and dutch
governments billion euros billion dollars for their reimbursements
the president has instead referred the issue to referendum citing public
opposition the vote is expected to be organised before march
more than icelanders or about quarter of the electorate have signed
petition protesting the bill on fears the deal will doom the country of just
to poverty for decades
skarphedinsson on tuesday said he hoped powerful international allies will
put pressure on the british and the dutch to get them to speak to us again in
light of overwhelming odds that the law will be rejected in referendum
putting them in difficult spot just like us
foreign ministry spokesman told afp tuesday that the government had met with
all political parties in bid to forge national consensus on how to proceed
but he said it was too early to comment on the possibility of starting new
negotiations with london and the hague
the president refusal to sign the bill angered britain and the netherlands and
prompted warnings it could affect their support for iceland ambitions to join
the european union
the president action also led credit rating agencies to downgrade iceland in
the face of doubts over its economic recovery
football ferguson escapes fa action over referee rant
london jan afp
manchester united manager sir alex ferguson will not face disciplinary action
over his latest critcisms of referee the football association fa announced
tuesday
ferguson was furious with mark clattenburg for sending off darren fletcher
during english champions united draw away to birmingham city on sunday
afterwards the scot suggested clattenburg had been inconsistent this season but
the fa england governing body have decided his remarks did not mean he was
alleging bias or questioning the official integrity
no action will be taken in relation to sir alex ferguson an fa spookesman
said tuesday
as result the fa have not activated the two match suspended sentence hanging
over ferguson for criticising referee alan wiley fitness earlier this season
for which he was initially punished with two match touchline ban
scotland midfielder fletcher was dismissed for two yellow card offences and
after the match at st andrews an irate ferguson said as far as concerned
ve not seen softer sending off for long time it is ridiculous
that referee did the arsenal tottenham game earlier in the season and you
needed to hit someone with an axe before he booked anyone in that game
there were some wonderful and weird decisions tonight
iceland seeks talks with britain netherlands minister
reykjavik jan afp
iceland said tuesday it hoped to re open talks with britain and the netherlands
on plan to compensate them following the failure of an icelandic bank warning
that the proposal was likely to be rejected by icelandic voters in referendum
think it will become clear in the next few days whether window has opened
and new opportunity has emerged for negotiations foreign minister ossur
skarphedinsson told the national radio ruv
the talks would center on new arrangement to compensate britain and the
netherlands for having reimbursed british and dutch clients who lost money in
the failure in october of the icelandic bank icesave
the president of iceland olafur ragnar grimsson has refused to sign
legislation approved by parliament that would pay the british and dutch
governments billion euros billion dollars for their reimbursements
the president has instead referred the issue to referendum citing public
opposition the vote is expected to be organised before march
more than icelanders or about quarter of the electorate have signed
petition protesting the bill on fears the deal will doom the country of just
to poverty for decades
skarphedinsson on tuesday said he hoped powerful international allies will
put pressure on the british and the dutch to get them to speak to us again in
light of overwhelming odds that the law will be rejected in referendum
putting them in difficult spot just like us
foreign ministry spokesman told afp tuesday that the government had met with
all political parties in bid to forge national consensus on how to proceed
but he said it was too early to comment on the possibility of starting new
negotiations with london and the hague
the president refusal to sign the bill angered britain and the netherlands and
prompted warnings it could affect their support for iceland ambitions to join
the european union
the president action also led credit rating agencies to downgrade iceland in
the face of doubts over its economic recovery
incoming eu trade chief lashes out at china
brussels jan afp
europe incoming trade commissioner lashed out on tuesday at what he said was
deliberate policy by china of keeping its currency undervalued in remark
sure to irritate beijing
warning that china foreign exchange stance posed major problem for global
economic recovery belgium karel de gucht highlighted growing european union
unease on the issue
his criticism of china effective peg of the yuan to weak dollar and how it
undercuts european exporters came after confirmation hearing before lawmakers
in brussels
de gucht has sparked controversy before with comments last month in which he
questioned the capacity of authorities in the democratic republic of congo
former belgian colony to make effective use of eu aid money
despite subsequent congolese ire he remained unrepentant during the three hour
european parliament session and picked new target in beijing
it is obvious that the undervaluation of the chinese currency is major
problem de gucht said
it is clear to me that this is deliberate policy and we should address this
on all possible occasions bilaterally and also multilaterally
de gucht had already warned that china must show its responsibility and
address thorny questions such as currency misalignment
his comments come amid increasingly sour trade disputes with china over products
ranging from shoes to screws
chinese premier wen jiabao said last month that international pressure over
china currency policy was unfair with beijing insisting that it has done
more than its fair share to get the global economy back on its feet
the asian giant exports soared percent in december to see it overtake
germany as the world biggest exporter illustrating how its economy has got
through the slump better than most
its trade partners especially the united states and the eu have long
complained that weak currency gives china an unfair trade advantage at their
expense
de gucht the current commissioner for development and humanitarian aid said
another primary focus would lie in breaking down us barriers behind the
border predominantly owing to differences in regulation
he also dismissed french led calls to impose carbon tax at eu frontiers
saying such levy risked triggering an escalating trade war on global
level
on the stalled world trade organisation negotiations for global trade
liberalisation in the doha round de gucht said he was personally confident
deal could finally be reached in or
more broadly he said he would seek as rule to manage his new brief without
compromising human rights climate or labour issues while seeking the eu core
economic growth objective in sustainable way
to that end he wanted to protect eu companies roles in an emerging global
green economy so as to avoid the bloc losing out on key technologies as
production migrated oversees as had happened with micro chips
majority of the deputies attending the hearing agreed at subsequent meeting
to support de gucht nomination said greens representative yannick jadot
although his grouping withheld their backing
despite de gucht stated aims jadot said the commissioner in waiting had
crossed red line in casting doubt on trade capacity to come up with tools
for the fight against global warming
he added that de gucht is taking forward traditional commission economic policy
as if there had been no financial crisis no economic crisis and no social
crisis nor failed international climate talks
afptv agenda for wednesday
paris jan afp
we plan to file the following videos on wednesday please consult the advisory
for additions and amendments
rio swelters as northern hemisphere shivers
rio de janeiro
as much of europe and the united states shivers under one of the coldest winters
on record rio is basking in southern summer heatwave with brazilians flocking
to the beaches to cool off
voiced report
crops suffer amid europe deep freeze
caillou sur fontaine france
the arctic freeze gripping europe has proved costly for the continent economy
causing severe disruption to transport links and preventing many businesses from
operating normally europe farmers have also been feeling the bite of the
severe cold snap with some struggling to harvest already damaged crops afptv
visited one grower waiting for the thaw in the country frozen rhone region
voiced report
bringing about change in myanmar
yangon
myanmar has one of the most oppressive regimes in the world critics say
elections promised by the ruling generals in will be sham if opposition
leader aung san suu kyi is not freed from decades behind bars but former
political prisoner win remains optimistic and is doing what he can to bring
about change voiced report
as part of our african nations cup coverage we plan to file the following
veteran champs cameroon seek fresh football glory
douala cameroon
cameroon meet gabon in their first test at the african nations cup the four
time champions are now coached by frenchman paul le guen and punters are
pegging them as potential repeat champions afptv visits with fans at home
voiced report
grinding gridlock in baghdad
baghdad
getting around the iraqi capital can be herculean challenge between the
numerous checkpoints and crippling traffic iraqis patience is pushed to the
limit almost every day millions of litres of petrol go up in fumes as the cars
pile up in baghdad gridlock
voiced report
african priests to the rescue of french parishes
ax les thermes france
with the number of french priests plummeting there are fewer every year
in france dioceses and parishes are now trying to attract clergymen from
abroad essentially africa refile of voiced report
voiced report
artist christian boltanski stages encounter with death
paris
the hand of god that gives and takes life this troubling and seemingly random
act is at the heart of artist christian boltanski latest work an installation
opening at paris grand palais on wednesday afptv visits the installation and
speaks with boltanski about his oeuvre
voiced report
france faces flight chaos in snow
paris jan afp
airlines may have to cancel up to half of their flights from paris main
airport on wednesday when heavy snow and sleet are expected with disruption
compounded by strike aviation authorities warned
the state civil aviation safety authority dgac recommended flights be cancelled
and warned that strike action would disrupt services further final decisions on
cancellations will depend on conditions on wednesday morning
it was not clear on tuesday evening to what extent airlines would cancel
flights but forecast for snow and sleet threatened day of severe disruption
for charles de gaulle airport major international hub
the dgac has asked airlines to cancel from tomorrow morning at least percent
of their flights from roissy charles de gaulle airport which could rise to
percent if necessary it said in statement on tuesday
at orly airport paris other main hub south of the capital traffic will be
reduced by percent it added further disruption was likely on thursday it
said with up to percent of flights cancelled at charles de gaulle
the dgac said that two day airport strike in several cities against reforms of
the air transport sector was likely to disrupt air traffic further
it advised travellers due to fly on wednesday to contact their airlines
last weekend snow shut down the airports in the major french cities of lyon and
toulouse
the gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor andrew beatty
news desk
top stories
iran nuclear scientist killed in bomb attack
blair aide denies sexing up iraq dossier
explosives alert closes us port
protests against nigeria absent leader
iran unrest nuclear thlead wrap
tehran
leading iranian nuclear scientist is murdered in tehran in rare bomb attack
that the government quickly blames on mercenaries in the pay of archfoes the
united states and israel
words gmt by hiedeh farmani picture video
britain iraq military politics inquiry thlead
london
tony blair former chief spin doctor alastair campbell fiercely denies sexing
up dossier which claimed iraq could launch chemical or biological weapons
within minutes as he gives evidence to an inquiry about the war
words gmt by katherine haddon picture video
us port accident thlead
raleigh north carolina
major us port is shut down after nine containers of highly explosive
material are accidentally punctured as officials urge residents to leave
words gmt by rick mercier
we have also moved us port accident petn facts
nigeria politics rdlead wrap
abuja
nigerian mps vote to send delegation to saudi arabia to discuss issues of
national importance with ailing president umaru yar adua as protests mount for
him to stand down despite his insistence in radio interview that he is on the
mend
words gmt by ola awoniyi picture
we have also moved nigeria politics yar adua profile
filing plans by region
americas
mexico crime drugs rdlead
tijuana mexico
teodoro el teo garcia simental one of mexico most wanted and brutal drug
lords is captured in the second major victory for the government in less than
month
words gmt picture
us afghanistan nato military
washington
us commanders say they are already turning the tide in afghanistan only weeks
after president barack obama announced surge of us forces to seize the
initiative from insurgents
words gmt by dan de luce
us auto show luxury
detroit
despite recession shaken global economy this year north american
international auto show features surprising number of luxury cars tailored for
drivers in search of the best wheels money can buy
words moved by veronique dupont
we will also move us auto show environment green
europe
netherlands iraq politics us probe thlead
the hague
the us led invasion of iraq in march lacked legitimacy under international
