easing concerns over the yen recent strength which is bad for exporters
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index climbed points or
percent to by the lunch break the broader topix index of all
first section shares added points or percent to
the nikkei is expected to see another rally thanks to the weaker yen but gains
may be limited as us markets were mixed overnight yutaka miura senior
technical analyst at mizuho securities told dow jones newswires
while japan new finance minister naoto kan is seen as less tolerant of
stronger yen than outgoing hirohisa fujii the appointment has not had major
impact on the stock market dealers said
lot of investors are looking at the situation calmly now miura said
us russia nuke deal in weeks maybe months experts
washington jan afp
the united states and russia may have found negotiations for broad new nuclear
disarmament deal tougher than expected but are still likely to seal one soon in
the new year analysts said wednesday
in particular they added negotiators are under pressure to clinch pact in
the run up to may review conference for the nuclear non proliferation treaty
npt which obliges the nuclear powers to show progress on disarmament
negotiators missed december deadline to replace the strategic arms reduction
treaty start which led to deep cuts in both nuclear arsenals after it was
signed in just before the collapse of the soviet union
nor was there deal by january even though president barack obama white
house said on december that it still aimed to conclude good and verifiable
start agreement by the end of the year
russia echoed the new aim
but james collins former us ambassador to moscow dismissed any suggestion
the talks were in danger and was optimistic that stumbling blocks like those
over verification procedures could be overcome
there are not not insurmountable issues they however are complex
technologically collins told afp by telephone
the analyst with the carnegie endowment for international peace said the
negotiations have gone slower than anyone thought they should and hoped
but he added both sides expect to reach an agreement they expect to do it
fairly soon in the new year the vast bulk of the treaty is finished and is
agreed
collins expected the start talks to resume in geneva sometime after the middle
of january following the russian orthodox christmas holiday period although no
date has been set
he added think the pressure will be there to get it the deal done sooner
rather than later because of its relationship to the non proliferation meetings
that are coming
he was referring to preparatory meetings for the npt review conference in may at
the united nations in new york
the longer it takes to clinch deal it makes it harder for us to make the
case that other people need to work with us to strenghten the treaty collins
said
he added failure to get start agreement would be very serious blow to
any idea that there is credible commitment to zero nuclear weapons
in speech in prague on april obama pledged to lead quest for world
purged of atomic weapons when he unveiled plan to cut stockpiles curtail
testing choke fissile production and secure loose nuclear material
miles pomper an analyst at the james martin center for non proliferation
studies said he would be astonished if there is no new treaty by the time of
the npt conference and suggested russia was playing game of brinksmanship
he told afp that countries like egypt brazil and south africa though not
iran will find it harder to be sympathetic to the obama administration
agenda to check the spread of nuclear weapons
under the npt provisions he said the russians also have reputation to
keep
and from strategic point of view pomper said moscow needs deal because
as russian systems become antiquated they have to have lower numbers of
weapons
paul saunders the executive director of the nixon center think tank told afp
he was still optimistic about chances for deal amid pressure for one from
the npt review conference and russia weaker strategic position
but he warned that the republican minority in the senate could complicate the
negotiations or deny the obama administration and fellow democrats the two
thirds majority it needs to have any deal ratified in the senate
obama and russian prime minister dmitry medvedev set goal in july of slashing
the number of warheads on either side to between and and the number
of carriers capable of delivering them to between and
the united states has said it currently has some nuclear warheads while
russia is believed to have about
afghan war kills three children day report
kabul jan afp
children are the biggest victims of the war in afghanistan with more than
people under years old killed last year alone according to an afghan human
rights watchdog
taliban linked militants caused around percent of all violent child deaths
last year the afghanistan rights monitor arm said in report
children were also press ganged sexually exploited deprived of health and
education and illegally detained by all sides in war that is dragging into
its ninth year since the us led invasion toppled the taliban regime
at least three children were killed in war related incidents every day in
and many others suffered in diverse but mostly unreported ways arm director
ajmal samadi said
children died in suicide attacks and roadside bombings at the crux of the
taliban arsenal against us nato and afghan troops fighting the increasingly
virulent insurgency as it spreads across the impoverished country
the taliban reportedly caused more harm and intentionally abused more children
for illegal purposes than pro government afghan and international forces the
report said
through horrible anti education policy of heinous attacks intimidation and
terror the insurgents deprived hundreds of thousands of children boys and
girls from education mostly in the insecure south and east of the country
on the other hand the western backed government has failed to introduce or
implement laws to protect children against the abuses of war or bring alleged
criminals and abusers to justice samadi said
arm called on the afghan authorities to set up an official child protection body
and liaise with the warring parties on child rights
the report by arm an independent rights monitoring group set up in kabul in
comes after the united nations said civilian deaths in afghanistan rose
percent in the first months of most caused by the taliban
the united nations put civilian deaths at for that period up from
for the same period of with the vast majority killed by insurgents
it said deaths were caused by pro government forces including nato and us
led forces and by other actors
arm released the report as suspected roadside bomb attack killed four children
and wounded more than dozen in volatile eastern nangahar province
reports that foreign forces killed eight students in kunar province on december
caused widespread outrage including us flag burning demonstrations in two
cities though reports of what happened varied widely
government investigation found the teenagers were unarmed and killed in cold
blood while western military sources said the group were armed opened fire at
foreign and afghan forces and were killed in self defence
civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces fuel distrust between the afghan
population the government and us and nato troops even though most are caused
by insurgent tactics such as homemade bombs
the taliban regularly exploit deaths caused by foreign and afghan forces and
western military intelligence officials say the militants have gained the upper
hand in sophisticated propaganda war
militant leaders based largely in pakistan rarely claim responsibility for
operations that kill large numbers of civilians but routinely exaggerate losses
among foreign forces
the united states and nato are boosting their troop numbers in afghanistan to
over the course of as part of new strategy determined to clear
and secure insurgent strongholds
us general stanley mcchrystal commander of foreign forces in afghanistan has
ordered civilian casualties be kept to minimum yet as more troops pour in
higher death rate is inevitable experts say
man posing as lawyer tries to visit accused fort hood shooter
san antonio texas jan afp
an unarmed man tried to visit the army psychiatrist charged in deadly shooting
spree at fort hood texas on wednesday by posing as his lawyer officials said
when that ruse didn work the man told hospital security that he was maj
nidal malik hasan doctor
the man was escorted from the building and the hospital was briefly locked down
as precaution hospital spokesperson dewey mitchell said
the man was not arrested though he did speak to san antonio law enforcement
after he left the hospital
don think he was any kind of immediate threat or he would have been
arrested mitchell told afp
mitchell declined to release the identity of the man who approached security at
gmt and asked for an escort to hasan room
hasan who is paralyzed from the chest down is being held pending trial at the
brooke army medical center in san antonio
hasan is being investigated for links to islamic extremism including his
contacts with radical cleric who blessed the killing spree
he faces counts of premeditated murder and counts of attempted
premeditated murder in connection with the november shooting attack at the
texas military facility
twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed in the attack another people
were wounded
military officials on wednesday named the three person sanity board that will
determine hasan competence to stand trial the board is expected to reach
conclusion the end of february
hong kong shares open percent higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares opened up percent on thursday with the benchmark hang
seng index rising points in early trading to
honduras military chiefs charged with abuse of power
tegucigalpa honduras jan afp
honduras attorney general charged the country top military chiefs wednesday
with abuse of power for coup that ousted president manuel zelaya supreme
court spokesman told afp
they are various commanders and the crimes are abuse of power said danilo
izaguirre adding that the court had three days to respond to the charges filed
by attorney general luis rubi
armed forces chief of staff general romeo vasquez velasquez air force chief
venancio cervantes and navy chief luis javier prince were among those accused
over the arrest and expulsion of zelaya to costa rica on june
an army spokesman told local radio america that vasquez had called on military
lawyers to take on the case
rights groups had called on the country legal institutions to denounce the
military for their involvement in the coup and heavy handed clampdowns on
protests by zelaya supporters in its aftermath
the supreme court as well as the congress and business leaders backed left
leaning zelaya expulsion during dispute over his plans to change the
constitution which critics saw as bid to prolong his mandate
wednesday announcement came as top us envoy left honduras without comment
after two day visit seeking an exit to the deep political crisis set off by
the coup
football asian cup qualifying standings
singapore jan afp
asian cup qualifying standings after wednesday matches played won
drawn lost goals for goals against points
group
japan qualified
bahrain qualified
yemen
hong kong
group
kuwait
australia
oman
indonesia
group
uzbekistan qualified
uae qualified
malaysia
group
syria qualified
china qualified
vietnam
lebanon
group
iran qualified
thailand
singapore
jordan
note top two in each group qualify for the finals in qatar
hosts qatar as well as iraq saudi arabia and south korea the top three in the
tournament qualify automatically as do india the afc challenge cup
winners the afc challenge cup winners will also make it through
nigerian charged in plane plot faces life term
washington jan afp
young nigerian was wednesday charged with attempted murder and trying to use
weapon of mass destruction aboard us plane as under fire security chiefs
vowed to revamp intelligence services
umar farouk abdulmutallab was indicted by grand jury on six counts
arising from botched christmas day plot to blow up northwest airliner packed
with passengers and crew as it approached detroit michigan
michigan district court documents accused him of carrying concealed bomb
inside his clothing on board flight from amsterdam
the bomb consisted of device containing pentaerythritol tetranitrate petn
triacetone triperoxide tatp and other ingredients the charge sheet said
adding that both substances were highly explosive
the bomb was designed to allow defendant umar farouk abdulmutallab to detonate
it at time of his choosing and to thereby cause an explosion aboard flight
the documents added
if convicted of trying to use weapon of mass destruction the young nigerian
faces life imprisonment the department of justice said in statement other
charges carry maximum sentence of years while two charges of possession of
firearm carry mandatory years in prison
this investigation is fast paced global and ongoing and it has already
yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads attorney
general eric holder said in the statement
he vowed that anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be
brought to justice using every tool military or judicial available to our
government
president barack obama tuesday sharply rebuked intelligence and security
services for missing series of red flags which could have unmasked the plot
earlier
it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully
leveraged obama said after gathering agency chiefs and national security aides
at high stakes white house meeting
that not acceptable and will not tolerate it he said in an unusual
public dressing down of the intelligence services
obama was even more explicit during the meeting in the secure white house
situation room an official said
this was screw up that could have been disastrous the official speaking on
condition of anonymity quoted obama as saying
red faced top officials admitted mistakes had been made and vowed to do better
to confront an evolving threat from terror groups an al qaeda cell in yemen
where abdulmutallab spent some time in has claimed to be behind the plot
we know based on this incident and certainly the direction we ve all received
from the president we have to learn these lessons and make it better the
chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mike mullen said
it not perfect system he admitted
director of national intelligence dennis blair was even blunter in statement
saying the intelligence community received the president message today we
got it and we are moving forward to meet the new challenges
reports have said there were series of clues that should have raised the
alarm including warning from abdulmutallab father prominent nigerian
banker who told the us embassy he was concerned about his son
the white house will thursday release an unclassified version of report into
the intelligence failures
think you ll see tomorrow that this is failure that touches across the full
waterfront of our intelligence agencies said white house spokesman robert
gibbs
the christmas day incident has triggered series of new security measures at
airports around the world and us officials have already added dozens of names
to no fly lists
the measures also include new restrictions for passengers coming from
countries including nigeria and yemen
but blair acknowledged intelligence services had to become more nimble in
reacting to new methods being developed by terror groups such as al qaeda which
hijacked planes to destroy new york twin towers in
we can and we must outthink outwork and defeat the enemy new ideas the
intelligence community will do that as directed by the president working
closely with our nation entire national security team blair said
the threat has evolved and we need to anticipate new kinds of attacks and
improve our ability to stay ahead of them and protect america
wife of ireland leader attempted suicide after affair
london jan afp
northern ireland first minister peter robinson has admitted that his wife
tried to commit suicide after she had an affair in an emotional confession on
television
fighting back tears robinson laid bare the turmoil at the heart of his year
marriage to fellow lawmaker iris robinson but vowed to stay on as leader and
work to rebuild his marriage
sitting in the study of his home robinson looking gaunt and fighting to
control his voice revealed he first discovered iris had the affair in march
last year the night she tried to take her own life
each single night since then have asked for the strength to carry this
burden he told television cameras on wednesday his eyes welling up
admit that my immediate impulse was to walk away from my marriage felt
betrayed after almost years of being happily and closely bonded together
but he insisted he would be back at his desk in belfast on thursday and would
stay on as leader of the democratic unionist party going into this year
general election
determined to try to put this issue behind me it is my intention to be at
my desk tomorrow morning to continue the work that the people of northern
ireland have entrusted to me he said
love my wife have always been faithful to her in spirit of humility and
repentance iris sought my forgiveness he also said
she took responsibility upon herself alone for her actions and have forgiven
her
the personal admission will rock northern irish politics and send shockwaves
across the province where the couple marriage was viewed as rock solid
iris robinson released her own statement admitting the brief affair and her
suicide attempt which she said devastated my life and the lives of those
around me
fought with those loved most my children and friends saw plots where none
existed and conducted myself in manner which was self destructive and out of
character she said
speculation had been growing about the couple relationship since she announced
on december she was quitting politics citing battle with depression
she decided to step down as member of britain parliament at the next
election for the democratic unionist party and member of the northern ireland
assembly
six soldiers dead in ecuadoran plane crash army
quito jan afp
six ecuadoran soldiers were killed wednesday when the light aircraft they were
traveling in crashed an army spokesman said
the accident involving cessna plane occurred around pm local time
gmt kilometers miles southeast of the capital quito said the
spokesman without adding further details
it is the third air crash involving the ecuadoran army in as many months
although the first two did not involve casualties
hong kong gold opens higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong gold opened higher on thursday at us dollars an
ounce up from wednesday close of dollars
protests grow over new us travel watchlist
washington jan afp
afghanistan and iraq on wednesday joined chorus of protest over new us
watchlist targeting visitors from countries describing the measure as
ineffective and counterproductive
think it is unfair said samir sumadaie iraq ambassador to the united
states and more important than being fair or unfair is whether it is actually
going to work
if you treat the entire populations of so many countries as suspects with one
blanket decision it is counterproductive he said it tends to alienate people
and its very very doubtful that it will produce any significant increase in the
security of air travelers
said jawad afghanistan ambassador to the united states echoed those
concerns
it unfair to single out all afghans for extreme scrutiny he said in
statement emailed to afp
we must not let our fear force missed opportunity to produce meaningful
security measures which don ostracize innocent travelers brings us all closer
to fighting common enemy and allows everyone to travel the globe in relative
safety he said
the new transportation security administration watchlist requires passengers who
are citizens of designated countries or are travelling via those nations to
undergo special security screening
the measure was announced in the wake of failed attack on christmas day by
year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab who attempted to bring down
northwest airlines flight by detonating explosives hidden in his underwear
but sumadaie pointed out additional screening would not have been necessary to
catch abdulmutallab as the us government already had intelligence that could
have led to his arrest
improving the use of intelligence is obviously much more direct means of
identifying the real threat not everybody is threat he said
the iraqi ambassador said he had expressed strong concerns about the new measure
to the state department
other countries on the watchlist earlier protested their inclusion
we categorically reject this new hostile action by the government of the united
states that stems from the unfair inclusion of cuba in the so called list of
countries supporting terrorism cuba foreign ministry said tuesday
the ministry said it had summoned jonathan farrar who heads the us interest
section at the swiss embassy in havana to spell out cuban objections
abdulmutallab homeland nigeria was also placed on the list prompting the
government in abuja to warn wednesday of diplomatic rift
nigeria views this action as having the potential of undermining long standing
and established us nigeria bilateral ties and the goodwill the us enjoys in
nigeria statement released after cabinet meeting said
among the countries on the new directive are us designated state sponsors of
terrorism cuba iran sudan and syria
also targeted are algeria iraq lebanon libya pakistan saudi arabia
somalia yemen and nigeria
the new rules has also been criticized by advocacy groups who warn they will
lead to profiling and disproportionate targeting of particular racial ethnic
and religious groups
in statement the arab american anti discrimination committee said it was
troubled by the directives because disparate segment of the arab american
community will be scrutinized
the blanket labeling of hundreds of millions of civilians based solely on their
country of citizenship or travel is not only unfairly discriminatory based on
national origin but also improperly labels millions of innocent people as
somehow suspect or possible terrorists the group added
coalition of south asian organizations also protested the measures saying
they continue pattern of profiling that our communities have endured since
september
moreover the measures promote existing misperceptions about these communities
as threats to security and harm the us government reputation both
domestically and abroad towards ensuring civil rights and equality the groups
said in statement
qaeda says cia attack revenge for drone killings site
kabul jan afp
al qaeda said the suicide bombing at us base in afghanistan that killed seven
cia agents was revenge for the deaths of top militants in us drone strikes in
pakistan the us monitoring group site said thursday
jordanian identified as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi who was said to be
triple agent blew himself up at the base in khost on december in the
deadliest attack against the cia since
the head of al qaeda in afghanistan mustafa abu al yazid said the bomber wrote
in his will that the attack was revenge for our righteous martyrs and named
number of top militants killed in us drone attacks site reported
these included baitullah mehsud the leader of pakistan taliban blamed for
wave of deadly attacks including the killing of former pakistan prime minister
benazir bhutto in december
mehsud was killed when us missile slammed into his father in law house in
august last year
another militant named was abu saleh al somali described as part of al qaeda
core leadership and responsible for plotting attacks in europe and the united
states who was killed in drone strike in the north waziristan area in
december last year
the al qaeda statement surfaced after another round of us drone strikes left
militants dead near pakistan afghan border on wednesday
attacks by unmanned us spy planes have soared in the past year with washington
determined to wipe out militant sanctuaries while the extremists have vowed
fierce retaliation
honduras military chiefs charged with abuse of power official
tegucigalpa honduras jan afp
honduras attorney general charged the country top military chiefs wednesday
with abuse of power for coup that ousted president manuel zelaya supreme
court spokesman told afp
they are various commanders and the crimes are abuse of power said danilo
izaguirre adding that the court had three days to respond to the charges filed
by attorney general luis rubi
armed forces chief of staff general romeo vasquez velasquez air force chief
venancio cervantes and navy chief luis javier prince were among those accused
over the arrest and expulsion of zelaya to costa rica on june
qaeda says cia attack revenge for drone killings site
kabul jan afp
al qaeda said the suicide bombing at us base in afghanistan that killed seven
cia agents was revenge for the deaths of militants in us drone strikes in
pakistan the us monitoring group site said on thursday
jordanian identified as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi who was said to be
triple agent blew himself up at the base in khost on december in the
deadliest attack against the cia since
the head of al qaeda in afghanistan mustafa abu al yazid said the bomber wrote
in his will that the attack was revenge for our righteous martyrs and named
number of top militants killed in us drone attacks site said
honduras attorney general charges military over coup official
tegucigalpa honduras jan afp
honduras attorney general presented charges against the country military
leaders wednesday alleging abuse of power for ousting president manuel
zelaya supreme court spokesman told afp
samsung teams up with dreamworks technicolor for
las vegas nevada jan afp
south korea samsung teamed up with dreamworks animation maker of shrek
kung fu panda and other hit movies and technicolor on wednesday in push to
bring more entertainment into the home
samsung dreamworks and technicolor announced at the consumer electronics show
ces here that they have formed global strategic alliance for the delivery
of complete home entertainment solution in
they said they were joining forces to accelerate the worldwide deployment of
in home to mainstream consumers
samsung is one of number of major electronics manufacturers displaying
high definition television sets at ces this year as the industry seeks to expand
viewing beyond the movie screen and into the living room
growth of has been slow because of lack of programming the need to wear
special glasses and the higher prices of sets but last month release of
science fiction blockbuster avatar film by titanic director james
cameron has renewed interest in the medium
us sports broadcaster espn announced on tuesday that it will show some world cup
soccer matches live from south africa in and japan sony is partnering with
discovery and imax to launch tv network in the united states
we re forging the future of entertainment in what we like to call new
dimension tim baxter president of the consumer electronics division at
samsung electronics america said at samsung press conference
he said samsung which came out with its first hdtv in would be
marketing complete entertainment offering for the home featuring
television set blu ray player and stylish active shutter glasses
has had bumpy ride since the first film back in baxter said
today though technology has improved dramatically and it clear people love
watching in theaters
consumers are now expecting the same experience that they are getting in
the theater in their home baxter said adding that the new samsung products
deliver complete cinema quality movie experience at home
dreamworks animation chief executive jeffrey katzenberg in an appearance at the
samsung event at ces said was no longer novelty but fantastic
creative and business opportunity
today because of we stand at watershed moment for the entire movie
industry katzenberg said it an incredible artistic tool for filmmakers and
it has proven to be very big business
alert
honduras attorney general charges military over coup official
urgent qaeda says cia attack revenge for drone killings site
kabul jan afp
al qaeda said the suicide bombing of cia base in afghanistan that killed seven
agents last week was revenge for the deaths of top militants in us drone
strikes in pakistan the us monitoring group site said on thursday
alert
al qaeda says cia bombing revenge for killing of top militants site
canadian police hunt accused chinese swindler
