aides on suspicion of being behind the assassination of former rwandan
president an event which sparked the genocide
football africa cup of nations result gabon zambia
benguela angola jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match here on thursday
gabon do marcolino zambia kalaba chamanga
urgent us will not back down on iran clinton
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton said thursday the united states and its
partners will not back down in the face of iran defiance on its disputed
nuclear program
football draw lifts comeback kings cameroon into last eight
lubango angola jan afp
cameroon came from behind twice to draw with tunisia on thursday and reach
the africa cup of nations quarter finals
sharing the points after group thriller at tundavala stadium was enough for
the four time champions to advance alongside zambia who beat overnight leaders
gabon in benguela
match that began so promisingly for the north africans as they took
second lead ended disastrously with defender ammar jemal sent off just before
full time for second caution
tunisia were seeking first nations cup victory over cameroon after draw and
two losses including an extra time defeat in quarter final thriller two years
ago in ghana
and youthful carthage eagles team captained by year old veteran central
defender karim haggui made perfect start with saudi arabia based striker amine
chermiti scoring less than one minute after the kick off
defender khaled souissi one of the local footballers in the tunisian squad
crossed from the right and chermiti burst between two defenders to head the ball
wide of goalkeeper carlos kameni
it was the third consecutive game in which the indomitable lions found
themselves behind in the first half and after failing to level against gabon
they hit back to edge zambia in five goal thriller
tunisia goalkeeper aymen mathlouthi was cautioned after minutes for handling
outside the area to block an eto shot but the resultant free kick from the
cameroon skipper posed no danger
cameroon did level in the opening minute of the second half as substitute
achille webo and mohamadou idrissou combined to set up eto and the inter
milan striker drilled the ball into the net off the far post
zouhaier dhaouadi squandered chance for the eagles but the north africans
regained the lead on minutes as aurelien chedjou sent looping header over
kameni as he tried to avert danger with chermiti lurking
chedjou from french club lille was starting game for the first time in this
tournament after rigobert song paid the price for error strewn defending in the
previous two matches
eto boasted before the game that he led squad of fighters and this was
proven once again as cameroon equalised inside seconds with glasgow celtic
midfielder landy nguemo on target
webo was proving an inspired half time substitution as he once again featured in
goal build up laying the ball off to nguemo who fired past mathlouthi with
low shot inside his near post
us firm backs off on bible scopes
washington jan afp
us firm sought to quiet controversy over coded biblical references inscribed
on gunsights used by us troops in iraq and afghanistan thursday announcing it
was providing the military with kits to remove them
muslim and religious freedom groups have reacted angrily after it emerged that
trijicon has contracts to supply over of the gunsights to the us
military
critics charged that the company was putting us troops in danger in muslim
majority nations where the us military presence is already bitterly resented
the wixom michigan company said it has inscribed references to the new
testament on the metal casings of its gunsights for over two decades
but it said it would supply the military with kits to enable the removal of
the references that are already on products that are currently deployed
among the coded inscriptions were jn an apparent reference to john
then spake jesus again unto them saying am the light of the world he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life
the company currently has multi year million dollar contract with the us
marine corps and other contracts with the us army to supply the scopes
just under of the gunsights are currently fielded by the
marines and between and by the army pentagon official said
speaking on condition of anonymity
trijicon said it had taken the step in response to concerns raised by the
department of defense and to ensure the war time production needs of the
troops are met as quickly as possible
the pentagon said earlier it was disturbed after reports emerged this week
about the inscriptions the marine corps and the army have launched review
the practice appeared to be direct violation of us central command general
order issued after the us led invasion of iraq that strictly prohibits
proselytizing of any religion faith or practice
besides providing kits the company said it would remove the biblical references
on all us military products that have not yet been shipped and stop inscribing
them on gunsights in the future
it also offered other international military forces using its products which
include the british military and the new zealand defense forces the option to
remove the references
trijicon has proudly served the us military for more than two decades and our
decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and
appropriate trijicon president and ceo stephen bindon said in statement
army spokesman gary tallman earlier told afp that we were unaware of these
coded biblical references until several days ago adding that the service
branch currently has about of the scopes in its inventory
it is not the policy of the department of defense to put religious references
of any kind on its equipment
oh jm
un repatriates body of haiti mission chief to tunisia
tunis jan afp
the united nations repatriated to tunisia thursday the body of hedi annabi the
un mission chief in haiti who died in last week devastating quake
alain le roy un under secretary general attended ceremony for the former
tunisian diplomat at tunis carthage airport with annabi family friends and
tunisia foreign minister kamel morjane
le roy described annabi as the mainstay and soul of un peacekeeping
operations celebrating his rectitude and absolute devotion as well as his
contribution to the security and peace in large number of countries
le roy added that annabi was happy in haiti proud of the work he was doing for
one of the most vulnerable populations
annabi body was then transported to bizerte his birth place kilometres
from tunis miles it is due to return to the capital for national funeral
on friday
annabi died when the un headquarters for its stabilisation mission in the
country in capital port au prince collapsed during the magnitude quake on
january
former tunisian career diplomat annabi joined the united nations in and
served in series of senior posts in the un department of peacekeeping
operations from
bsh emb ach
obama moves to rein in banks in wall street assault
washington jan afp
president barack obama unveiled plans thursday to limit the size and scope of us
banks and finance firms in new assault on the wall street excesses laid bare
by the financial crisis
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail obama vowed flanked by former federal reserve chief paul volcker
who has fought to reinstate depression era rules that separated investment and
commercial banking operations
the plans to limit excessive risk taking and protect taxpayers are aimed at
preventing banks or finance institutions from owning investing in or sponsoring
hedge fund or private equity funds
they will effectively force finance firms to choose between proprietary
activities trading in stocks and sometimes risky financial instruments and
commercial activities like making loans and collecting deposits
the initiative which must be approved by congress includes new proposal to
limit the consolidation of the finance sector placing broader limits on
excessive growth of the market share of liabilities at the largest financial
firms
obama blamed banks for sparking the worst economic crisis since the great
depression with huge reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and massive
bonuses in binge of irresponsibility
he vowed to enact the reforms in congress even if wall street deployed an army
of lobbyists to kill them
if these folks want fight it fight ready to have he vowed
defiantly
the announcement was the latest attempt by the white house to harness popular
fury at massive wall street bonuses and tight credit markets which is adding up
to an angry political mood in crucial election year
wall street gave an immediate thumbs down to obama plans as us stocks plunged
with the blue chip dow index down two percent at one point
the dow jones industrial average slumped points to at midday
its biggest drop in the new year
the administration new proposal is inconsistent with achieving goals such
as promoting responsible lending increasing jobs and promoting stronger
economy said steve bartlett president for the financial services roundtable
the groups represents of the largest integrated financial services companies
providing banking insurance and investment products and services
but bartlett said the group would continue to work with the president and
policymakers on modernizing the us regulatory framework to create stronger
system for the future
obama first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue handful of
banks that threatened to topple the us economy after being exposed to massive
losses on the sub prime mortgage market
as well as restricting risky trading size cap could stop the emergence of
firms with the ability to choke the flow of cash to the us economy by reducing
lending as they hit trouble
according to treasury officials about billion dollars was pumped into
banks under the government rescue plans
obama has sounded tougher tone towards banks in recent weeks as he faced
widespread voter anger at the massive government bailout which came as
americans faced surging unemployment home foreclosures and national debt
last week the president announced new fee on major banking firms to recover
every single dime taxpayers shelled out to rescue wall street
the plan if approved by congress would raise billion dollars from big
financial institutions including foreign banks operating in the united states
under an effort to recoup money from massive bailout of the banking sector
he also warned the banking industry not to block or water down his planned
regulatory reforms
alert
us will not back down over iran nuclear defiance clinton
russian built iran nuclear plant to start up this year official
moscow jan afp
nuclear power plant in iran being built by russia will go into service by the
end of this year russian atomic energy chief sergei kiriyenko said thursday
all the work is going as scheduled the tests are success this year will be
the year of the launch of bushehr kiriyenko was quoted as saying by the
interfax news agency
in iran handed over the unfinished project launched by siemens of germany
in the to russia moscow has repeatedly extended the completion date in
recent years
russia has pressed ahead with the bushehr project despite western concerns about
iran nuclear energy ambitions tehran rejects fears that its nuclear programme
is cover for secret atomic weapons project
xerox to cut jobs
new york jan afp
xerox corp said thursday it plans to cut some jobs or five percent of
its workforce in cost cutting move aimed at saving some million dollars
year
xerox which had employees at the end of december has already slashed
jobs starting in late
the latest job cuts were announced by xerox chief executive ursula burns during
presentation of the photocopier company fourth quarter results
burns said some of the job losses would come in europe but did not give
figure
she said the restructuring would cost million dollars this year with
million dollars related to xerox billion dollar acquisition of affiliated
computer services the world largest diversified business outsourcing firm
burns said she expected the acs acquisition to close next month once
completed xerox will be the world leader in business process and document
management she said
the norwalk connecticut based xerox said net profit rose to million dollars
in the fourth quarter from one million dollars in the corresponding quarter
year ago
revenue declined by three percent to billion dollars better than the
billion dollars expected by wall street analysts
we delivered strong close to difficult year with solid operational results
that reflect our disciplined approach to generating cash and reducing costs
burns said in statement
during the fourth quarter we saw signs of improvement in several areas
including developing markets and we remain quite confident in our strong global
competitive position she said
however we believe revenue will continue to be under pressure until there is
more sustainable economic recovery burns said
to help offset this challenge we remain focused on cost and expense management
and sizing our business to better match current revenue levels
xerox shares were trading percent higher at dollars on wall street
haiti struck by another aftershock
port au prince jan afp
haiti was hit thursday by magnitude aftershock although there were no
immediate reports of damage
the usgs said the aftershock hit at gmt and was centered kilometers
miles west southwest of port au prince with depth of about kilometers
miles
the aftershock followed heavier magnitude jolt early wednesday after the
catastrophic magnitude quake nine days ago which killed up to people
and left an estimated one million homeless
nigerians stage anti yar adua rally lawyers file petition
lagos jan afp
about people marched through lagos on thursday to demand absent president
umaru yar adua hand full powers to his deputy as top lawyers pushed of an end
to power vacuum in nigeria
the crowd marched to the lagos state governor office and handed in letter
demanding yar adua who has been in hospital in saudi arabia for two months
step down
opposition lawyers meanwhile petitioned the high court in abuja to have his
deputy goodluck jonathan sworn in with full powers on the ground of yar adua
incapacity
the president has spent nearly days in jeddah for treatment for acute
pericarditis an inflammation of the membrane covering the heart
the demonstrators carried placards reading enough of the offshore president
and go umaru go
we have ship now without captain plane without pilot said joe okei
odumakin leader of nigeria campaign for democracy
similar rally was held in the capital abuja last week led by nobel literature
laureate wole soyinka
calls for yar adua to step down or transfer power to jonathan the vice
president have mounted in recent weeks
the high court ruled last week in separate case that jonathan can carry out
presidential duties in yar adua absence without formal transfer of power
but top lawyers on thursday asked the court to effectively extend the vice
president powers to encompass those of acting head of state in the continued
absence of yar adua
the lawyers from the nigerian bar association nba maintained that yar adua
breached the constitution when he left the country two months ago without
writing to inform parliament of his absence
nigeria opposition has claimed yar adua continued absence though illness and
lack of information on his condition has stalled government business and leaves
power vacuum in africa most populous nation
we are saying the court should declare that even when there is an omission to
write the letter the vice president is entitled to assume under the doctrine
of necessity the functions of the president as acting president said nba
lawyer akin olujimi
thursday high court hearing was one of three legal cases taken up by the
opposition to force year old yar adua northern muslim to hand over full
powers to jonathan southern christian
the court is to hand down its ruling on january
justice minister michale aondoaaka said the lawyers have no power to ask the
court to declare an acting president
such powers were vested in the national assembly which can only do so on the
strength of letter from the president he added
and that is discretional to the president
however nigeria ambassador to saudi arabia abdullah aminchi thursday in
riyadh quoted yar adua as saying that the vice president was in charge of the
country in his absence
he yar adua said the vice president is in charge he is handling the
situation now the envoy told afp
the powerful secretary to the federal government yayale ahmed on thursday
briefed the senate on the president state of health senate spokesman ayogu
eze told journalists without giving details about the closed door meeting
the senate will meet on tuesday to take on all the issues arising from the
interaction he said
football dunfermline reinstated in scottish cup
glasgow jan afp
dunfermline were dramatically reinstated in the this season scottish cup on
thursday just week after being kicked out of the competition for fielding an
ineligible player
the pars thrashed stenhousemuir in the fourth round
but their victory was called into question when it was found calum woods had
come off the bench in the second half at east end park despite the scottish
football association suspension list declaring him banned for the match
the sfa threw first division dunfermline out but on thursday an independent
appeals panel ordered the fourth round tie be replayed but at second division
stenhousemuir ochilview ground and fined the pars approximately
pounds
date for the match has yet to be set but last home tie against glasgow
giants celtic definitely awaits the winners
football africa cup of nations cameroon tunisia
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group result thursday
cameroon eto nguemo tunisia chermiti chedjou og
football scottish cup draw
glasgow jan afp
revised draw for the fifth round of the scottish cup after dunfermline were
reinstated here on thursday
th rd
stenhousemuir or dunfermline celtic
st johnstone dundee united
hibernian montrose
dundee ayr united
raith rovers aberdeen
kilmarnock inverness ct
st mirren rangers
ross county stirling
ties to be played on the weekend of february
football cameroon zambia qualify for cup of nations quarter finals
lubango angola jan afp
cameroon and zambia qualified for the africa cup of nations quarter finals
thursday after finishing first and second in group
kennedy successor wins warm us senate welcome
washington jan afp
republican senator elect scott brown won warm welcome thursday on his first
visit to the us senate since his shock victory in the race to succeed the late
democratic icon ted kennedy
brown met with handful of his future colleagues including top democratic
allies of president barack obama vowed to quickly study the often arcane senate
procedures and said he would not vote in lockstep with republicans
don owe anybody anything brown said as he met with democratic senator
john kerry also of massachusetts if see bill that is good for my state
going to vote for it and that my first priority
brown victory stripped obama democrats of their already fragile vote
supermajority enabling gleeful republicans to stall legislation like the
president top domestic goal remaking us health care
kerry longtime friend of kennedy who had sometimes sharp words for brown in
the campaign leading up to tuesday vote said he hoped the newest us senator
would be sworn in as expeditiously as it can happen
you have to work across the aisle here to make things happen americans don
just elect democrats and republicans they elect people to be responsible with
the people business look forward to working with scott said kerry
brown who appears set to take the oath next week first visited republican
senator john mccain to thank him for his early support of his long shot bid for
the seat kennedy held for nearly half century
senator brown represents think the dreams and the hopes and the
frustrations that americans feel today and they want the kind of leadership
that the commonwealth of massachusetts just sent us said mccain
brown said mccain was one of the first people to actually you know look me in
the eye in this very office and say well it long shot but with you
if you feel you can win it
brown who also met with senate democratic majority leader harry reid and
republican minority leader mitch mcconnell said he would try to keep his sense
of humor and hoped his future colleagues and obama would as well
he said he spoke with reid by telephone late wednesday and we had nice talk
cracked few jokes
when spoke to the president we had lot of laughs and told him he has to
keep his sense of humor because you need to said brown that one of the
things that kind of insulates me from lot of the negativity
afptv agenda
paris jan afp
we plan to file the following videos on friday please consult the daily
advisory for additions and amendments
haiti race against time
port au prince
the latest news coverage out of quake hit haiti foreign medical teams work
feverishly to stop countless more dying from massive injuries and rescue workers
refused to abandon hope of pulling more survivors from the rubble
can mushrooms save thailand jungle from poachers
khao yai thailand
thailand exotic wildlife is under threat from poachers and loggers but new
project that turns the former criminals into mushroom farmers is aiming to help
everyone conservationists in the country northeast say that growing the
common fungi is proving surprisingly lucrative and they hope that as business
grows more animals and trees will be saved voiced report
gallery puts fakes and forgeries on display
london
the british police have department dedicated to cracking the sophisticated and
potentially lucrative art forgery market their methods along with many
seized works of art are now on display at london victoria and albert
museum images and soundbites
locals bid to derail france italy rail link
suse italy
work has begun in italy on preparing the ground for new high speed rail link
through the alps aimed at slashing travel times from france but activists are
fighting the project tooth and nail and ganged up to block drilling work on the
future route voiced report
oil oil everywhere but no petrol at nigeria pumps
lagos
for several weeks nigeria has been facing shortage of petrol strange
situation for country which is one of the world top oil suppliers but
nigeria has no processing industry to speak of and has to import nearly all its
petro needs the situation is leaving drivers frustrated voiced report
the return of the fashion world te noire
paris
dutch designer josephus thimister returns to the paris haute couture catwalk
after nine years of absence during which he led fashion houses genny and
charles jourdan he awaited as perhaps the hottest show of the upcoming haute
couture week profile voiced report
the complete metropolis homecoming of masterpiece
berlin
berlin is warming up for the triumphant return of one of the country best
known films metropolis following the spectacular discovery in argentina in
of half an hour of footage that was thought to have been lost for ever the
silent expressionist epic is being shown at the berlin film festival on february
in its original state for the first time since its inauspicious release
an exhibition also opened in berlin on thursday showing some of the
groundbreaking techniques used by director fritz lang that still inspire film
makers to this day voiced report
fast forward to the future of cars in detroit
the detroit auto show wraps up this week end after rocky two years the car
industry hopes for smoother ride the luxury sector is particularly
optimistic introducing some eye catching models voiced report
outrage as gm axes belgian auto plant
brussels jan afp
general motors europe announced on thursday it is to close an entire car
production plant in belgium making workers redundant and ramping up an
already tense climate of industrial unrest
our intention today is to stop production in matter of few months new
chief executive nick reilly told brussels press conference suggesting june or
july as the likeliest date
new line of small sports utility vehicles will now be built in south korea
instead he said
it is the second major factory closure announced by carmakers in europe this
month after italy fiat acted to shut plant in sicily
europe wide restructuring at gm opel unit is expected to shed jobs from
total of almost half of which are located in germany
reilly said that about of the jobs going would be german positions
the belgian factory in northern antwerp home to the world biggest diamond
market and one of the world five largest ports is the only gm plant so far to
face being locked up
reilly said there was no alternative and rejected ideas that the plant could be
adapted for individual parts manufacturing
it not gm intention to get into the components business he said
joeri who has worked for opel for years said we are seen as antiquated
objects
it an absolute catastrophe for belgian workers and manufacturing added
walter cnop of the csc union metalworkers branch
slamming management arrogance cnop said that from tuesday of next week the
factory will remain blocked until such time as we decide to let finished cars
out
reilly said he understood workers disappointment and anger but underlined we
have cars for them to build and we like to continue normal work until the
gates close for the last time
an emergency meeting with the office of belgium devolved flemish government
leader kris peeters later on thursday was to precede redundancy and resettlement
talks
mayor cathy berx said the blow was equivalent to tsunami for antwerp but
belgian prime minister yves leterme said his federal government would prioritise
its efforts around seeking maximum guarantees of finding job
belgian industry federation agoria warned that at least jobs could be lost
due to knock on effects affecting regional suppliers and local services
opel needs billion euros billion dollars to finance its new business
plan and hopes to get billion euros from countries where opel and its
british sister brand vauxhall have operations
germany was willing to fund the lion share for canadian parts manufacturer
magna which agreed deal last year to buy gm europe however that sale
collapsed amid political row over european union state aid rules
antwerp unions have consistently maintained that plant in bochum western
germany had weaker economic case and called again on thursday for european
labour solidarity
employee and union representatives also accused management of breaching
contract with the company european works council on the suv line saying
antwerp employees had been engaged on the project since
our projection of how many of those we will manufacture has gone down said
reilly of slump in demand globally for cars adding that it would be more
economic to build them in korea
the antwerp closure comes at time of sensitive industrial relations in
belgium as elsewhere
the world biggest brewer anheuser busch inbev maker of famed belgian beer
brands such as stella artois leffe or hoegaarden has suffered two weeks of
blockade action in protest at job cuts
belgian firefighters also mounted spectacular protest over career prospects on
thursday spraying government buildings and main traffic arteries with foam
while prison guards are themselves out on strike over working conditions
korean consortium invests in ontario wind solar energy
ottawa jan afp
samsung and korea electric power led consortium will invest billion
canadian dollars billion us on wind and solar energy in central canada
the ontario government announced thursday
this is the single largest investment in renewable energy in provincial
history the province said in statement
the south korean consortium aims to generate megawatts of wind and solar
power by building and operating wind and solar clusters throughout ontario
tripling the province output from renewable energy sources
these will eventually include wind turbines that will generate up to mw as
well as solar power facilities that will generate up to mw by
producing up to four percent of ontario total electricity consumption or
enough power for more than households
the consortium will also construct production facilities in ontario to provide
key components such as blades wind towers solar modules and inverters
and under the terms of the deal it is expected to encourage component suppliers
to build manufacturing facilities in the province
ontario canada biggest and most populous province has pledged to shut down
all of its polluting coal fired power plants by and boost its renewable
