offering little hope of finding survivors
words gmt by jocelyne zablit picture video graphic
iraq unrest baghdad thlead
baghdad
suicide attacker blows up his vehicle while racing it at iraq forensics
headquarters in central baghdad killing people injuring and destroying
the building as violence spirals six weeks ahead of general elections
words gmt by mehdi lebouachera picture
we will also move iraq politics military kurds us
africa
liberia politics sirleaf lead
monrovia
liberian president ellen johnson sirleaf africa first elected female head of
state has announced she will run for re election next year despite previously
promising to serve only one term
words gmt by zoom dosso
nepal court summons ex royals
kathmandu jan afp
three nepalese princesses have been summoned to appear before judge in
dispute over their father estate in what would be the first court appearance
by former royal an official said tuesday
the three women are the daughters of nepal late prince dhirendra who was
killed in when his nephew the crown prince went on shooting frenzy at
the royal palace in kathmandu
they inherited his property after his death but now woman named jaya shah
pandey who says she married dhirendra in is claiming share of his
estate
the court on monday ordered three daughters of late former prince dhirendra to
appear before the court to record their statements said manoj shrestha
registrar at the kathmandu district court
disputes arose over the claims made by jaya shah pandey
nepal royal family left their sprawling city centre palace in when the
then maoist government abolished the monarchy ending year old ruling
dynasty and turning the himalayan nation into secular republic
former king gyanendra now lives in hunting lodge outside the capital and was
recently ordered to pay his taxes and outstanding utility bills
dhirendra gyanendra youngest brother renounced his royal title and
privileges in after separating from his first wife
he never divorced her but lawyers for pandey say the pair married in and
that he was able to marry again because the royal family was considered above
the law while in power
they say the couple had daughter shreya shah who is also entitled to share
of his estate
the three princesses puja seetashma and dilasha are the daughters of
dhirendra first wife who was killed in helicopter crash nine years ago all
three now live as commoners in kathmandu
reports said they were refusing to part with any of their father property but
lawyer for the former princesses declined to comment when contacted by afp
china court sides with baidu in music piracy case
beijing jan afp
chinese court has ruled in favour of the nation top search engine baidu
saying its links to music downloads do not constitute piracy state media and
recording industry body said tuesday
universal music sony bmg music entertainment hong kong and warner music hong
kong had demanded that baidu remove music links they say infringe their
copyrights in lawsuit filed in february
the beijing no intermediate people court ruled that baidu service to
provide links to mp downloads of songs that infringe copyrights was legal
the beijing times reported citing unnamed sources with baidu
the court ruled that baidu offers the searching service for pirated mp files
but does not actually pirate the music itself and therefore bore no
responsibility to pay any damages the report said
hong kong based spokesman with the international federation of the
phonographic industry ifpi the recording industry trade body confirmed
they had received the judgement but declined to comment further
beijing based baidu whose mp search feature helped make it the number one
search engine among the world largest internet population declined to comment
on the outcome
court officials also would not immediately comment when contacted by afp
as internet usage has soared in asia in recent years the music industry
revenue has fallen dramatically largely due to mp downloads from unauthorised
sources
more than percent of all music files in china are illegal causing record
companies to lose billions of dollars year the ifpi said when the case was
filed about two years ago
militants killed in nw pakistan clash security forces
peshawar pakistan jan afp
pakistani security forces have killed militants in gunfight in remote
tribal district near the taliban strongholds of north and south waziristan the
military said tuesday
an official said the insurgents could have fled military operation in south
waziristan and were seeking to carve out new safe havens in other areas of the
semi autonomous tribal belt that runs along the afghan border
the clash took place after militants attacked security checkpost on monday in
the tindo area of kurram tribal district more than kilometres miles
southwest of the regional capital peshawar
terrorists attacked security forces post in tindo area which effectively
retaliated statement from the paramilitary frontier corps said
during an encounter between security forces and terrorists terrorists were
killed and several others have been injured while eight security personnel
received minor injuries it added
mountainous kurram district bordering afghanistan has history of sectarian
tensions but had until recently been spared the islamist violence that has
plagued much of the tribal belt which is outside direct government control
but as about pakistani troops backed by fighter jets move across south
waziristan trying to dismantle the taliban long standing bases officials say
that the militants are trying to regroup elsewhere
in recent weeks there are some groups who fled the waziristan operation and are
trying to operate in kurram said local security official who asked not to be
named as he was not authorised to speak to the media
pakistan military launched multiple assaults on taliban havens last year
their statements about militant death tolls are impossible to confirm
independently as the areas are out of bounds to reporters and aid groups
winnie mandela angry over jennifer hudson biopic report
johannesburg jan afp
winnie madikizela mandela was never consulted about new movie on her turbulent
life and marriage to nelson mandela her lawyers told the film makers in
letter leaked tuesday to south african media
jennifer hudson who scooped best supporting actress oscar in for her
performance in the musical dreamgirls said in november that she would be
starring in the film that would bring powerful part of history to cinema
screens
titled winnie the film is directed by south african film maker darrell
roodt whose work includes cry the beloved country and sarafina
but letter from her attorney bowman gilfillan said madikizela mandela was
extremely concerned to hear about the film saying she has never been
approached for consent or at all according to the star newspaper
it is difficult to understand how production bearing the name of an
individual who has not been consulted at all could ever be appropriate or tell
the full story of that individual life as media reports suggest this
production is intended to the letter said according to the paper
this is certainly the case here where our client has not responded to
allegations and comment which have been made about her precisely because she
has sought to protect her sphere of personal privacy as best she can in
extremely difficult and turbulent times it added
gilfillan office decline to comment on the report citing lawyer client
confidentiality
madikizela mandela campaigned tirelessly for her husband release during his
year imprisonment in the apartheid era
however her image was tarnished by series of scandals including her links to
the kidnap and murder of young activist and conviction for fraud
she separated from nelson mandela in two years after his release but she
remains leading south african figure in own her own right
the ruling african national congress placed her fifth on its party list in last
year elections sign of prestige that guaranteed her seat in parliament
the film had already stoked controversy in south africa when hudson was tapped
to play the role sparking outrage among local actors who complained that south
african talent had again been overlooked by hollywood
the clint eastwood film invictus about south africa rugby world cup
victory stars morgan freeman playing mandela and has been hit on local
screens
golf ryder cup looms as gulf swing reaches qatar
doha jan afp
spot on the ryder cup team will be on the minds of many european players when
the million dollars qatar masters gets underway at the plush doha golf club
on thursday
virtual who who of european golf led by race to dubai winner lee
westwood is in doha for the second stop on the gulf swing before heading to
dubai for the desert classic next week
martin kaymer who with five tites in his two years on the tour has already
become the second biggest star to emerge from germany after the legendary
bernhard langer is hoping to make dream debut in the ryder cup when it is
held at the celtic manor wales later this year
and the year old who won an intense battle in abu dhabi last week to beat
ian poulter by one shot for the title made no secret about the fact that he is
chasing ryder cup berth more than anything else
my main goal is to be part of the ryder cup it would be nice to win one more
tournament in europe in fact that will be great then qualify for the ryder
cup in september kaymer who this week reached career high sixth in the
world rankings told the gulf times newspaper in doha after arriving from abu
dhabi
the rookie of the year said he was captivated by the ryder cup two years
ago when european captain nick faldo invited him to kentucky
it was two years ago that was there and just felt have to make it the
experience gained just being there was phenomenal and helped me so much in my
game eager to get there he said
kaymer fractured his foot in go kart crash last year while sitting in pole
position in the european standings but still managed to finish third overall
behind westwood and rory mcilroy after being out of action for two months
he has still not got rid of the plates and screws inserted in his foot but
showed no signs of discomfort in abu dhabi
recovering it is okay as of now the plate and screws are still there it
pains me at times depending on the position where standing at the golf
course
when standing below the ball feel it little bit besides that
okay will be removing them only in december said kaymer
defending champion alvaro quiros of spain is also keen on earning ryder cup
spot
playing the ryder cup is one of the most important things in my life he said
ll be working hard to be in contention for spot until the last moment
the tournament boasts five major winners in todd hamilton paul lawrie retief
goosen shaun micheel and michael campbell although all of them are now
struggling to keep pace with the exciting brigade of young pacesetters on the
tour
hamilton who beat ernie els in play off in to win the british open has
lost his card in america and his focused his attentions on the european tour
new zealander campbell the us open winner has hit such bad patch that
he is even considering quitting if his game doesn fall into place soon
in abu dhabi last week campbell shot an opening over par the worst round
of any player in the tournament
he followed that up with to miss the cut leaving him with more self doubts
last year he missed the cut or was forced to withdraw from of the events
he had contested on the european tour
just don know what is going on as it like there are two michael campbells
at golf tournament these days he said in abu dhabi
on the practice range my game is fine and am hitting balls perfectly but when
get onto golf course just tighten up
just can bring it from the practice range to the first tee ve even
thought about quitting but what am going to do with myself
toyota eyes six percent rise in global sales for
tokyo jan afp
japan toyota motor said tuesday it aims to increase global sales by six
percent this year as the world largest selling automaker looks to defend its
top spot from germany volkswagen
toyota is looking to boost world sales to million vehicles this year six
percent up from the previous year which saw percent drop
in japan alone it targets seven percent rise in sales to million units
in calendar year toyota statement said
the automaker announced its sales target day after it said its worldwide
vehicle sales fell to million units in narrowing its lead over
volkswagen which enjoyed record year
volkswagen europe biggest carmaker aims to overtake toyota by as the
global number one
earlier this month vw reported sales of million vehicles up
percent from the previous year last month it said it would buy percent of
japan suzuki for more than billion dollars boosting its global clout
toyota is expected to publish its third quarter earnings results on february
it returned to the black during the previous fiscal quarter for the first time
in year after its business was battered by the global financial crisis
twenty victims of lebanon crash worked in angola state media
luanda jan afp
twenty of the lebanese nationals on board the ethiopian airlines plane which
crashed into the sea this week lived and worked in angola state media in luanda
reported tuesday
the government owned jornal de angola named one of the victims as hassan
tajideen who was the administrator of angolan based food import company
arosfram
four other arosfram staffers also died in the crash the company general
administrator kito dos santos told the newspaper
dos santos was due to travel to beirut on tuesday to attend the victims funerals it said
large number of lebanese nationals work in oil and diamond rich angola mostly
running food import businesses but with some involvement in the diamond
industry
iraq war was unlawful british govt lawyer
london jan afp
the iraq war was illegal the former chief legal advisor to britain
foreign office told public inquiry into the war tuesday three days before ex
prime minister tony blair appears
considered that the use of force against iraq in march was contrary to
international law michael wood told the chilcot inquiry in london
in my opinion that use of force had not been authorised by the security
council and had no other legal basis in international law
wood comments came as the probe focus shifted to the legality of the war
elizabeth wilmshurst his deputy who resigned in protest at the conflict gives
evidence later tuesday while the government senior legal advisor at the time
peter goldsmith is due to appear wednesday
goldsmith will likely face questions over whether he turned on the war
legality two weeks before the invasion he said it would be preferable to
obtain second un security council resolution backing military action
but this was not forthcoming and ten days later goldsmith said military action
would be legal
blair himself is expected before the inquiry friday when anti war protestors
are set to stage demonstrations outside the probe venue
china sentences four more to death in xinjiang
beijing jan afp
court in china xinjiang region sentenced four people to death over deadly
riots in july bringing to the number of those condemned to die for the
unrest government official said tuesday
the verdicts were handed down on monday by court in the regional capital
urumqi scene of the violence that pitted mainly muslim uighurs against china
han ethnic majority leaving nearly dead and over injured
they were sentenced yesterday by the urumqi intermediate court spokesman at
the xinjiang government who gave only his surname li told afp
four people were sentenced to death one was sentenced to death with two year
reprieve and eight others got prison terms of up to life
death sentence with reprieve is normally commuted to life in prison
monday sentences brought to the number of people who have been reported
executed or condemned to die over their roles in the unrest some of the worst
ethnic violence in china in decades
state media has reported previously that nine of those executions were already
carried out
the xinjiang daily said monday verdicts came in five separate cases with the
defendants charged with the violent crimes of attacking smashing looting
and burning chinese term that means violent rioting
the defendants names provided by the xinjiang daily appeared to be uighur the
turkish speaking muslim minority group that has long complained of chinese
repression
during the initial eruption of violence on july uighurs attacked han chinese
but in subsequent days mobs of han roamed the streets seeking revenge
uighurs say the violence was sparked when police cracked down harshly on
peaceful demonstrations in urumqi that were held to protest the beating deaths
of two uighur migrant workers at factory in southern china
china says it faces serious separatist threat in xinjiang and has vowed harsh
retribution for those found guilty of wrongdoing in the unrest
but exiled uighurs say beijing exaggerates the threat to justify harsh controls
in the strategic western region which is rich in energy reserves and borders on
several central asian countries
earlier this year authorities issued orders to step up identity checks and
monitor religious activities in xinjiang in renewed bid to quash terrorism
separatism and extremism state media reported
cricket bangladesh india second test scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
scoreboard at stumps on the third day of the second and final test between
bangladesh and india on tuesday
bangladesh st innings mahmudullah not out sharma
india st innings overnight
gambhir rahim shafiul
sehwag rahim shahadat
dravid retd hurt
tendulkar kayes shakib
vijay mahmudullah shakib
ms dhoni st rahim raqibul
harbhajan singh rahim shafiul
zaheer khan shahadat shafiul
sharma rahim ashraful
ojha not out
extras lb nb
total for eight wickets decl overs
fall of wickets sehwag gambhir tendulkar
vijay harbhajan zaheer sharma dhoni
bowling shafiul shahadat nb rubel
nb shakib ashraful mahmudullah siddique
raqibul
bangladesh nd innings
tamim iqbal dhoni zaheer
imrul kayes sub karthik zaheer
junaid siddique dhoni zaheer
shahadat hossain not out
mohammad ashraful not out
extras lb
total for three wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes siddique iqbal
bowling zaheer sharma harbhajan ojha
sehwag
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire sharfuddoula shahid ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
cricket bangladesh in second innings
dhaka jan afp
bangladesh were in their second innings at stumps on the third day of the
second and final test against india on tuesday
brief scores
bangladesh and india decl
kagame opponent claims persecution in rwanda
kigali jan afp
rwandan opposition leader who returned from exile days ago to register her
party and run in the august presidential election claimed tuesday she was being
harrassed by the government
victoire ingabire umuhoza who chairs the unified democratic forces udf party
condemned what she called media hate campaign and vicious propaganda
with the clear intention to bludgeon opponents into silence
some extremists are currently mobilising associations of genocide survivors
widows and others for demonstrations appealing to the government to suspend our
work and put me in jail she claimed
immediately after returning to rwanda from years in exile in the netherlands
ingabire had laid wreath at the gisozi national genocide memorial in the
capital kigali
there she had called for former rebels from president paul kagame ruling
rwandan patriotic front rpf to be prosecuted for crimes allegedly committed
during the genocide
her speech had been interpreted by some media and by genocide survivor
organisations as negating the genocide carried out by hutu extremists against
kagame tutsi minority
according to the united nations at least people mostly tutsis and
some moderate hutus were killed in days
they don yet understand that silencing my voice won stop this growing
movement of claims as long as many rwandans aspire to more democracy ingabire
warned in her statement
in its world report released last week new york based human rights watch
charged that the rwandan regime was tightening the screw on political freedoms
rwanda has used its criminal law against genocide ideology to silence
individuals critical of current government policies or those who challenge past
abuses committed by the rwandan patriotic front it said
kagame who has been at the helm the central african country since the end off
the genocide is widely expected to secure re election this year
chinese diplomat hits out over google threat
london jan afp
china ambassador to london criticised alleged british arrogance after being
questioned about google threat to pull out of her country in bbc interview
tuesday
fu ying also insisted relations between the two countries had not been strained
by the execution last month of briton akmal shaikh whose supporters said was
mentally ill for drug smuggling
the ambassador said she thought there must have been lot of things behind
the us search engine announcement following claims it had been attacked by
chinese based hackers
that one of the frustrations have in my three years in this country for
you you have this habit of believing you have the best system the best things
in the world and everybody to copy she added on bbc radio
you want the westminster roof to be put on the house of every country but it
doesn work every country should build its own house and choose the best roof
for itself
she also said of shaikh execution between countries there are always
differences this shows our relationship is strong enough to handle
differences and don think there any serious damage
french parliament report calls for burqa ban
paris jan afp
french parliament report called tuesday for ban on the full islamic veil in
all schools hospitals public transport and government offices saying the
burqa was an affront to french values
the wearing of the full veil is challenge to our republic this is
unacceptable the report released by parliament commission said we must
condemn this excess
after six months of hearings the panel of lawmakers recommended ban on the
face covering veil in all state run institutions and offices the broadest move
yet to restrict muslim dress in france
the commission called on parliament to adopt formal resolution stating that
the burqa was contrary to the values of the republic and proclaiming that all
of france is saying no to the full veil
women who turn up at government offices wearing the full veil should be denied
services such as work visa residency papers or french citizenship the report
recommended
the panel however stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw the
burqa on the streets or in shopping centres after cautioning that such move
would have to be reviewed by the courts to establish its legality
the wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg said communist
lawmaker andre gerin the chair of the commission
there are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil said gerin who vowed
to fight the gurus seeking to export racial brand of fundamentalism and
sectarianism to france
home to europe biggest muslim minority estimated at about six million france
is being closely watched at time of particular unease over islam three months
after swiss voters approved ban on minarets
president nicolas sarkozy set the tone for the debate in june when he declared
the burqa not welcome in france and described it as symbol of women
subservience that cannot be tolerated in country that considers itself
human rights leader
china tightening fears weigh on asia stocks
hong kong jan afp
lingering concerns that beijing will move to tighten liquidity fed into regional
stock markets tuesday which fell as investors overlooked positive result on
wall street
markets have been on edge since china announced last week that its economy
expanded at better than expected pace last year while inflation was soaring
and bank lending was at record high
the region has also been on downward slope since us president barack obama on
thursday launched series of initiatives to restrict what he called the
excessive bank risk taking that led to the global downturn
china strong figures have led to speculation that authorities will move to
rein in the red hot economy by staunching lending or raising interest rates
shanghai closed down percent or points amid reports that
chinese authorities had ordered several banks to stop issuing new loans this
month as fears grow that the extra money is fuelling inflation
more investors are moving to the sidelines as they remain cautious of more
policy headwinds zhang qi from haitong securities told dow jones newswires
the concerns spilled over into hong kong which saw its fifth straight loss to
close down percent or points to
there is growing expectation that china will lift interest rates soon after
reporting economic expansion of percent in and percent in the
fourth quarter of the year data also showed inflation at month high
beijing is also keen to put the brakes on runaway lending last year that has led
to fears of asset bubbles and possible bad debt and recently raised the amount
banks must hold in reserve
in bid to calm fears over tightening the people bank of china tuesday kept
the yield on its benchmark one year bills unchanged after having raised it
twice in the previous two weeks
however the yen shot up in asian trade on worries that chinese moves to curb
lending could derail still fragile global economic recovery
the dollar slid to yen in tokyo afternoon trade from in new york
late monday the euro dropped to dollars from and to yen
from
the stronger local currency led tokyo lower with the bank of japan decision
to keep interest rates unchanged at percent overlooked as the yen
strengthened
the nikkei dropped percent or points to
however the central bank upgraded its growth forecasts slightly predicting the
economy would shrink percent this financial year to march before rebounding
percent next year
in october the bank had predicted percent contraction this year and
percent expansion next year
but standard amp poor warned that it might cut its rating on japanese
government bonds saying efforts to curb the soaring public debt were faltering
under prime minister yukio hatoyama four month old government
seoul dropped percent or points to after data showed the
south korean economy grew more slowly in the december quarter than in the
previous three months the market is at seven week low
taipei closed percent or points off at its lowest level
since november
dealers had been given good start after wall street broke losing streak
overnight rising percent on optimism that federal reserve chairman
ben bernanke will be confirmed in his post for second term
oil was lower with new york main futures contract light sweet crude for
delivery in march down cents to dollars barrel
london brent north sea crude for march delivery dropped cents to
dollars
gold closed lower in hong kong at us dollars from monday
finish of dollars
markets in sydney and mumbai are closed tuesday for public holidays
in other markets
singapore lost percent or points to
concerned that this would be the start of sustained correction period we
really have to wait and see before attempting to buy anything at this juncture
said dealer with foreign brokerage
dbs bank tumbled cents to and singapore airlines dropped cents to
manila shed percent or points to
first philippine holdings was unchanged at pesos while philippine long
distance telephone dropped percent to pesos
wellington rose percent or points to ending seven
day losing streak
market heavyweights boosted the index with telecom up five cents to
dollars and construction company fletcher building rising cents to
jakarta fell percent or points to
coal miner bumi fell percent to rupiah while rival adaro was off
percent at
kuala lumpur fell percent or points to
the weak sentiment regionally has spilled over recent strong gains and
lack of positive leads are encouraging players to take profit dealer said
glove maker top glove slid percent to ringgit as cimb bank dropped
percent to ringgit
