the renewed monsoon weather in the indian ocean means that attacks have eased in
recent weeks but winds are expected to drop again in few weeks
europe africa news agenda for january
paris jan afp
europe africa news agenda for tuesday
duty editor stefan smith
tel
europe
brussels eu finance ministers meet primarily to discuss the debt crisis in
greece from gmt picture eu economy finance greece
frankfurt the zew economic institute releases its latest survey of sentiment in
the german financial sector results published at gmt germany economy
finance index zew
la reunion president nicolas sarkozy visits the french territory of la reunion
in the indian ocean france reunion politics
london geoff hoon defence minister under prime minister tony blair at the
start of the iraq war in to testify before iraq war inquiry gmt
britain iraq military politics inquiry
the european union first president herman van rompuy meets british prime
minister gordon brown at downing street press conference gmt
moscow russian foreign minister sergei lavrov discusses middle east peace
process with jordanian counterpart nasser judeh press conference gmt
russia jordan diplomacy
paris court rulings due on charges against french publications by film maker
roman polaski for alleged invasion of privacy france us film media polanski
strasbourg end of hearings of the new eu commissioners with candidates from
sweden for the home affairs portfolio and greece for the fisheries post from
gmt eu parliament commission
vienna united nations office on drugs and crime unodc publishes report on
corruption in afghanistan publication embargo to gmt un corruption
afghanistan
africa
kinshasa belgian foreign minister steven vanackere visits in sign of improving
ties between democratic republic of congo and its former colonial master
drcongo belgium diplomacy
pretoria argentine coach diego maradona visits two schools on his first trip
since the end of his fifa suspension fbl wc rsa arg
cricket england fined for over rate in fourth test
dubai jan afp
england crushing innings and run defeat in the fourth and final test
against south africa was compounded monday when the team were fined for
maintaining slow over rate in johannesburg
in statement issued from its dubai headquarters the international cricket
council icc imposed the fine after andrew strauss team were ruled to be one
over short of its target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken
into consideration
in accordance with the new icc code of conduct regulations governing minor over
rate offences players are fined percent of their match fees for every over
their side fails to bowl in the allotted time with the captain fined double
that amount
therefore strauss was fined percent of his match fee while his players
received percent fines
if strauss is found guilty of two further minor over rate offences in tests over
the next months he will receive one match suspension
the penalty was accepted by strauss without contest so there was no need for
hearing
south africa victory inside four days at the wanderers on sunday enabled them
to level the test series at
england next test campaign is away to bangladesh starting in march but
strauss will not be involved after being rested by the selectors who on monday
announced that alastair cook would lead the team instead
sarkozy visits france tropical new department
mamoudzou mayotte jan afp
president nicolas sarkozy arrived monday in mayotte tiny indian ocean island
plagued by illegal immigration that last year voted to become an integral part
of france
sarkozy met officials to discuss the immigration problems on the island where
around third of the residents have illegally entered from the nearby
comoros islands
he paid tribute to local police and soldiers working to combat illegal
immigration to the island target for thousands of raft borne migrants from
the comoros islands kilometres miles away
know very well that here considering the geographical context your mission
is much harder than elsewhere sarkozy said
in paris the interior ministry released figures on monday showing more than
illegal immigrants were expelled from french soil last year but
sarkozy said half of expulsions were from mayotte alone
lot of money is spent in taking them back to the border but without much
effect to judge by the number of immigrants that keep arriving said patrick
lilledieu local coordinator for the humanitarian aid group medecins du monde
mayotte mostly muslim people last year voted for their island to ditch its
french ruled collectivity status and become department of france it is
richer than the other islands of the comoros archipelago but still much poorer
than european countries
violent protests broke out there just last month against the high cost of
living
sarkozy promised development measures including launching digital television in
mayotte and state support to help fund the building of more schools and homes
sarkozy later left mayotte to fly on to la reunion another island in the indian
ocean that is part of france
year ago la reunion too was hit by strikes and rioting along with france
caribbean islands guadeloupe and martinique against high prices and low wages
martinique and french guiana the south american territory wedged between brazil
and suriname voted against more autonomy from paris in referendum earlier
this month dominated by fears of losing french state support
jal deal talks going well klm spokeswoman
the hague jan afp
talks involving air france klm and delta on the future of japan airlines jal
are going well spokeswoman for dutch carrier klm said ahead of an expected
bankruptcy filing by jal on tuesday
the ongoing discussions between delta air france klm and jal are going well
the spokeswoman who requested anonymity and did not reveal the content of the
talks told afp on monday
japanese daily yomiuri shimbun earlier reported that jal asia biggest
airline has reached deal on tie up with delta air lines allowing the two
companies to run code share flights
delta is already in joint venture with air france klm europe largest
airline to operate transatlantic flights and to share costs and revenue
american airlines and its partners have meanwhile lifted their proposed
investment in jal to billion dollars million euros from previous
offer of billion dollars for stake in jal
jal is widely expected to file for bankruptcy on tuesday
with debts estimated at about two trillion yen billion dollars jal
bankruptcy would be the biggest failure among japanese non financial firms since
world war ii according to tokyo shoko research an advisory firm
jal which lost about billion dollars in the six months to september has
already received an emergency loan from state backed bank and is seeking more
public aid in the face of mounting debts
bosnian court indicts three bosnian serbs for srebrenica massacre
sarajevo jan afp
bosnia state court has charged three bosnian serb former police officers with
genocide for their alleged role in the srebrenica massacre of some
muslims the court said monday
dusko jevic mendeljev djuric and goran markovic are accused of
participating in systematic joint criminal enterprise aimed at expelling
women and children and killing muslim men the court said in statement quoted
by bosnian news agency fena
the former policemen have all been arrested and are currently in detention it
added
at the time of the massacre the only episode in the bloody bosnian
war that the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia icty
ruled genocide jevic was deputy commander of special bosnian serb police
brigade djuric was the commander of one of the companies in the brigade and
markovic headed another of its units
according to the indictment issued by the bosnian court war crimes chamber
their units committed crimes against srebrenica civilians from july
bosnian serb troops led by general ratko mladic summarily executed some
muslim men and boys after overrunning the enclave designated united nations
safe area
the icty in the hague prosecutes those deemed most responsible for war crimes
committed in the former yugoslavia mostly the political and army leadership
local tribunals are mandated to prosecute the lower ranking suspects
the war in bosnia left more than people dead and some two
million internally displaced
un rights panel urges special protection for haiti children
geneva jan afp
united nations human rights panel on monday called for immediate measures to
protect thousands of children believed to have been orphaned or separated from
their parents in haiti earthquake
children are always deeply affected by major disasters of this type and almost
half of the haitian population are children the un committee on the rights of
the child said in statement
the panel said it was alarmed by emerging reports of looting and violence
which highlight the importance of immediately adopting effective systems and
measures to protect children from all forms of violence and exploitation
including sexual abuse and abductions masquerading as adoptions
the legal experts who are currently meeting in geneva said they were
particularly concerned for those who were isolated from their families following
last week quake
it is imperative they are identified as soon as possible and provided with care
and protection both to avoid further trauma and to minimize violations of their
rights they added
the committee urged relief workers to pay special attention to the vulnerability
of children notably as crowds of people jostled for food distribution to
ensure that the food reaches those most in need and not just those who are best
placed to receive it
us and dutch authorities on sunday sped up moves to fly children who were
already in line for adoption away from the quake wreckage of haiti
urgent un death toll in haiti quake reached spokesman
united nations jan afp
forty six un personnel are now confirmed dead in the haiti quake and more than
are missing or unaccounted for un spokesman martin nesirky said monday
urgent un death toll in haiti quake reached spokesman
united nations jan afp
forty six un personnel are now confirmed dead in the haiti quake and more than
are missing or unaccounted for un spokesman martin nesirky said monday
football malawi mali teams
cabinda angola jan afp
teams for africa cup of nations group match between malawi and mali at chiazi
stadium monday
malawi swadick sanudi moses chavula james sangala peter mponda capt ivis
kafoteka hellings mwakasungula joseph kamwendo peter wadabwa davie banda
russell mwafulirwa esau kanyenda
coach kinnah phiri
mali mahamadou sidibe capt ousmane berthe souleymane diamoutene abdoulaye
maiga adama tamboura seydou keita mohamed sissoko lassana fane mahamane
traore mamadou bagayoko frederic kanoute
coach stephen keshi ngr
referee rajindraparsad seechurn mri
spain to push for common european digital market
madrid jan afp
the spanish presidency of the eu will push for the creation of common digital
market to help develop pan european online services and boost the economy
industry minister miguel sebastian said monday
the moment has come to study new strategy for the next five years in which
information and communications technology play an important role in the
development of digital society in europe he said at an industry event
spain wants to put this new agenda in place during its presidency of the eu
during the first half of this year and it will be one of the pillars of the
bloc new year growth strategy dubbed the strategy
madrid hopes to unveil the new strategy at an informal meeting of eu telecoms
ministers in granada in southwestern spain on april
we are still far from having common digital market added sebastian who was
speaking at the presentation of report on the needs of the sector
the gathering was attended by top managers from major european firms from the
sector including sweden ericsson the world top mobile telecoms equipment
firm france alcatel telecom italy and spain telefonica
among the measures recommended in the report to boost the competitiveness of the
sector was relaxation of intellectual property rules the uniformisation of
data protection rules and greater access to markets outside the eu
francisco mignorance the director of the business software alliance trade
body that represents microsoft and apple computer among others in brussels
pointed the finger at china which he said imposed rules to restrict access to
its domestic market by non chinese firms
but these same chinese firms do not face similar restrictions on bidding for
work in europe he told news conference on the sidelines of the event
spain took over the rotating six month presidency of the eu from sweden on
january
alert
un staff missing in haiti at least confirmed dead spokesman
rugbyu saracens to contest venter charges
london jan afp
saracens have promised vigorous defence of rugby director brendan venter when
he faces rugby football union rfu disciplinary panel here on tuesday
the former springbok centre was charged with conduct prejudicial to the
interests of the game after criticising referee david rose following saracens
english premiership defeat by leicester at welford road on january
venter is accused of questioning rose integrity by saying the official had
been different referee in the second half
the south african remarks received wide publicity partly because he broadened
his comments to slam the standard of officiating in the premiership in general
which he blamed for lack of tries this season
venter said there is problem and that is the game is determined by referees
and not by teams
everybody says why don you play lot of rugby
go maybe it just not worth it because it is lottery
everybody wants to know why the game is dying maybe that is why the game is
dying
saracens chief executive edward griffiths said at the time of the charge the
club will mount vigorous defence
brendan offered an impassioned rational and widely supported analysis of
problems currently facing the game
he did not question the integrity of the referee at any stage and in fact on
the contrary stressed on several occasions he does not believe any of the
officials are dishonest
some said venter remarks would have had more force if they had not been made
on the back of defeat
there were also those who questioned whether venter had been right to reveal
that rfu referees assessor tony spreadbury in what the english governing body
clearly thought was private meeting had told him that refereeing errors had
taken place during saracens defeat by london irish in december
but he also won backing for drawing attention to the confusion surrounding what
players can and cannot do at the breakdown area
after the leicester match venter said the penalty count in the first half was
to sarries the penalty count in the second half was to leicester
we asked the referee to keep everything the same in the second half something
happened to this poor referee and there was basically penalty swing
there was one referee in the first half he walked through maze or something
and he came out another referee
this is professional game and this is problem don think referees are
dishonest we just do not have the ability to stay objective
venter has been charged specifically due to comments he made during the course
of bbc radio interview in which he said think the referee was influenced
at half time and that all can think
all know is something happened at half time the game changed
venter faces heavy fine and touchline ban if the charges against him are
upheld
football huge blow for ghana as essien ruled out
luanda jan afp
ghana suffered colossal blow to their hopes of qualifying for the africa cup
of nations quarter finals when their best player michael essien was ruled out
of tuesday game against burkina faso
chelsea star midfielder misses the final group game in luanda after injuring
his right knee in training on saturday and his english club said he was to
return to london later this week
randy abbey ghana team spokesman told afp unfortunately we have had the
results of the scan back and the coach has confirmed that michael will
definitely miss tuesday game
it was unclear how serious this latest setback was and whether essien might
recover in time to play any further role in ghana nations cup campaign should
they progress to the last eight
reports suggest he has torn the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and
damaged his meniscus leaving him facing at least one month on the sidelines
the year old is walking with the aid of crutches
chelsea released statement saying it is aware of the injury to michael essien
and has been in contact with the ghanaian national team
we will fully assess the injury on michael return to us later this week
until then we are unable to comment further
world cup qualifiers ghana are one point behind burkina faso and the four time
champions need win to avoid being eliminated after the first round of the
biennial african football showpiece
ivory coast are already qualified
togo the other country drawn in group withdrew before the tournament kicked
off last sunday after the bus convoy carrying them into angola was attacked in
this restive northern angolan enclave
it is impossible to underestimate the effect essien absence will have on
side already ravaged by injury
with raft of key players missing the black stars fell to competition
favourites ivory coast in their opening game with coach milovan rajevac having
to field largely inexperienced side
ghana kicked off without first choice players like defenders john pantsil and
john mensah midfielders anthony annan stephen appiah essien who came on as
substitute laryea kingson sulley muntari and striker asamoah gyan
fully fit essien would have given ghana strength and experience in midfield
against burkina faso side that was good enough to hold the ivory coast to
goalless draw in their opening group game
essien who arrived in angola late for the tournament because snow delayed his
flight from london has been struggling to recover from hamstring injury
sustained playing for chelsea in the champions league last month
he was kept on the bench until half time against ivory coast last friday in
cabinda to avoid aggravating the injury and his second half presence on the
pitch could not prevent loss
this new injury is completely unconnected to his previous problem and represents
cruel twist of fate for the ghana international
ghana striker matthew amoah told bbc sport this is big blow because michael
is so important to our team
we ve lost the motor in our midfield and this is very bad
trial of suspected real ira collaborator reopens in lithuania
vilnius jan afp
the trial of an irishman charged with attempting to illegally procure firearms
in lithuania for the real ira resumed monday in vilnius with british
intelligence agent due to testify judicial sources said
we are proceeding today with the testimony of mi british intelligence
agent ingrida botyriene one of the defendant two lawyers told afp monday in
telephone interview
the trial is being held behind closed doors and the identity of the british
witness was not made public
we can ask the witness questions but we can see him botyriene said
michael campbell was arrested in january in vilnius while meeting an
undercover lithuanian agent posing as an arms dealer his trial began in august
last year lithuanian officers involved in the sting were due to offer testimony
later
the suspect faces up to years in prison for attempting to smuggle weapons
illegal firearms possession and seeking to aid terrorist organisation
campbell has rejected all the charges and his lawyers claim he was set up
he is the younger brother of liam campbell one of four leaders of the
irish militant group the real ira who were found liable in for an august
bombing in the northern irish town of omagh which killed people
liam campbell is also wanted in lithuania and has been detained in northern
ireland pending extradition
the real ira split from the provisional ira once the main catholic militant
organisation opposed to british rule in northern ireland in over the
latter support for peace drive
the omagh bombing failed to derail the good friday peace deal of april that
ended most of northern ireland troubles three decades of violence pitting
catholics against pro british protestants and british forces that claimed at
least lives
the real ira returned to the headlines in march claiming shooting at
barracks in northern ireland which killed two british soldiers
urgent football henry escapes punishment over handball incident
zurich jan afp
french captain thierry henry escaped being punished for his infamous handball
incident in the world cup finals play off against ireland fifa announced
on monday
saudi confirms death of ex gitmo militant two others
riyadh jan afp
guantanamo returnee and two other islamic militants from saudi arabia most
wanted list were killed in september explosion the interior ministry
confirmed on monday
an informed source said the three died in neighbouring yemen hideout for
islamic militants and the ancestral home of al qaeda leader osama bin laden
former guantanamo prisoner fahd saleh suleiman al jutaily mohammed abdul rahman
suleiman al rashed and sultan radi somaileel al otaibi all in their late
were killed together with several others on september the interior ministry
said
there was group of them meeting and an explosion happened ministry
spokesman general mansour al turki said
we got dna for all of those people who were killed in that explosion for
identification he added
he did not say where they were killed but an informed source said it was in
yemen
the circumstances of the blast were not explained by al turki but an earlier
report by the london based al hayat newspaper said jutaily had been killed in
northern yemen in an attack by government troops
jutaily joined al qaeda in afghanistan in on the encouragement of radical
saudi sheikh hamud al uqla and was captured and eventually sent to the us
guantanamo prison by us forces according to us military records
he was released in and put through saudi terrorist rehabilitation
programme but after release traveled to yemen and re established links with al
qaeda according to the saudis
he is one of about dozen guantanamo returnees out of more than who have
dropped out of the programme and returned to militancy
rashed left the country with false travel documents six years ago and was known
to have joined up with al qaeda while otaibi left four years ago according to
the ministry
all three were on our list of most wanted people said turki
the list was published and sent to interpol nearly year ago since then three
have turned themselves in to saudi authorities and six are known to have died or
been killed
reports of the deaths of several others have not been confirmed
pinera celebrates chile presidency win stocks surge
santiago jan afp
chilean billionaire sebastian pinera was monday celebrating his presidential
election win as stocks surged on expectations the conservative would usher in
new business friendly policies
sunday victory by pinera spelled an end to the ruling leftwing concertacion
coalition that has ruled chile ever since the end of general augusto pinochet
dictatorship years ago
the billionaire who owns television station football club and big stake
in flagship airline lan among many other interests has promised to open the
window and let in fresh air when his four year term starts march
the main ipsa index on santiago stockmarket jumped percent on opening
monday in reaction to the election
pinera axxion holding company was one of the biggest gainers soaring
percent
lan went up percent pinera percent stake in the airline latin
america biggest accounts for more than half his billion dollar fortune
the movements are closely tied with the election results report by the bci
broking firm said
pinera was declared the winner of sunday runoff against concertacion
candidate former president eduardo frei after picking up percent of the
ballots to frei percent
outgoing president michelle bachelet who was constitutionally barred from
seeking re election dropped by pinera santiago mansion early monday to
congratulate him in traditional meeting meant to show the smoothness of
political transition
neither made any comment to reporters after the minute breakfast
during the run up to sunday poll bachelet had thrown her full weight behind
frei she managing to narrow the gap with pinera but not by enough to guarantee
frei victory
her tactics notably raising conflict of interest questions about pinera many
investments nettled pinera who complained that bachelet interference was
not fair
his promise to divest his lan holding before taking office was seen to be the
reason for the spike in lan share price
pinera has already set up blind trust to manage most of his wealth at
distance
late sunday in his victory speech pinera told supporters that he would
break down the walls dividing us and build new bridges to bring us together
he was expected however to maintain social welfare program established by
bachelet which has wide approval in the population
he was also unlikely to touch government policy that makes rainy day fund
out of part of the export revenues from chile all important copper mining
industry
those two initiatives are credited with helping chile come through last year
global financial crisis in relatively good shape
although chile economy shrank two percent last year its first contraction
in decade it is forecast to bounce back with growth of between percent
and percent this year
copper prices have recovered after slide during the crisis and are predicted
to reach dollars per pound one of the highest points ever
chile earns more than billion dollars year from the metal and its state
company codelco is the biggest copper producer in the world
pinera has promised to take advantage of the returning boom to create one
million jobs over his mandate
one of his challenges though will be to pursue bachelet work in reducing
chile vast rich poor divide which is the largest in latin america after
brazil
according to the united nations development program the top percent of
chile society controls percent of the country wealth while the poorest
percent have to get by on just percent
the gap is especially evident in santiago where glittering new sectors in the
center showcase one of the region finest century capitals yet the
forgotten outskirts are periphery of poverty
strong quake strikes off el salvador guatemala
washington jan afp
magnitude quake struck monday near the west coast of el salvador and
guatemala the us geological survey said
the quake registered at am local time gmt in an area kilometers
miles west southwest of ahuachapan el salvaodr and kilometers west
southwest of cuilapa guatemala the agency said
it said the quake which occurred at depth of kilometers had magnitude
of
alert
football fifa not to punish thierry henry over handball incident
ban seeks reinforcements for un mission in haiti
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon asked the security council to boost the strength of the
un battered mission in quake hit haiti by sending extra troops and
police
speaking to reporters after briefing the council on his six hour visit to the
devastated haitian capital sunday ban said he had recommended that the un
mission should be beefed up with an extra and troops and police
seven dead as egypt pounded by rains and floods
el tor egypt jan afp
at least seven people died in flash floods and heavy rains in southern egypt and
sinai on monday including british tourist who drowned when his boat capsized
on the nile officials said
the ras sidr area on the west coast of the sinai peninsula saw the heaviest
flooding on sunday night forcing rescuers to use rubber rafts to search for
injured people and those trapped in their homes
woman died in abu sweira in the ras sidr area and man was killed in wadi
adani in central sinai and at least were hurt security official told afp
adding that dozens were reported missing
flooding blocked main roads in the resort town of sharm el sheikh and heavy
rains brought down the ceiling in part of the airport an afp correspondent
said
parts of sinai including taba nuweiba and sharm el sheikh experienced
electricity cuts as thousands of tourists in the popular diving resorts spent
the night by candle light in the worst flooding to hit sinai since january
five ports were closed due to bad weather on monday including sharm el sheikh
and sokhna on the mainland
two people were also killed in the southern aswan governorate where rains and
floods collapsed more than mudbrick houses police said
the british tourist was killed when winds toppled his boat in the nile in the
aswan region and he drowned they said
two people including young boy were also killed in separate incidents in the
red sea governorate and near the sudanese border when their buses overturned
police said
dozens of people were also injured in the bad weather police said
