pmu air defence systems and several dozen tanks from russia and
also to modernise more than tanks and other weapons the source said
the source told interfax that more than one billion dollars of the deal was for
combat aircraft such as su su and yak the news agency put the
total size of the deal at two billion dollars billion euros
earlier senior russian official confirmed that moscow was counting on signing
arms deals with libya during tuesday visit by the country defence minister
general abu bakr yunis jaber
we expect his visit will not just be of political nature but will also allow
the signing of contracts on the delivery of arms and military hardware
vyacheslav dzirkaln deputy head of the federal service for military technical
cooperation told the ria novosti state news agency last week
dzirkaln whose service oversees arms exports said libya was interested in
russian fighter jets and air defence systems but did not elaborate
neither the service nor russia state run arms exporter rosoboronexport could
be reached for comment on tuesday
libya longtime pariah state that has moved to rejoin the international
community in recent years has reportedly been in talks with moscow about
revamping its military
much of the north african state arsenal was purchased from the soviet union in
the last years of the cold war
moscow and tripoli have stepped up their contacts in recent years in
libyan leader moamer kadhafi visited the russian capital in his first visit to
moscow since the
britain narrowly exits record recession official
london jan afp
britain narrowly exited its longest recession on record in the fourth quarter of
when its economy grew by less than expected percent official data
showed on tuesday
gross domestic product gdp increased percent in the fourth quarter of
compared with decrease of percent in the third quarter the office
for national statistics said in statement
analysts had expected return to growth of percent in the final three
months of after six successive quarters of contraction
japan faces possible sovereign debt downgrade
tokyo jan afp
japan was threatened tuesday with possible sovereign credit rating downgrade
as tokyo ratcheted up the pressure on the central bank to do more to revive the
deflation ridden economy
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
the ratings on japan could fall by one notch if economic data remain weak and
measures to boost medium term growth are not forthcoming it said
japan crawled out of severe year long recession in but recovery in the
world second largest economy remains fragile with deflation high public debt
and weak domestic demand all concerns for policymakers
the central bank facing political pressure not to scale down stimulus measures
too early kept its super low interest rates unchanged at percent tuesday
saying beating deflation was critical challenge
the decision disappointed some investors who had apparently been hoping for
fresh action the nikkei stock index tumbled percent ending at five
week low
the government has urged the central bank to use all the ammunition at its
disposal to prevent the country sinking into another deflationary spiral
we have yet to exit deflation but with efforts by the boj think and hope
we will see signs of being out of deflation within two to three years
finance minister naoto kan said in parliament
the bank maintained its projection that japan economy would see three years of
deflation as it claws back from its worst slump in decades but said that the
price falls might be less severe than previously thought
japan was stuck in deflationary spiral for years after its asset price bubble
burst in the early hitting corporate earnings and prompting consumers to
put off purchases in the hope of further price drops
japan now has huge public debts as legacy of massive stimulus spending during
the economic lost decade of the as well as series of pump priming
packages to tackle the recession which began in
with worries mounting about the worsening public coffers standard and poor
revised its outlook on japan aa long term government bond rating to
negative from stable
the outlook change reflects our view that the japanese government diminishing
economic policy flexibility may lead to downgrade unless measures can be taken
to stem fiscal and deflationary pressures amp said
an aa rating the third highest possible means japan is seen as having an
extremely strong capacity to repay its borrowings
the organisation for economic cooperation and development has warned that
japan public debt is set to soar to more than percent of gross domestic
product by
but the boj said the japanese economy should continue its modest economic
recovery despite worries about deflation and debt
it upgraded its growth forecasts slightly predicting that the economy would
shrink percent in this financial year to march before rebounding percent
next year
the speed of the economic expansion may temporarily slow down but don
think the basic trend of recovery will recede boj governor masaaki shirakawa
told reporters
in october the boj had projected percent contraction this year followed by
percent expansion next year
dow jones newswires contributed to this story
killed in nigeria inter religious clashes police
kano nigeria jan afp
nigerian police said tuesday at least people died in muslim christian
clashes last week in the central plateau state
from the figures available to the police people were killed in the
recent violence police spokesman mohammed lerama told afp
however other estimates from medical and aid workers and religious and
community leaders put the toll at more than
the killings erupted in jos on january and spread to nearby towns and
villages in the following days
christian resistance to the building of mosque in predominantly christian
neighborhood sparked the violence
the clashes had no religious basis but rather an affray hijacked in the name of
religion by demons with human face said lerama
leaders of both faiths have said the unrest owed more to the failure of
political leaders to address ethnic differences than any religious rivalries
police said people have so far been rounded up for suspected roles in the
killings
jos and its surrounds centrally located between the muslim north and christian
majority south has long been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose
million people are divided almost equally between followers of the two
faiths
killed forensics hq wrecked in baghdad car bomb
baghdad jan afp
suicide attacker tuesday blew up his vehicle as he raced it at iraq
forensics headquarters in central baghdad killing people injuring and
destroying the building officials said
the attack came day after three huge minibus bombs targeting hotels killed
dozens in the iraqi capital and amid heightened tension following the hanging of
saddam hussein notorious henchman chemical ali hassan al majid
an interior ministry official put the toll at dead five policemen and
civilians and people injured those killed all died in the blast while
most of the injured were pulled from underneath the rubble of the building
iraqi military spokesman in baghdad major general qassim atta said the attack
targeted the forensics institute in the central neighbourhood of karrada which
had been bombed twice before
at am suicide bomber raced his vehicle towards the institute and blew
it up said atta
an interior ministry official said the blast had wrecked the institute
the building collapsed soon after the explosion dozens of people usually work
in the forensics institute he added speaking on condition of anonymity
the blast came day after three huge and apparently co ordinated minibus bombs
targeted hotels in baghdad killing at least people and wounding
iraqi politicians and us forces have warned of rising violence ahead of the
march vote the second parliamentary ballot since the us led invasion
ousted saddam hussein but ushered in deadly and long lasting insurgency
monday hotel bombings came on the same day the government announced that
majid symbol of the fallen regime had been executed
majid better known by his macabre nickname chemical ali was hanged just days
after he was sentenced to death for the gassing of thousands of kurds
crime that shocked the world
the execution comes amid bitter row sparked by the exclusion of hundreds of
candidates from the election because of their alleged links with saddam which
could see sunni arabs marginalised from the political process
the election is seen as crucial step towards consolidating iraq democracy
and securing complete us military exit by the end of as planned
the dispute over the election list has alarmed the united states and the latest
bombings will add to washington concerns
monday attacks differed from recent high profile bombings in baghdad in that
they targeted hotels one of the capital few remaining symbols of tourism
rather than government buildings
nearly people were killed and more than were wounded last year in co
ordinated vehicle bombings at government buildings including the ministries of
finance foreign affairs and justice in august october and december
insurgents weakened in the past year have in the past six months changed
tactics and mounted successful attacks on hard targets such as government
offices rather than so called soft targets in civilian areas
there are widespread fears in the wake of the bloody attacks to hit baghdad in
the second half of that political violence will rise in the weeks leading
up to the march vote
us secretary of state hillary clinton said extremists were trying to upend
progress toward democracy while un chief ban ki moon urged iraqis to remain on
path to reconciliation despite persistent unrest that plagues the country
us vice president joe biden made hour visit to baghdad at the weekend after
which he said he was confident iraq leaders would find just solution to
the exclusions issue
china tightening weighs 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
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
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
singapore lost percent or points to
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
doubts also emerged last week about bernanke after key democratic senators said
they would oppose his bid for second term
critics say he was ineffective at best during the global meltdown and
turned deaf ear to ordinary people concerns while promoting massive wall
street bailout package however obama has said the fed chief has my strongest
support
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
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
kuala lumpur fell percent or points to
taiwan ma wants to meet haiti president
taipei jan afp
taiwan president ma ying jeou has said he hopes to meet his haitian
counterpart during visit to central america and discuss further assistance to
the quake hit country
spoke to haitian president rene preval on the phone several days ago and
expressed our condolences told him it be better if can meet him ma
said in footage aired tuesday by local ettv cable news channel
ma made the comment on flight carrying tonnes of relief items for haiti en
route to honduras via the united states for the inauguration of president elect
porfirio lobo sosa the report said
he is also scheduled to make brief stop in the dominican republic to discuss
assistance to haiti with president leonel fernandez said taiwan state funded
central news agency
ma hastily added the dominican republic to his itinerary after haiti one of
taiwan allies in the region was ravaged by magnitude quake which killed
tens of thousands of people
the dominican republic honduras and haiti are all among the nations that
recognise taiwan rather than china
beijing still considers the island part of its territory and opposes any
official visits by officials from taiwan
urgent britain exits record recession official
london jan afp
britain exited its longest recession on record in the fourth quarter of
when its economy grew by less than expected percent official data showed
on tuesday
karzai lobbies neighbours ahead of london conference
istanbul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai met tuesday with regional leaders as he tried to
shore up international backing for his efforts to cajole islamist insurgents
into laying down their arms
the talks also attended by british foreign secretary david miliband formed
part of the build up to conference in london where karzai hopes for western
support for his strategy of wooing taliban fighters with the lure of jobs and
money
turkish president abdullah gul hosted the gathering with pakistani president
asif ali zardari and senior officials from iran china tajikistan and
turkmenistan among those attending as well as observers from the united states
russia and international organisations
the participants were expected to issue joint declaration after the talks
turkey nato sole muslim majority member and partner in the multi national
force in afghanistan is keen to drum up regional support for karzai stressing
the need to step up efforts to bolster afghanistan social and economic
development
there cannot be more important strategy than winning the minds and hearts of
the afghan people turkish government official said ahead of the meeting
sometimes drilling simple water well for instance can be more valuable in
the eyes of the people than costly project he said
tuesday gathering follows turkish sponsored talks in istanbul on monday
between karzai and zerdari aimed at pushing the two troubled neighbours to
enhance cooperation against islamist extremists
speaking after the talks karzai said he would appeal at thursday conference
in london for taliban names to be removed from un blacklist
the idea had previously met resistance but as we are talking today there is
more willingness that this can be reconsidered he said
the list targeting taliban and al qaeda individuals and entities contains some
names including linked to the militia which was toppled from power by
us led forces in late
karzai wants to bring low and mid level fighters into mainstream society to end
the insurgency but the taliban leadership has so far remained hostile to
negotiations
while there was no immediate reaction to the latest proposal taliban spokesman
zabihullah mujahid said last week that the only political solution is that the
foreign forces and the afghan government surrender to us
white house spokesman robert gibbs noted that top us generals david petraeus and
stanley mcchrystal had drawn parallels between afghanistan and reconciliation
schemes that had worked with factions in iraq
gibbs did not comment in detail on karzai plan
but he said washington was open to similar path to what happened in iraq
provided that whoever this is accepts the afghan constitution renounces
violence and publicly breaks with groups that advocate violence
that think what people expect under the notion of reconciliation
richard holbrooke the special us envoy for afghanistan and pakistan also said
monday the nations meeting in london would back kabul proposal to set up
reintegration fund to persuade taliban fighters to lay down arms
the intensified peace efforts come as the united states and other allies aim for
an eventual withdrawal from afghanistan after eight years of battling brutal
islamist insurgency
under plan announced by president barack obama in december more us
troops are to be deployed to the battlefield this year and nato partners have
pledged about new troops
that would swell the total foreign deployment in afghanistan to about to
tackle the taliban led insurgency and train up afghan police and army to prepare
for when us troops begin to withdraw in mid
washington also intends to step up non military assistance with new civilian
strategy to stabilise afghanistan and pakistan which includes improving the
farm sector and governance in the two nations
winnie mandela angry over jennifer hudson biopic reports
johannesburg jan afp
winnie madikizela mandela lawyers have complained to the makers of new movie
about her life saying she was never consulted about the film starring jennifer
hudson local media said tuesday
plans for the film winnie were announced late last year by south african film
maker darrell roodt whose films include 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
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 three 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
alert
britain exits record recession official
two dead after thai ship sinks off taiwan rescuer
taipei jan afp
two sailors were killed and eight said to be missing after thai freighter sank
tuesday near an island off southern taiwan rescuer said
another nine crew members were airlifted to safety and hospitalised in central
taiwan said an official at taiwan rescue unit the national airborne service
corps adding the search for the missing was on going
the nationalities of all the seamen was not immediately clear
the cause of the accident was under investigation but according to the taipei
based united evening news bad weather was probably the cause
football africa cup of nations factfile
luanda jan afp
factfile for africa cup of nations in angola ahead of semi finals thursday
group
seeding angola mali algeria malawi
luanda unless noted
jan
angola mali
jan
malawi algeria
jan
algeria mali
angola malawi
jan
angola algeria
at cabinda
mali malawi
standings played won drawn lost goals for against points
angola qualified
algeria qualified
mali
malawi
note algeria finished ahead of mali on head to head record
group
seeding ivory coast ghana togo burkina faso
cabinda unless noted
jan
burkina faso ivory coast
jan
ivory coast ghana
jan
at luanda
ghana burkina faso
standings
ivory coast qualified
ghana qualified
burkina faso
note togo withdrew before first fixture after fatal ambush of team in cabinda
enclave
group
seeding egypt holders nigeria benin mozambique
benguela unless noted
jan
egypt nigeria
benin mozambique
jan
nigeria benin
egypt mozambique
jan
egypt benin
at lubango
nigeria mozambique
standings
egypt qualified
nigeria qualified
benin
mozambique
group
seeding cameroon tunisia zambia gabon
lubango unless noted
jan
gabon cameroon
tunisia zambia
jan
gabon tunisia
cameroon zambia
jan
cameroon tunisia
at benguela
zambia gabon
standings
zambia qualified
cameroon qualified
gabon
tunisia
note zambia four finished ahead of cameroon three and gabon two on goals
scored in separate mini league between three teams on four points that excluded
results against tunisia
quarter finals
jan
at luanda
angola ghana
at cabinda
algeria ivory coast aet after minutes
jan
at benguela
egypt cameroon aet after minutes
at lubango
nigeria zambia aet
nigeria win on penalties
semi finals
jan
at luanda
ghana nigeria gmt
at benguela
algeria egypt
third place
jan
at benguela
losing semi finalists
final
jan
at luanda
winning semi finalists
note drawn matches go to minutes extra time followed by penalty shootout if
necessary
leading scorers
ahmed hassan and mohamed gedo nagy egy flavio amado ang seydou keita
mli
previous champions
egypt
egypt
ethiopia
ghana
ghana
zaire now democratic republic of congo
sudan
congo
zaire
morocco
ghana
nigeria
ghana
cameroon
egypt
cameroon
algeria
ivory coast
nigeria
south africa
egypt
cameroon
cameroon
tunisia
egypt
