in were used said crc shehu sani
jos has been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose million people
are divided almost equally between followers of the two faiths an estimated
people were killed in religious clashes in the city in
vatican finances slightly up statement
vatican city jan afp
the financial outlook of the holy see is looking up despite persistent
troubles in the world economy vatican statement said friday
economic and financial trends in the vatican budget point to slight
improvement despite the general framework of persistent troubles cardinals in
charge of financial matters said after two day meeting
but they concluded that the roman catholic church could inspire more generosity
from the faithful saying they saw the pastoral necessity to attract the
attention of the faithful who are more inclined to contribute to specific
projects closer to them the statement said
the holy see usually releases financial figures in the middle of the year
the vatican city state closed the calendar year with deficit of
million euros million dollars
top russian police officer fired after journalist dies
moscow jan afp
the russian government has sacked regional police chief after journalist
died this week following severe beating by policeman news agencies reported
friday
interior minister rachid nourgaliev dismissed general viktor gretchman from his
post in siberia tomsk region following an order from president dmitri
medvedev his ministry told the interfax news agency
the dismissal was linked to the death of journalist konstantin popov in tomsk
about kilometres miles east of moscow an official said
the year old journalist died on january after being in coma since
january he had been hospitalised with internal bleeding after being beaten
during stay in police overnight holding centre for drunks
year old policeman at the holding centre alexei mitayev has been arrested
and charged with the beating he faces maximum of years in jail if found
guilty
the scandal comes as russia police force grapples with slew of crimes by
officers including alleged murder and falsification of evidence that have
badly hurt its reputation
us seeks airlines help to close security gaps
geneva jan afp
the united states on friday sought help from airlines to close security gaps in
what industry group iata hailed as historic meeting with us homeland
security secretary janet napolitano
we have just concluded very important meeting have to call it historic
meeting on aviation security said giovanni bisignani director general of the
international air transport association
bisignani said that it was the first time that government was approaching the
industry to work out security measures rather than simply legislating and then
expecting the air travel sector to implement them
technical meeting will follow in weeks to discuss security measures suggested
by the industry iata director of security for north america ken dunlap said
he declined to give details of the specific measures tabled in geneva on friday
speaking after her meeting with executives from over airlines including
german carrier lufthansa and franco dutch giant klm napolitano outlined her
commitment to working with the industry
there was recognition that governments and air carriers need to work together
to continue to improve the air environment she said
during meeting in spain napolitano had earlier to tried to convince eu
officials to approve the installation of body scanners at the bloc main
airports for use by us bound passengers
napolitano told airline executives in geneva that she recommended using wide
range of security measures to protect passengers including information sharing
on suspected terrorists and detection technology like full body scanners
the united states has accelerated the installation of the scanners at its
airports since the attempted attack on christmas day on jet bound for detroit
from amsterdam and britain and the netherlands have followed its example
guinea sanctions difficult to lift ahead of polls germany
conakry jan afp
sanctions slapped on guinea junta following murderous assault on opposition
supporters will be very difficult to lift ahead of new president being
elected germany ambassador said friday
it will be very difficult to lift these sanctions against the people directly
or indirectly responsible for the september massacre before new president
is elected and installed the ambassador karl prinz told reporters
the german diplomat was speaking in conakry following talks with guinea
interim leader general sekouba konate
konate met prinz along with the ambassadors of france spain and the united
states as the military leadership seeks to build up international goodwill ahead
of the polls promised within six months
we will try to have our experts take up this dossier which also concerns
guinea most important partners the european union the international
monetary fund and the world bank prinz said
the eu decided last month to toughen sanctions against the west african state
military rulers which the un has accused of crimes against humanity for the
september massacre of opposition supporters at conakry football stadium
troops opened fire on the rally killing at least people and subjecting more
than women to rape or other sexual violence according to united nations
inquiry
the military rulers this week appointed opposition figure jean marie dore as
interim prime minister tasked with leading the country into presidential
elections in six months
prinz welcomed dore appointment and said we would hope that the transition
begins as soon as possible and that the government is also formed as soon as
possible
konate took over after camara was shot and wounded in the head on december by
an aide
ex pentagon official sentenced to years in china spy case
washington jan afp
the united states friday sentenced former pentagon official who had top
secret security clearance to three years in prison on charges of spying for
china the justice department said
the month sentence for retired air force lieutenant colonel james wilbur
fondren will be followed by two years of supervised release the department
said
according to prosecutors fondren provided certain classified defense
department documents and other information to naturalized us citizen from
taiwan tai shen kuo from around november to february
fondren was aware that kuo had maintained close relationship with an official
of the people republic of china prc officials said
upon investigation fondren was found to have provided classified information
through kuo under the guise of consulting services
he was introduced by kuo to the official during trip the two took to the prc
in march the department said
fondren who had been deputy director of the us pacific command
washington liaison office was arrested in mid may and charged with conspiracy
to pass classified information to an agent of china
in september fondren was convicted of unlawful communication of classified
information by government employee and two counts of making false statements
fondren and the prc official exchanged more than email messages between
march and november officials said
when federal bureau of investigations agents interviewed fondren according to
the original indictment the retired colonel falsely represented that the
opinion papers he provided as part of the consulting firm were based on media
report and from his experience
fondren also falsely said he had never taken any classified information home and
denied that he had given kuo draft copy of an unclassified document on
military strategy officials said
the us government accuses china of mounting an aggressive operation to prise
open its secrets and president barack obama is weighing an overhaul of cyber
security after several reports of computer hacking originating in china
mother accuses greek policeman of murder
amfissa greece jan afp
the mother of greek teenage boy allegedly shot dead by policeman in
sparking days of rioting across the country on friday labelled the officer
monster in court testimony
the court in the small central town of amfissa heard evidence for several hours
before adjourning for week in trial held in tight security after far left
extremist group made death threats against the policeman
officer epaminondas korkoneas is accused of fatally shooting year old
alexis grigoropoulos during december night patrol in the bohemian athens
district of exarchia
his partner vassilios saraliotis has been charged with complicity in the
crime they reject the charges
appearing before the court for the first time tzina tsalikian retained her
composure as she described her son as quiet child who trusted the police
my family has run jewellery shop since and we always had good relations
with the police so my son also learned to trust them she said
when he was shot he could not believe it tsalikian said
she turned several times to coldly face the officers accusing them of murder
and of being monsters in the guise of men
for them my son was worth as much as cockroach year old tsalikian
charged
korkoneas who faces life sentence told the court do not accept the
responsibility of killing of anyone
his lawyer alexis kougias said the incident was tragic accident which arose
as police fired warning shots in state of panic to keep back youngsters who
were hurling objects at them
but grigoropoulos mother insisted her son was not involved instead separate
group of around schoolchildren had merely thrown water bottle at the
passing squad car she said
my son had no stones in his pocket he had heart shaped locket which he
planned to give to his beloved later that night she said
korkoneas defence insisted that the two officers had been pelted with ashtrays
sticks stones and pieces of marble as proven by serious damage later found
on their squad car
but tsalikian accused the police of fabricating this evidence she said that the
squad car was initially undamaged according to witnesses and that its windows
were broken afterwards to indicate there had been an assault
there is lie here somebody caused damage to the car to create the
impression of an attack the police did it she said
an autopsy report has indicated that the boy was hit by bullet that ricocheted
on to him but lawyers for his family point to the testimony of witnesses who say
the policeman took aim and fired
far left extremist group has threatened to kill the officer accused of murder
prompting authorities to relocate the trial to amfissa kilometres
miles northwest of athens
the incident sparked days of rioting across greece last year
around anarchists marched through the centre of amfissa on wednesday when
the trial opened before two day break chanting anti police slogans and
demanding that the process be moved to athens
the trial is due to resume on january and expected to last several months
ski jump schlierenzauer claims th career win
zakopane poland jan afp
austria gregor schlierenzauer secured the th ski jumping world cup victory
of his career at the age of just when he won the first of two events here on
friday
schlierenzauer won with jumps of and metres for total of points
ahead of his swiss rival simon ammann whose jumps of and gave him
points
another austrian thomas morgenstern took third place with points after
jumps measuring and
local hero adam malysz finished fifth points while finland janne
ahonen who has returned to the sport after reversing his decision to retire in
spring claimed seventh place with points
it was schlierenzauer sixth victory of the season and takes him to fifth place
in the list of all time world cup victories which is led by finland matti
nykaenen on
ammann remains on top of the overall world cup rankings and enjoys lead of
points over defending champion schlierenzauer
obama wants answers from china over google cyberattacks
aboard air force one jan afp
us president barack obama is troubled by cyberattacks on internet giant google
and wants answers from china the white house said friday
as the president has said he continues to be troubled by the cybersecurity
breach that google attributes to china white house deputy spokesman bill
burton told reporters aboard air force one traveling to ohio
as secretary hillary clinton said yesterday all we are looking for from
china are some answers burton said
clinton on thursday urged beijing to conduct thorough investigation into the
cyberattacks on google and other us firms and criticized china and other nations
for censoring the web and restricting the free flow of information
china in its strongest comments since the google dispute erupted last week on
friday rejected the criticism by the us secretary of state
we firmly oppose such words and deeds which go against the facts and are
harmful to china us relations foreign ministry spokesman ma zhaoxu said we
urge the united states to respect facts and stop using the so called internet
freedom issue to criticize china unreasonably
at the same time ma urged the united states not to let the google row upset
relations which are already dogged by range of disputes over trade and
currency issues us arms sales to taiwan and climate change
ma said china hoped both sides would respect each other core interests and
major concerns properly handle differences and sensitive issues to maintain the
healthy and steady development of sino us relations
beijing and washington have been locked in spiralling dispute since google
announcement it would no longer obey china censorship rules and might pull out
of the country
google said the decision was made after it suffered cyberattacks that the
company believes originated in china and appeared aimed at cracking the email
accounts of chinese human rights activists around the world
google chief executive eric schmidt said thursday that the company would like to
stay in china we wish to remain in china he said
but schmidt said google would stop censoring search results on its china search
engine google cn shortly
we continue to follow their laws we continue to offer censored results but in
reasonably short time from now we will be making some changes there he said
until friday beijing had generally held fire in the dispute defending its
censorship as necessary and saying foreign firms must comply but refraining
from hitting back at mounting us criticism over its control of the internet
china is believed to employ thousands of people in vast system of internet
censorship dubbed the great firewall of china which polices what the world
largest online population can see and do on the web
beijing regularly invokes the need to stamp out pornography as key reason for
the controls but critics contend its primary purpose is to quell political
dissent or content seen as threatening to communist party rule
in her major policy speech on internet freedom on thursday clinton called on
other us technology companies not to support internet censorship
google microsoft yahoo and cisco are among the us technology giants that have
been accused by members of the us congress and others in the past of cooperating
with the great firewall by acquiescing to beijing demands
the private sector has shared responsibility to help safeguard free
expression clinton said and when their business dealings threaten to
undermine this freedom they need to consider what right not simply the
prospect of quick profits
clinton said the state department would hold high level meeting on internet
freedom next month with companies that provide network services
ski jump world cup results
zakopane poland jan afp
results from latest leg of world cup ski jump here on friday
gregor schlierenzauer aut points
simon ammann sui
thomas morgenstern aut
wolfgang loitzl aut
adam malysz pol
david zauner aut
janne ahonen fin
bjorn einar romoeren nor
michael uhrmann ger
andreas wank ger
overall standings after of events
simon ammann sui pts gregor schlierenzauer aut thomas
morgenstern aut andreas kofler aut wolfgang loitzl aut
janne ahonen fin
obama bank reform rattles global stocks
london jan afp
global stock markets recoiled on friday at us president barack obama pledge to
tackle reckless big banks and on jitters over china economy
in foreign exchange trade the yen rose against the dollar boosted by safe
haven flows as prospects for the global economy dimmed in light of recent
economic data and moves by governments to curb lending dealers said
world oil prices fell on worries about weak energy demand in the united states
and over the strength of china economy the world biggest energy consuming
nations traders said
but much of the spotlight was directed at obama vow to crack down on risky
banking practices
the president might be on the right warpath to soothe the american public yet
the market is telling him to be careful about using regulatory weapons of mass
destruction said patrick hare of briefing com
what we see in front of us is market that doesn like the idea of excessive
regulation since excessive regulation curtails earnings potential he said
obama laid out tough programme on thursday to limit excessive risk taking
and protect us taxpayers by preventing banks or financial institutions from
owning investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail vowed obama
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
my resolve to reform the system is only strengthened when see return to old
practices at some of the very firms fighting reform he said
however experts and analysts on financial markets were varied in their views of
whether the measures proposed by obama were appropriate and would have the
desired effect
in europe london benchmark ftse index dropped percent while the
paris cac fell percent and the frankfurt dax slipped percent
the tokyo stock market closed down percent sydney shed percent and
hong kong recovered from early heavy losses to finish percent lower
investors followed the lead of wall street where the dow jones index suffered
its worst fall of the year on thursday as it slumped percent the dow
extended its losses early friday shedding another percent
obama words capped tough week for markets which have taken hit also from
fears that beijing is set to tighten credit as it tries to rein in its scorching
economy
those worries were stoked on thursday after china said its economy expanded
percent in the december quarter while inflation reached month high
shanghai stocks dropped percent on friday
we had weak lead in asia from wall street on the potential moves from china
to slow things down and mr obama is going forward on bank regulation burrell
stockbroking director richard herring said
we had good run over the christmas period so maybe there just little
unwinding of some christmas excess
in foreign exchange deals on friday the dollar fell to yen from
late in new york on thursday
in the oil market new york main contract light sweet crude for march
delivery sank cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dived dollars to dollars
barrel
the concern with china came against backdrop of investor nerves over the
global economy as whole with the imf and the united nations this week both
warning of possible double dip recession this year
those worries have been heightened in europe where several governments are
struggling to cope with rising debt levels debt troubles in countries like
greece and portugal have also dragged down the euro against the dollar
underscoring greece credibility gap the yield on greek sovereign bonds hit
its worst level since the country joined the euro zone in
rush for free buses to leave haiti devastation
port au prince jan afp
scores of haitians rushed to catch free buses to take them out of the
earthquake wrecked capital friday but some hopes were dashed by the limited
choice of routes
the hobbled government which saw its ministries reduced to rubble in the
january quake announced the buses thursday in bid to respond to growing
public demand to show its presence amid huge international aid effort
it said it would try to move around survivors from squalid tent camps in
port au prince to temporary accommodation outside the devastated capital
families including small children and elderly people in wheelchairs gathered
at meeting point in downtown port au prince where several of first
promised free buses prepared to depart
over the din of loud horn honking year old ronald jean frite said he hoped
to join his family in central haiti after hearing about the free transport from
people in the street
of course it help for me frite said smiling as he sat at the front of
one of the white government buses where the atmosphere was light hearted with
passengers chatting and laughing
there nothing to do in the countryside where going but at least can
eat there nothing left in the capital
outside many others wandered around angrily as they said there were no buses to
their chosen destinations including cap haitien and port de paix in the north
of the island
my parents died when our house collapsed said year old josephe scarlie
sitting next to pink bag full of clothes
scarlie said she had been sleeping on the street far away from her destroyed
home since the earthquake
my friends gave me money to eat but not for the bus but now here there
no free bus scarlie said standing next to her teenage cousin and only
surviving relative in the capital
public buses painted with swirls of bright colors uplifting religious slogans
and romantic messages have transported hundreds of people over damaged roads
out of the devasted capital since the earthquake struck more than week ago
they also filled up their seats on friday and piled up bags and belongings on
their roofs
but their presence next to the government funded buses added to some people
frustration
that bus goes to cap haitien and that where want to go said marise
villmar pointing to public bus preparing to depart
but don know how on earth can find the gourdes us dollars to pay
for it said the grey haired woman holding small plastic bag
russian pipeline awards one billion euro contract
moscow jan afp
russian led consortium nord stream which is planning to build giant gas
pipeline under the baltic sea has awarded one billion euro contract for steel
piping the group said on friday
the value of the contract is around billion euros billion dollars
germany europipe was awarded percent russian pipe company omk percent
and japan sumitomo percent nord stream said in statement
the three firms are to provide nord stream with one million tons of pipe
construction of the kilometre mile pipeline linking vyborg in russia
to greifswald in germany is set to begin in april this year
russian energy giant gazprom is leading the project which it says will lower
the risk of supply disruptions to western european markets
israel pays million dollars to un for gaza war
united nations jan afp
israel has paid the united nations some million dollars in damages after
its assault on the gaza strip last year un officials said friday
the government of israel has made payment of million us dollars to the
united nations in respect to the losses sustained un spokesman martin nesirky
told reporters
with this payment the united nations has agreed that the financial issues
are concluded
just after the december to january conflict un chief ban ki moon
indicated the world body was claiming some million dollars in compensation
for the damage to its buildings warehouses schools and vehicles
israel has always denied deliberately firing on un property during the three
week conflict launched after relentless palestinian rocket fire from gaza on
the jewish state
some palestinians were killed and israelis during the conflict
according to un figures
vice president joe biden arrives in iraq us official
baghdad jan afp
us vice president joe biden arrived in baghdad on friday us official said on
mission aimed at defusing political crisis after hundreds of candidates were
barred from march elections in iraq
vice president joe biden arrived in iraq philip frayne told afp refusing to
immediately provide any more details about the visit which was not announced in
advance for security reasons
iraqi foreign minister hoshyar zebari described biden visit to afp as
mission to salvage the electoral process ahead of the march general
election
youngsters jailed in britain for shock attack
london jan afp
judge jailed two young brothers for at least five years on friday for
sadistic attack on pair of children which shocked britain and fuelled
political row
the brothers aged and were convicted of torturing and assaulting nine
year old and an year old boy in the south yorkshire town of edlington in
northern england last april
the court heard harrowing details of how the pair lured their victims to
secluded spot before forcing them to strip and sexually abuse each other
attacking them with bricks strangling them and making them eat nettles
in what was described as preventable attack if local authorities had acted
earlier one of the boys had large pieces of ceramic sink dropped on his head
the fact is this was prolonged sadistic violence for no reason other than that
you got real kick out of hurting and humiliating them said judge brian
keith sentencing them to an indeterminate jail term of at least five years
your crimes are truly exceptional he said at sheffield crown court adding
the bottom line for the two of you is that sure you both pose very high
risk of serious harm to others
the brothers showed no emotion as they were sentenced as they were led out of
court relative of one of the victims shouted that they were evil neither
the attackers nor their victims can be identified for legal reasons
the case which been compared to the murder of two year old jamie bulger
by two year old boys in liverpool northwestern england has fuelled debate
about youth crime and social policy in britain
the court heard how the brothers both in foster care after abuse by violent
father watched ultra violent movies as part of toxic home life of
routine aggression violence and chaos
one of them smoked cannabis from the age of nine and drank cider the court
heard
children secretary ed balls said these are children who to be honest have
been deeply damaged by years of abuse physical abuse seeing their mother
being struck by their father but also abuse against them
but that no excuse for what they did
opposition conservative leader david cameron raised the case with prime minister
gordon brown in the house of commons this week and urged for serious review
into the attacks to be published in full
brown fighting to avoid defeat in general election due by june insisted
that authorities would learn the lessons from the case
while calling the attacks one of the most tragic cases we could see he said
do not want britain to be defined by the appalling violence and
irresponsibility that been shown to the youngsters by two other youngsters
roger thompson the head of the regional body responsible for child protection
defended his officials from accusations that they had failed to act early enough
to prevent the assault
no one could have predicted the severity of the attack he said
but he admitted the review has concluded there were serious failings in local
services and the executive summary report has indicated that the assault was
preventable incident
speaking after the brothers jailing cameron said the torture case showed what
was going wrong in british society
we have had rising violent crime and think it wrong to say that each of
these incidents come along and somehow there is no connection to what is going
wrong in the rest of our society he said
armenia warns of breakdown in turkey reconciliation
yerevan jan afp
historic efforts to establish ties between armenia and turkey may break down
the armenian foreign minister warned on friday blaming ankara for obstructing
the process
if turkey is not ready to ratify the protocols if it continues to speak in
ultimatums to set preconditions and to obstruct the process then do not
exclude that negotiations will break down eduard nalbandian said at press
conference
his comments came after efforts to establish ties after decades of hostility hit
fresh snags this week as the two sides traded accusations of trying to modify
the landmark deal
turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan accused yerevan of trying to
doctor the agreement saying that ruling by armenia constitutional court
this month had set new conditions
nalbandian dismissed ankara accusations as absurd
statements by turkey that the constitutional court decision creates
preconditions or contradicts the principles of the protocols do not
correspond with reality and are absurd he said
these statements will not be believed not only in the international community
but also in turkey itself he said
but turkey said friday that it expected armenia to offer an explanation on the
court ruling with foreign minister ahmet davutoglu saying it is against the
letter and spirit of the protocols
nalbandian told me in telephone conversation that the ruling did not affect
previously agreed points in the protocols but we expect clearer picture
explanation over this davutoglu told reporters
turkey said friday it had asked the united states to help defuse the row and
foreign minister davutoglu also expressed his concerns to us secretary of state
hillary clinton in telephone conversation an official said
