los angeles jan afp
the grandson of former president ronald reagan was arrested thursday at the home
of his father police in los angeles said
police apprehended year old cameron reagan shortly after midnight at the home
of his talk show host father michael reagan
celebrity website tmz com said police were called when an alarm at the house
went off
officers saw suspect leaving the rear door of residence and attempted to
stop and talk to him said la police department spokeswoman april harding said
the suspect was very uncooperative and belligerent and he was arrested for
resisting arrest she said
harding said reagan was being held on dollars bail
in an earlier run in with the law reagan was sentenced in to six months in
prison for car theft
top us officials to face lawmakers on terror lapses
washington jan afp
key us senate committee announced thursday it had set january hearing to
question top counter terrorism officials on lapses that led to deadly november
attack and the foiled christmas bombing
homeland security secretary janet napolitano director of national intelligence
dennis blair and national counter terrorism center chief mike leiter were all
to testify before the senate homeland security committee
the panel said in statement it would be looking at intelligence reforms made
in in light of the deadly november shooting spree at the fort hood us
military base in texas and the thwarted december airliner plot
independent senator joe lieberman the committee chairman said he would
explore issues tied to intelligence analysis information sharing watch
listing border security and aviation security
lieberman noted that us intelligence had failed to piece together elements it
had that might have derailed the christmas day plot allegedly hatched by al
qaeda in yemen and carried out by young nigerian man
we will ask admiral blair and director leiter why the intelligence community
was unable to bring together pieces of intelligence held by various agencies to
detect this plot said lieberman
napolitano will have to explain how the alleged bomber year old umar farouk
abdulmutallab was able to exploit passenger pre screening systems and the
international aviation security system to board plane bound for the united
states with an explosive device said lieberman
us lawmakers have called for improved security measures after young nigerian
man allegedly tried to blow up us bound northwest airlines jet carrying
people using explosives sown into his underwear
the united states has accused the al qaeda branch in yemen of training
abdulmutallab who was overpowered by passengers after his explosives failed to
go off
two ex blackwater staff charged with afghan murders
washington jan afp
two former blackwater employees have been charged with the murder of two afghans
in kabul last year and could face the death penalty the justice department said
thursday
justin cannon of corpus christi texas and christopher drotleff of
virginia beach virginia have been charged with second degree murder following
the shooting deaths of the two afghan nationals
they were also charged with attempted murder after third person was wounded
in the kabul incident on may when cannon and drotleff were working as
contractors for the department of defense in afghanistan
both men who had provided training to the afghan army in using and maintaining
weapons systems were arrested thursday after the count grand jury
indictment the statement added
they face total of eight charges each including knowingly discharging
firearm to commit crime
blackwater private security firm which has changed its name to xe following
series of highly publicized controversies in iraq is headquartered in north
carolina the two men were employed by paravant llc which is subsidiary of xe
the department of justice said the incident that led to the charges occurred at
the intersection of two roads in the afghan capital
the two men who were shot dead were identified as rahib mirza mohammad also
known as rahib helaludin and romal mohammad naiem but there were few other
details of what had happened
blackwater was once among the largest security firms operating in iraq after the
us led invasion of
one week ago federal judge dismissed criminal charges against five blackwater
security guards accused of fatally shooting people in baghdad in september
judge ricardo urbina said prosecutors violated the defendants rights by using
incriminating statements they had made under immunity during state department
probe to build their case
blackwater first came under scrutiny on march when four of its
employees were killed by an angry mob in fallujah then sunni arab insurgent
stronghold
on september blackwater guards opened fire with automatic weapons
while escorting an american diplomatic convoy through baghdad nisur square
blackwater said their guards had come under attack
us media further reported this week that two xe contractors had been among eight
people killed in suicide bombing at khost base in eastern afghanistan last
week
the reports pointed to continued close relationship between the cia and
blackwater
the firm is believed to have participated in programs to kill top al qaeda
terrorists in and cia snatch and grab missions to capture or kill
insurgents in iraq and afghanistan
but the central intelligence agency had appeared to distance itself from the
firm in recent years
malaysian church fire bombed ahead of muslim protests
kuala lumpur jan afp
christian church in malaysia has been set ablaze in fire bomb attack church
officials said friday amid dispute over the use of the word allah by
catholic newspaper
the three storey metro tabernacle church in suburban kuala lumpur was partly
destroyed in the attack which took place around midnight said church leader
peter yeow
witnesses saw four people smash the glass and throw incendiaries into the
church building they came on two motorcycles he told afp at the scene as
firefighters investigated the blaze
there were no casualties in the attack on the church which occupies the corner
lot of row of shop houses and which yeow said draws some people weekly
the fire destroyed the administrative part of the church we do not know if the
prayer hall on the third floor suffered any damage he said warning all other
churches to double their guard against any attacks
muslim groups have vowed to stage nationwide protests friday over court ruling
last week that allowed catholic newspaper to use the word allah which the
government says should be used only by muslims
the high court suspended the ruling on wednesday after the government argued
the decision could cause racial conflict
us stocks mostly higher ahead of key unemployment data
new york jan afp
us stocks ended mostly higher thursday as traders awaited the december
unemployment and nonfarm payrolls report to gauge the strength of the
government backed recovery from recession
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to
at the market close
the technology heavy nasdaq composite dropped points percent to
while the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to preliminary close at
blue chips perked up from morning doldrums after two days of weak gains
lifted by retailers same store sales numbers that beat market expectations and
an advisory from financial regulators on interest rate risk management that
raised speculation about federal reserve interest rate hike
retail sales data for december encouraged hopes for an improvement in the
economy said scott marcouiller at wells fargo advisors
urgent argentine president decrees removal of central banker
buenos aires jan afp
argentine president cristina kirchner has signed decree firing the head of the
central bank who had refused to step down the government run telam news agency
announced thursday
jos ial jm fgf
afp world news agenda
hong kong jan afp
what coming up around the world
nigerian bomb suspect in us court
spain takes up eu presidency
detroit umar farouk abdulmutallab the nigerian accused of trying to bring down
us bound airliner on christmas day is scheduled to appear in court gmt
coverage expected attacks us nigerian picture video graphics
madrid spain officially begins its six month presidency of the european union
news conference at gmt eu spain
abuja chinese foreign minister yang jiechi visits nigeria as part of his
african tour
accra inquiry continues by agents of the us federal bureau of investigation
into the sojourn in ghana of nigerian man accused of trying to blow up us
airliner attacks us nigeria ghana fbi
beijing following up on cold front sweeping north china with snows and the
coldest temperatures in years china weather snow
cairo monitoring after clashes erupt as thousands of coptic christians in
southern egyptian village bury six people gunned down on coptic christmas eve by
men believed to be muslims egypt religion unrest
goma dr congo developments in eastern democratic republic of congo where the
nyamulagira volcano has been erupting since saturday drcongo volcano
kinshasa french foreign minister bernard kouchner visits due to meet president
joseph kabila
las vegas covering the international consumer electronics show until sunday
us it internet electronics consumer ces
lisbon portugal traditionally one of europe most socially conservative
countries is expected to legalise gay marriage portugal society gay
sydney covering anti whaling protests in antarctic seas after high tech
superboat was badly damaged in collision with japanese ship australia
japan nzealand whaling
vienna austrian prosecutors to give news conference on the case of natascha
kampusch the girl who was kidnapped and held in basement for eight years
before escaping
washington monthly us unemployment figures are due out amid analyst
expectations that jobs were lost in december us economy jobs
france wants to save airbus military transport project
paris jan afp
france on wednesday insisted that the building of high tech airbus
military transporters must go ahead but germany looked unwilling to plough more
money into the much delayed project
french defence minister herve morin said the programme must be completed
responding to report that the airbus head wants to pull out and insisted that
client countries share the unforeseen extra costs
we want this programme to be completed morin said in televised interview on
wednesday we have put all possible technological efforts into this plane
morin had said earlier that talk of dropping the billion euro billion
dollar project was bid by the european aeronautic defence and space company
eads to gain leverage in refinancing talks
he pointed the finger at the german government reportedly reluctant to share
the mounting costs
in berlin and london the german and british defence ministries said meeting
of senior officials from nations buying the will be held in london on
january
according to the financial times deutschland on tuesday airbus chief thomas
enders told group of airbus directors he no longer believed in pursuing the
programme and had begun to prepare for it to be terminated
morin said on tuesday that this was way of putting pressure on the german
government to help pay for completion of the project
developing the innovative high tech aircraft has proved much more costly and
time consuming than first planned when the project was agreed in by nato
members germany spain france britain turkey belgium and luxembourg
total of aircraft have been ordered for about billion euros billion
dollars but clients are being asked to plough in more to cover unexpected costs
which morin estimated at five billion euros
source close to the german defence ministry was quoted on wednesday in the
newspaper handelsblatt as saying it is out of the question for us to pay more
than the million euros extra stipulated in the contract
germany defence ministry which has ordered of the aircraft for six billion
euros said on wednesday it aimed to reach an agreement with airbus but declined
to say whether it would to cough up more money
we are focusing on implementing the deal agreed with the company so that the
aircraft is made ministry spokesman steffen moritz told reporters in berlin
but of course there are constant considerations about what other options
there are
turkey meanwhile said it remained committed to the but insisted it did not
wish to pour more money into the troubled project
we do not wish to see the project cancelled and we do not think it is
right to decrease the number of planes to be purchased defence minister vecdi
gonul said in an anatolia news agency report
he stressed that ankara which plans to buy of the planes could not go over
the price ceiling approved by the turkish parliament for the project
turkey position is to have no decrease in the number planes in the project
and no increase in the base price of plane gonul office said in
statement
morin criticised airbus the pride of the french aerospace industry for its
handling of the project
he said it should have drawn up specific military contract in which there
are always clauses that allow the price to be re evaluated because we know there
are always cost increases with military programmes
aerospace analyst howard wheeldon of london stockbrokers bgc partners said that
despite the german reservations he expected the countries concerned to reach an
agreement
termination at this interesting juncture would set the air forces of many
nations back to the point of their not being able to meet their respective nato
commitments few more years from now he wrote on tuesday
having got this far it would be quite ridiculous for governments to walk away
rallying peterhansel and coma bounce back italian fights for life
iquique chile jan afp
pre race favourites french driver stephane peterhansel and spanish motorcyclist
marc coma rebounded from disastrous stages on wednesday to win the latest legs
of the event on thursday
however their relief for at least putting wednesday nightmare showing behind
them was tempered by year old italian motorcyclist luca manta dreadful
crash which left him fighting for his life with serious head injuries
peterhansel had all but conceded he was out of contention for the overall title
after losing over two hours because of serious mechanical problems when he also
lost the overall lead
peterhansel came home seconds ahead of spain former two time world rally
champion carlos sainz who had replaced the frenchman in the overall lead
am surprised that we got such fast time having driven through km in the
dust of other competitors said peterhansel
we were originally targetting overall victory but now it is more complicated
want therefore to drive as fast as possible and climb back up the overall
standings as high as possible we could finish as high as the top three he
added
sainz who leads volkswagen in the overall placings for his part was
delighted not to have encountered the slightest problem
there really were no problems only that half of the stage we had to drive in
the dust behind my team mate mark miller
the last descent was incredible we could see the pacific ocean it the
descent was really really steep
two time motorcycling champion coma who had initially lost minutes on
wednesday owing to mechanical problems before being penalised another minutes
for speeding at the beginning of the stage moved up into fourth overall after
his stage win
coma came in on his ktm motorbike at least minutes clear of his rivals
including france overall leader cyril despres who finished second
it was really good day long one at that with lot of navigating to be
done purred coma
there were parts of the route that resembled egypt it really was beautiful
now we will rest up overnight by the sea and then we will see what happens on
friday
we will take things day by day trying to avoid the problems that plagued us at
the beginning of the rally without totally giving up on winning the title
however we are not going to win every day simply put we have to be
realistic it is practically impossible
coma pessimistic appraisal of his chances of winning were not shared by
despres
we have only passed the six stage mark there are he said
lance armstrong never won the tour de france after the third or fifth stages
of the tour de france whether the difference be two minutes five minutes or
two hours coma remains my chief rival
the stage was marred by the serious injury suffered by manta ninth overall
going into the stage and in his first dakar rally
the year old ktm rider whose ambition for the race was to finish in the top
five and who rated the level of danger of the race seven out of ten crashed
just kilometres into the km special from antofagasta and after receiving
treatment had to be taken to local hospital by helicopter
however after an initial diagnosis indicated he had head injuries he was due to
be transferred to neurological unit at hospital in the capital santiago
alert
president decrees removal of argentine central banker official
greenpeace says made to pay for climate summit failure
madrid jan afp
the head of greenpeace spain freed from days in danish custody along with
three others on thursday accused authorities in copenhagen of making them pay
for the failure of the climate summit
juan lopez de uralde and norwegian nora christiansen fooled security staff at
the danish parliament in copenhagen by drawing up to december gala dinner
in limousine and wearing evening attire
there they unfurled banners reading politicians talk leaders act at the
entrance
they were arrested along with two others christian schmutz of switzerland who
posed as their bodyguard and joris thijssen of the netherlands all four were
released on wednesday
we were made to pay for the anger of the danish government after the problems
of the copenhagen summit lopez de uralde told spanish national radio
he also denounced their treatment in prison
we were very shocked by the way in which we were treated he said we did not
expect to get off scot free we were taking risk what was completely
disproportionate was the days in isolation in prison without knowing the
extent of the charges against us without speaking to anyone
he rejected suggestions that the isolation was necessary as part of the police
investigation
police did not question us until the last day if it was really for the
purposes of the investigation why not question us on the first day he said
the four have been charged with illegally entering state property among other
things they still face trial and possible prison sentences
their release came day in advance of their detention being reviewed by
danish judge
lopez de uralde thanked supporters for the pressure they put on danish
authorities to release him and the three other activists when he arrived at
madrid barajas airport and said he had no regrets
if it was not for all the support which we received think the inentention of
the danish authorities was to keep us in jail for long time don regret
anything on the contrary he told reporters
think if had the same opportunity at such an important moment when there
were world leaders gathered at the same place would do it again to try to
pass on message urging them to do something about climate change all four of
us are very proud of what we did
the two week un climate conference in december produced non binding agreement
leaving many observers skeptical about the possibility of limiting global
warming to levels considered acceptable
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor andrew beatty
tel
what happening in the americas on friday
nigerian appears before us court for christmas day bomb attempt
monthly unemployment figures are released
detroit umar farouk abdulmutallab the nigerian accused of trying to bring down
us bound airliner on christmas day is scheduled to appear in court gmt
coverage expected attacks us nigerian picture video graphics
washington monthly us unemployment figures closely watched economic
indicator are due out amid analyst expecations that jobs were lost in
december gmt expect coverage us economy jobs
washington secretary of state hillary clinton meets separately with her
counterparts from jordan nasser judeh and egypt ahmed aboul gheit time to be
determined coverage expected us diplomacy mideast jordan egypt
las vegas covering the international consumer electronics show until sunday
expect coverage us it internet electronics consumer ces
new york closing arguments by lawyers for shareholders of vivendi ahead of
verdict expected in mid january in the lawsuit against the french media giant
coverage expected us france media court ethics company vivendi
memphis fans mark years since the birth of elvis presley coverage on merit
starbucks to pay rights for pre hispanic images
mexico city jan afp
us coffee giant starbucks has agreed to pay intellectual property rights owed to
mexico for line of coffee mugs showing pre hispanic images company
statement said thursday
starbucks has withdrawn the mugs which contained images of the aztec calendar
and pyramid from pre aztec ruins near mexico city from shop shelves
starbucks mexico said thursday that the supplier of the mugs had sought approval
for the images from government archaeological agency since but had failed
to receive it
starbucks mexico assumes responsibility and is prepared to pay the amount
corresponding to the use of these images statement said apologising for
any misunderstanding
the national institute of anthropology and history inah was still studying the
issue spokesman said thursday
we haven asked for any compensation yet from the company nor has figure
been established but it certain that they ll have to pay rights said
francisco de anda
sri lankan execution video authentic un envoy
united nations jan afp
un envoy concluded thursday that video footage allegedly showing sri lankan
troops executing tamil tiger rebels last year was authentic and urged colombo to
accept an impartial probe
the video aired on britain channel in august is authentic philip
alston the un special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary
executions told reporters here
the footage was shot during the final stages of the sri lankan army battle
against tamil tiger separatists of the liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte
alston said the authenticity of the video was established by three us based
independent qualified experts he had commissioned to conduct an impartial
evaluation after four sri lankan specialists had concluded that it was fake
he named the three as daniel spitz prominent forensic pathologist peter
diaczuk firearm evidence expert and jeff spivack forensic video analyst
the independent experts analyses also systematically rebutted most of the
arguments relied upon by sri lanka experts in support of their contention that
the video was faked alston said
in light of these conclusions call for an independent inquiry to be
established to carry out an impartial investigation into war crimes and other
violations of international humanitarian and human rights law allegedly
committed in sri lanka he added
colombo should ask the united nations to set up an independent commission of
inquiry he state
un chief ban ki moon said through his spokesman martin nesirky that full
and impartial investigation into allegations of human rights violations in
sri lanka is critical if we are to confront impunity and bring the perpetrators
of such violations to justice
nesirky said ban informed colombo that he was considering appointing
commission of experts to advise him further and to assist the government in
taking measures to address possible violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law
in its original report in august channel had said that it could not verify
the authenticity of the video which it received from group called journalists
for democracy in sri lanka
the group claims the video footage was taken by soldier using mobile phone
the disturbing footage shows man dressed in army uniform shooting naked
bound and blindfolded man in the back of the head while the bodies of eight
others can be seen nearby in muddy field
alston said spitz found the footage appeared authentic especially with respect
to the two individuals who are shown being shot in the head at close range
and he added that spivack forensic video analysis found no evidence of breaks
in continuity in the video no additional video layers and no evidence of image
manipulation
while there are some unexplained elements in the video there are strong
indications of its authenticity alston said
in addition most of the arguments relied upon by the government of sri lanka
to impugn the video have been shown to be flawed
when it was aired the video was rejected by the sri lankan military as fake
aimed at discrediting the security forces
sri lankan authorities have resisted international calls for war crimes
investigation after the united nations alleged that more than civilians
had been killed during the first four months of alone
the tamil rebels were finally vanquished last may after nearly four decades of
ethnic bloodshed that left between and people dead
the government victory ended the ltte four decade struggle for an independent
tamil homeland one of asia longest running ethnic conflicts
obama democrats to huddle next week on health
washington jan afp
president barack obama will personally push his democratic allies in the us
congress next week to approve sweeping remake of us health care at their
annual retreat top lawmaker said thursday
the president coming next week as we have our issues conference next week
on wednesday or thursday democratic representative john larson told reporters
after closed door talks on the legislation
the retreat typically held just outside washington was expected to tackle
intra party disputes that have held up efforts to forge final compromise
between house and senate versions of the legislation that would pave the way to
final passage of bill obama could sign into law
what we want is affordable accessible accountable program for the american
people and that what we re going to get at the end of the day and just
confident that between the president and the respective leadership and the
concerned members that we re going to achieve that goal said larson
he spoke after house speaker nancy pelosi held conference call for her
democratic rank and file to update them on the status of the negotiations and
hear their questions and concerns about what the final bill would look like
roughly of the more than democrats in the house of representatives took
part said democratic representative george miller who underlined that
obviously no decisions have been made on any of the major disputes
both measures aim to extend health care coverage to more than million out of
the million americans that lack it end abusive health insurance company
practices and curb soaring costs that take giant bites out of family and
government budgets
but the senate stripped out government backed public option plan to compete
with private insurers in order to win over the backing of handful of centrist
democrats without whom the bill would not have secured the votes needed to
pass in the seat body
there are also disputes over how to pay for the plan and whether the overhaul
should create national exchange where americans could buy coverage or set
up exchanges on state by state basis
another potential obstacle is the house bill tougher restrictions on federal
funds subsidizing abortions while pro choice lawmakers denounce the limits
some centrist democrats say they will withhold support without them
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
as nation the united states spends more than double what britain france and
germany do per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
biden at bedside of seriously ill mother
washington jan afp
us vice president joe biden rushed from washington to be with his year old
mother catherine eugenia jean biden after she fell seriously ill the white
house said thursday
the vice president is at home today in wilmington delaware where he has
gathered with family to spend time with his mother who has taken seriously ill
in recent days his office said
biden frequently sprinkles his speeches with wisdom and wit he attributes to his
mother and late father often focusing on lessons he learned as child
when got knocked down by guys bigger than me she sent me back out and
demanded that bloody their nose so could walk down that street the next
day biden said in his democratic national conventions speech in
my mother creed is the american creed no one is better than you you are
everyone equal and everyone is equal to you
tennis nadal admits to loss of confidence
doha jan afp
rafael nadal seeking his first atp world tour title in eight months admitted
after reaching the semi finals of the qatar open that he has been suffering from
crisis of confidence
have had lot of problems in the head the former world number one said
after winning when his opponent the belgian qualifier steve darcis
retired after only minutes of very one sided action
have had under confidence and things in the head but that life you have
to accept problems and you have to come back am trying we will see what
happens in the next six months
for someone who has been conspicuously stable while closing out matches rarely
letting slip opportunities to win when they present themselves nadal words
superficially contained an element of surprise
however he has had increasing problems with arthritic knees suffered from
stomach ailment and reportedly been affected by the recent break up of his
parents marriage
the year old majorcan took only two days break over christmas before
