the suspect fired the shotgun inside the bar and then shot himself on street
outside the official said by telephone adding that the gunman looked to be
about but could not be immediately identified
one of the dead is believed to be an employee at the bar in his the other
is woman in her or media reported
the gunman was the son in law of the bar owner the asahi shimbun said in its
internet edition quoting police sources
frankfurt set for opening of obama musical
frankfurt jan afp
barack obama has been serenaded by stars like aretha franklin and beyonce now
he ll sing himself in new musical set to open sunday in germany where many
consider the us president role model
the stage obama will perform duet with first lady michelle and lead gospel
chorus singing yes we can his trademark slogan of optimism and change in
bi lingual production entitled hope the obama musical story
producers said they hope to take the show to the united states
had the initial idea right at the start of obama electoral campaign us
writer and composer randall hutchins told german magazine spiegel online
edition
found the atmosphere exciting and that was my inspiration people hoped
change would result in better life it was beautiful very social time
although obama domestic approval ratings have fallen the us president remains
popular in germany where november poll found percent named him as their
political role model well ahead of former chancellor helmut schmidt
with predominantly us cast the show is said to celebrate non political
quest for better future plans are being laid to take it to other cities
around germany
if everything works fine we would like to plan tour in the states as well
organiser patrick strese told afp
obama republican presidential rival senator john mccain and his colourful
running mate sarah palin perform numbers of their own the latter rocking with
fishnet clad go go girls
even the audience will get chance to join in organisers said with seats
equipped with percussion sensitive surface that lets them drum along with the
beat
rallying coma wins second successive dakar motorcycling stage
santiago jan afp
spaniard marc coma won his second successive motorcycling stage on the dakar
rally when he took the th leg on tuesday kilometres special from la
serena
coma who is out of contention for the overall title having been penalised six
hours over the weekend beat frenchman david fretigne by min sec
another frenchman cyril despres who was sixth on the stage over six minutes in
arrears remains the clear overall leader
cyprus in shock as media mogul gunned down outside home
nicosia jan afp
cypriot president demetris christofias ordered police to pull out all the stops
on tuesday to find the culprits in the murder of media mogul just metres
yards from the heavily guarded us embassy
such an act can only be described as monstrous christofias told reporters
want to believe and do believe that the police will exhaust every
possibility to solve this brutal crime
antis hadjicostis was shot dead outside his home on monday night in what police
believe was professional hit his sigma tv channel reported
christofias said he had very good relationship with the hadjicostis family
which made his grief that much worse
the cyprus president took time out from un led reunification talks with turkish
cypriot leader mehmet ali talat which had just stepped up gear on monday to
visit the bereaved family and give his condolences
hadjicostis was ceo of the dias media group one of the island largest
which owns the sigma tv channel radio proto daily newspaper simerini and
other publications
sigma interrupted its programmes to announce the killing of the father of two
who was ambushed by two men while getting out of his car and shot twice at close
range in the chest and the back
no shell casings were found at the scene said police who declined to speculate
on the motives
one person was waiting for him outside his home while another was on high
powered bike nearby to ensure quick getaway according to witnesses
post mortem carried out on tuesday by state pathologist sophocles sophocleous
concluded that the two shot wounds were inflicted by hunting gun he said that
death would have been instantaneous
the dias media empire is owned by antis tycoon father costis hadjicostis who
has one other older son
the group has been highly critical of christofias negotiating position in the
talks on ending the mediterranean island year division
it was staunch supporter of his hardline predecessor tassos papadopoulos who
led greek cypriots in voting down un reunification plan in
but hadjicostis himself was not known for his interest in cyprus politics
concentrating instead on expanding his business empire
the shooting happened at around pm gmt metres yards from
the heavily guarded us embassy in the capital nicosia
the motive for the killing is unknown but attacks on media figures are rare in
cyprus sigma called it an unprecedented and shocking crime
daily newspaper politis said the killing had financial motive behind it while
others have suggested it could be linked to the bizarre body snatching of former
president papadopoulos
papadopoulos grave was violated on december and police are still struggling
to find any hard leads
simerini newspaper said the dias group would not bow to terrorism and said the
cold blooded crime came at crucial juncture for the cyprus problem
cyprus archbishop chrysostomos ii said the shooting was an attack on
democracy
politicians press organisations family and friends have inundated tv and radio
shows to convey their respects and express horror and disbelief over the attack
forensic expert marios matsakis attended the post mortem on behalf of the family
and said this incident has shocked the whole of cypriot society and beyond the
boundaries of cyprus
hariri tribunal registrar quits
the hague jan afp
the registrar of the tribunal created to try the assassins of former lebanese
prime minister rafiq hariri has resigned the un said tuesday the second
registrar to leave in less than year
the un secretary general received the resignation of the registrar of the
special tribunal for lebanon on january statement from un chief ban
ki moon spokesperson said on tuesday
david tolbert resignation will be effective from march after which he will
take up his new appointment as president of the international centre for
transitional justice
the secretary general regrets the departure of mr tolbert who has decided to
return to the united states to pursue his career said the statement
tolbert former deputy prosecutor for the international criminal tribunal for
the former yugoslavia took over as the lebanon tribunal main administrator in
august last year from briton robin vincent who resigned two months earlier
the tribunal was created by un resolution to try those responsible for
beirut car bombing that killed hariri and other people
damascus implicated by un probe has denied involvement
the tribunal has no suspects in custody and no date has been set for the start
of any trial it officially opened in the hague on march
hariri was prime minister from to and again from until his
resignation in
nigerian lawmakers decide to go visit sick president
abuja jan afp
nigerian lawmakers tuesday voted to send delegation to saudi arabia to discuss
issues of national importance with ailing president umaru yar adua as protests
mounted for him to stand down over his health
the year old president who has been treated for heart condition in saudi
arabia since november said in telephone interview with the bbc that he is
getting better and intends to resume power
however the lower house of parliament voted to send delegation to meet
yar adua and report back its impressions according to motion adopted by the
house of representatives
the senate which had tabled similar motion decided instead to invite the
secretary to the government yayale ahmed to explain the president state of
health
neither motion set date for the talks
yar adua condition has been the source of widespread speculation in nigeria
and on monday some online publications reported he had died the previous day
he told the bbc in an interview by telephone that he was getting better
from the treatment he was receiving at the hospital in jeddah
the president had not been seen or heard from since he was flown out of nigeria
on november to be treated for acute pericarditis an inflammation of the
membrane around the heart
football burnley mulling laws and driscoll as coyle replacement
burnley jan afp
burnley have whittled down their search for successor to owen coyle as manager
to two candidates doncaster sean driscoll and former sheffield wednesday
manager brian laws
both men have been interviewed with driscoll regarded as slight favourite to
be asked to fill the vacancy created by coyle decision to quit the club for
local rivals bolton
driscoll has been in charge of championship outfit doncaster since
as well as establishing the yorkshire club in the second tier of english
football for the first time in half century he has forged reputation as
coach who likes his players to play passing game
laws was sacked by sheffield wednesday last month after the club slipped into
the championship relegation zone but has the advantage of being former burnley
player
burnley are hoping to appoint their new manager in time for saturday trip to
champions manchester united
martin dobson the director of youth development is currently managing the club
on caretaker basis with the help of youth team coach terry pashley and
experienced players steven caldwell and graham alexander
british minister niece faces jail for sex murder
versailles france jan afp
prosecutors demanded year jail term for british government minister
niece for drunkenly stabbing to death frenchman she picked up in pub as the
verdict loomed on tuesday
jessica davies has admitted she plunged the knife into the naked body of
year old olivier mugnier in november but said she had no idea why she did
it
want to express the extent of my remorse davies said take
responsibility and accept the consequences of what did she added before
being handcuffed and led away as the jury retired to consider its verdict
davies sat stony faced as prosecutor myriam quemener demanded year
jail term followed by seven years probation and psychological monitoring
am convinced there was homicidal intent quemener told the court in her
closing argument
she attacked davies for her apparent lack of emotion at the trial and accused
her of selective memory she said davies had benefited from golden youth of
privilege but had chosen to drift through life drinking and taking drugs
defence lawyer daniel soulez lariviere stressed that davies had cooperated with
the trial and argued that she had long suffered psychological problems for which
she had not received care until after her arrest
he said year term would be more appropriate
davies who has french mother and british father is the niece of britain
multi millionaire junior defence minister quentin davies who in defected
from britain opposition conservatives to the ruling labour party
looking pale and drawn dressed in jeans and black top she earlier told the
court in versailles she had blacked out and had no recollection of the killing
except the sensation of the knife going in
do not even dare ask forgiveness from olivier family she said tuesday
the second and last day of her trial what did terrifies me can
guarantee that will never again touch drop of alcohol
she told the court monday that she remembered telling the police who arrived at
the murder scene that was monster
she said she no longer remembered making statement the day of the murder in
her flat in saint germain en laye chic paris suburb in which she said
just wanted to cut him little but the knife went in by itself
the blood stained kitchen knife with six inch blade that killed mugnier was
passed round for inspection by the three judges and the five women and four men
of the jury
the court on monday heard davies parents speak of their family problems and
her troubled adolescence she started drinking heavily as teenager later
developed cocaine habit and attempted suicide months before the killing
davies said she had begun the weekend that mugnier died by sleeping with an ex
boyfriend on the friday night
she spent most of the saturday drinking in series of bars with friends before
going alone to sullivan irish pub near her home where she met and began
flirting with mugnier
they had several drinks and when the bar closed decided to go to davies place
opened bottle of wine he rolled joint we started undressing making
love she told the court
he couldn have proper erection but that was understandable given how
much we drunk we stopped making love he took off the condom said davies
the next thing she knew he was lying bleeding from the neck on the bed and she
was trying to stem the blood with one hand and calling emergency services with
the other
mugnier succumbed to the two knife wounds one of which proved fatal after it
went right through his body and touched his spine
zimbabwe treason trial resumes for pm aide
harare jan afp
the treason trial of top aide to zimbabwe prime minister resumed tuesday
with the key witness for the prosecution contradicting much of the state case
roy bennett the treasurer of premier morgan tsvangirai party is accused of
plotting to assassinate president robert mugabe in in conspiracy already
dismissed by the courts in an earlier case
attorney general johannes tomana case hinges on testimony from former
policeman peter hischmann who prosecutors say was found with an arms cache
funded by bennett as part of scheme to kill the president
hischmann who bennett lawyers say was tortured into testifying had failed to
appear in court when summoned to testify at the trial last hearing in
november
after inspecting an array of weapons that prosecutors presented as evidence
hischmann disowned many of them including six submachine guns and some teargas
canisters
two uzi submachine guns he said were his but insisted they were properly
registered
hischmman who was police officer in colonial rhodesia said he had never met
bennett and accused police of seeking to fabricate conspiracy
police were alleging that there was correspondence between the accused and
myself alleging that the accused and were communicating with intention of
committing acts of sabotage hitschmann said denying all the accusations
tomana said asked the court to impeach hischmann as witness saying he had
contradicted his earlier testimony to police
he is not to be accepted as favourable witness tomana said the docket
have clearly shows departure of statement he made to the police
bennett co accused giles mutseyekwa who is now home affairs minister in
zimbabwe power sharing government was acquitted of the charges in the same
year
bennett was tsvangirai pick for deputy agriculture minister but mugabe has
refused to swear him in saying he had to be cleared by the courts first
spain eu growth plan backs incentives not sanctions
madrid jan afp
spain eu presidency tuesday insisted its controversial plan for new year
growth strategy envisages financial incentives for members but not penalties
the proposal is not aimed at sanctioning but at stimulating said secretary of
state for europe union diego lopez garrido
spain wants the eu to agree on replacement for the bloc long term growth
plan known as the lisbon agenda which was supposed to make the european union
the world most competitive economy by
but the scheme never achieved its aims as governments were under no obligation
to conform
spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero last thursday called for
new strategy that would put more pressure on governments by imposing
corrective measures on those who fail to meet binding targets
german economy minister rainer bruederle on saturday dismissed the idea
do not think the idea of imposing sanctions on member states for not
fulfilling fixed targets is sensible he said
up to now the lisbon strategy has been based on partnership approach without
sanctions and we ought to continue that
then on monday spain appeared to backtrack on the plan with foreign minister
miguel angel moratinos insisting that sanctions were never part of it
lopez garrido tuesday sought to clarify the plan further
the spanish presidency said that the way in which the lisbon agenda is applied
must be changed which does not mean imposing sanctions
what we want is to support initiatives that are preferably linked with positive
incentives to go in particular direction he said
the debate is only just beginning and spain excludes penalties against
recalcitrant members for the moment he said calling for maximum consensus
on the issue within the eu
on friday zapatero herman van rompuy the eu new permanent president and
european commission president manuel barroso called for greater economic
coordination among members to revive growth following the global crisis
beshir nominated by his party for sudan reelection bid
khartoum jan afp
sudanese president omar al beshir was officially nominated by his party on
tuesday to stand for reelection in april in the first multi party elections in
years
delegation of senior officials from the beshir national congress party ncp
and representatives of other smaller parties presented beshir name to the
electoral commission
we came here as representatives of several parties to nominate beshir as
candidate in the next presidential election former president siwar al dahab
told reporters
the ncp had already chosen beshir in april but his candidacy had not been
officially registered by the electoral commission
parties have days from tuesday to register their candidates for the
presidential legislative and local elections scheduled for next april
presidential candidate must have the backing of people from at least
states
we have gathered signatures from states dahab said
on monday beshir stepped down as head of the army in accordance with the
electoral law in order to stand for re election
beshir has been president since june after overthrowing the democratically
elected government of sadeq al mahdi in an islamist backed coup in
april elections will be sudan first multi party poll since the vote that
brought mahdi to power in
the elections were provided for in the comprehensive peace agreement signed
between north and south sudan to end devastating year civil war next year
there will be referendum in the south on whether to become independent or
remain part of sudan
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
tuesday graphics
nigeria kidnap
graphic map locating port harcourt near where three britons and colombian
working for anglo dutch oil giant shell were kidnapped on tuesday
text slug nigeria oil unrest britain colombia
mm
available by gmt
japan airlines
chart showing daily closing values for japan airlines for the past month
text slug japan airline company distress jal
mm
available now
ukraine vote
graphic fact file on ukraine ahead of presidential election on sunday
text slug ukraine vote
mm
available now
indonesia army business
graphic on business interests of the indonesian military which turned profit
of million dollars in according to human rights watch report
law ordered the military to get out of the business sector
text slug indonesia military business corruption rights
mm wide
available now
airbus boeing
graphic comparing firm orders and sales by rival aircraft manufacturers airbus
and boeing since
text slug france spain aerospace airbus boeing
mm wide
available by gmt
afghanistan poll
charts showing the results of an opinion poll in afghanistan which surveyed
around people last month and was commissioned by three broadcasters
text slug afghanistan politics poll
mm
available now
malaysia religion
updated map of malaysia locating the states where attacks on churches occurred
since friday
text slug malaysia religion catholic church attack
mm
available now
clinton tour
graphic showing the pacific countries to be visited by us secretary of state
hillary clinton this week
text slug us diplomacy asia
mm
available now
us auto market
chart showing us market share for the auto industry comparing asian us and
european brands in and
text slug us auto show politics
mm
available now
india festival
map of india locating haridwar and rishikesh where the three month hindu
festival of kumbh mela begins thursday
text slug india religion festival
mm
available now
arctic tern migration
graphic showing the migration of the arctic tern from the north to the south
pole new study published tuesday in the journal proceedings of the national
academy of sciences has found that the species flies kilometres year on
the greatest known migration on the planet
stand alone graphic
mm
available now
asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
mm
available by gmt
note to editors change of format to this daily graphic including the
addition of two more asia pacific markets
moved earlier
angola cabinda factfile mm
angola cabinda map mm
israel air strike mm
mali french hostage mm
uae torture case factfile mm
malaysia demographics mm
us drones factfile mm
croatia vote result mm
football africa cup of nations presentation mm
tennis graphics
australia open venue mm
australia open women mm
australia open men mm
hawkeye factfile mm
paris hong kong
tel
afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor nathaniel harrison
telephone
eu trade economy china forex lead wrap
brussels
europe incoming trade commissioner lashes out at what he says is
deliberate policy in china to maintain depressed yuan currency remarks
likely to spark furore
words by gmt by roderick thomson
us auto show luxury
detroit
the global economy is just emerging from recession but one wouldn know that
ambling through the north american international auto show where surprising
number of big ticket luxury cars and high performance are on display
words gmt by veronique dupont picture
france culture internet lead
paris
france agrees to work with google on digitally scanning french library books but
insists it will not surrender legal control of its cultural heritage to the us
internet giant
words gmt by roland lloyd parry
forex europe lead wrap
london
the dollar gains on the euro as traders take profits after monday surge by the
single currency and seek the safe haven greenback in the face of disappointing
us corporate results
words gmt
stocks europe lead wrap
london
europe main stock markets drift lower in line with wall street and on news of
weak us earnings data
words gmt
commodities energy oil price ndlead wrap
london
world oil prices dip under dollars on expectations of easing heating fuel
demand as warmer temperatures reach parts of the united states that were
recently hit by cold snap traders say
words gmt
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor chris otton
tel
top stories
nigerian lawmakers to visit ailing president in saudi
iran blames arch foes as bomb kills nuclear scientist
blair ex press aide denies sexing up iraq dossier
nigeria politics ndlead wrap
abuja
nigerian lawmakers vote to send delegation to saudi arabia to discuss issues
of national importance with ailing president umaru yar adua as protests mount
for him to stand down despite his insistence in radio interview that he is on
the mend
words gmt by ola awoniyi
iran unrest nuclear thlead wrap
tehran
leading iranian nuclear scientist is killed in tehran in rare bomb attack
that the government quickly blames on mercenaries in the pay of archfoes the
united states and israel
words gmt by hiedeh farmani picture video
britain iraq military politics inquiry rdlead
london
tony blair former chief spin doctor alastair campbell fiercely denies sexing
up dossier which claimed iraq could launch chemical or biological weapons
within minutes ahead of the war
words gmt by katherine haddon picture
we will also move netherlands iraq politics us probe rdlead
filing plans by region
europe
nireland britain ireland politics rdlead
belfast
britain and ireland scramble to defuse political crisis in northern ireland
triggered by sex and cash scandal saying it may even be an opportunity to
unblock stalled talks
words gmt by eamonn mallie picture
we have also moved nireland britain politics foster profile
netherlands jews wwii frank gies thlead obit
the hague
miep gies the woman who hid dutch youngster anne frank from the nazis and
guarded her diary that became one of the world most read books has died after
brief illness at the age of
words gmt by mariette le roux picture
italy immigration labour violence reax
rome
italy faces calls to address deep rooted racism and quell language of
hatred after last week attacks on african farm workers in the impoverished
south of the country
words gmt
cyprus crime media lead reax
nicosia
cypriot president demetris christofias orders police to pull out all the stops
to find the culprits in the murder of media mogul just metres yards from
the heavily guarded us embassy
words gmt by charlie charalambous file picture
