the armenian ruling also underlined that the protocols did not concern any third
party in contrast to ankara claim that the reconciliation process with
armenia is linked to yerevan conflict with azerbaijan over the nagorny
karabakh enclave
the aim of the protocols is to approve all its elements including the
commissions in their entirety davutoglu said
he was referring to an article that calls for the establishment of an
independent commission to study the armenian massacres under ottoman rule
the minister added that he would hold telephone conversations with us secretary
of state hillary clinton and swiss foreign minister micheline calmy rey to
convey ankara concerns over the procees
davutoglu was speaking shortly after nalbandian warned that historic efforts to
establish ties with turkey may break down blaming ankara for obstructing the
process
turkish diplomat speaking on conditions of anonymity termed nalbandian
remarks an unjust accusation and underlined that ankara expected yerevan to
confirm that the framework of the protocols remained unchanged
if the framework has changed then we will not be talking about the deals that
we signed but something else the diplomat added
football ribery angling for real madrid deal media
madrid jan afp
bayern munich french star franck ribery is angling for new deal that would
allow him to join real madrid if the spaniards put million euros on the
table as daily reported on friday
ribery would only renew his bayern contract with million pro real
clause included according to as which added that otherwise ribery will not
sign
the paper citing sources very close to the player said that talks were under
way between the two clubs regarding an eventual move and that the sum would be
around million euros
that would be less than the purported million figure bandied around last
summer for the former marseille man whose contract expires next year
ribery has endured difficult time recently with injuries having kept him
sidelined since early october and bayern coach louis van gaal indicated earlier
on friday that he would not start saturday match against werder bremen but
might be brought on from the bench
owing to serious knee problem ribery has only made six league appearances
this season he was due to return in december but foot injury suffered in
training prevented him from doing so
then in winter training camp in dubai he suffered from inflamed toenails that
meant he could not even put his boots on
as meanwhile added that real were hoping to snap up roma midfielder daniele
de rossi reporting that the italians were ready to sell for financial reasons
real are also rumoured to want racing santander youngster sergio canales but
marca sports daily reported that real were not prepared to get into an auction
for the year old who the paper said also interests manchester city and
chelsea
austria offers help in solving macedonia greece name dispute
skopje jan afp
austria foreign minister michael spindelegger on friday offered his country
help in solving the year long name dispute between macedonia and greece that
has prevented skopje from joining the eu and nato
austria can offer help if we are asked to but think the solution is to be
found in bilateral talks between macedonia and greece spindelegger said after
talks with his macedonian counterpart antonio milososki
the name dispute should be solved within the un framework between partners
in greece and macedonia he added
greece has been blocking international recognition of its northern neighbour
under the name of macedonia since the break up of yugoslavia in
athens considers the name macedonia part of its greek heritage because of the
northern greek province with same name
macedonia joined the united nations in under the provisional name of the
former yugoslav republic of macedonia fyrom but un led negotiations on the
name row have borne no solution yet
milososki welcomed austria offer saying that macedonia is ready to continue
talks with greece
our aim and goal is to reach solution which can be seen as compromise both
in macedonia and greece milososki said
last week visiting slovenian prime minister borut pahor also offered help in
solving the dispute slovenia is the only eu member of all six former yugoslav
republics
macedonia has been an official eu candidate nation since december but has
not yet begun any of the detailed negotiations required prior to membership
in december the eu announced it had pushed back decision to allow macedonia
to enter membership talks to the first semester of such decision
requires unanimity from the eu members including greece
last year greece also blocked skopje membership in the north atlantic treaty
organisation
ge profit tops forecasts despite finance weakness
new york jan afp
us conglomerate general electric on friday reported stronger than expected
profits as earnings from energy and manufacturing offset weakness at its finance
and media units
the company net profit was billion dollars in the quarter or billion
dollars for common shareholders
that pushed the profit for the full year to billion dollars
ge environment has improved and we saw some encouraging signs at year end
chairman and chief executive jeff immelt said
the overall profit amounted to cents share two cents better than expected
by analysts
revenues fell percent to billion dollars in the period but were also
ahead of expectations
the company which makes aircraft engines energy equipment and owns the nbc
universal media entertainment group said the profits fell percent from the
same period year ago
ge energy unit which makes wind turbines as well as oil and gas equipment
led the earnings with an operating profit of billion dollars up nine
percent from year ago
tennis australian open results day five th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day five of the australian open at melbourne park here friday
denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
andy roddick usa bt feliciano lopez esp
fernando gonzalez chi bt evgeny korolev kaz
andy murray gbr bt florent serra fra
john isner usa bt gael monfils fra
juan martin del potro arg bt florian mayer ger
marin cilic cro bt stanislas wawrinka sui
rafael nadal esp bt philipp kohlschreiber ger
ivo karlovic cro bt ivan ljubicic cro
women singles
rd round
dinara safina rus bt elena baltacha gbr
alona bondarenko ukr bt jelena jankovic srb
justin henin bel bt alisa kleybanova rus
yanina wickmayer bel bt sara errani ita
maria kirilenko rus bt roberta vinci ita
zheng jie chn bt marion bartoli fra
nadia petrova rus bt kim clijsters bel
us warns of risks of identical airport security measures
toledo spain jan afp
airports around the world must adopt different security measures or else it will
become easier for terrorists to exploit weaknesses to carry out attacks us
homeland security secretary janet napolitano said friday
what we do not want is cookie cutter approach where the same measures are
in place everywhere because then terrorists can plan and work around them
she told news conference in toledo in central spain
napolitano recommended using wide range of security measures including
information sharing on suspected terrorists and detection technology like full
body scanners to protect passengers
we need all of those layers in sequence to maximize the ability to protect
travelers from terrorist acts she said adding full body scanners were
tool but there must be combination of other measures
nations decide for themselves the combination of these measures she added
napolitano is meeting eu officials to try to convince the eu to install body
scanners at its main airports for use by us bound passengers
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
but other european nations like germany have been more cautious
spain which holds the rotating presidency of the eu wants the nation bloc
to develop common policy on the use of the scanners which can see through
clothing to reveal concealed liquids explosives or weapons
spanish interior minister alfredo perez rubalcaba said thursday that the
european commission was carrying out the studies into the effectiveness of the
devices as well as their possible impacts on health and privacy
once we have these studies on the table we will make decision he told
journalists following meeting between napolitano and eu interior and justice
ministers
the outgoing european commission dropped plans to introduce the scanners europe
wide in after the european parliament opposed the move calling for more
studies on the possible radiation dangers and privacy issues involved
privacy campaigners say the technology violates european law by producing
sexually explicit images of the passengers
they have raised the possibility that images taken by the scanners could be
leaked online
football essien out for six weeks
london jan afp
chelsea and ghana midfielder michael essien will be out of action for up to six
weeks after returning from the african nations cup with knee injury his club
announced on friday
essien damaged cartilage while training in angola and although the injury
has not proved as serious as first feared he is unlikely to return before early
march
he had tear in the meniscus and he has to stay out for four to six weeks
chelsea manager carlo ancelotti revealed hope four
the lay off means essien will miss chelsea potentially pivotal premier league
meeting with arsenal and the first leg of the club champions league second
round tie against inter milan in italy
an ankle problem has meanwhile ruled ashley cole out of chelsea fa cup fourth
round tie at preston on saturday
yury zhirkov will deputise while hilario will get rare start in goal with petr
cech rested for the meeting with opponents struggling in the bottom half of the
championship
ethiopian oromo rebellion on last legs ex official
addis ababa jan afp
rebellion by ethnic oromos in ethiopia is at its weakest state after years of
internal divisions former rebel leader said friday claiming it had zero
chance of toppling the government
six senior members of the oromo liberation front olf which for more than
three decades has fought for independence of the oromia region crossed over
from kenya and surrendered earlier this month along with fighters
the olf was meant to liberate its people but divisions and lack of vision
has hampered its cause lucho bukhura former central committee member told
journalists here
lucho said the group had splintered into three factions based on geographical
background since its inception in the
it has been disintegrating for the past years they have zero fighting
capacity at the moment and zero chance of overthrowing the government he said
lucho who spoke along with three other former rebels said they surrendered
after holding negotiations with the authorities and obtaining guarantees on
their treatment
the olf insisted in statement this week that its operations would not be
affected by the defections
those who surrendered are traitors who had contact with the tyrannical
minority regime intelligence network and had for long time been sources of
problems in the area the statement said
the olf was part of ethiopia transition government from to after
the fall of the marxist regime of colonel mengistu haile mariam
after numerous disputes with prime minister meles zenawi eprdf party it quit
the coalition and demanded the creation of an independent state to be called
oromia
since then ethiopian police have routinely blamed the group of carrying out
terrorist activities and fomenting insecurity while opposition leaders of
oromo descent accuse the government of arbitrarily detaining hundreds from the
region on suspicion of supporting the group
lucho said he had handed recommendations to the government to resolve the issue
peacefully and was scheduled to meet the prime minister this week
the government needs to come out and work with the people we have given
recommendations in order to uplift the oromo people he said
oromos are the largest ethnic group in the horn of africa nation comprising
more than percent of the population of million
tennis nadal wears down kohlschreiber to reach last
melbourne jan afp
defending champion and spanish second seed rafael nadal progressed to the fourth
round of the australian open with win over german th seed
philipp kohlschreiber on friday
spain to receive palestinian guantanamo detainee
madrid jan afp
spain is to receive palestinian guantanamo bay detainee the palestinian
authority foreign minister said on friday
the man will be transferred to spain in early february along with another man
whose nationality has not been confirmed according to press reports quoting
spanish diplomatic sources
palestinian foreign minister riyad al malky said the man was from the gaza strip
and was not combattant but had travelled to pakistan on business after
spending time working in saudi arabia
he was arrested by pakistani military intelligence then handed over to us
soldiers who sent him to guantanamo malky said on the fringes of meeting
organised by the new economic forum in spain
spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos said at the start of the month
that his country was finalising procedures for receiving two detainees from
guantanamo
us president barack obama has promised to close the controversial prison camp
and the united states is currently slowly emptying it of detainees
serbia orthodox church starts to elect new patriarch
belgrade jan afp
the serbian orthodox church top body the holy synod began session on
friday to elect new leader following the death of the patriarch pavle last
november
the synod which groups bishops met after liturgy held in the patriarchy
saborna church in central belgrade
the church elders will first establish shortlist of three bishops in what
observers expects will be many rounds of voting when the three candidates are
decided upon their names are put in special hat and draw will decide who
will be the new spiritual leader
the new patriarch is scheduled to be enthroned on sunday
pavle died on november after an illness lasting more than two years his
funeral was witnessed by tens of thousands of people
under pavle rule the influence of the serbian orthodox church on society
steadily grew after the fall of communism in the in religion was
reinstated on the curriculum of schools after more than years of state
enforced atheism
the great majority of serbia population of seven million people identify
themselves as orthodox christians with only some four percent roman catholics
relations between belgrade and the vatican have improved since serbian president
slobodan milosevic ouster in and senior orthodox church officials have
even raised the possibility of papal visit in
india on alert after hijack warning officials
new delhi jan afp
india has increased airport security and warned its domestic airlines about
possible hijack attempt after tip off from western intelligence services
officials said friday
the alert to india civil aviation ministry said flights of state run air india
and private carriers could be targeted by islamist groups aligned to al qaeda or
the pakistan based lashkar taiba let militant group
we have intelligence inputs that there could be hijack attempt of indian
planes bansal senior home ministry official in charge of internal
security said
we suspect that there can be an attempt to target one of our airlines
especially those which fly abroad bansal said as india geared up for
celebrations marking the annual republic day on january which is
traditionally time of heightened security tensions
new security measures including additional checks on baggage and travellers at
airports and the deployment of sky marshals on planes were being put in place
statement from the civil aviation ministry said
the alert came after us defence secretary robert gates warned wednesday that
islamist south asian militant groups could trigger war between pakistan and
india through provocative act
he also said that the united states would continue to share intelligence to
prevent an attack
tensions are running high between pakistan and india in the wake of the november
mumbai attacks which killed people that new delhi says were planned and
executed by the let
we have alerted the ministry of civil aviation and bureau of civil aviation
security and tightened security in all airports in the country bansal added
the alert warns of flights from india or originating in countries neighbouring
india bangladesh bhutan myanmar nepal or sri lanka being specific
targets
the information has been passed on to airport authorities and airline offices
said civil aviation ministry spokeswoman moushumi chakravarty
india privately operated jet airways with daily domestic flights and
services to all regional countries except pakistan and the maldives said it was
taking extra precautions
the overall security is provided by the government but we have our own security
and our aircraft are guarded company senior general manager shivanandan
told afp
officials from kingfisher airlines also said they were strengthening their own
security for passengers because of the latest alert
we are strictly abiding by all the guidelines given to us by the bureau of
civil aviation security an airline executive who did not want to be named
said
meanwhile the press trust of india news agency quoting unnamed officials
reported that the let had acquired paragliding equipment to launch aerial
attacks on india officials said they were unaware of any such threat
the developments came as india named former foreign secretary shiv shankar
menon as its new national security advisor in step to revamp its intelligence
machinery
the last hijacking in india occurred on christmas eve in when islamic
rebels seized an indian airlines plane travelling from nepal to new delhi and
forced it to land in the then taliban stronghold of kandahar in southern
afghanistan
one passenger was stabbed to death by the hijackers before new delhi agreed to
release four islamic militants in exchange for the passengers and crew
india has been battling an islamic insurgency in its muslim majority region of
kashmir for the past years
prominent rebel groups fighting indian troops in the disputed region include the
let and the jaish mohammed founded by one of the militants freed in return
for the indian plane hostages
children missing from haiti hospitals unicef
geneva jan afp
children have gone missing from hospitals in haiti since the devastating
earthquake struck raising fears of trafficking for adoption abroad the un
children fund unicef said friday
we have documented let say around case of children disappearing from
hopitals and not with their own family at the time said unicef adviser jean
luc legrand
unicef has been working in haiti for many years and we knew the problem with
trade of children in haiti which existed before and unfortunately many of these
trade networks have links with international adoption market legrand
explained
alpine skiing cuche wins kitzbuehel super
kitzbuehel austria jan afp
swiss star didier cuche won friday super world cup race at kitzbuehel for
his third win of the season and th overall
cuche world champion in the discipline won in min sec to land his third
success at the venue as he edged out austrian pair michael walchhofer current
super leader and georg streitberger by and sec respectively
cuche veteran at had previously landed the giant slalom at soelden and
the downhill at lake louise
he is among the favourites for saturday downhill at kitzbuehel where he is
two time champion in the discipline winning in and then decade later
despite placing only th cuche fellow swiss carlo janka stays top of the
world cup rankings ahead of austrian benni raich who could only manage th on
friday
nigerian cabinet gets days to decide on ailing president
abuja jan afp
the high court in nigeria on friday gave the cabinet days to decide if ailing
president umaru yar adua was fit to stay in office
judge dan abutu directed the cabinet to resolve whether the president in
hospital in saudi arabia since november is incapable of discharging the
function of his office
the ruling came after former lawmaker farouk adamu aliyu petitioned the court to
have the vice president sworn in to act for yar adua until the president is able
to return
the yar adua appointed cabinet has resisted opposition demands that it take
action over the president absence insisting that yar adua is in full
possession of his faculties
he has been receiving treatment for an acute heart condition in jeddah
hospital
we will abide by the judgement of the court justice minister michael
aondoaaka told reporters after the ruling
the executive council of the federation will within days as directed by the
court consider and pass resolution on the state of the president health
he said
under the constitution the cabinet can discharge the president with two
thirds majority vote
haitians mourn the dead and celebrate miracle
port au prince jan afp
in front of half collapsed house in the hills of port au prince procession
of women slowly congregated wreaths of white roses in hand
the ruins of the building leaned perilously threatening to fall and somewhere
beneath the heavy layer of rubble that was once the ground floor lay the bodies
of woman and her year old daughter
around relations friends and neighbors had gathered in the ruins to bid them
final farewell
most of the mourners wore masks flimsy barriers to the acrid stench of
rotting bodies that has become all too common in the city since the devastating
earthquake of january
brass band had been invited to play in honor of the dead who loved music
the musicians dressed in black and white played tunes to comfort the bereaved
the trumpeter alexandre kenel said the band itself was in mourning for jean
claude leoman vadrice
widower icare garry who was in canada when the tragedy happened said the
ceremony was hymn to life as well as funeral
we organized this because we could not get the bodies out but also because
miracle happened they found our three month old baby alive after three days my
little boy the neighbors pulled him out of an empty water tank in the house
it was amazing he miracle baby garry said
it was neighbor joelle jean baptiste who found the infant
pressed my ear to the wall and heard the baby going waah waah so went
to get help she said
neighborhood pastor dieumeme vaveillard joined the ceremony the young woman who
died belonged to his parish and he took the widower in his arms
the pastor had suffered in the earthquake too he lost loved ones and his
church collapsed along with the local school
don need to tell you what feel today he said before inviting the group
to pray
woman broke down and wept as the girl aunt her feet in the dust said the
good lord will show the way
scruffy black hen wandered across the apocalyptic scene of fly covered rubble
rubbish and scattered papers
the body is nothing any more but the soul is still somewhere in the house if
we do not release it through prayer the soul will not be able to reach god
garry said
cleaning lady vs first lady sets israel pm against media
jerusalem jan afp
legal battle between cleaning lady and israel first lady has spawned
clash between prime minister benjamin netanyahu and the press which is treating
the scandal with relish
both the premier and president shimon peres have sternly told the media to stay
away from the case making it clear that it should not be judged in the court of
public opinion
but newspapers were still gleefully devoting full pages to the netanyahu
household on friday week after the mass circulation yediot aharonot revealed
that housekeeper filed lawsuit alleging serial mistreatment when she was
employed by the first lady
we are ending week where the focus was on the maid of sara netanyahu public
radio said on friday adding almost as an afterthought and on haiti
bibi as the prime minister is known is none too happy about the continued
media attention
they have marked me the haaretz newspaper quoted him as telling confidants in
reference to israeli media particularly the mass circulation yediot aharonot
and its rival maariv which have revelled in the scandal
large unflattering cartoons of mrs netanyahu have appeared almost daily
alongside articles digging up past allegations about the oft reviled sara
reviving claims she meddles unduly in government affairs and delving into the
latest claims of bizarre behaviour
in her lawsuit housekeeper lillian peretz claimed that while in netanyahu
employ she was made to shower and change her clothes several times day and to
compliment the first lady telling her she was pretty and smart
the lawsuit alleges peretz woes were like the story of cinderella evidently
comparing sara netanyahu to the fairy tale evil stepmother
netanyahu piled on her impossible tasks tyrannised her and screamed at her
insulted her femininity until her mental and physical collapse
the year old mother of four claimed she was paid less than the minimum wage
and the netanyahus did not pay her social benefits when she worked at their
weekend home in the plush coastal town of caesarea between and
the netanyahus have vehemently rejected the allegations saying in statement
that the lawsuit is riddled with slander and inventions against the prime
minister wife
sara netanyahu former air stewardess and now practising psychologist is no
stranger to unwelcome media attention
in during her husband first term she was embroiled in what became known
as the nannygate scandal when young woman in her employ claimed sara would
scream at her for burning soup and once threw her into the street
commentators have been speculating on what this all means for the prime
minister
ben caspit of the maariv newspaper was adamant that the right wing likud leader
is unfit to be prime minister claiming he is profoundly compromised by his
problematic wife meddling in government affairs
but others doubt the scandal will have any serious political repercussions for
bibi
it is about his wife she is not member of government said gerald
steinberg political analyst from the right wing bar ilan university there
is no political substance to this
afghanistan karzai to pay taliban to lay down their arms
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai unveiled an ambitious western funded plan friday
to offer money and jobs to tempt taliban fighters to lay down their arms in an
effort to quell crippling insurgency
his comments to the bbc came as us defence secretary robert gates described the
taliban as part of afghanistan political fabric but said any future role
would depend on insurgents laying down their weapons
karzai plan echoed similar proposals by washington to try and bring low and
mid level extremists back into mainstream society but the leadership of
islamist insurgent groups remain hostile to negotiations
militants led by the taliban movement have been waging an increasingly deadly
rebellion against the afghan government and foreign troops since us led
invasion ousted the taliban regime from power in late
we know as the afghan people we must have peace at any cost karzai said in
the television interview aired friday ahead of an international conference on
afghanistan in london next week where he will present the plan
those that we approach to return will be provided with the abilities to work
to find jobs to have protection to resettle in their own communities
the taliban gives its foot soldiers higher salaries than the afghan government
can afford to pay its forces and the president said his project would have
international backing to provide the necessary funds
hardline taliban supporters who were members of al qaeda or other terror
groups would not be accepted in the scheme karzai added
the taliban leadership have repeatedly rebuffed peace talks in the past and on
friday spokesman for the militia zabihullah mujahid reiterated that they
would not negotiate with karzai government
our only and main goal is the freedom and independence of our country we
cannot be bought by money and bounties the taliban will not sell themselves off
for cash mujahid said reacting to karzai comments
we insist on our previous stance that we will not negotiate with this
government any negotiation now would mean accepting being slave of america
our goal is enforcing an islamic government and withdrawal of foreign forces
insurgent leader gulbuddin hekmatyar who commands another radical islamist
group hizb islami afghanistan would come to the table with the us and afghan
government but only under strict conditions his spokesman zubair sediqi said
all the foreign forces must leave afghanistan unconditionally permanent
ceasefire must be enforced all prisoners from all side must be freed an
interim administration must take charge for one year sediqi told afp
karzai has in the past urged the united states to back talks with taliban leader
mullah mohammad omar but washington has resisted negotiations with any figures
linked to wider extremist groups such as al qaeda
