obama last month pledged an extra us troops to bolster the already
in afghanistan fighting taliban led insurgency that has become more virulent
and deadly over the past year
following the pledge there were commitments of nearly additional troops
that us nato allies and other partners announced at meetings in brussels
australian defence minister john faulkner welcomed obama announcement of
reinforcements for afghanistan but stood firm on his government
refusal to go beyond the already committed
but faulkner added that police training and civilian assistance would be
increased and that the shape of australia contingent is always under
review
seventy one troops from new zealand special air service sas went to
afghanistan in september the first such deployment since it has another
or so soldiers primarily involved in reconstruction in bamiyan province
clinton will head on january to papua new guinea for meetings with government
officials along with civil society to discuss environmental protection and
women empowerment the state department said
clinton has made outreach to civil society and the advancement of women rights
key priority in her travels to the developing world
yemen probes overstay of alleged us airliner attacker
sanaa jan afp
yemeni authorities were probing how the alleged culprit of the thwarted bombing
of us airliner on christmas day managed to leave yemen despite overstaying his
visa an official said on wednesday
umar farouk abdulmatallab disappeared inside yemen from the day his permit to
stay expired on september until he flew out from the capital on december
the official told afp on condition of anonymity
authorities are investigating with police officers at the airport to find out
how he managed to leave the country although his permit to stay had expired he
said
people overstaying their visas in yemen are not easily allowed to leave the
country and are usually taken into custody until they settle their violation by
paying fine along with their host in the country
the official said that on september abdulmutallab had left the arabic
language institute in sanaa his official host and headed to the airport
but on arrival at the airport he changed taxis and travelled to an unknown
destination the official said
he resurfaced on december at the sanaa airport with reservation on flight
to dubai but changed his ticket to board plane to addis ababa the official
added
the united states has accused the al qaeda branch in yemen of training
abdulmutallab who tried to blow up northwest airline flight before it landed
in detroit but was overpowered by passengers
at the language institute where abdulmutallab studied in the summer people had
good memories of him
he was very quiet he kept to himself he spent most of his time in his room
reading and praying said canadian mathieu simon
ahmed senan former classmate and roommate from singapore was shocked when he
heard about abdulmutallab alleged attempt to blow up the plane but said the
youth was loner
he has been loner he has been very quiet we only see him in class at
home at students place have never thought he is going to do all those
things he said
ahmed moajeb said he was very kind in dealing with others in normal attitude
didn see he was terrorist or having radical thoughts
but the institute director mohammed al anisi lashed out at abdulmutallab
saying he distorted the image of islam
want to say that this person distorted islam image islam is not religion
of terrorism islam is religion of peace
he said abdulmutallab applied to the institute by email and that there was no
reason to suspect that he was an al qaeda recruit he pointed out that his
passport had multiple entry visa to the united states and residency visa for
the united arab emirates as he was studying for master degree in dubai
brazilian government to decide on fighter jets minister
geneva jan afp
brazil government will decide which company is awarded seven billion dollar
contract for high tech fighter jets minister said wednesday after the air
force backed different supplier
the final decision is still political foreign minister celso amorim said in
geneva
obviously we will study and take into account what is in the technical
reports but it for the minister of defence and the president of the republic
luiz inacio lula da silva to decide he told journalists
it not an exclusively military decision he added
newspaper report on tuesday said the brazilian air force first choice was
the ng gripen by sweden saab and not the government pick the french
rafale
it reported that the french jet was not even the air force second choice the
runner up was the super hornet by us group boeing
the rafale multirole fighter made by dassault has been considered the
frontrunner since the brazilian president and french counterpart nicolas sarkozy
announced jointly in september that brazil was negotiating to buy the delta
winged aircraft
if that intent to purchase was confirmed it would be the first export sale of
the rafale possibly making it more attractive to other potential buyers
switzerland and india
but saab and boeing are fighting fiercely to land the brazilian contract
reportedly slashing prices to do so
tears and tiredness at snow bound london airport
gatwick airport england jan afp
sleeping yawning queueing and making tearful phonecalls thousands of stranded
passengers were stuck in snow bound london gatwick airport on wednesday
they should have been in accra mexico city and fuerteventura but instead they
were trapped at london second airport which was was not spared the overnight
blanket of snow that fell on england
they sat wherever they could sleeping on suitcases reading books or trying to
keep their children entertained as they waited to get away
the departures board read delayed and cancelled while the arrivals board told
the same story
this public announcement the runway at gatwick airport is currently closed
and we are unable to confirm when it will reopen said message over the
speakers
all easyjet flights are now cancelled said another
but having heard it all before most people seemed to have given up listening
sat by plug trying to recharge her phone angela diaz guerra year old
student from madrid broke into tears
ve been here since yesterday five flights cancelled don know anything
this is the worst she told afp her five day trip to london was looking like
becoming seven day stop
upset alone my friends are in spain and don speak english very
well she said if they said you can take the flight tomorrow we would go
away to london or to hotel don know when can go home
nearby the prayer room was full but rather than seeking divine intervention to
help them get to tenerife the floor was full of people snoozing
dazed chris hayes from bournemouth in southern england should have been
in malaga on the southern spanish coast settling in starting his new job
helping friend set up his own business
but instead he was in exactly the same spot as hours before dozing on his
luggage at the monarch check in desk
tired because haven slept and hungry and don want to queue up
for anything else in this airport because there people in every queue and
everyone tired and angry so it better to sit by myself
students andrew mcphee and terilynn fairbairn played newly bought
game of battleships to while away the hours with pack of cards in store for
later
they were waiting to get back to calgary in canada after spending christmas and
new year travelling around britain
england needs to buy some snow ploughs mcphee said an entire huge city is
bowing down to snowfall
fairbairn added when we left it was minus degrees celsius
this kind of snow in calgary everything would just go on all the flights
would be on time nothing would be delayed it frustrating for us
nordic skiing follis wins women cross country race
toblach italy jan afp
italy sprint world champion arianna follis won the fourth stage of the tour de
ski nordic skiing event here on wednesday
follis who was fourth in the sprint event in prague on monday beat home
slovenia petra majdic and justyna kowalczyk of poland to take the
kilometres pursuit
on thursday they will contest the five kilometres classic at the same venue in
series inspired by the four hills ski jumping tournament and the tour de france
cycling race
football davis becomes burnley caretaker
london jan afp
burnley have appointed first team coach steve davis as caretaker manager as they
prepare for the imminent departure of manager owen coyle to premier league
rivals bolton
davis will take charge for burnley league match against stoke on saturday with
the support of goalkeeping coach phil hughes club chairman barry kilby has
confirmed
the backroom staff will take the team on saturday and steve will be in charge
said kilby
lawyers from both clubs are currently working on compensation deal for coyle
who has expressed wish to leave turf moor for bolton where he played in the
mid
coyle was appointed burnley boss in november following spells in charge of
scottish clubs falkirk and st johnstone
the scot quickly made his mark in england with burnley generating number
of upsets in cup competitions before winning promotion to the top flight for the
first time in years
although bolton are currently in the premier league bottom three coyle will
enjoy considerably greater resources there than he has done at burnley who are
only two points clear of the drop zone
sarkozy vaunts french economic crisis measures
cholet france jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy on wednesday vaunted his handling of the
economic crisis vowing to push on with modernising the economy and curb
spending but not raise taxes
in new year address to business leaders with march regional elections on
the horizon sarkozy insisted france has born up better than others in the
economic crisis having exited recession in the second quarter of last year
he cited his measures to protect french banks investments to kickstart the
economy and bonus scheme for scrapping old cars which he said had shown the
way to other countries to stimulate the crucial auto sector
we have taken decisions that have turned out to be the right decisions despite
the criticisms sarkozy said in speech in the western town of cholet
the support plan for banks earned the state two billion euros or about
billion dollars he said promised you something and now you have the
results
sarkozy took harsh stance during the crisis against freewheeling capitalist
practices especially at the banks and pushed hard for stricter line on bank
regulation and tax evasion
looking ahead he stressed the importance of curbing unemployment and france
enormous public deficit
to do so refuse to take the solution of raising taxes he said the
solution is to reduce the weight of public spending particularly in regional
governments he said
sarkozy office said on tuesday that he will give the inaugural speech on
january at the annual forum of world political and business leaders in the
swiss resort davos becoming the first french president to attend the
gathering
biathlon world cup biathlon results
oberhof germany jan afp
world cup biathlon results on wednesday penalties in brackets
women
km relay
russia hr min sec anna bogaliy titovets anna boulygina olga
medvedtseva svetlana sleptsova germany at sec martina beck simone
hauswald tina bachmann andrea henkel france marie laure brunet
sylvie becaert marie dorin sandrine bailly ukraine sweden
belarus china slovenia
poland norway
world cup standings after three of five events
russia points germany france sweden ukraine
yemen captures key al qaeda chief as foreign missions reopen
sanaa jan afp
yemeni security forces wednesday captured key al qaeda leader and two other
militants believed behind threats against western interests in sanaa which
prompted embassies to bolt their doors police said
the arrest of mohammed al hanq and the two other suspected extremists at
hospital in raydah north of capital came as yemen authorities said al qaeda
jihadists were being choked countrywide and forced into holes
hanq had evaded arrest on monday during security force raid in arhab
kilometres miles north of sanaa in which two of his relatives were killed
and three other people wounded
security official told afp security forces had wednesday morning swooped on
hospital in raydah kilometres miles north of sanaa in amran province
where the suspects were receiving treatment
mohammed al hanq and two others who were wounded were captured in hospital in
amran the official said
four men who had transported the wounded to the hospital and hid them from
police were also taken into custody the defence ministry linked news website
sep net said
two other al qaeda suspects meanwhile turned themselves in to the authorities in
the region of marib east of sanaa on wednesday and third surrendered in
arhab security official said
the interior ministry said wednesday its security forces were repeatedly raiding
hideouts of terrorist elements in several provinces and had turned their
fight against terrorism into daily confrontation
security operations are not leaving the terrorist elements the chance to take
breath or reorganise their lines the ministry said in statement on its
website
al qaeda elements are no longer the ones taking the initiative in deciding the
time and place of confrontations it said adding that painful and recurring
strikes have forced al qaeda to retreat to the holes
the us embassy closed on sunday over security concerns prompted by fears of an
al qaeda threat against foreign interests just days after failed attack on
us airliner claimed by the al qaeda franchise in yemen
some countries including britain and france followed suit while others
curtailed consular operations as security was tightened around their missions
the us embassy reopened for business on tuesday saying that yemeni security
forces had addressed specific area of concern the previous day
successful counter terrorism operations conducted by the government of yemen
security forces january north of the capital have addressed specific area of
concern and have contributed to the embassy decision to resume operations
the embassy said in statement which is widely believed to be reference to
the threat posed by the cell headed by hanq
the british and french embassies have also resumed operations although the
british mission consular services remained shut on wednesday
long standing concerns that yemen country on the southern tip of the arabian
peninsula has become haven for islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp
focus when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was charged with trying to
blow up us bound jet
the botched christmas day attack was claimed by al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap which also urged attacks on western interests in yemen
the would be bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly confessed to
being trained by an al qaeda bombmaker in yemen for the suicide mission on the
northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit
explosives allegedly sewn into the man underwear failed to detonate and
passengers jumped on him
yemeni authorities were investigating how abdulmutallab managed to easily leave
the country where he was official studying arabic language although his visa
had expired an official said on wednesday
authorities are investigating with police officers at the airport to find out
how he managed to leave the country although his permit to stay had expired
the official told afp requesting anonymity
abdulmutallab had left yemen on december although he was scheduled to leave on
september when his visa expired his whereabouts during that period remained
unknown he said
brazil fm says does not rule out direct contact with hamas
geneva jan afp
brazil does not rule out direct contact with hamas if that could help to move
the middle east peace process forward brazilian foreign minister celso amorim
said wednesday
we have had in the past informal contact not at my level but if that would be
helpful would not exclude it he said when asked if brazil foresees having
direct contacts with the islamist group that rules gaza
we believe in the power of reason maybe it naive but that how we think
you have to talk to convince people of your point of view he told journalists
after meeting with palestinian foreign minister riyad al malki in geneva
amorim was quick to add that brazil would not make contact with hamas while
keeping the palestinian authority in the dark
of course always talking to our friends we do not want any secret deals he
added
al malki warned however against contact with hamas unless the islamist group
showed that it adheres to the rules of the game and be part of it
all signs they are sending everywhere are that they could not care less
about their responsibilities and they want to impose their own system and regime
in gaza
any kind of actions or rapproachement with hamas today may be interpreted as
sign of weakness of the international community and as sign of the recognition
of the de facto system that hamas has created in gaza through force and through
coup
so one has to be careful about this said al malki
brazil is positioning itself to play greater role in international efforts to
reach an agreement on middle east peace with brazilian president luiz inacio
lula da silva scheduled to visit israel jordan and the palestinian territories
during the week of march
eu staff pay fight goes to court
brussels jan afp
the european commission decided wednesday to take the bloc nations to court
over their refusal to endorse an inflation busting pay rise for tens of
thousands of eu civil servants
commission president jose manuel barroso won unanimous agreement at meeting of
his commissioners to take the case to the european court of justice in
luxembourg spokeswoman pia ahrenkilde hansen told journalists
brussels has indeed confirmed its decision to take action before the court
hansen said now it for the court to decide
eu nations embarked on collision course with the bloc executive when they
decided last month to slash in half percent salary increase drawn up under
formula previously agreed by national leaders
the dispute has proved an embarrassment at time when european leaders are
trying to re brand the bloc on the world stage with new public faces under its
reforming lisbon treaty
technically member states which fund the bloc budget now find themselves in
the absurd position of financing legal action against themselves
the commission said it had asked for speedy decision by judges who would
themselves benefit from higher pay award
the head of the centre of european law at kings college london said the judges
could be trusted to decide purely on legal grounds
legal dispute of this kind if submitted to the court has to be resolved by
the court since there is no other means available said francis jacobs
formerly advocate general at the european court of justice
the member states could not suggest any alternative the court therefore has
to decide the case in accordance with the law and must be trusted to disregard
any personal interest of its members
court judgment in near identical case backed the commission stance
some eu employees and contract staff at the commission parliament
council and court have this year received percent rise despite having
taken strike and other industrial action backed by unions
union representative tom morgan said he wants european parliament president
jerzy buzek to give tangible and public commitment this week to co sign the
action
morgan added that renewed protest would be organised outside parliamentary
confirmation hearing on monday for the eu new foreign supremo and deputy
commission chief catherine ashton
other union figures though thought more industrial action was now unlikely
some member states have cut civil servants salaries domestically in bid to
reduce swelling national deficits sometimes under orders from brussels where
the commission also acts as budgetary watchdog
the commission argues that the percent figure was calculated through
legally binding mechanism averaging pay rises in brussels and eight eu
countries
twenty eu nations supported the decision to halve the award seven others
abstained but all face the same court complaint which targets the collective
entity for the the european council
basic gross monthly salaries for eu commission staff range from euros
dollars for secretary to around euros for department head
the commissioners themselves get even more plus housing and other perks
new eu president herman van rompuy of belgium earns more than us president
barack obama
germany westerwelle embarks on tour of turkey gulf
berlin jan afp
germany foreign minister embarked wednesday on tour of turkey and the gulf
to promote efforts to revive the middle east peace process and weigh security
risks emanating from yemen and iran
guido westerwelle who is head of the pro business free democrats and vice
chancellor in angela merkel centre right government flew to ankara with
delegation including several executives scouting investment opportunities
westerwelle spokesman said the five day tour which will also take in saudi
arabia qatar and the united arab emirates would focus on the iranian nuclear
programme afghanistan and the threat posed by al qaeda operatives based in
yemen
the issues will also include the situation in middle east the state of the
peace process and how we can manage together with our partners in the region
to bring about new start in the middle east peace process andreas peschke
said amid swirl of regional diplomacy aimed at restarting talks
westerwelle was to join his counterpart ahmet davutoglu for dinner in the
turkish capital ahead of official meetings thursday with president abdullah gul
and prime minister recep tayyip erdogan and other government ministers
germany boasts three million strong minority of turkish origin the largest
outside turkey
merkel conservatives are deeply sceptical about ankara bid to join the
european union and would prefer to grant turkey privileged partnership with
the bloc westerwelle is seen as more supportive of its long term accession
yemen has rocketed to the top of the agenda after the homegrown group al qaeda
in the arabian peninsula claimed the failed bombing of us airliner on december
on monday us secretary of state hillary clinton further upped the pressure on
yemen saying the lack of security in the impoverished country has international
ramifications
germany would like to find ways to promote the yemeni government in its efforts
to bolster security and rein in extremist elements
yemeni security forces on wednesday captured key al qaeda leader believed
behind threats that saw several foreign embassies in sanaa shuttered this week
meanwhile several regional power players including saudi arabia egypt and
jordan have rejoined efforts to lay the groundwork for relaunch of peace talks
between israelis and palestinians suspended nearly year ago during the gaza
war
football mourinho waves goodbye to vieira in last game for club
rome jan afp
patrick vieira departure from inter milan was confirmed on wednesday after
coach jose mourinho said the french midfield veteran had played his last game
for the italian champions
vieira who is being tipped to join manchester city was given rare start for
inter because of several absences in midfield
the serie champions beat chievo thanks to mario balotelli goal in the
th minute to stretch their lead over city rivals ac milan to points
today we had few problems but have team full of professionals who went
out and did remarkable job mourinho told sky sport
should have good words to say about everybody but the only person want to
talk about is vieira who has played his last match for us
he had an impeccable game it was the perfect farewell to us and want to
wish him all the best for his new career
vieira has had shaky past three seasons at inter milan and now on the
fringes of the france team he is desperate for first team football to boost his
chances of featuring in raymond domenech world cup squad
reports this week suggested city have been in talks with inter over signing
vieira who has also had the rule run over him by former french champions lyon
mourinho said he believes vieira who at the end of the match hugged several of
his teammates was definitely returning to the english premier league
he hasn said word to anybody but he has mentioned the english premier
league added the portuguese
manchester city manager roberto mancini who coached inter when vieira first
arrived following year with juventus said on monday he was interested in
taking the former arsenal midfielder on loan till the end of the season
eurostar cancels trains as precaution amid heavy snow
london jan afp
eurostar cancelled four trains wednesday between london paris and brussels as
precaution amid heavy snow weeks after freezing temperatures caused major
shutdown on the service
spokeswoman for eurostar said all customers booked on cancelled trains would
be moved to other trains while anyone who did not want to travel on wednesday
could change their tickets at no additional charge
eurostar services are operating today however due to continuing severe
weather conditions services are subject to delay and possible last minute
cancellations the operator said in statement on its website
spokeswoman confirmed to afp that four trains had been cancelled the
from london to brussels the from paris to london the from brussels
to london and the from london to paris
the spokeswoman said the move was precaution after the high speed trains
broke down in the tunnel between britain and france before christmas sparking
three day suspension of service that left thousands of passengers stranded
the freezing temperatures and heavy snow that caused the break down returned to
britain this week forcing airport and school closures across the country
biathlon russia dominate women relay
oberhof germany jan afp
world and olympic champions russia won the women biathlon relay here on
wednesday
the russians victorious at hochfilzen last month timed hr min sec to
beat germany by of second while france were third just over minute off
the pace
russia leads the overall world cup standings with points ahead of germany
who have while france are third on
there is one more relay ahead of the winter olympics next week in ruhpolding
germany
known movements of nigerian plane suspect
paris jan afp
timeline of the movements of umar farouk abdulmutallab the nigerian accused
of trying to blow up an amsterdam detroit passenger jet on december after
being allegedly trained by al qaeda
london
abdulmutallab studied mechanical engineering at university college london
he was added to british security watch list in may after applying for
visa to study at bogus college according to british home secretary alan
johnson
january mid
dubai
the suspect spent several months at the dubai campus of australia wollongong
university until he vanished said vice chancellor gerard sutton
he commenced in january but disappeared from the residences around the
middle of the year and was excluded from the second semester around august
september october on the basis of non payment of fees sutton said
his movements between mid and august are not known
august december
yemen
authorities in yemen are investigating how abdulmutallab disappeared for days
after visa expired in september
abdulmutallab was given visa to study arabic at an institute in sanaa
according to authorities
the visa expired on september when abdulmutallab went to sanaa airport
changed taxis and disappeared yemeni official told afp
abdulmutallab has allegedly told us investigators that he was trained by al
qaeda us president barack obama said on january that in yemen abdulmutallab
joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula trained him equipped him with those explosives and directed him to
attack that plane headed for america obama did not say when this was
abdulmutallab resurfaced on december at sanaa airport with reservation on
flight to dubai but changed his ticket to board plane to addis ababa the
yemeni official said
december
ethiopia ghana
abdulmutallab flew from addis ababa to ghana on december on an ethiopian
airlines flight according to ghana deputy information minister james agyenim
boateng
he gave dubai address on his immigration form although he gave one hotel
address in accra he checked into different one said the minister
december
ghana
abdulmutallab bought an ticket for klm flight from lagos to detroit via
amsterdam at the airline office in accra
december
nigeria
abdulmutallab with valid us visa boarded plane in lagos for amsterdam
schiphol airport according to the office of the netherlands anti terrorism
coordinator nctb
december
netherlands united states abdulmutallab took connecting flight from schiphol
to detroit raising no suspicions during security check even though explosives
were allegedly sewn into his underwear
according to initial inquiries this check was carried out in line with
