sanaa seventeen shiite rebels and eight yemeni soldiers were killed in fierce
fighting in the north of the country military source told afp
iran politics opposition karroubi
tehran iranian opposition leader mehdi karroubi lashed out at the authorities
for suppressing people in the name of religion and vowed to remain defiant in
the face of threats
us iran nuclear military
tehran tehran dismissed as thoughtless comments by top us general that iran
atomic sites could be attacked if the nuclear issue remains unsolved
iran saudi iraq religion politics
tehran iran conservative dominated parliament has slammed saudi friday
prayer leader saying he insulted iraq top shiite cleric grand ayatollah ali
husseini al sistani iranian newspapers reported
iran france protest trial
tehran the trial of french academic clotilde reiss whose detention in post
election unrest in iran is at the centre of diplomatic spat will resume on
saturday her lawyer told isna news agency
mideast conflict settler
jerusalem long time leader of the main israeli settler organisation in the
occupied west bank resigned citing the group failure to distance itself from
jewish hardliners and speak out against the price tag policy that encourages
attacks on palestinian villages
uae morocco crime prostitution trial
abu dhabi fourteen men and woman have been charged in connection with the
largest human trafficking and prostitution ring to have been busted in abu
dhabi united arab emirates newspaper reported
urgent gurkha veterans lose british court battle on pensions
london jan afp
former gurkha soldiers from nepal lost test case against britain ministry of
defence over pension rights at the high court in london on monday
us auto industry gets boost from new owner the us government
detroit michigan jan afp
new salesman showed up at the detroit auto show monday to make pitch on
behalf of the new owners of general motors and chrysler transportation
secretary ray lahood
today is new beginning for the automotive industry lahood told reporters at
an early morning press conference ahead of the show opening
when people have an opportunity to see the kind of products that are now being
manufactured and will be on display they will realize the auto industry is
manufacturing products people want to drive
the us government which had long held hands off approach to the automotive
industry became major stakeholder last year after loaning gm and chrysler
more than billion dollars to keep them afloat during the economic crisis and
finance their restructuring under bankruptcy protection
lahood insisted that the products on display and in development and the fact
that gm has begun to repay its loans will show american taxpayers that it was
good investment that will also pay dividends by helping to revive the flagging
economy
this industry is one of the pillars of our economy lahood told reporters
as this industry comes back the economy will come back jobs will come back
and we ll be on the way to the kind of recovery we re all hoping for
speaking in front of tree lined track where some electric vehicles were on
hand for test drive lahood also expressed his appreciation for the industry
willingness to move forward on developing more fuel efficient vehicles after
years of fighting tighter standards
we have made progress that was never possible before thanks to the industry and
thanks to the leadership of president barack obama he said
congressional delegation led by house speaker nancy pelosi was also expected
to tour the show monday and host of new electric hybrid and small cars were
to be among the highlights
but while the new vehicles are impressive they still represent only tiny
fraction of the actual industry cautioned ihs global insight analyst rebecca
lindland
they re going to try to show the visiting dignitaries the people from
washington who are going and the journalists and american consumer that they
are quote unquote listening so they re bringing out more green cars lindland
told afp
but if you look at the sales numbers hybrid vehicles went from to
percent of the market last year
while there lot of talk about green cars consumers simply do not want hyper
hybrids and the industry will have to focus on improving the fuel efficiency of
their standard offerings she said
gm vice chairman bob lutz who has long railed against the fact that washington
did not offer the auto industry the same kind of support received by rivals in
asia and europe welcomed the newfound attention
since they basically own two us automobile companies they probably would
logically think that it good thing to see how their investment is doing
lutz told reporters sunday
it took the financial failure of the american automobile industry to make the
whole country aware of the importance of the american automobile industry but
personally very much welcome where we are at
gm chairman ed whitacre last week acknowledged that the automaker had lot of
work to do to repair its strained relations in washington
zimbabwe gold production up pct chamber of mines
harare jan afp
zimbabwe gold production surged percent to tonnes last year in
remarkable recovery for the mining sector despite erratic power supply the
chamber of mines said monday
the figure was up from tonnes the previous year it said
it was remarkable recovery for the gold and mining sector in general
chamber of mines chief economist david matyanga told afp
however the recovery process within the gold and mining sector in general was
affected by the erratic power supply and the critical shortage of working
capital he said
the southern african country was once the third highest gold producer in africa
with peak production of tonnes in
its gold mining sector was deregulated last march
industry officials have attributed last year increase in production to an
improved economic environment since the government adopted multi currency in
january last year leading to the reopening of several mines
the operating environment last year greatly improved when compared to the
previous year said manager at foreign owned mine who did not want to be
identified
last year we got loan to revive some of our operations and expand operations
which was something that could not be heard of in or the manager
said
power supply was still major concern but things had been better overall for
the sector he said
six international troops killed in afghanistan nato
kabul jan afp
six international soldiers were killed on monday in wave of violence in some
of the most volatile regions of insurgency wracked afghanistan nato said
the dead included three americans killed in southern afghanistan one french
soldier northeast of the capital kabul and two more whose nationalities were
not officially given nato and military officials said
the deaths bring to the number of foreign soldiers who have died in
afghanistan fighting virulent taliban insurgency since the start of this year
an isaf service member was killed today in an ied strike in southern
afghanistan nato international security assistance force isaf said in
statement announcing the sixth death of the day
alert
nepalese gurkha veterans lose british court battle over pensions
mideast diplomatic quartet to meet in brussels wednesday
brussels jan afp
representatives of the middle east diplomatic quartet meet in brussels wednesday
to discuss new us plan to restart peace talks between israel and the
palestinians an eu spokesman said
the meeting will take place at the level of special envoys from the european
union the united states russia and the united nations the spokesman for new
eu foreign affairs chief catherine ashton said monday
separately ashton will hold talks tuesday with quartet envoy tony blair and us
representative george mitchell she will not take part in wednesday meeting
which is the first of its kind since november un general assembly
on monday israel maariv newspaper said washington was pushing plan to
restart peace talks that foresees reaching final deal in two years and
agreeing on permanent borders in nine months
that plan is likely to be the focus of the talks us officials said friday that
mitchell already met in recent days with un secretary general ban ki moon
iran karroubi slams suppression in name of religion
tehran jan afp
opposition leader mehdi karroubi on monday accused the iranian authorities of
suppressing people in the name of religion and vowed to remain defiant in the
face of threats
in an open letter on his party website the reformist cleric renewed charges
that president mahmoud ahmadinejad disputed re election last june had been the
result of fraud branding it political robbery
may god stand witness how they have turned political dispute into religious
war to suppress people demanding political rights in the name of religion he
said in the letter posted on sahamnews
we were not aware that reclaiming your vote and protesting against political
robbery is equal to being corrupt on earth and mohareb enemy of god in these
gentlemen eyes he added
karroubi and main opposition candidate mir hossein mousavi who charge that the
presidential poll was massively rigged have come under mounting pressure from
hardliners declaring them as mohareb people who deserve death
the two leaders have backed anti government street protests which erupted after
the election and condemned the use of violence by the authorities against
demonstrators
have not faltered on my way in the face of increasing intimidation and
threats have become more determined and prepared myself and my children for
any disaster karroubi said
according to his website the outspoken opposition figure survived an attack
last week when his vehicle was hit by gunfire in the city of qazvin
iran reformist ex president and key opposition figure mohammad khatami
meanwhile warned both sides in the dispute against extremism isna news
agency reported on monday
we are in situation now that will lead to dangerous cycle of violence if
solution is not found khatami warned
karroubi who came distant fourth in the election said the authorities needed
to confess repent and ask people forgiveness for iran to emerge from its
current political crisis
those who have deprived people of the right to choose authorised the changing
of people votes and suppressed their protest with bullets should repent he
said
he insisted the islamic revolution had gone stray and called for an end
to violence for freedom of the press and the release of political prisoners as
steps needed to end the crisis
the iranian regime has stepped up crackdown on the opposition following bloody
anti government protests on december during the shiite commemoration of
ashura when eight people were killed
hardliners now accuse protesters of opposing the islamic republic leadership
and regime
urgent six international troops killed in afghanistan nato
kabul jan afp
six international soldiers were killed on monday in wave of violence in some
of the most volatile regions of insurgency wracked afghanistan nato said
french academic trial to resume saturday in iran lawyer
tehran jan afp
the trial of french academic clotilde reiss who was detained in post election
unrest in iran is to resume on saturday her lawyer told afp on monday hoping
she will be found innocent
the third court session has been set for january in branch of the
revolutionary court mohammad ali mahdavi sabet said
it is supposed to be the last session last hearing and last defence we will
plead not guilty and hope it will be over and the court gives its verdict he
said
iranian authorities have put reiss on trial for allegedly taking part in
protests which erupted in the wake of iran disputed presidential election in
june
the young woman who was arrested on july and released on bail in august is
staying at the french embassy awaiting the outcome of her case
mahdavi sabet said reiss is charged with acting against iran national security
and refused to speculate whether the court will drop the charges
you never know he said adding that she is in good spirits and hopes her
problem is resolved and she can and leave iran
reiss was arrested shortly before she was due to fly home after six month
study and teaching visit to the iranian city of isfahan
she was accused of supporting the opposition protests and was one of scores of
people paraded before cameras at televised trial before being remanded in
custody in tehran notorious evin jail
iran opposition which charges the election was massively rigged to keep
hardline president mahmoud ahmadinejad in power has dismissed the court
proceedings as show trials
france has furiously protested reiss innocence on all charges and accused
tehran of trying to blackmail paris into releasing an iranian agent jailed in
france for the murder of an exiled former prime minister
ahmadinejad suggested in december that iran might pardon reiss if ali valiki
rad who is serving life sentence is freed but his french counterpart
nicolas sarkozy has rejected the idea
iran has arrested thousands of protesters and put about people on trial on
charges of inciting or participating in the protests
iranian leaders have repeatedly accused western powers and most notably the
united states and britain of seeking to softly overthrow the islamic regime by
fomenting mass protests in the aftermath of the election
several prominent reformist politicians and journalists backing the opposition
have been sentenced to years in prison over their alleged role in the unrest
yemen cleric denies links to terrorism
sanaa jan afp
prominent yemeni cleric sheikh abdulmajeed al zendani denied on monday having
links with us yemeni imam anwar al awlaqi who is suspected of being behind the
botched christmas day us plane bombing
zendani whom the us government has identified as global terrorist also
told press conference that any us military deployment in yemen to fight al
qaeda would be tantamount to an occupation
was never the teacher of anwar al awlaqi zendani said adding however that
the us yemeni imam suspected of having hand in the failed bid to blow up
northwest airliner could have been influenced by his teachings
am to be responsible for anyone who listens to my sermons or who reads my
books said zendani cleric who has large following in yemen where he is
the founder of al eiman islamic university
awlaqi worked in the united states for charitable organisation founded by
zendani
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan has accused
awlaqi of having links with the man suspected of shooting dead people at
texas military base in november major nidal hasan
he also said that the us born imam might have had contact with nigerian suspect
umar farouk abdulmutallab who has been charged in bid to blow up the us
airliner and is on trial in the united states
the yemen based al qaeda in the arabian peninsula or aqap has claimed
responsibility for the attack putting back the spotlight on yemen an
impoverished country with history of battling al qaeda
zendani said he opposed the deployment of us troops in the country and also
rejected plans by london to host an international conference on yemen later this
month
we reject any military occupation of our country and we do not accept the
return of colonialism zendani said day after us president barack obama said
he had no plans to send american troops to yemen
three chinese arrested over india chimney collapse
raipur india jan afp
indian police on monday arrested three chinese employees over the collapse of an
industrial chimney that killed workers
the men were employees of china shandong electric power construction which
was contracted to build the metre feet power station chimney in
central chhattisgarh state police said
the two engineers and project manager have been charged with culpable homicide
not amounting to murder local police officer ratan lal dangi told afp from the
site kilometres miles from state capital raipur
monday arrests took to seven the number of people held so far in connection
with the september accident when the partially built chimney toppled over
burying labourers under tonnes of concrete
the police chief of korba district where the plant was located has dismissed
claims that bad weather caused the collapse instead blaming poor workmanship
and alleged lack of supervision
alert
six international troops killed in afghanistan on monday nato
new eu foreign chief distances herself from anti nuclear past
brussels jan afp
the eu new foreign affairs chief catherine ashton distanced herself monday
from her anti nuclear past as european lawmakers grilled her about her
suitability for the post
the relevance of the is not the relevance of she told deputies in
brussels not member of cnd campaign for nuclear disarmament and have
not been member of cnd for or years
do not believe now that the cnd strategy is appropriate the year old
briton said in response to question from charles tannock conservative mep
whose party is expected to take power in britain this year
ashton has been accused in britain of taking funds from the former soviet union
during her time as treasurer of the cnd and it was feared the issue would be
thorn in her side during the parliamentary hearings
she has consistently denied the accusation
during the three hour session the former eu trade commissioner also urged
europe to respond to growing international calls for the nation bloc to make
its voice heard in the world
am convinced there is clear call inside the eu and around the world
for greater european engagement to promote peace protect the vulnerable fight
poverty and address the many problems of our time she said
we have to answer this call combining leadership and partnership defending
our values and promoting our interests listening to what our partners say and
making sure that when we speak our voice is heard
the session was the first in series of us style confirmation hearings to see
whether ashton and other would be commissioners at the bloc powerful executive
arm are up to the job
finland olli rehn who as nominee for economic and monetary affairs
commissioner will help supervise policy on the euro single currency and ensure
that budgetary rules are applied was to be heard later monday
the commission is in charge of drawing up legislation that impacts on the lives
of half billion europeans as well as policing the existing rules it had
budget of billion euros billion dollars in
however many members of the parliament bolstered by new powers from the lisbon
treaty of reforms which entered force last month are keen to flex their
political muscle in public
indeed many of ashton questions addressed technical and philosophical matters
such as how the eu foreign service should evolve given the powers it has under
the treaty
the assembly which holds the hearings in brussels until friday and in
strasbourg next monday and tuesday cannot reject any individual commissioner
but can vote down the entire team at its plenary session on january
should it do so commission president jose manuel barroso who has already been
confirmed for second five year term would be forced to seek new candidate
or candidates from the nations whose nominees are targeted
no obvious skeletons have been dragged from any closets this time although the
hearings could create some surprises
in deputies rejected the candidature of italy rocco buttiglione who had
been in line to become the eu top justice official but was considered
inappropriate by them for his opposition to homosexuality
other major hearings this week include belgium karel de gucht on tuesday for
trade commissioner and spain joaquin almunia for the powerful competition
portfolio
frenchman michel barnier controversial appointee as internal market and
financial services commissioner faces the lawmakers on wednesday
world economy getting back to normal central bankers
basel switzerland jan afp
emerging economies are driving global economic recovery the head of the ecb
said monday after central bankers concluded that the world economy was returning
to normality
at global level there is confirmation of the progressive normalisation
of the economy european central bank ecb president jean claude trichet said
on behalf of the central bank chiefs
during their first quarterly meeting of the year at the bank for international
settlements bis the central bankers confirmed that global economic recovery
was underway
we are in the recovery mode that is something that is very much due to the
emerging economies trichet said
those economies had demonstrated resilience and were very very clearly in
more dynamic mode now the ecb chief told reporters
the assessment marked an upbeat beginning to two months after the
influential group of central bankers said the world had pulled out of economic
freefall but still faced risks that could knock confidence
however trichet warned that commercial banks must ensure that they clean up
their balance sheets in the wake of the financial crisis and credit crunch that
precipitated the worst recession since the great depression of the
we are telling our banks that they have to do themselves everything to
reinforce their balance sheet by all appropriate means he said
that included putting aside their own profit and being moderate in
remuneration behaviour he added amid an ongoing debate over pay and bonuses
at banks that are feared as being so large as to present risk to the entire
financial system and economy if they run into trouble
trichet also added note of caution about the risk of inflation especially in
the emerging economies leading the recovery
anchoring solidly price stability in the medium and long run is essential for
the stabilty of our economies and for the recovery he explained
the central bankers met the heads of the several major commercial banks at the
bis over the weekend to underline the need for sound financial system to prop
up long term growth
they said that they hoped that new international standards aimed at bolstering
the banking industry ability to weather future financial crises would be
finalised by the end of this year
timely completion of the basel committee reform programme is critical to
achieving more resilient banking system that can support sound economic growth
over the long term trichet said in statement released by the bis
leading central bankers and national regulators in the basel committee on
banking supervision said last month that they were aiming to strengthen
financial requirements on banks by the end of once their proposals were
refined and tested this year
the reforms which have been in the offing for several months are part of the
international response to the crisis triggered by the collapse in financial
markets and several major banks over the past two years
the head of the financial stability board italian central bank chief mario
draghi on saturday warned that the financial system still remained very fragile
despite clear improvement
guinea under diplomatic pressure to hold crisis talks
ouagadougou jan afp
amid secret meetings international envoys and new plan to end guinea
political crisis the military rulers and their foes in the west african state
are under strong pressure to aim for elections
on visit sunday to ouagadougou the last stop on an african tour french
foreign minister bernard kouchner called for an african solution to the
turmoil in guinea which has been under military rule since december
it up to them africans to settle the problem kouchner said after talks
with burkina faso president blaise compaore it not for the former colonial
power to decide
but kouchner added that it is out of the question that president compaore
should quit the game
compaore was initially rejected as mediator last year by the guinean
opposition which considered him too close to the junta but since then the
junta has new interim leadership which has asked the forces vives coalition of
opposition parties trade unions and the civil society to share power
the burkinabe president might yet be asked to mediate unless the forces vives
deal directly with guinea new strongman general sekouba konate the defence
minister he took over after captain moussa dadis camara was shot in the head by
his aide de camp and seriously wounded on december
diplomatic activity has recently increased particularly by the united states
and france because these two powers believe that if camara were to return to
guinea from medical treatment in morocco that risks sparking civil war
said negotiator who asked to remain anonymous
france has already publicly voiced this fear
paris and washington with memories of the long brutal conflicts that wracked
liberia and sierra leone see camara absence as an opportunity to make
progress
recent un report on the massacre of at least civilians in stadium in
guinea capital conakry on september when hundreds more people were wounded
and women and young girls were raped has underwritten the efforts for peace
the un rapporteurs named camara as one of their suspects in accusing the army of
crimes against humanity during the crackdown on an opposition rally which was
convened to oppose any bid by camara to stand for president in elections then
slated for january
early this month konate went for week to morocco to see camara whose medical
condition is unclear and the united states france and moroccan envoys all
seized the occasion to meet the new junta chief moroccans worked with the
diplomatic corps setting up the discussions negotiator said
one they were over rabat revealed that several working sessions have been held
directly with general konate or alternatively with senior french and american
officials
washington was represented by assistant secretary of state for african affairs
johnnie carson while paris was represented by andre parent who is africa
advisor to french president nicolas sarkozy
plan was drawn up on sharing power which was submitted to konate in return
the americans french and moroccans promised to train his army and to provide
him with technical aid
on january konate made landmark speech offering to share power with prime
minister chosen by the opposition and his decision was swiftly welcomed by
paris washington rabat and the regional economic community of west african
states
guinea forces vives reacted with caution but did not reject the scheme
outright opposition leaders met and then asked for security guarantees and more
details from konate
the latter is no saint but his proposals make sense so he is somebody one can
deal with diplomatic source said
konate has stated that he does not want to run the country but the west is
wary after dadis said that he did not want to stand for presidential elections
and then was feared to have changed his mind
spain santander bank targets top spot in britain
london jan afp
spanish banking giant santander on monday declared that it wants to become
britain biggest bank as it began rebranding its british operations with its
own name
chairman emilio botin said the ambitious group wants to be the number one bank
in the uk and may buy more assets from struggling rivals
botin told london press conference that the madrid based banking giant would
seize further expansions opportunities as they come up
his comments came as santander began renaming branches of abbey and bradford
amp bingley two british lenders which it now owns
all abbey and amp branches will be renamed santander by the end of january
the spanish group said in statement santander plans to rename alliance amp
leicester third british bank which it also owns later in
the name of abbey national plc has today changed to santander uk plc the
group said in statement to the london stock exchange
from today the bank has started the rebrand of its abbey and bradford amp
bingley branches with branches in the south east of england to be renamed
today with another across the uk to be completed by the end of january
alliance amp leicester branches will be rebranded later in the year the
group added
santander founded in is europe second biggest bank by stock market
capitalization after number one hsbc it acquired british mortgage lender abbey
in for billion pounds
last year santander expanded further into the british banking market which was
ravaged by the international credit crunch and global financial crisis
the spanish bank scooped up alliance amp leicester in july in deal
worth billion pounds
it bought part of the assets of troubled lender bradford amp bingley for
million pounds in september
this is historic day for santander as its name is firmly established on the
uk high street botin said in the statement on monday
when santander acquired abbey in there were some who doubted we could
make it success today there can be no doubts over the last five years we
have transformed our uk business into one of the most successful banks in the
country
the decision to become santander will put us in an even stronger position the
uk botin added
dow jones newswires contributed to this report
rfj bcp bmm
two held in angola after rebel attack on togo team
cabinda jan afp
police in angola are holding two suspects in connection with the shooting of the
togolese football team which left two squad members dead officials told afp
monday
two assailants were captured on friday one few minutes after the attack and
the second at the border while crossing into congo brazzaville said macario
lembe the deputy governor of cabinda an angolan enclave inside the democratic
republic of congo where friday attack took place
the first suspect was injured in his left thigh by police who responded when he
opened fire from tree at the togolese bus said lembe
the two suspects belonged to group of five people who launched the attack and
were on monday still in the hands of police
the attack occurred as the team bus headed into the oil rich province of cabinda
from the republic of congo where they were to take part in the africa cup of
nations tournament which opened sunday
togo assistant coach amalete abalo and the team media spokesman stanislas
ocloo died in friday attack
nine other people were injured including togo reserve goalkeeper kodjovi
