after meeting in london brown and cowen whose governments facilitated the
power sharing agreement expressed hope that deal could be done
we re going to belfast to see where we can assist this process we believe it
very important that we get successful outcome to these discussions cowen
told reporters ahead of the visit later monday
brown highlighted the role devolution played in bringing peace to northern
ireland which endured three decades of violence between catholic republican
opponents of british rule and protestant unionists who supported it
he said the policing issues were all soluble problems adding we believe
that together we can assist the completion of these talks
believe that the end product will be that devolution of policing and justice
will take place brown said
sinn fein called an emergency meeting in belfast monday between its deputy first
minister martin mcguinness the dup robinson to address the lack of
agreement
at the weekend sinn fein chief gerry adams described the meeting as critical
and suggested his party could walk away from the power sharing process unless
deal was made
he has accused the dup of derailing the talks by demanding concessions on
policing controversial protestant orange order parades however robinson has
insisted progress is being made
speaking ahead of monday talks mcguinness accused the dup of failing to
uphold deal that paved the way for the power sharing government
he said sinn fin had made historical and monumental move forward on the issue
of policing after the st andrews agreement but three years on we are waiting
for the dup to deliver and honour their commitments
however he calmed fears that sinn fein would abandon the process saying that
making devolution succeed had become my life work because passionately
believe in power sharing
the sectarian violence in northern ireland was largely ended by the good
friday agreement and all the main paramilitary groups from both sides have now
disarmed although some dissident groups remain active
most recently policeman lost leg in car bomb attack earlier this month
two men aged and were arrested over his attempted murder on monday
us existing home sales fall in december
washington jan afp
sales of us existing homes fell more than expected in december by nearly
percent following three month surge driven by government tax credit an
industry organization said monday
the national association of realtors nar said sales fell percent to
seasonally adjusted annual rate of million units from million in
november
the sharp decline was worse than average analyst forecast of million units
and was the steepest monthly drop since nar began tracking the data series in
the industry group said the decline had been expected after sales surged from
september through november as first time buyers rushed to take advantage of
federal tax credits originally due to expire on november
congress passed and president barack obama signed an extension of the first time
tax credit that expands it to include other home purchases made prior to april
the december number was percent above the year ago level of million
units
it significant that home sales remain above year ago levels but the market
is going through period of swings driven by the tax credit said lawrence
yun nar chief economist
we likely have another surge in the spring as home buyers take advantage
of the extended and expanded tax credit by early summer the overall market
should benefit from more balanced inventory and sales are on track to rise
again in
first time home buyers represented percent of the market in december
compared with percent the prior month
the industry group noted that sales had risen every month since april apart
from slight dip in august and had often topped expectations
for all of sales of existing homes totaled million gain of
pecent from
it was the first annual sales gain since nar said
the national median existing home sales price was dollars in december
an increase of percent from year earlier it was the first year over year
gain since august
yun highlighted that elevated unemployment poses key challenge to recovery in
the troubled us housing sector where defaults on subprime mortgages more than
two years ago triggered the global financial crisis
the job market remains concern and could dampen the housing recovery job
creation is key to continued recovery in the second half of the year the nar
economist said
the us unemployment rate held steady at percent in december while the
economy shed jobs according to official data
more than seven million americans lost their jobs in the recession that
officially began in december and nearly million americans are unemployed
or underemployed because they could not find full time work or have given up
looking for work the data showed
total inventory of existing homes for sale at the end of december fell
percent to million representing month supply at the current sales
pace up from month supply in november
on an annual basis inventory at the end of december was percent below the
december level and was at the lowest level since march the reading
was percent below the record of million in july nar said
median prices continued to fall weighed down by sales of distressed homes
which accounted for percent of total sales last year it said
for all of the median price was dollars down percent from
dollars in
putin praises russia crackdown on racist attacks report
moscow jan afp
russian prime minister vladimir putin credited authorities on monday with
cutting the number of racially motivated attacks by half last year
putin condemned the tragic problem of xenophobic attacks on people of non
slavic appearance in russia but defended the police response as adequate the
interfax news agency reported
in my view there has been reaction by the authorities and it fully
corresponds to the level of the threat putin was quoted as saying during
visit to university in the central russian city of cheboksary
as result the total number of crimes committed on an ethnic or religious
basis decreased by half in compared to he said responding to
question from an ecuadorian student
official data on the number of racist attacks throughout russia last year has
not yet been released
the moscow bureau for human rights group that tracks hate crimes said in
report published this month that people were killed in racist attacks in
drop from the people killed in
people of non slavic appearance in russia are frequent targets of discrimination
and harassment including violent attacks by skinheads
survey published in december by independent pollster the levada centre found
that percent of russians support the nationalist slogan russia for
russians
cycling cas rejects schumacher appeal against ban
geneva jan afp
world sport top court cas on monday rejected an appeal by disgraced german
cyclist stefan schumacher against two year ban for doping during the
olympic games
the court of arbitration for sport has dismissed the appeal filed by german
cyclist stefan schumacher against the decision of the international cycling
union to recognise the two year suspension imposed by the french anti doping
agency and to extend it worldwide said the court in statement
however the cas brought forward the suspension to august when the
athlete effectively stopped racing since he could no longer get licence
instead of january the date fixed by the international cycling union
uci
schumacher was one of six athletes who had tested positive for banned blood
booster erythropoietin epo cera in beijing after samples were re tested
having already tested positive twice for epo cera at the tour de france
where he won two stages schumacher was handed two year ban by the uci the
sport governing body in february
the german denies ever being doped and on april took his case to the cas in
lausanne
urgent final death toll from haiti expected to be minister
port au prince jan afp
the final nationwide toll from haiti devastating january earthquake is
expected to be dead health minister alex larsen said on monday with
bodies already counted
alert
final haiti quake death toll expected to be minister
yemen shiite rebels announce pull out from saudi land
sanaa jan afp
the leader of yemeni shiite rebels announced on monday the withdrawal of zaidi
fighters from positions they had occupied inside saudi arabia since fighting
broke out on the border in november
we announce our full withdrawal from all saudi territory abdul malak al huthi
said in an audio message received by afp describing the move as an
initiative
he warned however that the huthi rebels accused by the yemeni regime of being
backed by iran would launch an open war if the saudi forces attack them
saudi arabia on january announced that the rebels were ousted from their last
foothold within the kingdom but the huthis swiftly denied the report and said
they were still in control of the border village of al jabiri
the initiative comes because we are keen on stopping the bloodshed and bring to
an end the aggression against civilians in villages in north yemen huthi said
this is to present real chance for peace in the interest of the two
peoples that are neighbours he said
if the saudi regime maintains its aggression after this initiative it would be
showing that its intention is not to defend its territory but to invade our
areas in north yemen huthi said
this would give us the right to open many fronts and launch an open war
saudi arabia launched operations against the rebels already locked in conflict
with yemen military after accusing them of killing saudi border guard and
occupying two border villages on november
saudi troops undertook their largest mobilisation since the gulf war
and began attacking the rebels from land and air
huthi reiterated that the reason behind the fighting with saudi arabia was its
regime decision to open its land and military bases to the yemeni army to use
in aggression against us
it was also because of the saudi air force participation in striking areas
of north yemen he added
earlier this month the rebels claimed they had downed saudi apache assault
helicopter during saudi air raids which they said hit as far as kilometres
miles inside yemeni territory
they also claimed to have repelled push by saudi ground forces towards the
jebel al doud border area
the saudi army lost soldiers in fighting with the huthis while several
others were captured al riyadh newspaper quoted the saudi southern region
commander general ali zaid al khawaji as saying
the sanaa government has been engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebels since
the latest round of clashes erupted on august when government forces
launched operation scorched earth an all out offensive to stamp out the
uprising among the zaidi shiites minority in mainly sunni yemen but the
majority in the northern mountains
three policemen killed in somaliland bomb blast
hargeysa somalia jan afp
at least three police officers were killed and two wounded monday when an
explosive device they were trying to defuse went off in northern somalia an
official and witnesses said
the incident occurred near mosque in las anod town which lies in the
disputed border area between the two semi autonomous northern somali territories
of somaliland and puntland
unfortunately the police officers picked up the explosive device without
knowing that it could be remote detonated it killed three of them when it blew
up somaliland police chief mohamed saqadhi dubad said
this explosion is linked to other previous violent acts carried out by elements
bent on destabilising the region he added without elaborating
witnesses told afp that the police officers acted on phone call they had
received about the bomb suggesting they may have been lured into trap
they were called by unidentified individuals who informed them about the bomb
and it was detonated when they went to collect it ali daqare witness in las
anod said
somaliland unilaterally declared independence in following former somali
president mohamed siad barre demise and the collapse of the central
government
it has been much more stable than the rest of somalia since then and is lobbying
intensively for international recognition
the somaliland authorities said earlier this month that they had thwarted an
attack on mosque in hargeysa the state capital whose imam had criticised
suicide bombings carried out the al qaeda inspired shebab group
the shebab engaged in an offensive to topple the internationally recognised
government in mogadishu are mainly active in southern and central somalia but
several of its key figures are originally from somaliland
football smith anticipates no change at rangers
glasgow jan afp
rangers manager walter smith is not expecting any movement of players in or out
of ibrox before this month transfer window closes suggesting striker kris
boyd is set to stay with the glasgow giants
former gers boss alex mcleish now in charge at english premier league side
birmingham has expressed interest in boyd even though proposed move last
season collapsed over the forward personal terms
the year old boyd is out of contract at the end of the season and although
he has been linked with several english clubs scottish premier league champions
rangers have not given up hope of keeping him in glasgow having offered the
spl record goalscorer new contract
there has also been transfer talk regarding pedro mendes with portuguese side
sporting lisbon expressing interest in the midfielder but having so far failed
to table bid
as for signing players rangers debts of around million pounds mean smith is
likely to have to make do with what he already got
it doesn look like there will be any movement he told rangers official
website on monday
we ve not had any inquiries for any of our players so far as aware and
hope that continues
with kris we re not any further forward there is obviously continued
speculation about what he might do but we just have to accept that
that problem for all clubs whose players go out of contract at the end of
season and we ll just have to see what happens
boyd is recovering from hernia operation and smith added certainly at this
stage we re just hoping we can get kris back in the team over the next few
weeks and then we ll take things from there
meanwhile rangers will have to continue to do without madjid bougherra for the
foreseeable future after he helped algeria into the semi finals of the african
nations cup
the defender scored late equaliser against the ivory coast on sunday that
forced the quarter final into extra time algeria ultimately winning to
enter the last four in angola
bougherra will miss rangers next two matches against st mirren on wednesday
and against falkirk at ibrox on saturday
saab talks still uncertain says spyker
the hague jan afp
dutch sportscar maker spyker said monday the outcome of ongoing negotiations
with general motors over the acquisition of sweden saab remained uncertain
spyker confirms that talks are ongoing the outcome of which is still
uncertain the company said in statement issued on monday afternoon in
reaction to recent press speculation about the saab negotiations
swedish television reported on monday that spyker has reached deal with gm
over saab which employs people in sweden
saab is one of four brands being shed by gm as part of massive restructuring
effort that began in and accelerated last year when the largest us
automaker went bankrupt
gm announced on december that it would wind down saab while considering
several last ditch bids for the iconic brand which has barely turned profit
during two decades under gm ownership
but earlier this month gm chief ed whitacre said the us auto giant had
essentially given up on selling saab as nobody had come up with the money to
seal the deal he has put price of million dollars on the swedish
carmaker
analysts have warned that some jobs could be lost through saab closure
spyker located at zeewolde in the central netherlands manufactured cars in
the first quarter of and sold with prices starting at euros
thirty percent of its shares are held by russian financing group convers
controlled by russian billionaire vladimir antonov
spyker shares gained more than percent on the amsterdam stock exchange to
reach euros at one point
haiti pm begs for more quake aid
port au prince jan afp
haiti hobbled government called for more international aid for desperate
earthquake survivors still living in the rubble as donors met to draw up
recovery plan for the shattered country
nearly two weeks after the disaster which killed at least people
haitian authorities struggled to control fresh outbreaks of looting and the huge
foreign assistance effort faced criticism for lack of leadership
bulldozers clawed rotting corpses from port au prince amid dimming hopes of
finding anyone alive in the debris with the focus shifting to relief and
reconstruction as donor countries held emergency talks in montreal
haiti needs the massive support of its partners in the international community
in the medium and long term haitian prime minister jean max bellerive said
told world officials at the conference
he said that before reconstruction started the top priorities for the swelling
number of people living in makeshift camps in the poorest nation in the americas
were food and water shelter and health care
the haitian government is working in precarious conditions but it can provide
the leadership that people expect he said responding to criticism that
authorities had been almost absent from relief efforts
canadian prime minister stephen harper us secretary of state hillary clinton
and officials from the united nations were among those taking part in the
conference
the united states has taken frontline role in the disaster relief effort
sending in troops and anchoring hospital ship offshore while the
united nations is also heavily involved in relief efforts
with the search for buried survivors officially over one rescue team hopes of
finding another person alive days after the quake were dashed when signs of
life picked up by radar turned out to be false alarm
we came across body full of worms which perhaps accounts for the movement
that was detected said samuel bernes the head of french rescue team
rescuers have saved people from the debris since the magnitude
earthquake on january including man who survived for days on cola and
snacks
the un said that more than haitians have taken advantage of free buses
to flee the filthy conditions in port au prince for more hygenic camps outside
the capital that have yet to be set up
the mass exodus was putting huge burden on small towns like saint marc some
kilometers miles from the capital where refugees were lodging
with friends strangers or in churches
my house was destroyed we slept on the pavement near the wounded we had to
leave said magalie esteverle year old dressmaker with three children
staying with distant cousin of her husband
continued looting in the capital prompted european nations to agree to send some
police officers to help keep order and ease aid distribution despite
british opposition to the idea
but the international aid effort came under fire from italy public safety
chief sent to haiti last week who criticised lack of leadership in the
response to the quake
guido bertolaso told italian television it was terrible situation that could
have been managed much better and said that the us force had too many
officers to find capable leader
but clinton said military contributions from around the world were vital to
helping haiti it just easier for the united states to get there first
because haiti is our neighbor she told reporters as she left for montreal
the world council of churches meanwhile called for the immediate and
unconditional cancellation of the country foreign debt by international
creditors at the montreal meeting
japan was reportedly pledging million dollars in aid to haiti at the
conference and saudi arabia said it was is giving million dollars
haiti urges support for colossal reconstruction
montreal jan afp
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive urged international donors to step up
support to rebuild his country insisting monday his government can provide
leadership after killer earthquake
the haitian government is working in precarious conditions but it can provide
the leadership that people expect bellerive told world officials holding
emergency talks in montreal to hash out plans to rebuild haiti
the top priority right now is to satisfy the vital needs of victims like food
and water shelter and health care he said nearly two weeks after massive
magnitude temblor devastated the impoverished caribbean nation
citing the colossal reconstruction effort to come bellerive urged the
international community to provide massive support to his country as it
struggles to help the injured and destitute
the extent of the task requires that we do more that we do better and without
doubt that we work differently he said
international allies aid groups and volunteers have been leading relief efforts
after the government was left scrambling by the temblor that leveled much of the
port au prince capital region leaving more than dead and million
homeless
aid agency oxfam has added its voice to the growing calls for world powers to
cancel haiti large international debt and deliver on the international
monetary fund pledge to turn million dollar interest free loan to haiti
into grant
expecting haiti to repay billions of dollars as the country struggles to
overcome one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory would be both cruel
and unnecessary oxfam international executive director jeremy hobbs said in
statement
speaking before the start of the montreal aid conference attended by officials
from dozen countries the united nations and other international groups us
secretary of state hillary clinton said she was optimistic that we can put
together good plan
the montreal talks were expected to lay the groundwork for full fledged donors
conference on haiti in the coming weeks
washington has taken frontline role in the emergency response to the january
disaster sending in tens of thousands of troops and rescue teams and
anchoring hospital ship offshore to treat injured haitians
canada conservative government is keen to shore up political support for
canada role in assisting haiti as it faces growing protests at home for its
decision to prorogue parliament until march while it deals with the haiti
crisis
know that canada the group of friends of haiti and the international community
and non governmental groups are pledging our support during this period of
crisis and beyond foreign minister lawrence cannon told bellerive
french foreign minister bernard kouchner founder of the international charity
doctors without borders was also participating in the six hour closed door
talks
the officials were discussing how to streamline delivery of food water drugs
and medical supplies to the swelling number of people living in makeshift camps
around the shattered haitian capital
donor countries are seeking to use the groundswell of support for haiti as an
opportunity to transform country that has historically faced grinding poverty
political corruption and bloodshed
diplomats have raised the possibility of kind of marshall plan for the island
nation similar to the us led postwar reconstruction of europe that would take
decades and require long term commitment of resources
experts have warned that hundreds of thousands of haitians will be living off
foreign aid and in temporary housing for years to come during the slow
reconstruction process
foreign ministers and other officials from brazil chile peru uruguay mexico
costa rica the dominican republic japan and spain were also participating in
the talks
they were joined by representatives from the european union the organization of
american states the inter american development bank the world bank and the
international monetary fund
japan said it would pledge million dollars in aid to haiti and deploy as many
as peacekeepers to the un mission there
main witness in zimbabwe treason trial tortured judge
harare jan afp
zimbabwe high court on monday struck out evidence from the main witness in the
treason trial of top aide to premier morgan tsvangirai after judge accepted
he had been tortured into testifying
roy bennett the treasurer of tsvangirai party is accused of plotting to
assassinate president robert mugabe in in conspiracy already dismissed by
the courts in an earlier case
arms dealer and former policeman peter hitschmann was initially charged with
bennett but later was convicted of lesser charge of illegal possession of
firearms in
hitschmann was the lynchpin in the case against bennett but in court two weeks
ago he gave graphic testimony claiming he had been tortured in custody by
security forces to extract statement
justice chinembiri bhunu said statements made by hitschmann could not be used as
evidence since they were not signed and hitschmann said his interrogators used
force to make him implicate bennett
he said he involuntarily made the statements under torture the statements were
obviously inadmissible and not used at his own trial bhunu said
it common cause that if they were inadmissible at his own trial they are
equally inadmissible in this case
both bennett and hitschmann were in the court as the judge read out his
decision
attorney general johannes tomana did not comment on the ruling but immediately
continued with his questioning of hitschmann making him identify weapons that
police say were meant to be used to overthrow mugabe
hitschmann has already said that some of the weapons including two uzi
submachine guns were his but insisted they were properly registered
he has testified that he never met bennett until they were brought to court
together undermining much of the state case
bennett was tsvangirai pick for deputy agriculture minister in the power
sharing government with president robert mugabe formed nearly one year ago
he is accused of providing hitschmann with funds to buy weapons to be used to
topple the veteran leader
bennett co accused in the treason case giles mutseyekwa is now home affairs
minister in zimbabwe power sharing government after being acquitted of
similar charges in
the state case rests largely on video in which hitschmann appears to
identify weapons meant for plot against mugabe
but hitschmann told the court on january that he had been tortured into
making the video while being held at police stations and army barracks
despite burning my buttocks with cigarettes kicking me in the testicles and
allowing me to urinate upon myself having caused me head injury to my right
temple on the video evidence they conveniently do not show my face and hence
you fail to see the blood hitschmann said at the time
the claims of torture echo the violence that rights groups say was directed at
mdc supporters after the failed presidential elections mugabe won run
off race after tsvangirai pulled out citing the attacks against his supporters
the unity government is meant to ease political tensions but the trial
highlights many of the obstacles still facing it
tsvangirai disputes mugabe unilateral appointment of tomana as attorney
general saying the top prosecutor is using the legal system to persecute mdc
supporters
mugabe has refused to swear in bennett unless he is cleared in court
heightening tensions in the strained power sharing arrangement
chicago man pleads not guilty to plotting mumbai attacks
chicago jan afp
chicago businessman pleaded not guilty monday to helping an old friend from
military school in pakistan plot the deadly mumbai attacks that killed
people
tahawwur hussain rana has been held in jail since his october arrest on
charges of helping plot an attack on the danish newspaper that published
incendiary cartoons of the prophet mohammed in
prosecutors allege that rana helped his friend david coleman headley key
suspect in the mumbai attacks by allowing him to use his immigration company as
cover for surveillance trips to india and denmark
rana was charged last week with three separate counts of providing material
support for terrorism in the mumbai attacks the denmark terror plot and to the
banned pakistani militant group lashkar taiba
also indicted on conspiracy charges related to the denmark plot were ilyas
kashmiri an alleged terror kingpin in pakistan who prosecutors accuse of being
in regular contact with al qaeda leaders and abdur rehman hashim syed
retired major in the pakistani military neither man is in us custody
headley has pleaded not guilty to terrorism related charges and remains
in custody where he is cooperating with prosecutors
the washington born son of former pakistani diplomat and american mother
headley reportedly befriended bollywood stars and even dated an actress during
his lengthy surveillance trips to mumbai
the indictment alleges that rana acted as messenger while headley scoped out
the mumbai terror targets taking photos and video and entering their positions
on gps device
nearly year after the bloody hour siege which began november
headley was allegedly recorded discussing five future targets with rana
prosecutors said the targets included bollywood the indian temple somnath the
national defense college in delhi shiv sena political party in india with
roots in hindu nationalism and the danish newspaper
headley had already begun the planning for second indian attack during march
surveillance trip whose targets included the national defense college and
chabad houses in several cities in india the indictment alleges
he was also working on the danish newspaper plot weeks before the mumbai attack
was carried out the indictment alleges
headley is accused of once again using rana immigration business as cover in
order to arrange visit to the copenhagen and aarhus offices of jyllands
posten denmark highest circulating daily
during february meeting in pakistan kashmiri allegedly told headley that they
should use truck bomb to attack the newspaper and directed him to meet with
european contacts who could provide the money weapons and manpower for the
attack
