dassert was engaged in fighting in the south of the country
chad has accused sudan of supporting rebels seeking to oust the government
while khartoum has charged ndjamena with backing ethnic minority rebels in the
western sudanese region of darfur
dassert took part in the offensive that helped president idriss deby itno take
power in coup in he took up arms against his former ally in november
white house backs google in china showdown
washington jan afp
the white house on thursday backed google decision to no longer submit to
china internet censorship in row the search giant warns could lead it to
pull out of the country
we strongly support google action white house spokesman robert gibbs said
recalling that president barack obama had spoken out publicly in favor of
internet freedoms during webcast event in shanghai last year
the president has strong beliefs about the universal rights of men and women
throughout the globe those aren carved out for certain countries gibbs
said
obama spokesman however avoided question on whether the google row could
threaten wider us china relations which obama has attempted to improve since
coming to office last year
gibbs on wednesday declined to go into details about the extent of the
administration discussions with google about its showdown with the chinese
government
but secretary of state hillary clinton has asked for an explanation from china
for what google said was wave of highly sophisticated cyberattacks aimed at
chinese human rights activists
google announced on tuesday that it would stop bowing to chinese internet
censors and could pull out of the world largest online market of million
users
chinese foreign ministry spokesman jiang yu said thursday that the chinese
government administered the internet according to law and we have explicit
stipulations over what information and content can be spread over the internet
bank bonuses linked to financial crisis officials
washington jan afp
bonuses linked to investment risk taking paid to bank employees contributed to
the global financial crisis officials on thursday told special us commission
examining the economic calamity
they called for review on the role of employee compensation and its
contribution to risk taken by financial institutions some of which collapsed
after incurring massive losses on particularly mortgage based securities
the crisis has shown that most financial institution compensation systems were
not properly linked to risk management said sheila bair chairman of federal
deposit insurance corporation which insures depositors against bank failures
formula driven compensation allows high short term profits to be translated
into generous bonus payments without regard to any longer term risks she told
congressionally mandated commission which on wednesday launched probe on
the crisis
the crisis triggered by an american home mortgage meltdown sent financial
tsunami across the globe slamming the brakes on growth and plunging the united
states and many other nations into the worst recession in decades
bair said many derivative products including mortgage securities which suffered
hundreds of billions of dollars in losses were long dated while employees
compensation was weighted toward near term results
these short term incentives magnified risk taking bair said
sec chairman mary schapiro told the hearing that key lesson learned from the
crisis was that there can be direct relationship between compensation
arrangements and corporate risk taking
many major financial institutions created asymmetric compensation packages that
paid employees enormous sums for short term success even if these same
decisions result in significant long term losses or failure for investors and
taxpayers she said
major us banks have come under criticism from president barack obama
administration and social groups over their plans to announce annual bonuses for
top executives even as the nation struggled to recover from recession
the obama administration warned that any hefty payouts could lead to political
backlash as many of the banks which have recovered from the crisis had received
injections of billions of dollars of public money
most of the planned payouts by banks however are likely to be in the form of
stock with restrictions aimed at discouraging excessive risk taking at many
banks
the member commission studying the crisis has been compared to the panel
that studied the september terror attacks on the united states
hailing google us lawmakers seek internet law
washington jan afp
us lawmakers on thursday sought to prevent internet companies from censoring
information overseas hailing google threat to pull out of china as turning
point but saying it needed official support
members of congress said they had new momentum to enact bill that would
prohibit us firms from storing users personal information in countries that
restrict the peaceful expression of political and religious views online
google sent thrill of encouragement through the hearts of millions of
chinese representative chris smith the bill chief sponsor told news
conference it is game changer
but it companies are not powerful enough to stand up to repressive government
like china without us government support they are inevitably forced to be ever
more complicit in the repressive governments censorship and surveillance said
smith republican from new jersey
under the bill called the global online freedom act the us government would
list nations that restrict the internet and prohibit us companies from storing
personally identifiable information in those countries
companies would have to report to the state department which terms countries are
trying to filter out china blocks citizens from accessing uncensored
information on sensitive topics such as the tiananmen square crackdown the
dalai lama and the banned falungong spiritual movement
the bill would also prohibit companies from cooperating in jamming us government
websites such as us funded broadcasters voice of america and radio free asia
google said tuesday said it would stop bowing to china censors and could pull
out of the china lucrative online market of million users after
discovering chinese attacks against dissidents email accounts
smith has tried for years to bring the global online freedom act to the floor of
the house of representatives but it had met lukewarm response from internet
companies including google
smith declined to say if he expected other companies to lobby against the bill
but said his concerns have focused on actions by four us companies cisco
google microsoft and yahoo
yahoo came under intense criticism in for allegedly providing china with
details leading to the email account of journalist shi tao who was sentenced to
years in prison
desperately seeking missing loved ones in haiti online
washington jan afp
in the picture against blue background young girl in white dress snuggles
up against her father and looks demurely into the camera
next to her her slightly older brother and mother are dressed to the nines for
the family photo
and underneath the family picture heart wrenching plea from the children
aunt in the united states to help find the family who are among the countless
people unaccounted for since tuesday powerful quake struck haiti
my sister her husband and their two young kids please oh please help us
find them so my mom and can actually sleep at night the message posted on
the online missing persons page set up by cnn says
in less than hours since the quake reduced much of the haitian capital port
au prince to rubble the cnn missing person billboard has swollen to more than
pages each with around dozen pictures of people whose loved ones are
trying to locate
some of the pictures bring good news above the picture of year old cesar
blum who works as telecommunications manager in port au prince the word
found all in capital letters shouts out the joy of his family
but most carry pleas to help find the missing or calls for help from on the
ground in haiti
my daughter chelsey is fulbright scholar doctoral student in haiti we
need help trying to locate her she speaks creole and was staying in port au
prince wrote mother from illinois
my brother in law wife emily sanson rejouis survived the earthquake at the un
building and made her way back to their hotel wrote another person in
message written in hasty desperation
the hotel has collapsed and the family are trapped my brother in law emmanual
and their three little girls kofie jade zenzie alyahna she can hear at least
one of their voices the youngest yr old alyahnna and needs urgent
assistance to rescue them they are buried in the rubble but there might be
small air pocket
link showing map to the hotel was posted with the message
group called the extraordinaries has started similar site to harness the
power of the crowd to help locate and identify missing persons with just few
minutes of your time
on that site beextra org haiti users can post pictures of missing persons or
pictures taken on the ground in haiti as of friday the site will have
service which will match the pictures of the missing to photos sent in from
haiti
the names of uncles aunts siblings parents and friends also are being posted
on the facebook page of the member largest facebook group of haitians
the international committee for the red cross is helping too with site
called family links where the names of missing persons are listed in
alphabetical order
just under the letter the list of names was several hundred long scrolling
down the computer screen and spilling over to page after page after page
at this stage the website allows people in haiti and abroad to register names
of relatives it will incorporate responses to queries as they become
available robert zimmerman of the icrc said in statement
obama allies hope for imminent health deal
washington jan afp
president barack obama and top democrats in congress hope to have deal late
thursday setting the stage for compromise legislation to remake us health care
his top domestic priority the white house said
one day after marathon eight hour talks with top lawmakers at the white house
obama held another round of negotiations aimed at melding rival senate and house
of representatives versions of the bill
think we are hopeful that by day end they will have worked through
house senate and the president worked through any number of issues that
remain outstanding said obama spokesman robert gibbs
we are very very close gibbs said citing extraordinary tremendous
progress in wednesday eight hour marathon session which aimed to resolve
intraparty disputes that have held up the historic overhaul
democratic sources said deal was very close on how to pay for what would be
the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in four decades including extending
coverage to more than million of the million americans who lack health
insurance
democratic official said all sides hoped to be able to craft compromise and
send it by the weekend to the non partisan congressional budget office for
formal assessment of its likely impact and cost
we see if we can meet that goal hope so said the official who spoke on
condition of anonymity
the th hour talks came as obama was due to pay rare visit to congress
thursday to give his democrats an election year pep talk on the health plan and
new push for legislation to battle double digit unemployment
obama was to address house democrats at their annual issues conference at
pm gmt
his visit came as opinion polls showed the us public was skeptical of his push
to remake health care with large segment disappointed that the sweeping
legislation does not go far enough
obama was also due to highlight democratic efforts to battle unemployment
major vulnerability as the party heads into november mid term elections that
historically see the sitting president party lose seats
democrats have pushed for new jobs bill to steady the sputtering us economy
and blunt republican charges that the job killing president has made the
recession he inherited from former president george bush worse
republicans have also shown renewed confidence that they can peel off just
enough democrats to defeat the health care plan which cleared the senate and
house of representatives by the narrowest of margins late last year
democratic sources said they were closing in on deal on how the health
overhaul would be paid for looking to calm opposition from some major labor
unions to the senate bill tax on generous health packages like those enjoyed
by many of their members
another dispute centered on whether health care exchanges marketplaces
where consumers could comparison shop for coverage would be national or
state by state
democrats have virtually no margin for error their plan squeaked through the
senate with exactly the votes needed and cleared the house with votes
just two more than the bare minimum needed
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
as nation the united states spends more than double what britain france and
germany do per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
football africa cup of nations group standings
luanda jan afp
africa cup of nations group standings after late thursday game played won
drawn lost goals for against points
angola
malawi
algeria
mali
fixtures
times gmt
jan
at luanda
angola algeria
at cabinda
malawi mali
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
us evangelist haiti comment utterly stupid white house
washington jan afp
the white house on thursday dismissed comment by evangelical preacher pat
robertson that haiti earthquake was retribution for the country swearing
pact to the devil as utterly stupid
robertson weighed in on haiti history on his christian broadcasting network
show the club on wednesday
haitians were originally under the heel of the french you know napoleon the
third or whatever and they got together and swore pact to the devil said
the year old former presidential candidate
they said we will serve you if you will get us free from the french true
story and so the devil said okay it deal the televangelist said
ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other
white house spokesman robert gibbs rejected those comments at his daily press
briefing hours after obama told haitians that they would not be forsaken or
forgotten
it never ceases to amaze that in times of amazing human suffering somebody
says something that could be so utterly stupid gibbs said but it like
clockwork happens with some regularity
robertson contrasted haiti with its neighbor dominican republic which shares
the island of hispaniola
the dominican republic is prosperous healthy full of resorts etc haiti is
in desperate poverty same island they need to have and we need to pray for
them great turning to god and out of this tragedy optimistic something
good may come he said
right now robertson said the suffering is unimaginable
ruled for centuries by the spanish and then the french haiti gained
independence in through slave led revolution creating the first country
governed by african descendents in the americas
the fire and brimstone christian conservative preacher is seen by critics to
espouse an anti gay anti liberal agenda but he describes his ministry as pro
life and pro family
founder and chairman of the christian broadcasting network robertson in
beating out then vice president george bush sr in the iowa republican caucuses
but ultimately failed in his presidential bid
perhaps most famously robertson in stirred outrage after calling on the us
government to assassinate venezuelan president hugo chavez
robertson who often makes predictions of upcoming disasters and horrific
attacks came under fire in after suggesting the stroke then israeli prime
minister ariel sharon suffered was divine retribution for ceding land to the
palestinians
football flavio manucho help angola down malawi
luanda jan afp
angola avoided another mali style collapse to beat malawi and move to the
top of africa cup of nations group here on thursday
the hosts put the trauma of seeing four goal lead evaporate in the last
quarter of an hour of their opening game behind them with goals from flavio and
manucho
the result put angola on four points with malawi and algeria on three and mali
beaten by the algerians in thursday first match propping up the table on
one point
minnows malawi in only their second appearance in the competition went into
this tie knowing win would see them become the first of the nations cup
contenders to secure last eight ticket
both sides made change apiece angola replacing injured dede with djalma and
malawi russell mwafulirwa ceding his place to victor nyirenda
angola with president eduardo jose dos santos sporting the team scarf among
the near capacity crowd burst out of the blocks
they almost took lightning lead when manucho volleyed flavio cross only for
malawi keeper swadick sanudi to smother the ball
djalma then squandered chance when his shot flew over the bar as the black
antelopes had the flames of malawi on the rack
on minutes djalma set up former manchester united and hull city striker
manucho whose fierce effort was only stopped by superb save from sanudi
shortly after angolan coach manuel jose was forced into an unscripted change of
personnel when jamuana came on for injured al ahly midfielder gilberto
there was touch of artistry from malawi peter wadaba in the th minute
when with his back to the angola goal he flicked the ball with his heel at
keeper lama whose reflex save was equal to the threat
then in first half injury time flavio corner found manucho in the box but the
mohican haired striker headed over the woodwork from close range
the second half was only three minutes old when angola got the goal they
deserved
djalma enjoying bright game raced down the left in move started by mabina
and lofted the ball into the box for charging flavio the striker based in
saudi arabia heading past sanudi
the president tapping his white trainers excitedly beamed
his smile was even wider when on minutes manucho beat off malawi skipper
peter mponda to score from close range
mali had defied greater odds to grab point last sunday but angola weren
about to be caught napping twice
the one sting in the tail for coach manuel jose was the sight of raft of his
troops hit the deck with various degrees of injury flavio had to be
stretchered off as the hour struck
group final batch of games are on tuesday when angola play algeria in luanda
and malawi take on mali in cabinda
football leading africa cup of nations scorers
luanda jan afp
leading africa cup of nations scorers thursday
flavio amado ang
mateus manucho alberto ang seydou keita mli
urgent us increases airline security amid al qaeda threat official
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday said it would step up airport security measures in
response to the threat from al qaeda
we must remain vigilant about the continued threat we face from al qaeda
homeland security secretary janet napolitano said in statement we are taking
an additional set of aviation security precautions to protect the american
people
some of these measures include enhanced random screening additional federal
air marshals on certain routes and adding individuals of concern to our
terrorist watch list system
football africa cup of nations angola malawi
luanda jan afp
result of an africa cup of nations group match thursday
angola flavio manucho malawi
urgent football angola beat malawi in africa cup of nations
luanda jan afp
hosts angola beat malawi in an africa cup of nations group game thursday
cruise ship operator to provide haiti aid resume port calls
washington jan afp
cruise ship operator royal caribbean international said thursday it was set to
resume port calls in haiti and was using its vessels to deliver supplies to the
quake devastated country
john weis associate vice president at the group said it loaded the first
relief supplies on the company ship independence of the seas
this will be taken for distribution to labadee port in northern haiti that
has private resort leased to royal caribbean
we are also in the process of coordinating additional relief supplies that will
be loaded on navigator of the seas and liberty of the seas and will be taken to
labadee on monday and tuesday of next week he said on company blog
the supplies we are sending include rice dried beans water dried milk and
variety of other canned items this effort is going to be marathon so we will
be partnering with food for the poor on the back end distribution in haiti
weis said the company would resume port calls to labadee with independence of
the seas starting friday
there were lot of discussions about this but in the end labadee is critical
to haiti recovery and hundreds of people rely on labadee for their
livelihood he said
in our conversations with the un special envoy of the government of haiti
leslie voltaire he notes that haiti will benefit from the revenues that are
generated from each call which is critical to their recovery we also have
tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief
supplies and personnel to haiti
alert
football angola beat malawi in africa cup of nations
zionist methods used to kill iran scientist ahmadinejad
tehran jan afp
iran president mahmoud ahmadinejad said on thursday zionist methods were
used in the bombing of top atomic scientist as angry mourners chanting anti
us and anti israeli slogans buried the slain professor
one can see the level of the enemy grudge in the way he was assassinated the
method of bombing was zionist one the mehr news agency quoted ahmadinejad as
saying it did not elaborate
massoud ali mohammadi particle physics professor at prestigious tehran
university died when bomb strapped to motorbike was triggered by remote
control as he was leaving his home on tuesday morning
he was hezbollahi and pious university professor serving his people
ahmadinejad said in speech in khuzestan province using term indicating
person dedication to the islamic republic regime
the enemies by killing the elite cannot take away the knowledge from the
iranian nation the president added
iranian officials have accused the cia and mossad the intelligence agencies
respectively of the united states and israel of having hand in the
scientist murder
senior israeli official in jerusalem who asked not to be named declined to
respond to ahmadinejad accusation saying that israel consistently refuses to
comment on such issues
in tehran several thousand mourners joined funeral procession from ali
mohammadi home in an affluent northern neighbourhood to nearby shrine an
afp correspondent said
around policemen were deployed during the funeral
relatives and members of the elite revolutionary guards placed ali mohammadi
body in an ambulance which then took it for burial at the shrine
military band led the procession followed by hundreds of mourners many
chanting death to israel and death to america
mourners also chanted slogans against hypocrites the islamic republic
term for the outlawed people mujahedeen which some have accused of involvement
in the assassination despite its denials
some chanted that nuclear energy is our undeniable right referring to
accusations by officials that the killing was an attempt by western powers to
disrupt iran controversial nuclear programme
veto wielding un security council members britain china france russia and the
united states plus germany are to meet over the weekend in new york to consider
new sanctions against tehran over its atomic programme
ahmadinejad media adviser meanwhile told afp that the united states britain
and israel were high on the list of suspects for ali mohammadi murder
our security and intelligence apparatus are pursuing those behind the blast to
bring them to justice as soon as possible said ali akbar javanfekr
america britain and israel have the most animosity towards our scientific
progress especially the nuclear programme so when our scientists are targeted
they become high on the list of suspects he said
similar allegations by other officials of us involvement have been dismissed out
of hand by washington
neither the iranian police nor the intelligence services have yet reported any
leads in their investigation
ali mohammadi political affiliation remains unclear people close to him have
stressed his close links with the elite revolutionary guards where he seems to
have worked for more than years until
official media and regime hardliners have referred to him as revolutionary
teacher who was martyred
but several opposition websites said ali mohammadi was among the academics whose
name appeared in june letter supporting mir hossein mousavi the defeated
presidential election candidate and current opposition leader
the unjust martyrdom of dr massoud ali mohammadi the renowned physics
professor from tehran university shows the bitter reality that the enemies of
iran want to use the crisis situation for their own gain mousavi said in
message of condolences on his kaleme org website on thursday
definitely this is part of large plot which calls for everyone to seek to
uncover it regardless of their political affiliations he added
urgent us increases airline security amid al qaeda threat official
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday said it would step up airport security measures in
response to continued threat from al qaeda
more than exiles get spanish citizenship government
madrid jan afp
more than descendants of spaniards who fled into exile from the franco
regime have obtained spanish nationality under law that took effect one year
ago the government said thursday
the government granted of the requests for citizenship the vast
majority filed in spanish consulates in latin america the foreign ministry
said
the citizenships were granted under the law of historical memory aimed at
recognising the victims of the civil war and general francisco franco
subsequent dictatorship which lasted until his death in
the law passed by the socialist government of prime minister jose luis
rodriguez zapatero whose grandfather was shot by franco supporters also
mandates the removal of symbols of franco from public places
the regulation covering citizenship went into effect at the end of and
those eligible have until december to apply for citizenship
historians have estimated that half million people were killed during the
civil war sparked by franco insurgency against the democratically elected
left wing republican government
brutal wave of repression followed the nationalists victory as franco sought
to consolidate power
many others fled and today most of their descendants live in latin america
alert
us increases airline security amid al qaeda threat official
southern african leaders reject march elections in madagascar
maputo jan afp
key southern african leaders on thursday concluded meeting on regional
security by rejecting an effort by madagascar strongman leader to skip ongoing
power sharing talks and hold elections
leaders from the security organ of the member southern african development
community issued statement at the end of special summit in the mozambican
capital maputo urging madagascar andry rajoelina to return to the negotiating
table with ousted president marc ravalomanana and two other former leaders
rajoelina who seized power in march with military backing had called for
parliamentary elections in march effectively sidelining an august power
sharing deal
summit rejects any attempt to use democratic means institutions and processes
to legitimize governments that came to power through unconstitutional means
said the statement read by sadc executive secretary tomaz salomao
summit also rejects the unilateral plan of the de facto government of
madagascar to reorganize the transition and hold legislative elections in
march and urges the international community to also reject it the
statement added
the summit which included the presidents of south africa mozambique zambia
namibia and the democratic republic of congo asked the head of the
international mediation team for madagascar former mozambican president joaquim
chissano to continue with efforts towards restoration of constitutional order
through an inclusive transparent and credible dialogue
haiti airport saturated aid flights halted us
washington jan afp
with its airport full haiti temporarily halted flights to port au prince
thursday slowing the arrival of desperately needed aid to the devastated
capital us authorities said
the haitian government told us they are not currently accepting any flights
in the haitian airspace because the ramp area at the port au prince airport is
saturated said laura brown spokeswoman for the us federal aviation
administration
she said military aircraft and civilian planes were circling the airport
waiting for other flights to leave so they could get in
so we don want to send any other flights into the air until we get the word
from the haitian government that they are accepting flights again because they
will just be in holding pattern for hours said brown
the announcement came as international governments agencies and aid groups
mobilized to pour aid into the impoverished caribbean island nation in race
against time to rescue an untold number of victims still buried under the
rubble
