that while the highly controversial document could have been clearer he still
defended every single word of it and the invasion itself
think britain as country should feel incredibly proud of the role it played
in taking on one of the most brutal barbarous regimes in history said
campbell one of the former prime minister closest allies
the first big name to appear before the chilcot inquiry he appeared days before
blair gives evidence later this month or early next
current prime minister gordon brown who campbell said was one of the key
ministers blair consulted in the run up to war will appear after this year
general election expected in may
large part of campbell evidence focused on september dossier which
the british government issued to explain its growing concerns over iraq six
months before britain joined the invasion
the bbc subsequently reported that campbell had sexed up the report which
claimed iraq could launch chemical or biological attack within minutes
sparking an angry row with the prime minister office in downing street
on tuesday campbell again insisted he had never tried to beef up anything
written by the dossier author john scarlett then chairman of high level
committee advising the government on intelligence
at no point did anybody from the prime minister down say to anybody within the
intelligence services you have got to tailor it to fit this judgment or that
judgment campbell said
the whole way through it could not have been made clearer to everybody that
nothing would override the intelligence judgments and that john scarlett was the
person who if you like had the single pen
the spin doctor insisted his role in drawing up the dossier did not go beyond
giving presentational advice
campbell downing street former director of communications and strategy
resigned in august the month after ministry of defence weapons expert dr
david kelly was found dead near his home with slashed wrists
kelly believed he may have been the source of the bbc sexing up story and
officials confirmed his name as such to some reporters
at the time campbell insisted he wanted to resign to spend more time with his
family well before kelly death and previous official inquiry exonerated him
over the affair the chilcot inquiry is not covering kelly death
its committee members have faced criticism over alleged soft questioning of
witnesses but the ex bbc journalist who made the original sexing up claim was
among those to praise their hard line with him tuesday
campbell inevitably ran classic no surrender defence andrew gilligan
wrote on his blog for the daily telegraph
but the behaviour of chilcot committee the people on the other side of the
table was much more interesting and unexpected they asked often exactly the
right questions
elsewhere in his evidence campbell insisted blair was determined to deal with
saddam hussein regime peacefully right up to crucial vote on the iraq war in
the house of commons on march
think the prime minister was all the way through trying to get it resolved
without single shot being fired he said
us led forces began their invasion of iraq two days after that vote despite the
lack of explicit backing from the un security council britain was the second
biggest troop contributor its deployment peaking at
campbell also said while britain pressed the united states to seek diplomatic
solution blair wrote notes in to then president george bush saying he
would support military action if this did not work
if that cannot be done diplomatically and it is to be done militarily britain
will be there that would be the tenor of the communication to the president
he said
only handful of the most senior figures including himself and possibly the
then foreign secretary jack straw were aware of the notes campbell said
the prime minister wrote quite lot of notes to the president he said
fed finalizes credit card rules limits teen cards
washington jan afp
the us federal reserve finalized new rules aimed at protecting credit card
holders tuesday that also make it difficult for anyone under the age of to
obtain credit card
as part of series of new rules aimed at protecting consumers the measure
forbids banks from issuing credit card to anyone under unless the consumer
has the ability to make the required payments or obtains the signature of
parent or other cosigner with the ability to do so
the new rules effective february also prevent lenders from unexpected
increases in interest rates on card balances and limit fees and certain types
of interest calculations
the new measures implement law passed last year by congress
fed governor elizabeth duke said the effort marks an important milestone in the
federal reserve efforts to ensure that consumers who rely on credit cards are
treated fairly
the rule bans several harmful practices and requires greater transparency in
the disclosure of the terms and conditions of credit card accounts duke added
the american bankers association praised the new regulations
these rules the most comprehensive ever seen herald new era for
america credit card customers said kenneth clayton senior vice president at
the aba
many practices that frustrated customers have been eliminated and credit card
users will now benefit from greater control and clearer terms for their
accounts
the aba said the new law ends confusing billing practices instituting new
rules that are easier to understand
due dates will be the same every month and interest charged on so called
double cycle billing will be completely eliminated
the measure bans fees for payment processing such as surcharges for paying by
telephone and requires that promotional interest rates on new cards stay valid
for six months
it forbids rate increases on existing balances unless consumers are at least
days late paying their bill or the initial rate was promotional rate that has
expired and requires days notice to raise rates
the credit card industry argued the bill could result in tightening of credit
at time when credit crunch is already depressing spending amid an economic
crisis
british minister niece jailed for french sex murder
versailles france jan afp
the niece of britain junior defence minister was sentenced to years in
prison on tuesday for the fatal stabbing of frenchman she picked up in bar
french court convicted jessica davies of drunkenly killing year old
olivier mugnier in november in her apartment in the chic paris suburb of
saint germain en laye
the niece of multi millionaire politician quentin davies admitted killing her
victim but said she had blackout and only remembered coming round to find him
bleeding to death on her bed
she was sentenced to years imprisonment combined with years of probation
and psychological monitoring the court also awarded euros
dollars in damages to mugnier family
the judge and jury in the versailles court west of paris heard davies had
suffered from psychological problems since her english father and french mother
divorced acrimoniously when she was
she took to drink and drugs and casual sex scraped through school and
university and failed to hold down any job for long the court heard
she also made several suicide attempts once using the same knife she killed
mugnier with to slash her wrists and thighs
davies looked relaxed after the sentence was given appearing to joke with her
police minders
she had told the court earlier want to express the extent of my remorse
take responsibility and accept the consequences of what did
she earlier told the court in versailles she had blacked out and had no
recollection of the killing except the sensation of the knife going in
do not even dare ask forgiveness from olivier family she said tuesday
the second and last day of her trial what did terrifies me can
guarantee that will never again touch drop of alcohol
she told the court monday that she remembered telling the police who arrived at
the murder scene that was monster
she said she no longer remembered making statement the day of the murder in
her flat in saint germain en laye in which she said just wanted to cut him
little but the knife went in by itself
the blood stained kitchen knife with six inch blade that killed mugnier was
passed round for inspection by the three judges and the five women and four men
of the jury
davies said she had begun the weekend that mugnier died by sleeping with an ex
boyfriend on the friday night
she spent most of the saturday drinking in series of bars with friends before
going alone to sullivan irish pub near her home where she met and began
flirting with mugnier
they had several drinks and when the bar closed decided to go to davies place
opened bottle of wine he rolled joint we started undressing making
love she told the court
he couldn have proper erection but that was understandable given how
much we drunk we stopped making love he took off the condom said davies
the next thing she knew mugnier was lying bleeding from the neck on the bed
and she was trying to stem the blood with one hand and calling emergency
services with the other
mugnier succumbed to two knife wounds one of which proved fatal after it went
right through his body and touched his spine
ap stories not welcomed at google for now
san francisco jan afp
google on tuesday confirmed that it has stopped adding associated press stories
to its online properties as it renegotiates licensing deal with the wire
service
at the moment we re not adding new hosted content from the ap spokesman for
the california based internet powerhouse told afp
we have licensing agreement with the associated press that permits us to host
its content on google properties such as google news some of that content is
still available today
ap declined to comment for this story
google evidently stopped hosting new ap stories in late december the move could
indicate an impasse in negotiations regarding renewing content deal with ap
that ends at the end of january
it looks like google may no longer be putting stories up because they don
want to take them down within few days if the agreement doesn get approved
said search engine land editor in chief danny sullivan
it probably more google being cautious the two companies are still talking
personally think they ll find an agreement
google could be putting pressure on ap by testing which firm actually loses when
the wire service offerings are absent from popular online properties such as
news service that gathers stories from throughout the internet
among ap concerns in talks with google has been getting prominent play in
results of online news searches according to sullivan
niger president calls for sacrifices
niamey jan afp
niger president mamadou tandja who won controversial extension of his
mandate tuesday called on his compatriots to brace for sacrifices to counter
possible international sanctions
the struggle has only just commenced and this forcibly imposes on us lot
of sacrifice courage and determination to overcome numerous challenges that
may face us tandja said during public ceremony with heads of institutions
despite ongoing talks with the opposition tandja expressed his determination
to put finishing touches to the creation of all the institutions in his new
constitution including the senate the youth council and the traditional body
niger crisis began when tandja who has ruled for decade extended his
mandate by three years in controversial referendum which was boycotted by the
opposition and criticised by the economic community of west african states
ecowas
his second five year term expired last month
to achieve his goal he dissolved parliament but the constitutional court
opposed to his plan
following controversial legislative poll on october ecowas suspended niger
from its fold while the european union and the us government also suspended
millions of dollars in aid to niger
washington also banned niger officials from visiting the united states
the government and opposition began negotiations on december to try to end
the turmoil sparked by tandja refusal to stand down at the end of his second
term
talks broke off on december for christmas and were due to resume on december
but the meeting was later postponed till january to enable mediator
appointed by ecowas abdulsalami abubakar to attend the burial of nigerian
former first lady
it was also postponed again last week
an opposition source told afp that the ecowas mediator former nigerian
military head of state held separate meetings with the two sides on monday to
notify them he was getting set for resumption of the crisis talks
abubakar also met tandja on monday state television reported
corrected bolivia in nationalization deal with us british companies
washington jan afp
bolivia is negotiating deals with british and local privately owned power
companies to nationalize three hydroelectric plants deputy electricity minister
miguel llangue said monday
we are close to preliminary agreement and we believe some of the negotiations
will conclude in he told the erbol radio network
bolivia is seeking to control three hydroelectric power plants guaracachi
subsidiary of british owned rurelec plc corani owned by inversiones econergy
bolivia and valle hermoso controlled by bolivian generating group
consortium of mainly bolivian investors
president evo morales has repeatedly expressed his desire to nationalize the
three power plants which generate percent of the country electricity
llangue said bolivia is seeking at least percent control of the companies in
accordance with the country new constitution and pending new energy law that
will set socially just and economically viable electricity rates
the official said one of the three companies had already reached preliminary
agreement with the government but refused to disclose its name
morales bolivia first indigenous president and close ally of venezuela
leftist president hugo chavez has had his eye on the country natural
resources since he took office in he begins his second four year mandate
on january
electricity is the latest basic industry targeted for nationalization following
the oil metals and telecommunications industries
football champions egypt off to winning start
benguela angola jan afp
defending champions egypt defeated nigeria in their opening africa cup of
nations group match at the ombaka stadium here on tuesday
egypt coach hassan shehata said some inspired second half substitutions helped
his team to deserved victory
the substitutions paid dividends said the former zamalek striker
the veteran manager added the victory over nigeria is just the beginning we
still have long way to go and so we still need our fans genuine support and
prayers
striker mohamed zidan said we didn give up think we deserved the
victory
nigeria coach shuaibu amodu said his team paid the price for some schoolboy
errors
we played well and controlled the game especially in the first half but somehow
we made some silly mistakes and we were punished said miserable amodu
skipper joseph yobo said had they sustained their first half performance they
would have recorded maximum points
we started well and got goal but they came at us and equalised they also
scored early in the second half to unsettle us
had we come out in the second half as we did in the first half we would have
won this very difficult game said the everton defender
the six time champions brought to an end year old winless run they have
endured against the west africans and most importantly gave them head start
to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament
against the run of play nigeria took the lead after minutes through the
exciting chinedu obasi who powered home left footed rocket of shot from
outside the box beyond diving goalkeeper essam el hadary
emad motaeb drew egypt level in the th minute when he got to the end of
quick counter attack initiated by wael gomaa and skipper ahmed hassan to round
goalkeeper vincent enyeama and slot the ball into an empty net
skipper hassan gave the champions the lead in the th minute when he thundered
home blinder past enyeama from outside the yard box
substitute mohamed nagi completed the demolition job on nigeria in the th
minute when he drove home pile driver for the third goal to the delight of the
noisy strong crowd
before that zidan should have extended egypt lead on the hour mark when all
alone with enyeama inside the box but he blasted wide
hoffenheim striker obasi late inclusion in the super eagles squad to angola
was at the heart of several nigerian attacks against an eyptian team missing key
stars like mohamed aboutrika mohamed barakat and amr zaki through injury
zidan would have put the defending champions in front after seven minutes but
his final shot sailed over the bar with goalkeeper enyeama beaten
and immediately after obasi stunning opening goal said moawad would have
drawn egypt level but he sliced his final effort off target
on minutes borussia dortmund striker zidan again threatened the nigerian
goal but his low shot screamed into touch to the relief of enyeama
yakubu aiyegbeni had penalty appeal refused by the referee from mauritius
rajindraparsad seechurn in the th minute after egyptian defender mahmoud
fathalla handled the ball inside the box
and moments later kalu uche fired wide from inside the area
in the rd minute leftback taye taiwo launched an ambitious attack down the
left wing before pulling back for kalu uche who failed to hit the target
it was miss nigeria would rue as moments later egypt countered for al ahly
striker motaeb to score the equaliser as the pharaohs finished the first half
the stronger of the two teams
in the second half egypt continued to create chances with zidan troubling the
nigerian back four again and again while at the other end goalkeeper el hadary
kept out whatever nigeria could produce as the champions showed they cannot be
taken lightly in angola
terrorists looking to enter us via canada report
ottawa jan afp
prime minister stephen harper held talks with national security advisers after
reports surfaced that would be attackers were seeking to enter the united states
via canada broadcaster ctv said tuesday
harper office said he was briefed overnight by public safety minister peter
van loan foreign affairs minister lawrence cannon defence minister peter
mackay and justice minister rob nicholson
according to ctv the government asked canadian airlines and airports on
saturday to remain vigilant and adhere to tough new passenger screening rules
adopted after failed christmas day attack on us jet
transport minister john baird said tuesday the government had received two or
three pieces of threat information since young nigerian tried to set off
bomb on northwest airlines flight from amsterdam to detroit last month
ctv said british and us intelligence reports suggested yemeni trained
terrorists were trying to get into canada and then travel to the united
states
separately canadian intelligence officials had evidence that another group was
also trying to enter canada the broadcaster said
football champions egypt off to winning start
benguela angola jan afp
defending champions egypt defeated nigeria in their opening africa cup of
nations group match at the ombaka stadium here on tuesday
egypt coach hassan shehata said some inspired second half substitutions helped
his team to deserved victory
the substitutions paid dividends said the former zamalek striker
the veteran manager added the victory over nigeria is just the beginning we
still have long way to go and so we still need our fans genuine support and
prayers
nigeria coach shuaibu amodu said his team paid the price for some schoolboy
errors
we played well and controlled the game especially in the first half but somehow
we made some silly mistakes and we were punished said miserable amodu
skipper joseph yobo said had they sustained their first half performance they
would have recorded maximum points
we started well and got goal but they came at us and equalised they also
scored early in the second half to unsettle us
had we come out in the second half as we did in the first half we would have
won this very difficult game said the everton defender
the six time champions brought to an end year old winless run they have
endured against the west africans and most importantly gave them head start
to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament
against the run of play nigeria took the lead after minutes through the
exciting chinedu obasi who powered home left footed rocket of shot from
outside the box beyond diving goalkeeper essam el hadary
emad motaeb drew egypt level in the th minute when he got to the end of
quick counter attack initiated by wael gomaa and skipper ahmed hassan to round
goalkeeper vincent enyeama and slot the ball into an empty net
skipper hassan gave the champions the lead in the th minute when he thundered
home blinder past enyeama from outside the yard box
substitute mohamed nagi completed the demolition job on nigeria in the th
minute when he drove home pile driver for the third goal to the delight of the
noisy strong crowd
before that mohamed zidan should have extended egypt lead on the hour mark
when all alone with enyeama inside the box but he blasted wide
hoffenheim striker obasi late inclusion in the super eagles squad to angola
was at the heart of several nigerian attacks against an eyptian team missing key
stars like mohamed aboutrika mohamed barakat and amr zaki through injury
zidan would have put the defending champions in front after seven minutes but
his final shot sailed over the bar with goalkeeper enyeama beaten
and immediately after obasi stunning opening goal said moawad would have
drawn egypt level but he sliced his final effort off target
on minutes borussia dortmund striker zidan again threatened the nigerian
goal but his low shot screamed into touch to the relief of enyeama
yakubu aiyegbeni had penalty appeal refused by the referee from mauritius
rajindraparsad seechurn in the th minute after egyptian defender mahmoud
fathalla handled the ball inside the box
and moments later kalu uche fired wide from inside the area
in the rd minute leftback taye taiwo launched an ambitious attack down the
left wing before pulling back for kalu uche who failed to hit the target
it was miss nigeria would rue as moments later egypt countered for al ahly
striker motaeb to score the equaliser as the pharaohs finished the first half
the stronger of the two teams
in the second half egypt continued to create chances with zidan troubling the
nigerian back four again and again while at the other end goalkeeper el hadary
kept out whatever nigeria could produce as the champions showed they cannot be
taken lightly in angola
clinton okada begin talks on disputed us base
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton and her japanese counterpart katsuya okada
began talks here wednesday aimed at defusing row over us air base in japan
and bolstering their long alliance
as they sat down for hour long talks at hotel on the pacific ocean outside
honolulu clinton broke the ice with talk about the close connection president
barack obama has with hawaii where he was born and grew up
in the runup to the meeting both clinton and okada vowed not to let the dispute
over the futenma air base on the japanese island of okinawa undermine us
japanese alliance that has underpinned security in asia for years
futenma is very important issue but we can let it affect the broader
alliance okada told the washington post just before the talks
he expressed the hope it would last another years or years or longer
clinton speaking to reporters on the way to honolulu on monday also played
down the dispute the significance of our meeting is to reaffirm the centrality
of our year old alliance she said
it the alliance provides stability for the region and think it much
bigger than any one particular issue clinton said suggesting the alliance
trumped the problem of the base
state department acting spokesman gordon duguid told reporters in washington
that this particular issue of rebasing is something that we will work through
the us believes we have good agreement on the table the japanese are
considering that agreement duguid said
tokyo relations with its most important ally have been strained over the
futenma base which prime minister yukio hatoyama has suggested should be moved
off the southern island of okinawa or even outside japan altogether
the center left hatoyama who took power in september has pledged to review
past agreements on the us military presence including plans to shift futenma
within okinawa and to deal with washington on more equal basis
but clinton urged patience as new party adjusts to power in japan and put
positive spin on us ties with the new government praising it for setting up
five billion dollar fund for afghanistan
yomiuri newspaper and other reports said sunday that clinton and okada will make
final arrangements tuesday for an anniversary statement by the us and japanese
leaders stressing the contribution of their alliance to global peace
the security treaty signed on january has formed the bedrock of the
post war japan us alliance under which pacifist japan relies on massive us
military presence to guarantee its security
after hawaii clinton will travel to papua new guinea for talks on climate
change and economic development before heading to new zealand and australia
where she will discuss similar issues as well as international security
kurt campbell the assistant secretary of state for asian affairs said clinton
will also seek advice from australian prime minister kevin rudd who speaks
chinese about how the united states can better work with china
beijing support is key for us goals in curbing the nuclear ambitions of iran
and north korea as well as combating climate change
in the interview with the washington post okada said he wanted to discuss
broad range of international problems like iran myanmar afghanistan climate
change and nuclear disarmament and non proliferation
burma is the former name for myanmar which is ruled by military junta
okada dismissed concerns among some in washington that the new japanese
government was more interested in china than in the united states the
washington post said
actually in the united states that same idea is being discussed which is that
japan time is over and from now on the us needs to focus on its relationship
with china he said pointing out the irony
launching her fourth asia tour since becoming the chief us diplomat year ago
clinton also said washington intends to exercise influence in asia for another
century and serve as stabilizing force against china rising power
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
what happening in the americas on wednesday
lawmakers probe foiled christmas day bombing
causes of financial crisis under spotlight
washington the house intelligence committee opens hearing into the foiled
christmas day bombing of us bound airliner coverage expected attacks us
nigeria
washington specially created senate committee opens hearings into the causes
of the financial crisis that brought the us and global banking system to its
knees the heads of major us banks are due to testify wednesday gmt
coverage expected us finance banks congress politics
buenos aires following political crisis in row over meeting argentina debt
repayments coverage on merit
caracas monitoring after president hugo chavez devalues the national currency
the bolivar coverage on merit
detroit michigan the world leading auto makers exhibit their wares at an
annual north american auto show coverage expected us auto show
lanham maryland president barack obama defends his record on jobs gmt
coverage on merit us economy unemployment politics
san francisco landmark federal trial on california ban on gay marriage
continues coverage on merits us society gays marriage court
tijuana mexico following capture of teodoro el teo garcia simental one of
mexico most wanted drug lords coverage on merit
washington the federal reserve releases its beige book giving snapshot of the
us economy gmt coverage expected us economy fed
the state department counter terrorism coordinator gives press
conference gmt coverage expected attacks us
quinnipiac university releases results of poll on president barack obama
first year in office gmt coverage expected us poll politics obama
danish foreign minister cancels mideast tour after son death
copenhagen jan afp
danish foreign minister per stig moeller has cancelled middle east tour due
this week following the death of his son his office said tuesday
asger stig moeller writer aged was found dead in his apartment on monday
possibly following an illness danish media reported
the foreign minister was due to leave friday for saudi arabia he was then
scheduled to go on to israel the palestinian territories and syria to discuss
the logjammed peace process
no new date has been set for the visits
french bank federation contests bonus tax details
paris jan afp
the french banking federation fbf on tuesday sharply contested plans outlined by
finance minister christine lagarde for one time tax on bank bonuses that would
apply to traders
the plan which would raise million euros million dollars is to be
considered by parliament in early february
the federation in particular criticised the fact that the tax would be in
addition to tax of percent on certain financial sector salaries
for the people concerned this tax on salaries should be deducted from the
exceptional tax
in addition the federation argued that the exceptional tax should be based on
compensation actually received and not on amounts that have been deferred or
that are subject to conditions
the accumulation of taxation measures risks to dampen the capacity of french
banks to finance the economy the federation contended
the fbf strongly wants its considerations to be taken into account in order to
preserve the interests of the economy and the capacity of banks to finance it
lagarde told the newspaper le figaro that the percent exceptional tax would
apply to bankers who have earned bonus of more than euros and that for
the time being there were no plans to extend it beyond
french president nicolas sarkozy and british prime minister gordon brown agreed
during meeting in brussels in december to tax bankers bonuses as part of
drive to make banks more responsible
we wanted an exceptional tax to address exceptional circumstances lagarde
said that was the objective guiding us
children no requirement for marriage trial told
san francisco jan afp
the ability to have children is not requirement for marriages to be valid in
