lod wm bsk
security situation in haiti remains ok gates
washington jan afp
security conditions in quake hit haiti remain pretty good but water and food
need to be delivered urgently us defense secretary robert gates said on friday
the security situation remains ok gates told news conference despite some
reports of looting
the key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible so
that people don in their desperation turn to violence gates said
but at this point other than some scavenging and minor looting our
understanding is the security situation is pretty good
the un peacekeeping mission had the lead role in providing security he said
they will have the primary security responsibility
president barack obama has mobilized us troops aircraft and an array of ships
to help aid operations in haiti after tuesday devastating quake
the first wave of ground troops have arrived and up to military
personnel including thousands of sailors were due to be in place by monday
admiral mike mullen the top us military officer told the same press
conference
loud explosion in central kabul witnesses
kabul jan afp
loud explosion was heard in central kabul on saturday witnesses said
an afp photographer on the scene said rocket landed near the german embassy at
about pm gmt
spokesman at the kabul criminal police department said that initial
information indicated rocket attack
lod wm bsk
difficult for europe to copy obama bank tax plan juncker
luxembourg jan afp
europe will struggle to copy us president barack obama plan to tax banks in
order to recoup bailout funds the euro group head said on friday
obama is doubtless right to propose the measures he has luxembourg prime
minister jean claude juncker told reporters day after washington outlined
scheme to raise billion dollars billion euros in years
we have to see in europe not collectively but on country by country basis
whether we can act in the same fashion he added three days before he is
expected to be re elected to lead the countries that share the euro
juncker insisted he had no preconceived idea on the issue but conceded that it
would be difficult to adopt common approach because tax matters are reserved
for national decision making within the member european union
ministers from the euro countries will nevertheless hold informal talks on
the issues raised when they meet in brussels on monday evening principally
concerned with ongoing greek debt woes and their possible wider impact on the
eurozone
obama plan followed december announcement in britain of percent tax
rate on bank employee bonuses above pounds euros dollars
to recoup cash spent rescuing the financial sector
similar initiative has since been announced by france but calls from europe
for the international monetary fund to pursue broad based international tax
on financial transactions have elicited little backing
more serbs support joining eu poll
belgrade jan afp
serbians are more optimistic about their country possible integration into the
european union and support for such move has increased poll showed friday
as many as percent of serbia citizens would support the country eu
membership at the moment the head of the serbian office for european
integration milica delevic was quoted as saying by the tanjug news agency
the survey of people in december showed that support for serbia joining
the eu increased by four percent compared to similar survey in may delevic
said
serbia in december officially applied for eu membership after the bloc
introduced visa free travel for its citizens and unfroze free trade accord
following belgrade cooperation with the hague based war crimes tribunal
belgrade hopes to be granted candidate status this year and join the eu in
football redknapp won be distracted by tax evasion charge
london jan afp
tottenham manager harry redknapp is determined not to let accusations of tax
evasion distract him from keeping his side on course for the champions league
redknapp has been charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue after
month police and tax inquiry into alleged corruption in english football
the year old who is adamant he has done nothing wrong insists he will
remain focused ahead of two weeks when his champions league chasing side face
crucial league games against hull liverpool fulham and birmingham
tottenham are currently fifth in the table one point behind fourth placed
manchester city who hold the final champions league qualification spot
ve got an awful lot that love to say believe you me and when the time
is right will say it but ve been advised not to discuss the matter
redknapp said
we ve got to concentrate on the hull game it big game and that is the only
thing that is on my mind it got no effect on me to be perfectly honest
ready for the game and looking forward to it that is about where we are at
fine don know how it started but we re certainly reaching closure my
mind has not been off football anyway the game is what live for
football south korea star seol allowed to leave fulham
london jan afp
south korea midfielder seol ki hyeon has been allowed to leave fulham after the
premier league club cancelled his contract
seol joined fulham from reading in but has struggled to establish himself
and has only made one start this season
the year old is desperate to secure first team football ahead of this year
world cup in south africa and will leave the club immediately
statement released on the club website read the club can confirm that seol
ki hyeon contract with fulham fc has been cancelled by mutual consent
it had been reported that he had favoured return to reading over move to
complete his move to hong kong based side south china but cottagers boss roy
hodgson wouldn reveal seol next destination
seol has decided to leave us he moving on hodgson said we wish him all
the best he has been good servant in his time at the club and he has been
here longer than me
whenever he was called upon he gone out and done his best
loud explosion in central kabul witnesses
kabul jan afp
loud explosion was heard in central kabul on saturday witnesses said
football benitez apologises for liverpool woes but won walk away
liverpool england jan afp
rafael benitez has apologised to liverpool fans for his side woeful season but
the under pressure reds boss insists he has no intention of quitting
benitez saw liverpool troubled campaign hit new low on wednesday when
championship strugglers reading claimed shock fa cup third round win at
anfield
the spaniard had already presided over champions league group stage exit as
well as what looks certain to be another failed attempt to end liverpool
year wait to win the league title
it appears unlikely that benitez will be sacked by liverpool american owners
tom hicks and george gillett midway through the season after club sources hinted
that the manager job was safe for the moment
that may not be the case if he fails to secure the top four finish that
guarantees champions league football and benitez speaking ahead of saturday
trip to stoke was quick to acknowledge that performances have been way below
what is expected by the fans
recalling his infamous rant at manchester united manager sir alex ferguson last
season benitez addressed reporters from sheet of paper as he mounted
staunch defence of his reign
we are not playing well and everyone here feels sorry for our fans he said on
friday this is bad moment we are not doing well during the season and we
know have to improve and we have the belief we can do it
how can we improve winning on the pitch how can we be sure we win on the
pitch by training well
if am worried about my position or the future of the club at this moment
will lose my focus
stoke is the most important game now and we have to prepare properly cannot
be worried about the other things my future is stoke now
with liverpool financial worries mounting benitez could also be protected by
the long term contract he signed in march worth an estimated million pounds
paying off that deal would be daunting prospect for hicks and gillett but
regardless of what his employers may be planning benitez is determined to
concentrate on getting liverpool back on track
the spaniard hopes of restoring the feelgood factor around anfield won be
helped by the injuries to key players fernando torres steven gerrard and yossi
benayoun sustained against reading
benitez is adamant he is not bothered by speculation that russia coach guus
hiddink and birmingham alex mcleish are candidates to replace him
didn read the press didn watch the tv or listen to the radio was
just trying to prepare for the stoke game he said
the only way to improve and help my team is to prepare for the game properly
when you have problems everyone has different reaction it is more than just
football agents money tv radios and internet everyone needs to talk
everyone has twitter or something like that
it is impossible to stop people talking it is not like in the past
facing an obdurate outfit like stoke at the intimidating britannia stadium is
hardly the fixture benitez would have chosen to erase the reading defeat
but he was backed by stoke boss tony pulis who said think rafa has been
little unfortunate this year in the respect that his best players have either
been injured or not really on top form they ve not performed like they can do
against reading pepe reina didn play and he is arguably the best
goalkeeper in the premier league
javier mascherano was missing and he the best holding player in the
premier league and then you ve gerrard and torres who have played with injuries
and who have come off you also had quality right back in glen johnson who
didn play through injury
so there are five players who if they were available and playing to their
maximum would make liverpool completely different team
alert
loud explosion in central kabul witnesses
gates defends pace of us response to haiti quake
washington jan afp
pentagon chief robert gates on friday defended the pace of us relief efforts in
haiti saying the american military and government agencies had moved as quickly
as possible
he told reporters it would have been difficult to respond any more quickly and
that we are dealing with sovereign country
alert
loud explosion in central kabul witnesses
alpine skiing american miller dominates wengen super combined
wengen switzerland jan afp
american bode miller fired out warning ahead of the winter olympics by
dominating the world cup super combined event here on friday
the year old miller who missed the testing bormio downhill at the end of
december and also passed on this month zagreb slalom because of an ankle
injury clocked combined total over downhill and slalom race of min
sec to finish sec ahead of swiss star carlo janka
janka compatriot silvan zurbriggen was in third further sec adrift with
austrian veteran benjamin raich in fourth american ted ligety in fifth and
croatian ivica kostelic in sixth
the victory was miller nd on the world cup circuit and his first since
winning the downhill in kvitjfell norway in march
the two time overall world cup winner in and set up his victory with
no holds barred downhill posting ahead of janka winner of this
event here last season
he then posted the field th fastest slalom time in sec to secure
comprehensive victory and first world cup podium place of the season just four
weeks away from the winter olympics in vancouver
really happy for the win it great time of the year for me moving
forward and getting my first win said miller who unusually wore the same
boots for the two races to combat pain in his ankle when in deep flexion
normally at this time of the year moving backwards he joked
the american also battled injuries at the end of last season and took eight
months off to ponder retirement before finally deciding to not only return to
the world cup but also rejoin the us ski team
miller divorced himself from the us team two seasons ago after having falling
out with officials he competed as an independent with mixed results but now
back in the fold he looks set to avenge his poor results at the turin games in
he had disappointing olympics in italy attracting more attention for his late
night partying than for his skiing and finishing disappointing fifth in the
downhill and sixth in the giant slalom
things are coming together physically and can ski hard from the top to the
bottom he said
have some fall off not at my very peak but still getting stronger
which is very encouraging and we re making progress on the equipment
miller argued that the teeth had been taken away from the wengen course
it was not physically demanding because the snow is so nice he said in
general it was pretty easy this year physically which was to my advantage
because not at my physical peak right now
he added made some big mistakes in the downhill misexecuting two corners
and being bounced around on flat part after the tunnel
they re mistakes that can cost you the race
would have felt pretty down if lost by sec rather than won by
so the skiing execution was not great but the winning is great the super
combined has pretty strong field
right now there lot of guys who ski very well in downhill and very well in
slalom
the world cup continues here with racers competing in downhill on saturday and
slalom on sunday
oil prices slide under dollars
london jan afp
oil prices fell further on friday on weak energy demand and news the us
commodity and options regulator was looking to tighten controls in the energy
futures market analysts said
in report the international energy agency said oil demand in will be
sluggish in the developed world with emerging markets accounting for any
increases and top producers switching supplies to eastern growth markets
brent north sea crude for march delivery dropped dollars to dollars
barrel in afternoon london deals
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
slid cents to dollars barrel
oil prices slipped on thursday as traders weighed weak energy demand in the
united states that raised concern about the strength of fragile recovery in
the world largest economy
the us department of energy doe on wednesday reported an unexpected increase
in us petroleum reserves
in choppy week new york crude hit month high of dollars on monday
after robust chinese data but subsequently tumbled on news that beijing was
tightening money supply to tame economic growth
think this was much needed correction because oil had run up to almost
dollars said tony nunan risk manager with mitsubishi corp
lot of this optimism and euphoria was driven by chinese demand
china is major oil consumer and importer like the united states
nunan said the increase in us energy stockpiles was reality check because
people realised that the inventories were still high so there lot of
fear and uncertainty in the market now
the doe said crude reserves soared million barrels in the week ending
january far more than the consensus forecast for million barrel gain
distillates including heating fuel and diesel rose million barrels
the doe said confounding forecasts for million barrel drop
distillates are currently in focus amid an ongoing cold snap in the united
states but forecasters have predicted milder weather for the weeks ahead
prices were also impacted by the commodity futures trading commission proposal
thursday to regulate the energy futures market
there strong feeling that it could impose conditions on energy contracts
so think that was one of the bearish catalysts for oil prices nunan said
meanwhile the iea warned of possible downside risks to recovery for members
of the organisation for economic cooperation and development oecd which
groups the world richest economies
oil demand recovery in the oecd will likely remain sluggish the paris based
iea said in its monthly oil market report
demand growth in derives entirely from outside the oecd it added
the iea left unchanged an earlier forecast of percent rise in demand in
to million barrels per day mbd
the report explained however hat much of that increase would come from asia
alongside latin america and the former soviet union
in separate development on friday nigerian gunmen demanded ransom of
million naira million dollars million euros for the release of
three britons and colombian abducted this week police said
the four contract workers for the anglo dutch oil giant shell were
abducted on tuesday between oil city of port harcourt and nearby aba in abia
state
the incident was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since last july
following lull in the wake of government amnesty which saw thousands of
militants lay down their arms
three killed in us missile strike in nw pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
us drone missile attack killed three militants in pakistan tribal belt on
the afghan border friday destroying militant compound pakistani officials
said
the attack took place in zanini village near the town of mir ali about
kilometres miles east of miranshah the main town of restive north
waziristan tribal district
us drones fired four missiles at militant compound and according to initial
information at least three militants were killed senior security official
told afp on condition of anonymity
two intelligence officials in the area and local administrative official also
confirmed the attack and the toll
football everton will miss neill admits moyes
liverpool england jan afp
everton manager david moyes admits his side will miss lucas neill after the
australia defender agreed surprise switch to turkish side galatasaray
neill only joined everton in the close season but he is already on his way out
of goodison park and is set to join galatasary on sunday in transfer reported
to be worth pounds
the year old could make farewell appearance in saturday premier league
clash against manchester city and moyes knows the versatile star will be hard to
replace
lucas will be here on saturday and will possibly play so his deal not
completely finalised albeit we have agreed terms and lucas has agreed terms
moyes said on friday
it was an opportunity for the lad that came about think he was very
surprised about it and we were surprised also
we only heard about in on sunday so from that point of view it moved on very
quickly
but think with the chance for the lad to get contract for couple of
years we had to give him the opportunity to see if he wanted it or not
he done great for us and ll be sad if he leaves but he ll go with my best
wishes
everton have promoted lucas he got in the team here played and shown his
worth and we always knew he was good player
he been out of business for while and into the start of the new season but
think for both parties hopefully it all worked well
moyes has been linked with move for arsenal defender phillipe senderos as he
looks to replace neill but the scot isn convinced he will be able to do
deal before the transfer window shuts on february
wouldn be optimistic about replacing anybody because think it
difficult market moyes said
certainly won talk about players at other clubs because that not the
right thing to do but wouldn be confident that we would be able to get
replacement in
it could leave us gap certainly in the short term joseph yobo could be back
in couple of weeks time and phil jagielka not too far away on the horizon
but maybe in the short term it may leave me short
but over the piece think if get over the next couple of weeks then think
would be okay
beijing police cancel china first gay pageant
beijing jan afp
beijing police blocked china first gay pageant friday shortly before it was to
start stopping an event billed as heralding new chinese openness about
homosexuality
organisers said police arrived at the upscale restaurant and club where the mr
gay china contest was to be held and told them they did not have the proper
licence
the sudden cancellation came despite considerable pre event media coverage this
week even in china state run press that had touted the pageant as coming
out for chinese gays
its disaster full of disappointment thought the government was
becoming more and more tolerant said jiang bo contestant from sichuan
province in southwestern china
they were making big step the whole world was thinking china was doing
very good thing but now think everybody will be disappointed
contestants in the pageant which was to have included an underwear segment
were to vie for the right to represent china at the worldwide mr gay pageant in
norway next month
police said we didn have the proper licence said ryan dutcher one of the
organisers who said they were still trying to negotiate with police late on
friday to let the event proceed
very disappointed but can say very surprised
police came here just before the event we didn have any advance warning
he added
the pageant also was to have included fashion show segment and question and
answer round organisers had said previously
participants and organisers had hoped the contest would help underline what many
have said are growing signs of acceptance of gay men and women in china where
homosexuality has long been viewed with shame
homosexuality was crime in china until and it was officially considered
mental illness until since then however an increasing number of visible
gay and lesbian events has taken place
the cancellation left about attendees large portion of whom were media
covering the event milling about in confusion around deserted stage with
runway as organisers dismantled sound systems and other equipment
man in plainclothes who said he worked for the government circulated among the
crowd asking people to provide their identification he declined to further
identify himself or to comment when asked why the event was halted
but wei xiaogang gay man who was to have acted as one of the judges told
afp in my opinion it had something to do with the issue of homosexuality
feel very sad almost cried
dennis sebastian asia representative for the worldwide mr gay pageant and
philippine citizen who flew in for the china competition said that even bad
publicity is still publicity
china might not be able to send representative this year but still think
they ll find way you can keep this underground for long time he said
although many gay people say the situation in china has improved over the past
few years especially in big cities they typically say it remains difficult to
come out to their friends and family
one problem for china gay community lies in the nation one child policy
which makes parents rely on their only child to marry and produce grandchildren
according to chinese experts cited in press reports there are an estimated
million homosexuals in china two thirds of them men
still there had been recent hopeful signs for the gay community
last june china first gay pride festival was held in shanghai albeit
discreetly and with some events cancelled at the last minute by authorities
last month china first government backed gay bar opened in the tourist town
of dali in southwestern yunnan province after three week delay sparked by
intense media attention in bid to boost hiv aids prevention efforts
and on wednesday the state run english language china daily ran front page
story on what it called china first publicly married gay couple that
included photo of the two men arm in arm at the ceremony
four chinese arrested for ivory trafficking in congo
brazzaville jan afp
congo police have arrested four chinese nationals for illegal ivory trafficking
after finding them with jewelry and other items made from the material
authorities said on friday
the traffickers were apprehended yesterday thursday in flagrant possession of
illegal ivory objects including bracelets statuettes necklaces said the
palf organisation which helps enforce ivory trafficking laws
police and government officials confirmed the arrests in brazzaville
the suspects face up to five years in prison and fines of five million cfa
francs more than euros dollars judicial source said
the chinese embassy in brazzaville refused comment on the arrests
hezbollah to change face of region in any war with israel
beirut jan afp
hezbollah chief hassan nasrallah said friday he was confident that any new
conflict with israel would see his militant group emerge victorious and change
the face of the region
promise you in view of all the threats you hear today that should new
war with the zionists erupt we will crush the enemy come out victorious and
change the face of the region he said via video link to an arab and
international forum for resistance movements in beirut
the future of this region is the resistance dignity freedom nasrallah told
an audience that included representatives from iran syria and other countries
as well as hamas exiled leader khaled meshaal
and inshallah god willing israel the occupation hegemony and arrogance are
in the process of disappearing
nasrallah said that israel which fought devastating conflict with hezbollah
in was again beating the drums of war to try to restore its military
reputation as an invincible regional force
israel has repeatedly warned in recent months that any attack by hezbollah
the only faction still armed after lebanon civil war would be met
with strong response
the war between israel and hezbollah which is supported by syria and iran
killed more than lebanese mostly civilians and more than israelis
mostly soldiers
the conflict ended after the un security council adopted resolution that urged
the disarming of all factions in lebanon and that boosted the number of
peacekeepers stationed in the south of the country
however israel has denounced the resolution as ineffective and has accused
hezbollah of continuing to equip itself with tens of thousands of rockets and
other weapons smuggled mainly from syria
qaeda has never abandoned yemen just getting stronger
sanaa jan afp
recent activity by the yemen branch of al qaeda including its claimed bid to
bring down us airliner means the group is getting stronger in the region
rather than having opened new front analysts say
the jihadist network founded by osama bin laden whose ancestral home is this
impoverished corner of the arabian peninsula has remained entrenched in yemen
even under crackdown by the authorities they say
its numbers have in recent months been swelled by fighters fleeing neighbouring
saudi arabia and pakistan where life has become increasingly precarious for
them
even so the government continues its relentless campaign to eradicate the
group and claimed on friday to have killed six of its leaders
yemeni analyst said al jemhi cautions that one must never forget that al qaeda
has its origins in yemen
the country has been refuge even if only temporarily for arab fighters
returning victorious from the jihad against the soviets in the
here unlike in their home countries where they were viewed with suspicion they
were welcomed as heros some of the yemenis among them were even incorporated
into the country security apparatus
al qaeda history of attacks against american targets dates back to december
when the first such incident took place in yemen port city of aden
but had an unexpected twist to it
bombers targeted hotel in the port of aden thought to be housing us marines en
route to somalia but the marines had already left and the only victims were
non americans said alternately to be two tourists or tourist and hotel
employee
eight years later in october al qaeda scored major coup again in
aden suicide bombers in high speed boat rammed the side of docked american
destroyer the uss cole the explosion blew gaping hole in the side of the
ship and killed sailors
in the aftermath of that attack under intense pressure from washington the
yemeni authorities dismantled number of jihadist cells rounding up dozens of
fighters
al qaeda was wounded but it never disappeared jemhi says it even increased
in numbers particularly after the us led invasion of iraq thousands of young
men left to fight there and also in afghanistan
one western intelligence agent who spoke on condition of anonymity said
second generation of al qaeda in yemen emerged on february when
convicts escaped from the sanaa headquarters of yemen security services
including number of men who had been jailed over the cole incident
among the fugitives was nasser al wahaishi man who was to become leader of
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap when it was formed in early by
the merger of the yemeni and saudi branches of the group
they rebuilt the networks silently and secretly and the first attacks which
targeted oil industry sites were not long in coming the agent said
gregory johnson an american analyst says wahaishi has worked hard to rebuild
and reorganise al qaeda in yemen and has been careful to apply the lessons he
learned from the organisation early failures to his current task
and from its base in yemen the reorganised al qaeda has been working to
destabilise neighbouring saudi arabia analysts say
last october there was shootout in the southern saudi province of jiaan
and two men killed were identified as al qaeda militants who had crossed the
border
one of the men yusef al shehri had spent nearly six years at the us guantanamo
prison and passed through the saudi islamic militant rehabilitation programme
before escaping to yemen
seven weeks earlier another saudi al qaeda member abdullah asiri set off an
explosive hidden inside his underwear in the palace of top saudi security
official deputy interior minister prince mohammed bin nayef
asiri had come from yemen pretending to turn himself into the prince when he
detonated the bomb which killed himself but caused no other serious injuries
we have witnessed the reemergence of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula with
yemen as key battleground and potential regional base of operations from which
al qaeda can plan attacks train recruits and facilitate the movement of
operatives michael leiter director of the us national counterterrorism
