the white house and us diplomats in baghdad
us vice president joe biden has spoken about the issue by telephone with iraqi
prime minister nuri al maliki shiite president jalal talabani kurd and
vice president tareq al hashemi sunni
anyone who has an objection can go to the appeals committee within the next
hours falah hassan shanshal head of separate accountability and justice
committee asked by parliament to investigate the list told lawmakers
saleh al mutlak prominent sunni mp and persistent critic of maliki shiite
dominated government is among those who have been barred from taking part in
the election
defence minister abdel qader jassem al obeidi was also on the blacklist but
maliki on tuesday told state television this was mistake and his name had
subsequently been removed
shanshal who told parliament his committee had been extremely serious in
taking its evidence gave detailed breakdown of blacklisted candidates
he said including mid ranking members were in the baath party and
further belonged to saddam fedayeen men of sacrifice and the
mukhabarat
the committee also eliminated officers from military associations
including divisional commanders with the rank of major general or brigadier
general who had been decorated by the baath party shanshal said
five candidates who participated in putting down the shia uprising against
saddam in southern iraq following the first gulf war in were also
eliminated as well as three other individuals who had spread baathist ideas
government spokesman ali al dabbagh confirmed biden has discussed the matter
with maliki talabani and hashemi in recent days but baghdad view was it is
not good to politicise the issue
we do understand that they are worried about measures that might complicate the
election process said dabbagh normally biden is giving advice they want
to see the process going the right way
statement issued separately by hashemi office said biden criticised the
process of banning candidates prior to the election and suggested that any
exclusions procedure be deferred until after the vote to avoid sunnis shunning
the election in large numbers
the vote is seen as key to consolidating iraq fledgling democracy and ensuring
smooth exit of us combat troops from the country by august this year ahead of
complete american military withdrawal by the end of
obama allies seek to save health care plan
washington jan afp
president barack obama democratic allies raced tuesday to enact his top
domestic goal remaking us health care spurred on by special election that
could cost them their senate supermajority
we are think moving forward we are not done said democratic house
majority leader steny hoyer who indicated that the entire complex process could
be wrapped up in days
with talks on the overhaul at critical point democrats publicly refused to
consider that they could lose the late democratic icon ted kennedy spot and
thus the vote bloc needed to overrun republicans delaying tactics
moving ahead on health care is essential if we re going to make sure that every
american has access to affordable quality health care hoyer told reporters
but many aides speculated privately about the historic legislation fate if
little known republican state senator scott brown were to pull off stunning
upset of democrat martha coakley in race she had been expected to easily win
hoyer said top democrats still hoped to meld rival senate and house of
representatives versions of the legislation into one compromise which would
then need to win approval from both chambers before going to obama
but victory by brown who has vowed to oppose the legislation would give them
little time to act before he is seated process senate and massachusetts
electoral officials suggest may take at least ten days
asked whether democrats could reach their elusive house senate deal craft
formal bill and hold the votes all in the next two weeks hoyer replied yes
another option would be for the house to pass the senate version of the
legislation unchanged sending it to obama to sign into law despite deep
misgivings among many house members about that bill
the senate bill clearly is better than nothing said hoyer
but our objective is to get agreement and not to take the senate bill or the
house bill but to come to an agreement as is normal legislative process he
said we are making progress on resolving the differences
at stake was democratic plan fiercely opposed by republicans that aims to
extend health care coverage to as many as million of the million americans
who lack it now and curb abusive insurance company practices
democrats working on the final compromise had next to no margin for error the
senate passed its bill on christmas eve by exactly the votes needed and the
house got just two more than the needed seven weeks earlier
democrats have said they hope to pass compromise bill before obama marquee
annual state of the union address now set for january
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
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 title chasing schalke suffer westermann injury blow
gelsenkirchen germany jan afp
bundesliga title chasers schalke suffered major injury blow on tuesday when
skipper and german international heiko westermann was ruled out for month
schalke currently second in the table point behind leaders bayer leverkusen
said that the year old westermann has picked up an injury to his left knee
the central defender who has caps is expected to figure in national coach
joachim loew squad for the world cup
corrected force behind kraft cadbury is powerful woman
new york jan afp
the driving force behind the long kraft foods struggle for british confectioner
cadbury is the us firm chief executive irene rosenfeld seen as one of the
most powerful women in american business
rosenfeld year veteran of the food and beverage industry was ranked last
year as number six on the forbes magazine list of the most powerful women in
the world list topped by german chancellor angela merkel
fortune magazine ranked her second on list of the most powerful women in
american business behind pepsico chairman and ceo indra nooyi
rosenfeld year old mother of two was named ceo at kraft in june and
became chairman in march when kraft was spun off from the conglomerate
altria
she is one of just two women ceos heading member of the dow jones blue chip
industrials along with ellen kullman at dupont
with hobbies that include piano and rollerblading rosenfeld has bachelor
degree in psychology from cornell university and master degree in business
administration as well as ph in marketing and statistics
she began her career at the dancer fitzgerald sample advertising agency in new
york and later joined general foods which was merged into kraft in the
in consumer research
at kraft she led restructuring and turnaround efforts of key businesses in the
united states canada and mexico and the integration of the nabisco
acquisition
in she was appointed chairman and chief executive of frito lay division
of pepsico where she led efforts to introduce healthy products before
returning to kraft
on her official company biography rosenfeld says her favorite kraft product is
its macaroni and cheese but added that oreo cookies are high up on the list
too
she played four varsity sports in high school and said her career ambition was
to become president of the united states
rosenfeld has spent more than years with kraft including stint as
president of its north american businesses president of kraft canada executive
vice president for desserts and marketing director for beverages
over the past few months rosenfeld spearheaded the drive to take over cadbury
overcoming fierce opposition in britain as well as from key kraft shareholder
warren buffett among the world wealthiest people
on the kraft website rosenfeld said she is passionate about her job
it great to go to cocktail parties where everyone has an opinion about what
you do she says but really enjoy figuring out why people behave the way
they do and then using those insights to develop new products or build stronger
relationships with our consumer
apple shares up sharply on table computer reports
new york jan afp
apple shares were trading sharply higher on wall street on tuesday after the
company announced it would host an event later this month expected to be the
unveiling of long awaited tablet computer
shares in the cupertino california company behind the macintosh computer the
ipod and the iphone were trading percent higher at dollars at
pm gmt
apple announced on monday it would hold special event in san francisco on
january to unveil its latest creation
the company did not supply any further details about the event but silicon
valley has been buzzing for months with rumors that apple plans to release
touchscreen tablet computer that resembles an oversized ipod touch
according to the wall street journal the color multimedia device will allow
users to browse the web listen to music watch movies or television shows and
also serve as an electronic book and newspaper reader
tablet computer would be apple first major product release since it came out
with the popular iphone three years ago
tourists held in sudan for acquiring space rocks lawyer
khartoum jan afp
three european tourists have been detained in sudan for acquiring the remnants
of rare meteorite that hit remote region in their lawyer said on
tuesday
they were arrested two weeks ago in abu hamad kilometres or miles
north of khartoum and were transferred on sunday to the bahri prison on the
outskirts of the capital adil yacoub ahmed told afp
the trio two from france and the other belgium were just tourists who had no
intention of committing crime he added
western diplomat confirmed the arrest of the three without giving further
details
sudan interior ministry previously said french and belgian tourist had
been arrested for acquiring the remains of meteorites which constitutes an
offence under sudan laws governing archaeological activity it said in
statement
the meteorite named tc struck north sudan in october near the
egyptian border
space rocks that make it through the earth atmosphere can be extremely
valuable and this rare example has been the object of research by sudanese and
us scientists
the arrests come in the context of tense relations between sudan and france
which is harbouring the exiled leader of key darfuri rebel group abdel wahid
nur
paris is also fervent supporter of the decision in march by the international
criminal court to issue warrant for the arrest of sudan president omar al
beshir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in darfur
this is criminal case not political one said the lawyer of the detained
europeans
they are doing well they are being well treated they have been able to speak
to their families and hope to be able to secure their release tomorrow he
said adding the sudanese authorities still had to determine the nature of the
rocks in their possession
britain eyes financial sanctions on iran fm
london jan afp
british foreign secretary david miliband voiced support tuesday for financial
sanctions against iran saying they could help bring the islamic state into line
in its nuclear standoff with the west
speaking three days after britain and five other key powers failed to agree on
new sanctions miliband said it would be wrong to give running commentary on
what sanctions could be agreed
but he told lawmakers we believe that financial sanctions have an important
role to play in exerting pressure at the appropriate points in the iranian
regime and not affecting the iranian people
world powers made up of the five permanent members of the un security council
plus germany met in new york on saturday but failed to reach an agreement about
new sanctions
the six are concerned about tehran rejection of un brokered deal under which
most of iran low enriched uranium leu stockpile would be shipped abroad to
be further enriched into reactor fuel
tehran has ignored us set december deadline to accept the offer drawn up
by the un international atomic energy agency and countered with its own
proposal of simultaneous and staged swap of leu with reactor fuel
international death toll from haiti quake rises
paris jan afp
the tens of thousands of people dead and missing after haiti devastating
earthquake week ago includes nationals from around two dozen countries
according to compilation of various figures
following is breakdown of foreign nationals confirmed killed or reported
missing after the january disaster
brazil canada and ireland all confirmed new deaths on tuesday and officials
have voiced fears that the overall toll could rise as high as
argentina policeman serving with the united nations was killed
australia the foreign ministry said small number of australians remained
unaccounted for but that there was no evidence of australian deaths
austria year old austrian woman working for german aid development
organization died in hospital from injuries suffered when wall collapsed the
foreign ministry in vienna said
belgium the foreign ministry has said that belgians were unaccounted for in
haiti three were officially listed as missing
brazil total of brazilians have been confirmed as killed soldiers
with the un peacekeeping mission in haiti and two civilians the deputy head
of the un mission luiz carlos da costa and high profile children rights
campaigner zilda arns
britain london confirmed the first british fatality as year old un worker
and said another briton is missing
burkina faso ouagadougou said burkinabe nationals are missing but no figures
or details are available
canada foreign minister lawrence cannon said that canadians were confirmed
killed in the quake and are still missing
chile year old chilean woman working for the un was confirmed killed and
another chilean national was missing the government said
china beijing said eight nationals four peacekeepers and four others who were
part of chinese public security team were killed
france total of french citizens have been confirmed killed and remain
unaccounted for
germany one german citizen was killed and eight others are missing in haiti
according to the foreign ministry
ireland un official with dual irish and us citizenship was killed according
to the foreign ministry in dublin
italy authorities had no news of nationals including two un workers
another italian is believed dead
jordan at least three soldiers with the un peacekeeping contingent were killed
mauritius the foreign ministry said it had not heard from two mauritian
citizens one serving with the un and the other in the tourist sector
mexico total of mexicans were unaccounted for according to the foreign
ministry one mexican resident of port au prince died when hospital where she
was patient collapsed
the netherlands the dutch foreign ministry said dutch nationals in haiti at
the time of the quake including two couples and their three adoptive children
were still missing
new zealand according to new zealand family members two new zealand born
children and their french haitian father were believed killed in collapsed
port au prince hotel
philippines manila confirmed the deaths of two filipinos one male civilian
un staff member and one female soldier serving with the un peacekeepers
two other filipino peacekeepers are missing and believed trapped in the rubble
of the christopher hotel according to the philippine armed forces
peru year old peruvian working with the un was crushed by falling wall
relative told lima radio station
poland one student is missing according to the foreign ministry
portugal two citizens could not be contacted according to the department for
portuguese communities
senegal two policemen serving with the un mission were missing the senegalese
gendarmerie said
spain three spaniards are reported killed in the quake haitian born
spaniard and his wife and woman police officer working for the un mission
according to spanish media
syria syrian man and his wife were killed their bodies found under the
rubble of their shop and three other syrians injured according to the
country embassy in haiti
thailand the foreign ministry said one thai missionary was missing
tunisia the tunisian civilian head of the un mission to haiti hedi annabi was
killed
united nations forty six un personnel have been confirmed killed and more than
are missing or unaccounted for un spokesman martin nesirky said
united states the united states confirmed sunday that of its citizens were
killed including one working for the government there were an estimated
americans in haiti
football senderos contemplates celtic switch
london jan afp
arsenal defender philippe senderos believes loan move to celtic could help
resurrect his dream of playing for switzerland at this year world cup in south
africa
am very honoured that big club like celtic are interested in me and loan
deal right now would suit me perfectly said senderos who has fallen down the
gunners central defensive pecking order behind william gallas and thomas
vermaelen
my main priority is to get back playing regular football said senderos
really miss that
the world cup this summer is really big thing for me know that if not
playing regularly my chances of playing in south africa will be badly affected
it would be my second world cup and want to get the best possible build up to
it
unfortunately haven played lot of football recently and that why
feel have to leave arsenal
hopefully something will be in place over the next few days but ll wait and
see
magnitude quake rattles cayman islands
george town cayman islands jan afp
magnitude earthquake shook the cayman islands on tuesday us geologists
said but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties
frantic locals poured out of buildings into the streets after homes and office
buildings took solid jolt
it really shook me right through to the soul of my body one government
employee told afp tremors were felt across most of the island
the united states geological survey usgs said the quake with depth of some
kilometers miles struck the caribbean island at gmt
mcclearly frederick with hazard management cayman islands said however it was
not considered major temblor
no injuries have been reported and there have been no reports of damage to
buildings business and schools have remained open and residents have resumed
their normal daily routines the department of tourism said in statement
the cayman last quake which registered magnitude occurred in december
the usgs said the quake one of several to hit south america and the caribbean
in recent days struck some kilometers miles east southeast of bodden
town on grand cayman
it struck one week after massive magnitude quake hit haiti leveling the
capital city of port au prince and surrounding towns and villages killing as
many as people according to some preliminary estimates
football africa cup of nations ghana burkina faso
luanda jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group match at november stadium on
tuesday
ghana ayew burkina faso
teams
ghana
richard kingson capt samuel inkoom isaac vorsah hans adu sarpei lee addy
emmanuel badu andre ayew kwadwo asamoah mathew amoah dominic adiyiah
asamoah gyan ibrahim ayew haminu draman opoku agyemang
coach milovan rajevac srb
burkina faso
daouda diakite bakary kone paul koulibaly mohamed koffi mady
panadetiguiri mamadou tall charles kabore wilfried balima mahamoudou
kere capt jonathan pitropia florent rouamba issouf kone habib bamogo
moumouni dagano
coach paulo duarte por
referee eddy maillet sey
red card tall after second yellow
yellow cards bamogo tall panadetiguiri sarpei badu
irish pm proposes probe into banking crisis
dublin jan afp
ireland proposes to investigate the country severe banking crisis prime
minister brian cowen told parliament on tuesday as he faced accusations of
cover up
an independent review by an expert or experts of high standing and reputation
will conduct preliminary investigation by may while the governor of ireland
central bank will also report on the regulators role cowen said
this will be followed by commission of investigation that will report between
june and the end of the year added the former finance minister
commissions of investigation have recently been used by the government to probe
number of child abuse scandals in ireland involving roman catholic clerics
the banking investigation will meanwhile identify and examine the causes of
systemic failures such as corporate strategy governance and risk management
cowen denied opposition claims that the proposed investigation was cover up
main fine gael opposition party leader enda kenny described the probe plan into
the catastrophic failure of the banking system as secretive whitewash
that sidelined parliament
he said cowen had driven policy that put this economic ship up on the rocks
ireland banks have been ravaged by the global financial crisis domestic
property market meltdown and deep recession
allied irish bank and the second biggest lender bank of ireland have each
received billion euro billion dollar capital injection from the
government
anglo irish ireland third biggest bank was nationalised in january and
has received billion euro recapitalisation
the government is also setting up bad bank the national assets management
agency nama to clear some billion euros of soured property loans from the
banks balance sheets using taxpayers money
nama is expected to pay discounted price of some billion euros for the
loans
under fire bulgarian eu commission nominee pulls out
strasbourg jan afp
bulgaria eu commission nominee rumiana jeleva withdrew tuesday amid
allegations of incompetence and financial irregularities disrupting the
formation of the eu new executive team
jeleva decision solved one problem for commission head jose manuel barroso as
he puts together team of policy commissioners for his second five year term
in office but it scuppered his bid to get new cabinet up and running on
february
in her letter of resignation jeleva said she could not be sure of an impartial
stance and objective appraisal from the eu parliament
she also offered her resignation as bulgaria foreign minister which prime
minister boyko borisov turned down
while accepting her withdrawal as nominee for the european union executive
arm to avoid an institutional crisis borisov said he did not have any
reasons to relieve her of her ministerial duties
jeleva came under fire from members of the european parliament during
confirmation hearing last week over her competence for the post of eu
humanitarian aid commissioner and also over alleged gaps in her declaration of
financial interests
sofia swiftly proposed world bank vice president kristalina georgieva as its new
nominee for eu commissioner seeking to avoid diplomatic fallout
georgieva told bulgarian radio that her work with the world bank helped her
understand the aid sector
barroso welcomed the swift reaction of the bulgarian government to this
situation adding in statement that the process of putting together his new
commission team should now continue
however eu parliament president jerzy buzek confirmed in strasbourg that the
february schedule for new commission team was now untenable
if barroso backs georgieva after talks with her over the next two days she
will be quizzed on february by the parliament which will deliver its opinion
six days later buzek told reporters
barroso was already delayed in forming his new team in november due to problems
in ratifying the eu reform lisbon treaty leaving the old commissioners doing
overtime
the parliamentary head of the greens daniel cohn bendit said the debacle
showed barroso had lost control of the situation
the furore recalls the terrible start for the first barroso team in when
italian candidate rocco buttiglione accused of sexist and homophobic views
pulled out at the last minute
the row over jeleva could also open pandora box for the commission as it
split the parliamentary groups along political lines
the socialist group in the eu assembly the second biggest bloc which led the
criticism against jeleva said her decision to withdraw had been inevitable
however jeleva own political family in the parliament the centre right
european people party epp has complained about witch hunt amid
allegations her husband had mafia links and that she failed to declare
involvement in the bulgarian firm global consult
hope that the political groups who have been attacking mrs jeleva and her
family with unfounded and slanderous allegations since her nomination to the
commission was announced will cease this hostile and aggressive behaviour
said epp chairman joseph daul
the conservative meps have spoken of the possibility of tit for tat campaign
against socialist eu commissioner perhaps slovakia maros sefcovic accused
of anti roma statements in
over the last week and half the parliament has questioned all commission
nominees
jeleva was not the only one to face tough grilling the eu foreign policy
chief catherine ashton also failed to impress
in strasbourg tuesday ashton faced further criticism over her failure to fly to
quake hit haiti
not doctor not firefighter she countered
us troops pour into haiti to ramp up quake aid
port au prince jan afp
us troops led by marines descended from helicopters onto the ruined haitian
capital tuesday as week after massive quake the us military ramped up
huge aid operation for desperate haitians
in spectacular move paratroopers from the nd airborne division landed in at
least four choppers to secure the ruined presidential palace once elegant
white building now surrounded by stinking squalid refugee camp
from the palace strong squad of soldiers headed on foot to the city
general hospital swamped with injured after the catastrophic magnitude
quake seven days ago which the haitian government says killed at least
we are here to provide security to the hospital we work with the government of
haiti we have rules of engagement but we are on humanitarian mission
sergeant bill smith told afp
in several pronged operation us marines also landed southwest of the capital
to link up with un peacekeepers and assess conditions for larger flow of
troops and equipment
colonel greg kane said combat logistics team was landing in badly damaged
leogane southwest of the capital and opening up beach access into that town
to move personnel and supplies
some marines and sailors are expected to take part in the relief
operation although most will stay aboard us navy ships off haiti eventually
over us troops are expected in or around the caribbean island nation
they were preparing to use helicopters and hovercraft to move ashore more than
vehicles two water purification systems nine water tanks six fuel tanks
generators tents and medicine military spokesman said
but the arrival at the presidential palace was not welcomed by all of the
homeless destitute refugees who saw it as an affront to haiti sovereignty
it an occupation the palace is our power our face our pride said feodor
desanges as some of the living rough in the champ de mars square in
front of the palace shouted abuse
amid reports of sporadic looting and growing tensions on the streets the un
security council voted unanimously tuesday to send extra un troops and
police to haiti to help maintain order and protect aid convoys
that will swell the number of un military and civilian forces in haiti to around
security forces are struggling to control looters in haiti capital with gangs
swarming through the ruins as haitian police in combat uniforms fired in the air
monday to disperse them
the international red cross said it hoped to resume non food distribution in
part of the city after tensions forced them to halt the aid on monday
while the full scale of the disaster remains unclear extraordinary stories of
children and adults surviving several days under collapsed buildings provide
rare glimmers of hope
an unidentified month old child was found alive monday six days after the
quake and rescuers are clinging to hopes that more can be found
medics at an israeli field hospital outside the capital also treated jean louis
brahms an eight month old boy trapped for five days under his family house
but with hopes fading seven days after the quake struck the deputy commander of
the military operation in haiti said us forces would transition from search
for survivors to recovering bodies
we fully expect that we will transition very soon from the search phase to the
recovery phase and obviously we continue to be in prayer said major general
daniel allyn adding no us survivors had been found in the past two days
relief efforts are now focusing on the estimated quarter of million injured
and million homeless many of them orphans who lost their parents in the
disaster some orphans whose paperwork had been processed prior to the quake
arrived in the united states for treatment and adoption
in huge global effort more than billion dollars has been pledged in aid
funding for haiti united nations data showed tuesday
major national donors included canada which has pledged million dollars
the united states which has already paid up million dollars and the
european commission with million dollars promised
officials have expressed fears the final death toll may top and
government minister said sunday that bodies had already been buried
international efforts are also focusing on the rebuilding of haiti with major
donor conference to be held on monday in montreal
