massive international search and rescue operation involving helicopters and
ships was scrambled as officials blamed the storm for the disaster and grim
faced officials played down hopes of any survivors
lebanese security official said that by early afternoon at least bodies had
been pulled from the sea including that of child one rescue official told
afp that some of the bodies recovered were dismembered while another said bodies
were floating in the water
the health ministry said it had set up crisis unit in bid to identify the
victims through dna tests or items of jewellery found on their persons
debris from the boeing which was headed to the ethiopian capital addis
ababa as well as luggage and personal belongings could be seen washing up on
the shoreline south of the capital
defence ministry official said the plane exploded into four pieces before
crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt in heavy thunderstorm
defence minister elias murr said it appeared the storm was to blame
bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash murr told reporters we
have ruled out foul play so far he added echoing comments earlier by
president michel sleiman
witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea
one employee of gas station near the site of the crash said he heard an
explosion and saw huge ball of fire as the plane crashed
another witness said it was like the whole sea lit up
transport minister ghazi aridi said ethiopian airlines flight lost contact
with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the
mediterranean sea nautical miles off the coastal town of naameh south of
the airport
the control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly
lost contact for no known reason aridi told reporters
the lebanese army navy as well as the united nations interim force in lebanon
unifil and aircraft from france britain cyprus and the united states were
assisting in the rescue officials said
families of the passengers some of them weeping uncontrollably huddled at the
vip lounge of beirut international airport to await news of their loved ones
prime minister saad hariri parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number
of ministers and deputies were at the airport to comfort the families
one woman sobbed and screamed why why as others fainted and had to be
carried away by red cross volunteers
know they won find him wailed one woman referring to her husband who was
on board the flight
we are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from
this tragedy hariri told reporters we are working to find the black box that
will tell us what really happened on the plane
defence minister murr said that us naval ship that specialises in rescue
operations was expected to arrive at the site of the crash by pm gmt
with advanced equipment and divers on board
this should help speed up the search efforts during the night the minister
said
hope that during the night we will have recovered all the passengers
whether dead or alive
an afp correspondent saw eight empty airplane seats that had washed up on the
shore just south of the airport soldiers could also be seen on beach
dragging large metal chunks of the plane
the ethiopian news agency in addis ababa said ethiopian airlines has sent team
to beirut to investigate the crash
lebanon has been lashed by heavy rains and storms in the past two days that have
caused flooding and damage in some parts of the country
officials listed passengers and seven crew members on board the flight
the passengers comprise lebanese ethiopians one french woman one
british national one iraqi one syrian one turkish one unknown and seven crew
members three of the lebanese held due nationality one from britain one
from canada and one from russia
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton the wife of
france ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
many lebanese especially from the south of the country work in africa and
addis ababa is transit point
hariri declared monday national day of mourning as parliament cancelled
scheduled legislative session
the boeing which entered into commercial service in is one of the
latest versions of the world most widely used short to medium haul airliners
and is capable of carrying up to passengers
ethiopian airlines which was established in and operates an all boeing
fleet is considered one of africa best carriers
but in november ethiopian airlines flight was hijacked between addis
ababa and nairobi by three ethiopians seeking political asylum the aircraft
crashed into the indian ocean off the comoros when it ran out of fuel killing
of the people on board
wall street rebounds as bernanke prospects brighten
new york jan afp
us stocks swung higher at the open monday rebounding from last week heavy
selloff as prospects improved for the confirmation of federal reserve chairman
ben bernanke for second term
the dow jones industrial average climbed points percent to
in the first trades coming off the market worst week since last
march
the nasdaq composite rose points percent to and the broad
market standard amp poor index advanced points percent to
analysts said the markets had calmed down after several days of nervous trade
during which president barack obama launched series of initiatives to restrict
the banking sector and senators raised doubts about bernanke confirmation
comments over the weekend suggested that support was building for bernanke
confirmation before his term expires january
political support for federal reserve chairman ben bernanke reappointment
helped us stock futures rebound overnight after friday deep slump in equity
markets said mekael teshome at moody economy com
ethiopian plane crashes off lebanon fierce storm blamed
beirut jan afp
an ethiopian airliner carrying passengers and crew exploded in ball of
flames and plunged into the sea off lebanon during fierce storm early monday
officials and witnesses said
massive international search and rescue operation involving helicopters and
ships was scrambled as officials blamed the storm for the disaster and grim
faced officials played down hopes of any survivors
lebanese security official said that by early afternoon at least bodies had
been pulled from the sea including that of child one rescue official told
afp that some of the bodies recovered were dismembered while another said bodies
were floating in the water
the health ministry said it had set up crisis unit in bid to identify the
victims through dna tests or items of jewellery found on their persons
debris from the boeing which was headed to the ethiopian capital addis
ababa as well as luggage and personal belongings could be seen washing up on
the shoreline south of the capital
defence ministry official said the plane exploded into four pieces before
crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt in heavy thunderstorm
defence minister elias murr said it appeared the storm was to blame
bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash murr told reporters we
have ruled out foul play so far he added echoing comments earlier by
president michel sleiman
witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea
one employee of gas station near the site of the crash said he heard an
explosion and saw huge ball of fire as the plane crashed
another witness said it was like the whole sea lit up
transport minister ghazi aridi said ethiopian airlines flight lost contact
with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the
mediterranean sea nautical miles off the coastal town of naameh south of
the airport
the control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly
lost contact for no known reason aridi told reporters
the lebanese army navy as well as the united nations interim force in lebanon
unifil and aircraft from france britain cyprus and the united states were
assisting in the rescue officials said
families of the passengers some of them weeping uncontrollably huddled at the
vip lounge of beirut international airport to await news of their loved ones
prime minister saad hariri parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number
of ministers and deputies were at the airport to comfort the families
one woman sobbed and screamed why why as others fainted and had to be
carried away by red cross volunteers
know they won find him wailed one woman referring to her husband who was
on board the flight
we are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from
this tragedy hariri told reporters we are working to find the black box that
will tell us what really happened on the plane
defence minister murr said that us naval ship that specialises in rescue
operations was expected to arrive at the site of the crash by pm gmt
with advanced equipment and divers on board
this should help speed up the search efforts during the night the minister
said
hope that during the night we will have recovered all the passengers
whether dead or alive
an afp correspondent saw eight empty airplane seats that had washed up on the
shore just south of the airport soldiers could also be seen on beach
dragging large metal chunks of the plane
the ethiopian news agency in addis ababa said ethiopian airlines has sent team
to beirut to investigate the crash
lebanon has been lashed by heavy rains and storms in the past two days that have
caused flooding and damage in some parts of the country
officials listed passengers and seven crew members on board the flight
the passengers comprise lebanese ethiopians one french woman one
british national one iraqi one syrian one turkish one unknown and seven crew
members three of the lebanese held due nationality one from britain one
from canada and one from russia
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton the wife of
france ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
many lebanese especially from the south of the country work in africa and
addis ababa is transit point
hariri declared monday national day of mourning as parliament cancelled
scheduled legislative session
the boeing which entered into commercial service in is one of the
latest versions of the world most widely used short to medium haul airliners
and is capable of carrying up to passengers
ethiopian airlines which was established in and operates an all boeing
fleet is considered one of africa best carriers
but in november ethiopian airlines flight was hijacked between addis
ababa and nairobi by three ethiopians seeking political asylum the aircraft
crashed into the indian ocean off the comoros when it ran out of fuel killing
of the people on board
whitacre to be confirmed as gm chief
washington jan afp
us auto giant general motors interim chief executive ed whitacre is to be named
permanent ceo and chairman the cnbc business news network said monday quoting
company sources
whitacre stepped in as the temporary ceo after fritz henderson stepped down from
the position last december as the number one us auto company reeled from the
financial crisis
gm said on its website that whitacre who was installed as chairman when the
auto giant emerged from bankruptcy last year with us government support was to
host press conference on monday to provide updates on gm business
activities
whitacre in announcing henderson resignation on december said he had taken
over the role ceo while an international search for new president and ceo
began immediately
former chairman and ceo of telecom giant at amp whitacre was installed to
the posts in new company board controlled in large part by the us government
under gm bankruptcy plan
remain more convinced than ever that our company is on the right path and
that we will continue to be leader in offering the worldwide buying public the
highest quality highest value cars and trucks he said then
whitacre was described in recent wall street journal report as hard charging
texan with penchant for killing rattlesnakes for sport
he is known for taking over companies and imposing his will on its employees
starting at the top the report said
henderson took the helm at gm in late march last year as the auto giant was
headed toward bankruptcy and living off massive aid from the us government
he replaced rick wagoner who was forced out of the job by the administration of
president barack obama
gm has been undergoing massive restructuring since the government gave it the
kiss of life
in the latest move gm europe announced last week it was to close an entire car
production plant in belgium making workers redundant and ramping up an
already tense climate of industrial unrest
it is the second major factory closure announced by carmakers in europe this
month after italy fiat acted to shut plant in sicily
europe wide restructuring at gm opel unit is expected to shed jobs from
total of almost half of which are located in germany
china denies state role in google cyberattacks
beijing jan afp
china on monday denied any state involvement in cyberattacks on google and
accused the united states of double standards as row with washington over
internet freedom intensified
beijing fired off its latest salvo after the white house said president barack
obama was troubled by google statements it had been attacked by china based
hackers and demanded official answers
the us internet giant has threatened to abandon its chinese search engine and
perhaps end all operations in the country over the cyberattacks it has also
said it is no longer willing to bow to chinese government censors
but china said the hacking charges were without foundation
the accusation that the chinese government participated in any cyberattack
either in an explicit or inexplicit way is groundless and aims to denigrate
china an unnamed spokesman for the ministry of industry and information
technology told state news agency xinhua
china policy on internet safety is transparent and consistent he added
saying the country with the world largest online community was itself the
biggest victim of hacking
the global times an english language newspaper run by people daily the
ruling communist party mouthpiece went further saying the united states
itself was major source of hack attacks
the us is the first country to launch cyber warfare it said in an editorial
it said washington had cyber army of people equipped with over
computer viruses citing us defence expert joel harker
do unto others as you would have them do unto you the golden rule should
apply even online the paper said point made by xinhua in an editorial
calling the us hypocritical for criticising others on hacking
the global times also hit out at what it called washington continuous resort
to double standards and said western criticism of china internet policies
came either out of ignorance of the facts or cold war mentality
in another interview on xinhua spokesman for china state council or
cabinet said beijing efforts to remove harmful content from the internet were
legitimate and should be free from unjustifiable interference
the google row which erupted almost two weeks ago has threatened to damage
sino us ties which are already dogged by trade and currency issues us arms
sales to taiwan and climate change
some us groups are calling on washington to challenge at the world trade
organisation china so called great firewall of web censorship
last week beijing lashed out at washington after speech by us secretary of
state hillary clinton on internet freedom saying the address was harmful to
relations
in her speech clinton lamented what she said were beijing increasing efforts
to control what its million web users can see
google has not yet stopped censoring search results on google cn but google
chief executive eric schmidt said last week it would happen soon
google vice president for the asia pacific daniel alegre said in an interview
with japan public broadcaster nhk that the company viewed china as very
important very strategic market
so we hope to be able to remain committed and grow within the market he said
the us state department said friday that us and chinese diplomats had held
several meetings to discuss the attacks on google which the firm said appeared
aimed at cracking the email accounts of chinese human rights activists
susan stevenson spokeswoman for the us embassy in beijing told afp some of the
meetings had taken place in the chinese capital but declined to give further
details
meanwhile the websites of at least five organisations dealing with chinese
human rights and dissident issues were hacked in recent days one of the groups
said monday
chinese human rights defenders network of domestic and overseas china
activists released statement saying attacks on its website began saturday
afternoon and continued for about hours
it said others reporting cyberattacks included the human rights related news and
information sites canyu rights and livelihood watch and new century news as
well as the independent chinese pen writer group
sudan ousted pm to challenge beshir in april election
khartoum jan afp
sudan former prime minister sadiq al mahdi who president omar al beshir
ousted in military coup years ago will run against him in the april
elections his party said on monday
mahdi heads the influential umma opposition party and is spiritual leader
of ansar sufi brotherhood that venerates the famous mahdi who defeated
british colonial forces under general gordon in
he has been nominated presidential candidate an umma party official told afp
descended from sudan legendary islamist ruler sadiq al mahdi has held the
premiership twice before in when he was just and again after his
party won sudan last multi party elections in
umma is the main opposition party in the north alongside the democratic
unionist party dup while beshir heads the ruling national congress party
ncp
mohammed osmane al mirghani dup chief will not run in the elections his party
said
the dup will instead field party spokesman hatem al sir as its candidate in the
elections his assistant walid al bakri told afp
rumours have circulated in khartoum for weeks of mahdi plan to run as
presidential candidate but his party political bureau only took the decision
to nominate him on sunday evening
the nomination is significant because it might impact the process of reunion of
the umma party fouad hikmat of the international crisis group icg told afp
if that happens that will draw attention and draw momentum as far as alliances
are concerned in the north he said
several members who over the last few years abandoned the umma and the dup to
join beshir party could then rejoin the two opposition parties hikmat
believes
think in the coming days the umma party will become stronger and stronger
he said
the presidential legislative and regional elections due to take place in april
are key element of peace deal between beshir government in the mostly
muslim north and the splm in the largely christian south that brought an end to
year civil war
the sudan people liberation movement is former southern rebel movement which
has chosen as its presidential candidate yasser arman secular muslim from
north sudan who made common cause with the splm during the devastating civil
war
analysts say that while he has strong support in the south he may be less
popular in the north
but arman said on thursday he expected to build on the splm southern support
base by campaigning on behalf of all the marginalised groups of sudan far
flung regions
according to analysts the opposition would like to split the presidential vote
to prevent beshir from achieving the simple majority he needs to win which
would lead to second round and enable the opposition to field just one
candidate against him
afp world economic news summary
paris jan afp
the top world economic stories on monday
eu eurozone economy industry sector
brussels new industrial orders shot up by percent in november across the
countries that share the euro thanks to german rebound massively revised
figures showed
netherlands electronics company earnings philips
the hague dutch electronics giant philips reported huge improvement in
underlying performance and switch into net profit in the fourth quarter but said
times were still hard and that it would focus on costs and innovation
italy auto company earnings fiat
milan italian automaker fiat reported higher than expected net loss in
but forecast return to profit this year as long as european governments
continue to offer incentives to buy green
sweden telecom equip earnings cuts company ericsson
stockholm ericsson announced an extra job cuts under restructuring that
bit deeply into fourth quarter net profit at the firm the world leader in phone
network equipment
eu competition australia britain mining iron riotinto bhp rdlead
brussels european regulators announced new probe into controversial anglo
australian iron ore giants rio tinto already facing bribery allegations in
china and its peer bhp billiton
stocks europe
london european stock markets mostly rose helped by rebounding financial
shares after recent sharp losses caused by unease at us president barack obama
pledge to come down hard on banks
forex europe
london the euro was stable against the dollar in featureless trading as
investors awaited federal reserve meeting as well as details on the fate it is
chairman ben bernanke
commodities energy oil price
london oil prices rose as traders sought bargains following slump last week
against background of weak global demand for energy and concerns about the
strength of the wider economy new york main futures contract light sweet
crude for delivery in march climbed cents to dollars barrel
iraq oil us britain
baghdad iraq oil ministry completed deal with us major exxon mobil and
anglo dutch giant shell to develop production at west qurna the war torn
country second biggest field
haiti quake aid finance churches wcc
geneva the world council of churches called on international creditors to
cancel haiti debt immediately warning that it would be morally unacceptable
if they failed to do so
britain finance regulate banking imf worldbank tobin
london britain led push for global deal on reforming the banking sector
that could include widespread agreement for an extraordinary tax on lenders amid
concerns that the us may go it alone
stocks china banking finance
shanghai bank of china shares slipped after it said it might tap the market
for tens of billions of dollars as concerns intensified over the risk of bad
loans following lending spree last year
alert
haitian government can lead reconstruction effort bellerive
haiti emergency aid conference opens in montreal
montreal jan afp
top world officials gathered in montreal monday for emergency talks to hash out
plans to rebuild haiti nearly two weeks after killer earthquake devastated
the impoverished nation
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive canadian prime minister stephen
harper us secretary of state hillary clinton and officials from the united
nations were among those taking part
canada is eager to assert its role in coordinating the emergency response to the
january disaster which left more than dead and hundreds of thousands
others homeless hungry and wounded
know that canada the group of friends of haiti and the international community
and non governmental groups are pledging our support during this period of
crisis and beyond canada foreign minister lawrence cannon told bellerive
french foreign minister bernard kouchner founder of the international charity
doctors without borders was also participating in the six hour closed door
talks
the ministers were discussing how to streamline delivery of food water drugs
and medical supplies to the swelling number of people living in makeshift camps
around the shattered capital of port au prince
speaking here sunday bellerive urged haitians living abroad to actively
participate in rebuilding the country
there is no other solution today but the haitian diaspora integration in the
reconstruction effort he said
washington has taken frontline role in the disaster relief effort sending in
tens of thousands of troops and rescue teams and anchoring hospital ship
offshore to treat injured haitians
television and internet images of the destitute and dying as the able bodied
search amid the tangled steel and concrete rubble of the capital have
triggered worldwide outpouring of donations
donor countries are seeking to use the groundswell of support for haiti as an
opportunity to transform country that has historically faced grinding poverty
political corruption and bloodshed
diplomats have raised the possibility of kind of marshall plan for the island
nation similar to the us led postwar reconstruction of europe which would take
decades and require colossal commitment of resources and money
experts have warned that hundreds of thousands of haitians will be living off
foreign aid and in temporary housing for years to come during the slow
reconstruction process thousands have been left disabled
in ottawa cannon spoke of canada intention to fully support prime minister
jean max bellerive commitment to move beyond reconstruction to rebuild new
haiti
the conservative government is keen to shore up political support for canada
role in assisting haiti as it faces growing protests at home for its decision to
prorogue parliament until march while it deals with the haiti crisis
prime minister stephen harper is fully engaged in the humanitarian response to
this devastating earthquake and has set in motion rapid comprehensive and
determined disaster relief effort on behalf of the government of canada cannon
said
foreign ministers and other officials from brazil chile peru uruguay mexico
costa rica the dominican republic japan and spain were also set to participate
in the emergency meeting
they were joined by officials from the european union the organization of
american states the inter american development bank the world bank and the
international monetary fund
japan said it would pledge million dollars in aid to haiti and deploy as many
as peacekeepers to the un mission there
venezuela nicaragua and bolivia leftist regimes that have criticized the
presence us troops on haiti soil did not participate in the conference but
their foreign ministers met in caracas sunday to discuss their own assistance
program
the montreal talks were expected to lay the groundwork for full fledged donors
conference on haiti in the coming weeks
cold snap leaves dead in eastern europe
bucharest jan afp
cold snap in eastern and southeast europe has left more than people dead as
temperatures plunged to minus degrees celsius minus fahrenheit
authorities said on monday
snow has blanketed swathes of western turkey bulgaria and romania while poland
has again gripped by deep freeze that has killed more than people since
november
in bulgaria schools remained closed on monday in many eastern towns while
rescue services fought their way through four metre high snowdrifts to bring
bread and other necessities to cut off villages
in romania temperatures fell to minus degrees celsius in the centre of the
country roads were cut off and dozens of trains cancelled
total of deaths have been recorded since the current cold snap started
five days ago health ministry spokeswoman oana grigore told afp
most of them were elderly homeless people junior minister raed arafat said
on realitatea tv channel
with no let up in view before wednesday authorities have multiplied efforts to
identify thousands of homeless people and take them to shelters
siberian cold is expected to continue in the centre and north east of romania
until wednesday according to the romanian meteorological institute
in turkey five people died after fierce snowstorm caused power outages at the
weekend in istanbul while further west near the greek and bulgarian borders
villages and major roads were blocked by snow
snow could reach centimetres inches deep in some parts of istanbul
city of million people according to the natural disaster coordination
centre
in bulgaria the siberian cold front left three people dead over the weekend
authorities reported on monday
the whole country saw temperatures well below freezing in what weather services
had said would be the coldest day this winter minus degrees celsius was
recorded in the northern town of glavinitza
in poland temperatures as low as minus celsius over the weekend claimed
lives police said monday
the victims are mainly homeless and individuals who abused alcohol lowering
their resistance to cold spokeswoman kamila szala told afp
police believe that alcohol also played part in the death of year old boy
who died of hypothermia near his home in glowienka village in south east
poland
we know that kamil was drinking alcohol saturday with his year old brother
and year cousin who both went home to alert parents local police spokesman
pawel miedlar told afp
the parents alerted the police sunday morning when it was already too late
this winter death toll is tragic despite constant police warnings and aid
to people at risk szala said adding that people had lost their lives to
exposure in poland since november
the victims were mainly homeless men aged to under the influence of
alcohol who refused to stay at shelters for the homeless she added
weather forecasters have predicted more severe sub zero temperatures across
poland in the coming days
haiti emergency aid conference opens in montreal
montreal jan afp
top world officials gathered in montreal monday for emergency talks to hash out
