immunity to face charges of contact with enemy agents after visit to
syria
said naffaa told afp parliamentary committee voted to lift his immunity after
the visit to the jewish state arch foe where he met with exiled palestinian
militant leaders
was not surprised by the decision naffaa said this is indicative of the
discrimination and political persecution faced by arab knesset members
israeli prosecutors said in december they would file charges against naffaa
stemming from the visit to syria at the head of delegation of several hundred
druze from israel and the golan heights for an annual religious pilgrimage
naffaa had permission for three day trip to syria but extended the stay and
met with leader of the popular front for the liberation of palestine and
visited the offices of hamas chief khaled meshaal meshaal was reportedly not
there at the time
israel regards both groups as terrorist organisations
naffaa vowed to continue to fight the charges this is only the first stage of
what will be long battle he said
more than syrians most of them druze sect of islam live on the
golan heights which was captured by israel from syria during the six day
war
naffaa was vice president of the national democratic assembly or balad party
until few days ago when the party decided to expel him due to internal
political disputes
canada toll in haiti hits
ottawa jan afp
the number of canadian citizens killed in haiti devastating quake two weeks
ago has risen to the canadian government said tuesday
as well were still missing it said
consular officials have managed to make contact with canadian citizens
living in the caribbean country and others have been evacuated to canada
fonseka ineligible to be sri lankan president government
colombo jan afp
sri lanka government said tuesday that it would challenge the legitimacy of
leading opposition candidate sarath fonseka who contested the country first
post war presidential election
we are seeking court order on the suitability of this candidate because he is
not eligible to be declared as candidate foreign minister rohitha
bogollagama told reporters
he said they would seek court action to have fonseka ruled out of the race after
the former four star general was unable to vote in tuesday election because
his name was not on the electoral list
responding to suggestions from ruling party lawmakers that fonseka could be
disqualified the country independent elections commissioner gave the
opposition figurehead resounding backing in statement earlier tuesday
not having one name on the electoral list is not disqualification
dayananda dissanayake said
bogollagama said the government would challenge this assessment
what the election commissioner has merely expressed is an opinion but the
courts have the ultimate authority to interpret the law bogollagama said
asked if it was premature for the government to press legal action even before
the results of tuesday vote were declared bogollagama said they were acting
within their rights
we can challenge the candidacy of even defeated candidate bogollagama said
we are not saying that he will emerge the winner we are confident we will win
but we want the court to rule on his candidacy
urgent clinton deeply resents foreign criticism on haiti
washington jan afp
secretary of state hillary clinton said tuesday she deeply resents foreign
criticism of the us response to the earthquake in haiti saying the united
states was doing as much as it could
alert
us budget deficit to hit trillion dollars in cbo
football ghana boost as annan returns
luanda jan afp
ghana who have been rocked by injuries at the africa cup of nations finally
had some good news with the return to fitness of anthony annan for thursday
semi final with nigeria
annan who plays his club football in norway with rosenborg has had to watch
ghana progress to the last four from the sidelines missing the loss to
ivory coast and the wins over burkina faso and angola
serb coach milovan rajevic speaking at the team hotel in downtown luanda on
tuesday confirmed anthony is recovering well and we can use him for the semi
final
annan recovery could not have come at more appropiate time as ghana prepare
to face nigeria in the west african derby
the two sides last met in the africa cup of nations quarter finals with
ghana prevailing only to go out in the semi final to cameroon
rajevic has done wonders to get the limping black stars to the last four in
angola with stars like michael essien and stephen appiah among raft of key
players unavailable
he has had to rely on mix of inexperience with eight members of ghana under
world cup winning squad called up for senior duty and established players
like annan and asamoah gyan
gyan scored the decisive goal in ghana quarter final win over the hosts in
luanda on sunday and the rennes striker is relishing facing nigeria in hours
time
gyan said every ghanaian knows how important it is to play nigeria we are
ready for them and prepared and we will stick to the game plan that the coach
has mapped out for us
we beat nigeria two years ago we have lot of young guys in the team but we
are concentrated and we will do everything possible to win
rajevic may be blow in from serbia but he is acutely aware of how important
victory over neighbours nigeria is to every ghana football fan
speaking through his trusted translator he said ghana had the strength to beat
nigeria in my team has lot of young players on it and it
definitely going to be tough match but we go into the semi final with
confidence after winning our last two games
it always difficult to predict result that why football is such an
interesting game but we ll do everything we can to win
ghana are four time winners of the competition but their last win dates back to
gyan annan and most of the rest of the squad were in high spirits at an early
morning training session at the angolan capital coqueires stadium
one player who was missing was skipper and team goalkeeper richard kingson who
had the morning off
nigeria set up date with ghana with penalty shoot out win over zambia
after goalless stalemate in their quarter final in lubango on tuesday
deadly blast destroys baghdad forensics hq
baghdad jan afp
suicide attacker blew up his car on tuesday while racing it at iraq
forensics headquarters in baghdad killing people wounding others and
destroying the building officials said
the attack marked another devastating breach of security day after three huge
minibus bombs targeting hotels killed dozens in iraq capital as violence
spirals less than six weeks from the country general election
an interior ministry official giving the toll five policemen and
civilians said all had died in the blast while most of the wounded were
pulled from underneath the rubble of the building
the attacker managed to evade tight security in the central neighbourhood of
karrada where checkpoints are located at all the entrances and police conduct
regular security searches
iraqi military spokesman in baghdad major general qassim atta said the attack
targeted the forensics institute which has been bombed twice before
at am suicide bomber raced his vehicle towards the institute and blew
it up said atta
the interior ministry official said the blast wrecked the laboratory
the building collapsed soon after the explosion dozens of people usually work
in the institute he said
on monday three powerful and apparently coordinated minibus bombs targeted
hotels in baghdad killing at least people and wounding
the top us army officer in iraq said the military was warned month ago of the
tactics used in monday attacks
what happened was there was two cars general ray odierno told reporters
referring to two of the hotel bombings
the first car came in with small arms fire followed by the suicide bomber we
have not seen that before
odierno said it was yet to be proved but he believed the hotel bombs were the
work of al qaeda
he dismissed the suggestion however that the attacks were linked to the iraqi
government announcement that chemical ali hassan al majid cousin and
henchman of executed dictator saddam hussein had been hanged on monday
in no way was this attack attached to chemical ali he said
security concerns raised by this week wave of bombings have been exacerbated
by controversy over the effectiveness of bomb detection devices bought from
british company and routinely used by iraqi security forces
the ade hand held devices were last week banned from export after british
tests showed they were not suitable for bomb detection
the director of the company that sells them was arrested on suspicion of fraud
by misrepresentation by british police and later bailed the iraqi government
has launched an investigation
iraqi politicians and us forces have warned of rising violence ahead of the
march vote the second parliamentary ballot since the us led invasion
ousted saddam but ushered in deadly and long lasting insurgency
the recent unrest also comes amid bitter row sparked by the exclusion of
hundreds of candidates from the election because of their alleged links with
saddam which could see sunni arabs marginalised from the political process
the election is seen as crucial step towards consolidating iraq democracy
and securing complete us military exit by the end of as planned odierno
on tuesday restated his fear of more unrest
expect there will be other attempts between now and march to conduct other
high profile attacks he said we are focused on working with the government
of iraq to do the best we can to stop these attacks
nearly people were killed and more than were wounded last year in
coordinated vehicle bombings at government buildings including the ministries
of finance foreign affairs and justice in august october and december
alert
clinton deeply resents foreign criticism of us response in haiti
suicide bomb injures nine near us base in kabul
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber struck near us military base in kabul on tuesday injuring at
least nine afghans police and the nato force said just days ahead of global
summit on tackling taliban led insurgency
the attacker detonated car packed with explosives as convoy of foreign
forces passed near the main gate of camp phoenix us military base in kabul on
the main road out of the capital to the eastern provinces
the taliban who are waging an increasingly deadly insurgency to topple the
afghan government and oust foreign troops claimed responsibility
we carried out the bombing the target was foreign forces their spokesman
zabihullah mujahed told afp by phone from an undisclosed location
kabul police chief abdul rahman rahman said nine afghan civilians including
three who worked as interpreters for the foreign forces were injured
there was suicide car bomb attack near camp phoenix the suicide attacker
detonated his car close to an international forces convoy he said
nato international security assistance force said in statement it was aware
of an explosion outside the main gate of camp phoenix that occurred this
afternoon at approximately pm gmt
initial reports indicate the cause of the explosion was vehicle borne ied
the force said referring to an improvised explosive device in car
the bombing comes just over week after seven taliban gunmen armed with suicide
vests launched an attack on civilian and government buildings near the
presidential palace in kabul killing five people
the january attack was one of the most dramatic strikes on the capital since
the us led invasion ousted the taliban government sparking the insurgency
by remnants of the regime
afghanistan on sunday postponed parliamentary vote for four months in the face
of the insurgency and lack of funds
president hamid karzai is in istanbul seeking to win support for an ambitious
new plan to convince taliban foot soldiers to lay down their arms in exchange
for jobs and money
after talks with his turkish and pakistani peers as well as officials from
countries such as china iran and russia karzai described moderate taliban
fighters as sons of the afghan soil who should be brought back into the fold
in joint statement after the meeting in istanbul the participants declared
that they support the afghan national process of reconciliation and
reintegration in way that is afghan led and driven
on thursday the afghan government and its foreign backers will meet in london to
try and hammer out possible solutions to the insurgency but the taliban
leadership have repeatedly rebuffed any attempts at peace talks
us officials have said the militants will have to see the tide turn against them
on the battlefield before they come to the negotiating table and tens of
thousands more foreign troops are to be deployed this year
us president barack obama has pledged more troops to the afghan conflict
which along with more from other nato members will swell the foreign
force to about by the end of this year
the taliban and other insurgent groups have refused talks until the foreign
forces leave afghanistan and frequently attack the troops with record
foreign military casualties last year
camp phoenix where other nato member states also have presence was the site
of another suicide blast in november which injured both foreign soldiers and
afghan civilians
afghan soldiers are trained at the base by international troops strategy at
the heart of efforts to hand over responsibility for fighting the taliban
karzai wants to boost the afghan police and army from the current to
by mid next year and will use the london conference to drum up funding
for the scheme
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
tuesday graphics
haiti quake displaced
graphic map of haiti showing the movement of tens of thousands of displaced
people from the capital port au prince to the regions
text slug haiti quake
mm wide
available by gmt
haiti quake
updated graphic on the january haiti earthquake that killed around
people and left million homeless
text slug haiti quake
mm
available now
sri lanka rajapakse
fact file on mahinda rajapakse sri lanka incumbent president voting for the
presidential poll began tuesday
text slug srilanka vote
mm
available now
also available
sri lanka vote facts mm
sri lanka fonseka
fact file on sarath fonseka sri lanka former army chief and main challenger
to incumbent president mahinda rajapakse in tuesday poll
text slug srilanka vote
mm
available now
sri lanka attack
map of sri lanka locating the northern jaffna peninsula where two bomb attacks
were reported tuesday
text slug srilanka vote
mm
available now
imf world economy
graphic showing the latest imf forecasts for the world leading economies and
selected regions
text slug imf economy growth forecast
mm wide
available by gmt
britain economy
graphic showing the trend in gdp in britain latest figures showed that the
country moved clear of recession in the last quarter of
text slug britain economy
mm
available now
hong kong politics
graphic on the planned resignation of five pro democracy lawmakers in hong kong
who aim to force by elections that they vow to fight as campaign to push for
full democracy in the chinese territory
text slug hongkong politics democracy china
mm
available now
winter olympics vancouver
graphic fact files on sports at the winter olympics which take place in
vancouver from february
text slug oly can
curling mm
ski jumping mm
snowboard mm
speed skating mm
luge mm
figure skating mm
all available by gmt
please see separate special graphics advisory for full details
afghanistan uruzgan
map locating the province of uruzgan in afghanistan for an afp focus piece on
dutch patrol sweeping for roadside bombs in the desolate mountain region
text slug afghanistan netherlands unrest military ieds
mm
available now
mekong tigers
graphic on tigers in southeast asia greater mekong region where numbers have
plunged more than percent in years according to new report by wwf
released tuesday
text slug wildlife animal tiger seasia
mm
available now
asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific stock markets
text slug stocks
mm
available now
winter olympics
text slug oly can
winter olympics vancouver mm
winter olympics medal winners mm
olympic timetable mm
winter olympics venues mm
winter olympics turin mm
moved earlier
iraq unrest mm
lebanan ethiopian plane crash map mm and mm
afghanistan taliban map mm
melamine food factfile mm
icon foldable aircraft factfile mm
auschwitz birkenau map mm
paris hong kong
tel
afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor bryan mcmanus
telephone
imf economy growth forecast thlead
washington
the international monetary fund says the global economy is poised to rebound
from last year contraction and grow percent better than previous
forecasts but warns the recovery is still fragile and fraught with risks
words gmt by veronica smith file picture
imf asia china growth rdlead
washington
asia developing economies are seeing acceleration in led by china
percent growth rate the imf forecasts as the region recovers swiftly from
global downturn
words gmt by parameswaran file picture
we will also move imf economy growth forecast table
us economy bank rate
washington
the federal reserve opens two day monetary policy meeting overshadowed by the
suspense surrounding the confirmation of central bank chairman ben bernanke for
second term
words gmt by rob lever
britain economy finance growth recession ndlead wrap
london
britain staggers out of its longest ever recession in the fourth quarter of
official data shows but sky high state debt is likely to stunt recovery
beyond general election due by june
words gmt by roland jackson pictures graphic
forex europe lead wrap
london
the euro falls sharply on concerns about growing public debt while the british
pound slumps on news that britain only just edged out of recession in the final
quarter of last year
words gmt
stocks europe lead wrap
london
european stock markets slide extending losses on persistent concerns about the
economic outlook after figures showed britain limping out of recession
words gmt
commodities energy oil price lead wrap
london
oil prices drop on concerns major energy consumer china will make further moves
to tighten credit slowing its economy
words gmt
europe eurozone public debt bank ecb ratings bonds
london
the fitch credit rating agency and the european central bank issue strong
warnings about the weight of european government debt on financial markets and
economic recovery
words moved
china finance economy bank loans
shanghai
fresh evidence emerges that chinese authorities ordered several banks to stop
issuing new loans this month as fears grow that the extra money is fuelling
inflation
words moved
in italy latin professor faults firefighters motto
rome jan afp
italy firefighters may tame the flames but they could have trouble
extinguishing latin expert objections tuesday to their new motto
the motto unveiled with great fanfare in nationally televised ceremony last
month contains grammatical error the punctilious giuliano pisani told afp
the latin motto reading flammas domamus donamus cordem literally we tame
the flames give the heart contains the masculine ending on the latin word
for heart cordem which is in fact neuter he said
firefighters are one of italy most respected institutions and they cannot be
exposed to ridicule said pisani well known philologist and high school
latin teacher
such mistake reproduced on banners across the country would be hard to
tolerate he added
latin enthusiast in pisani northern italian hometown of padua drew his
attention to the new motto the philologist said
the first thing did was to call the local firefighters chief to tell him
about this maybe not all of the banners have been made yet he added
the firefighters press office declined to comment to afp
azerbaijan state oil fund grows to bln dollars
baku jan afp
the assets of energy rich azerbaijan state oil fund rose by nearly third in
to billion dollars billion euros the fund said in statement
tuesday
but after nearly quadrupling its assets in the sovereign wealth fund
growth slowed considerably to percent amid the global economic downturn
last year
the state oil fund of azerbaijan sofaz key part of the country economy
is aimed at making investments and setting money aside for any future drop in
oil revenues
state investment vehicles typically controlled by rich countries sovereign
wealth funds swfs have in recent years played an increasingly important role
in the global economy
sofaz took in billion dollars billion euros in revenues mostly from
azerbaijan sales of oil and gas and spent billion dollars billion
euros the statement said
of the expenditures the largest portion was transferred to the state budget
part was spent on social programmes and most of the rest was used for various
infrastructure projects
mainly muslim country wedged between russia and iran ex soviet azerbaijan is
key partner in projects to deliver caspian sea energy reserves to the west
through oil and gas pipelines to turkey bypassing russia
azerbaijan economic growth was nearly steady at percent last year down
slightly from percent in its state statistics committee said last
week
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor chris otton
tel
top stories
challenger declared illegal as sri lanka votes
quake aftershocks trigger fresh panic in haiti
karzai wins neighbours backing to woo taliban
imf predicts percent global growth in
srilanka vote thlead wrap
colombo
sri lanka government says it will challenge the legitimacy of the main
opposition figure in the country presidential election setting up clash
that threatens more instability on the war torn island
words gmt by amal jayasinghe pictures graphic video
haiti quake newseries wrap
port au prince
two new aftershocks spread panic once more on the streets of haiti as world
leaders warn rebuilding the devastated nation will take at least decade
words gmt by daphne benoit picture graphic video
afghanistan unrest rdlead wrap
istanbul
afghan president hamid karzai wins regional backing for his efforts to cajole
islamist insurgents to lay down their arms as germany offers more troops and
cash for the ravaged nation
words gmt by nicolas cheviron pictures video
we will also move afghanistan unrest germany thlead wrap
imf economy growth forecast thlead
washington
the international monetary fund says the global economy is poised to rebound
from last year contraction and grow percent better than previous
forecasts but warns the recovery is still fragile and fraught with risks
words gmt by veronica smith file picture
haiti
haiti quake golf scene
port au prince
petionville manicured golf course once favorite haunt of haiti elite is
now the site of massive tent city where tens of thousands left homeless by
devastating earthquake have taken refuge
words gmt by david dieudonne picture
haiti quake homeless scene
port au prince
haitian government plans to relocate hundreds of thousands of people out of
squalid makeshift camps to new temporary shelters have been greeted with
suspicion by disorientated and destitute population
words gmt by jordi zamora picture
europe
britain iraq military politics inquiry ndlead
london
britain invasion of iraq in was illegal the former chief legal advisor
to the foreign ministry tells public inquiry into the war three days before
ex prime minister tony blair appears
words by alice ritchie picture
britain nireland politics ndlead
belfast
british prime minister gordon brown and his irish counterpart brian cowen
scramble to save northern ireland fragile power sharing administration as
emergency talks drag into second day
words gmt picture
france politics religion islam women rights rdlead
paris
french parliament report calls for ban on the full islamic veil in many
public places saying muslim women who wear the burqa are mounting an
unacceptable challenge to french values
words gmt picture video
lifestyle spain food gastronomy people adria rdlead
madrid
el bulli the spanish restaurant repeatedly crowned the world best will
temporarily close in and while its famed chef ferran adria takes
sabbatical
words gmt
middle east
lebanon plane crash thlead wrap
beirut
