us aerospace giant boeing said wednesday it has won contract from the united
arab emirates for six military aircraft making the uae the second middle
east nation to order the airlifter
uae will take delivery of four in and two in in the deal whose
financial terms are not being disclosed boeing and the uae said in joint
statement
the globemaster iii advanced airlifter can carry large combat equipment and
troops or humanitarian aid across international distances to small austere
airfields anywhere in the world the company said
capable of carrying full payload of pounds tonnes the can
fly nautical miles miles kilometers and land in feet
meters or less
the will give the uae the ability to perform variety of humanitarian and
strategic lift operations around the world in support of both national and
international missions mohamed al mazrouei uae major general staff pilot
said in the statement
these missions require us to be ready for any contingency at any time and any
place and the meets our requirements
the uae announced last year it would upgrade its airlift capabilities with the
qatar was the first middle east nation to order the airlifter which currently
numbers in service worldwide including owned by the us air force
boeing said the planes have international customers including the
british canadian and australian air forces
boeing is pleased that the uae air force has selected the to meet its
airlift requirements for the st century said jean chamberlin boeing vice
president of global mobility systems
the consistently posts mission capability rates that are among the best in
the world earning it high marks for its industry leading quality and
reliability
urgent clinton to visit australia zealand png
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton will leave next week on visit to
australia new zealand and papua new guinea the state department announced
wednesday
argentina demands resignation of central bank president
buenos aires jan afp
argentina president cristina kirchner on wednesday demanded the resignation of
the central bank chief who refused to step down in dispute over repaying
billions of dollars in national debt spokesman said
martin redrado reportedly has been reluctant to transfer some billion
dollars from the central bank to pay down the country debt in ordered by
kirchner late last year
kirchner announced the call for redrado resignation on her official website
saying the post had been offered to mario blejer who held the position from
to
the standoff could lead to major political crisis since redrado does not
serve at the pleasure of the president according to political observers who
say that the head of the central bank can only be fired by argentina senate
at present redrado term at the helm of the central bank is due to end in
september
greece must not expect eu bailout ecb
athens jan afp
greece threatened by massive overspending must not expect an eu bailout the
european central bank warned on wednesday as an eu mission to athens prepared to
scrutinise crisis budget
greece problems are decidedly greek as prime minister george papandreou has
himself admitted ecb chief economist juergen stark told the italian financial
daily il sole ore in rome
the markets are fooling themselves if they think that at some point the other
eu member states will put their hands in their pockets to save greece
he spoke as officials from the ecb and from the european commission began
mission in athens to examine with greek officials crisis programme to
stabilise national greek finances greece is member of the eurozone
the beleaguered greek government which has described the overspending as
threat to the nation is to submit its crisis measures to the eu commission by
the end of january
and on tuesday the day before the eu mission was to begin work the government
revealed radical shortening by year of its timetable for correcting public
finances
stark repetition of the ecb rejection of bailout helped firm the euro
against the dollar with the european single currency firming to dollars
from as low as
commenting on stark comments economist alan mcquaid at bloxham stockbrokers
in dublin said although the ecb is talking tough on greece budget woes no
one seems to believe them at this juncture
but he also remarked that if the ecb is not bluffing and stopped accepting
greek government bonds as collateral for refinancing greek banks when special
relaxed criteria run out at the end of the year it could spark chain
reaction which could quickly threaten to destabilise the whole region and make
bailout inevitable even if not involving the ecb directly
mcquaid said the key questions for investors rating agencies and greece eu
partners will be whether the plan set of policy initiatives contains enough
structural cost cutting measures to be deemed feasible and convincing
he said that the greek government initial outline of action failed to impress
markets which were looking for detailed long term cuts in public spending
including pension reforms
greece deficit the difference between spending on central welfare and local
government budgets and revenues is estimated to be percent of gross
domestic product
greek finance ministry source said on tuesday that athens had reduced by
year its timetable for reducing its public deficit to the maximum ceiling
permitted under the stability and growth pact of percent of gdp
this would now be achieved within three years and implies sharply tougher
twist of an already tough promise to correct public finances
we are conscious of the difficulties the entire population has to help but
am optimistic papandreou told reporters in athens on wednesday he added
that will be year of big changes
late last month greece was hit by financial crisis which has fuelled debate in
financial circles about the cohesion of the nation eurozone
credit rating agencies downgraded their ratings of greek debt the price of
government debt bonds used to finance the debt fell and the interest demanded by
lenders rose sharply
in addition the ecb which manages eurozone monetary policy and the european
commission put intense pressure on greece to produce revised budget and
restore national credibility on financial markets
participation in the monetary union doesn confer any right for member state
to demand financial support stark said
these past few years greece has not kept its public accounts under control or
worked to improve its competitivity he said
these problems are not tied to the global crisis but are homegrown and must
be addressed with appropriate economic measures he added
northern ireland loyalist group disarms
belfast jan afp
northern ireland largest loyalist paramilitary group announced wednesday that
it had completely disarmed milestone in the troubled province peace
process
the political wing of the ulster defence association uda blamed for about
murders in its campaign to maintain british rule during three decades of civil
strife said it had put the remainder of its arsenal beyond use
today the leadership of the uda can confirm that all weaponry under its control
has been put verifiably beyond use said ulster political research group uprg
leader frankie gallagher at press conference in belfast
the move month before long running amnesty on giving up arms ends was
facilitated by the independent international commission on decommissioning
iicd under the leadership of canadian general john de chastelain
it was verified by two independent witnesses the former church of ireland
primate lord robin eames and former top civil servant george quigley
the uda is the largest and last loyalist paramilitary group to hand over its
weapons following the good friday agreement which largely ended three
decades of violence in the province known as the troubles
loyalists are northern ireland protestants who want the province to remain part
of britain and are historic foes of catholic republicans who believe it should
become part of the republic of ireland
the other main loyalist groups ulster volunteer force uvf and red hand
commandos rhc announced last june that they were putting all of their weapons
beyond use move hailed by political leaders as an historic day
the irish republican army ira the main republican paramilitary group
finished destroying its arsenal four years ago overseen by the commission
irish prime minister brian cowen welcomed the uda announcement as further
significant milestone in the peace process
taken together with the completion of decommissioning by the ira and the
uvf it is clear signal that northern ireland has moved on and that the
democratic institutions established by the good friday agreement are the means
through which the entire community in northern ireland and the people of these
islands can and will build lasting peace and prosperity he said
britain northern ireland secretary shaun woodward said it was major act of
leadership by the uda and further comprehensive evidence of the success of
politics over violence in northern ireland
the peace accord ended most of the violence which had plagued northern
ireland for decades killing at least people
devolved self rule is now in place after landmark accord in between the
protestant democratic unionists dup and catholic sinn fein
sinn fein lawmaker gerry kelly also welcomed the uda disarmanent saying
this process has been about taking the gun out of irish politics
loyalist groups began disarming in but the process was suspended after two
british soldiers and policeman in northern ireland were shot dead by dissident
republicans in march last year
the process restarted after reassurances from the british and irish governments
that those responsible for the attacks would be vigorously pursued
alert
clinton to visit australia new zealand papua new guinea state department
chile copper miners return to work
santiago jan afp
employees at two giant northern chile copper mines that produce over four
percent of the world copper returned to work wednesday with promises of higher
pay after two day strike officials said
the employees of the chuquicamata and mina sur mines owned by the world
biggest mining concern codelco went back to work after agreeing to
percent wage hike and bonus payment of dollars with contract to last
months
union members endorsed the plan tuesday with to percent vote
the miners had considered previous offers insufficient noting the high cost of
living in the city closest to the mine and the harsh working conditions in the
middle of the desert meters feet above sea level
the walk out which saw the participation of percent of the work force came
as copper prices hit month peak monday at dollars per tonne
since early last year copper prices have rocketed by more than percent
spurred upward by signs of global economic recovery after the steep worldwide
downturn
although the price of copper fell significantly during the global economic
crisis it increased sharply in recent months amid renewed demand from china
the world largest copper consumer
chile had copper output of some million tonnes in and was estimated
to have produced similar amount last year accounting for about one third of
global production
codelco produces around million tonnes of copper per year
british pm faces call for vote on his leadership
london jan afp
two former ministers called wednesday for ballot of labour lawmakers on
whether prime minister gordon brown should stay leader of the ruling party
highlighting his vulnerability months before general election
brown has faced repeated rumours of threat to his leadership since taking over
from tony blair in but has held on and is set to fight general election
before june this year
the labour party is around points behind the main opposition conservatives
led by david cameron in opinion polls
geoff hoon defence secretary when britain joined the invasion of iraq in
and ex health secretary patricia hewitt wrote to all labour lawmakers urging
them to support ballot on brown leadership
many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this
question is affecting our political performance they said in the letter
published by london evening standard newspaper
we have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this
issue would be to allow every member to express their view in secret ballot
hoon said later that labour was not getting its message across to voters
because of uncertainty over the leadership
there great deal of talk against brown among labour lawmakers he told
bbc television if we re going to go into an election campaign we need to
resolve these issues once and for all
hoon and hewitt are seen as allies of blair and it is thought unlikely any vote
which could come as early as monday will go against brown not least because
there is no obvious candidate to replace him
but the timing of their letter is awkward british political parties
effectively started election campaigning this week after the christmas break
brown supporters lined up to dismiss the calls
tony lloyd chairman of the parliamentary labour party plp blamed briefings
against brown on very limited number of names who recycle themselves it
pinprick stuff
there is not the support within the plp for this attempted coup etat he
told sky news television
another backbencher geraldine smith described those calling for the action as
cowards and betrayers
the country biggest trade union unite major donor to labour also condemned
the ballot call as divisive and damaging
britain general election has not yet been called by brown but it is expected
to take place in may
argentina demands resignation of central bank president
buenos aires jan afp
argentina president cristina kirchner on wednesday demanded the resignation of
the central bank president who refused to step down in dispute over repaying
billions of dollars in national debt spokesman said
martin redrado reportedly has been reluctant to transfer some billion
dollars from the central bank to pay down the country debt in ordered by
kirchner late last year
kirchner announced the call for redrado resignation on her official website
saying the post had been offered to mario blejer who held the position from
to
football asian cup qualifier thailand jordan
bangkok jan afp
result of asian cup qualifier played here on wednesday
group
thailand jordan
dutch take to the ice in their hundreds
the hague jan afp
as much of europe sought refuge from the cold hundreds of dutch embraced the
chill wednesday for the year first skating event on natural ice held on the
frozen henschoter lake in utrecht
it has been very busy expect that up to people will have taken part by
the end of the day ramon kuipers project coordinator for skating federation
knsb told afp by telephone from the central dutch city
for us it is important that as many people as possible are introduced to ice
skating and these events on natural ice help to make the sport accessible
skating is part of the dutch cultural heritage
the federation announced on tuesday that the shallow henschoter lake had frozen
sufficiently to depth of centimetres inches to be safe for skaters
the two kilometre mile circuit course opened at am gmt gt
wednesday for participants to skate up to maximum of kilometres
so far we ve had mainly adults the children will come after school kuipers
said by lunchtime
there were few novices today but most people seemed to know what they were
doing
some of the younger children were learning to find their feet with the help of
kitchen stools pushed ahead of them he explained
as the knsb warned that natural ice in most parts of the country remained
unsafe emergency services launched large scale search involving helicopters
boats and divers for two skaters who had gone missing near the northern town of
marken on wednesday
skating on frozen lakes and canals is traditional pastime in the netherlands
but before last year unusually cold winter the required conditions had not
existed for more than decade
every year the dutch hope for cold snap to set the stage for the
elfstedentocht race of cities km endurance race on frozen canals
last held in
the knsb reported meanwhile that ice skate factories were running low on stock
as tens of thousands of pairs flew off the shelves in recent days
yemen probes overstay of alleged us airliner attacker
sanaa jan afp
yemeni authorities were probing how the alleged culprit of the thwarted bombing
of us airliner on christmas day managed to leave yemen despite overstaying his
visa an official said on wednesday
umar farouk abdulmatallab disappeared inside yemen for days since the day
his permit to stay had expired on september until he left on december from
the capital airport the official told afp on condition of anonymity
authorities are investigating with police officers at the airport to find out
how he managed to leave the country although his permit to stay had expired he
said
people overstaying their visas in yemen are not easily allowed to leave the
country and are usually taken into custody until they settle their violation by
paying fine along with their host in the country
the official said that on september abdulmutallab had left the arabic
language institute in sanaa his official host and headed to the airport
but on arrival at the airport he changed taxis and travelled to an unknown
destination the official said
he resurfaced on december at the sanaa airport with reservation on flight
to dubai but he changed his ticket to board plane to addis ababa the
official added
the united states has accused the al qaeda branch in yemen of training
abdulmutallab who tried to blow up northwest airline flight before it landed
in detroit but was overpowered by passengers
iran arrests in renewed clampdown website
tehran jan afp
iran has arrested more than people in recent days including journalists
students and human rights campaigners following anti government protests late
last month banned opposition website said on wednesday
rahesabz named people rounded up including aides to opposition leader mir
hossein mousavi journalists working mostly for reformist media and members
of the outlawed bahai faith
another unnamed students have also been arrested mostly in the holy city of
mashhad the website said
on december eight people were killed after clashes erupted between security
forces and opposition supporters staging fresh protests during the shiite
mourning period of ashura
security forces arrested hundreds of people during the protests at least of
whom are still being held in tehran police say
and government supporters staged counter demonstrations calling for opposition
leaders to be punished
rahesabz was one of organisations iran banned citizens from having contact
with state media reported on monday the bbc human rights watch and us funded
broadcasters are some of the others
the opposition website said bahais have been arrested among them the former
secretary of nobel peace laureate shirin ebadi human rights group ebadi
sister was also detained shortly after the opposition sunday protest
followers of the bahai faith founded in iran in are regarded as infidels
and suffered persecution both before and after the islamic revolution
dissidents from iran freedom movement an outlawed but tolerated group as
well as their relatives and dozens of human rights and student activists have
also been taken into custody according to wednesday report
president mahmoud ahmadinejad whose disputed june re election has triggered
numerous protests since then has accused iran archfoes the united states and
israel of staging the latest anti government protests
the new wave of arrests came as hardliners stepped up pressure on the
opposition some hardline senior clerics have even gone as far as declaring
protesters as mohareb enemies of god who deserve to be executed
mir hossein mousavi whose own nephew was shot dead on ashura said he is ready
to die for the reform cause in reaction to recent events
the former premier who ran against ahmadinejad offered five point plan in
bid to find way out of the crisis and called for an end of violence against
demonstrators
he said the government should be held accountable and called for reform of the
country election law release of prisoners freedom of the media and
recognition of the right to hold demonstrations as is enshrined in the
constitution
his suggestions have been largely dismissed by hardline figures and media
iran rounded up dozens of reformists and journalists backing the opposition
shortly after the election as mass street protests broke out in tehran some
have been put on trial and sentenced to years in prison
dozens of protesters were killed including three in custody the administration
has also faced allegations of prisoners being raped which it has vehemently
denied
football ze roberto wants to become pastor
berlin jan afp
hamburg former brazilian international ze roberto said wednesday he wants to
become pastor once he has hung up his boots
feel calling to help people what has happened to me in my life is no
accident god gave me the chance the year old told germany bunte
magazine
despite being on the road lot with bundesliga side hamburg sv ze roberto said
he usually manages to go to church once week and has even recruited two
teammates to bible study group that he has formed
ze roberto who was in the brazil squad for and world cups but not in
when the south americans took the title helped fourth placed hamburg to
strong start to this season before injuring his ankle in november
the midfiedler joined from bayern munich last summer where he spent two highly
successful spells from and winning the bundesliga and cup double
four times with the bavarian giants
urgent argentina demands resignation of central bank president
buenos aires jan afp
argentina president cristina kirchner on wednesday demanded the resignation of
the central bank president who refused to step down in dispute over repaying
billions of dollars in national debt spokesman said
boeing wins uae deal for six military aircraft
washington jan afp
us aerospace giant boeing said wednesday it has won contract from the united
arab emirates for six military aircraft making the uae the second middle
east nation to order the airlifter
uae will take delivery of four in and two in in the deal whose
financial terms are not being disclosed boeing said in statement
the can carry large combat equipment and troops or humanitarian aid across
international distances to small austere airfields anywhere in the world the
company said
the will give the uae the ability to perform variety of humanitarian and
strategic lift operations around the world in support of both national and
international missions mohamed al mazrouei uae major general staff pilot
said in the statement
these missions require us to be ready for any contingency at any time and any
place and the meets our requirements
qatar was the first middle east nation to order the airlifter boeing said
gaza gunfire kills egypt policeman egypt state tv
rafah gaza strip jan afp
gunfire from the gaza strip killed an egyptian border guard on wednesday
egyptian state television said
egyptian policeman dead after palestinian fire in border zone read the ticker
on the television
the year old officer succumbed to his wounds in hospital in the divided
border town of rafah security official said
witness in rafah said there was some firing from the palestinian side
two palestinians were shot and wounded by egyptian soldiers targeting youths who
hurled stones at them from across the gaza border medics and witnesses said
another were wounded when hamas security officials used batons and teargas
and fired shots in the air to disperse some palestinians who had been
throwing stones over the border fence
the incidents took place following demonstration called by the hamas rulers of
gaza to protest egypt construction of an underground barrier meant to stop
smuggling through cross border tunnels
hundreds of demonstrators held up green hamas flags and chanted god is great
one metre yard away from egypt we ask why the siege hamas mp mushir al
masri told the demonstrators
we came today to say no to the wall he said
israel and egypt have imposed blockade on the impoverished territory since the
islamist hamas movement seized control in hundreds of tunnels have since
been used to smuggle consumer goods and weapons into the besieged territory
alert
argentine president demands resignation of central bank chief
fiat joins crowd eyeing india small car segment
new delhi jan afp
italian group fiat said wednesday it would launch new small car designed for
india in two years time joining the gaggle of foreign auto makers targeting the
fast growing market
fiat india automobiles joint venture between fiat and india tata motors
said the launch in was part of its strategy to capture tenth of asia
third biggest automobile market in the next five years
the small car segment is seeing phenomenal growth there is space there and we
see an opportunity rajeev kapoor chief executive officer and president told
reporters at the delhi auto show
the car will be smaller than fiat present small model the grande punto and
will be developed in italy he said
more than three quarters of all sales are small cars with india based maruti
suzuki the overwhelmingly dominant producer with percent market share
japan toyota germany volkswagen france renault and us giants ford and
general motors have all unveiled cars or plans for cars designed to capture
significant share of the indian market
the project is an important step for the india market because fiat has lot of
technology for small cars we want to bring it the technology back to india
kapoor said
dow jones newsires contributed to this report
football sheikh mansour in city cash boost
london jan afp
the scale of abu dhabi commitment to turning manchester city into leading
force in european football was underlined on wednesday when the club published
its first financial figures since its takeover by sheikh mansour bin zayed al
nayan
they reveal that the sheikh has invested million pounds in the club by
converting loans of million pounds into equity before buying further shares
of just under million
in the year to the end of may city registered an operating loss of
million pounds the second largest registered by an english club behind the
million pound figure registered by chelsea in
the operating loss came in year in which city broke the british transfer
record by spending million pounds on bringing robinho to the club
city chief financial and administration officer graham wallace said that
despite the huge losses the club was generating increased revenues and aimed to
balance the books over the longer term
the financial results reflect period of rapid change at the club the result
of long term planning and investment by the board and our owners to create
sustainable business in the future wallace said
we have always said that this transformation will take number of years and
these figures reflect that
mansour coversion of his investment into equity mirrors the approach taken by
roman abramovich at chelsea and underlines the much stronger financial position
city find themselves in compared to liverpool and manchester united both of
whom have been saddled with the burden of financing the huge debts incurred by
their current owners during their purchases of the clubs
wallace added the owners decision to convert debt to equity is in line with
their previously stated financial strategy and is fantastic news for supporters
of manchester city whose club is now on secure financial foundation that
gives tremendous platform to build from in future years
us missiles suicide bomb kill in pakistan
miranshah pakistan jan afp
us drone strikes left militants dead near pakistan afghan border on
wednesday while suicide bomber killed four soldiers in pakistani controlled
kashmir
attacks by unmanned us spy planes and suicide bombings blamed on the taliban
have soared in the past year with washington determined to wipe out militant
sanctuaries and the extremists vowing fierce retaliation
drone fired two missiles into mud brick fort in sanzali village about
kilometres miles west of miranshah the main town in north waziristan in
the fourth suspected us missile attack in the tribal district in week
just over an hour later drone slammed another missile into group of
militants sifting through the wreckage searching for survivors and picking out
the dead bodies pakistani security officials said
five militants were killed in the previous attack and six in this attack
senior security official in the northwestern city of peshawar told afp
the area is stronghold of hafiz gul bahadur who fought with the taliban when
us led troops invaded afghanistan and is reputed to control up to fighters
whom he sends across the border but who do not attack in pakistan
washington has put pakistan at the heart of new strategy for turning around
the eight year war against the taliban in afghanistan hinging success on
dismantling militant sanctuaries along the porous border
the strikes came hours after suicide bomber killed four soldiers outside army
barracks in tarar khal southeast of muzaffarabad and near the demarcation line
with india in pakistani administered kashmir
the bombing came day after president asif ali zardari visited the area
fault line that has sparked two wars with india and distracted pakistani
attention from the expanding taliban menace along the afghan border
it was suicide attack the target was the army barracks we have collected
evidence and body parts police official irfan masaood kishvi said
sardar khurshid another senior police officer in the area said four soldiers
were killed and wounded in the blast
kashmir was split into two in the bloody aftermath of independence from british
rule over the subcontinent in nuclear rivals india and pakistan each
