whom he sends across the border but who do not attack in pakistan
it was huge fort like mud house they were using it as training centre and
the training centre belonged to hafiz gul bahadur pakistani intelligence
official told afp again on condition of anonymity
suspected us drones have increasingly targeted north waziristan bastion of
al qaeda fighters the taliban and the haqqani network that attacks the
us and nato troops fighting in neighbouring afghanistan
washington is putting increased pressure on pakistan to tackle militants who use
its soil to launch attacks in afghanistan and american officials have said that
the highly secretive drone programme has eliminated some top fighters
north waziristan borders the afghan province of khost where suicide bomber
killed seven cia agents on us base last week in the deadliest attack on the us
spy agency since
washington has put pakistan at the heart of new strategy for winning the
eight year war against the taliban in afghanistan saying success depends on
dismantling militant sanctuaries along the porous border
around nine us missile strikes in north waziristan have killed people in the
past month although the identities of those killed are hard to verify as the
deaths are deep in taliban controlled territory
the attacks on pakistani territory fuel anti american sentiment in the nuclear
armed muslim nation and the government publicly condemns the strikes analysts
say however that the strikes have islamabad tacit approval
more than us drone missile strikes have killed at least people in
pakistan since august the united states does not confirm drone attacks
but its military is the only force that deploys drones in the region
north waziristan neighbours south waziristan where pakistan has been focusing
its most ambitious military offensive yet against homegrown taliban militants
it sent about troops into the region on october
turk caught with bullets on way to us
istanbul jan afp
police wednesday detained year old turkish passenger bound for the united
states after bullets were discovered in his luggage at istanbul main airport
anatolia news agency reported
the bullets were found in the man hand luggage on the last security check
at the ataturk airport before he was to board british airways flight to
london from where he was to travel on to the united states
the man told the police his wife had packed the bag and the bullets were
mistakenly put there anatolia said adding that he would face further
interrogation by prosecutors
bomb alert lifted at us embassy in switzerland
geneva jan afp
brief bomb alert at the us embassy in switzerland has been lifted after
suspicious object found earlier turned out to be harmless an embassy
spokeswoman and swiss police said wednesday
an unattended package was discovered normal procedure was followed and it
turned out to be nothing embassy spokeswoman lisbeth keefe told afp
police had earlier blocked the road to the embassy and diverted all traffic but
the road has now been reopened
there is no danger to the population swiss police spokeswoman told afp
the united states has unleashed barrage of security measures after botched
al qaeda attempt to bring down northwest jet on christmas day including
closing the us embassy in yemen for two days on fears of attacks
on tuesday an angry president barack obama gave us spy chiefs dressing down
on an intelligence screw up that left the us airliner carrying people open
to the barely averted al qaeda attack
eu staff pay fight goes to court
brussels jan afp
bosses for tens of thousands of european union civil service staff said on
wednesday they would sue the countries that foot their bills as row over an
inflation busting pay rise turned ugly
the european commission has confirmed its decision to take action before the
court spokeswoman for the eu executive body told journalists
editor of banned south yemen daily arrested
sanaa jan afp
yemen police wednesday arrested the owner and editor of the main southern
newspaper al ayyam following clashes between police and armed guards of the
banned daily security official said
hisham bashraheel was taken into custody over clashes since monday in which
policeman and guard were killed and seven people were wounded the official
said from the southern city of aden
police laid siege to the daily offices after the policeman was killed on
monday while attempting to disperse gathering protesting the banning since may
of the daily that is accused of sympathising with southern separatists
the siege was lifted after protesters and guards holed up in the
newspaper premises surrendered to the authorities after negotiations but
bashraheel himself was not arrested
among those who gave themselves up tuesday was bashraheel son and ali
munassar member of the yemen socialist party in aden according to the local
source
bashraheel is also wanted by prosecutors in sanaa to stand trial for his alleged
role in the murder of man in front of the paper offices in
al ayyam one of the largest dailies in the south was one of eight closed at
the time over allegations of inciting separatism in the region amid wave of
deadly unrest there
mou ak bpz
zimbabwe botswana ink power generation deal
harare jan afp
zimbabwe struggling power utility has signed an eight million dollar deal with
botswana to revive shut down thermal power station and ease national
blackouts state media reported on wednesday
under the deal the botswana power company will provide funds to the zimbabwe
power company zpc to refurbish the plant in the second city of bulawayo and
buy coal from the country main colliery the herald newspaper said
zimbabwe will export power to gaborone in return it added
the deal will see us reviving the bulawayo thermal power station and enabling
us to generate megawatts and of this megawatts will be exported to
botswana zpc managing director noah gwariro told the herald newspaper
this will go long way in easing pressure on the national grid
bulawayo and other small thermal power stations in the country were shut down in
june due to zimbabwe financial crisis and ailing infrastructure
since february last year industrial activity has been rising from low of
percent to almost percent by year end but growth is limited by the scant
power supply adding to the pressure for more coal or other energy sources
the southern african country spends millions of dollars importing electricity
from its neighbours just to keep the lights on some of the time in parts of the
country which at times go for to hours without power
malaysia court suspends allah ruling in blow for catholics
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian court on wednesday suspended ruling that allowed catholic
newspaper to use the word allah after the government argued the decision
could cause racial conflict
malaysia high court ruled last week that the herald weekly had the right to
use the word allah after long running dispute with the government in the
muslim majority nation
the paper has been using the word as translation for god in its malay
language section but the government argued it should be used only by muslims
attorney general abdul gani patail welcomed the high court decision to issue
stay order pending an appeal on the ruling in favour of the church which
triggered series of protests from muslim groups
made the request for stay as it is matter of national interest abdul
gani said at the court
we do not want the matter delayed and cause all kinds of tensions in the
country he told reporters believe the court of appeal will hear the case
very soon
the herald editor father lawrence andrew warned of campaign of intimidation
including hacker attacks against the weekly website protest threats and
widespread criticism in the media over last week ruling
we believe these actions are designed to create climate of fear and
perceived threat to national security so as to pressure the court in reversing
its decision he said in statement
outside the court father lawrence said the herald had agreed to the suspension
of the controversial ruling
we are malaysians and we want to live in peace and happiness he said we
will be rational in our approach in facing this situation we do not want
opportunists to take advantage of this situation
the herald lawyer derek fernandez urged the attorney general to take action
against those who criticised the court decision which include senior
government figures in defiance of sub judice laws that bar such comments
prime minister najib razak met the nation king on wednesday to explain the
issue according to statement which said tuanku mizan zainal abidin had
consented to the government actions
while the appeal process is going on it is our responsibility not to do
anything that can jeopardise the interest and well being of the people najib
said according to the official news agency bernama
the row is among string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent
years straining relations between muslim malays and minority ethnic chinese and
indians who fear the country is being islamised
religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial malaysia which
experienced deadly race riots in
the herald is printed in four languages with circulation of week in
country with about catholics
urgent eu staff pay fight goes to court
brussels jan afp
bosses for tens of thousands of european union civil service staff said on
wednesday they will sue the countries that foot their bills as row over an
inflation busting pay rise turned ugly
alert
eu staff pay fight goes to court executive
cricket ball tampering issue closed icc
cape town jan afp
the international cricket council icc will take no action against england
players for allegedly interfering with the condition of the ball during the
third test against south africa at newlands
in statement issued on wednesday the icc said the umpires had viewed the
footage of the incidents shown in television coverage on tuesday and decided not
to bring charge against any player
no official complaint was made by south africa and the deadline for submitting
such complaint passed when play resumed on wednesday
television pictures captured fast bowler stuart broad stopping then stepping on
the ball with his spikes while fellow fast bowler james anderson appeared to be
manipulating the seam
according to south african team spokesman michael owen smith on tuesday the
south african team raised its concerns with match referee roshan mahanama but he
confirmed on wednesday that no official complaint had been made
england coach andy flower told journalists on tuesday evening he was unaware of
any controversy and said he believed his bowlers had gone about their business
very honestly and their ability to gain reverse swing particularly during the
team win in the second test in durban was achieved through skill and not any
illegal methods
the footage of the broad incident was shown repeatedly on south africa pay
television channel and the england camp awoke on wednesday to banner headline
across the front page of the local cape times newspaper ball tampering
furore
english newspapers meanwhile reported that the suggestions of foul play had
infuriated the england camp the daily telegraph reported that england were
furious while the sun claimed that captain andrew strauss and coach flower
were angry
gene sleuths widen net for causes of kidney cancer
paris jan afp
new probe into the inherited causes of the commonest form of kidney cancer has
confirmed the culprit role of single gene but also shed light on more complex
disease causing machinery scientists said on wednesday
trawl through the dna of people diagnosed with clear cell renal carcinoma
found more than half of the cases were linked to mutations in gene called vhl
they said
clear cell renal carcinoma accounts for about new cases and
deaths worldwide each year according to figures cited in the study released by
the british science journal nature
the vhl gene had already been widely fingered in previous research as its
mutations appear to be exclusive to cancers of the kidney and not of other
organs
investigators also found flaws in two other genes called jarid and setd
that are part of the molecular switching system that turns kidney genes on and
off
even so mutations in these two genes account for little more than five percent
of cases highlighting the complexity of kidney cancer and the need to catalogue
all the mutations that play part in it
even in tumour type dominated by prevalent signature even in this
clearest of cases we see evidence for substantial heterogeneity said andy
futreal of britain wellcome trust sanger institute who led the research
to search comprehensively to build the full picture we need of cancer
genetics we will need many hundred samples sequenced through the entire
genome and all genes
genetic screening entails unravelling the dna of patients with disease and
comparing them against the genome of otherwise healthy people
the goal is to look for mutations sometimes minute in the code that can alter
the functioning of genes
the technique has many potential benefits starting with diagnostic tools to
spot people with the inherited profile that puts them at risk of the disease
it also throws up potential avenues for drug engineers to block or reverse the
effects of malfunctioning gene
us drone attack kills four in pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
us missiles targeted taliban training centre in pakistan tribal belt
wednesday killing four militants in the latest strike in recent spike in
drone attacks pakistani officials said
the attack targeted compound in sanzali village about kilometres
miles west of miranshah the main town in north waziristan and was the fourth
suspected us missile attack in the tribal district in week
one us drone fired two missiles it was taliban training centre we have
reports that four militants were killed and five wounded pakistani security
official told afp on condition of anonymity
two intelligence officials and local administration official confirmed the
attack and the same death toll
the identity of the militants was not immediately clear
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
cricket clark signs for kent
london jan afp
australia seamer stuart clark will play for kent for the first half of the
english season the county announced on wednesday
clark had been poised to be kent overseas player for but that was blocked
after he won recall to the australia side and kent chairman of cricket
graham johnson was delighted to see the move resurrected
stuart is tremendous character and has the ability and experience that we are
looking for johnson said
he is genuine wicket taker and will bring great amount to the side he has
positive outlook and will prove great addition
clark played in the final two tests of the ashes series and was key
figure in the australia side that secured an ashes whitewash in the
series taking wickets at an average of
he also has previous experience of county cricket having played for middlesex in
and hampshire in
spanish not keen on sending more soliders to afghanistan poll
madrid jan afp
majority of spaniards oppose madrid decision to send further troops to
afghanistan according to an opinion poll published wednesday in the el mundo
daily
the poll of around people carried out between december and found
that percent considered the decision bad or very bad
twenty two percent considered the decision good or very good while
percent judged it as normal
the new troop commitment to the nato led international security assistance force
isaf in afghanistan was announced by the government last month the decision
has not yet been approved by parliament
the extra troops were among the around additional military personnel that
us allies and partners announced after us president barack obama pledged
further us troops to bolster the already in afghanistan fighting
the taliban led insurgency
spain troops currently in afghanistan are located in the west of the
country
football puma unveils environment friendly kits for african teams
nairobi jan afp
german sportswear giant puma on wednesday unveiled unified african kit the
continent teams can use if their national colours clash during the african
nations cup and world cup finals
designed to help create awareness for the safeguard of the environment the
african unity kits were launched in nairobi where the german firm announced
partnership to raise funds for the united nations environment programme unep
to support the international year of biodiversity
cameroon star forward samuel eto whose side is one of the teams being
sponsored by puma at the african nations cup finals which start in angola on
sunday took part in the unveiling of the new uniform
eto along with the rest of the cameroon squad arrived in nairobi on tuesday
for nine day pre nations cup training camp before travelling to luanda
puma chief executive jochen zeitz said the use of the kits had been approved by
fifa as third kit which can be worn when there is clash of uniforms between
competing teams during the nations cup and the world cup
in africa will be at the centre of the footballing world puma is
creating unique kit embracing the diversity of african nations teams while
valuing the unity of players and supporters towards common goal said zeitz
at news conference
biodiversity and therefore valuing and protecting all life on our planet is
huge issue not only in africa but around the world we are proud to partner
with unep to raise both awareness and funds through the sale of unity products
he added
the kit comes with replica jerseys in brown pantone colour which were created by
mixing soil samples from ghana ivory coast south africa and cameroon and
matching shorts
zeitz said funds raised from the sale of the kits would go towards the support
of biodiversity projects in africa
afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor hugh dent
tel
iceland britain netherlands politics banking
reykjavik
iceland is hit by second blow to its credit standing after the veto of
compensation for the icesave bank collapse clouding reykjavik eu membership
bid as icelanders worry about economic recovery
words gmt by svanborg sigmarsdottir picture
france germany aerospace defence contract company airbus
paris
france urges european plane maker airbus to push on with the military
transport plane project as german warns over costs after the parent company
eads reportedly mulls abandoning the programme
words gmt picture
commodities energy oil price lead wrap
london
oil prices fall as stronger dollar offsets rising demand for heating fuel
caused by cold weather in the northern hemisphere analysts say but remain
close to dollars ahead of key us energy inventory data
words gmt
forex europe wrap
london
the dollar eases against the euro but climbs against the yen as the foreign
exchange market awaits fresh data on the us economy dealers say
words gmt
stocks europe wrap
london
europe main stock markets are little changed as traders await batch of us
economic data
words gmt
us auto sales lead wrap
chicago
asian automakers dethroned detroit as the biggest sellers in the united states
in after general motors and chrysler succumbed to the economic crisis
industry data has shown
words moved by mira oberman
us it telecom electronics internet ces
las vegas nevada
consumer electronics manufacturers after suffering rare dip in sales last
year are hoping to bounce back in with smartphones readers and smaller
laptops leading the way
words moved by chris lefkow picture
us it company books electronics internet amazon ces lead
san francisco
amazon com on wednesday made its premier kindle dx model electronic reader
available in more than countries
words moved by glenn chapman
afp
japan politics economy ndlead wrap
tokyo
japan prime minister faces fresh test of his troubled leadership as he is
forced to replace his elderly finance minister one of the few experienced hands
in his cabinet
words gmt by hiroshi hiyama
australia malaysia aviation qantas jetstar airasia ndlead
sydney
jetstar and airasia unveil plans to slash costs and ticket prices by pooling
some resources taking the first step in an alliance that could transform the
asian budget market
words moved by talek harris picture
urgent us drone attack kills four in pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
us missiles targeted taliban training centre in pakistan tribal belt
wednesday killing four militants in the latest strike in recent spike in
drone attacks pakistani officials said
bin laden youngest son left iran for syria report
riyadh jan afp
the youngest son of al qaeda leader osama bin laden left iran in late december
and is now in damascus the saudi controlled newspaper asharq al awsat reported
on wednesday
bakr bin laden had spent the last eight of his years in iran before being
allowed to leave to syria the london based newspaper said citing omar bin
laden another son of the world most wanted man
in damascus he was reunited on december with his syrian mother najwa al
ghanem one of osama bin laden wives omar said
my brother bakr arrived from tehran on christmas day bringing joy to the
family and ending the tears of our mother omar was quoted as saying
but our joy will not be complete until the other members of the family are able
to leave tehran safely and soundly said omar who lives in qatar
there was no news on the fate of the rest of the family held under house arrest
in tehran with one bin laden daughter iman now in the saudi embassy there
seeking to leave for her father native saudi arabia
on saturday saudi foreign minister prince saud al faisal said riyadh was
negotiating her departure with tehran stressing that it was humanitarian
issue and not political
news reports last month said that some members of osama bin laden family
had been living in iran since just after the september al qaeda attacks
on the united states
since fleeing afghanistan they have lived in compound near tehran with their
movements controlled by iranian authorities
besides iman and bakr omar bin laden has identified three other brothers saad
othman and hamza and sister fatima in iran
the al qaeda chief last wife khayria and of his grandchildren are also
there
according to various biographies osama bin laden now in his and rumoured to
be in poor health may have fathered up to two dozen children from four wives
the extended bin laden family is one of saudi arabia most prominent
controlling the country largest construction group
osama was disowned by the family in after he refused to give up his
militant ideology
alert
us drone targets pakistan militant compound four dead officials
sandp puts icelandic debt under negative credit watch
paris jan afp
rating agency standard and poor said wednesday it had put icelandic debt under
negative credit watch day after iceland president blocked bill of
compensation for the failure of icesave bank
sandp said that the refusal of the icelandic president to sign the bill
compensating britain and the netherlands could undermine help from the
international monetary fund although the imf has said there was no link
the agency said that that as result we could lower our ratings on iceland by
one to two notches within month
the decision by sandp came after the fitch credit rating agency had downgraded
iceland long term debt rating from bbb to bb late on tuesday citing
renewed wave of domestic political economic and financial uncertainty
sandp said on wednesday that its negative watch decision referred to its
bbb foreign currency and bbb local currency sovereign ratings for
iceland
it said the creditwatch placement indicates the likelihood of downgrade if
political uncertainty grows and external liquidity pressures persist in the wake
of president olafur ragnar grimsson veto of the icesave act
the agency credit analyst kai stukenbrock said that sandp now expected that
disbursements of the remaining billion dollar balance under the imf program
will be delayed and the parameters of the program might have to be revoked
possibly raising the required primary surplus targets
bangladesh to auction licenses in regulator
dhaka jan afp
bangladesh telecom regulator announced wednesday that licences to run third
generation mobile services will be auctioned this year in bid to attract
billions of dollars of investment
the move follows monday approval of indian telecoms giant bharti airtel
million dollar bid for the country fourth largest mobile phone operator warid
from abu dhabi based dhabi group
we are finalising guidelines for licensing which will be finished by june
zia ahmed head of bangladesh telecommunications and regulatory
commission told afp
at least four slots of bandwidth will be sold off at open auction by the end of
and number of top telecom companies have already indicated their
interest ahmed said
btrc officials who declined to be named said british mobile phone giant
vodafone had approached the commission for license
ahmed also said btrc would open up its international telecommunications gateway
to the private sector which would for the first time allow operators to lay
underwater cables and connect terrestrial lines with india
all these moves will create new dynamism in the market and ensure at least
one billion dollars of new investment in the telecoms sector this year ahmed
said
the bharti deal alone will bring in much more than the original million
dollar investment he added
bharti is the latest foreign company to make in roads into the fast growing
bangladesh mobile market
in egyptian orascom took over sheba and singapore state owned singtel
bought percent stake in bangladesh telecom in
last year japan ntt docomo inc paid million dollars to buy percent
stake in operator aktel majority owned by axiata of malaysia
the moves to attract investment for come as growth in bangladesh mobile
market has slowed due to lack of infrastructure investment
companies have been reluctant to invest heavily in network expansion as
result telecom penetration could not achieve our desired level ahmed said
the country six mobile phone operators have combined million subscribers
percent of the country population
experts predict the number of mobile customers will pass million by
asian shares up despite fujii resignation
hong kong jan afp
asian shares extended their gains wednesday amid upbeat sentiment over the
global outlook as an offer from japan finance minister to resign on health
grounds failed to ruffle investors
the nikkei in tokyo closed up percent at while sydney ended flat
at points as optimism about resources stocks was offset by fall in
banking shares
hong kong ended percent stronger at
however shanghai shares fell percent to as rising inflationary
pressure led to fears beijing may start monetary tightening measures
commodities companies were higher although stronger dollar offset crude
recent gains on severe winter in the northern hemisphere and expectations of
further demand growth due to hopes for the global economy
japanese stocks gained in the first trading session since news broke that
year old finance minister hirohisa fujii had decided to resign for health
reasons
after the markets closed japan prime minister yukio hatoyama said he had
accepted fujii resignation and chosen his deputy naoto kan as finance
minister
hatoyama said fujii resignation was unavoidable due to exhaustion and high
blood pressure caused by months of hard work drawing up the national budget
it matter of his health it can be helped he told reporters adding
that kan would also retain the post of deputy prime minister
earlier tokyo shares were unmoved by the possibility of fujii stepping down
the market is very calm about this said masamichi adachi senior economist
at jpmorgan chase
we don expect major changes from this the budget proposal for the next
fiscal year is already finished it is unlikely that it will be changed
asian auto makers were given boost overnight when data showed they had
overtaken their american counterparts in sales in the united states market
the overall share of the detroit three general motors ford and chrysler
fell to percent of their home market from percent in
asian brands captured percent share in
