police swat teams entered the offices of abb power after reports of the shooting
spree at the busy factory of workers located on semple avenue an
industrial area of the city
there is large business at this location with numerous employees inside of
the building police spokeswoman said the shooter is thought to be at this
location but he is currently unaccounted for
local media reported some employees had sought refuge on the roof of the
building to escape the gunman and were talking to police
we believe the suspect is in the complex right now that why are tactical
teams are going room by room it very large complex very
compartmentalized said dodson
it very large complex and it connected to an even larger complex so it
very slow and methodical process and it will take several hours
he added there was no indication there was more than one shooter and confirmed
he was believed to be former employee
the suspect was armed with an assault rifle and hand gun and the whole
complex was involved in the shooting from the exterior to the interior dodson
added
according to kansas city court documents hendron was involved in legal
dispute with the firm over the management of employees retirement funds
abb spokesman bob fesmire could not confirm whether the shooter was former
employee
we can confirm that there was shooting but the information is still
unclear he told afp
fesmire said there would normally be around people in the factory from the
start of the first shift at around am to am
but he added there were fewer workers at the plant on thursday thanks to snow
blizzard and temperatures which plunged to degrees fahrenheit minus
celsius forcing some colleagues to stay at home
police said about to workers were inside at the time of the shooting at
the beginning of the shift
the plant is part of zurich based abb engineering business and makes power
transformers
in statement issued from zurich abb said this is obviously very serious
situation and we are working to gather more information as it becomes available
the welfare of our employees is of utmost importance to us
britain supports iceland eu bid reykjavik
reykjavik jan afp
britain supports iceland bid to join the european union despite bitter row
over the icesave bank collapse iceland foreign minister oessur skarphedinsson
told afp on thursday
had discussion with british foreign secretary david miliband about the
situation as it is we discussed among other things the declarations from
british politicians that they would hinder our application for eu membership
he said
in miliband replies it was clear that this would not be the case and iceland
continues to have the full support of the uk regarding our eu application
skarphedinsson said
iceland president olafur ragnar grimsson on tuesday refused to sign bill
that would have paid billion euros to london and the hague which have had
to compensate british and dutch savers who lost their money in icesave when
iceland financial sector collapsed in october
grimsson instead referred the icesave bill to referendum following public
opposition sparking political and economic storm and raising doubts about
iceland economic recovery and eu membership bid
after grimsson announcement british financial services minister paul myners
warned that no vote in iceland referendum tentatively scheduled for
february could jeopardise its bid to join the eu
this development would need to be factored into decision as to whether we
would be supportive of iceland application to join the eu he told the bbc
iceland submitted its eu membership application in july
formula one want to be beating schumacher says rosberg
berlin jan afp
nico rosberg might have grown up admiring the exploits of michael schumacher
but he has indicated that the formula one great will have to fight if he wants
number one spot on their mercedes team
rosberg the son of world champion keke rosberg had already signed for
mercedes the ex brawn team before schumacher finally confirmed his return to
the sport in december after three year absence
despite having no wins so far in races rosberg formerly of williams
intends on being the team leader this season
we are on an equal footing in the team it always been like that at mercedes
that their philosophy rosberg told auto bild motorsport magazine thursday
your own teammate is the driver you always compare yourself to because he has
the same car that why my aim is to be in front of him as often as possible
although an aspiring apprentice driver just as schumacher was winding down his
illustrious career rosberg who has double german and finnish nationality
had bigger idol
to be honest was fan of mika hakkinen was always happy when he beat
michael because he was good friend of the family
rosberg finished seventh in the world championship won by britain jenson
button however for rosberg the return of year old schumacher is not all bad
news
for three years of his absence he stayed active and enthusiastic and he
wants to race again he happy and that what matters
corrected sri lankan execution video authentic un envoy
united nations jan afp
independent experts have concluded that video footage allegedly showing sri
lankan troops executing prisoners during the final phase of their battle against
tamil tiger rebels last year was authentic un envoy said thursday
the video aired on britain channel last august is authentic philip
alston the un special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary
executions told reporters here
he said the conclusion was reached by three independent experts and called for
genuine and independent investigation by the sri lankan government
he noted that when the video showing the execution of number of tamil tiger
militants stripped naked bound and blindfolded and shot in the head by semi
automatic weapons was shown the colombo government dismissed it as fake
and propaganda by the separatist liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte
alston said he asked three qualified experts to review the video after four sri
lankan specialists had concluded that it was fake
he added that the result of the analysis of the three experts would seem to
point to the need for the government of sri lanka to undertake the investigation
had initially called for
he said colombo should ask the united nations to set up an independent
commission of inquiry
sri lankan authorities have resisted international calls for war crimes
investigation after the united nations alleged that more than civilians
had been killed during the first four months alone
the tamil rebels were finally vanquished in may after nearly four decades of
ethnic bloodshed that left between and people dead
afptv updated advisory
paris jan afp
we will file the following videos
our offer ex durango colorado on medicinal use of marijuana has been delayed
until next week we apologise for the inconvenience
us to publish anti terror intelligence errors
washington
the white house warned americans to brace for certain shock thursday when it
releases first probe into intelligence failures exposed by the christmas
attack on us airliner carrying people president barack obama will also
make another public statement on domestic security failings the events come
day after year old umar farouk abdulmutallab was indicted on six counts
arising from plot to blow up detroit bound airliner on christmas news
coverage
news
images and soundbites from barack obama transmitted by gmt
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attention clients this video is available under specific licence agreement
only for licence to this service please contact your afp commercial agent no
access usa japan australia
anti apartheid hero mandela brought to big screen by eastwood
los angeles
after first opening in the united states south africa and canada invictus
clint eastwood epic about south african freedom fighter nelson mandela goes
on worldwide release in january the film director talks to afptv about his
vision of the end of apartheid and mandela ultimately triumphant rise to
become president of south africa
culture amp lifestyle
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
iphone controlled drone soars at vegas it show new offer
paris
hovering silently few feet off the ground it looks like flying object from
sci fi film but the ar drone from french company parrot small remote
controlled helicopter piloted using an apple iphone or an ipod touch has
taken off like shot at its first outing at the consumer electronics show the
model which is planned for release later this year promises nothing short of
augmented reality experience taking the game off computer screens and
propelling it into the real world
culture amp lifestyle science amp technology
images and soundbites transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
already transmitted
al qaeda calls cia attack revenge for drone killings
south waziristan pakistan amman
al qaeda hailed the suicide bombing at cia base in afghanistan that killed
seven agents as revenge for the deaths of top militants in us drone strikes
the monitoring group site said thursday jordanian identified as humam khalil
abu mulal al balawi blew himself up at the base in khost near the pakistani
border on december in the deadliest attack against the cia since file
footage including stills photo of humam khalil abu mulal al balawi and
library footage of former leader of pakistan taliban baitullah mehsud who was
killed in drone attack in august as well as militants in tribal areas
further still of balawi
news
images
raw vid
still photo
raw vid
lawyers for the congolese warlord thomas lubanga began their defence on thursday
before the international criminal court where he is charged with war crimes for
using children to fight for his militia in the gold rich ituri region we
refiled the following related report
life of child soldier in eastern dr congo
goma dr congo
child soldiers are still vivid reality in the democratic republic of congo
physical and sexual abuse are common and rare are those who manage to escape
when they do former child soldiers then have to learn how to live again afptv
goes to meet one of them
special report
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snow hit europe faces more transport woes
manchester england paris
europe is set to shiver through more bitterly cold temperatures on thursday as
britain braces for more snow that has already caused chaos amid its most brutal
winter in decades raw images from manchester where snow forced the airport to
close on tuesday images of snow covered paris and mont saint michel in western
france
news
images ex manchester
raw vid
images ex paris
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images from mont saint michel western france new offer
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new weather woes for eurostar with blocked train
paris
eurostar passengers face further disruption after one of its high speed trains
got stuck in the channel tunnel again thursday weeks after major breakdown
due to the cold eurostar has already been forced to cancel trains wednesday as
precaution amid heavy snow before christmas eurostar faced three day
suspension of its service due to heavy snows and cold temperatures leaving tens
of thousands of passengers stranded news coverage
news
images and soundbites
raw vid
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ngos report on sudan crisis
paris
southern sudan could descend into new war unless the world community takes
action to salvage the accord that ended one of africa longest conflicts five
years ago aid agencies are warning on thursday day ahead of the anniversary
of the peace agreement handicap international oxfam france and the french
charity secours catholique are expected to report that despite the official end
of fighting between the khartoum government and southern rebels the region
remains beset by chronic poverty political tensions and violence that threaten
international aid work and prospects for real peace
news
images and soundbites
raw vid
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eu galileo satnav system to begin operations in new offer
brussels
the eu much delayed satellite navigation network galileo will begin operations
in the european commission said thursday as it awarded key contracts to
germany ohb system and france arianespace file footage
science amp technology
file images
raw vid
deadly drive by shooting on eve of coptic christmas
cairo
on the eve of coptic christmas drive by shooting in the southern egyptian
town of nagaa hammadi on wednesday the attackers in car reportedly raked
crowd of shoppers who were preparing for the holidays killing policemen and
six coptic christians meanwhile in cairo thousands of copts celebrated
christmas mass in the abassiya church gamal mubarak the son of the egyptian
president attended the festivities led by pope shenouda images of christmas
mass
news
images
raw vid
web mmv
nepal war missing leave lasting barrier to peace
bardiya district nepal
thousands of former child soldiers who fought for the maoists in nepal decade
long civil war will thursday begin leaving the un monitored camps where they
have spent the past three years but as the himalayan nation takes step
towards reconciliation more than people across the country remain missing
from the conflict distraught families have blamed both the maoists and
government troops for kidnapping torturing and murdering their loved one and
are urging authorities to investigate
special report
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sombre anniversary for flood hit brazilian town
angra dos reis brazil
the brazilian town of angra dos reis marks its th anniversary this week but
without celebration an year old girl is still missing amongst the debris
following torrential rains and flooding that has killed more than people
along the brazilian coast many locals in town have been forced to abandon their
homes and at least buildings will be demolished to prevent further
collapse news coverage
news
images and soundbites
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web mmv
as part of our series ahead of the african nations cup which kicks off sunday
we filed the following report
chelsea biggest challenge may just be around the corner
london
four of chelsea best players have left the club for the whole of january to
play in the african cup of nations so how will the west londoners cope without
the likes of didier drogba adaptation of previously offered report
sport
voiced report
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brand new homes for the homeless
marseille france
the homeless flock to emergency hostels to escape the bitter cold during winter
but there are rarely enough beds to go around salvation army project in the
southern french city of marseille hopes to change that by building cut rate
chalets
special report
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contact
michelle hoffman
jacqueline pietsch
rallying coma wins motorcycling stage
iquique chile jan afp
spain two time motorcycling champion marc coma won the sixth stage of the
dakar rally on thursday km special from antofagasta
coma eighth overall before the stage but who moved into fourth position
following his victory came in on his ktm motorbike at least minutes clear of
his rivals including france overall leader cyril despres who finished second
chile fifth stage victor francisco lopez finished fourth on the stage behind
portuguese rider helder rodrigues
the stage was marred by serious injury suffered by italian rider luca manta
following fall manta ninth overall going into the stage was flown by
helicopter to hospital but neither the circumstances of the crash or his state
of health were known
eu calls for common stance on airport body scanners
madrid jan afp
the spanish eu presidency called thursday for common european stance on the
use of body scanners at airports as member states bickered over the issue after
failed plot to blow up us airplane
it better for europe to have common position because it makes no sense for
european passengers to travel from london to madrid and back and have different
kinds of controls spanish transport minister jose blanco said
common position would be beneficial for all of us even if it wasn binding
he told press conference in madrid
blanco was speaking after eu experts met behind closed doors in brussels to
discuss the issue amid disagreement over the use of the controversial body
scanners capable of peering through clothes to create three dimensional images
of passengers and reveal any concealed weapons or explosives
several european countries including britain and the netherlands have decided
to install the scanners at airports after nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab was
charged with trying to down us bound passenger jet from amsterdam on christmas
day
others such as spain are less enthusiastic
the european commission which helps draft eu law said simply that there was
an exchange of views over the technology but went on to say that it was
considering an initiative on employing it
the commission is considering an initiative on imaging technology to reinforce
passenger security while at the same time addressing the conditions for using
such technology in particular privacy data protection and health issues it
said in statement
so far there is no common rule in europe though any of the eu nations is
free to introduce the scanners in its own airports as the british and the dutch
are doing
the spanish minister spoke of the scanners as last resort saying that the
traditional airport methods of detection had proved widely effective
we shouldn act hastily we must take well considered decision he said
he added that there was not even european consensus as to the effectiveness of
the full body scanners for detecting the kind of explosives carried in the
christmas day attempt
oil prices drop after spike above dollars
london jan afp
oil prices fell thursday on profit taking after freezing winter across the
northern hemisphere helped push them to month highs overnight analysts said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery shed
cents to dollars barrel and was on course to end lower for the first
time in sessions
the us benchmark oil rose to an intraday peak of dollars on wednesday its
highest since october
brent north sea crude for february fell cents to dollars in london
trading on thursday
the cold spell sweeping across the northern hemisphere has pushed up prices but
investors on thursday were looking at signs of weakening energy demand in the
us the world biggest oil user analysts said
weekly report by the us department of energy doe on wednesday showed that
crude oil reserves rose million barrels in the week ending january
instead of the expected drop of some barrels
stockpiles of distillates including heating fuel and diesel fell
barrels in the week much less than the average analyst forecast of drop of
million barrels amid cold weather across sections of the us
the inventory statistics were very bearish negative said mitsubishi corp
analyst tony nunan
much bigger draw was expected but it got lot colder after that report
so we could see much bigger draws in inventories next week
nunan added that geopolitical factors including terrorism concerns in yemen
following the attempted christmas day bombing of northwest airlines flight and
tensions between the us and iran could send prices higher
think that lot of people realise that there is still big threat in yemen
which is right next to saudi arabia so that could be big geopolitical risk
issue
oil prices began with bang on monday soaring by more than two dollars as
freezing temperatures spread
france deports radical imam to egypt
paris jan afp
france on thursday deported to egypt radical imam who incited his followers to
use violence interior minister brice hortefeux said
the minister described the man as radical islamist and said an emergency
deportation order had been issued to send him back to egypt
three dead five wounded in missouri shooting police
st louis missouri jan afp
us gunman thursday shot dead three people and wounded five in rampage at
missouri power company police said
us media reported that the gunman said to be former employee of abb power in
st louis was among the dead but police could not immediately confirm the
reports
st louis police spokesman said three people were dead three were in critical
condition and two were fair after the rampage at the local offices of the
swiss swedish engineering giant abb
she said it was still not clear if the suspect was among the dead or wounded or
was still in hiding
us rejects cuba spy charges against american
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday rejected as false charges made in cuba that us
citizen was secret intelligence agent
those charges are false state department spokesman pj crowley told reporters
plastic logic aims que reader at business crowd
las vegas california jan afp
plastic logic on thursday unveiled long anticipated que electronic reader
aimed at giving business travelers paperless briefcase
plastic logic unveiled two que proreader models designed for getting work done
on the road as well as for reading digitized books
we are going beyond an reader product and actually developing whole new
category plastic logic chief executive richard archuleta said while holding up
que the size of legal size notepad
it very cool he said
readers have become hot products as hardware makers race into market
dominated by kindle devices made by online retail powerhouse amazon com
plastic logic billed que as an electronic document tool that goes beyond what
kindles and other readers have to offer
smart phones have small screens laptops are big heavy bulky and take while
to boot up and they are pretty hard to hold in your hand archuleta said during
press event at the consumer electronics show in las vegas
we saw an opportunity that sits between those devices an electronic piece of
paper that sits in the middle
archuleta said the que will introduce business travelers to the age of the
paperless briefcase
plastic logic introduce proreader with four gigabytes of memory capable of
storing as many as documents with price of dollars an eight
gigabyte model was unveiled with price of dollars
both models can download reading content wirelessly at internet hot spots
while the higher end model also connects to the internet using at amp mobile
telephone network
plastic logic on thursday also launched an online shop at que com where
proreaders can be pre ordered shipping of devices will being in april
according to the california based firm
urgent us rejects cuba spy charges against american
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday rejected as false charges made in cuba that us
citizen was secret intelligence agent
urgent france deports radical imam to egypt minister
paris jan afp
france on thursday deported to egypt radical imam who incited his followers to
use violence interior minister brice hortefeux said
alert
us rejects cuban spy charges against american citizen
clinton to meet japan fm in hawaii january
washington jan afp
the united states said thursday that secretary of state hillary clinton will
meet her japanese counterpart katsuya okada in hawaii next week adding the
issue of us bases is likely to come up
clinton will have bilateral with foreign minister okada on january
during her stop in hawaii en route to asia state department spokesman pj
crowley said
wouldn be surprised if futenma comes up he added
we meet with the japanese foreign minister often we have wide range of both
direct issues regarding our alliance and regional security issues crowley
said would suspect that the issue of the roadmap will come up
us president barack obama administration initially welcomed prime minister
yukio hatoyama new government but voiced irritation when his cabinet announced
it may scrap the previously agreed relocation of futenma airbase on southern
okinawa island
alert
france deports radical islamist imam to egypt minister
three dead four wounded in missouri shooting police
st louis missouri jan afp
us gunman thursday shot dead three people and wounded four in rampage at
missouri power company police said
us media reported that the gunman said to be former employee of abb power in
st louis was among the dead but police could not immediately confirm the
reports
police captain sam dodson said three people were dead two were in critical
condition one was seriously hurt and one had only minor injuries after the
rampage at the local offices of the swiss swedish engineering giant abb
football united move hull date to avoid fixture problems
manchester england jan afp
manchester united have brought forward their premier league match with hull at
old trafford to the new date of saturday january it was announced on
thursday
the match had been scheduled for january but was postponed as knock on
effect of the decision to call off wednesday league cup semi final between
manchester city and manchester united because of spectator travel safety fears
caused by the cold spell in britain
there is no scheduled premier league programme on the weekend of january
as those days have been set aside for fa cup fourth round ties
but with both united stunningly beaten by third tier leeds and hull losing in
the third round the two clubs have blank date and one that will prove
particularly helpful for sir alex ferguson side ahead of the resumption of
their champions league campaign in february
embattled argentine bank chief defies call to stand down
buenos aires jan afp
argentina central bank chief on thursday stood firm against government
pressure for him to resign as row over the legacy of the country
economic bust deepened
martin redrado dismissed demands from president cristina kirchner for him to
step down vowing for second day he would not leave until his mandate ends in
september
