miles from hanoi when parishioners tried to stop large group of police
and troops sent to dismantle cross on mountain top said parish priest
nguyen van huu
he said parishioners had told him the police used electric prods tear gas and
stones against the crowd two of whom were seriously injured and taken to hanoi
for treatment
four or five other parishioners were also hurt said the priest who was not
present during the incident
the clash as described by the priest is one of the most serious incidents in
long running series of church state land disputes
police refused to comment on the incident
officials began seizing church property along with many other buildings and
farms more than years ago when communists took power in what was then north
vietnam
in december catholics began series of demonstrations over seized land
the european parliament in november resolution urged vietnam to return
assets arbitrarily seized by the state from the catholic church
huu said local authorities had argued the cross was built without permission
atop mountain that is under state management
the parish mobilised hundreds of followers to build the cross last march to
replace wooden crucifix destroyed years previously in wartime he said
in fact we have used this land for more than years he said
police arrived with trucks dogs and shields while many villagers carried
bibles he said
they sent troops to the top of the mountain and dismantled the cross
when people told them to show the official decision to dismantle the cross no
papers were shown
when we built the cross the authorities did not say anything the priest
said
vietnam has southeast asia second largest catholic community after the
philippines with at least six million followers
religious activity remains under state control but the government says it always
respects freedom of belief and religion
huu said his parishioners all of them poor were still in panic on thursday
after what happened am trying to calm them down he said
neighbours scrapping schemes bolster polish car sales
warsaw jan afp
sales of new cars held up in poland in compared to the previous year thanks
to cash for clunkers scrapping schemes in neighbouring germany and slovakia
study said thursday
the research published by the samar institute found that german and slovak
customers bought cars in poland
germany scrapping scheme meant to boost the economy by giving buyers of new
cars financial incentive to get rid of their old ones did not specify the
country where the new vehicle should be bought
the weakening of poland zloty against the euro provided an extra reason to
head to polish showrooms in search of better deals than back home samar said in
its annual report
poland which did not introduce scrapping scheme of its own saw registrations
of new cars on the home market plunge by percent in compared with
samar found
total of new cars left polish showrooms just three more than in
it said
with the expiry of its neighbours cash for clunkers schemes sales of new cars
in poland are set to fall this year by percent compared with standing
at around samar said
czech automaker skoda part of germany volkswagen group remained top of the
tree in poland in with cars sold up percent on
it was followed by italian giant fiat up percent with sales and
japan toyota which saw its sales slump by percent to
bank of england keeps key rate at percent
london jan afp
the bank of england said on thursday that it was keeping its key interest rate
at an all time low level of percent and maintaining its credit easing plans
as britain officially remains in recession
the bank of england monetary policy committee today voted to maintain the
official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at percent the boe
said in statement
the committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases
totalling billion pounds financed by the issuance of central bank reserves
urgent bank of england says holds key rate at percent
london jan afp
the bank of england said on thursday that it was keeping its key interest rate
at an all time low level of percent and maintaining its credit easing plans
as britain officially remains in recession
france surpasses target for deportations
paris jan afp
france deported illegal residents last year more than the target
set by president nicolas sarkozy the immigration minister said thursday
among the foreigners expelled from the country were afghans
immigration minister eric besson said noting that britain had deported
afghans during the same year
rights groups and opposition socialists have criticised besson for deporting
afghan migrants onboard charter planes organised with britain
last year about foreigners arrived in france with long term visas
besson told europe radio
france sets annual deportation quotas of between and as part of
its campaign to crack down on illegal migration
most of the deportees are sent back home on planes
the immigration ministry estimates that there are between and
foreigners residing illegally in france
rwanda and france pledge to bolster ties after diplomatic freeze
kigali jan afp
rwanda and france pledged thursday to improve ties after lengthy freeze in
diplomatic relations triggered by french judge issuing arrest warrants for top
aides to president paul kagame
we are convinced that our two countries must move forward together said
rwandan foreign minister louise mushikiwabo after talks with her french
counterpart bernard kouchner in kigali
we have common history we have had difficulties we are ready to discuss
them and move on we are beginning new phase in our shared history
the two countries announced resumption of ties in november three years after
kigali angered by charges that nine top officials in kagame regime were
behind the death of former president broke off relations
kouchner one day visit the first by french government official since the
november decision is designed to give ties much needed boost
rwanda and france have since named envoys to each others countries kigali
appointed jacques kabare while paris is awaiting kigali approval for its
nominee
in french judge jean louis bruguiere issued warrants for nine officials
close to kagame suspected of being implicated in the shooting down of the plane
of former rwandan president juvenal habyarimana
the april downing of the plane carrying habyarimana and former burundi
president cyprien ntaryamira is believed to have triggered the genocide in which
some people mainly minority tutsis were killed
we are going to resume normal relations we need to restore cultural and
development programmes said kouchner who arrived in kigali late wednesday
with regard to the dark moments we need to ask historians sociologists
witnesses and survivors to work together so that our countries know what
happened
however rwanda main genocide survivors group ibuka renewed its call for
paris to apologise over the massarcre
apologies are necessary other countries did it such as belgium the united
sates said theodore simburudali the head of the association
apologies would be welcome but we also have difficulties survivors are
living in extreme poverty france can facilitate aid for the survivors we do
not necessarily need money but psychologists psychiatrists he added
kouchner said what happened in rwanda concerns every inhabitant of this land
france is with you and say this in the name of france of the past days
present and future
probe by rwandan panel into the genocide said hutu extremists in the
country then government were responsible for habyarimana death and that
france was not involved
however it noted that french military officials stationed in rwanda as part of
military agreement with the late president regime had access to the plane
wreckage
kigali has repeatedly accused france of siding with the hutus who carried out
the genocide charge paris has always denied
briton germans kidnapped in yemen still alive official
sanaa jan afp
five germans including three children and british national who have been
held by kidnappers in yemen for the past six months are still alive top
official said on thursday
we have confirmed information that they are still alive they are five germans
and british national deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs
rashad al aleemi told press conference
the three possible places they could be in are the provinces of maarib al
jouf and saada he said
available information confirm that there is coordination between the northern
shiite rebels huthis and the al qaeda in this matter he said
it is believed that the three children who were shown in recent video are
alive in maarib while the elders are being used by the huthis to provide
medical treatment aleemi said
the three children had resurfaced in new video two weeks ago but the tape
featured no sign of their parents all were kidnapped in june
at the time germany said it had no evidence that al qaeda was behind the
kidnapping
german officials who requested anonymity had confirmed report in the daily
bild saying the images apparently recorded recently by the abductors indicated
at least that the three children aged one three and five were still alive
the german government now has copy of the video bild said in december
the children seemed exhausted high ranking german official was quoted by
the newspaper as saying as the german government declined to comment
the family of five and the briton were abducted in northern yemen along with two
german bible students and south korean who were shot dead soon after
the announcement comes as government forces chase al qaeda cells after the
network franchise in the impoverished country claimed responsibility for the
botched christmas day attack on us airliner
the yemeni government had repeatedly accused the huthi rebels of being behind
the kidnappings charge they denied saying that the government was behind the
abduction to use it as an excuse to attack the rebels
since august the army has been engaged in an all out offensive against the
zaidi shiite rebels in the saada northern province and its surroundings in
bid to end their five year rebellion
abductions of foreigners are frequent occurrence in yemen as tribesmen often
use them to twist the government arm in local disputes more than
foreigners have been abducted over the past years
all have been freed unharmed except for three britons and an australian seized
by islamist militants in december who were killed when security forces
stormed the kidnappers hideout
in april dutch couple were held for two weeks by tribesmen to pressure the
government to pay compensation for an incident involving tribal chief and
security forces
yemen ancestral homeland of al qaeda chief osama bin laden has also seen
spate of attacks on foreign and government targets in march four south korean
tourists were killed by bomb attack in the historic city of shibam
alert
bank of england says keeps key interest rate at percent
nigerian charged in plane plot faces life term
washington jan afp
us grand jury has indicted nigerian over plot to blow up plane on
christmas day as attorney general eric holder said global hunt was tracking
those who helped the alleged bomber
umar farouk abdulmutallab was indicted wednesday by grand jury on six
counts arising from botched christmas day plot to blow up an airliner packed
with passengers and crew as it approached detroit michigan
the charges included attempted murder and trying to use weapon of mass
destruction aboard us plane
the would be bomber apparent extremist ties meanhwhile came under the
spotlight thursday as top yemeni official said the suspect had met radical
us yemeni cleric accused by washington of instigating terrorism
michigan district court documents accused abdulmutallab of carrying concealed
bomb containing pentaerythritol tetranitrate petn and other explosives inside
his clothing on board northwest airlines flight from amsterdam
the bomb was designed to allow defendant umar farouk abdulmutallab to detonate
it at time of his choosing and to thereby cause an explosion aboard flight
the documents added
if convicted of trying to use weapon of mass destruction abdulmutallab faces
life imprisonment
this investigation is fast paced global and ongoing and it has already
yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads attorney
general eric holder said in the statement
anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice
using every tool military or judicial available to our government
president barack obama tuesday sharply rebuked intelligence and security
services for missing series of red flags which could have unmasked the plot
earlier
it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully
leveraged obama said after gathering agency chiefs and national security aides
at high stakes white house meeting
that not acceptable and will not tolerate it he said in an unusual
public dressing down of the intelligence services
hours after charges were laid against abdulmutallab the los angeles times
reported that us border security officials were aware that he was on the
detroit bound flight and were ready to question him on landing
officials told the daily that agents discovered abdulmutallab name on the
customs and border protection database but only after he boarded the plane in
amsterdam
the database had picked up the state department concern about this guy and his
possible involvement with extremists in yemen senior law enforcement official
was quoted as saying
they could have made decision on whether to stop him from getting on the
plane the official added
red faced top officials have admitted mistakes were made and vowed to do better
to confront an evolving threat from terror groups an al qaeda cell in yemen
where abdulmutallab spent time in claimed to be behind the plot
on thursday yemen deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs
rashad al aleemi revealed that abdulmutallab had met with radical us yemeni
cleric anwar al awlaqi
the nigerian hid in shabwa area in wadi rafadh east of sanaa where he met
awlaqi and mohammad omair who was killed in the air raid on wadi rafadh the
minister said
he was referring to december raid carried out by yemeni jets about
kilometers miles east of the capital sanaa in which suspected al qaeda
militants were killed according to yemeni officials
the united states has accused awlaqi of instigating terrorism and has said he
had links with nidal hasan the us army major accused of shooting dead people
at fort hood in november
meanwhile the white house will thursday release an unclassified version of
report into the intelligence failures
the christmas day incident has triggered series of new security measures at
airports around the world as well as new us restrictions for passengers coming
from countries including nigeria and yemen
at least killed in south sudan violence un
juba sudan jan afp
at least people have been killed and wounded in the remote troubled
wunchuei region of warrap state in southern sudan over the past week senior
un official said on thursday
clashes apparently between rival tribal groups occurred some time since the
beginning of the year but reports emerged only after un security team visited
the remote area by aircraft two days ago
local sources on the ground said that at least people had been killed
wounded and head of cattle had been stolen said lise grande the un
deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator in south sudan
grande said military team of un peacekeepers had left thursday by vehicles to
ascertain the exact situation on the ground
cricket vaughan says england lucky over ball tampering
london jan afp
former captain michael vaughan said thursday england had been lucky to escape
official censure over allegations of ball tampering in the ongoing third test
against south africa
but michael atherton another ex england captain said stuart broad and james
anderson the two pace bowlers at the centre of the controversy were victims of
trial by television
the proteas raised concerns over the state of the ball after television pictures
during tuesday third day at newlands in cape town showed broad stopping the
ball with his boot spikes and moments later anderson working on the ball
ultimately no formal complaint was raised by south africa and that led the
international cricket council icc to announce the matter was closed as far as
it was concerned
with england for five at lunch on thursday final day well adrift of their
victory target of and south africa closing in on series levelling
victory it seemed that what if anything the tourists had done had had little
impact
but vaughan in his column in the london daily telegraph was in no doubt
england had been fortunate to avoid disciplinary action
they were lucky to get away without an official reprimand or even ban
because there was no doubt in my mind that they were trying to change the
condition of the ball
they will think twice before trying it on again at the wanderers next week as
it is anderson is lucky man don think anyone could have argued if he had
been asked to sit out the next match but the icc has brushed the whole thing
aside because they don want any controversy
vaughan also accused the world governing body of double standards saying there
would have been furore if for example pakistan had been involved
if shoaib akhtar or mohammad asif had been pictured using their fingers on the
ball there would have been uproar
meanwhile atherton who as england captain was fined in for rubbing dirt
into the ball against south africa at lord questioned the proteas behaviour
in raising the matter but then not following up with official action
atherton now the cricket correspondent of british daily the times wrote ball
tampering is serious allegation in cricket and if you make it as south africa
effectively did by publicly raising their concerns about the state of the
ball you had better be damn sure of your facts
but no formal complaint was forthcoming
after letting all and sundry know they felt england were up to no good on the
third evening south africa ran for cover yesterday wednesday
south africa actions were akin to throwing hand grenade in public place
then running before the explosion
atherton added anderson and broad have been tainted with cheating in the minds
of the public with no chance to state their case
it has been trial of television images shown the issue dissected judge
and jury without the defendants present
roughing up one side of the ball is way of inducing reverse swing and while
this can happen through wear and tear during the course of an innings it can
also be done through banned methods such as picking at the ball
us military intervention could strengthen qaeda yemen
sanaa jan afp
us military intervention in yemen to help fight al qaeda militants could
backfire and strengthen the jihadist network in the arabian peninsula top
yemeni official warned on thursday
any intervention or direct military action by the united states could
strengthen the al qaeda network and not weaken it deputy prime minister for
defence and security affairs rashed al aleemi told press conference
our position is clear we will fight and chase the al qaeda group depending on
yemeni forces and security agencies he said
aleemi however said that yemen needs the united states to help in training
yemeni counter terrorism units
since al qaeda is global organisation that threatens international stability
all countries in the world headed by the united states must cooperate to
confront them he said
all we need from the united states is training and providing weapons and
equipment to counter terrorism units and they are capable of liquidating al
qaeda and all terror elements aleemi said
he said sanaa security cooperation with washington is based on the exchange of
information the same applies to saudi arabia he added
long standing concerns that yemen country on the southern tip of the arabian
peninsula has become haven for islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp
focus when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was charged with trying to
blow up us bound jet
the botched christmas day attack was claimed by al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap which also urged attacks on western interests in yemen
in the wake of the failed attack general david petraeus the us regional
military commander went to sanaa for talks with yemeni president ali abdullah
saleh
petraeus according to the saba news agency reaffirmed washington support for
yemen in its efforts to fight terrorism and delivered message from president
barack obama related in particular to bilateral cooperation in the fight against
terrorism and piracy
group of top us lawmakers on wednesday urged obama to ramp up aid to yemen
military saying they had lost trust in the country ability to be strong
partner against terrorism
we no longer have confidence that the yemeni government has the capacity to
assist the united states in providing for our nation security the senior
republicans on five key committees urged obama in letter
yemeni security forces insist they are winning the war against the jihadists
pointing to two separate air raids on their lairs in december which killed more
than suspected al qaeda members
on wednesday yemeni officials announced the capture of key al qaeda leader
and two other militants believed behind threats against western interests in
sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days
the interior ministry also said its security forces were repeatedly raiding
hideouts of terrorist elements in several provinces and had turned their
fight against terrorism into daily confrontation
security operations are not leaving the terrorist elements the chance to take
breath or reorganise their lines the ministry said in statement on its
website
al qaeda elements are no longer the ones taking the initiative in deciding the
time and place of confrontations it said adding that painful and recurring
strikes have forced al qaeda to retreat to the holes
mou oh bpz
german re trial over asylum seeker who burned to death
berlin jan afp
germany federal appeals court ordered on thursday re trial of policeman
over the burning to death in custody of an asylum seeker from sierra leone in
ouri jallow also known as oury jalloh died in january in dessau police
station south west of berlin after the mattress that he had been shackled to in
cell caught fire
in ruling that prompted outrage regional court cleared in december the
policeman in charge of the station at the time of causing bodily harm with fatal
consequences for not acting sooner after smoke alarm had gone off
but the federal appeals court ruled on thursday that the regional court failed
to take into account that the smoke alarm would have sounded as soon as the
mattress cover caught fire
this would have occurred several minutes before the mattress stuffing became
engulfed in flames and killed jallow in less than seconds the court said in
statement
the accused the policeman would then likely have been able to prevent the
death if he had begun the necessary rescue actions as soon as he heard the
alarm the court said
the court also disputed the assumption of the regional court that the accused
conducted himself in proper fashion even though he first turned the alarm off
then conducted phone call with his superior and then on his way to the cell
area had to turn round because he had forgotten the keys to the ankle cuff
the appeals court has now passed the case onto different regional court for
re trial
jallow had been arrested after two women alleged he had harassed them while
drunk police said
broken down eurostar train out of channel tunnel spokesman
london jan afp
broken down eurostar train was towed out of the channel tunnel on thursday
after it was stranded in the undersea link between britain and france for around
two hours eurostar spokesman said
services on the high speed train link between london paris and brussels were
expected to be disrupted by the new incident following major disruption before
christmas
the train is out of the tunnel the spokesman told afp adding that it was
being towed to ashford southeast of london where passengers would be
transferred to another train to complete their journey
asked about the cause of the latest breakdown which comes as northern europe
shivers in bitter cold and snow that has caused transport chaos he said we
are looking at that urgently but it too early to tell
several eurostar trains broke down in the tunnel between britain and france in
december due to the cold sparking three day suspension of service that left
tens of thousands of passengers stranded before christmas
that breakdown was blamed by the trains operators on snow they said was more
powdery than usual that had filtered into engine compartments and melted once
the trains entered the tunnel
eurostar services faced fresh disruption after thursday breakdown said the
spokesman
there is bit of knock on effect obviously the weather remains extreme in
the north of france and there will be service restrictions during the next few
days no suspension is expected the trains continue to run he said
zimbabwe auctions marange diamonds
harare jan afp
zimbabwe on thursday began auctioning carats of diamonds from its
controversial eastern diamond fields where the army has been accused of rights
abuses against civilians
the auction has started after shortlisted companies were vetted and authorised
to be part of the auction senior official in the diamond industry told afp
the auctioning of the diamonds is expected to take three days
in november zimbabwe escaped kimberley process ban despite calls for the
country to be suspended over abuses in marange with the global body giving
harare june deadline to make reforms to comply with its regulations
the southern african country went into partnership with two south african owned
firms to extract diamonds last october
the chairman of mbada diamonds subsidiary of one of the south african firms
said the auction will earn the government percent of the total sales revenue
and be followed by similar sale next week
the entire process of mining transportation to marketing is being done in
compliance with the requirements of the kimberley process robert mhlanga told
the state run herald
in november mines minister obert mpofu said the army and police had withdrawn
from the fields and that zimbabwe had complied with more than percent of the
reforms set by the conflict diamond watchdog
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
thursday graphics
available now
us foiled plot
updated graphic on the thwarted christmas day attack on northwest airlines
flight to detroit
text slug attacks us nigeria
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sudan north south map
map of sudan showing the boundary between north and south and the country
oil fields
text slug sudan vote conflict south aid
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egypts copts nagaa hammadi map
map of egypt locating attacks on copts in nagaa hammadi
text slug egypt religion unrest christmas
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india kashmir srinagar map
map of indian kashmir showing standoff between troops and armed militants in
srinagar
text slug india unrest kashmir
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afghan child casualties factfile
factfile on child victims of the war in afghanistan
text slug afghanistan unrest casualties children
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nepal maoist camps maps
map of nepal locating the un monitored camps for former maoist combatants
thousands of former child soldiers were due to leave the camps on thursday
text slug nepal maoists un conflict children
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vietnam religion map
map of vietnam locating bat nha monastery and phuoc hue pagoda followers of one
of the world most influential buddhist monks say they have gone underground
after being forced from the pagoda
text slug vietnam religion buddhist rights
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pacific clinton tour map
map showing the pacific countries to be visited by us secretary of state hillary
clinton from january
text slug us diplomacy australia nzealand png
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croatia factfile
map and factfile on croatia which votes in the second round of its presidential
election on sunday
text slug croatia vote
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alzheimer disease factfile
fact file on alzheimer disease for two afp health stories on the degenerative
brain disease
text slug health us alzheimers
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japan finance kan profile
profile of japan new finance minister naoto kan
