israel to build barrier along egypt border
jerusalem jan afp
the israeli government on sunday approved the construction of barrier along
the border with egypt in bid to curb the infiltration of illegal immigrants
government official said
government committee approved the construction of three barriers along the
kilometre mile desert frontier that would block the main infiltration
routes the official said
the project which was put forward by the military was expected to cost between
one billion dollars and billion dollars he told afp
prime minister benjamin netanyahu said during the meeting that the jewish state
would continue to allow entry for asylum seekers most of whom come from darfur
israel will allow entry to refugees from areas of conflict but will not allow
its borders to be used to flood the country with illegal workers senior
official quoted netanyahu as saying during cabinet meeting
the israel egypt border has become major transit route for migrants asylum
seekers and drug smugglers and israel has asked egypt to clamp down on the
traffic
israel has struggled to put lid on the influx of human traffic
according to the interior ministry some illegal aliens including
migrants tourists who overstayed their visit and palestinians live
in israel which is home to seven million people
but human rights groups say that these figures are inflated
egypt policy of shooting migrants has generated harsh criticism from human
rights groups the migrants say they try to leave egypt because of poverty and
racism
obama pressed on accountability for christmas day attack
washington jan afp
president barack obama came under pressure from conservative lawmakers sunday to
hold intelligence officers accountable for botched christmas day attempt to
bring down us bound passenger
somebody has got to be held responsible republican us senator john mccain
told cnn television state of the union program saying we can go back to
the old washington kind of routine we are all responsible so therefore nobody
is responsible
obama last week castigated the us intelligence agencies for failures that
allowed year old nigerian to board detroit bound northwest airliner and
allegedly attempt to detonate explosives sewn in his underwear
but he said he was not interested in passing out blame for what he said were
system wide failures for ultimately the buck stops with me obama said
but mccain and senator joe lieberman an independent with hawkish views on us
foreign policy said individuals should be held accountable
who specifically that might be should be determined by government
investigation currently underway said lieberman who was with mccain in
jerusalem on tour of the region hotspots
think the investigation will show that he said
if human errors were made think some of the humans who made those errors
have to be disciplined so that they never happen again said the connecticut
senator who is chairman of the us senate homeland security committee
think some people have to be held accountable for the mistakes the human
errors that the president acknowledged that enabled the nigerian bomber getting
on the plane lieberman said
the senators made their remarks as congress returns to work following its winter
recess with the failed terror attack and efforts to boost airport security
measures at the top of the political agenda
lieberman expressed concern that the recent security slip ups are part of
growing pattern in recent months
in the last year there have been more than dozen known attempted terrorists
attacks on the homeland of the united states he told cnn
as in any war when the enemy breaks through your lines you have got to
regroup you ve got to strengthen your defenses because the truth is in this
war we cannot set any goal less than percent success and that means we
have got to close the gaps he said
lieberman homeland security committee was among several congressional panels
that plan hearings on the incident which has been linked to al qaeda
the senate intelligence committee the senate commerce science and
transportation committee and the house homeland security committee all plan to
look into aspects of case
obama has said that the intelligence agencies missed numerous red flags that
could have disrupted the plot which us officials believe was hatched in yemen
and carried out by umar farouk abdulmutallab the year old nigerian charged
with trying to blow up the northwest airlines jet
abdulmutallab boarded the flight in amsterdam with no baggage and valid us
passport even though his father had warned the us embassy in nigeria that he was
worried that his son had become radicalized
the obama administration last week named former cia director john mclaughlin to
head an investigation into the airliner attack as well as shooting rampage at
the fort hood texas army base on novemer that killed people and left
dozens wounded
urgent josipovic projected to win croatia presidency exit polls
zagreb dec afp
social democrat ivo josipovic was set to win croatia presidential run off
election exit polls showed after sunday vote
football spanish league results
madrid jan afp
spanish league results on sunday
sporting gijon castro getafe
xerez calvo valencia mata silva marchena
espanyol verdu marques real zaragoza arizmendi
deportivo la coruna rodriguez osasuna
malaga weligton athletic bilbao llorente pen
playing later
real madrid real mallorca gmt
tenerife barcelona gmt
saturday
valladolid atletico madrid jurado forlan reyes aguero
sevilla romaric racing santander canales
villarreal nilmar almeria corona pen
nobel winner urges ireland leader to quit over scandal
belfast jan afp
northern ireland first minister peter robinson has lost his authority and
should quit one of his predecessors said sunday amid scandal over robinson
wife affair with teenager
david trimble co winner of the nobel peace prize in for his efforts to
bring stability to northern ireland predicted in an interview with the bbc that
robinson would quit in the next few days
robinson leader of the democratic unionist party dup is under intense
pressure after it emerged that his wife iris lawmaker in the northern ireland
assembly and the westminster parliament in london had an affair with year
old
she also secured pounds euros dollars from two wealthy
developers to help her lover set up cafe in belfast
robinson denies any knowledge of his wife financial dealings if he had been
aware of them he should have reported them to parliamentary authorities
iris robinson who has also revealed she suffered from severe depression is
expected to step down from her political roles next week under pressure from the
dup
trimble an ulster unionist who was northern ireland inaugural first minister
from said if peter robinson is going to fight to clear his name then
the place to do that is from the back benches
to have situation where party leader sees his wife expelled from the party
and acquiesces in it doesn even persuade the party to give her decent way
out shows there has been complete loss of authority
meanwhile sinn fein president gerry adams vowed to keep working to resolve
northern ireland political problems regardless of the scandal
there is crisis but it is political crisis that is the difference he
said we are prepared and others are prepared to work through these issues and
more particularly to work beyond these issues
adams recently faced his own family problems after his brother liam was accused
of child sex abuse and handed himself into police
the robinson row comes as tensions run high between the pro british protestant
dup and its catholic sinn fein partners in the power sharing government in
belfast who want united ireland
the two former arch enemies have shared power since but have failed to
reach agreement on when policing powers in northern ireland should be
transferred from london to belfast the final part of the devolution process
fears of return to frequent political violence surfaced last year when two
british soldiers and policeman were killed in attacks claimed by dissident
republicans
in the latest incident on friday catholic police officer was seriously
injured after bomb exploded under his car as he was driving to work he
remains in critical condition
alert
social democrat josipovic projected to win croatia presidency exit polls
china to reinforce economic ties on algeria visit
algiers jan afp
china foreign minister yang jiechi arrived sunday in algiers on the next stop
of his africa tour planning to reinforce economic ties between the two
countries algeria foreign ministry said
during his hour visit when he will also meet his algerian counterpart yang
will sign with algeria protocol on economic cooperation and an agreement on
judicial mutual assistance for civilian and commercial affairs
algiers and beijing have been building economic relations over the last decade
with algeria launching two economic revival plans in and to develop
and modernise its basic infrastructure and housing
in commercial trade between the two countries reached billion dollars
billion euros an percent increase from
chinese investment in algeria grew to million dollars million euros
according to the chinese embassy in algiers
approximately chinese currently live in the north african country
last year dozens of chinese traders clashed with local shopkeepers in the
algerian capital after heated exchange between an algerian storekeeper and
chinese businessman
chinese traders who sell goods at cut throat prices have sparked growing local
resentment
yang has already been to kenya nigeria and sierra leone on his african tour
and is due to continue on to morocco
explained why light worsens migraines
paris jan afp
discovery among blind people has helped scientists resolve mystery why light
can make migraine go from headache to head splitter according to study
published on sunday
the problem appears to lie with newly discovered bunch of cells in the retina
its authors say
researchers from beth israel deaconess center an affiliate of harvard medical
school made the find after pondering why some blind people who suffer from
migraines also experience photophobia an extreme sensitivity to light that
horribly worsens these headaches
in paper published online in the journal nature neuroscience the team
reported how they probed two groups of migraine suffering blind individuals
one group of six people was totally blind and immune to the normal sleep
wakefulness cycle caused by daylight and night
the other numbering was legally blind because of degenerative diseases of
the eyes they could detect the presence of light and followed the sleep
wakefulness cycle although they could not perceive images
while the patients in the first group did not experience any worsening of their
headaches from light exposure the patients in the second group clearly
described intensified pain when they were exposed to light in particular blue
or grey said senior author rami burstein
this suggested to us that the mechanism of photophobia must involve the optic
nerve because in totally blind individuals the optic nerve does not carry
light signals to the brain
the team theorised that the culprit had to be recently discovered retinal cells
which have melanopsin photoreceptors light sensitive biological triggers for
sleep and wakefulness
these are the only functioning light receptors left among patients who are
legally blind burstein explained
the next step was to test the ideas on lab rats using dyes injected into the
rodents eyes the scientists were able to trace the pathway from the melanopsin
retinal cells through the optic nerve and to the brain where they found group
of neurons which became activated during migraines
tiny electrodes inserted into the rats brains determined that within seconds
light unleashed surge of electrical activity in these cells and the cells
remained switched on even after the light was removed
this helps explain why patients say that their headache intensifies within
seconds after exposure to light and improves to minutes after being in the
dark burstein added in press release
the work could be boon for migraine sufferers the authors hope it opens up
exploratory options for drugs that block the pathway enabling migraine
patient to endure light without added pain
migraines are widely researched disorder although the causes remain unclear
they are believed to develop when protective membranes surrounding the brain
become irritated this stimulates pain receptors and in turn causes sensory
neurons to become activated for long periods
on the beat scientists spot genes for heart rhythm
paris jan afp
researchers on sunday said they had identified more than dozen genes that help
modulate heart rate finding that one day may lead to smarter cardiac drugs
three teams working separately netted the genes after comparing the dna codes
of tens of thousands of people of european and indian descent
the genes control electrical impulses that drive the muscles in the cardiac
pump these signals are transmitted by specialised proteins in muscle cells
called ion channels
people with different variants of the genes can be more or alternatively
less at risk of heart flutter and other rhythm problems according to the
authors publishing in the journal nature genetics
the studies were carried out by decode genetics of reykjavik iceland imperial
college london and the helmholtz zentrum muenchen germany
heart disease accounts for more than almost seven million deaths year half of
them through abrupt changes in rhythm such as condition called ventricular
fibrillation
africa cup of nations opens after attack on togo team
luanda jan afp
the africa cup of nations opened in luanda on sunday two days after at least
two people were killed and nine wounded in separatist attack on togo team
angolan president jose eduardo dos santos declared the ceremony open in
speech at the new seat november stadium where his nation will face
mali in the opening match
the stands erupted in cheers as dos santos took the podium leading cries of
viva angola
fifteen dead as bus truck collide in algeria report
algiers jan afp
fifteen people were killed and as many people injured in fiery collision
between bus and truck in central algeria the aps news agency reported
citing local officials
seven of the dead were burned alive in the accident about kilometres
miles north of el menea near ghardaia city kilometres from algiers on the
highway that links the capital with the south
more than lives are lost on algerian roads every year prompting the
government to draw up tougher highway code that is to go into effect before
the end of this month
dubai tv reporter released in iran sources
tehran jan afp
the islamic republic on sunday released an iran based syrian journalist working
for dubai tv who was arrested during opposition protests last month the tehran
prosecutor and colleague said
he is fine and happy to be reunited with his family colleague of reza al
basha who declined to be identified told afp after talking to basha by phone
we are also very glad he has been freed
earlier on sunday the fars news agency cited tehran prosecutor abbas jafari
dolatabadi as saying basha had been freed but colleague denied this
basha was detained on december during opposition protests according to
his colleague iranian officials confirmed his detention two days later
after his arrest the united arab emirates journalists association urged the
international federation of journalists to intervene to establish the fate of
basha and work for his release in an open letter carried by the uae
official wam news agency
the foreign press bureau in iran ministry of culture and islamic guidance is
responsible for issuing work permits to journalists working for foreign media
in june after mass protests broke out over hardline president mahmoud
ahmadinejad controversial re election the foreign press bureau banned
journalists working for foreign media from covering illegal gatherings
opposition demonstrators also clashed with security forces during the shiite
mourning ceremonies of ashura in tehran on december leading to the deaths of
at least eight people and hundreds of arrests according to police
urgent africa cup of nations opens after attack on togo team
luanda jan afp
the africa cup of nations opened in luanda on sunday two days after at least
two people were killed and nine wounded in separatist attack on togo team
alert
football africa cup of nations opens in luanda after deadly attack on togo
team
british minister niece on trial for murder in france
versailles france jan afp
the niece of british government minister goes on trial monday accused of the
murder of young frenchman whose throat was slit after she picked him up in
bar and brought him to her home
jessica davies contacted police in the early hours of sunday morning in
november to say she had stabbed the year old man at her apartment in the
chic saint germain en laye suburb west of paris judicial sources said
police found the now year old niece of britain multi millionaire junior
defence minister quentin davies so drunk that she could not be brought before
judge until the evening sources said at the time
davies who is being held in versailles women prison claimed to remember
nothing of the stabbing only that she had met olivier mugnier in an irish pub
near her flat few hours before his death according to one source
the trial by jury in court in versailles is expected to last two days with
verdict on tuesday davies faces maximum sentence of years in prison if
convicted of voluntary homicide without premeditation
the british press speculated after her arrest that mugnier death was the
result of sex game that turned to violence
british papers drew parallels with high profile murder in italy in sex
game that turned violent and led to its victim being stabbed in the neck just
few days earlier of year old british student meredith kercher
the papers said french police have probed whether davies was inspired by that
murder for which us student amanda knox was handed year prison term last
month and for which her italian boyfriend also got years in jail
davies born in london to british father and french mother was reportedly
depressed after splitting up with her french boyfriend with whom she had shared
the one bedroom flat for four years
press reports said she had tried to commit suicide few months before the
murder of mugnier
she had taken to going out on boozing sessions and picking up men neighbours
and locals said
on the saturday night before mugnier death she was seen drinking pints of beer
and shots of alcohol in sullivan irish pub in saint germain en laye
police said she was four times over the drink drive alcohol limit and could
barely stand or speak when they arrested her
legal sources said psychiatrists who had examined davies found she suffered from
psychological problems and had borderline personality and that
responsibility at the time of the crime was altered
police found stab wounds on the young man body some of them on his throat
his death was caused by knife blow to the chest police said
her uncle quentin davies caused scandal in when he defected from
britain opposition conservatives to the ruling labour party just before
gordon brown was named the new prime minister
he has since been appointed as brown junior defence minister
alpine skiing lizeroux powers to world cup slalom success
adelboden switzerland jan afp
france julien lizeroux powered to his third world cup victory in the men
slalom here on sunday ahead of austria marcel hirscher and ivica kostelic of
croatia
wearing the no bib lizeroux clocked just the th fastest time in the morning
run finishing sec behind early leader mattias hargin of sweden but set
blistering sec in the second to secure victory
fifth at levi seventh at alta badia third at zagreb on wednesday and winner on
sunday the skier from the french alps confirmed his form just one month before
the start of the vancouver olympics
today sunday had lot of emotions swirling around inside me confessed
lizeroux who was greeted at the finish line by his mother
when finished the second leg and had more than second advantage over the
previous skiers and that the race was pretty close thought had good time
however then my legs began to tremble lot
when saw mattias hargin the last starter was behind at the imtermediate
time felt the most extraordinary feelings wash over me
for hirscher it was his first finish of the season in the slalom while kostelic
showed that he had suffered no ill effects from his knee operation before
christmas
didn expect to find myself on the podium so soon after surgery said
kostelic surprised with myself the result is good but what important
for me is to know that my knee is good
he added no one could beat julien lizeroux today with his crazy run don
think he could do it again you also need lot of luck when you ski so fast
because you re at the limit of making mistake
hirscher believes more relaxed approach helped him onto the podium
it an extraordinary day for me because didn finish the last three
slaloms said the austrian always attacked at more than percent in every
race and this time only gave percent in the first leg that why second
today
world cup slalom leader reinfried herbst of austria clocked the second fastest
time in the morning only to ski off the piste minutes from the line but holds
his lead just four points ahead of lizeroux
austria benjamin raich finished fourth to hold his overall world cup lead
israeli strike kills palestinian militants in gaza medics
gaza city jan afp
israeli warplanes targeted group of palestinian militants in the central gaza
strip on sunday killing three gunmen the army and palestinian medics said
the israeli military said they targeted the group as they were preparing to
fire rockets into israel
we won tolerate the firing of rockets into israel and we will respond harshly
as we did now military spokesman told afp
earlier palestinians fired four mortar rounds at southern israel without
causing casualties
the air raid struck east of deir el balah in central gaza and the bodies of the
three were taken to hospital in the town said muawiya hassanein head of gaza
emergency services
the dead were all members of the militant islamic jihad group he said
it was the latest violence along gaza border which has been mostly quiet
since war israel launched on the islamist hamas in gaza on december
in response to rocket fire ended with mutual ceasefires on january
the ceasefires have largely held despite violations by both sides and hamas has
largely succeeded in restraining islamic jihad their smaller islamist rivals
darfur peace talks to resume in doha mediator
ouagadougou jan afp
talks to settle the festering conflict in sudan darfur region will resume in
doha before the end of the month international mediator djibril bassole said
sunday
doha will be the venue of the negotiations and the end of the darfur crisis
bassole told reporters after talks with french foreign minister bernard
kouchner who visited burkina faso sunday on the last leg of tour of african
countries
bassole said he expected the exiled leader of the rebel sudan liberation army
sla abdel wahid mohammed nur to join the talks
the sla is one of the main rebel groups in darfur along with the jem and nur
has previously refused to take part in the doha talks
around the negotiating table at the doha negotiations we can make the warring
parties commit to true truce and agree on the modalities of an end to the
war said bassole who is the united nations and african union chief
mediator in the conflict
the talks will open in doha on january rebel members and members of civil
society will meet the following day before formal opening of the negotiations
on january
things are difficult but are heading in the right direction said bassole
he said he discussed nur case with the french foreign minister as the sla
leader was living in exile in paris
he is not on his way to doha but he won rule out going there said bassole
we will do everything we can so abdel wahid who is powerful symbol of
liberation can play useful role
kouchner added he was confident that the sla leader would eventually join the
peace process
the conflict that erupted in initially pitted two separatist rebel groups
against the khartoum government aided by local arab militias but it has since
proliferated
the united nations says up to people have died from the combined effects
of war famine and disease and that another million have fled their homes
the government puts the darfur death toll at people
football leicester fight back to force draw
london jan afp
leicester conceded goal after just seconds but still managed to draw
with ipswich on sunday as they maintained their push for playoff place in
english football second division championship
the home side were behind inside the first minute at the walkers stadium after
ipswich managed by former manchester united midfielder roy keane broke
through
jack colback cross came to the near post where leicester ryan mcgivern
under pressure from ipswich david norris who made superb run put through
his own net
but leicester were level before half time when after ipswich failed to clear
cross the ball fell to leicester strike steve howard who struck an equaliser
from the edge of the yard box
the result in one of the few english league matches to survive the big freeze
engulfing britain this weekend left leicester fifth in the table
meanwhile ipswich who had wretched start to the season have now lost just
once in their last league matches but they remained in th place with
relegation still worry for the club
gay marriage goes on trial in us federal court
los angeles jan afp
opponents and defenders of homosexual marriage in california go toe to toe
monday in potentially epic court showdown that could decide the future of gay
unions in the united states
the plaintiffs are challenging proposition whose approval by percent of
california voters in november referendum annulled state supreme court
decision that authorized homosexual unions
federal court judge vaughn walker agreed to hear the suit filed by proponents of
gay marriage and said it was constitutional issue that belonged in federal
court despite objections from those who oppose giving same sex couples the
right to marry
this lawsuit is an attempt by judge walker to put the voters of california on
trial and it wrong walker has not dealt with this properly he doesn care
about the law brian brown director of the national organization for marriage
which opposes gay marriage told afp
proposition amended the california constitution to state that only marriage
between man and woman is valid or recognized in the state of california
opponents argue that the amendment discriminates against gays and therefore
violates the us constitution notion that brown vehemently dismisses
think our founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves if they
heard that the constitution guarantees the right to redefine marriage this is
absurd he said
defenders of homosexual unions for their part believe the court case which at
judge walker request will be carried live on the video sharing site youtube
will be an opportunity to enlighten the public
that will be very educational moment for our community on this issue because
people have so many misconceptions and misunderstandings about gay people and
what sexual orientation is all about said jennifer pizer director of lambda
legal national marriage project
discrimination hurts us and doesn help anyone the trial will offer chance
for the public to listen to the expert witnesses on both sides and hear the
cross examinations of those witnesses she said
pizer also is counting on the two star lawyers representing the plaintiffs
theodore olson and david boies who are teaming up in this case after having
been fierce opponents in the supreme court fight for the presidency between
george bush and al gore
olson who defended bush is prominent conservative and pizer believes his
advocacy and passion for equal treatment of lesbian and gay couples here will
reach the ears and hearts of many people who have not understood this issue
before
but the stakes are huge for both supporters and opponents gay marriage
no one in america thinks that this trial is going to end at this level brown
said eventually it will go to supreme court
supreme court ruling would seal the fate of homosexual unions throughout the
united states without possibility for appeal by one side or the other
so bringing the issue before the federal courts in monday trial could become
make or break event for the gay marriage movement which several homosexual
associations have warned against
the court case follows several setbacks for gay marriage proponents on
thursday new jersey lawmakers rejected bill authorizing homosexual marriages
as did lawmakers in new york state few weeks ago
only five us states today permit homosexual unions iowa connecticut
massachusetts vermont and new hampshire
police suspect anarchists in greek parliament blast
athens jan afp
greek police on sunday suspected an anarchist group of setting off bomb blast
outside greece parliament the latest in string of attacks on political and
business targets
no one was injured and only few windows were shattered when the device went
off saturday evening inside rubbish bin minutes after police sealed off the
area following tip off to an athens newspaper
pending claim of responsiblity investigators suspect the timebomb was the
work of the conspiracy of the cells of fire which has carried out number of
similar blasts since police source said
