further attacks the attempt was claimed by al qaeda
spain raised its terrorist alert level on tuesday after warning that the armed
basque separatist group eta may be planning an attack or kidnapping during the
country eu presidency
trial of swiss businessman postponed again lawyer
tripoli jan afp
the trial of one of two swiss businessmen barred from leaving libya for
months and charged with illegal business activities has been postponed their
lawyer said on saturday
the judge has decided to postpone until january the trial of max goeldi and
is demanding that he appears in court salah zahaf told afp
the trial of the other swiss businessman rashid hamdani would be held on
sunday zahaf said it was not clear if hamdani would follow goeldi example
and fail to appear for the hearing
goeldi and hamdani who have been holed up at the swiss embassy were due to
appear in court in december but legal proceedings were delayed at the request of
the defence
the pair have been caught up in diplomatic row between switzerland and libya
over swiss authorities treatment of leader moamer kadhafi son hannibal
goeldi senior manager at the swedish swiss engineering giant abb and
hamdani who works for small construction firm were detained after hannibal
kadhafi and his wife were briefly arrested in geneva in when two hotel
servants complained he had mistreated them
the servants later dropped the allegations but goeldi and hamdani have not been
allowed to leave libya since july last year
in separate case the two swiss businessmen were sentenced to month jail
terms in absentia on november for overstaying their libyan visas
they are appealing against that sentence with the next hearing due to be held
january for hamdani and january for goeldi according to their defence
team
un high commissioner for human rights navi pillay has called for their release
describing tripoli treatment of them as unfair
illegal immigration in canaries at year low authorities
madrid jan afp
the number of illegal immigrants reaching spain canary islands fell to
year low last year regional authorities said saturday
total of migrants arrived in the atlantic ocean archipelago on simple
boats from africa down from in and from record of in
it was the lowest number since when such arrivals were registered in
the islands
spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero said wednesday that the
number of illegal immigrants who reached spain as whole in fell by half
to around from some last year
he credited the fall on stepped up patrols of the coasts and on repatriation
agreements with several african nations
he said spain was winning the battle against illegal immigration after
suffering through several extraordinarily difficult years
the decline has also been attributed to the severe recession which spain is
enduring which has sent the unemployment rate soaring to just under percent
spain has been magnet in recent years for african migrants aspiring to reach
europe authorities fear many of those who attempt the crossing by sea die of
thirst hunger or exposure
vg wdb har
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor jonny jacobsen
tel
top stories
somali charged with attempted murder of danish cartoonist
obama blames al qaeda affiliate in yemen for airliner attack
suicide bomber kills at pakistan volleyball game
denmark attacks media islam wrap
copenhagen
somali man is charged with the attempted murder of danish cartoonist whose
caricatures of the muslim prophet mohammed sparked wave of riots and protests
around the world
words gmt by slim allagui picture
us attacks nigeria wrap
honolulu hawaii
us president barack obama for the first time accuses an al qaeda affiliate of
arming and training young nigerian man for thwarted suicide mission to blow
up us airliner
words gmt by stephen collinson
pakistan unrest thlead wrap
peshawar pakistan
investigators sift through rubble after suicide car bomber detonated his
explosives filled vehicle in crowd watching volleyball game in northwest
pakistan killing at least
words gmt by lehaz ali picture
middle east
iran nuclear politics exchange ndlead wrap
tehran
iran risking fresh un sanctions over its atomic programme gives the west one
month ultimatum to accept uranium swap warning that if there is no deal it
will produce its own nuclear fuel for tehran reactor
words gmt by aresu eqbali
americas
brazil floods ndlead
rio de janeiro
brazilian rescue workers dig for survivors after mudslide buries luxury
hotel filled with new year revelers on an island near rio killing at least
and leaving many others missing
words gmt graphic picture
asia
afghanistan unrest politics cabinet rdlead
kabul
afghan parliamentarians show their teeth rejecting number of president hamid
karzai nominees for cabinet posts in vote of confidence aimed at finally
forming government
words gmt by sharif khoram picture
africa
uganda rebels unrest lra lead
kampala
ugandan troops killed top commander of the rebel lord resistance army in the
central african republic military spokesman says
words gmt
luge world cup results
konigsee germany jan afp
results here on saturday in the fifth leg of the luge world cup
women
tatjana hufner ger
natalie geisenberger ger at
stefanie sieger ger
anke wischnewski ger
erin hamlin usa
overall standings after five of the eight legs
tatjana hufner ger points
natalie geisenberger ger
anke wischnewski ger
erin hamlin usa
corina martini ger
men
tobias wendl tobias arlt ger
andre florschutz torsten wustlich ger at
andreas linger wolfgang linger aut
patric leitner alexander resch ger
christian oberstolz patrick gruber ita
overall standings after five of the eight legs
andr florschutz torsten wustlich ger points
patric leitner alexander resch ger
andreas et wolfgang linger aut
christian oberstolz patrick gruber ita
peter penz georg fischler aut
israel behaves like spoiled child saudi minister
riyadh jan afp
saudi foreign minister prince saud al faisal said saturday that israel acts like
spoiled child and stalls middle east peace talks thanks to easy
international treatment
we can reach solution with the preferential treatment that israel gets
prince saud said in reply to question on restarting the peace talks with the
palestinians
in the international community israel has become like spoiled child he told
news conference after holding talks with turkish counterpart ahmet davutoglu
the two foreign ministers called for israel to halt all settlement expansion
activities to enable peace talks to move ahead
there should be freeze on the settlements in all the occupied territories and
especially east jerusalem davutoglu said
the palestinians and their supporters maintain that israel continued building
and expansion in settlements has blocked an effort from early last year to
restart peace negotiations for an independent palestinian state
football mozambique african nations cup squad
maputo jan afp
mozambique squad for african nations cup between january and in angola
goalkeepers bino liga muculmana kampango tersana egy lama muculmana
defenders campira zainadine junior and mexer desportivo maputo dario khan
al kharitiyah qat fanuel muculmana miro platinum stars rsa paito
sion sui simao panathinaikos gre whisky ferroviario maputo
midfielders momed hagy and danito parraque ferroviario maputo elias
dominques pelembe mamelodi sundowns rsa genito nea salamina cyp
goncalves fumo olympiakos gre josimar costa do sol nelinho desportivo
maputo ze luis al mahalla egy
strikers helder pelembe maxaquene dario monteiro supersport utd rsa
manuel tico tico bucuane jomo cosmos rsa
afghan parliament slashes karzai list of nominees
kabul jan afp
afghan parliamentarians showed their teeth on saturday rejecting number of
president hamid karzai nominees for cabinet posts in vote of confidence
aimed at finally forming government
state television showed ministerial nominees being rejected in secret ballot
of more than parliamentarians to approve karzai candidates more than
four months after his controversial presidential election
karzai was returned for second five year term after the august vote despite
investigators discovering that more than quarter of the votes most of them
for the president were fake
when karzai was inaugurated in november he promised to wipe out corruption and
present government of honest and competent technocrats
many of karzai nominees this week were incumbents who had the support of his
backers in the international community and parliament approval of their
appointment had been considered to be an almost foregone conclusion
state television showed the laborious vote count live as parliamentarians some
in suit and tie some wearing traditional afghan turbans divided the yellow
ballot papers into approved and rejected piles
parliamentary spokesman hasib noori said the count would continue until it was
completed possibly late saturday night
each ministerial nominee must receive vote of confidence from parliament
before being confirmed in the post
the position of foreign minister the th cabinet post will not be filled
until after the london conference set for january which will be attended by
the outgoing incumbent rangin dadfar spanta noori said
as vote continued it became clear that karzai could face the rejection of up to
half his nominees
those rejected included nominees for the justice higher education economy
communications religious affairs public works trade and public health
portfolios
nominees for the portfolios of education interior defence finance
agriculture and culture were approved television footage showed
karzai did not think clearly enough about the list he was presenting he was
under lot of pressure said nasrullah stanikzai law professor at kabul
university
ministries without approved ministers would be run by deputy ministers until
nominees were approved he said
the high rate of rejections will have negative effect on those ministries
which are without leadership and policy in the lead up to the london
conference he told afp
among the nominees rejected was ismail khan warlord nominated as water and
energy minister powerful post seen by many observers as reward for
supporting karzai re election
karzai international backers notably the united states and britain had been
vocal in their support for the incumbents in the interior agriculture defence
education and public health portfolios
together the united states and nato have more than troops in
afghanistan helping to keep karzai in power as they battle virulent taliban
insurgency
around extra foreign troops will arrive over the course of this year
backed by thousands of civilians as part of strategy to turn the tide away
from the battlefield and towards development and aid
earlier diplomats expressed overall satisfaction with karzai choices for his
cabinet
it cabinet we can work with one senior western diplomat said ahead of
the parliamentary vote
facing the loss of support from his international backers karzai used his list
of nominees as evidence of his commitment to fighting corruption
the list included many old faces who had won approval from the international
community as well as two warlords some former ministers making return to
public office and few new faces
afghanistan western allies have made it clear that the billions of dollars in
military and development assistance that pour into afghanistan will depend on
concrete action being taken against corruption
karzai has long relied on warlords to prop up his fragile government but aides
say he has recognised the need to appease the west to stay in power and bring
some momentum to the development of his poverty stricken country
josipovic tops poll ahead of croatian presidential election
zagreb jan afp
social democrat ivo josipovic is the favourite to be elected croatian president
in run off vote scheduled for january according to poll saturday
of croatians questioned by the agency promocija plus percent said
they intended to vote for law professor josipovic against percent for the
populist mayor of zagreb milan bandic the poll published in the daily
newspaper slobodna dalmacija said
nearly percent were undecided between the two candidates who won the first
round on december when josipovic got percent of the vote more than
double the support for milan bandic who took percent
out of the million croatians registered to vote only percent cast their
ballots in the first round
the winning candidate whose mandate lasts five years will face the main task
of integrating croatia into the european union before
search for survivors after mudslide kills in rio hotel
rio de janeiro jan afp
brazilian rescue workers dug for survivors saturday after mudslide buried
luxury hotel filled with new year revelers on an island near rio killing at
least and leaving many others missing
another landslide in the nearby city of angra dos reis south of rio left at
least people dead part of series of mudslides brought on by incessant
rains that have killed at least people across the state of rio de janeiro
since wednesday and left dozens missing
authorities said the hotel sankay on ilha grande resort island southwest of
rio was full to capacity with about guests including children ringing in
the new year at the idyllic seaside getaway nestled at the bottom of jungle
covered hillside which gave way burying part of the hotel and three houses on
the island
it is vision of horror rio deputy governor luiz fernando pezao told cbn
radio describing mountain of rocks and trees covering various homes
nearby houses had been rented out to vacationers for the holiday period
fire chief said the death toll at the hotel site could rise to and rescue
teams were speeding their search saturday amid warnings by authorities of the
possibility of new landslides
the whole area is in severe danger of new landslides due to the vegetation
colonel pedro machado commander of the fire department told globo news
channel
about rescue workers and firefighters aided by rescue dogs wrestled to
remove tons of mud and vegetation in the hope of finding victims alive on ilha
grande but the chances of finding survivors are very slender machado said
we cannot use heavy equipment because of the risk of setting off new
landslides he said
authorities said most of the bodies recovered earlier were found on land but at
least three had been pulled from the sea
the hotel sankay which opened in catered to brazilian and foreign
tourists looking for hard to reach beachside hideaway
the island whose bananal beach can only be reached by water is the largest in
bay studded with pristine tropical islands
it was not immediately known if there were foreigners among the dead
in the center of the city of angra dos reis seaside town on the mainland
overlooking ilha grande bay about kilometers miles south of rio
another landslide buried several houses killing at least and leaving six
missing according to the radio cbn
although the rains stopped on friday authorities put rio de janeiro on alert
because of fears of potentially devastating mudslides in its densely populated
hillside favelas or shanty towns
about people were reported killed on thursday because of subsidence and house
collapses mainly in and around the city
similar mudslides caused by torrential rains hit the state of rio de janeiro
year ago forcing more than people to leave their homes
saudi says in talks to bring bin laden daughter from iran
riyadh jan afp
saudi arabia said saturday it is holding talks with iran to repatriate osama bin
laden daughter to the kingdom after she took refuge in the saudi embassy in
tehran
we consider this is humanitarian issue saudi foreign minister prince saud
al faisal told news conference
we are negotiating with the iranian government on this basis he said
imam bin laden recently fled from family compound near tehran to the
embassy in hopes of leaving iran where she several siblings and one of osama
bin laden wives have lived under house arrest for several years
british newspaper the times reported of the al qaeda terror network chief
grandchildren were also living in the high security compound outside iran
capital
the group fled afghanistan just before the september attacks on the
united states and walked to the iranian border where they were detained and
taken to the walled compound by guards the times said
prince saud declined to give any details of the talks with tehran saying it
could complicate the issue
iran foreign minister manouchehr mottaki was quoted on december as saying the
teenager would be free to leave iran once her identity is confirmed
the foreign ministry told the embassy that based on international conventions
if her identity is confirmed she can leave iran with passage documents isna
quoted mottaki as saying
we were not able to confirm her identity but the embassy says she is the
daughter of bin laden he added
eu foreign policy chief condemns pakistan attack
brussels jan afp
the european union new foreign policy supremo catherine ashton condemned
saturday suicide attack that killed people at volleyball game in
pakistan
am shocked by the news of the brutal bomb attack at sports event in lakki
marwat that killed and injured large number of innocent civilians ashton
said in statement
this outrageous attack is yet again an example of the outrageous violence that
besets pakistan and its population my thoughts are now with the families of the
victims and hope the injured will recover very soon
in this difficult moment the eu reaffirms its support for the government and
the population of pakistan
the attacker detonated his vehicle packed with explosives in the crowd watching
the volleyball game in northwest pakistan friday
the huge blast in the village of shah hasan khan in bannu district bordering
the taliban stronghold of waziristan was pakistan deadliest in more than two
months
the volleyball tournament was organised by peace committee which had supported
government operation to expel militants from the area
somali group hails attack on danish cartoonist
mogadishu jan afp
somalia radical islamic shebab group hailed saturday the attack by somali on
danish cartoonist reviled by muslims for his drawing of their prophet
mohammed
we appreciate the incident in which muslim somali boy attacked the devil who
abused our prophet mohammed and we call upon all muslims around the world to
target the people like him shebab spokesman sheikh ali muhamud rage told
afp
denmark pet intelligence agency said earlier the person arrested has
close links with the somali terrorist organisation al shebab as well as with the
heads of al qaeda in east africa
he is also suspected of being implicated in terrorist activities when he was in
east africa the individual arrested has also been member of terrorist
network implanted in denmark that has been under surveillance by pet for long
time
rage said for his part there could be some people who might say that boy was
related to shebab or other islamic organisations but tell you that this
incident is not something that could be related only to shebab or other islamic
organisations
it is general obligation for all muslims to defend their religion and the
prophet he really did what was to be done by any other muslim
the al qaeda inspired shebab controls large swathes of south and central somalia
and has wrested control of much of the capital mogadishu where it has
relentlessly attacked government and african union forces
on friday the group said it would send fighters to yemen to help an al qaeda
affiliate behind the failed christmas day us airliner bombing in its fight
against government forces
attacker nearly got me danish cartoonist says
copenhagen jan afp
somali attacker accused of trying to kill danish cartoonist over his
depictions of islam prophet mohammed very nearly succeeded the victim of the
attack was quoted as saying saturday
kurt westergaard said the axe wielding attacker managed to enter his home and
was just on the other side of the door of secure panic room the attacker was
screaming revenge and blood in poor danish he said
hid in the secure room when he entered into the house knew had no chance
of stopping him so called the police westergaard told the website of the
jyllands posten newspaper
was horrible the most important thing was that had the reaction to secure
myself but it was close very close
denmark internal security service pet said the attacker was somali national
close to the somali shebab movement and al qaeda
westergaard had received several death threats since danish newspaper four
years ago published his drawing featuring mohammed wearing turban in the shape
of bomb
football scottish football league postponed matches
glasgow jan afp
list of scottish football league matches postponed on saturday
postponed frozen pitch
first division
airdrie utd dundee
inverness ct ross county
queen of south ayr
partick morton
dunfermline raith
second division
alloa stirling
arbroath brechin
cowdenbeath clyde
dumbarton stenhousemuir
peterhead east fife
third division
east stirling elgin
montrose forfar
stranraer annan athletic
berwick livingston
queens park albion
mousavi arrest would have catastrophic consequences dissident
berlin jan afp
any move by iran regime to kill or arrest opposition leader mir hossein
mousavi would have catastrophic consequences for the country the son of late
dissident cleric hossein ali montazeri has told germany spiegel magazine
saeed montazeri was also quoted as saying that the killing of mousavi nephew
during anti government protests on december was kind of last warning to
the opposition chief
don know if he will also be killed one day or if the regime will have him
arrested this would have catastrophic consequences said montazeri was quoted
as saying in telephone interview
still hope that the government shows it can be reasonable that they accept
compromise and take the path of national reconciliation he added but said
this would only be possible if president mahmoud ahmadinejad was forced out of
office
mousavi said on friday that he was ready to sacrifice his life in his campaign
for reform after the disputed june re election of ahmadinejad
saeed montazeri father top cleric grand ayatollah hossein ali montazeri died
last month at the age of he was fierce critic of the clerical regime he
helped create and an inspiration to reformists and human rights activists
football bad weather disrupts scottish football
glasgow jan afp
saturday scottish premier league matches between falkirk and st johnstone and
motherwell and hamilton have both been postponed because of frozen pitches
meanwhile the cold weather affecting much of britain led to the entire
postponement of all of the scheduled fixtures in the three divisions of the
scottish football league
irish atheists defy new blasphemy law
dublin jan afp
an irish atheist group have begun campaign to have controversial new
blasphemy law repealed by publishing quotations it claims are blasphemous on
its website
the new law that came into force on new year day making blasphemy crime
that can result in fine of up to euros dollars is both silly
and dangerous according to michael nugent of atheist ireland
the group which promotes rational ethical secular ireland has published
quotations from the words of jesus mohammed pope benedict xvi us guitarist
frank zappa indian british novelist salman rushdie british comedy troupe monty
python former northern ireland first minister ian paisley and irish justice
minister dermot ahern
ahern who introduced the amending law earlier this year to reform
defamation law said that he would have preferred to have abolished it but he
could not do so for constitutional reasons
ireland constitution says the publication or utterance of blasphemous
seditious or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in
accordance with law
the provision cannot be changed without referendum
nugent said the law was silly because medieval religious laws have no place in
modern secular republic where the criminal law should protect people and not
ideas
we believe in the golden rule that we have right to be treated justly and
that we have responsibility to treat other people justly blasphemy laws are
unjust they silence people in order to protect ideas
nugent said that in civilised society people have right to express and hear
ideas about religion even if other people find those ideas to be outrageous
the group wants lawmakers to remove references to god from the constitution
including the clauses that prevent atheists from being appointed as president or
as judge without swearing religious oath asking god to direct them in their
work
ahern told parliament in may that he hoped his explanation that he was bound by
the constitution will help to put at rest the minds of all those fantasy
conspiracy theorists that have detected dark machinations and bogey men behind
this proposal and have attributed to myself the most debased motives
iran gives west ultimatum to accept uranium swa proposal fm
tehran jan afp
iran foreign minister gave the west one month ultimatum on saturday to
accept uranium swap warning that it will produce its own nuclear fuel for
tehran reactor if there is no deal
the international community has just one month left to decide whether or not
it will accept iran conditions foreign minister manouchehr mottaki was
quoted by state television as saying
this is an ultimatum
iran which rejected december deadline to accept un brokered deal said
on tuesday it was ready to swap abroad its low enriched uranium for nuclear
fuel while insisting that the exchange happen in stages
tehran had already rejected proposal by the un nuclear watchdog the
international atomic energy agency iaea to ship most of its low enriched
uranium to russia and france for processing into fuel for the research reactor
but iran said it was ready for fuel swap in several stages and in late
december mottaki said iran is open to exchanging uranium on turkish soil
earlier in december iran had proposed to exchange kilogrammes pounds
of uranium on its gulf island of kish but was bluntly dissmissed by the united
states with the iaea already having ruled out swap on iranian soil
world powers have been pushing for iran to accept the un brokered deal and are
also mulling plans to impose fresh un sanctions against tehran after the islamic
republic dismissed the year end deadline
iran is already under three sets of un sanctions for refusing to abandon its
sensitive programme of uranium enrichment the process which produces nuclear
fuel or in highly extended form the fissile core of an atomic bomb
the united states israel and other world powers suspect tehran is making an
atomic bomb under the guise of civilian nuclear programme
iran denies the charge and says its purpose is entirely peaceful
on wednesday us state department spokesman darby holladay said the west will
still focus on dual track policy regarding the islamic republic
