tadic said
the war that followed croatia declaration of independence from the
former yugoslavia pitted zagreb against croatian serb rebels backed by belgrade
just few days ago mesic angered belgrade by making an official visit to
kosovo on the occasion he called on serbia to stop its unrealistic dreams of
return of kosovo which declared independence from serbia in february
voter turnout on sunday was percent officials said with the electorate
apparently weary of recent political scandals and pre occupied by croatia
deepening recession
josipovic has also promised economic improvements with croatia economy
predicted to have contracted up to percent in
observers say however that the president powers are limited with the day to
day running of croatia largely in the hands of conservative government led by
kosor
gay marriage goes on trial in california
san francisco jan afp
landmark federal court case on same sex marriage got underway in california
monday with attorneys arguing that outlawing weddings between gays and lesbians
violates the us constitution
in the latest twist in case that could ultimately lead to showdown at the us
supreme court gay rights activists are seeking to overturn ban on same sex
marriage passed by california voters at the election
the ban was upheld by california top state court last year prompting
activists to take their case to the federal court system for the first time
analysts say the decision to fight the case in federal courts represents high
stakes risk because it could result in us supreme court ruling which would
settle the issue with no possibility of appeal
monday hearing in san francisco began with around supporters and opponents
of same sex marriage protesting outside the court house
the no jury trial was supposed to be streamed live via youtube but the us
supreme court on monday issued stay blocking live streaming of the proceedings
beyond the courthouse proper while it considers the matter
opponents of same sex marriage had opposed broadcasting the trial claiming
witnesses called to give evidence could suffer harassment if their identities
were made widely known
supporters of california same sex marriage ban known as proposition insist
the federal case should never have been allowed to proceed and criticized judge
vaughn walker decision to hear it
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
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
those who support gay marriage believe the court case is an opportunity to
enlighten the public
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 said jennifer pizer director of lambda
legal national marriage project
she added people have so many misconceptions and misunderstandings about gay
people and what sexual orientation is all about
pizer is also counting on the two star lawyers representing the plaintiffs
theodore olson and david boies who are teaming up here after being fierce
opponents in the supreme court fight for the presidency between george
bush and al gore
olson who defended bush is prominent conservative but 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 of 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 gay unions across the united
states without possibility for appeal by one side or the other
the california court case follows several setbacks for gay marriage proponents
on thursday new jersey lawmakers rejected bill authorizing gay marriages as
did lawmakers in new york state few weeks ago
only five us states today permit gay unions iowa connecticut massachusetts
vermont and new hampshire
str rcw arb
french film maker rohmer dies at
paris jan afp
french film maker eric rohmer director of numerous critically acclaimed films
including my night at maud died on monday at the age of his producer
margaret menegoz told afp
relatives said he had been hospitalised week ago but did not give further
details of his condition
rohmer films widely distributed abroad explored relationships and love
affairs with understated performances and delicate attention to visual detail
he emerged in the as key member of the french new wave of realist film
making working with other masters of the genre such as jean luc godard and
francois truffaut
but rohmer distinguished himself in his own work by gentler style with
understated articulate performances and soft colours
one typical work from pauline at the beach told the story of year
old girl summer by the seaside reflecting his fondness for observing adult
romances through the eyes of young female protagonist
another series of films six moral tales in the and were modern
retelling of th century fables
they included my night at maud characteristically subtle tale about sex
romance and religion which won an oscar nomination for best foreign film and
brought rohmer international fame
rohmer set up his own production company les films du losange and made
feature films over year career
he described his style of cinema as one of thoughts rather than actions
dealing less with what people do than what is going on in their minds while
they are doing it
president nicolas sarkozy in statement reacting to rohmer death said the
film maker was great master of singular unique style that would survive
him
he was behind the cahiers du cinema magazine and the adventure of the new
wave but his films are still singular unique they were about literature
painting theatre and music sarkozy said
classical and romantic well behaved and iconoclastic light and serious
sentimental and moralizing he created rohmerian style that will survive
him the statement added
culture minister frederic mitterrand called rohmer one of france greatest
film makers who invented cinematographic language that draws its strength
from the subtleties of the french language
intrinsically french and full of bright often improvised dialogue rohmer
films were frequently compared to the work of the th century dramatist
marivaux
but he had his critics their view encapsulated in comment by tough
detective played by gene hackman in arthur penn film night moves in
which he complained that watching rohmer film was like watching paint dry
born jean marie maurice scherer on april in the eastern french city of
nancy rohmer worked early on as journalist and then teacher
in he published the novel elisabeth under the pseudonym gilbert cordier
six to meet this week on iran sanctions clinton
travis air base california jan afp
the united states russia china britain france and germany will meet late this
week to discuss sanctions over iran nuclear program us secretary of state
hillary clinton said monday
clinton speaking to reporters on flight to hawaii said the obama
administration was contemplating sanctions that would target the iranian
leadership political and commercial base but added no decision had been made
the plus will reconvene in new york at the end of this week and they will
be exploring the kind and degree of sanctions that we should be pursuing
clinton told reporters on her way to hawaii
the plus one are the five permanent members of the un security council plus
germany the group that has been reaching out to iran in bid to force the
regime to halt its uranium enrichment
at the end of last year clinton and other senior us officials signaled growing
impatience with iran failure to respond to an united nations nuclear watchdog
offer to build confidence with the international community
the united states has backed the offer un international atomic energy agency
iaea proposal to ship abroad low grade nuclear fuel so it can be further
enriched and returned to refuel tehran medical research reactor
though not completely closing the door on the engagement policy which president
barack obama has pursued toward iran since taking office last year clinton
elaborated on the kinds of sanctions she thought would be effective
it is clear that there relatively small group of decision makers inside
iran clinton said
they are in both political and commercial relationships and if we can create
sanctions track that targets those who actually make the decisions we think
that is smarter way to do sanctions clinton said
but that is all yet to be decided upon she said
obama gave iran until the end of the year to take up his offer of engagement
but us officials have indicated there was no hard and fast deadline
us concern after uae leader brother acquitted
washington jan afp
us officials monday denounced the acquittal of the brother of the uae president
who had been tried on charges of torturing an afghan trader in
it not credible verdict senior official said asking to remain
anonymous after the ruling handed down on sunday on sheikh issa bin zayed al
nahayan by an emirati court
the year old sheikh is the brother of the president of the united arab
emirates and the ruler of oil rich abu dhabi sheikh khalifa bin zayed al
nahayan the uae is key regional ally of the united states
sheikh issa was acquitted by the court after establishing he was not
responsible for the torture of the afghan merchant in because he was under
the influence of medication at the time his lawyer habib al mulla told afp
but five co defendants including two americans were convicted
the case came to light when video began circulating that appeared to show
sheikh issa beating man with whips electric cattle prods and wooden plank
studded with nails before rubbing salt in his wounds with the help of police
however the court in the oasis city of al ain ordered two co defendants to pay
temporary compensation of dirhams dollars to the afghan who
can file new lawsuit to claim full compensation
the two us defendants of lebanese origin brothers ghassan and bassam nabulsi
were sentenced to five years in jail each in absentia for having drugged the
sheikh
state department official crowley said there are still questions that have
been raised adding washington will continue to watch the case carefully
he added we recognized that all members of emirati society must stand equal
before the law and we remain concerned for the victims of this horrible crime
we welcome careful review of this decision to ensure that the demands of
justice are fully met in this case
the court also sentenced three other workers at the farm where the torture took
place to between one and three years in jail for drugging the sheikh likewise
in absentia according to the lawyer mulla guard at the farm was acquitted
football another shock as burkina faso hold ivory coast
cabinda angola jan afp
shock filled start to the africa cup of nations continued on monday as title
favourites ivory coast were held by burkina faso in the opening group
match
hosts angola sensationally surrendered four goal lead when drawing with mali
in the tournament opener on sunday and hours later malawi rocked world
cup qualifiers algeria in another group clash
an ivorian team featuring europe based stars like kolo toure younger brother
yaya and didier drogba dominated possession throughout but created few clearcut
chances and looked far from potential champions
burkina faso set out defensive stall and contained their opponents with
relative comfort to keep alive hopes of finishing among the top two in mini
league completed by ghana and qualifying for the quarter finals
players stood silently before the kick off to honour two togolese fatalities of
an ambush in this restive enclave last friday while police soldiers and special
forces cast ring of steel around complex housing the teams
togo whose delegation flew home on sunday were officially disqualified from
the tournament when they failed to appear for an gmt fixture against ghana
scheduled to be the second half of cabinda double header
it was difficult start after what happened few days ago it was hard to
concentrate we do not forget what happened to togo but now the competition has
started and we try to focus on the games said drogba
burkina faso portugal born coach paulo duarte confessed we were not good in
the first half and did not create any scoring chances it was better after the
break for us
ivory coast dominated the first half before sparse crowd at the new
seat chiazi stadium with virtually the entire burkina faso team
retreating behind the ball at the slightest hint of danger
the respect the stallions accorded the elephants in this west african derby was
understandable after losing at home and away when the neighbours clashed
in qualifiers for this tournament
the english premiership duo drogba of chelsea and emmanuel eboue of arsenal had
penalty appeals rejected by the tunisian referee in the stamina sapping
conditions
there were also couple of scares for burkinabe goalkeeper daouda diakate who
had the humiliating experience of retrieving the ball from his net five times in
abidjan last september
the cairo based custodian spilled hard long range attempt from midfielder
didier zokora and raced off his line to clutch the ball as bakari kone dashed
forward
cheik tiote adopted more subtle approach to try and break the deadlock and it
almost paid off as his gentle curled shot ended just millimetres off target
kone should have put the elephants ahead when deep cross was played into his
path but failed to get sufficient power into his shot and diakate parry
rescued the stallions
ivory coast resembled five time world cup winners brazil at times as they
retained possession while effortlessly stroking the ball about but the killer
instinct was missing and half time arrived without goal
the burkinabe displayed more adventure in the second half but were lucky to
survive midway through when superb run by kouassi gervinho yao created
golden chance for kone who shot timidly wide
charles kabore squandered late half chance in rare burkinabe attack before
goalmouth collision between two ivorians trying to snatch stoppage time winner
summed up dismal evening for the champions
korea seeks us peace pact before scrapping nuclear weapons
seoul jan afp
north korea called monday for talks on treaty to formally end the korean war
saying it wants better ties with the united states and an end to sanctions
before pushing ahead with nuclear disarmament
the foreign ministry statement was the first time the north has publicly stated
its position on the disarmament negotiations since us envoy stephen bosworth
visited pyongyang last month
bosworth was trying to persuade the communist state to return to the six nation
talks it abandoned last april month before staging second nuclear test no
firm agreement was reached
in washington white house officials dismissed the north korean proposal saying
the de nuclearization of the korean peninsula needed to be taken up first in
six party talks
white house spokesman robert gibbs said north korea needs to come back to the
six party talks in dealing with this issue and give up the idea of nuclear
state on the peninsula
we ve got to get back to the six party talks and see the seriousness with which
north korea pursues those talks secretary of state hillary clinton told
reporters traveling with her to hawaii
clinton said return to six party talks would open the door for
consideration of an appropriate relaxation of sanctions but it condition
precedent
north korea statement monday said repeated frustrations and failures in the
talks which began in and group the two koreas the united states china
russia and japan showed the need to build confidence among parties concerned
if confidence is to be built between the dprk north korea and the us it is
essential to conclude peace treaty for terminating the state of war root
cause of the hostile relations to begin with said the statement carried by
official media
the north has long called for treaty to officially end the conflict
which terminated only with an armistice leaving the parties technically at war
us led united nations force fought for the south and china backed the
communist north
six party agreements in and envisage talks on peace treaty but only
in return for full denuclearisation the north said the peace pact should come
first
the conclusion of the peace treaty will help terminate the hostile relations
between the dprk and the us and positively promote the denuclearisation of the
korean peninsula at rapid tempo it said
the foreign ministry said talks on peace pact could be held either at
separate forum or in the framework of the six party talks
the removal of the barrier of such discrimination and distrust as sanctions may
soon lead to the opening of the six party talks it said
the united nations tightened weapons related sanctions after the north nuclear
test and missile launches last year
monday statement mentioned only peace pact with the united states and kim
yong hyun professor at seoul dongguk university described it as
unrealistic
believe the us will not accept it as north korea has long tried to exclude
south korea in such talks he told afp
the proposal is aimed at taking the upper hand in future negotiations and
securing more concessions when talks resume with the us or south korea
however kim said pyongyang might return to the six party talks even though its
statement carried preconditions
the north reiterated that it would not have needed to develop nuclear bombs
without what it sees as us hostility
in new year editorial message it called for an end to hostile relations with
the united states and vowed to work towards nuclear free peninsula
south korea has been sceptical of calls for early talks on peace pact
foreign minister yu myung hwan has said the north may try to bring the issue
into the six party dialogue in an attempt to stall negotiations on scrapping its
nuclear programme
on monday robert king the obama administration new envoy on human rights in
north korea said relations could only improve once pyongyang improved its
appalling rights record
baek seung joo of seoul korea institute for defense analyses said the
statement indicated the north was heading back towards the six party talks
there exists discrepancy between north korea and the others notably south
korea in sequencing the tasks of denuclearisation and striking peace treaty
on the korean peninsula he said
top obama security aide heads to middle east
washington jan afp
president barack obama national security advisor james jones will head to the
middle east this week as the administration opens fresh bid to revive
israeli palestinian peace talks
jones will meet meet key leaders of saudi arabia israel and the palestinian
territories to discuss the full range of regional challenges and opportunities
at this critical time his spokesman mike hammer said
the mission coincides with an effort by us middle east peace envoy george
mitchell to rally europe behind the new american efforts to work towards two
state peace deal
we are working with the parties to resume negotiations as soon as possible with
set timetable for their successful conclusion mitchell told reporters after
meeting french foreign minister bernard kouchner in paris
an eu spokesman in brussels meanwhile said mitchell and other special
representatives of the middle east diplomatic quartet will meet in brussels on
wednesday to discuss the new us plan to restart peace talks
obama made middle east peace moves priority after taking office last year but
has had little success with israel defying calls for settlement freeze and
arab nations refusing to make concessions to the jewish state
football cup of upsets as algeria ivory coast toil in the heat
luanda angola jan afp
the form book was shredded on day two at the africa cup of nations as algeria
crashed to minnows malawi and favourites ivory coast stuttered against burkina
faso
away from the pitch angolan security forces who arrested two suspects in
connection with friday deadly attack on togo sealed off the footballers
village in cabinda in bid to ward off any further attacks
it was going to be tall order to follow up sunday sensational curtain raiser
when mali fought back from four goals down to snatch point against hosts
angola but little malawi managed it
in only their second ever appearance in the competition they inflicted
remarkable thrashing of algeria who arrived in angola proudly carrying
their ticket to the world cup
but the carthage eagles looked anything but world class as they were torn apart
in the searing heat
goals from russel mwafulirwa ivis kafoteka and davie banda did it for the
algerians who now have mountain to climb if they are to make it into the
quarter finals
algeria coach rabah saadane put the shock loss down to cocktail of well
organised rivals the heat and errors on the part of his players
we hope the confederation of african football organisers can organise matches
later because the weather was very hot and we didn perform well
our best players did not do their best it was difficult time to play
they weren in their best shape there was lot of humidity we hope to play
later next time
midfielder rafik saifi tried to put brave face on the defeat
it better to lose one match than three games we still have two more
first round matches and we ll be doing our best to qualify
malawi coach kinnah phiri suggested the result while unexpected was not
totally out of the blue
we came here as underdogs but we ve been playing well the signs were there we
drew with egypt drew with ghana and beat mozambique in warm up games
the game was held in near ghostly silence with all but couple of hundred of
the november stadium shiny new seats vacant
the day second match took place up in cabinda where group has been reduced
to three teams following togo departure after the attack on their coach by
separatist rebels killed two and injured nine
ivory coast were odds on favourites to take the three points but the continental
giants boasting the likes of didier drogba and brothers kolo and yaya toure
dominated possession but created few clearcut chances and looked far from
potential champions
burkina faso set out defensive stall and contained their opponents with
relative comfort to keep alive hopes of finishing among the top two in mini
league completed by ghana and qualifying for the quarter finals
players stood silently before the kick off to honour the dead while police
soldiers and special forces cast ring of steel around complex housing the
teams
drogba reflected we came up against compact side determined not to let in
goal and it was pretty complicated it was certainly hot but the heat was the
same for both sides
it makes life difficult for us now
yaya toure added this one point complicates things we re little frustrated
now we re obliged to beat ghana
defending champions egypt open their title defence on tuesday in benguela
against nigeria with benin taking on mozambique in the second group fixture
football jefferies long reign ends at kilmarnock
glasgow jan afp
jim jefferies eight year stint as kilmarnock manager came to an end on monday
after the scottish premier league club announced he and assistant billy brown
were leaving by mutual consent
rugby park had been plunged into turmoil in recent days with killie chairman
michael johnston denying allegations he had tried to discuss the year old
jefferies tactics with club captain kevin kyle
kilmarnock said in statement an agreement has been reached among kilmarnock
football club team manager jim jefferies and assistant team manager billy
brown which will allow messrs jefferies and brown to leave the employment of
the club with immediate effect
the agreement was reached by mutual consent
everyone at kilmarnock football club wishes to thank jim and billy for their
eight years of service to the club period which witnessed several top six spl
finishes and the league cup final in
the club will now seek new manager with view to restoring its position in
the top six of the spl and challenging for this year scottish cup
kilmarnock are currently one place off the bottom of the spl table with only
falkirk below them
the two sides are due to meet in the weather delayed fourth round of the
scottish cup on january
new eu foreign chief criticised for lack of specifics
brussels jan afp
europe new foreign affairs chief on monday urged the eu to play greater role
in world affairs but lawmakers grilling her at confirmation hearing
criticised what they called vague answers
english labour baroness catherine ashton steered clear of thorny diplomatic
issues in afghanistan or the middle east during the three hour confirmation
hearing at the european parliament
while she succeeded in distancing herself from her past as an anti nuclear
campaigner and the threat of serious political fallout from the right she
failed to subdue her opponents principal accusation that inexperience going
into the newly created role could hinder her ambitions
there is no reason to be enthusiastic said conservative german mep elmar
brok while happily stating that the biggest grouping of lawmakers in the
parliament would not block ashton nomination
she already had the support of the socialist faction the parliament second
largest body of votes but the greens liberals and radicals were each more
critical
ashton policy stance was rich on words poor on specifics said the greens
franziska brantner in statement
her hearing has revealed no clear sense of vision no initiatives and no plans
of her own we re buying pig in poke
liberal alexander lambsdorff meanwhile teased ashton for having spoken of eu
forces in afghanistan when the only troops on the ground are there in the guise
of member states national military deployments
am convinced there is clear call inside the eu and around the world for
greater european engagement to promote peace protect the vulnerable fight
poverty and address the many problems of our time ashton said
under its previous holder javier solana the post of top eu diplomat focused on
smoothing relations and boosting europe influence in such places as the middle
east iran and the balkans
but the job has been beefed up by the lisbon treaty of reforms which entered
force in december and now includes seat as senior vice president of the
european commission
the year old ashton gave general answers showing an understanding of the main
issues in her brief but avoided talking about any shifts of policy
powers for eu foreign and defence policy remain in the hands of the bloc
member states
it is unclear whether ashton will take over as international nuclear envoy from
solana who laboured largely fruitlessly for several years to get iran to enter
talks on suspending uranium enrichment
but she stuck to the european union twin track line of diplomacy coupled
with the threat of sanctions through the un security council
attacked by british conservative deputies over her role as an activist with the
campaign for nuclear disarmament organisation she replied the relevance of
the is not the relevance of
not member of cnd and have not been member of cnd for or years
she said adding not ashamed of who am or what ve been
the session was the first in series of us style confirmation hearings for the
new european commission which draws up legislation that impact on the lives of
million europeans enforces existing rules and had budget of billion
euros billion dollars in
in the day other main hearing finnish commissioner olli rehn who is to take
up the key economic and monetary affairs portfolio insisted that greece was
unlikely to abandon the eurozone because of the country ominous debt and
deficit crisis
on tuesday belgium karel de gucht will go under the spotlight for the job of
trade commissioner with michel barnier of france controversial appointee as
internal market and financial services commissioner facing lawmakers on
wednesday
six powers to meet this week on iran sanctions clinton
travis air base california jan afp
the united states and other major powers will meet late this week to discuss
sanctions over iran nuclear program us secretary of state hillary clinton
said monday
the plus will reconvene in new york at the end of this week and they will
be exploring the kind and degree of sanctions that we should be pursuing
clinton told reporters on her way to hawaii
the group includes the united states russia china britain france and
germany
sudan ex intelligence chief warns of election violence
khartoum jan afp
the former head of the khartoum regime intelligence services warned on monday
that the threat of orchestrated violence hung over sudan first multi party
elections in nearly quarter of century
salah gosh who now holds the post of security adviser to president omar al
beshir did not elaborate on where the threat came from to the presidential
parliamentary and state elections scheduled for april
the elections face the danger of orchestrated not spontaneous violence said
gosh who was replaced as intelligence chief in august
it could happen that we are faced with violence aimed at sabotaging the
electoral process and orchestrated by group opposed to these polls the
official suna news agency quoted him as telling khartoum news conference
april elections will be sudan first multi party poll since that
election brought to power government headed by sadeq al mahdi which was
overthrown by beshir in an islamist backed coup in
gosh accused regional powers he did not name of trying to destabilise the
country
next year elections are key provision of peace deal that ended two
decade civil war between the mainly muslim north and mainly christian or animist
south and ushered in national unity government in khartoum embracing the
southern former rebels and beshir national congress party
six nato soldiers die in afghan violence
