kabul jan afp
six foreign soldiers three americans and at least one french were killed
monday in wave of violence in afghanistan as the nato commander said the troop
buildup had started to turn the tide against the taliban
the nato led alliance said that in addition to the americans and the french
soldier two others had died of their wounds an official speaking on condition
of anonymity told afp one of the two was also french
one of those whose nationality was not officially identified was killed by an
improvised bomb in southern afghanistan said the nato led international
security assistance force isaf
monday deaths take to the number of foreign soldiers killed in afghanistan
so far this year according to an afp tally based on that kept by the
independent website icasualties org
the violence illustrates the challenge facing foreign forces in their fight
against the islamist militants with the united states and nato set to deploy
another troops during this year on top of the current
the commander of nato troops in afghanistan said that the troop buildup had
started to turn the tide against the taliban
we ve been at this for about seven months now and believe we ve made
progress general stanley mcchrystal said in an interview monday with abc
television
but he added it not completed mission yet
with the upcoming influx of us soldiers bringing the fight to the taliban will
mean more battles and higher death rate officials say and the militants
have vowed to match the international surge with one of their own
in the attack on french troops insurgents raided convoy of french and afghan
forces in the alasay valley northeast of kabul according to president nicolas
sarkozy office
non commissioned officer paid with his life for the commitment of france to
the peace and security of the afghan people and an officer was very gravely
wounded sarkozy statement said
about half of the french soldiers serving in afghanistan with nato forces
fighting taliban insurgency are based in kapisa province and the neighbouring
region of sarobi outside kabul
the americans were killed in an engagement with enemy forces in southern
afghanistan isaf said without giving further details including the exact
location of the incident
southern afghanistan is at the heart of taliban led insurgency now in its
ninth year
last year was the deadliest since the insurgency began with foreign
soldiers dying in afghanistan compared to in
of the casualties were us nationals while the rest were from more than
other nations in the coalition fighting the taliban under us and nato
command
the united states and its allies invaded afghanistan in late to capture al
qaeda leaders whom washington said were responsible for the september attacks
in us cities and taliban commanders who sheltered the islamist network
the insurgency launched by remnants of the taliban regime months after their
ouster has gained pace and is expanding to the previously calm north and west
of the country
president hamid karzai paid tribute on monday to british journalist killed
while travelling with us marines fighting the taliban
rupert hamer of the sunday mirror newspaper was blown up saturday by roadside
bomb as he accompanied marines patrolling near nawa in helmand
philip coburn photographer for the british tabloid working alongside
hamer was seriously injured and us marine was also killed
the president praised the courage of the correspondent demonstrated in trying
to cover the real situation on the ground in helmand karzai office said
hamer was the second foreign journalist killed in afghanistan in days
on december canadian reporter michelle lang of the calgary herald was killed
in kandahar province in southern afghanistan alongside four soldiers when
roadside bomb exploded beneath their vehicle the taliban claimed
responsibility
in three journalists including lang died in afghanistan according to
tally by the international news safety institute
urgent six powers to meet this week on iran sanctions clinton
washington jan afp
the united states and its five negotiating partners will meet in new york at the
end of this week to discuss sanctions over iran nuclear program us secretary
of state hillary clinton said monday
football no vieira for city against blackburn
manchester england jan afp
former france captain patrick vieira was unable to make his manchester city
debut against blackburn rovers in tuesday premier league match at eastlands
after failing to overcome calf injury in time
instead the former arsenal skipper and world cup winning midfielder who
moved from serie champions inter milan last week was introduced to fans
before kick off as city went in search of win that would take the club up into
fourth place in the table
alert
clinton says six powers to meet on iran sanctions
us says acquittal of uae leader brother not credible
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 of 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
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
the case came to light when video began circulating that appears to show
sheikh issa beating man with whips electric cattle prods and wooden plank
with protruding nails before rubbing salt in his wounds
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
israel arrests foreign activist in west bank raid lawyer
jerusalem jan afp
israeli security forces arrested foreign activist in raid in the west bank
town of ramallah overnight her lawyer said on monday
immigration police accompanied by israeli soldiers carried out the late night
operation to seize eva novakova czech citizen from her home in central
ramallah lawyer omer shatz told afp
her visa had expired but that not reason for them to arrest her he said
adding that the israeli interior ministry has no authority to operate in the
palestinian territories
the ministry of the interior was acting outside of the sovereign territory of
israel they wouldn invade poland to arrest someone
he added that novakova had since been escorted to ben gurion airport in tel
aviv and the czech foreign ministry said it was expecting the israeli
authorities to send her home on tuesday
we are informed about the case the woman should be deported tomorrow
czech foreign ministry spokesman milan repka was quoted as saying by the czech
news agency
the year old had been working as media coordinator for the pro palestinian
international solidarity movement
the israeli military would not immediately comment on the incident
dusan kralik consul at the czech embassy in tel aviv told the czech news site
idnes she was detained because she stayed in the country beyond the permitted
five months
in recent months israel has arrested scores of palestinian activists involved
in weekly west bank protests against its controversial separation barrier but
arrests of foreigners are extremely rare
it is also rare for israel military to carry out raids inside major towns in
the occupied west bank which are administered by the western backed palestinian
authority
last week amnesty international protested against the detention without trial
of three leading palestinian activists saying they may be prisoners of
conscience held for protesting over the barrier
two of the men have not been charged with any offence while abdullah abu rahma
has been charged with incitement stone throwing and possession of arms which
he has said were spent cartridges and tear gas grenades used by israeli forces
to disperse protesters
protest organisers say israel has arrested people from the west bank village
of bilin in the past six months and from the neighbouring village of nilin in
the past months most have since been released
israel says the barrier helps prevent attacks against its citizens but
palestinians say the fences walls and closed roads snaking across the west bank
are aimed at snatching land that should be part of their promised state
greece unlikely to quit eurozone eu economic chief
brussels jan afp
greece is unlikely to abandon the eurozone because of the country ominous debt
and deficit crisis the incoming european union economic chief said monday
the destabilising effect of the greek financial mess on the country european
monetary and political partners dominated challenging us style confirmation
hearing for finnish commissioner olli rehn whose previous brief covered
enlargement negotiations with potential european union members
asked if he thought greece might try to leave the eurozone or indeed if it
could be kicked out of the group of countries using the euro rehn said no
do not
amid suggestions that eurozone and eu partners might have to bail athens out
given massive hole in its national finances rehn faced concerns from european
parliament lawmakers that greece problems could drag down eu economic
recovery
days after an inspection visit to athens by team from the department he has
been appointed to head for the next five years rehn insisted that the greek
government is aware of the seriousness of the situation because the european
commission is assessing the matter with major concern
now it is essential that we recognise that the greek government shortly in the
next couple of weeks if not days will present comprehensive policy package
including concrete and tangible measures on how to reduce the excessive
deficit
greece where the public spending deficit rose to percent of output last
year and debt to percent of gross domestic product gdp must present its
crisis plans to the eu commission by the end of the month
on friday athens announced percent increase in tobacco and alcohol taxes
and higher inheritance tax as initial steps
rehn who was not shy of tipping ex soviet estonia to become the th country to
take up the shared currency next year said he will if needed use all the
legal tools at his disposal to ensure that the eu member states public
finances are brought to sustainable basis
he stressed that the eu needs spine and rigour throughout its economic policy
but recoiled when asked if the eu equivalent of bailout or sanctions could be
applied in the future
rehn admitted there exists potential spillover effect for the entire euro
area but said that an imf type of financial assistance was dangerous route
to take preferring internal bloc rules on national input to shared economic
targets
he said these rules should and must by definition ensure that members of
eurozone have sustainable public finances by respecting the rules in the spirit
and name of european solidarity
countries have to focus on the correct application of existing rules and their
enforcement he said adding that principles could be agreed but that an ex
ante permanent mechanism for this kind of case would involve major risk of
moral hazard
the international monetary fund said monday it was sending its own mission to
athens this week after series of international credit rating downgrades for
greece
rehn said that the euro countries should claim their own collective seat
within both the imf and the group of developed economies ahead of meeting
of eu finance ministers next week
the euro countries need to work towards unified representation of the euro
area and the eurozone in international institutions such as the or imf he
said
he maintained that china was showing promising willingness to forge new
world order on currency exchange rates
terrorism charge for danish attack suspect prosecutor
copenhagen jan afp
danish prosecutors said monday they had added terrorism charge to one of
attempted murder for somali man accused of trying to kill cartoonist over
caricature of islam prophet mohammed
the year old is accused of breaking into the home of cartoonist kurt
westergaard on january and threatening to kill him with an axe and knife
he was questioned this weekend and we decided afterwards to charge him with an
attempted act of terrorism in addition to trying to kill kurt westergaard
prosecutor marian thomsen told afp
the man had also been charged with attempted murder of policeman who came to
westergaard rescue and with using violence against law enforcement officer
and violating the weapons law she said
danish police shot the somali in the hand and leg when they burst into
westergaard home to rescue him he has denied the accusations
westergaard welcomed the additional charge
he terrorist and it is logical that he is charged under the anti terrorism
legislation he said on the tv news channel
westergaard said he hoped his assailant would be severely punished and deported
from denmark once he had served his sentence
there is no doubt that he wanted to kill me he said
westergaard now lives in hiding under police protection
the suspect whose name has not been disclosed has been remanded in custody
until january and risks life sentence if found guilty on the terrorism
charge
date has not yet been set for the trial thomsen said
westergaard was badly shaken by the attack at his home at viby near
aarhus but was unharmed he hid in fortified bathroom
he drew the most controversial of caricatures of the prophet published in
danish newspaper in that were considered offensive by many muslims and
sparked violent protests worldwide as well as string of death threats
his cartoon depicted mohammed wearing turban in the shape of bomb
danish intelligence agency pet has said the suspect has ties to somalia
radical shebab islamic movement and leaders of al qaeda in east africa pet
chief jakob scharf said it appeared however that he had acted alone
consumers scramble in venezuela amid shock economic shifts
caracas jan afp
venezuelan consumers emptied supermarket shelves and jostled monday to buy new
tvs and refrigerators before prices soar after president hugo chavez announced
huge devaluation of the bolivar
we have sold three times as much as normal said the owner of an appliance
shop in caracas as panicky buyers formed long lines outside stores following
chavez announcement
as an election year grinds into high gear chavez has said he was devaluing the
local currency for non essential imports to bolivars per dollar double
the present rate while holding the rate at bolivars for basic goods to
help poorer venezuelans
that means imported cars and industrial goods suddenly cost twice as much as
before the jarring step was taken
chavez warned sunday that any price speculation by shopkeepers will trigger
business seizures and called on the national guard to help people fight price
gouging
to those gentlemen let call them looters of the people if they want to
go ahead and do it but we ll take their business and hand it over to the
workers chavez said on his weekly radio and television talk show alo
presidente
still consumers here were not feeling conforted
and refrigerators tvs microwaves and sound systems were flying off shelves
pretty soon they are all going to cost twice as much but am not going to be
earning twice as much said systems analyst waiting to buy new tv set he
had had in mind for months he asked that his full name not be used
really am not sure of the price is going to go up not but just in case
came down here to get my oven said rosaura martinez
confusion was rampant in many businesses monday
one travel agent said there were no sales as it was not clear if ticket prices
would rise percent or if the increase would be phased in
even currency traders were not up to speed on the shifts
one well known currency agency had workers standing with their arms crossed
they indicated that there was no dollar trading for now
the bolivar devaluation was the first since and was designed in part to
bolster public finances that have withered amid dwindling oil revenues and
rapidly contracting economy
critics said the move would allow chavez to boost public spending ahead of
elections in september but would severely damage the health of the economy
since coming to office chavez has sought to remake the venezuelan economy
vowing to create more equitable socialist system
he has initiated string of nationalizations of foreign firms banks and
measures that have sent inflation soaring to percent the highest in latin
america
the government official gazette meanwhile published details monday of the
multiple exchage rate system following friday devaluation announcement
among the announcements venezuela central bank will determine the exchange
rates at which it will obtain hard currencies to service foreign sovereign debt
with international financial institutions or other countries
acquisition of hard currency to service capital interest guarantees or other
collateral for foreign debt with any foreign creditor of the state will be
done at the exchange rate set by the presidency and the central bank the text
reads in part
in the current dual exchange rate system chavez has said health food imports
machinery books and technology sectors as well as public sector imports and
remittances would benefit from the preferential rate
the higher exchange rate would apply to items such as automobiles
telecommunications tobacco beverages chemicals petrochemicals and
electronics
the largest oil producer in south america venezuela slipped into recession in
for the first time in six years due to drop in oil prices and production
cyprus leaders launch marathon peace talks
nicosia jan afp
rival cypriot leaders launched series of day long talks on monday in an
accelerated un led drive to try to reunify the island in after more than
years of division
the greek and turkish cypriot leaders say they are committed to finding
solution this year while the united nations is hoping will be the year for
cyprus settlement
after months of sluggish negotiations president demetris christofias
greek cypriot and turkish cypriot leader mehmet ali talat are stepping up the
pace in the hope of securing breakthrough
they have agreed to meet six times for marathon talks over three week period
on january and then again on january and
their meeting lasted nine hours on monday evening in this new strategy of
intensified negotiations which will resume at am gmt on tuesday
after monday session christofias said the leaders had an open discussion on
governance and stressed the determination of both men to see the process
through
neither mr talat nor mr christofias is about to leave the negotiations and we
hope that at the end of the day we will have more convergences
in the middle of the month during the break christofias is to fly to athens for
talks with the greek government on the progress made and talat is expected to
hold contacts in ankara about the next phase
the leaders will aim to accelerate convergences on governance power sharing
the economy and eu issues
governance and power sharing top the agenda as the turkish cypriots have tabled
new proposals on rotating presidency veto rights how votes should be
weighted and on the makeup of the upper and lower houses in federal cyprus
the greek cypriot side labelled the proposals as unacceptable even before
monday talks
the prickly property rights chapter will also figure on the agenda at some
stage although the more divisive issues of security and territorial adjustments
are being left to one side
and christofias has ruled out draft agreement at this stage as both the greek
and turkish cypriot sides are adamant that nothing is agreed until everything is
agreed
any deal which emerges must be put to greek and turkish cypriot voters in
separate simultaneous referendums
these lengthy sessions are taking place at un chief of mission taye brook
zerihoun official residence in the un patrolled buffer zone which divides the
island and its capital nicosia
the international community has called for the momentum of the negotiations to
be stepped up with un chief ban ki moon mulling cyprus visit by april if
progress is made
the peace talks were launched amid much optimism in september but the two
sides remain divided on the core issues after meetings the leaders have
given little tangible evidence of any progress
talat is also eager to nail down the outline of deal by april when he faces
hard battle for re election in vote in which he could lose out to hardline
challenger further complicating reunification talks
negotiations will be suspended most probably from february onwards to
allow talat time to campaign
cyprus has been split since turkey occupied its northern third in in
response to an athens engineered greek cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island
with greece
the lack of deal on eu member cyprus is also slowing turkey own ambition to
join the european union
urgent us denounces acquittal of uae leader brother
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 saying it was not
credible verdict
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
what happening in the americas on tuesday
honolulu hawaii us secretary of state hillary clinton is to meet her japanese
counterpart katsuya okada to discuss the thorny issue of the us base in okinawa
as well as tokyo support for nato operations in afghanistan expect coverage
us diplomacy asia
san francisco opponents and defenders of homosexual marriage in california go
toe to toe in potentially epic court showdown that could wind up in us supreme
court expect coverage us society gays marriage court
detroit michigan the nation premier auto show battles back from one of the
worst years in motown history expect coverage us auto show
detroit michigan monitoring developments in investigation of umar farouk
abdulmutallab the year old nigeria accused of trying to blow up us bound
airliner on christmas day with nearly people aboard coverage on merit
attacks us nigeria
wichita kansas trial of man who gunned down one of america best known
abortion doctors continues us abortion trial politics
alert
acquittal of uae leader brother in torture trial not credible us
football argentina international lavezzi out for month
rome jan afp
argentina forward ezequiel lavezzi will be out for at least month after
suffering thigh injury against sampdoria on sunday his club napoli said on
monday
lavezzi pulled muscle during the first half of the match and was replaced by
countryman german denis who went on to score the only goal of the game
napoli said el pocho which means the chubby one will miss four to five
weeks
it means he will not be available for wednesday italian cup trip to juventus
where napoli will try to extend their match unbeaten run under coach walter
mazzarri who has yet to taste defeat since replacing former italy coach roberto
donadoni in october
rallying al attiyah pulls the strings coma gains consolation win
la serena chile jan afp
qatar nasser al attiyah kept his hopes alive of winning the car section in the
dakar rally as he won the ninth stage on monday the kilometres special from
copiapo
spanish cyclist marc coma won his third stage of the rally which may prove
little consolation after he was penalised six hours at the weekend which put him
out of contention for the overall title
al attiyah victory saw him close in on overall leader volkswagen team mate
carlos sainz who was second and holds fragile lead of just min sec over
the qatari
al attiyah who just missed out on an olympic bronze medal in the games
when he finished fourth in the skeet shooting competition was relieved to have
gained what he saw as an invaluable win which gives him real opportunity to
snatch overall victory from sainz
after sunday stage said must take six minutes off carlos lead because if
he gained time on me on monday then the team might start giving orders and
don need team orders said year old al attiyah
now victory is possible the fight continues here to win the race and will
try my best
another volkswagen driver giniel de villers of south africa last year winner
was third though he is out of contention to retain his title while another team
mate american mark miller stayed third overall after finishing fifth
coma who was penalised the six hours for an illegal tyre change edged out
france cyril despres who remained the overall leader
the spaniard who vainly protested his innocence over the charge sounded like
he couldn wait for the race to be over having contemplated pulling out
altogether when he was penalised
in the end it was good result for me he conceded
thats one more day of the rally gone and one day nearer the finish
despres for his part said he had thoroughly enjoyed his enthralling duel with
coma throughout the stage
it was nice stage even if it was short stage it was intense said
despres
over the first km we kept swapping the lead first it was marc coma then it
was me
we must have overtaken each other times neither of us wanted to give
anything away and its proof that as riders we are very closely matched
in these type of rallys there are rarely final sprints but today monday it
was matter of honour
chile francisco lopez winner of two stages finished third in the stage and
stayed in third place overall while pal ullevalseter of norway was fourth on the
stage and remains in second overall
however with deficit of hr min to make up on despres the norweigan
realistically needs the frenchman to suffer engine problems to have chance of
taking the overall title
berlusconi returns to rome residence after attack
rome jan afp
italian prime minister silvio berlusconi returned to his rome residence on
monday four weeks after an attack left him with broken nose and two broken
teeth
the year old leader chatted briefly with reporters before heading into
palazzo grazioli in central rome
doing well said smiling berlusconi wearing heavy makeup through which
slight scar could be seen on his upper lip
welcome home prime minister read banner set up by young party activists
later monday berlusconi met with president giorgio napolitano telling
reporters afterward everything fine we spoke about government activities in
the coming months and things that need doing
generally frosty relations between the conservative prime minister and the ex
communist president have notably been strained over efforts by berlusconi to
reform the justice system seen by many as bid to avoid prosecution in trials
involving his vast media empire
doctors ordered berlusconi to spend at least two weeks out of the public eye
following the december attack in milan cathedral square by man with
history of psychiatric problems which landed the premier in hospital for four
nights
he has spent much of the intervening period in his private residence near milan
but was spotted on the french riviera last wednesday when he bought four bronze
statuettes of nudes in the village of saint paul de vence
the assailant struck berlusconi in the face with souvenir model of milan
gothic cathedral
the billionaire prime minister remained in hospital mainly because of difficulty
eating and neck pains
football ronaldo sale prevents united loss
london jan afp
only cristiano ronaldo world record transfer prevented manchester united
making an annual loss of more than million pounds figures released by the
english premier league champions showed on monday
united declared pre tax profit of million pounds million dollars
million euros for the year up to june
but without the departure of portugal winger ronaldo sold to spanish giants
real madrid for million pounds million dollars million euros the
old trafford club would have been reporting loss of million pounds
the club figure also showed they had paid million pounds in interest on
huge loan of million pounds
turnover was up to million pounds from million year ago
united figures were released at the same time as the club announced plans to
refinance their debts by raising million pounds through bond issue
manchester united today announced that it will be seeking to raise
approximately million pounds aggregate principal amount from an offering of
senior secured notes due united statement said monday
the notes whose proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt secured
against the club will be issued by mu finance plc
the incentive for investors is that they will in turn receive an attractive rate
of interest over seven years in addition to getting their initial investment
back from united
that united whose old trafford ground is often filled close to its capacity of
more than should find themselves in this position will be source of
wonder to some fans of less well supported clubs
but many united supporters groups were concerned by the huge amount of debt the
club were saddled with as result of the million pounds takeover by their
current owners the us based glazer family in
and this latest announcement did little to win over manchester united
