used to counterfeit money in the southern city of czestochowa
ireland leader urged to quit in sex politics scandal
belfast jan afp
northern ireland first minister peter robinson faced intense pressure monday to
quit over his wife affair with teenager amid fears the power sharing
executive could collapse
his wife iris also top politician last week admitted having an affair with
year old and securing pounds euros dollars from two
wealthy developers to help him set up cafe
peter robinson who was due to make statement in the northern ireland
assembly later in the day has denied any knowledge of the deal which he
would have had to report to parliamentary authorities
after several prominent figures called for him to quit over the weekend
robinson leader of the democratic unionist party faced fresh pressure as the
assembly returns monday after the christmas break
the dup power sharing partners sinn fein have tabled an emergency motion
calling for robinson to explain himself before the assembly
senior assembly source said the first minister would make statement at
pm gmt
meanwhile his year old wife who is expected to quit her seats in the
northern ireland assembly and the british parliament lower house of commons
imminently is receiving acute psychiatric treatment in belfast she
previously admitted attempting suicide and suffering severe depression
the scandal is playing out against an already tense backdrop in northern
ireland
power sharing between ex foes the dup and sinn fein was under strain due to
failure to agree on the transfer of policing powers from london to belfast the
last stage of the devolution process
the brutal fact is that we were heading for dangerous political crisis in
northern ireland even before the robinson revelations irish political expert
paul bew wrote in the times newspaper monday
it is now very difficult indeed to see how it might be avoided added bew
member of parliament upper house of lords we could now face very hard
landing indeed
in london prime minister gordon brown spokesman said the british leader was
following events closely
the pm remains fully engaged on the issue he said adding our focus
continues to be on completing devolution with the transfer of policing and
justice powers from london to belfast
the spokesman said brown had spoken to all the main northern irish party leaders
in recent days but declined to go into details about discussions with robinson
robinson has vowed to clear his name but one of his illustrious predecessors as
leader of the semi autonomous province said sunday his position was becoming
untenable
david trimble who jointly won the nobel peace prize in for his efforts to
bring stability to northern ireland predicted in bbc interview that robinson
would quit in the next few days
close friend of robinson predecessor and mentor ian paisley david mcilveen
also said robinson should consider standing aside temporarily
robinson conservative dup which is protestant and wants northern ireland to
remain part of britain has since shared devolved powers from london in an
administration with socialists sinn fein which is catholic and wants the
province to join the republic of ireland
their failure to agree when control of the sensitive issue of policing should be
handed to belfast has fuelled concerns that power sharing could break down
there are also fears of return to sustained violence in northern ireland
where three decades of civil unrest known as the troubles killed at least
people but was largely ended by the good friday agreement
last year two british soldiers and policeman were shot dead in attacks
claimed by dissident republicans
in the latest incident friday catholic police officer was seriously injured
after bomb exploded under his car as he drove to work
heavy jail terms for georgia mutiny leaders
tbilisi jan afp
georgian court on monday sentenced to jail terms of up to years three
ringleaders of mutiny last year aimed at overthrowing the government of
president mikheil saakashvili
the brief uprising which the defence ministry described as military coup
took place in tank battalion at the mukhrovani base outside tbilisi in may
it ended without violence after an hours long standoff
koba otanadze retired army colonel was sentenced to years in prison on
mutiny and coup charges as well as illegal possession of arms and disobedience
the tbilisi city court said in statement
levan amiridze who at the time was commander of military rangers
battalion was found guilty of mutiny to overthrow the government and
disobedience and sentenced to year prison term
shota gorgiashvili then commander of the tank battalion in mukhrovani was
found guilty of similar charges as amiridze and sentenced to year prison
term
however another protagonist retired general koba kobaladze was cleared of coup
charges
the defence lawyers of otanadze amiridze and gorgiashvili told georgian
television they would appeal the verdict to higher court as they disagreed
with the coup related charges
the judge ruling echoed the version of prosecutors that the mutiny had an
eventual goal to overthrow the government and was not just disobedience by
several military commanders
the court said it had established that the mutineers had planned to move
military units and equipment from their permanent stations to block strategic
installations
the criminal design was suppressed by other military units on the government
orders it said
the authorities initially blamed the mutiny on its main foe russia with which
georgia fought war in august but then backed away from the claim
georgia opposition accused the government of staging the rebellion to distract
attention from protests that were then in progress against saakashvili
opposition supporters had held daily rallies in spring to demand the
resignation of saakashvili whom they accused of being autocratic and mishandling
the georgia russia war
the protests initially appeared to present major test for the president but
fizzled out after several weeks and saakashvili has vowed to stay in office
until the end of his second term in
analysts have said the opposition divided by infighting and lacking single
leader now has little chance of unseating saakashvili before his term ends
meanwhile two other former commanders of georgian military brigades were found
guilty of not reporting the crime and were sentenced each to three years in
prison
seven civilians were sentenced for to years in prison for providing
assistance to disobedience and illegal possession of firearms
another five civilians were found guilty of disobedience and illegal possession
of firearms and sentenced to prison terms varying from nine to years
the judge has yet to deliver comprehensive justification of his verdict after
this justification paper is delivered the defence lawyers will be able to appeal
to the higher court
euro jumps close to one month dollar high
london jan afp
the euro neared one month peak against the dollar on monday as robust chinese
data boosted risk sentiment offsetting the impact of weaker than expected us
jobs report analysts said
in london morning deals the european single currency rose as high as
dollars which was last seen december it later stood at up from
late in new york on friday
against the japanese unit the dollar fell to yen from yen on
friday financial markets in japan were closed monday for public holiday
the shared european unit which is seen as higher risk currency than the
dollar and tends to rise with investor confidence won ground after weekend data
revealed soaring chinese exports
optimism has re emerged in the financial markets after data from china served
to offset the disappointment from the weaker than expected employment report
from the united states said economist derek halpenny at the bank of tokyo
mitsubishi ufj in london
the china data keeps alive the view that the emerging market economies will
drive economic activity with the us and the eurozone lagging behind
he added the data was far stronger than expected and underlined the surge in
economic activity taking place in china
china exports surged percent in december to snap month falling
streak the government said sunday cementing the asian power new status as
the world biggest exporter
exports hit billion dollars during the month as global trade perked up
bringing china full year export figure to trillion dollars according to
figures from the general administration of customs
data out of germany last week showed that china overtook europe biggest
economy in november to become the world top exporting nation
strong chinese exports data overnight underpinned risk appetite added
forex com analyst jane foley in note to clients
the dollar also remained on the backfoot on monday as the foreign exchange
market continued to digest downbeat us jobs report
data from the us labor department released friday showed loss of jobs
in december dampening hopes for return to positive job growth that could lead
to hike in us interest rates and support the greenback
the labor department report on nonfarm payrolls was far worse than the consensus
expectation for no change in overall employment levels
the unemployment rate held at percent but also reflected large number of
people dropping out of the workforce
in london on monday the euro was changing hands at dollars against
dollars late on friday yen pounds and
swiss francs
the dollar stood at yen and swiss francs
the pound was at dollars
on the london bullion market the price of gold rallied to dollars an
ounce from dollars on friday
urgent french soldier killed in attack in afghanistan presidency
paris jan afp
french soldier was killed in afghanistan and another seriously wounded in an
attack on convoy of french and afghan forces president nicolas sarkozy
office said in statement on monday
german retailer metro leapfrogs tesco study
berlin jan afp
german retail giant metro has for the first time overtaken british rival tesco
to become the world third largest retailer in terms of sales study
published on monday said
metro sales of around billion dollars billion euros eclipsed
tesco billion dollars the study by consultancy deloitte and touche said
walmart in the united states remained by far and away the global retailing
powerhouse with turnover of billion dollars in ahead of france
carrefour
overall profitability among the top retailers surveyed for the study fell
from percent to percent with consumers reluctant to part with their
cash amid global economic slowdown
the consultancy said the rise in the euro value against the dollar was the
main reason for metro gain
latvia remains on deflation slope data
riga jan afp
consumer prices in latvia fell by percent in december compared with the same
month in the third decline running in the recession afflicted baltic
state official data showed on monday
the rate was the same as that recorded in november according to latvia
national statistics office
in october latvia had swung into deflation for the first time since records
began after independence from the soviet union in as prices fell by
percent
latvia had been in the grip of rampant inflation which hit year high point
of percent in may
but prices slumped progressively following government measures to dampen the
overheated economy compounded by withering demand amid deep recession and an
austerity drive overseen by international lenders
while deflation sustained drop in prices may give hard hit consumers
some respite it is also seen as harmful since it can hamper activity further as
buyers hold off while waiting for even better deals
in the crisis hit baltic deflation is also seen as consequence of what
economists call internal devaluation whereby governments and companies slash
spending and wages in bid to boost competitiveness instead of breaking their
national currencies pegs with the euro
compared to november prices in latvia fell by percent in december
monday data showed they had fallen by percent in november and percent
in october on the same basis
latvia had enjoyed several years of robust economic growth notably after
joining the european union in with domestic demand snowballing thanks to
rising wages real estate bubble and easy credit
but the country swung into sharp recession in and is still in the grip of
one of the deepest crises in the nation eu
latvian authorities estimate that the economy may have shrunk by percent in
compared with the forecast contraction in is percent
bangladesh plans hour news tv channel
dhaka jan afp
one of bangladesh largest conglomerates beximco group announced monday it
would launch new hour bangla language news channel in deal with indian
media company ndtv
independent tv will be the country first news channel since an army backed
emergency government shut down the csb news channel in for allegedly
provocative broadcasts during nationwide student unrest
beximco deputy chairman salman rahman said the proposed channel had received
regulatory approval
we ve already got the licence rahman told afp adding that the deal with ndtv
would bring in technical support for the channel projected launch in
september
bangladesh media industry has experienced minor renaissance since the
democratically elected awami league party came to power year ago following
landslide victory in general elections
the new government has given licenses to ten new television channels although
none of them have yet gone on air
yemenis know where hostages are german fm
sanaa jan afp
germany foreign minister guido westerwelle said on surprise visit to sanaa on
monday that yemeni authorities have assured him they know the whereabouts of
five germans and briton held hostage since june
westerwelle told reporters that president ali abdullah saleh had told him during
late morning talks that he had information little than two hours ago that
they know where the german hostages are being held
the family of five germans and briton were abducted in northern yemen last
june along with two german bible students and south korean who were shot dead
soon afterwards
westerwelle said the german embassy was doing everything it could to bring the
intolerable situation of the german hostages in yemen to good end
last week senior yemeni official said the government had information that the
five germans and the briton were still alive and that there appeared to be an
al qaeda link to the abduction
the three possible places they could be in are the provinces of maarib al
jouf and saada the deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs
rashad al aleemi told news conference
available information confirm that there is coordination between the northern
shiite rebel huthis and the al qaeda in this matter he said
westerwelle visit the first by senior western diplomat since the botched
christmas day attempt to bomb us airliner came as pressure mounted on yemen
to rein in al qaeda militants believed to be behind the attempt
his arrival in the yemeni capital follows visits to saudi arabia qatar and the
united arab emirates where he held talks on regional issues including the
situation in yemen
based on his talks in the gulf westerwelle made the quick decision to go to
yemen to get the feeling of the situation on the ground member of his
delegation said
the foreign minister is concerned that further destabilisation in yemen could
have negative impact on the entire region and beyond the delegate said
westerwelle who informed key european partners and washington in advance of his
visit was expected to deliver message that european and arab partners seek
stable government in sanaa
impoverished yemen long standing scourge of extremism was highlighted after
senior yemeni officials said umar farouk abdulmutallab the nigerian man who
allegedly tried to blow up the us bound jet had spent time in the country with
al qaeda extremists
london and washington have announced plans to fund counter extremism police in
the country but us president barack obama said in comments published on sunday
that he has no intention of sending american troops to yemen
recent strikes on al qaeda positions in yemen including cruise missile attacks
were however reportedly led by the united states which has vowed to boost its
economic and military aid to sanaa
yemen has been hostile to any suggestion of us military intervention but
analysts fear osama bin laden ancestral homeland cannot tackle the militants
on its own
saleh said on sunday he is open to dialogue with al qaeda militants indicating
he may show some leniency to the jihadists whom analysts say he does not view
as the main threat to his shrinking power base
with shiite rebellion in the north and movement for autonomy in the south
the central government asserts little control over the country which is also
reeling from an economic crisis aggravated by dwindling oil reserves and water
shortage
germany is by far the largest european contributor of development aid to yemen
with some million euros million dollars earmarked for the impoverished
country for
the german official said westerwelle in his talks with yemeni authorities would
also press for good governance and raise the issue of widespread corruption in
yemen while also calling for national dialogue to resolve internal strife and
restore stability
sanaa has turned to the energy rich gulf cooperation council gcc states and
the international community for help but aid has been slow in coming
alert
french officer killed in attack in afghanistan president office
football van der vaart out for weeks real
madrid jan afp
real madrid dutch midfielder rafael van der vaart will be out of action for
two to three weeks following an injury at the weekend the club said monday
the player was stretchered off the field during real win over majorca
after suffering tear in his left calf muscle
he will probably be unavailable for weeks real said
van der vaart was bought from sv hamburg for million euros in
he had been out of favour with new coach manuel pelligrini until kaka became
injured in late november since when he has proved an effective stand in for the
brazilian star
kaka made his first appearance for real on sunday since injuring his groin
daimler rejects apartheid complicity charges in us court
frankfurt jan afp
german automobile maker daimler has rejected complaint filed in new york
alleging complicity with the former apartheid regime in south africa
spokeswoman told afp on monday
the spokeswoman called the charges inadmissible and unfounded
court in new york is to consider case brought by human rights group
against daimler and four other multi national companies ibm ford general
motors and the german industrial and defence group rheinmetall she added
they are accused of complicity in human rights violations in connection with
activities in south africa under the apartheid regime the daimler spokeswoman
said
daimler feels us judicial authorities have no jurisdiction in its case because
no american party was implicated and nothing took place on american territory
she added
the german group also argues that it operated with backing from the german
federal government in south africa during the period in question
in addition daimler officials cooperated with the truth and reconciliation
commission of south africa after the regime disappeared and had nothing to
reproach itself
complaint was filed before the us justice system six years ago and it
authorised legal proceedings in april against the five multinational companies
all five have since appealed that decision
in september south african authorities decided to no longer oppose the
complaint which it had feared would discourage foreign investment
daimler is major sponsor of the german national football team which will
compete in the world cup hosted by south africa
cricket shakib mahmudullah lift bangladesh
dhaka jan afp
shakib al hasan and mohammad mahmudullah scored fighting half centuries to help
bangladesh post in the last triangular one day series match against india
here on monday
skipper shakib top scored with and mahmudullah made career best not out
but their side still failed to set stiff target after being put in to bat in
the day night match
sri lanka with three wins from four matches and india have already
qualified for the final to be held here on wednesday the hosts have lost all
three of their games
bangladesh were struggling at before shakib and mahmudullah steadied the
innings with run stand for the sixth wicket to set the stage for late
onslaught which saw the hosts score in the last overs
shakib fell in the th over caught behind while attempting to scoop left arm
seamer ashish nehra over the wicket keeper he hit one six and eight fours in
his th half century
mahmudullah cracked one six and five boundaries in his fourth half century
while naeem islam made an unbeaten off just balls late in the innings with
the help of one six and two fours
nehra was the highest wicket taker with off overs
daimler rejects apartheid complicity charges in us court
frankfurt jan afp
the german automobile maker daimler rejects complaint filed in new york
alleging complicity with the former apartheid regime in south africa
spokeswoman told afp on monday
the spokeswoman called the charges inadmissible and unfounded
court in new york is to consider case brought by human rights group
against daimler and four other multi national companies ibm ford general
motors and the german industrial and defence group rheinmetall she added
they are accused of complicity in human rights violations in connection with
activities in south africa under the apartheid regime the daimler spokeswoman
said
daimler feels us judicial authorities have no jurisdiction in its case because
no american party was implicated and nothing took place on american territory
she added
the german group also argues that it operated with backing from the german
federal government in south africa during the period in question
in addition daimler officials cooperated with the truth and reconciliation
commission of south africa after the regime disappeared and had nothing to
reproach itself
complaint was filed before the us justice system six years ago and it
authorised legal proceedings in april against the five multi national companies
all five have since appealed that decision
in september south african authorities decided to no longer oppose the
complaint which it had feared would discourage foreign investment
daimler is major sponsor of the german national football team which will
compete in the world cup hosted by south africa
heineken to buy mexican brewer worth billion euros
the hague jan afp
dutch brewer heineken on monday said it would buy mexican beer maker femsa in
deal that values the company behind the dos equis and sol brands at billion
euros billion dollars
through this deal we become much stronger more competitive player in latin
america one of the world most profitable and fastest growing beer markets
heineken chief executive jean francois van boxmeer said
the transaction is expected to deliver positive economic profit after six
years said statement from heineken adding that the company expected the
deal to be completed in the second quarter of
heineken shares climbed five percent in amsterdam after the announcement
the dutch brewer said the deal to buy the beer operations of fomento economico
mexicano femsa would also reinforce its position as the world second largest
brewer by revenue billion euros
the acquisition strengthens considerably our position within the global beer
market expands our portfolio of leading international brands and enhances our
leading position in the us import market
heineken also said this was the first time since that it is issuing shares
for an acquisition underscoring the uniqueness and importance of this
opportunity including expanding the company reach in developing markets
heineken will issue to femsa approximately million new shares with the
commitment to deliver an additional million existing heineken nv shares over
period of not more than five years heineken said
these million shares would ultimately give femsa percent interest in
the heineken group making it the second largest shareholder
in return heineken will acquire femsa cerveza comprising percent of
femsa mexican beer operations and the remaining percent of femsa
brazilian beer business that heineken does not currently own
heineken said the implied equity value of femsa cerveza was billion euros
the total implied enterprise value with net debt and pension obligations was
billion euros
under the terms of the deal femsa will undertake never to increase its holding
in heineken above percent and not to sell any heineken shares for five year
period
femsa will have the right to appoint two non executive representatives to
heineken supervisory board
the mexican brewer chief executive officer jose antonio fernandez carbajal
said the deal would allow femsa beer operations to become an integral part of
heineken leading global platform
this transaction increases femsa operational and financial flexibility he
said
al qaeda in north africa
paris jan afp
here are the main attacks and abductions claimed by al qaeda branch in north
africa over the past three years and details of its founding
the group has threatened to execute french hostage if four of its prisoners in
mali are not freed in days us monitoring groups said monday
september the salafist group for preaching and combat gspc swears
allegiance to al qaeda chief osama bin laden and undertakes to continue the holy
war jihad
the group membership of the organisation is officially announced by al qaeda
number two ayman al zawahiri
on january the gspc announces that it has changed its name on the
orders of bin laden to al qaeda in the islamic maghreb aqim
april are killed and more than injured in two almost simultaneous
attacks in algiers one aimed at the government headquarters
september are killed and more than injured in suicide attack
targeting the convoy of algerian president abdelaziz bouteflika at batna in the
east of the country
september new suicide attack targets an army barracks at dellys in the
kabylie region east of the algerian capital killing
december two suicide attacks in algiers aimed at the constitutional court
the supreme court and two united nations buildings kill including un
workers
december four french tourists are killed by three armed men near to aleg
in the southeast of mauritania three young mauritanians believed to be close to
aqim are arrested
february two austrian tourists are abducted in tunisia before being
transferred to the north of mali they are freed after eight months in
captivity
january four european tourists two swiss one german and one briton
are abducted in the frontier region between mali and niger on june aqim says
it has killed the british tourist the other three are freed
june an american managing teaching establishment in nouakchott is shot
dead
november french national pierre camatte is abducted in menaka more than
kilometres miles northeast of bamako two us monitoring groups said
acim threatened on january to execute him unless four of its militants were
freed from jail in mali in days
november three spanish aid workers for the non governmental organisation
barcelona accio solidaria are abducted by armed men some kilometres
miles from nouakchott
december couple of italian tourists is kidnapped in southeast mauritania
togo goalkeeper stable in intensive care africa hospital
johannesburg jan afp
togo goalkeeper kodjovi obilale was in stable condition but still in intensive
care in south african hospital on monday after deadly gun attack on his
squad in angola the hospital said
currently he is stable but he is ventilated and sedated to assist with
recovery milpark hospital spokeswoman erin smylie told afp
obilale underwent emergency surgery on saturday at the private johannesburg
hospital after being airlifted from cabinda where he was shot in the back after
gunmen ambushed the togo squad convoy on friday
the medical team is satisfied with the progress of mr obilale he will however
remain in the trauma intensive care unit until he is fully out of danger said
doctor ken boffard in statement
egypt says border barrier purely israeli affair
cairo jan afp
decision by the jewish state to build security barrier along the israeli
egyptian border is purely israeli affair the foreign ministry in cairo said
on monday
it is an israeli affair which does not concern egypt foreign ministry
spokesman hossam zaki told afp
the israeli government on sunday approved the construction of three barriers
along the two countries common kilometre mile desert frontier to curb
the infiltration of illegal immigrants
the project which was put forward by the military was expected to cost between
one billion dollars and billion dollars an israeli government official
said
prime minister benjamin netanyahu told cabinet meeting israel would continue
to allow entry for asylum seekers most of whom come from darfur but will
not flood the country with illegal workers
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
