hoogland joins german midfielder alexander baumjohann who signed from bayern
munich having played just three times for the german giants since joining six
months ago and brazilian striker edu from korean side suwon blue wings
schalke are second in the table one point behind leaders bayer leverkusen with
the campaign set to resume in late january
estonian wanted by nazi hunters dies in costa rica
tallinn jan afp
an estonian alleged by nazi hunters to have murdered jews during world war ii
has died in his adopted homeland costa rica aged according to officials in
the baltic state
harry mannil died monday in the costa rican capital san jose edgar savisaar
mayor of estonia capital tallinn and close friend said in statement
savisaar paid tribute to mannil the godfather of his daughter as an
outstanding expatriate estonian businessman but did not mention the
accusations against him
mannil was on wanted list drawn up by the simon wiesenthal center los
angeles based jewish organisation that tracks nazi war criminals
he was recorded as having served from september to june with the
german security forces during the nazi occupation of estonia
the simon wiesenthal center accused him of involvement in the murder of
civilians mostly jews although an estonian probe only established that he was
involved in interrogations
the nazi hunters rejected as whitewash decision in by estonian
prosecutors to drop their five year investigation on the grounds that they had
failed to turn up evidence to implicate mannil in war crimes
mannil left for finland in ahead of soviet takeover of estonia he
emigrated to latin america in year after the end of world war ii
he spent five decades in venezuela before moving to costa rica in the
simon wiesenthal center got him placed on us watch list barring him from the
united states
senior us senator won wade into race row
washington jan afp
the top republican in the us senate declined tuesday to call for democratic
senate majority leader harry reid to resign over racially loaded remarks about
president barack obama
who going to be the democratic leader of the senate is up to the democratic
conference republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell told reporters
reid created firestorm with remarks published in the just released book game
change saying that americans had warmed to obama candidacy because he was
light skinned african american with no negro dialect
obama was quick to accept reid apology saturday but some republicans have
called for the resignation of the nevada democrat who already faced steep
uphill re election fight in november even before the controversy
mcconnell also declined to be drawn into an intra republican feud over embattled
republican national committee chairman michael steele who touched off his own
race based row recently by using the phrase honest injun seen as derogatory
to native americans
steele who was already under fire from some republicans still will be judged
on the basis of how much money did he raise and how many candidates did he
elect in the november mid term elections said mcconnell
urgent us port shuts as highly explosive containers punctured
raleigh north carolina jan afp
major us port was closed tuesday after nine containers of highly explosive
material were accidentally punctured officials said recommending that part of
the city be evacuated
france tells iran to acquit french academic
paris jan afp
france served notice tuesday that it expects an iranian court to acquit french
academic when it delivers verdict this week in her trial on charges of taking
part in opposition protests
clotilde reiss year old who was arrested on july and charged with acting
against iran national security is to hear the verdict in tehran on saturday
tehran prosecutor said
we expect that her innocence will be recognized by iranian justice and we want
clotilde reiss to return to france as soon as possible said foreign ministry
spokesman bernard valero
have one certainty which is that our compatriot is innocent he added
reiss is accused of supporting opposition protests that erupted after president
mahmoud ahmadinejad was re elected in june
she was arrested shortly before she was to fly home after six month study and
teaching assignment in the closing weeks of her stay she witnessed the
protests took pictures and emailed them to friends
the young iran expert lawyer mohammad ali mahdavi sabet said this week he
hoped the court hearing on saturday will be her last
the arrest of reiss has stoked tensions between france and iran which already
are at odds over tehran nuclear programme and paris harsh criticism of the
regime crackdown on opposition protesters
japan gunman kills himself after shooting two people police
tokyo jan afp
middle aged man killed himself after shooting his mother in law and bar
employee dead with shotgun on tuesday in bar in western japan police and
reports said
another man was wounded in the shooting at around pm gmt in hibikino
city outside osaka an osaka prefectural police spokesman said
the suspect fired the shotgun inside the bar and then shot himself on street
outside the official said by telephone
the gunman was later identified as an osaka city government employee yasuhisa
sugiura kyodo news agency reported
the two people he killed were his mother in law yoshiko tanaka and bar
employee in his kyodo said quoting police
sugiura and his mother in law were at the bar to talk about divorce according
to witnesses kyodo reported
he got excited and left in the middle of the discussion returning later with
gun it said
tanaka owned the bar the asahi shimbun said in its internet edition quoting
police sources
gun crimes are rare in japan where illegal possession of firearm carries
prison sentence of up to years
bur mtp
alert
major us port closed after highly explosive containers punctured
japan aid crucial to afghanistan us senator
washington jan afp
japan may pledge several hundred million dollars for afghan national
reconciliation at january summit in london on promoting stability in the
war torn country us senator said tuesday
there is real hope that japan has particular interest in coming in with
perhaps as much as well several hundred million dollars to help with the
reconciliation and reintegration effort said republican senator roger wicker
and hope that is part of the success story of the london conference wicker
said at press conference with other senators after the group visited
afghanistan and pakistan
the january conference called at the initiative of the leaders of britain
france and germany aims to secure more help for afghanistan to battle
corruption and to foster economic growth peace and security
hope that there is widespread interest in participating and being helpful
said republican senator minority leader mitch mcconnell who led the
congressional delegation
football egypt nigeria at half time
benguela angola jan afp
defending champions egypt and nigeria were drawing at half time on wednesday
in the opening africa cup of nations group match
striker chinedu obasi late inclusion in the nigerian squad scored after
minutes and emad meteeb levelled on minutes at new seat stadium in
this central coastal city
eu commissioner to be backs turkish membership
brussels jan afp
would be eu enlargement commissioner stefan fuele on tuesday backed turkey bid
to join the bloc rejecting the kind of lesser privileged partnership
relationship mooted by some member states
privileged partnership is not on the table for turkey which is currently in
slow moving negotiations to join the european union fuele said
austria france and some german politicians have called for such relationship
rather than full membership for the large and mainly muslim nation which some
see as outside the european template
fuele former czech communist was answering questions from members of the
european parliament during hearing on his suitability for the post as part of
jose manuel barroso next european commission
fuele recognised that ankara accession talks are proceeding at glacial pace
due in part to its perennial differences with the divided island of eu member
cyprus
he said it was therefore necessary to inject little credibility into the
process on both sides for turkey to proceed more quickly with reforms and for
the europeans to take the process more seriously
yes it difficult he admitted but cautioned that there was no better lever
to helping turkey modernise and reform its society
confident that at the end of the process it will be new modern and
reformed turkey whose accession to the eu will be to the benefit of both the
european union and turkey he stressed while adding that he understood the
differing views on this issue
asked if he could envisage turkey as an eu member he answered simply yes
can
it about the credibility of the european union but also first of all about
turkey fulfilling all the criteria for becoming member
he promised to report back to the european parliament by the end of the year on
turkey persistent refusal to open its borders fully to greek cypriots
eight of the policy chapters which candidates must negotiate remain totally
blocked due to ankara failure to open its ports and airports to cyprus
cyprus has been divided since when turkey occupied the north in response to
an athens engineered coup in nicosia aimed at uniting the island with greece
turkey began eu accession talks in but has no promise of eventual
membership
fuele former ambassador to britain and nato has been the czech european
affairs minister since may last year
however it was his communist past and his studies in the at the moscow
state institute of international relations mgimo which interested some of the
assembled meps
everyone has personal history fuele said stressing that his history was
linked to the era and place he grew up in
in our neck of the woods communism was not optional romanian mep ioan pascu
added helpfully from the chamber
in any case fuele assured when the iron curtain came down and choices could
more easily be made he offered his experience and abilities to the service of
the then czechoslovakia
german mep elmar brok while backing fuele for the commission post disagreed
that communism was given in those days
think that there was an option not to become communist there are certain
colleagues from different countries who did that and bore the consequences he
told the parliament
rallying dakar rally results
santiago jan afp
results from dakar rally following tuesday th stage kilometres
special from la serena
motorcycling
stage
marc coma esp ktm hr min sec david fretigne fra yamaha at min
sec helder rodrigues por yamaha ruben faria por ktm
francisco lopez chi aprilia cyril despres fra ktm olivier
pain fra yamaha pal ullevalseter nor ktm jonah street
usa ktm alain duclos fra ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec pal ullevalseter nor ktm at
hr min sec francisco lopez chi aprilia hr helder rodrigues
por yamaha hr alain duclos fra ktm hr david fretigne
fra yamaha hr jonah street usa ktm hr olivier pain
fra yamaha hr jakub przygonski pol ktm hr juan
pedrero garcia esp ktm hr
selected
marc coma esp ktm hr
three britons one colombian kidnapped in nigeria
lagos jan afp
gunmen tuesday seized three britons and colombian shooting dead their police
escort in the first major kidnapping for six months in southern nigeria niger
delta
the four contract workers for the anglo dutch oil giant shell were
abducted as they travelled to work from the southern oil city of port harcourt
to the shell operated afam power plant police said
they were ambushed by gunmen said rivers state police spokeswoman rita abbey
adding that police were concentrating their search in and around the town of
aba kilometres miles northeast of port harcourt
the gunmen shot dead the police officer escorting the group and wounded their
driver
shell spokesman in nigeria said we are concerned for the safety of the
contractor staff and our thoughts are with them and their families at this
difficult time
spokesman for the foreign office in britain said we are aware of the reports
that three british nationals have been kidnapped in nigeria and are urgently
investigating these claims
the incident was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since july last
year following lull in the wake of government amnesty which saw thousands
of militants lay down their arms
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for locals have
since staged attacks on oil installations in the niger delta playing havoc
with crude output and international oil prices
no one has claimed responsibility for tuesday attack and no known ransom
demands have been made
in october the main rebel group in the restive region the movement for the
emancipation of the niger delta mend declared an open ended ceasefire to give
dialogue with authorities chance
but at the weekend mend said it was reviewing its indefinite ceasefire
announced on sunday october and will announce its position on or before
january
the absence of president umaru yar adua for nearly two months for medical
reasons has not helped efforts to end the violence with militants reportedly
unhappy at the slow progress of the process to re integrate them into their
communities
hundreds of foreign and local oil workers have been kidnapped in the niger delta
since many have been released unharmed others after ransom payments
last year shell said of its workers and contractors had been kidnapped
between and
militants have also attacked pipelines and offshore facilities and even lagos
harbour at the weekend militants targeted chevron pipelines in second such
attack the government unconditional pardon came into effect in august last
year
at the peak of the violence in the delta production dipped by up to third of
pre levels in the world eighth largest oil exporter
oil is the economic mainstay of nigeria raking in some percent of the
country earnings and contributing about percent of budget requirements for
the opec member country
nigeria plans to offer inhabitants of the nine oil producing states an extra
percent of oil and gas revenues in addition to the percent they already get
in bid to end violence
italy slammed for deep rooted racism after violence
rome jan afp
italy faced calls tuesday to address deep rooted racism and quell language
of hatred after last week attacks on african farm workers in the impoverished
south of the country
un human rights experts in geneva called the violence extremely worrying since
it reveals serious and deep rooted problems of racism against those migrant
workers
it is more than ever urgent for the italian authorities to strengthen their
anti racism activities the un special rapporteur on the rights of migrants
jorge bustamante and the special rapporteur on racism githu muigai said in
joint statement
they urged italy to swiftly denounce hate speech and prosecute the racist and
violent actions perpetrated by some individuals
two days of unrest prompted more than africans to flee the calabrian town
after clashes left people injured of them migrants police officers
and locals
italy took sharp turn to the right in when conservative leader silvio
berlusconi swept to power for third time in coalition with the anti
immigration northern league
their campaign emphasised pledges to fight illegal immigration and crime often
closely linking the two
the humanitarian group medecins sans frontieres accused italy of hypocrisy
over the plight of the african migrants
everyone the authorities and employers is aware of the miserable
conditions of these immigrants said loris de filippi of msf italian branch
throughout southern italy illegal immigrants work for us in situation that
resembles slavery de filippi told news conference there is widespread
hypocrisy
it is high time that the italian authorities set about improving conditions for
the seasonal workers de filippi added
alessandra tramontana an msf medical official said conditions were often
worse than in refugee camps in africa
seasonal workers are victims of perverse economic and political system that
exploits them and at the same time tolerates them but then criminalises them
msf said in report
as part of an investigation launched last year police tuesday arrested
suspected members of the ndrangheta mafia in rosarno amid allegations that the
unrest was linked to organised crime
the ndrangheta heavily involved in drug trafficking is considered the most
dangerous of italy four organised crime syndicates
alberto cisterna national level anti mafia judge said he was convinced that
ndrangheta operatives fired on immigrants to prove that they control the
area
also tuesday egypt condemned the attacks and voiced concerns about the muslim
minority in southern italy just days before the italian foreign minister is due
in cairo
foreign ministry spokesman hossam zaki criticised what he termed language of
hatred and alleged massive campaign of attacks against immigrants
the latest violence is only one facet of the numerous violations that
immigrants and ethnic minorities in italy are exposed to including arab and
muslim minorities he added
egypt foreign minister ahmed abul gheit will raise the subject when his
italian counterpart franco frattini visits cairo on saturday zaki said
frattini currently in mauritania at the start of an african tour said no one
can accuse us of racism the ansa news agency reported
he said he was prepared to talk about anything when he meets abul gheit
bruno schettino an immigration expert of the italian catholic church urged
greater and better climate of welcome by shunning xenophobic leanings saying
xenophobia generates fear and despair
pope benedict xvi spoke out against the violence on sunday saying an
immigrant is human being different in where they came from in their culture
and tradition but person to respect who has rights and responsibilities
european stocks close lower
london jan afp
europe main stock markets closed lower on tuesday with london ftse
index of leading shares down percent to points
in paris the cac shed percent to points and in frankfurt the
dax fell sharp percent to points breaching the key points
support level
afghan war should stay out of pakistan fm
abu dhabi jan afp
the war against taliban militants in afghanistan must be fought inside the
country itself and not spill over into pakistan the pakistani foreign minister
said on tuesday
the afghan war has to be fought within afghanistan the challenges within
afghanistan cannot be resolved in pakistan shah mehmood qureshi told reporters
on the sidelines of meeting of special representatives for afghanistan and
pakistan held in abu dhabi
the challenge that we have in pakistan is being faced very bravely and very
courageously by the people of pakistan he said on our side of the border
pakistan is capable of looking after the problem
pakistan faces taliban insurgents and militants who have killed more than
people since july
the insurgents are fighting to impose version of islamic law or sharia and
also oppose islamabad alliance with the united states in the eight year war
against the taliban in neighbouring afghanistan
in his address to the conference afghan foreign minister rangin dadfar spanta
said both diplomatic and military efforts were needed to bring stability to his
country
we seek in addition to military means peaceful solutions to our security
challenge spanta said
afghanistan is fully committed to pave the way for return to normal life by
all afghans who are ready to surrender arms and abide by the afghan
constitution he said
on the sidelines of the forum spanta said the us troop surge in afghanistan
must be part of broader strategy including development and strengthening state
institutions if it is to succeed
political reconciliation reintegration of ex fighters capacity building of
civilian institutions improvement of governance and structures inside
afghanistan are very important for forward movement or for stability and peace
in afghanistan he said
egyptian deputy foreign minister wafa baseem expressed similar sentiment
we do believe that military measures could be needed sometimes she said but
in the long run they are not the only solution or the solution to
conflict especially in afghanistan
however both pakistan and egypt expressed willingness to train afghan security
forces
we ve offered to train on fast track afghan soldiers and afghan policemen so
that the law enforcement operations within afghanistan improve qureshi said
and baseem said egypt already informed afghanistan in may that it was ready to
provide military training for afghan officers and soldiers
us special representative for afghanistan and pakistan richard holbrooke told
afp that conference attendees agreed they are ready to support efforts by afghan
president hamid karzai to reintegrate former taliban fighters but are waiting
for him to make specific announcement
holbrooke also said that previous anti corruption efforts in afghanistan have
been inadequate and need to be stepped up
president karzai said in his inaugural address on november that he was going
to upgrade and intensify the fight against corruption we all have reaffirmed
here again that we consider this highly important holbrooke said
the one day conference brought together delegations from about countries
ahead of january conference on afghanistan in london to be attended by
president karzai and other international leaders
suriname france step up security cooperation
paramaribo jan afp
suriname and france signed an agreement on tuesday to step up security
cooperation on the border with french guiana suriname justice and police
minister chan santokhi said
in the past we have signed justice cooperation agreements and now we extend our
cooperation with joint operations regarding public order santokhi said after
the signing ceremony
it will enable us to provide more security in the area he said adding that
this includes assistance from french firemen joint operation in traffic
incidents disasters cross border crimes or joint trainings the minister
explained
in the coming days the two countries hope to sign euro financial aid
agreement approved in by the french government to boost up the police and
justice cooperation in suriname
french ambassador richard barbeyron france would also invest in other projects
through its its international development agency whose director was scheduled
to hold talks here tuesday with members of the cabinet
suriname and french guiana share common problems with drug trafficking money
laundering illegal gold mining and border enforcement
in suriname and france signed million euros loan agreement most of
which will be used to upgrade road linking paramaribo to albina city on the
french guiana border
rallying spanish double as sainz and coma take dakar stages
santiago jan afp
spain two time world rally champion carlos sainz extended his overall lead in
the car section of the dakar rally on tuesday when he won the th stage
kilometres special from la serena
earlier his compatriot marc coma had won his second successive motorcycling
stage
sainz extended his overnight lead to over minutes as his second placed
volkswagen team mate qatari nasser al attiyah could finish only fourth in the
stage min sec in arrears
french driver stephane peterhansel who has recovered well since he lost over
two hours on one stage and any chance of winning outright was second on the
stage sec behind while volkswagen driver mark miller of the united states
remained in third overall after finishing third min sec in arrears
coma who is out of contention for the overall title having been penalised six
hours over the weekend beat frenchman david fretigne by min sec
another frenchman cyril despres who was sixth on the stage over six minutes in
arrears remains the clear overall leader
the battle for the remaining podium places looks set to be intense in the
remaining four stages ahead of the finish in buenos aires
chilean francisco lopez winner of two stages gained over two minutes on
overall second placed pal ullevalseter of norway who has slender lead of
under two minutes over him
portuguese rider helder rodrigues who was third in the stage is less than
minute behind lopez in the overall standings
few muslims wear burka as denmark mulls restrictions report
copenhagen jan afp
survey of muslim women in denmark found that only small number wear the
burka or niqab full length veils as the government considers possible
restrictions on islamic dress in public places newspaper reported tuesday
only three muslim women in the country wear the head to toe burka while between
to women use the niqab full length veil that allows an opening for
the eyes the university of copenhagen survey showed the daily jyllands posten
said
some to of these women are danish converts to islam according to the
survey that was conducted for special commission looking into the contentious
issue
the liberal conservative government is set to discuss the commission report on
wednesday
denmark muslims make up percent of the population and are the
country second largest religious community
the conservatives in august had proposed banning the burka and niqab which the
liberals strongly opposed the idea was eventually dropped because of
constitutional and human rights concerns
the issue now before the government is not an outright ban but whether there
should be restrictions in some public circumstances
it is not question of generally banning the burka or the niqab because that
against the kingdom constitution naser khader spokesman for the
conservatives told afp tuesday
but there are situations where such ban might be imposed for instance if
one is giving testimony in court or when taking school exam or driving
bus he said
denmark has experienced tense relations with the muslim world following the
publishing in of cartoons depicting islam prophet mohammed considered
blasphemous by much of the islamic world it triggered violent protests in
muslim countries
and earlier this month somali man was arrested and charged with trying to kill
the danish cartoonist responsible for the caricature
canada the beaver mag renamed to end porn mix up
ottawa jan afp
canada second oldest magazine the beaver is changing its name after years
because the title is too often censored by online porn filters preventing it
from reaching new online readers
the winnipeg based magazine was launched in to celebrate the th
anniversary of the hudson bay company and the fur trade that led to the early
exploration of canada
but in modern times the term beaver has become slang for women genitals
the beaver was an impediment online publisher deborah morrison told afp
several readers asked us to change the title because their spam filters at home
or at work were blocking it she said ve even had emails bounce back
because had inadvertently typed the term in the heading
nearly century ago it probably seemed the perfect name for magazine about
the fur trade and canada northwest frontier there was only one interpretation
for the word then
but you re likely to find lot of porn sites now if you search for the title
of our history magazine online she said
the magazine that chronicles canada past will publish its last issue under the
old banner in february march thereafter it will be known under the less
evocative name of canada history
football rocky ferrara vows to keep rolling the punches
rome jan afp
under fire juventus coach ciro ferrara vowed to take leaf out of rocky
balboa book as he bids to ride the storm of his team dismal form
juve host napoli in the italian cup on wednesday in match that has taken on
added significance since sunday home defeat to ac milan
that left them points behind serie leaders inter milan at the halfway point
of the season and having already been knocked out of the champions league in
december juventus can realistically only hope to win their domestic cup and the
europa league this season
but following six defeats in their last eight matches in all competitions
ferrara admits that he is on the brink
like rocky take punches covered in blood but keep saying to my
opponent hit me harder because that didn hurt he said making an illusion
to the character made famous by sylvester stallone
the defeat to milan doesn change anything there been talk about my job for
some time
know what the club thinks and fully aware that the destiny of every coach
is tied to results
if those aren there the club will take the measures they believe suitable to
changing our fortunes
if that means get fired won look upon it as failure but as part of the
