arbitration
france telecom had made three previous offers to buy the stake in mobinil but
all were rejected by the regulator
taiwanese ambassador hurt in haiti quake
taipei jan afp
taiwan ambassador to haiti has been injured in the powerful earthquake in the
impoverished caribbean nation where hundreds of people are feared dead the
foreign ministry said on wednesday
the initial information we obtained showed that ambassador hsu mien sheng was
injured in the earthquake ministry official told afp he suffered
fracture and has been treated in hospital
the official gave no further details but added that other embassy staff had
escaped unhurt when the embassy building was damaged in the capital port au
prince after tuesday earthquake
taiwan pledged us dollars in humanitarian aid and president ma ying jeou
sent condolences to his haitian counterpart the foreign ministry said in
statement
the government may provide further assistance to haiti depending on its needs
it added
haiti is one of countries that recognise taipei rather than beijing
taiwan national fire agency said it plans to send member rescue and
search team and two sniffer dogs to haiti later wednesday while foreign
ministry group was meeting to discuss how to provide further assistance
yemeni forces kill al qaeda kingpin governor
sanaa jan afp
yemeni security forces have killed an al qaeda kingpin in shabwa province in
intensive operations against the group believed behind the botched bombing of
us airliner an official said on wednesday
abdullah mehdar was killed last night by security forces which had besieged the
house he hid in provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi told reporters
mehdar was the leader of an al qaeda cell in the al houta district of shabwa
province kilometres miles east of the capital sanaa
security forces were hunting for the remaining members of the cell ahmadi said
the al qaeda branch in yemen claimed responsibility for the failed christmas day
attack on us airliner with the united states accusing the group of training
the alleged perpetrator umar farouk abdulmutallab
ahmadi told afp on tuesday that security forces had arrested four al qaeda
suspects two of them wounded in firefight
tribal source said that suspects in the same area managed to escape
police raid and fled to neighbouring mountain
the yemeni government has sent troop reinforcements to some eastern provinces in
recent weeks as it has intensified its fight against al qaeda militants
separately two policemen were killed and four wounded in an ambush by unknown
gunmen in the al nuqbah area of shabwa province ahmadi said
the governor announced on sunday that dozens of al qaeda fighters including
saudis and egyptians who have fled afghanistan were hiding in shabwa
among them are the leader of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap nasser al
wahishi his number two saeed ali al shehri saudi and radical us yemeni
cleric anwar al awlaqi he added
on tuesday foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi renewed an offer to talk to al
qaeda loyalists provided they lay down their arms but warned that the government
would hunt them down if they spurn the offer
but foreign ministry official said on wednesday that the terms of kurbi
offer had been misunderstood and that dialogue with militants would only take
place through the government programme to rehabilitate penitent rebels
this would be within the framework of the rehabilitation programme for those
who have been led astray to stress the government wish to open the door to
those elements to return to reason the official said
yemen insists it can win the war against the militants without us military
intervention but analysts doubt it can tackle the jihadists on its own
yemen is under pressure to rein in the extremists with the united states and
britain announcing plans to fund the country counter terrorism unit
but us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending american
troops to yemen or to somalia in the horn of africa just across the bab al
mandab strait
radical yemeni cleric abdulmajeed al zendani branded global terrorist by
the united states warned on monday that any us military intervention in yemen
to fight al qaeda would be considered an occupation
yemen insists it is winning the war against the jihadists pointing to two
separate air raids in december that killed more than suspected al qaeda
militants
week ago officials announced the capture of key al qaeda leader mohammed al
hanq and two other militants believed to be behind threats against western
interests in sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days
saudi analyst anwar eshki said al qaeda militants have been fleeing to yemen
after coming under tremendous pressure in afghanistan and pakistan and because
of crackdown in neighbouring saudi arabia
the network is trying to establish itself in yemen eshki head of the jeddah
based middle east strategic studies centre told afp
relief agencies mobilise massive emergency aid for haiti
geneva jan afp
the international red cross and united nations on wednesday unlocked emergency
funds and mobilised supplies for massive aid operation in haiti amid fears
of huge devastation following the earthquake there
the priority is to find survivors said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the
un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
we are working against the clock she told journalists as some search and
rescue teams from global network were mobilised by the united nations
un maps placed the epicentre barely kilometres miles from the capital
port au prince and indicated that some people lived in areas exposed to
the most intense tremor with violent or extreme shaking
the international federation of the red cross and red crescent societies said
the area most affected by the magnitude quake was port au prince and the
west province with population of million
aid officials reported that the worst damage was to poorly built homes and
shantytowns but insisted it was too early to give estimates of casualties
amid the crying and wailing people are spending the night outside the
international committee of the red cross icrc chief in haiti ricardo conti
said in statement
people are trying to comfort each other what you are hearing in the streets
are the prayers of thanks of those who survived he added
it is extremely difficult to move around the city to assess needs what is
certain is that the quake has had massive impact on population already
reeling from other recent disasters conti said
federation spokesman jean luc martinage said massive international aid
operation was needed
emergency stocks are prepositioned in haiti and will allow us to bring aid to
families for three to four days martinage told afp
but we ll have to swiftly bring relief supplies from our regional disaster
response centre based in panama
the red cross said the most urgent needs at this time are search and rescue
field hospitals emergency health water purification emergency shelter
logistics and telecommunications
red cross and un aid was being prepared at regional bases in panama ready to be
flown in through the airport at port au prince or the neighbouring dominican
republic
the un world food programme said it could respond swiftly with some
tonnes of food supplies in haiti while emergency red cross supplies in haiti
included kitchen kits personal hygiene kits blankets and containers for
storing drinking water
we have already launched an emergency operation said wfp official charles
vincent
six icrc relief experts were due to fly into haiti on wednesday to support the
haitian red cross and help coordinate international relief
red cross team would also be leading crucial assessment of the damage in
haiti along with european union experts that will allow relief agencies to gauge
aid needs
the icrc said medical needs and clean water supplies would be considerable in
the short term
everything that infrastructure isn working said icrc spokesman simon
schorno
ocha indicated that areas immediately to the west of the capital suffered the
full force of the quake late tuesday
un haiti peacekeeper chief believed dead in quake french fm
paris jan afp
the tunisian head of un peacekeepers in haiti and all those around him are
believed dead after their headquarters collapsed in the huge earthquake there
france foreign minister said wednesday
the building of the un peace mission collapsed and it would appear that all
those who were in the building including my friend hedi annabi and that all
those who were with him and around him are dead bernard kouchner said
annabi is the head of the united nations stabilisation mission in haiti
minustah
being straight with your boss cuts stress study
london jan afp
telling your boss what you really think of them is good for your health and
helps managers improve according to research published wednesday
firms should be even be encouraged to let employees regularly rate their line
managers to produce happy healthy stress free employees said the study
presented at conference of the british psychological society
researchers split group of managers into two groups one of which received
training and feedback from some staff on their management skills while the
other bosses did not
when managers received feedback from their staff they were more likely to
change their management style and subsequently be seen as more effective line
managers said the study
employees benefit as it allows them to let off steam said expert emma
donaldson feilder presenting the research at conference in brighton southern
england
the consequences of stress are pervasive those under stress may experience
psychological symptoms such as anxiety or depression physiological symptoms
such as palpitations or raised blood pressure and or cognitive symptoms such as
reduced mental capacity
stress is significant cause of sickness absence and this puts pressure on
those left behind to run the business creating cycle of uncomfortable
pressure with costs to the individual and to the company she said
donaldson feilder and her colleagues are developing number of resources
including questionnaire that staff can use to rate their line manager and
learning materials for managers which will be available free online
without holding mirror up to person they can have blind spots about how
they come across and if they think they are already good enough why should they
change she said
erdogan in russia for talks on pipeline rivals
moscow jan afp
turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan whose country is involved in
competing gas pipeline projects held talks with russian leaders wednesday in
bid to soften the bitter rivalry between future energy transit routes
turkey in august agreed to allow moscow to start surveys in its territorial
waters in the black sea for russia south stream pipeline which aims to pump
russian gas to europe via new route that by passes ukraine
but ankara is also leading player in the eu backed nabucco pipeline which aims
to carry gas from the caspian sea region to europe and is seen as way of
reducing european reliance on russian gas
the energy sphere has very important significance in this we share very
developed cooperation erdogan told russian president dimitry medvedev in talks
at his country residence outside moscow
not only in the sphere of natural gas but in crude products there exists
whole series of opportunities see this meeting as huge opportunity
medvedev in turn hailed the countries serious and major cooperation
the russian turkish relationship is improving it is really strategic
partnership he said
erdogan will later also meet with his russian counterpart and close personal
friend vladimir putin for talks that underscore the warming relations between
the former cold war era foes
nato member turkey which has long pursued eu membership has sought to downplay
rivalry between the pipelines
the kommersant daily said there is speculation ankara wants moscow to
participate in nabucco and believes the need for south stream may be lessened
once viktor yushchenko foe of russia departs the ukrainian presidency
however moscow is not prepared to give up its beloved child the newspaper
added referring to south stream
it is unclear whether gas supplies are sufficient to fill two pipelines and
moscow is keen to complete south stream ahead of its rival with plans to go
online with the pipeline section in turkish waters as early as
russia which supplies over quarter of europe gas imports has sold south
stream as an alternative to gas transits via ukraine after price row with kiev
last winter disrupted supplies to europe
the construction of turkey first nuclear power plants and plans to extend the
existing blue stream gas pipeline linking the two countries are also on the
agenda the kremlin said in statement
turkey in turn is seeking russian support for planned turkish oil pipeline to
be built from the black sea port of samsun to ceyhan on the mediterranean
russia will play an active role in the project and the two sides are in talks
over moscow taking stake russian deputy prime minister igor sechin told
reporters on the sidelines of the meetings
talks are also expected to focus on security in the caucasus region where
turkey is increasingly presenting itself as major diplomatic player
turkey and russia have joined efforts to broker peace between ex soviet states
azerbaijan and armenia which are still technically at war over the mountainous
nagorno karabakh region
shared concerns over stability in the caucasus were tested as russia fought
brief war with georgia in august but moscow has since played role in the
recent rapprochement between turkey and its ally armenia
russia is one of turkey top trading partners and its main gas supplier
accounting for about percent of the country gas imports the countries had
bilateral trade ties of billion dollars in the kremlin said
eu auditors slam bloc aid policy
brussels jan afp
the european court of auditors on wednesday criticised the way the european
commission channels aid through united nations bodies challenging the method
efficiency and its effectiveness
the commission does not convincingly demonstrate before deciding to work with
un organisation that it has assessed whether the advantages offset the
disadvantages the european union auditors said
those disadvantages can include delays as well as extra staff costs as the aid
trickles down from body such as the un development programme to non
governmental organisations ngos or other bodies
the court of auditors looked at whether humanitarian aid channelled through the
un is the most efficient and the most effective way of spending money
the answer is no court member karel pinxen told reporters in brussels
the luxembourg based institution which audits all eu bodies stressed that this
was not an audit of the un but did criticise lack of transparency in un
corridors
instead of working with the un the european commission could work through ngos
or undertake the activity itself as it has done successfully in some instances
pinxen added
he recognised that in certain special circumstances where urgent humanitarian
help is required it is not suitable to make huge analysis
the un panel of external auditors has continually questioned the commission
right to check expenditure the eu auditors said
the european auditors also encountered difficulties accessing information from
un organisations when carrying out its annual financial audit it added
the court further criticised the un own reports on its project results as too
general
the report included response from the eu commission the eu executive arm
which said there was sometimes no alternative to the un where it has clear
mandate or specific expertise
there must be doubts that other solutions where they existed would have been
more effective the commission added
it also stressed that any proposal by the commission humanitarian aid office
echo is assessed not only on its own merits but also in comparison to other
proposals
however the commission did fully support the court request for better
information from un agencies
football nigeria coach amodu future uncertain
benguela angola jan afp
nigeria coach shuaibu amodu faces very uncertain future and he may well again
not take the team to the world cup unless they bounce back from their opening
africa cup of nations loss to egypt and at least progress to the semi finals
on tuesday the super eagles fell to the pharaohs who were missing several
key stars
we had the chance to wrap up this game in the first half because we controlled
the game and created many chances but we could only score goal lamented the
embattled amodu who was fired in after nigeria failed to reach the final
of the nations cup in mali
again we were careless to concede two goals that was devastating blow for
us
the eagles barely made it to the quarter finals of ghana after they beat
benin in their final group game after they had lost their opening match to
the ivory coast before they were held to draw by mali
but like it was two years ago in ghana defending champions egypt have got off
to winning start in defence of their crown
in egypt spanked another highly rated team cameroon in kumasi on their
way to record sixth nations cup triumph
the defending champions are in angola without mohamed aboutrika mohamed
barakat amr zaki and mido yet coach hassan shehata and his team went ahead to
silence their critics with solid opening day success over world cup bound
nigeria at the ombaka stadium outside benguela
durable skipper ahmed hassan who scored one of the goals and assisted in
another rolled back the years to stay on course for his fourth nations cup
winners medal
the al ahly midfielder set up emad motaeb for egypt equaliser on minutes
after nigeria stunned the champions with chinedu obasi th minute blaster he
then fired the pharaohs ahead with deflected shot soon after after the restart
before substitute mohamed nagi geddo wrapped up the win on minutes
wouldn have played that well if it wasn for my teammates support said
hassan who was voted man of the match
motaeb in particular played very well today he was unlucky not to score
another goal in the second half
egypt have staged comeback for the first time since overturning one goal
deficit to beat dr congo in the world cup qualifiers in june
they never fell behind during their triumphant nations cup campaigns in and
we are not used to going behind in nations cup games added hassan who is
making an eighth appearance at the biennial tournament
told the players that we had to keep composure and thankfully we succeeded
in doing that
the victory over nigeria was the first for egypt since and personal
triumph for motaeb who has been knocked for not reproducing his club form for
egypt
was considering hitting back at critics after the friendly against mali last
week but decided to be decent the ahly striker said my reply to those
who questioned my ability came in the form of good performance
but after all winning the game is more important than my own display this
victory is really vital for our campaign
group minnows mozambique and benin drew leaving the dutch coach of the
mambas mart nooij to remain upbeat of his team chances against defending
champions egypt on saturday
every game for us in angola is cup final and so would be the game against
egypt said nooij
was bit surprised by how easy nigeria lost to egypt but we will fight
because we have prepared very well for this tournament and that was why for the
first minutes the players who were so full of energy lost their head for
benin to go in front
however we played wonderful second half to draw the game
mozambique under nooij have already held ther own against some of africa super
powers like the ivory coast nigeria and tunisia
children face sunbed ban in england and wales
london jan afp
under in england and wales could be banned from using sunbeds in tanning
salons because of the risk of cancer under government backed proposals announced
wednesday
cancer research uk says people who first use sunbed under the age of
increase their risk of developing skin cancer later by percent
now ministers and lawmakers want to take action to cut from over the
number of britons diagnosed with skin cancer per year
the scientific evidence is clear sunbeds increase your risk of getting skin
cancer said health secretary andy burnham
it is far too easy for young people to use sunbeds and am determined to take
action to protect them
figures show that six percent of english children aged between and have
used sunbed with the figure rising to percent in the less sunny north of
england
the bill is backed by celebrities including nicola roberts of pop band girls
aloud
it has limited chance of being passed due to lack of parliamentary time as
it was originally proposed by backbench lawmaker labour julie morgan but
the government backing increases the chance of success
more than people die from skin cancer every year in britain
obama to make haiti statement get new briefing
washington jan afp
president barack obama will wednesday make an on camera statement and get new
briefing on what he has promised will be an aggressive coordinated us effort
following the disastrous earthquake in haiti
senior staff gave obama several updates on the aftermath of the killer quake
late on tuesday and an additional briefing was already being planned for
wednesday morning an official said
obama will also make public remarks though the timing of the appearance is yet
to be decided
the president told staff he expects an aggressive coordinated effort by the us
government the official said
deputy national security advisor tom donilon meanwhile held late night meeting
with top representatives of the us military coast guard and the us agency for
international development usaid the official said
another official said that the us coast guard had deployed cutters and aircraft
close to haiti to offer humanitarian assistance as massive international
relief effort gears up
obama said in written statement on tuesday that the united states stood ready
to assist haiti after powerful quake rocked the impoverished caribbean
nation
my thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this
earthquake we are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist
the people of haiti he said
devastating haiti quake feared to have killed thousands
port au prince jan afp
bodies littered haiti capital wednesday after an earthquake that may have
killed thousands of people as it collapsed shantytowns luxury hotels and even
the presidential palace
with victims pinned under debris and powerful aftershocks rattling the country
looting broke out soon after the magnitude quake which spared no part of the
capital port au prince which was close to the epicentre
injured residents of the crowded city poured into the streets screaming in panic
with each new tremor many bodies were just left in the streets or crushed under
debris
the quake toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace major
hotel where tourists were missing and the headquarters of the un mission in
haiti where up to personnel were unaccounted for
the force head hedi annabi was among those feared dead according to france
foreign minister
jordan reported that three of its peacekeepers were killed and wounded in the
quake the most powerful to hit the country in more than century
brazil said four of its peacekeepers were killed while eight chinese soldiers
were buried in rubble and were missing state media said wji
estimates of the death toll ranged from hundreds to thousands but with every
hour passing it was becoming clear that the destruction and loss of life was
catastrophic
major international relief operation was set underway with the united states
france britain and other countries promising help
two hundred foreigners were missing at the hotel montana french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet said
we know there were people inside the hotel when it collapsed only around
have got out which greatly concerns us he told french radio
hospital in the suburb of petionville collapsed as did ministries schools
homes in luxury districts and hillside shanties businesses and markets
police un and red cross vehicles tried to ferry the wounded to hospital but
progress was slow as roads were torn up by the powerful ripples from the quake
the us geological survey usgs reported strong aftershocks hit the country
in the hours after the initial gmt quake
usgs geophysicist susan potter said the last earthquake of such magnitude to
strike haiti was in and possibly as far back as
sara fajardo of catholic relief services told afp that buildings across the
street from their headquarters collapsed and that staff were terrified the
aftershocks would topple more buildings
most of the catholic relief services staff is going to be sleeping on the crs
office compound but they re sleeping outside because they re too afraid to sleep
indoors out of safety concerns fajardo said
the center of port au prince has been destroyed it catastrophe wailed
man named pierre so traumatized he could hardly speak as he surveyed the
disaster
haiti ambassador to the united states raymond alcide joseph described the
quake to cnn as catastrophe of major proportions
haiti ambassador to mexico robert manuel told reporters that haitian
president rene preval and his wife are alive and well but did not provide
further information on them
the headquarters of the un mission in haiti minustah which has served as
peacekeeping mission since was destroyed there are numerous people
underneath the rubble both dead and injured local employee said
un chief ban ki moon was to meet top advisors on wednesday to decide how to
respond to the emergency
nations around the world offered aid and the united states france canada and
governments across latin america geared to send help while the international
red cross mobilised relief supplies from panama
us president barack obama said my thoughts and prayers go out to those who have
been affected by this earthquake
pope benedict xvi urged generous response to the catastrophe the pope
lamented haiti tragic situation involving huge loss of human life great
number of homeless and missing and considerable material damage
former haitian president jean bertrand aristide exiled in south africa since
his ouster called it tragedy that defies expression
aid group world vision said it would begin distributing first aid kits blankets
and potable water to survivors on wednesday
this is especially devastating in haiti where people are acutely vulnerable
because of poor infrastructure and extreme poverty edward brown world
vision us relief director said in statement
already the poorest nation in the americas haiti has been hit by series of
recent disasters
three hurricanes and tropical storm pounded haiti in killing people
and leaving more than others missing according to government figures
the country was also gripped by political standoff in amid riots over
skyrocketing food prices un troops are regular sight in the country
seventy percent of haiti population lives on less than two dollars per day
and half of its million people are unemployed
cricket raina century boosts flagging india
dhaka jan afp
suresh raina smashed gutsy century as india recovered from horror start to
reach competitive against sri lanka in the triangular one day series final
in dhaka on wednesday
india were wobbling at following incisive opening spells from pacemen nuwan
kulasekara and chanaka welegedara but left handed raina came to his team
rescue with superb for his third one day hundred
kulasekara finished with and left arm seamer welegedara grabbed
raina steadied the innings with run stand for the sixth wicket with
ravindra jadeja who made useful ball raina went for big shots in the
latter stages once hoisting spinner suraj randiv over long on for six
he completed his century in the th over when he flicked seamer thissara perera
for two runs but fell soon after bowled by welegedara after cracking one six
and fours in his ball knock
india were earlier undone by combination of poor shot selection and sri
lanka disciplined pace bowling losing wickets at regular intervals after
being put in to bat in the day night match
virender sehwag kept playing shots despite the fall of wickets from the other
end hammering three fours in kulasekara over his flourish did not last long
though as he became the bowler third victim
sehwag was caught behind after hitting seven fours in his ball cameo he also
became the sixth indian to complete one day runs after sachin tendulkar
sourav ganguly rahul dravid mohammad azharuddin and yuvraj singh
the indian batting woes began with the match third delivery when gautam
gambhir was bowled for duck by kulasekara
welegedara had in form virat kohli caught behind for two and then yuvraj singh
was caught at first slip by thilan samaraweera in successive overs to send india
reeling at in four overs
skipper mahendra singh dhoni briefly defied the sri lankan attack when he shared
run stand for the fourth wicket with sehwag before being caught behind off
kulasekara
chinese student kills secretary in french stabbing spree
perpignan france jan afp
chinese student stabbed to death year old secretary and wounded three
teachers in an attack at university in southern france on wednesday local
prosecutor said
the year old sociology student stabbed to death the woman and wounded three
other people one of them seriously at the university in the southern town of
perpignan public prosecutor jean pierre dreno said
he added that the chinese student had previously been treated after showing
behavioural problems and was now in police custody following the killing
he attacked them at gmt in the university sociology department
with butcher knife of to centimetres up to inches dreno said
the three people wounded were university professors and supply teachers he
said one of them was seriously wounded by knife blows to the face arms and
legs
president nicolas sarkozy expressed his emotion at the killing and condolences
to the secretary family and congratulated the emergency services who had
