according to information we have received from the ground we fear that after
can the security forces will carry out military operation on larger scale
and that the authorities may also trigger new wave of repression against civil
society members on charges of allegedly promoting separatist ideas lisa rimli
the group angola specialist said
we have received information from the ground that arrests are already
underway
renowned economist filomeno viera lopes who is also president of the small
opposition front for democracy told afp we know of two people who have
already been arrested and we are expecting more people to be detained in the
coming days
the authorities are targeting individuals from civil society who have views
contrary to the government about cabinda
cabinda public prosecutor antonio nito confirmed to afp that civil society
campaigner jose zefarino pauti who is believed to work for chevron and was held
in for months but later released without charge was arrested on friday
in cabinda on suspicion of crimes against state security
cannot comment more on this as the law does not allow but the legal process
has begun pauti arrest is not in connection with the arrests made on friday
after the attack on the togo team bus
the prosecutor said the two arrested in connection with the bus shooting were
being held in custody in cabinda town charged with causing the death of two
togolese nationals
he would not confirm their nationality and said no date was set for trial
the other two people detained are university professor belchior lanso and former
police office pedro benjamim fuca according to opposition parties
different factions of flec front for the liberation of the enclave of cabinda
which has been fighting for independence in the province for more than three
decades have claimed responsibility for the attack
football algeria back in business with mali defeat
luanda jan afp
algeria gave their hopes of qualifying for the africa cup of nations quarter
finals significant shot in the arm here thursday with win over mali
it moved the world cup qualifiers on to three points in group level with
malawi who play angola later the hosts and mali are on one apiece
algeria coach rabah saadane declared this win has given the perfect answer to
all our critics
did my calculations before six points should be enough to qualify didn
put any pressure on my team told them to go out and enjoy themselves
now we have three days to recover before our final first round game
mali nigerian coach stephen keshi reflected the algerians deserved their
win
right now we re bottom of the table we ll go away and prepare for our final
group game against malawi
mali captain real madrid midfielder mamadou diarra added we knew it was going
to be tough but we re good team and we have coach that will put things
right for our next game
the state of the pitch made it difficult
saadane made two switches from the team routed by malawi on monday with
rafik saifi and samir zaoui making way for yassine bezzaz and abdelkadar
laifaoui
saadane found himself one man down before kickoff after kaled lemmouchia walked
out on thursday morning reportedly upset at not making the starting xi
keshi wielded the axe for this second run out dropping no fewer than six of the
side that drew with angola last sunday including african footballer of
the year frederic kanoute
the sevilla striker was joined on the bench by goalkeeper mahamadou sidibe
souleymane diamoutene bakaye traore el hadj traore and mamadou bagayoko
among those gaining call up were back to full fitness juventus star mohamed
sissoko and his fellow midfielder seydou keita
the barcelona player earned his place after coming off the bench against angola
to score twice
lively enough opening from two sides desperate to get three points on the
board to keep their quarter final dreams intact saw algeria karim ziani curl
in from the left in the fifth minute with soumaila diakite tipping the ball over
the woodwork
that early promise proved false dawn as the game turned scrappy for lengthy
period
algeria displaying little more bite than they had done against malawi forced
diakite into action approaching the half hour when karim matmour fed ziani whose
effort from outside the box was parried to safety
the highlight or rather lowlight of the game for mali came when bakary soumare
was booked for an ill judged tackle on yassine bezzaz meaning the french based
back will miss the next match
mali paid dearly for that as ziani floated in the ensuing freekick from
metres out for defender rafik halliche to head past diakite two minutes before
the break
mali almost drew back level in the st minute when algeria keeper faouzi
chaouchi did well to stop diaye tightly angled shot from the left of the box
but aside from late burst of pressure algeria held on comfortably
angola take on malawi later in luanda with group final batch of matches next
tuesday pitting mali against malawi in cabinda and algeria against the hosts
back here at the november stadium
eu to quiz france over pressure on renault
brussels jan afp
the eu competition watchdog said thursday it would seek explanations from france
about its pressure to prevent car maker renault from moving production of its
clio models to turkey
eu competition commissioner neelie kroes said she had instructed her office to
contact the french authorities to seek explanations after they sought to
pressure renault not to shut down factories at home
have consistently taken tough line against knee jerk protectionism
economic nationalism risks setting off spiral of retaliation that would make
the crisis times worse and destroy any chance of recovery said kroes
she spoke of an apparent contradiction between comments made by french
industry minister christian estrosi and promises made by paris early last year
that subsidised loans to national car producers would not affect their freedom
to move their operations
the assurances received in february by french secretary of state for
industry luc chatel included that any french aid would not impose any
conditions on the location of their production facilities kroes stressed
on wednesday renault announced plans to shut down production of its clio model
in spain and slovenia but said the car would still be made in france
renault has come under heavy pressure from the french government to keep jobs at
home following press reports of planned shift of clio production from france
to turkey
estrosi said he was not in favour of clio production shifting to turkey
after meeting with renault executives he said it seems our message has been
heard
french government measures taken last year to support the auto sector in the
economic downturn included generous loans to car makers on condition that they
keep production and jobs in france
we re not giving all that money to support the auto sector so that all our
factories can leave to go abroad president nicolas sarkozy told members of
parliament at an elysee meeting on wednesday
strongly contest the idea that these big companies just because they are
global no longer have nationality
chile right closer than ever to return to power
santiago jan afp
chile right is closer than ever to returning to power in sunday presidential
elections after years of leftist governments since the end of the
dictatorship of general augusto pinochet
right wing tycoon sebastian pinera is leading in the polls against former
president eduardo frei who is struggling in his bid to win in the second round
of the elections
frei has waged an uphill battle for months to beat pinera closing the gap
between them from percentage points to less than two percentage points he
now has percent support to for pinera
pinera the owner of one of chile four television networks and major
stakeholder in latin america biggest airline lan chile and football club
garnered percent of the vote in the first round on december with frei
receiving just percent
independent candidate marco enriquez ominami who was third in the first round
gave another jolt to frei campaign on wednesday by throwing his support behind
him enriquez ominami percent of voters hold the key to the ballot
if pinera wins in knockout round against frei it will spell the end of
two decades of left wing rule over one of south america most prosperous
countries
since the end of pinochet year military dictatorship president
michelle bachelet concertacion coalition has held power in chile the world
top copper exporter
she will complete her four year term in march amid sky high public support
earned from policies to bridge chile vast rich poor divide and use of state
savings from copper exports to mitigate the worst of the global economic crisis
but the year old was barred from seeking reelection under her country
constitution
pinera longtime rival of bachelet who beat him in run off to snatch
the presidency has sought to portray himself as compassionate conservative
ready to continue some of the outgoing president policies if he wins
he has promised to strengthen the economy while boosting employment
the energetic sexagenarian whose rivals have nicknamed the chilean
berlusconi has also presented himself as the face of change denouncing the
ruling coalition as used and tired
seeking to present modern right cleansed of the stain of pinochet
dictatorship and its dead and disappeared pinera has also not ruled out
including former officials of the military regime in his government
pinera right wing alliance includes former pinochet collaborators
in move that would have seemed impossible until recently leftist
intellectuals have thrown their support behind pinera decrying concertacion
monopoly and moral superiority as famed writer jorge edwards put it
sunday polls will be significant measure of how far chile has truly gone
after years of democratic consolidation if it makes its first electoral shift
to the right since
actress robin wright is new muse for france gerard darel
paris jan afp
us actress robin wright is the new muse for french ready to wear brand gerard
darel the firm said thursday
wright who has two children with sean penn but last year filed for divorce
was photographed by leading fashion photographer peter lindbergh for the gerard
darel spring summer collection
she takes over as muse for the brand from meryl streep daughter mamie gummer
and french actress charlotte gainsbourg
dakar challenges regional court power to try habre official
lagos jan afp
senegal thursday challenged the competence of west africa regional court to
hear chad former president hissene habre suit against dakar efforts to try
him for alleged rights violations court spokesman said
at the court session in abuja dakar government lawyers filed an objection
against the hearing of habre suit arguing that their country sovereign
state was at liberty to make its laws amend them and try offenders felicien
hounkarin told afp
they confirmed that they amended their laws including those dealing with
torture to allow them to conform with un international conventions and in order
to enable dakar to try cases of rights violations and torture he said
habre lawyers argued that senegal decision to amend its laws specifically
targeted habre and that his rights could be violated if he was tried in the west
african country he also said
they urged the court of the economic community of west african states ecowas
to stop habre trial in senegal he added
if he is tried in senegal he will be the sole person to be so treated and this
trial will amount to selective justice he is not going to get justice and
fair hearing in senegal habre leading lawyer francois serres told afp by
telephone from abuja
even now lot of rights violations are going on in senegal in dakar
preparation of this case we are worried that he might be indicted if tried in
senegal serres said
habre accused of crimes against humanity which senegal is charged with the
responsibility of trying has alleged the violation of some of his rights by
dakar he has lived in exile in the senegalese capital since
habre has been blamed for killing and torturing thousands during his
rule when he was toppled and fled
an official truth commission report in accused habre regime of committing
some political murders
habre lawyers in october filed suit in senegal against the violation of his
rights under various articles of the african charter on human rights
awa daboya nana president of the ecowas court adjourned until march his
ruling on whether or not the tribunal was competent to hear habre suit serres
said
the court on november rejected attempts by victims of habre to take part in
the rights violation suit the ex dictator filed against senegal
the request of the victims was represented by the global rights lobby human
rights watch hrw
the judge had said the application for intervention is inadmissible because
the interveners had already initiated many proceedings before jurisdictions
that can offer the protection of their rights
hrw lawyer clement nwankwo said that the victims wanted to be part of the suit
because it seems to exclude review of the case of extradiction and other
trials that are pending outside of the jusridiction of ecowas court
turkish customs make kg heroin bust
istanbul jan afp
turkish customs have seized kilograms pounds of heroin hidden in
lorry crossing into bulgaria the anatolia news agency reported on thursday
officers at the northwest border post of kapikule found the drug hidden in
packets under the floor of the vehicle which was bound for germany the agency
said and arrested the driver and eight others
turkey is an important transit country for the passage of drugs and illegal
immigrants from asia to europe
in february officers at kapikule netted the largest haul of heroin yet made
by turkish customs with the seizure of over kg of the drug
biathlon world cup ruhpolding biathlon sprint results
ruhpolding germany jan afp
world cup biathlon sprint results here on thursday
sprint km two shooting range visits penalty for each missed target
emil hegle svendsen nor min sec penalties
ole einar bjoerndalen nor at
michael greis ger
dominik landertinger aut
simon fourcade fra
martin fourcade fra
ivan tcherezov rus
maxim tchoudov rus
evegeny ustyugov rus
christoph sumann aut
world cup sprint standings after five of events
ole einar bjoerndalen nor points
michael greis ger
emil hegle svendsen nor
evgeny ustyugov rus
simon fourcade fra
world cup overall standings after of events
evgeny ustyugov rus points
simon fourcade fra
tim burke usa
emil hegle svendsen nor
ole einar bjoerndalen nor
haiti airport saturated aid flights halted us
washington jan afp
warning that its airport is full haiti has asked the united states and other
countries not to authorize any more flights to port au prince for now us
aviation authorities said thursday
the haitian government told us they are not currently accepting any flights
in the haitian air space because the ramp area at the port au prince airport is
saturated said laura brown spokeswoman for the federal aviation
administration
she said there were already military aircraft and civilian planes circling
the airport waiting for other flights to leave so they could get in
so we don want to send any other flights into the air until we get the word
from haitian government that they are accepting flights again because they will
just be in holding pattern for hours she said
euro falls hard on trichet comments
london jan afp
the euro fell against the dollar thursday after the head of the european central
bank warned that the eurozone recovery faced uncertainties and as concerns
lingered over greece troubled finances
the single european currency in late day trade was at dollars down from
dollars late wednesday in new york
the dollar was meanwhile trading at yen against on wednesday
ecb president jean claude trichet speaking after bank policymakers agreed to
hold the benchmark eurozone interest rate at percent said the eurozone
economy should grow at moderate pace in
but he warned that recovery would likely be uneven and was subject to
uncertainty
on greece which has unnerved its eurozone partners by its ominous debt and
public deficit burdens trichet adopted severe tone
while it was absurd to suggest that greece might be forced to leave the
member bloc he insisted that greece along with other debt burdened
eurozone members had to take steps to get its public finances in order
in message to all eurozone countries hit by global slump the ecb chief
said they have to address the situation in taking the appropriate bold and
courageous measures to get strained public finances under control
greece debt debacle thrust it to the top of the bank list of problems but
ireland italy portugal and spain have troubles of their own and analysts say
market fears could fuel full blown crisis if officials do not act credibly and
soon
trichet said there would be no exception for greek government bonds within the
bank collateral requirements which are to revert to pre crisis criteria at
the end of this year
that would mean that greek bonds would not be accepted as collateral by the bank
at current ratings
no government no state can expect from us any special treatment he stressed
although direct assistance by the bank or eurozone members to greece would
violate rules on which the single currency is based observers widely expect
some kind of eu help for greece in the end
for the ecb chief however the problem is not to get help the problem is to
help oneself
in london on thursday the euro was changing hands at dollars against
dollars late on wednesday 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 rose to dollars an
ounce at the fixing from dollars on wednesday
football africa cup of nations algeria mali
luanda jan afp
full result of an africa cup of nations group game thursday
algeria halliche mali
algeria faouzi chaouchi abdelkader laifaoui madjid bougherra rafik halliche
nadir belhadj karim matmour abdelmalik ziaya yazid mansouri capt
karim ziani hassan yebda yassine bezzaz hamer bouazza abdelkader ghezzal
rafik saifi
coach rabah saadane
mali soumaila diakite ousmane berthe bakary soumare abdoulaye maiga adama
tamboura moustapha yattabare mamadou diallo mahamadou diarra capt
seydou keita mohamed sissoko lassana fane modibo maiga tenema diaye
frederic kanoute
coach stephen keshi ngr
referee muhmed ssegonga uga
yellow cards yebda diaye soumare diarra belhadj fane
bernanke says fed should keep role as bank regulator
washington jan afp
federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said thursday the us central bank should
keep its role as regulator of the banking system as way to promote financial
market stability
in letter to lawmakers bernanke argued that stripping the fed of its
supervisory role could end up doing more harm than good
elimination of the federal reserve role in supervision would severely
undermine the federal reserve ability to obtain in timely way and to
evaluate the information it needs to conduct its central banking functions
effectively he said in paper accompanying the letter
bernanke said the fed has the supervisory expertise to keep this function
active involvement in supervision ensures that the federal reserve will have
experts on its staff with significant knowledge of banking practices and
financial instruments gained from the hands on review of banking organizations
he said
this expertise is critical to making effective use of information about
financial firms and cannot be quickly created when needed
some lawmakers have argued that the financial crisis highlighted the need for
stronger oversight of the financial system and that the fed should focus on
monetary policy and interest rates while leaving regulation to different
entity
bernanke added that the fed cannot and should not be responsible for
regulating the entire financial system which including nonbanking firms such as
hedge funds and others in the so called shadow banking system
but he said the federal reserve is well suited to contribute significantly to
an overall scheme of systemic regulation particularly in the areas of
consolidated supervision and macroprudential supervision
van rompuy says he wants to draw lessons from copenhagen
stockholm jan afp
the european union president herman van rompuy said thursday he wanted to
draw lessons from the highly criticised copenhagen climate summit to guarantee
the member bloc remain driving force in climate negotiations
one thing became clear in copenhagen this process is probably more
complicated more complex than we had thought van rompuy told reporters after
meeting swedish prime minister fredrik reinfeldt in stockholm
without the european union the outcome of copenhagen would have been much
less he added
think we need to take sufficient time over the coming months to reflect
carefully on the lessons to withdraw from copenhagen and above all we need to
reflect on strategic questions for the eu course of action
the eu must continue to be driving force in this field pleaded van rompuy
noting he would be discussing copenhagen follow up at eu meetings in february
march and june
reinfeldt chaired the eu rotating presidency until the end of december and
represented the eu along with eu commission chief jose manuel barroso at the
copenhagen summit
he noted thursday percent of carbon emissions are actually coming from the
european union and other countries and that should have been better
reflected in negotiations
we probably need to talk more directly to the ones who are really responsible
to try to get further he said
the two week un climate conference in december produced non binding agreement
leaving many observers skeptical about the possibility of limiting global
warming to levels considered acceptable
imf prepares billion dollar aid to jamaica
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said thursday reached tentative agreement on
billion dollar aid package for jamaica hit hard by the global financial
crisis
imf managing director dominique strauss kahn said fund staff and the jamaican
authorities reached agreement thursday on an economic program supported by
billion dollar loan under month stand by arrangement
the program could go to the the imf executive board for approval in the next
few weeks pending some prior actions to be taken by the jamaican government he
said in statement
approval of the program was expected to catalyze about billion dollars in
funding from other international financial institutions he said
among key elements of the program were fiscal consolidation strategy to
streamline expenditure and reform the public sector comprehensive debt
management strategy to reduce the governments interest bill and reform to
strengthen the financial system the statement said
jamaica has been hit hard by the global financial crisis and has been suffering
from years of subpar growth strauss kahn said
strong policies and an ambitious reform agenda are necessary now to start
process of transformation in the jamaican economy he said
by streamlining public expenditure and reducing interest payments jamaica would
have more resources available for investments in education and infrastructure
the imf chief said
this will increase growth potential reduce the vulnerability to external
shocks and put the country in position to reap the benefits of recovery in
global growth he said
it is not an easy process but am confident in the strength of the policies
proposed and the authorities commitment to implement them
in bid to help soften the impact on the poor in jamaica the program allows
for at least percent expansion of the social safety net spending he said
anger at austrian avalanche experiment with pigs
vienna jan afp
animal rights groups on thursday condemned as bizarre and macabre an
experiment in austria in which live pigs were to be buried under masses of
snow to study human survival chances in avalanches
several organisations threatened legal action against the innsbruck medical
university western austria and the emergency medicine centre in bolzano
northern italy which organised the experiment
hermann brugger who is leading the study said the pigs were sedated and the
authorities had given their approval
scientists want to study the effect of air pockets that form under snow during
avalanches on victims survival chances
brugger said one in five people hit by an avalanche found themselves with an air
pocket and the pig experiment could allow the development of new rescue
techniques that could save human lives
the austrian animal defence association suggested researchers should bury
themselves in the snow and let their colleagues study the results
police were mobilised to prevent clashes between researchers and animal rights
activists during the experiment in the oetz valley in the tyrol region
football dunfermline kicked out of scottish cup
london jan afp
dunfermline were kicked out of this season scottish cup on thursday after
fielding an ineligible player in last weekend fourth round thrashing of
stenhousemuir and breaking other rules
calum woods came off the bench in the second half at east end park despite the
scottish football association official suspension list declaring him banned
for the match
but after thursday emergency sfa meeting it emerged dunfermline were also
guilty of further rule breaches including submitting an inaccurate team line up
and altering named substitute
the pars ejection means they are set to miss out on potentially lucrative
home tie with celtic who must first beat morton in the fourth round
stenhousemuir are now in line to take dunfermline place although the first
division club did say thursday they would appeal
dafc would first and foremost sincerely apologise to all their fans for this
situation said dunfermline statement
dafc do believe however that being expelled from the scottish cup is
excessive and do intend to appeal the sfa decision
mandelson urges takeover transparency as cadbury fights on
london jan afp
britain business minister peter mandelson on thursday urged companies seeking
to buy british firms to be entirely open about their intentions amid concern
over the future of confectioner cadbury
mandelson meeting institutional investors in london insisted that he was not
against foreign ownership of british companies despite having recently voiced
concern at the multi billion dollar pursuit of cadbury by us giant kraft foods
this isn about foreign versus domestic ownership it about responsible
management and ownership with real eye on the long term as well as the short
mandelson said in statement issued to media on thursday by the department for
business innovation and skills
mandelson added change of ownership can be good thing but this is one
area where responsible and genuinely critical ownership is absolutely essential
therefore companies making acquisitions need to show real corporate
stewardship being entirely open about their intentions for the business and its
workforce and shareholders on both sides have to be genuinely critical of the
motivations valuations and projections of growth that are being made added
the former european trade commissioner
mandelson last month warned that kraft would face strong opposition if the us
firm were seeking to make fast buck from cadbury
the british chocolate maker on thursday sought to step up its defence against
the hostile takeover bid by kraft with cadbury chairman roger carr insisting
that his firm offered excellent momentum going into
cadbury also repeated its claim that kraft cash and shares offer worth
billion pounds billion euros billion dollars was derisory
tie up between kraft and cadbury would bring together leading kraft brands
like dairylea cheese kenco coffee and toblerone with the british group dairy
milk chocolate cadbury creme eggs and trident chewing gum
football angola malawi teams
luanda jan afp
teams for an africa cup of nations group game thursday
angola
carlos fernandes jose mabina alberto rui marques stelvio cruz carlos
kali alonso capt fernando chara costa felisberto gilberto amaral
zuela santos djalma campos flavio amado mateus manucho alberto
coach manuel jose por
malawi
swadick sanudi ivis kafoteka peter mponda capt james sangala moses
chavula hellings mwakasungula davie banda jospeh kamwendo peter wadabwa
esau kanyenda victor nyirenda
coach kinnah phiri
referee doue nournandiez desire civ
bombs kill up to in shiite holy city in iraq
najaf iraq jan afp
as many as people were killed and dozens more were wounded on thursday when
three bombs exploded simultaneously in the shiite muslim shrine city of najaf
officials said
