target but asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the strikes
we are receiving reports about his death but we are not percent sure
senior security official said
hakimullah mehsud assumed leadership of the group blamed for the deaths of
thousands of people in attacks in pakistan after his predecessor baitullah
mehsud was killed in us drone strike in early august last year
the ttp denied baitullah mehsud death for weeks apparently amid fierce
infighting over his succession hakimullah mehsud himself had to counter rumours
of his own demise at the hands of rival militant in october
then on january the ttp chief appeared in video clip alongside jordanian
who blew himself up on us military base in afghanistan last month killing
seven cia agents and his jordanian handler
the us envoy for pakistan and afghanistan richard holbrooke said thursday he
could not comment on reports of hakimullah mehsud death
he very bad person he either is or was very bad person and either way
he as bad person as there has been in this region for long time
holbrooke told reporters during an official visit to pakistan
thursday drone strike was the seventh in pakistan this month
fifteen militants were killed in the us drone strike six to eight were also
wounded said security official in northwest capital peshawar
local intelligence official added the targeted site was militant training
camp
drone missile strikes by unmanned us aircraft have soared recently as us
president barack obama puts pakistan at the heart of his administration fight
against al qaeda and islamist extremists
the strikes fuel anti american sentiment in the muslim nation and draw public
condemnation from the government but us officials defend them as necessary to
protect around us and nato troops in afghanistan
while washington is pressing islamabad to tackle militants who use its soil to
launch attacks in afghanistan pakistan armed forces last year launched
multiple assaults on ttp strongholds across the tribal belt
in late october the army said it had captured hakimullah mehsud hometown of
kotkai in south waziristan and the military offensive there is believed to have
made dent in taliban ranks and dismantled some strongholds
regional leaders meet on zimbabwe madagascar
maputo jan afp
key southern african leaders gathered in the mozambican capital maputo on
thursday for special summit on the political crises in zimbabwe and
madagascar
the security organ of the nation southern african development community
sadc known as the troika was scheduled to meet late thursday mozambican
foreign ministry official told afp
the objective is to discuss security in the region said francisco siueia
leaders from botswana the democratic republic of congo malawi mozambique
south africa and zambia are expected to attend
spokesman for south african president jacob zuma said the meeting would focus
on zimbabwe and madagascar
the chairman of the troika will brief the summit on the progress thus far in
terms of the situation in zimbabwe as well as madagascar said vincent
magwenya
sadc has been working to resolve the ongoing disputes that have threatened to
derail zimbabwe fragile unity government and an aborted power sharing deal in
madagascar
the summit was announced just hours before it was scheduled to start but
many regional leaders were already planning to be in maputo to attend the
swearing in of mozambican president armando guebuza for second term
guebuza currently heads the troika which also includes swaziland and zambia
but did not mention the regional talks during his speech after the swearing in
foreign ministry official siueia said the summit would begin after the leaders
finish lunch
senior zimbabwe government official told afp that president robert mugabe
would attend the meeting however spokesman for mugabe partner in the unity
government prime minister morgan tsvangirai said he did not know about the
summit and that the prime minister would not attend
the summit follows meeting of sadc foreign ministers last week in maputo to
discuss the zimbabwe and madagascar crises
the regional bloc has been due to review progress in zimbabwe unity government
after special summit in november broke deadlock that threatened to sink the
deal
tsvangirai had withdrawn from his pact with mugabe over disputes about key
appointments and alleged harassment of his supporters but was persuaded to
rejoin after troika leaders intervened
south african mediators have since held talks in harare among the rival zimbabwe
parties to settle the differences threatening to derail the deal
rival leaders from madagascar which has been suspended from sadc were not
expected to attend the meeting
disagreements between the island nation four main political groups have
scuttled repeated efforts to end the impasse with de facto leader andry
rajoelina trampling on previous deals with rivals to form unity government
the army backed rajoelina who seized power in coup in march last month
fired consensus prime minister and named new one to replace him
discord over sharing government posts and drawing up an election timetable by
the four political parties led by rajoelina ousted president marc ravalomanana
and two former leaders have also hobbled efforts to end the crisis
international mediators meeting at african union headquarters in addis ababa
last week called for elections in madagascar to end the prolonged political
crisis none of the island political foes were represented at that meeting
bodies recovered from pakistan quake police
muzaffarabad pakistan jan afp
rescue workers recovered bodies thursday more than four years after
devastating earthquake buried them under tons of rubble in pakistan administered
kashmir police said
we have recovered dead bodies from the rubble these people were trapped by
the earthquake while travelling in passenger coach senior police official
sardar ilyas told afp from the state capital muzaffarabad
the coach was buried in the mountainous kaamsar village five kilometres north
of muzaffarabad police said
although the bodies were beyond recognition police said some of the victims
could be identified by their national id cards
we have recognised bodies from the identity cards found in their clothes we
are trying to identify the other bodies also all were local residents another
police official raja suhail told afp
the october quake killed more than people and left around
million homeless mainly in pakistan controlled kashmir and parts of the
country north west frontier province
ecb chief trichet calls greek quitting eurozone absurd hypothesis
frankfurt jan afp
european central bank president jean claude trichet said thursday that talk of
greece quitting or being expelled from the nation eurozone was based on an
absurd hypothesis
when asked about market speculation that greece debt crisis could lead to it
leaving or being expelled from the nation eurozone trichet said do not
comment myself on absurd hypotheses
alert
two million children may be affected by haiti quake charity
aid agencies warn of major logistic challenge in haiti
geneva jan afp
un and aid agencies warned thursday that they faced major logistic challenge
in getting essential relief to survivors of haiti deadly earthquake
some aid is being handed out with world food programme spokesman charles
vincent saying people in some districts of the flattened haitian capital
port au prince should receive food later thursday
obviously it drop in bucket but it start he said adding that once
roads are cleared distribution would also start in other areas
most of the population have not had food for the whole day yesterday and today
as result certain insecurity is feared
the scale of devastation caused by tuesday magnitude quake means the wfp
has been unable to gain access to its warehouses and vincent said he was unsure
if they had been damaged or looted
elisabeth byrs who is spokeswoman of the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs warned that relief agencies faced major logistic
challenge on the ground
while the airport at port au prince was functioning its control tower was still
down she said
un experts are trying to get the control tower operational by the end of the
day byrs added and others have been sent to reestablish communications which
have been cut off
communications is still the greatest handicap for everybody according to the
wfp vincent
hopefully over the next few days communications will be restored
earlier the international organisation for migration appealed for tents to
shelter homeless survivors and said it was was gearing up to distribute vital
supplies
what we need is tents tents and more tents we need large or individual tents
whatever is available and financial support quickly vincent houver the iom
chief of mission in haiti said in statement
the organisation said it would provide tarpaulins plastic sheeting jerry cans
and water containers from stocks already in the impoverished vountry to help
some families
aid agencies have also been despatching personnel to haiti including the red
cross which said ten teams are on their way to join in relief efforts
the teams which include about people from red cross societies around the
world should arrive thursday in port au prince said jean luc martinage
spokesman of the international federation of red cross and red crescent
societies
they include an evaluation team which would assess the shelter water
sanitation and communications needs on the ground he told afp
haiti prime minister has warned the death toll could top while
president rene preval said could have been killed
looters and shooters loose in quake hit haiti witness
rio de janeiro jan afp
looters appeared in the devastated streets of haiti capital and gunshots were
heard as security vacuum reigned in the wake of the quake there witness
working for brazilian charity told afp
unfortunately we aren seeing the minustah the un stabilization mission in
haiti peacekeepers in the streets valmir fachini spokesman for the viva rio
charity wrote in an email late wednesday
we are hearing several gunshots without knowing where they are coming from
exactly looting has started in the supermarkets which have partly falled
down he said
what is happening is that if food doesn arrive eventually the people will
start looting houses he said
the gunshots are constant and we have the impression that its families trying
to protect themselves from attackers he added
fachini said his charity had small reserve of rainwater that it was giving to
the residents of the pacot suburb in port au prince where it is based
cricket injury woes for kenya ahead of world twenty qualifiers
nairobi jan afp
kenya will be without all rounders thomas odoyo and ragheb aga for next month
world twenty qualifiers in dubai because of injuries the chairman of selectors
nassor verjee said on thursday
the pair who play league cricket in zimbabwe and england respectively will
also not feature in the intercontinental cup match against scotland in nairobi
later this month
but verjee said the selectors have included several junior players in the squad
based on their recent performances and cricket kenya long term objective for
the team future development
second placed kenya will meet leaders scotland in the fight for top spot in the
intercontinental cup series starting at the nairobi gymkhana club on january
before the two sides play in twenty tri nation tournament which will
also involve uganda
kenya is grouped in pool alongside the netherlands canada and the hosts uae
in the world twenty qualifiers in dubai in february where the top two teams
will join the test nations in the third world cup in the west indies in april
and may
the kenya squad for the world twenty qualifiers
morris ouma captain jimmy kamande steve tikolo david obuya collins obuya
rakep patel alex obanda tony suji elijah otieno hiren varaiya lameck
onyango nehemiah odhiambo shem obado and nelson odhiambo
olympics rogge vows to root out vancouver dope cheats
lausanne switzerland jan afp
olympic chief jacques rogge on thursday warned doping cheats that he was ready
to root them out at the winter games in vancouver
the international olympic committee chief said everything was in place for
successful winter olympics next month and cautioned that he would not let doping
problems spoil the sporting occasion
we re very optimistic at the ioc for the success of the upcoming games mainly
because the fundamentals are so good rogge told journalists citing great
local support the location preparations and canadian enthusiasm for winter
sports
these games will leave great legacy
however rogge also pointed to high profile clampdowns at the last two winter
games in salt lake city and turin to signal that the ioc would not hesitate to
act on suspicions of doping
very clearly we have zero tolerance policy for doping rogge reiterated
outlining an array of weapons to trace the cheats
this is going to be the strategy unannounced out of competition testing
targeted testing that means according to the information we get from
grassroots level very crucial information
if we see an athlete disappearing and then reappearing at very late period
we ll try to know why he added
if at certain moment we see an athlete augmenting his performance in way
that we believe is not very natural if in the various blood controls we see
something suspicious we are again are going to target this or that athlete
samples taken in anti doping tests would also be kept for eight years for
subsequent testing if new doping methods come to light following policy
implemented in beijing he added
the turin winter olympics were marred by doping scandal that led to
lifetime ban on six austrian cross country skiers and biathletes
rogge insisted that he had asked for the italian police raids that netted
advanced medical equipment used syringes blood bags and performance enhancing
drugs in austrian team residences in northern italy during the event in february
he noted excellent relations with canadian authorities and said they could
intervene if necessary
the ioc chief games organiser gilbert felli said he was convinced vancouver
would be success brushing aside concerns about current spate of milder
weather on ski venues at cypress mountain
felli said snow would be stocked at the top of the slopes and was likely to fall
anyway in the next month
think they are ready almost all the sports sites are finished and they have
been tested in events last year and preceding years felli explained
obama to unveil bank fee to cover bailout losses official
washington jan afp
president barack obama will thursday unveil billion dollar fee on top
finance firms to recoup taxpayer dollars used to bail out wall street which is
blamed for igniting the economic crisis
the proposal to be included in obama next budget will be rolled out as many
of the firms rescued by public funds gear up to announce huge bonus payouts to
top executives at time of economic misery and high unemployment
the scheme is designed to raise billion dollars over years for the public
finances senior us official said on condition of anonymity
obama is determined to prevent wall street firms going back to business as usual
and resuming high risk lending practices and huge bets on mortgages and other
instruments he blames for igniting the financial crisis
the title of the initiative the financial crisis responsibility fee makes it
clear the administration is placing blame on the financial industry for the
worst economic meltdown since the great depression
yet valerie jarrett senior adviser to the president insisted that we re not
trying to pick fight with banks
it very solid solution to make sure taxpayers are made whole she told
msnbc television
the obama administration has repeatedly said it will try to recoup the full cost
of the billion dollar troubled asset relief program tarp which was also
used to bail out crippled automakers
senior us official said the program which has seen some money already paid
back would now effectively leave the government around billion dollars out
of pocket
it is in many ways offensive for those at our major financial institutions to
suggest they can today afford excessive often outlandish bonuses for their top
executives but cannot repay taxpayers the official said
we feel this is workable fee we feel it supports the goal of putting greater
burdens and less incentives to excessive size and excessive leverage
but the financial services roundtable which represents top financial
services firms said the fee was strictly political
two thirds of the tarp investment from banks has already been repaid with
large profit to the taxpayer said the roundtable president and ceo steve
bartlett
this proposed tax will do nothing more than stifle economic recovery and
encumber more pressing concerns such as covering new regulatory costs
the administration proposal which requires congressional approval will apply
only to firms with over billion dollars in assets according to the official
it will cover around firms including that are us based and to which
are us subsidies of foreign companies it will last years or as long as
necessary to recoup losses under tarp the official said
no small or community banks will be covered by the plan the official said
adding that the scheme was being put together in such way as to prevent the
firms passing on the costs to consumers
even though auto firms general motors and chrysler also got money from the tarp
fund they will not have to pay the fee the official added warning financial
firms not to make an issue of that omission
in addition not all the firms that will be targeted by the fee actually
received tarp funds
don think that it would be wise for them to try to suggest that living up
to the letter of the law is somehow an unfair burden on them the official
said
the cost of the fee levied on the financial firms will be assessed according to
formula looking at their liabilities total assets and equity and tier one
capital
bank fee may help the white house channel public anger over big bonus payments
on wall street as americans face the reality of percent unemployment and
slow economic recovery
according to treasury report to congress published on monday the government
had committed billion dollars of tarp funds as of january
of that figure billion dollars have been disbursed banks have already
repaid billion dollars of those funds leaving billion dollars
outstanding
with the bonus issue likely to explode into political controversy the us
government made clear on monday it had no intention of imposing one off
tax on individual bankers bonuses
asked if the united states was planning to follow moves unveiled this week by
britain and france for community taxes on bankers bonuses treasury
spokeswoman meg reilly said in an email not at this time
arcelormittal seeks revamp of algerian plant unions
algiers jan afp
steel giant arcelormittal will try and launch sweeping development plan for
its annaba complex in eastern algeria where workers have gone on strike
union leader said thursday
the management has asked the algerian government to agree to negotiate an
investment plan over four years aimed at modernising all units of the factory
including the coking plant union secretary general smain kouadria said
kouadria told afp that the managing director of arcelormittal at el hadjar near
annaba on the eastern coast had already written to the ministry of industry and
investment promotion
management were unavailable for comment
the steel workers went on strike on tuesday to protest the planned closure of
the coking plant which employs people and would cost million dollars
million euros to renovate according to experts called in when the plant was
closed down in october last year
the management then considered that the coking plant which is years old
represented dangers to safety and to the environment and envisaged its closure
because of the cost of renovation
we will remain on strike until the authorities give their approval to negotiate
with arcelormittal development plan for all installations at the complex
kouadria said
arcelormittal has already announced an investment plan for worth
million dollars which has been challenged by the union because it does not
include the coking plant
kouadria said that amar belkacemi chairman of the public sider group which
holds percent of the capital of the el hadjar complex has given his accord
for an overall development plan
the union leader said that belkacemi addressed steel workers on wednesday when
they held peaceful march from the headquarters of arcelormittal to the plant
to press their demands
the el hadjar factory subsidiary of the worldwide steel giant is former
state enterprise in which the indian ispat firm in the arcelormittal group
bought percent of shares in october
the factory produced tonnes of steel in according to the
management
kuwait approves four year development plan
kuwait city jan afp
kuwait parliament gave its initial approval on thursday to four year
billion dollar billion euro economic development plan
the plan the first since includes such mega projects as parts of new
business hub called silk city and estimated to cost billion dollars major
container harbour and kilometre mile causeway
it also includes railway and metro system new cities and additional spending
on infrastructure particularly in the health and education sectors
the ultimate goal of the plan which extends from the current fiscal year to
is to turn kuwait into regional trade and financial centre said
deputy premier for economic affairs sheikh ahmad fahad al sabah
the second and final vote is scheduled to take place after at least two weeks
sheikh ahmad said the plan aims to boost the role of private business in the
state dominated economy in which the public sector controls almost three
quarters of the gross domestic product
the plan also stipulates increased spending in the oil sector the country
lifeline to raise crude oil production capacity and modernise oil facilities
the gulf state has been vying to diversify its economy in which oil revenues
contribute about percent of total state income
political bickering that has rocked kuwait over the past few years has delayed
many development projects however
kuwait has amassed huge foreign assets in the past decade on the back of high
oil prices these assets are estimated at about billion dollars and are
mostly located abroad
kuwait which says it holds percent of global crude reserves pumps about
million barrels per day
hong kong police charge man over acid attack
hong kong jan afp
hong kong police on thursday charged year old man over an acid attack that
injured six people in bustling shopping district last month
five women and man suffered burns in the incident in causeway bay in december
one of spate of acid attacks in the city one woman face and chest were
badly injured with burns covering nearly percent of her body
police earlier said the year old and an year old man had been arrested on
wednesday over the attack in which bottle of corrosive liquid was tossed over
shoppers
causeway bay had been packed with people celebrating the hong kong football
team victory over japan in the east asian games final at nearby stadium
hong kong has been plagued by number of similar attacks since late in
the latest incident people including tourists were injured last week by
corrosive fluid hurled in the tourist hotspot of temple street night market
police spokeswoman said there was no evidence the two causeway bay suspects
were involved in other attacks for which no charges have been brought
first of us troops heading to haiti army
washington jan afp
the first of brigade of us troops will begin arriving in haiti thursday
after the pentagon ordered them to deploy us army spokesman told afp
about members of the strong brigade are expected some time this
evening in haiti gary tallman said
they will provide humanitarian assistance and relief and security as required
he said
urgent first of us troops heading to haiti army
washington jan afp
the first of brigade of us troops will begin arriving in haiti thursday
after the pentagon ordered them to deploy us army spokesman told afp
football algeria lemmouchia quits angola
luanda jan afp
algeria star midfielder khalid lemmouchia has quit the africa cup of nations
officially for family reasons but sources close to the camp suggest he was upset
at being left out of the first team by coach rabah saadane
algeria face must win game against mali later thursday to keep their hopes of
qualifying for the quarter finals alive after shock opening loss to malawi on
monday
the algerian football federation reported in statement the coach has given
khalid lemmouchia permission to leave for family reasons
but source close to the desert foxes told afp in fact he has left because he
was very unhappy at not being picked and knows he is not going to play again on
thursday
lemmouchia who plays his club football for algerian champions setif was
instrumental in helping algeria qualify for the world cup where they are drawn
in the same first round group as england
us retail sales drop unexpectedly in december
washington jan afp
us retail sales unexpectedly fell in december government data showed thursday
in disappointing reading on the economically important holiday shopping
season
the commerce department said adjusted retail sales were billion dollars
decline of percent from november instead of the consensus analyst forecast
of rise of percent
retail sales unexpectedly fell in december on broad based weakness suggesting
holiday spending did not live up to early reports said scott hoyt at moody
economy com
the surprise decline followed sharp half point upward revision to november
sales increase to percent the october sales figure was revised up notch
on month basis retail sales key indicator of consumer spending that
drives two thirds of the country economic activity rose hefty percent
from december near the height of the global financial crisis
sales in the fourth quarter last year were up percent from the prior
quarter suggesting positive contribution by household spending to gross
domestic product gdp broad measure of goods and services output
the department is scheduled to release the initial estimate of fourth quarter
gdp on january
for all of retail sales plunged percent from year ago the steepest
annual plunge since the data series began in sales fell precent in
saudi man beheaded for murder
riyadh jan afp
saudi man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword on thursday in khamis
msheit in southern saudi arabia the interior ministry announced
the man mohammed shahrani stabbed another man to death during an argument the
ministry said in statement carried by the official spa news agency
it was the kingdom third announced execution of after people were put
to death last year and in
under the strict version of islamic sharia law enforced in saudi arabia the
death penalty can be imposed for rape murder apostasy armed robbery and drug
trafficking
us new jobless rise for second week
washington jan afp
new claims for jobless insurance benefits in the united states rose for the
second consecutive week amid persistent labor market concerns even as the
economy recovers from recession
the seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in
the week ending january stood at an increase of from the
previous week revised figure of the labor department said
most economists had forecast that claims would be around
the four week moving average less volatile indicator than the week to week
figures however dipped by to from the previous week revised
average of
the latest data also showed fall in the total number of americans receiving
unemployment benefits
the number of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending
january was million decrease of from the preceding week
revised level of million the department said
hopes for quick us economic rebound were dashed last week when government data
showed us employers cut jobs in december while the unemployment rate held
at percent
more than seven million americans lost their jobs in the recession and nearly
million americans are unemployed underemployed because they could not find full
time work or have given up looking for work latest data showed
the us economy grew at percent pace in the third quarter reversing four
quarters of contraction
two french confirmed dead in haiti quake company
paris jan afp
two french nationals working in haiti were killed by the earthquake there their
employer said thursday as dozens of other french were evacuated from the
stricken state
the two dead an engineer and sales executive were employed by the
matiere engineering firm based in southern france senior executive said
adding that their bodies had been identified
the first french citizens to be evacuated from haiti arrived in the french
caribbean island of martinique thursday said an afp journalist at the airport
in the capital fort de france
around people travelled to the city on board three casa military transport
planes that paris had sent to haiti wednesday with rescue personnel and
equipment
french foreign minister bernard kouchner said seven of the evacuees were
seriously injured
he said that around french had gathered near the french embassy in the
devastated haitian capital port au prince and in the gardens of the french
ambassador residence
around french nationals live in haiti
football berbatov named bulgaria best football player of
