wissam freiijeh year old palestinian born in refugee camp in lebanon but
who has lived in denmark since the age of seven admitted to court in the city
of odense that he shot at cosmetics stand held by three israelis hurting two
of them in the arm and the leg
freiijeh told the court he shot at the men who sold products made with dead sea
minerals because of the israeli palestinian conflict and the jewish state
three week offensive in gaza which was launched in december
israelis have taken everything from me killed my relatives taken their land
and houses only have one aunt left he said
he added he had not intended to kill the victims who survived two danish
customers who were at the cosmetics stand during the shooting were not hurt
hamas urges egypt to stop building gaza wall
beirut jan afp
hamas leader khaled meshaal urged egypt on friday to stop building an
underground wall along its border with gaza which the islamist group has said
would further choke the impoverished enclave
we call on the egyptian leadership to stop building the iron wall as walls
are erected between enemies not brothers the exiled palestinian islamist
leader said at conference in beirut in support of resistance groups
how can the national security of any state be used as an excuse to build
wall between arab brothers he asked
since hamas seized power in the gaza strip in it has relied on smuggling
tunnels under the border with egypt to defy the israeli blockade and its leaders
have used trips to cairo to escape international isolation
but after years of largely ignoring tunnel smuggling which primarily brings
in much needed household goods but is also used by hamas to import weapons and
cash egypt has begun building massive underground wall
the united states and israel have voiced support for the wall arguing that it
will stop weapons smuggling
cairo which states support for palestinians and has long mediated between
both israel and hamas and among palestinian factions has only implicitly
admitted constructing the iron barrier and has provided no details on its size
european stocks close lower
london jan afp
europe main stock markets closed lower on friday with london ftse index
of leading shares down percent at points
elsewhere losses were heavier
in paris the cac lost percent to points dropping back below
the key points level for the first time this year and in frankfurt the
dax tumbled percent to points
tame inflation falling wages signal weak us recovery
washington jan afp
us consumer prices barely rose in december amid sluggish recovery from
recession official data showed friday as falling wages pinched spending that
drives most of the world largest economy
the consumer price index rose less than expected in december by percent
from november the labor department reported in seasonally adjusted data
most analysts had forecast stronger cpi rise of percent
the so called core cpi which excludes food and energy prices and is used by
the federal reserve to forecast future inflation rose percent as expected
inflation was broad based with the indexes for food energy and all items
less food and energy all posting modest increases the labor department said
the year ended with the inflation rate at percent from year ago sharp
increase over percent inflation in the first full year of the worst
downturn since the great depression
inflation stood at percent in december as the economy officially
entered recession
the us is still in the grip of intense disinflationary forces despite the
basis effect lifting the headline year on year rate deflation risk is real
said ian shepherdson chief us economist at high frequency economics
core annual inflation was percent within the fed comfort zone on monetary
policy
there is no indication that inflation is even remote danger and the fed
aggressive credit expansion and low interest rate policy have not had the
inflationary effects that some critics feared said andres carbacho burgos at
moody economy com
the labor department said energy prices surged percent in the
sharpest rise since gasoline prices leapt percent an all time record
gain in the data series that began in
the hefty increases came in comparison with rock bottom levels in december
food prices fell percent over the year the steepest decline since
the only place where pressures are building greatly is in energy while demand
remains weak the price of oil has been rising fairly sharply said joel naroff
of naroff economic advisors
amid double digit unemployment and the loss of more than seven million jobs
since the recession began us workers saw their paychecks shrink last year
real average weekly earnings were unchanged in december from november the labor
department reported separately
but on month basis weekly earnings fell percent the worst pullback
since after rising percent in
the inflation and wages readings came day after the commerce department
reported retail sales fell unexpectedly by percent in december capping
the worst year on record for the spending that drives two thirds of the
country economy
for all of retail sales plunged percent from year ago the steepest
annual plunge since the data series began in
the fed in its beige book report on the economy wednesday said that because of
the high level of unemployment wage pressures were subdued and overall
inflationary pressures modest
the us economy expanded percent in the third quarter of after four
quarters of contraction the government is set to release its initial estimate
of fourth quarter gross domestic product on january
the fed and most economists expect data to show continued growth in the fourth
quarter and into but worry that high unemployment at percent in
december will curb consumer confidence and spending
claudia schiffer pregnant with third child
berlin jan afp
german supermodel claudia schiffer is expecting her third child with her
british filmmaker husband matthew vaughn she said in statement released by
her management friday
we are thrilled about the good news and can hardly wait to have bigger
family she said
the baby was due in may
schiffer and vaughn who have been married for eight years live in london and
suffolk eastern england with their six year old son casper and five year old
daughter clementine
schiffer who will turn in august was discovered in in duesseldorf
disco and became one of fashion most recognised catwalk models as well as the
face of the guess brand and french couture house chanel
she has largely withdrawn from modelling but last year posed nude with fellow
era stars eva herzigova and naomi campbell for dolce and gabbana perfume
campaign
vaughn has produced films including snatch and lock stock and two smoking
barrels by director guy ritchie madonna ex husband
shield urged for thousands of haitian immigrants in us
miami florida jan afp
rights advocates and lawmakers called friday on the white house to grant
special shield to thousands of haitians living in the united states illegally
given the massive destruction in their homeland
temporary protected status or tps would allow undocumented haitians living in
the united states to remain for set period of time usually months that
would allow them to renew or obtain drivers licenses and work legally
supporters of such move argue that tps would also help haiti to rebuild as
immigrants send remittances to loved ones in the poorest country in the
americas devastated by earthquake on tuesday
today we are asking president barack obama not to think anymore give them
tps this cannot wait said marleine bastien founder of the haitian american
grassroots coalition in miami
she said undocumented haitians in the united states were suffering double
plight eligible for deportation some must watch the tragedy unfold from
detention centers or with electronic monitoring devices around their ankles
according to immigration and customs enforcement authorities are processing
deportation orders for haitians now in the united states
can you imagine the anguish of these people right now she said
rights advocates have long depicted the current immigration laws as uneven
some central americans enjoy the immigration shield while haitians do not
proponents for strict curbs on immigration also said tps was appropriate for
haiti now
this is why tps exists said dustin carnevale spokesman for the washington
based federation for american immigration reform referring to the quake
aftermath the protection is meant as relief for immigrants from countries
reeling from natural disaster or political strife
if this isn case for tps then what is
carnevale said though that tps had been abused in the past with continued
extensions immigrants from honduras and nicaragua have enjoyed the shield since
hurricane mitch which occurred in
congressman kendrick meek miami who represents district where many
haitians live reiterated his support for tps but said it was not the most
urgent issue
just to be clear the us government halted the deportation of non criminal
haitians living in the us nearly year ago and is not currently deporting
illegal haitian immigrants in the aftermath of this week earthquake
have always pushed for tps for haitians in the us but right now my concern
is for those whose lives hang in the balance
the temporary status is in the range of considerations said dhs spokesman
matt chandler
haitian consul general in miami ralph latortue said thursday he was aware of us
federal government movement on the issue but was not aware of any decision
having been made
us says aid flows limited by haiti infrastructure
washington jan afp
the united states said friday that haiti small airport and other poor
infrastructure was preventing all of the current aid supplies from reaching the
people who need them
we have lot of stuff geared poised to flow the limitation right now is the
inherent infrastructure in haiti state department spokesman philip crowley
said
crowley told reporters that miami based us southern command has determined that
port au prince airport which has one runway can handle only take offs and
landings per day
even that number has not been reached yet he said
he added that the arrival of the us aircraft carrier carl vinson which carries
helicopters will give haiti the equivalent of second airport
the united states is also trying to build make shift heliport near the main
airport in port au prince to help deliver water food and medicine
delivering by sea is also challenge
for the moment for large ships the port is unusable crowley said
we re looking at assets in the dominican republic which is on the other side
of the island shared with haiti he said
he also recalled we re using guantanamo as staging area to send in supplies
guantanamo is naval base on the island of cuba where field hospital is
treating americans who were seriously injured in the quake
most of the healthy people are being evacuated through the neighboring dominican
republic
some americans have already been evacuated from haiti and others will
leave later friday crowley said he said another five americans have been
confirmed dead in addition to one on thursday
around to american citizens live in haiti and the number of dead
among them is likely to increase he said
pakistani taliban release audio of leader denying his death
peshawar pakistan jan afp
the pakistani taliban released an audio recording allegedly made friday of
leader hakimullah mehsud denying he had been killed in us bombing raid as the
military investigated the reports
missiles fired from an unmanned us aircraft killed at least islamist
insurgents at training camp in pakistan lawless northwest tribal belt
thursday and security officials said mehsud may have been among the dead
another drone strike in north waziristan tribal district killed at least five
militants on friday but it was not immediately clear if any leaders had been
killed pakistani officials said
the government and the army say they cannot confirm mehsud death while the
tehreek taliban pakistan ttp group he commands say he is alive and well and
sent the recording to media friday to back up their claims
reporters familiar with mehsud said the voice appeared to be his but there was
no mention of dates or the bombing alleged to have killed him making it
impossible to confirm if it was recorded before or after thursday strike
sometimes they the government launch propaganda about my martyrdom through
media and sometimes they say that the operation has been completed in south
waziristan this can never happen mehsud said
he was referring to military operations against taliban strongholds launched
last year in the tribal district of south waziristan
hakimullah mehsud assumed leadership of the group blamed for the deaths of
thousands of people in attacks across pakistan after his predecessor baitullah
mehsud was killed in us drone strike in august last year
the ttp denied baitullah mehsud death for weeks apparently amid fierce
infighting over his successor
hakimullah mehsud himself had to counter rumours of his own demise at the hands
of rival militant in october prompting the militant chief to make number of
audio and video statements denying he had been killed
conflicting reports emerged from intelligence agents and security officials in
the northwest on friday with some saying mehsud was injured while others said
the ttp chief and some of his top commanders were likely killed
the us strike hit in remote and mountainous area between the districts of
north and south waziristan and the military spokesman said access to the
taliban controlled area was one hurdle in obtaining information
so far we do not have confirmation of him either getting killed or getting
injured it will take little more time to confirm this or otherwise military
spokesman major general athar abbas told afp
intelligence agencies are at their work they are trying to probe and find out
from their sources
the ttp has already issued number of statements denying mehsud death and on
friday militant spokesman azam tariq said his boss had left the shaktoi area
pounded by the missiles to minutes before the strike
hakimullah is alive and safe met with him last night there was not even
scratch on him tariq told afp by telephone
friday fresh drone missile strike took place in zanini village near the town
of mir ali about kilometres miles east of miranshah the main town of
restive north waziristan tribal district
us drones fired four missiles at militant compound and according to initial
information at least five militants were killed senior security official
told afp on condition of anonymity
more than people have been killed in around us drone strikes since august
with surge in under us president barack obama eight drone strikes
have hit the tribal northwest this month alone
the bombings fuel anti american sentiment in muslim pakistan and the ttp
repeatedly vow to avenge the raids
want to caution the pakistani nation that the drone attacks in tribal areas
are danger to pakistan security and sovereignty mehsud said in the
recording issued friday
from now onwards any dangerous step that the taliban will take in pakistan
the responsibility will be on the government
with washington pressing islamabad to tackle militants who use its soil to
launch attacks in neighbouring afghanistan pakistan armed forces last year
carried out multiple assaults on ttp strongholds across the tribal belt
despite the offensives attacks blamed on the ttp show no sign of abating with
bombings increasingly hitting civilians on january about people were
killed in suicide bombing at volleyball game in northwest town
us says aid flows limited by haiti infrastructure
washington jan afp
the united states said friday that haiti small airport and other poor
infrastructure was preventing all of the current aid supplies from reaching the
people who need them
we have lot of stuff geared poised to flow the limitation right now is the
inherent infrastructure in haiti state department spokesman philip crowley
said
crowley told reporters that miami based us southern command has determined that
port au prince airport which has one runway can handle only take offs and
landings per day
even that number has not been reached yet he said
he added that the arrival of the us aircraft carrier carl vinson which carries
helicopters will give haiti the equivalent of second airport
the united states is also trying to build make shift heliport near the main
airport in port au prince to help deliver water food and medicine
delivering by sea is also challenge
for the moment for large ships the port is unusable crowley said
we re looking at assets in the dominican republic which is on the other side
of the island shared with haiti he said
he also recalled we re using guantanamo as staging area to send in supplies
guantanamo is naval base on the island of cuba where field hospital is
treating americans who were seriously injured in the quake
most of the healthy people are being evacuated through the neighboring dominican
republic
some americans have already been evacuated from haiti and others will
leave later friday crowley said he said another five americans have been
confirmed dead in addition to one on thursday
around to american citizens live in haiti and the number of dead
among them is likely to increase he said
cricket smith hits century but rain hits south africa hopes
johannesburg jan afp
graeme smith hit pugnacious century as south africa took control before heavy
rain curtailed play on the second day of the fourth and final test against
england at the wanderers on friday
smith who survived confident appeal for caught behind when he had made just
was out for shortly before huge thunderstorm flooded the ground an
hour before the scheduled tea break
after stoppage of three hours minutes the players returned but only another
balls were bowled before bad light ended play for the day
south africa finished on for two lead of runs after england were
bowled out for on the first day
with at least percent chance of further showers on each of the remaining
three days the weather is likely to be major factor in south africa bid to
square the series
smith and hashim amla not out dominated the play that was possible putting
on for the second wicket
the batsmen had to negotiate some hostile bowling at the start of an extended
morning play with the ball swinging and moving off the pitch but gradually
got on top of the bowlers
smith followed up his in the second innings of the drawn third test in cape
town with his th test century and his sixth against england
he had to work hard on thursday evening and again on friday morning and it took
him balls to reach his fifty
but with amla providing reliable support he picked up his scoring rate as he
moved to century off balls when he cut ryan sidebottom for his th
boundary
but he got good ball from sidebottom five balls later edging seaming
delivery from the left armer to andrew strauss at first slip
two overs later rain started to fall and within minutes there were large pools
of water on the ground
after the lengthy delay amla and jacques kallis advanced the score by further
seven runs before the umpires took the players off the field
smith survived confident appeal for catch behind the wicket when he was on
in the fourth over of the day
he chased wide delivery from ryan sidebottom and the slips cordon went up in
unison as wicketkeeper matt prior caught the ball but the south african captain
was given not out by umpire tony hill
england asked for review and although sound could be heard on television
replays third umpire daryl harper could not find reason to overturn hill
decision
the snicko and hot spot technology is not being used in the series
ashwell prince was out in the next over caught at second slip by graeme swann
off stuart broad but england could not make another breakthrough until smith
dismissal
both smith and amla played some streaky shots early on but the scoring rate was
reasonably brisk with england setting attacking fields
but smith and amla started to bat confidently as they notched fifty
partnership off balls and made the stand worth after balls when
smith was out they had put on off balls
although it was an unproductive day for the english bowlers they continued to
be helped by the conditions with kallis having to keep out yorker length
delivery from sidebottom which swung prodigiously immediately before play was
stopped
only overs of play was possible on the first two days shortfall of
overs allowing for two overs deducted for change of innings
un chief to travel to quake hit haiti very soon
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon said friday he would travel to haiti very soon to show
solidarity with quake victims and the staff of the devastated un mission there
myself will go to haiti very soon both to show solidarity with the people of
haiti and our un staff and to assess the situation for myself he told
reporters
some canadians missing in haiti four dead
montreal jan afp
some canadians are missing in haiti and four have been confirmed dead in
devastating earthquake foreign minister lawrence cannon said friday
according to the latest consular information there are four confirmed canadian
fatalities cannon said in addition total of canadians are missing in
the affected area
germany digitises vast trove of post war documents
berlin jan afp
germany nazi era documentation centre said on friday it had finished making
digital copies of documents from the post war era on displaced persons and
emigration after the end of world war ii
the completed would mean the documents can now be searched for and viewed on
computer
this part of the its archives has hardly been explored so far the
international tracing service its said
it offers excellent insights into life after survival as well as the wave of
migration which resulted from the war
this week the its based in the western town of bad arolsen forwarded copies
of the documents to its partner organisations in israel the united states
poland luxembourg and belgium it said
the documents provide information on the fate of those who were rescued from
concentration camps forced labour and in some cases war captivity it said
this inventory comprises documents from german austrian italian and british
camps for displaced persons as well as emigration lists files and dossiers
from refugee organisations and lists of holocaust survivors compiled by jewish
groups
this form of electronic access helps protect the original files while
facilitating researchers access to information said udo jost of the its
last year the its handed over the first part of stock consisting of documents
on displaced persons from germany and lists of holocaust survivors comprising
around million images
so far million images and roughly terabytes of data in total have been
handed over to the different institutions
further files must still be transferred including the inventory of tracing
service for children
urgent un chief to travel to quake hit haiti very soon
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon said friday he would travel to haiti very soon to show
solidarity with quake victims and the staff of the devastated un mission there
rugbyu bayonne captain martin handed stamping ban
paris jan afp
bayonne captain and flanker remy martin was on friday handed day suspension
for stamping on toulouse scrum half jean baptiste elissalde in top game and
will be free to play again on february
the lnr the body that oversees france two tiers of professional rugby union
said martin received days for the stamping offence and further days for
breaking previous suspended sentence
the elissalde incident occurred in bayonne loss to toulouse on january
leaving the basque club in th spot in the team league
urgent un chief to travel to quake hit haiti very soon
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon said friday he would travel to haiti very soon to show
solidarity with quake victims and the staff of the devastated un mission there
us troops reach haiti as anger at apocalypse grows
port au prince jan afp
us troops began pouring into haiti friday hoping to unblock an aid bottleneck in
desperate race to help millions left destitute by massive quake and reach
scores still trapped in the rubble
the nuclear powered us aircraft carrier uss carl vinson arrived in the caribbean
nation three days after quake tore through the capital port au prince in
wave of destruction that may have left dead
officials say three million people third of the population were affected
by tuesday powerful quake
the massive us ship equipped with helicopters water purification plant and
carrying tons of medicines was in the relief area and will begin operations
the chief of us naval operations admiral gary roughead said
it was the vanguard of some us troops due in haiti over the coming days
to help supervise massive aid operation with planeloads of badly needed
supplies already clogged at the damaged airport
frustration is mounting among desperate haitians in one of the world poorest
nations who have yet to receive badly needed food water and medical aid three
days after the quake
as long as the people are hungry and thirsty as long as we haven fixed the
problem of shelter we run the risk of riots warned brazilian defense minister
nelson jobim after two day stay in port au prince
there have already been reports of looting and afp correspondents said they had
heard gunfire on the streets of the nation which has seen decades of bloodshed
and violence
with thousands of bodies still piled up on the streets of the capital rotting
in the tropical heat there was also race against time to reach any survivors
still in the ruins and treat those who were badly injured
for three days and nights volunteers have clawed through piles of concrete and
twisted metal looking for survivors without any heavy lifting equipment
did what could it tough said mark henry cineus an employee at the
city tax office who worked in vain for nine hours to save colleague trapped
in the rubble who finally succumbed to massive heart attack late thursday
tons of material and badly needed supplies remain piled up at the international
airport where flights jostled for space on the tarmac and single runway
with us troops expected on the ground friday the united states has
assumed air traffic control in bid to get things moving and out across the
island nation to those in need
getting physically tons and tons of equipment of food and water is not as
instant as twitter or skype or hour satellite news said world food
programme spokeswoman emilia casella
president barack obama finally reached haiti president rene preval by
telephone friday and offered full support in earthquake relief aid and long
term rebuilding
un teams urged countries to stop sending search and rescue teams into the aid
logjam but called for doctors and medical personnel to treat thousands of
casualties suffering crush injuries or fractures
every street has its row of corpses and crowds of wandering refugees under the
pancaked wreck of dress store one woman cried out faintly for help
they re going to die they re going to die spat jean rald rocher as he and
other volunteers clawed vainly at the concrete and twisted metal crushing her
and at least one other woman showing signs of life
at nursing training school some nurses had had time to huddle together before
their building collapsed one continued to cry under the rubble for day
witnesses told afp none survived
un assessment by helicopter found some areas of the capital suffered
percent destruction estimating people had been left homeless
the international committee of the red cross said the quake the largest to hit
the caribbean country in more than years had killed to
people after haitian officials earlier warned the toll may exceed
this is nightmare for survivors and aid workers alike the british aid
charity oxfam international director penny lawrence said
in the agonizing wait for help some residents erected makeshift shelters with
sheets and covers others trekked with their meager belongings looking for
refuge outside the city
doctors struggled to treat the vast numbers of sick and injured
the head of doctors without borders msf stefano zannini said thousands of
people were waiting in haitian hospitals for surgical treatment saying the
patients needed surgical and immediate interventions
haitian born rap star wyclef jean who spent thursday helping pick up the dead
called it the apocalypse
the international community has so far pledged some million dollars
million euros in aid according to the un
governments promised money experts and equipment donations rolled in by text
message and internet and hollywood idols lent their star power to appeals for
funds
obama reaches haitian president on phone
washington jan afp
president barack obama finally reached haiti president rene preval by
telephone friday and offered full support in earthquake relief aid and long
term rebuilding the white house said
obama who has demanded an aggressive us rescue operation had been trying to
contact preval for several days and failed due to communications problems but
spoke to the haitian leader for minutes earlier friday
president obama said that the world has been devastated by the loss and
suffering in haiti and pledged the full support of the american people for the
government and people of haiti as it relates to both the immediate recovery
effort and the long term rebuilding effort white house statement said
the white house said preval told obama haiti needs were great but that relief
aid was now flowing in from america and the rest of the world
the leaders also agreed on the need to coordinate the rescue effort with global
institutions and other nations
president preval closed by passing message to the american people from
the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the haitian people thank you thank
you thank you the statement said
rocket attack on central kabul no casualties police
