kabul jan afp
rocket exploded in central kabul friday evening the head of the capital
criminal investigation bureau told afp saying there were no casualties
the attack took place around pm gmt in the heavily fortified
diplomatic district of the city said sayed abdul ghafar sayedzada head of the
kabul criminal investigation bureau
there has been rocket attack in the th police district of wazir akbar khan
in kabul he said
it caused no casualties he added
an official with nato international security assistance force isaf said
international forces based in the area were investigating the incident
we just had rocket attack it went overhead and we re looking into it the
official said speaking on condition of anonymity
police rushed to the scene which is close to isaf headquarters the heavily
fortified diplomatic district and an office of afghanistan national
intelligence agency
police officer on the scene told an afp photographer that rocket had fallen
on private house but this could not be immediately confirmed
as fridays are national holiday in afghanistan there were was little traffic
in the area and few pedestrians
rocket attacks are not unusual in kabul according to residents and diplomats
they rarely cause damage or injury but boost fears among people in the city
it is the first attack on the capital since december when suicide car
bomber detonated vehicle in the same district killing eight people and
injuring
number of senior western officials are currently visiting kabul to consult
with afghan leaders ahead of an international conference due to be held in
london on january to discuss security in the country among other topics
afghanistan has been battling taliban led insurgency for more than eight
years since remnants of the regime that was overturned in regrouped to
attempt to topple the government of president hamid karzai
the united states and nato have troops in the country fighting the
insurgents with another being deployed this year
isaf administrative headquarters are in central kabul and smaller bases are
dotted around the city for both international and afghan security forces
checkered past earlier us interventions in haiti
washington jan afp
the current united states aid operation in earthquake shattered haiti which is
due to have strong military component is by no means the first us
intervention in the caribbean state
previous such operations
us forces invaded haiti during world war at time when the
country was undergoing period of unusually great instability
the us president woodrow wilson was in particular concerned at the number of
germans settling in haiti although the united states did not intervene in the
war in europe until it had already expressed de facto support for the
allies pitted against germany and the other central powers
the us occupation of haiti lasted until and achieved mixed results
on the one hand it provoked guerrilla war in which some haitians and
between and americans died according to the historian georges michel
on the other hand the us presence helped stabilize and modernize the country
but at the price of increased dependency on us capital an outflow of wealth
towards the united states and decline of haiti farm sector
september us president bill clinton sent us troops to haiti as part
of multinational force that had been mandated by the united nations
the force was sent to restore the elected haitian president jean bertrand
aristide who had been overthrown in coup in
aristide was able to return from exile the following month and remained in
office until when he was voted out of office and replaced by rene preval
in the multinational force was replaced by strong un peacekeeping
operation with the united states providing the largest contingent the
operation ended in january when the last us forces left
in february aristide again returned to power but the election result was
contested and three years later right wing revolt broke out against his rule
in february the us and other western countries agreed that aristide should
go into exile and the us briefly sent contingent of marines as part of new
multinational force in june of the same year strong un peacekeeping
force arrived with no us participation and brazil assuming the leading role
alert
un chief says he will travel to haiti very soon
italy jews divided over pope upcoming synagogue visit
rome jan afp
italy jewish community was divided friday over an impending visit by pope
benedict xvi to rome main synagogue after he angered many by moving world war
ii era pope pius xii closer to sainthood
possibly adding fuel to the fire the pontiff on friday urged vatican doctrinal
experts to speed rapprochement with catholic fraternity that includes
holocaust denying bishop richard williamson
the president of italy assembly of rabbis giuseppe laras has already
announced that he will shun the synagogue visit on sunday
afraid it will not have positive effect on jewish catholic dialogue
said the former chief rabbi of milan
three days after the pope sparked anger among jewish groups by bestowing the
title venerable on the wartime pope necessary step towards beatification
and eventual sainthood the vatican said the honour concerned pius xii piety
and not his historical role
laras said he felt the explanation came up short and failed to show an
understanding of the feelings of the jewish community
however rome grand rabbi riccardo di segni sought to calm the waters saying
the visit was sign that benedict wanted to continue the dialogue
cardinal walter kasper head of the pontifical council for the promotion of
christian unity was also conciliatory saying have full understanding for
the sensitivity of the survivors of the holocaust and we must respect this
sensitivity
he said the year old pope synagogue visit would be aimed at seeking common
ground adding we have new atmosphere with judaism even if there are
difficulties
renzo gattegna who heads the union of communities of italian jews agreed that
the visit should go forward despite the protests and criticism
but he added still it cannot be denied that some decisions taken by the
current pope in led to moments of tension and concern on the jewish side
gattegna listed the pius xii and williamson affairs as well as benedict
decision to rehabilitate the latin version of the catholic church good friday
mass which contains prayer for the conversion of the jews
ordinary jews were also divided on the visit my father in law died in
concentration camp on sunday going to the club to watch the game angelo
sermoneta told the daily la repubblica
nothing ever changes between the catholic church and the jews with us they
make one step forward and three steps back he added
but luca zevi another resident of rome ghetto formerly walled off
district where jews were segregated for two and half centuries said he
would attend the event even if the issue of pius xii is disturbing the
visit is positive thing all the same
on friday benedict urged the vatican doctrinal watchdog to overcome
doctrinal problems that prevent full communion between the church and the pius
society
the swiss based fraternity rejected the vatican ii declaration absolving
jews of blame for jesus death and their leader archbishop marcel lefebvre
ordained four bishops without vatican blessing
benedict predecessor john paul ii ex communicated the four who include
williamson
the briton has claimed that only between and jews died before
and during world war ii
year ago benedict unleashed an outcry among jews when he lifted williamson
ex communication as he began reaching out to the lefebvrists
don understand the timing talking about the lefrevbrists just two days
before going to the synagogue said rome based israeli journalist yossi bar
it doesn help the atmosphere
the only explanation is that part of the church is angry about the visit he
has pressure from the conservatives bar told afp
catholic jewish relations have improved with series of fence mending
statements and gestures by the vatican and the pontiff notably benedict trip
to israel in may last year during which he prayed at jerusalem western wall
also known as the wailing wall
banking industry says obama tax hits wrong target
washington jan afp
the banking industry said friday proposal by president barack obama to tax big
firms in the sector to recoup bailout funds is aimed at the wrong parties and
could harm the economic recovery
james chessen chief economist at american bankers association said the banking
industry is on track to repay with interest the bailout funds to the us treasury
from the troubled asset relief program tarp
if you separate out the tarp funding for banks versus nonbanks you have
dramatically different story chessen told reporters at news conference
unveiling the group economic forecast
chessen said of the approximately billion dollars provided to banks two
thirds has been repaid with interest and dividends of more than billion
dollars
and the treasury month ago said they expected there to be profit on every
single program devoted to banks and they expected that profit to be in excess
of billion dollars he said
all the losses expected are from nonbank programs not from the banking
industry he added
so we are concerned that such high tax directed at the wrong parties will
have serious consequences
chessen said the proposal calls for an enormous tax that will hurt the ability
of banks to provide loans that can stimulate the economy
we believe it will have very serious effect on the entire banking industry
and their ability to easily meet the needs of their customers he said
obama unveiled the plan thursday saying the new fee on risky assets of big
financial institutions was way to recoup the cost of massive bailout of the
sector than began in
the plan which requires congressional approval would raise billion dollars
over years and could be kept for years to offset the full billion
dollar shortfall now estimated for tarp program
the fee will be assessed ont he largest banks excluding community banks and
other tarp recipients such as automakers general motors and chrysler
yemen qaeda chiefs killed in air strike senior official
sanaa jan afp
an air strike on friday on an al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap position
in north yemen killed six suspected leaders of the group including its military
boss senior yemeni official said
qassem al rimi was among people who made daring escape from state
security prison in sanaa in february that left the government red faced
six al qaeda leaders including the network military chief qassem al rimi
were killed on friday the official said on condition of anonymity
ammar al waili ayedh al shabwani and saleh al tais were also killed in the
raid on friday morning in al ajashir desert region in eastern saada
province he said
the two other leaders were not named while two other men fled the scene
tribal leader told afp by telephone he saw warplane target three
vehicles hitting one with missile second missile kicked up cloud of dust
and he saw one vehicle flee the scene
rimi was the principal architect of most of al qaeda operations in yemen
the official said adding that the man had slipped through dragnet twice
before in and at the end of
aqap has claimed responsibility for botched attack on us airliner on
christmas day
friday news came as britain said it would host an international meeting on
fighting extremism in yemen on january in london rather than on the th as
originally planned
in friday sermon meanwhile powerful cleric sheikh abdulmajeed al zendani
said it would be religious duty dictated by god to defend yemen through
jihad or holy war if it is occupied by foreign power
he was responding in part to comments on wednesday by carl levin chairman of
the us senate armed services committee who urged washington to consider
targeting al qaeda in yemen with drones air strikes or covert operations but
not invade the country
from the moment the enemy invites itself onto our territory and occupies us
our religion imposes the obligation of jihad on us said zendani whom the us
administration labels global terrorist
it is religious duty dictated by god he said during his sermon
this order of god cannot be annulled by anyone not king not president
not ulema muslim scholars zendani added
yemen council of clerics which includes zendani had made similar call for
jihad on thursday if foreign forces join the fight against aqap
if any party insists on aggression or invades the country then according to
islam jihad becomes obligatory said statement signed by clerics
the clerics stressed strong rejection of any foreign intervention in yemeni
affairs whether political or military
they also rejected any security or military agreement or cooperation between
yemen and any foreign party if it violates islamic sharia law and the
setting up any military bases in yemen or in its territorial waters
on friday zendani urged arab and muslim states to support yemen before
catastrophe occurs
the islamic nation will not stand by with its arms crossed in the face of these
crusades he added
to defend ourselves and defend our country and our territory we only fear
god and we are confident in victory he said to cries of allahu akbar god
is greater
washington has accused aqap of training the man who allegedly carried out the
failed christmas day attack nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab
sanaa has intensified operations against the militants insisting it can tackle
them without the need for foreign intervention
friday operation was the latest in series of blows since december when the
government launched its latest campaign against al qaeda
on tuesday security forces killed abdullah mehdar said to be the group
kingpin in shabwa province east of the capital
provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi said dozens of fighters including
saudis and egyptians who had fled afghanistan were hiding in shabwa
among them he said were current aqap chief nasser al wahaishi his saudi
number two saeed ali al shehri and radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi
week ago officials announced the capture of key leader mohammed al hanq and
two other militants believed behind threats against western interests in sanaa
that caused embassies to close for several days
friday attack also came day after the defence ministry vowed to do clear
yemen of al qaeda jihadists and warned that intensive operations will continue
against osama bin laden extremists
us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending troops to
yemen or to somalia in the horn of africa just across the bab al mandab
strait
gsk says swine flu vaccine sales hit million pounds
london jan afp
british drug maker glaxosmithkline said friday that sales of its swine flu
vaccine products totalled million pounds million euros billion
dollars in the fourth quarter of last year
gsk today confirmed that approximately million doses of its pandemic
adjuvanted vaccine were shipped to governments in the fourth quarter of
the london listed firm said in statement
these shipments together with pandemic vaccine products supplied to the us and
other governments in the quarter amount to provisional unaudited sales of
million pounds
gsk added the company is also donating million doses of its vaccine to the
who world health organisation for distribution to developing countries
earlier this week gsk had said it had agreed to cut the amount of swine flu
vaccines that had been ordered by germany by around percent to million
doses
gsk had also revealed on tuesday that many countries were amending their vaccine
orders because one dose appeared to be sufficient to give strong immune
response
the company added on friday that it was in ongoing talks with governments
about their vaccine needs
shipments of the vaccine continue to be delivered in the first half of and
gsk is in ongoing discussions with many governments as their needs evolve it
said
this includes renegotiation of contracts with governments who have announced
changes to their planned immunisation programmes and with governments who have
placed new orders for the pandemic vaccine
it is therefore too early to say what the final number of doses supplied and
the value of these orders will be
urgent some canadians missing in haiti four dead
montreal jan afp
some canadians are missing in haiti and four have been confirmed dead
foreign minister lawrence cannon said friday
us sending troops to haiti top military chief
washington jan afp
up to us troops would be in quake hit haiti or stationed off shore by
monday the top military chief said friday
chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral mike mullen stressed that not all
those troops would be on the ground in haiti as many of them would be on board
some six navy vessels arriving over the coming days
it looks like between and with the arrival of the marines and the
three ships that are associated with that he told reporters
mullen said it was too early to say whether more ground troops would be needed
beyond the nd airborne brigade and the strong nd marine expeditionary
unit already ordered to haiti
think we ll have about soldiers sailors airmen marines ashore
today mullen told reporters
and right now mean literally as we speak the vinson aircraft carrier and
the company from the nd airborne who got there last night are focusing on
delivering water from the helicopters offshore to the people of haiti
ddl jkb jm arb
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 but 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
football west ham fined over league cup riot
london jan afp
west ham have been fined pounds euros after serious crowd
trouble marred their league cup victory over london rivals millwall in august
the hammers have also been ordered to pay adjusted costs of pounds
euros but they escaped being forced to play matches behind closed doors
violent clashes outside upton park on august led to arrests and the
stabbing of millwall fan and there were also three pitch invasions by west ham
fans during the match
west ham were found guilty of two charges failure to ensure their supporters
refrained from violent threatening obscene and provocative behaviour and
failure to ensure their supporters did not enter the field of play
the club were cleared of the more serious allegations of racist abuse and
missile throwing during last week three day hearing while millwall were
cleared of all charges
an fa statement on friday said an independent regulatory commission has fined
west ham united fc having found them in breach of fa rules earlier this week
the club will have days to appeal this finding upon receipt of the
commission full written reasons
rallying al attiyah makes his move prior to dakar day
santa rosa argentina jan afp
france stephane peterhansel of bmw on friday won the th and penultimate
stage of the dakar rally in the auto category km run between san rafael
and santa rosa in central argentina
qatar nasser al attiyah volkswagen finished second min sec behind
peterhansel with overall leader carlos sainz of spain finishing min sec
behind the frenchman
sainz lead over his team mate al attiyah in the general classification was
subsequently cut to just min sec ahead of saturday final stage which takes
the drivers back into buenos aires
earlier norwegian motorcyclist pal ullevalseter won the th moto stage of the
race
the victory took ullevalseter ktm into second place in the overall standings
leapfrogging the chilean francisco lopez known as chaleco who finished
min sec behind the norwegian in fourth place on his aprilia
france ktm rider cyril despres sec behind ullevalseter in second place
continues to enjoy healthy lead of hr min at the top of the motorbikes
general classification
spain marc coma another ktm rider finished third on the day min sec off
ullevalseter pace
coma was handed controversial time penalty of hr min for illegally changing
wheel during the seventh stage and is now hr min behind despres in the
overall standings
portugal helder rodrigues yamaha remains fourth overall with frenchmen
david fretigne yamaha and alain duclos ktm fifth and sixth respectively
football mancini won guarantee robinho place
manchester england jan afp
manchester city manager roberto mancini has warned robinho that the brazilian
price tag and reputation won guarantee his future at eastlands
robinho has failed to sparkle for long periods since his club record
million pounds move to city from real madrid months ago and has often been
criticised for perceived lack of effort
his relationship with former city boss mark hughes was rocky during the
welshman final months at the club and the brazil forward has started just one
game since mancini took charge in november
mancini is adamant that only hard work and consistent performances will persuade
him to pick any player even star like robinho
how much player cost is not important mancini said on friday what you pay
only matters when you are in the act of buying someone
the important thing after that is the player working hard and playing well
before the game at middlesbrough robinho had problem with one of his muscles
and he didn train for two or three days
but it is possible he will play on saturday at everton although do feel
sorry for the attacking players because have five or six really good ones and
must decide who is going to be on the bench
europe climate chief to be regrets eu disunity in copenhagen
brussels jan afp
incoming eu commissioner for climate action denmark connie hedegaard on
friday criticised europe lack of united voice at the fraught international
talks on global warming in copenhagen
hedegaard made the comments during three hour grilling at the european
parliament over her suitability for the new post
the former danish climate and energy minister who chaired most of the
copenhagen talks before being replaced by her prime minister following criticism
of her methods said she was disappointed that the un meeting last month did
not deliver binding targets on greenhouse gas emission reductions
while insisting that the eu played tremendously important role in paving the
way for change she decried the lack of unified european voice
those last hours in copenhagen china india japan russia the us each spoke
with one voice while europe spoke with many different voices
sometimes we spend so much time agreeing with one another that when finally the
eu comes to the international negotiations we are almost unable to negotiate
she complained
here we must improve in order to give europe stronger voice
eu nations had agreed prior to the december talks to cut carbon dioxide
emissions by percent in from levels with promise to go further
if the rest of the developed world did likewise
however the climate change conference held in the danish capital ended with
non binding agreement which the european union has blasted as sino us stitch
up which will do little to curtail global warming
leaders of some two dozen countries put together copenhagen accord that
strived to save the gruelling day un marathon from collapse
the deal set the aim of limiting warming to two degrees celsius degrees
fahrenheit over pre industrial levels but did not set binding targets to
reduce the emissions of gases that scientists say are heating up the world
atmosphere to dangerous levels
the european parliament is quizzing this week and next all nominees for
portfolios in eu commission chief jose manuel barroso new team
while the meps cannot veto an individual commissioner designate they can oppose
the team as whole
from the reaction in the chamber on friday there appeared to be no major
misgivings over the experienced danish candidate
finnish euro mp satu hassi said hedegaard had demonstrated the political will
to be strong commissioner even if she had entered the parliament slightly
wounded by her ejection from the chair in copenhagen
alert
some canadians missing four dead in haiti fm
cricket south africa england scoreboard at close
johannesburg jan afp
scores at close of play on the second day of the fourth test between south
africa and england at the wanderers stadium on friday
england first innings
south africa first innings overnight
smith strauss sidebottom
prince swann broad
amla not out
kallis not out
extras lb nb
total wkts overs
fall of wickets prince smith
to bat de villiers duminy boucher mclaren steyn morkel
parnell
bowling anderson nb sidebottom broad
swann collingwood
match position south africa lead by runs with eight wickets remaining in the
first innings
toss england
umpires steve davis aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire daryl harper aus
match referee roshan mahanama sri
under pressure merkel says she the boss
berlin jan afp
german chancellor angela merkel took swipe at critics of her aloof leadership
style on friday after shaky start to her second term saying she was in charge
when it came to important decisions
think am someone who is always there when there are decisions to take and
when have taken them announce them merkel told news conference in
berlin
the comments came after new opinion poll showed majority of german voters
thought merkel was weak leader less than four months after the year old
won second term at the helm of europe biggest economy
more than half of respondents percent said merkel was doing little to
set the course for the government versus percent who approved of her
management of the centre right coalition
meanwhile strong majority percent said the government merkel hand
picked alliance of her conservative bloc with the pro business free democrats
had had bad start since their term began in late october
and only about one in three percent said they thought merkel
christian democratic party fully backed her down from percent in october
critics accuse merkel of an above the fray style that has allowed battles over
economic policy among the ruling parties to rage on as germany struggles to
emerge from its worst post war recession
merkel is so far not ensuring calm and efficiency in her coalition but instead
is watching her partners squabble the weekly die zeit said in an editorial
without more resolve she will endanger her success
half of respondents said planned meeting sunday between the leaders of the
three governing parties would likely do little to clear the air while
percent expected an improvement
at the crux of the dispute were the free democrats demands to uphold plans for
even deeper tax breaks from next year after the government pushed through
billion euros billion dollars in tax relief from january
further areas of contention include germany mission in afghanistan turkey
bid to join the european union and new museum about the fate of millions of
ethnic germans expelled from eastern europe after
leading christian democrats as well as several state and local leaders say tax
giveaway now would be disastrous in the face of the tattered state of germany
public finances
the economic downturn has blown huge hole in the budget with merkel
government predicting last month it will have to take on record billion
euros in new debt in
friday poll conducted for zdf public television by independent opinion
research institute forschungsgruppe wahlen found that full percent of
respondents rejected the planned tax cuts up from percent in november
only percent were in favour
the poll was conducted among randomly selected eligible voters january
to
separate survey released last week showed that percent of voters were
satisfied with merkel down percentage points from december with percent
unhappy with her new government up seven points
the poll by ard public television and the welt daily showed that percent
thought the quarrelsome coalition was divided and rudderless while percent
wanted merkel forbes magazine most powerful female on the planet to show
clearer leadership
risk of riots in haiti brazilian defense minister
brasilia jan afp
the delay in getting water food and shelter to the desperate population of
haiti capital is raising the risk of riots brazilian defense minister
nelson jobim warned friday after visiting the quake hit city
we are worried about security he bluntly told reporters on arrival in
brasilia after two day stay in port au prince
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 he said
brazil is in command of the un peacekeeping force deployed to haiti before
the quake and is using its troops for disaster relief efforts
it lost of its citizens in the quake according to jobim
they were soldiers in the peacekeeping mission high profile civilian
