will skewer him with huge joblessness and budget deficit of over trillion
dollars in
the country is in deep deep trouble minnesota governor tim pawlenty
possible republican presidential candidate told fox news last week
people are going to hold office holders and candidates to account
amid the gloom obama must try to rekindle the theme of change and hope which
powered his election win
while was difficult for many americans we must also look back with
the knowledge that brighter days are ahead of us he said in his new year
message
one political triumph health care reform task that has confounded
generations of democratic presidents may be in reach
final bill could emerge from congress within weeks setting up historic
signing ceremony to boost the president early in
after nearly year in power obama is grayer drained by washington acrimony
and no longer an untested source of hope for millions but commander in chief
who agonized then escalated the afghan war
his once soaring job approval ratings are now around the critical percent
threshold though he will be comforted that unlike many lawmakers he does not
face voters for three more years
judged by massive expectations which greeted his election obama first year
looks unimpressive but history may give him more credit
despite the economic blight obama argues that he stopped traumatized economy
slipping into depression and if the us economy shows its historic resilience
he may reap political benefit
however the long fight over health care has delayed much of his domestic agenda
and wall street is battling to water down regulatory reform drive
obama hopes of passing cap and trade bill to fight global warming also look
increasingly doubtful and dreams of his devotees that he could cleanse
washington partisan swamp have proven fanciful
abroad the administration bid to confront israeli prime minister benjamin
netanyahu now looks clumsy and the middle east peace process is stalled
in iraq however things look better the white house hopes to get us troop
numbers down to by august
the administation also hopes to conclude landmark nuclear deal with russia in
early and will also seek to build on tortuous start in engaging china and
hopes to ease the north korea nuclear crisis
peruvian court upholds year sentence for fujimori
lima jan afp
the peruvian supreme court on sunday unanimously upheld year prison
sentence on the country former president alberto fujimori who has been
convicted of massive human rights abuses
supreme court review of fujimori convictions was requested in november by
his defense lawyer who asked the high court to revoke his client sentence
none of the pieces of evidence that went to determine his guilt as
mastermind of premeditated murder have to do with the issue of him giving the
order for the barrios altos and la cantuta killings in and attorney
cesar nakazaki told the court
the defense lawyer also asked for an annulment of fujimori conviction in the
kidnapping of journalist and businessman in claiming there was not
enough evidence to prove that the former president had ordered the abductions
fujimori has been found guilty in four trials since he was extradited from
chile in september
he was found guilty of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison in
december
in july he pleaded guilty to charges of illegally paying million dollar
bonus to his security chief and right hand man vladimiro montesinos and was
sentenced to seven and half years in prison the sentence is under appeal
and on september he was given another six year sentence and fined nine
million dollars after he admitted charges of wiretapping and bribing
journalists politicians and business leaders
in one of the first reactions to the supreme court ruling member of congress
carlos raffo said he was disappointed by it
the court has convicted president who has freed us from terrorism raffo
said and it has ratified this odious year sentence without any proof of
guilt it was political settling of scores against fujimori
during his presidency fujimori proved to be an unrelenting foe of shining path
and tupac amaru rebels active in rural areas
however his political downfall began in when video of montesinos was
broadcast on television showing the spy chief buying off an opposition
lawmaker
soon after fujimori fled to asia and resigned via fax from tokyo hotel
congress refused to accept his resignation and instead voted to sack him and ban
him from public office for years
in fujimori who was trying to stay involved in peruvian politics while in
japanese exile flew to chile on private jet on arrival he was arrested and
peru demanded his extradition which chile finally granted in september
poor health has dogged the former president slowing trial proceedings he has
been treated for hypertension and cancer among other ailments
but the ex president political legacy appears far from extinguished
fujimori daughter keiko enjoys her own political career and remains deeply
loyal to him
she is likely to run for the peruvian presidency in and if successful she
has vowed to pardon her father
search at rio hotel goes on as brazil landslides kill
angra dos reis brazil jan afp
rescuers on sunday searched for more bodies from an avalanche of mud and rock
that buried luxury brazilian hotel filled with new year revelers as the
death toll from heavy rains in the south of the country stood at
twenty eight people were killed in the tragedy at the hotel on ilha grande
resort island southwest of rio de janeiro and another six people injured
state officials said another landslide in the nearby city of angra dos reis
south of rio left at least people dead part of series of mudslides
brought on by incessant rains that have killed at least people across the
state of rio de janeiro since wednesday and left dozens missing
authorities said the hotel sankay was full to capacity with about guests
including children ringing in the new year at the idyllic seaside getaway on
bananal beach
the complex is nestled at the bottom of jungle covered hillside which gave way
before dawn friday on new year day transforming the tourist paradise into
hell
it was deafening noise ve never heard anything like it loud thunder
that wouldn stop felipe gomes martins hotel neighbor told brazil news
website
there was lot of earth mud trees trees falling and taking away
everything said martins who described how he and his father helped rescue
some people as the landslide swamped the area
rio deputy governor luiz fernando pezao said it was vision of horror
describing it to cbn radio as mountain of rocks and trees covering various
homes
nearby houses had been rented out to vacationers for the holiday period
fire chief said the death toll at the hotel site could rise to and rescue
teams were speeding their search saturday amid warnings of the possibility of
new landslides
the whole area is in severe danger of new landslides due to the vegetation
fire department commander pedro machado told globo news
about rescue workers and firefighters aided by rescue dogs wrestled to
remove tons of mud rocks and thick tree trunks in the hope of finding victims
alive on ilha grande but the chances of finding survivors are very slender
machado said
we cannot use heavy equipment because of the risk of setting off new
landslides he said
authorities said rescue operations would likely continue another hours
adding that most of the bodies recovered earlier were found on land at least
three more had been pulled from the sea
it is still not known if there were foreigners among the dead
the hotel sankay which opened in catered to brazilian and foreign
tourists looking for remote beachside hideaway
the island whose bananal beach can only be reached by water is the largest in
translucent bay studded with pristine tropical islands
in the center of the city of angra dos reis seaside town on the mainland
overlooking ilha grande bay about kilometers miles south of rio
another landslide buried several houses killing at least according to
government statement
top brazilian geologist said the natural risk is very severe in locations
like bananal beach where thick vegetation grows in unstable ground on steep
rocky terrain
the occupation of unstable areas is greatly increasing the risk of accidents
alvaro dos santos former director of the technology research institute told
the newspaper folha de sao paulo
although the rains stopped on friday authorities put rio on alert because of
fears of potentially devastating mudslides in its densely populated hillside
favelas or shanty towns
the mudslides have forced people to leave their homes across rio de
janeiro state about the same number affected by similar mudslides which hit
the state one year ago
botswana weed intrusion threatens fish and tourism on okavango
gaborone jan afp
the okavango delta natural treasure in northern botswana is under threat
after large portion of the reservoir was infested with weed threatening
tourism and fishing industries
salvinia molesta weed also known as kariba weed which originates from south
america is believed to have found its way to the delta through the water that
flows in from angola infested rivers
the free floating dark green weed makes it very difficult for cruising
especially on canoes and also suffocates the different fish species which is
headache for communities who depend on the delta for their livelihood
it is thus important for members of the community and tour operators to combine
forces and fight this weed which is threatening the livelihood of most people in
the okavango region
its effects may not be felt at the moment but if it spreads further then the
fishermen will definitely feel the pinch said ketlhatlogile masepelinge
fisheries biologist at the university of botswana
the problem which was increasing prompted the community and tourism stakeholders
to work together to get rid of weed as both parties had lot to lose should the
weed spread
fishing is source of income for most of us in this part of botswana and if
it means working day and night to destroy this weed which is threatening our
fish then let it be so said faosiko wake the chairman of the okavango
fishermen association
tourism will also suffer should the problem persist
tourists love cruising in the delta and we have to make sure that nothing
stands in their way said morongoe ntloedibe chief executive officer of
hospitality and tourism association of botswana
the weed is being destroyed using weevil insects which feed on it and destroy it
in the process tour operators and members of the community have to breed this
insect which has lifespan of about days then release it into the delta
this is the best way of getting rid of this weed as the method is friendly to
the environment we could have used chemicals but these are harmful to other
organisms in the water the director of environmental affairs in the ministry
of tourism wildlife and environment steve monna told afp
he said the weed has been present in the delta for some time but in small
quantities however the spread was caused by floodwaters and winds in recent
months which prompted government to launch the programme to destroy it
it is now up to the communities and tour operators to make sure that they work
hard in breeding the weevils he said
monna said so far the programme was progressing well as both parties had shown
commitment to working towards destroying the weed
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor sarah shard
tel
top stories
us britain to fund yemen anti terror unit
afghan mps reject most karzai cabinet nominees
peruvian court upholds year sentence on fujimori
us attacks nigeria newseries wrap
london
the united states and britain agree to finance special counterterrorism unit
in yemen as us president barack obama for the first time blames an al qaeda
branch in that arab country for attacking us airliner
words gmt
afghanistan unrest politics lead wrap
kabul
afghan president hamid karzai suffers new blow to his authority when
parliament rejects most of his nominees for new cabinet including the only
woman and warlord
words gmt by lynne donnell
peru trial politics fujimori rdlead
lima
the peruvian supreme court unanimously upholds year prison sentence on the
country former president alberto fujimori convicted of massive human rights
abuses
words gmt
middle east
iran nuclear politics wrap
tehran
iran already at risk of fresh un sanctions over its atomic drive gives the
west an ultimatum to accept uranium swap deal or else it will produce its
own nuclear fuel for tehran reactor
words moved by aresu eqbali
americas
us attacks nigeria politics obama
honolulu hawaii
us president barack obama monday swaps his hawaiian vacation hideaway for
washington with resurgent fears of airborne terror and iran nuclear defiance
darkening his already daunting agenda
words gmt by stephen collinson picture video
brazil floods newseries
angra dos reis brazil
rescuers search for more bodies from an avalanche of mud and rock that buried
luxury brazilian hotel filled with new year revelers as the death toll from
heavy rains in the south of the country stands at
words gmt picture graphic
africa
botswana tourism environment
gabarone
the okavango delta natural treasure in northern botswana is under threat
after large portion of the reservoir was infested with salvinia molesta weed
threatening tourism and fishing industries
words gmt by refentse tessa
asia
pakistan unrest wrap
peshawar pakistan
pakistan rounds up dozens of suspects over suicide attack that killed
people at volleyball match as mourners blame poor medical facilities for the
high death toll in one of the country bloodiest ever attacks
words gmt by lehaz ali
australia antarctica exploration aviation lead
sydney
australian explorers credit record low tides and blue moon for the one
in million discovery of one of the earliest aeroplanes buried in antarctic
ice
words gmt by amy coopes
australians evacuated in rising floodwaters
sydney jan afp
more than people were evacuated from their homes in southeastern australia
sunday as the worst floodwaters to hit the area in decade threatened to swamp
remote farming town officials said
residents of coonamble in central new south wales were ordered to leave their
homes as the local river threatened to burst its banks after days of punishing
rain unleashed by ex tropical cyclone laurence
we are looking at flood peak in the early hours of monday morning at around
metres feet said phil campbell from the state emergency service
ses
that particular flood height does give us some concern regarding the levee that
does protect properties within coonamble and as such an evacuation order
has been issued he told state radio
several towns have already been cut off by the deluge which has been soaking
the drought ravaged state since christmas the ses said
the weather bureau warned farmers to prepare for week long isolation ahead of
the christmas floods and bureau spokesman said the rain had been the heaviest
in the area in decade
as guess most people are aware it been fairly dry for some time
metres would probably be the biggest peak for coonamble in the last years
he said
probably the last peak of this sort of magnitude was in
severe thunderstorm was predicted to hit towns further east overnight
bringing large hailstones flash floods and damaging winds the bureau of
meteorology said
waters at nearby gilgandra and mendooran were receding after major flooding
earlier in the weekend it added
japan to double credit line for jal report
tokyo jan afp
the japanese government agreed sunday to double state funded credit line for
troubled japan airlines to billion yen billion dollars jiji press
reported
the extra funding was agreed at meeting of cabinet ministers including
transport minister seiji maehara and vice prime minister naoto kan the news
agency said
the state run development bank of japan had set credit line of billion yen
for jal in november and has already paid out just over half of the total to the
carrier asia largest
jal battered by the global recession and swine flu pandemic is scrambling to
slash costs and is seeking its fourth government bailout since to keep
flying in the face of mounting losses
urgent japan to double credit line to jal report
tokyo jan afp
the japanese government agreed sunday to double state funded credit line for
troubled japan airlines to billion yen billion dollars jiji press
reported
alert
japan agrees to double credit line for troubled jal to billion dollars jiji
samsung aims to quadruple led backlit tv sales
seoul jan afp
south korea samsung electronics on sunday said it aimed to quadruple its sales
of led backlit flat panel televisions to million units this year
the world top lcd liquid crystal display television maker said that in
it sold million of the led backlit televisions which use light emitting
diodes up from its initial target of two million
samsung plans to make an aggressive move to help its led backlit lcd tv
lineups make up more than half of its total tv models this year the company
said in statement carried by dow jones newswires
it said it expected sales of the led units to grow fourfold to around million
units this year suggesting they are rapidly superseding traditional lcd
televisions in the fast growing global market
it added samsung plans to expand its led range from three models currently to
eight this year
led backlit televisions have thinner screens and consume less electricity than
other existing flat panel televisions according to samsung
samsung said it plans to unveil three dimensional led backlit models at an
electronics fair starting in las vegas on thursday
corrected explorers hail historic antarctic plane find
sydney jan afp
australian explorers on sunday credited record low tides and blue moon for the
one in million discovery of one of the world first aeroplanes buried in
antarctic ice
the monoplane which was the first aircraft off the vickers factory production
line in britain just eight years after the wright brothers first flight was
taken to antarctica by australian explorer douglas mawson in
it had crashed on the australian mainland during pre polar test flight and had
its badly damaged wings removed but mawson decided he wanted to take it to the
antarctic to use as an air tractor to pull his sledges officials said
it wasn terribly successful but he did take the engine back with him
australian conservationist david jensen told afp
he left the aircraft and they fitted it out with special skis and also
special tail rudder
mawson abandoned the plane in the antarctic in
armed with magnetic imaging equipment and other technology three successive
teams of conservationists and scientists from the mawson huts foundation
searched for the fuselage which was last sighted almost totally buried in ice
in
but it was the unprecedented combination of historically low tides prompted by
blue moon the second full moon in calendar month and unprecedented
melting of the ice which led to its chance discovery on new year day jensen
said
it was probably one chance in million that these conditions just allowed us
to spot it he said
one of our heritage carpenters was actually just wandering along the edge of
the harbour and he just by chance spotted the piece of the metal amongst the
rocks
you talk about once in blue moon well it was so true
jensen said the ecstatic team quickly recovered the fragments of the fuselage
and would likely bring them back to australia for treatment at the end of
january
israel fm raises questions over palestinian president
jerusalem jan afp
israel ultra nationalist foreign minister avigdor lieberman on sunday
questioned whether president mahmoud abbas represents all palestinians given
his lack of authority in the gaza strip
our palestinian partner abu mazen abbas is problematic does he represent all
of the palestinian people it is clear that he does not represent gaza and that
his legitimacy in the west bank is in doubt lieberman told public radio
to sign an accord with abu mazen would be to sign deal with the leader of
fatah the palestinian president political party he added
that said hope there will be meeting with abu mazen it is important that
there be political negotiations and we are ready for that as long as there
are no preconditions
we don have to buy an entry ticket for talks lieberman said of the
palestinian demand that peace negotiations can only resume if there is total
freeze on jewish settlement activity in the occupied west bank
israeli palestinian peace talks were suspended year ago in response to the
jewish state war on the islamist hamas movement ruling the gaza strip
national honour is an important value in the middle east and the time for
obsequious attitudes is over we have no need to adopt false pretences in bid
to please lieberman said
on thursday abbas fatah in statement ahead of the movement th
anniversary vowed to step up its struggle against the israeli occupation with
both demonstrations and diplomacy
fatah went on to say that it would not spare any effort in restoring
palestinian national unity and returning the gaza strip from the hands of those
who have taken it hostage referring to its hamas rivals
the two main palestinian movements have been divided into geographically
separated hostile camps since the hamas seized power in gaza in
peruvian supreme court confirms year sentence for fujimori
lima jan afp
the peruvian surpreme court early sunday unanimously confirmed year prison
sentence on the country former president alberto fujimori
supreme court review of fujimori convictions was requested in november by
his defense lawyer who asked asked the high court to revoke his client
sentence for human rights abuses
none of the pieces of evidence that went to determine his guilt as
mastermind of premeditated murder have to do with the issue of him giving the
order for the barrios altos and la cantuta killings in and attorney
cesar nakazaki told the court
the defense lawyer also asked for an annulment of fujimori conviction in the
kidnapping of journalist and businessman in also because he claimed
there was not enough evidence to prove that the former president had ordered the
abductions
fujimori has been found guilty in four trials since he was extradited from chile
in september
he was found guilty of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison in
december
in july he pleaded guilty to charges of illegally paying million dollar
bonus to his security chief and right hand man vladimiro montesinos and was
sentenced to seven and half years in prison the sentence is under appeal
and on september he was given another six year sentence and fined nine
million dollars after he admitted charges of wiretapping and bribing
journalists politicians and business leaders
fujimori political downfall began in when video of montesinos was
broadcast on television showing the spy chief buying off an opposition
lawmaker
soon after fujimori fled to asia and resigned via fax from tokyo hotel
congress refused to accept his resignation and instead voted to sack him and ban
him from public office for years
in fujimori who was trying to stay involved in peruvian politics while in
japanese exile flew to chile on private jet on arrival he was arrested and
peru demanded his extradition which chile finally granted in september
poor health has dogged the former president slowing trial proceedings he has
been treated for hypertension and cancer among other ailments
but the ex president political legacy appears far from extinguished
fujimori daughter keiko enjoys her own political career and remains deeply
loyal to him
she is likely to run for the peruvian presidency in and if successful she
has vowed to pardon her father
peruvian supreme court confirms year sentence for fujimori
lima jan afp
the peruvian surpreme court early sunday unanimously confirmed year prison
sentence on the country former president alberto fujimori
supreme court review of fujimori convictions was requested in november by
his defense lawyer who asked asked the high court to revoke his client
sentence for human rights abuses
none of the pieces of evidence that went to determine his guilt as
mastermind of premeditated murder have to do with the issue of him giving the
order for the barrios altos and la cantuta killings in and attorney
cesar nakazaki told the court
the defense lawyer also asked for an annulment of fujimori conviction in the
kidnapping of journalist and businessman in also because he claimed
there was not enough evidence to prove that the former president had ordered the
abductions
pakistan volleyball bomb toll rises to police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
the death toll from suicide attack at volleyball game in pakistan rose to
police said sunday as authorities struggled to cope with one of the
country bloodiest ever bombings
total of people have been killed there are injured who are being
treated in three different hospitals bannu district police chief mohammad ayub
khan told afp by telephone from the northwest region
another police officer in the area habib ullah khan confirmed the toll
there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack but police said the
bomber came from south waziristan the neighbouring district where pakistan has
been waging an offensive on taliban militants since october
the area also neighbours north waziristan where suspected us drone attacks have
increasingly targeted al qaeda fighters and the haqqani network which is known
for staging attacks on foreign troops in afghanistan
the volleyball tournament in shah hasan khan village had been arranged by
local anti taliban militia whom police suspect may have been the target
we have arrested suspects and are interrogating them this village is
adjacent to the bhitni area of south waziristan and the bomber came from that
area the district police chief told afp
medics at the hospital in the nearby town of lakki marwat said they were short
of medicine and beds overwhelmed with casualties
even now the injured are under going treatment on the hospital floor some have
brought their own beds doctor usman ali told afp by telephone
my daughter died because of the poor facilities in the hospital there was no
bed no medicine and not even the ray machine was working shopkeeper riaz
khatok told afp from the hospital
there was nowhere else in lakki marwat to take the wounded most of the dead
died because of bleeding he added
suicide and bomb attacks blamed on the taliban and al qaeda linked militants
have killed more than people in pakistan since july increasingly
targeting civilians as well as government security installations
in october car bombing in the northwest city peshawar killed people
and suicide attack at the homecoming of former prime minister benazir bhutto
killed at least people in october
urgent peruvian supreme court confirms year sentence for fujimori
lima jan afp
the peruvian surpreme court early sunday unanimously confirmed year prison
sentence on the country former president alberto fujimori
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washington jan afp
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