obama said that because of past attacks by the al qaeda affiliate he had even
before the december attempt stepped up us cooperation with yemen
training camps have been struck leaders eliminated plots disrupted he said
and all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on christmas must
know you too will be held to account
yemeni forces launched raids on suspected al qaeda targets in the central and
the sanaa regions on december and killing more than islamist
militants
petraeus praised the yemeni president for the success of the operations
against al qaeda and reaffirmed washington support for yemen in its efforts
to fight terrorism saba reported
saleh thanked washington for its help and reiterated that sanaa was determined
to combat terrorism with the assistance of the united states and the
international community the saba report said
in the fiscal year us development and security assistance to yemen is
expected to rise to million dollars from total of million dollars in
the fiscal year state department official said wednesday
nhl st louis sack murray as coach
st louis missouri jan afp
the st louis blues floundering with the worst home record in the national
hockey league sacked coach andy murray saturday
davis payne coach of the blues minor league affiliate in peoria was appointed
interim head coach and was to coach the blues at home saturday night against
chicago
the final blow for murray came on thursday when the blues blew lead and
fell in overtime to vancouver
it kind of maybe the way we lost more than anything else president john
davidson said at news conference it such mental game at times and this
league is so close every night it is such fine line and you need to be there
with your mindset and we just simply haven been consistently anyway
payne inherits team that is th in the western conference
we feel he our coach and he might be our coach long term davidson said
it whirlwind for him but we feel confident about him
payne said he was absolutely thrilled to get the opportunity he addressed the
team before the morning skate
don know where the emphasis has been but asked these guys to work hard
for each other asked them to trust each other and asked them to play with
passion he said that our starting point for tonight
murray was hired by the blues in after coaching the los angeles kings and
working as an assistant in philadelphia minnesota and winnipeg
last season the blues ended three season playoff drought with strong second
half under murray
davidson said he had decided to fire murray on friday but didn want to make
the announcement and distract from the nhl showcase winter classic outdoor
game in boston and the announcement of the us olympic team
andy class guy and he handled it well davidson said my intuition tells
me he knew something was coming because of our home record nobody wants to do
this but you have to at times change to continue the evolution of the
organization
britain vows action with us on yemen somali extremism
london jan afp
britain and the us will step up action to fight extremism in yemen and somalia
downing street said sunday amid investigations into an alleged al qaeda plot to
bomb us airliner
british prime minister gordon brown and us president barack obama who accused
al qaeda over the plot for the first time saturday also wanted to see bigger
peacekeeping force in somalia to tackle violent radicalism in the region
officials said
downing street and the white house have agreed to intensify joint us uk work to
tackle the emerging terrorist threat from both yemen and somalia in the wake of
the failed detroit terror plot statement said
amongst the initiatives the pm has agreed with president obama is us uk funding
for special counter terrorism police unit in yemen
it added in somalia the pm and president believe that larger peacekeeping
force is required and will support this at the un security council
the announcement came two days after britain called london meeting of world
powers on fighting extremism in yemen where nigerian in custody in the us
over the foiled december plot is thought to have been trained and equipped by
al qaeda
al qaeda inspired shebab insurgents in somalia control large swathes of south
and central parts of the country and have wrested control of much of the capital
mogadishu attacking government and african union peacekeepers
the us said last week that it was sharply increasing its military and economic
aid to yemen
brown and obama have discussed what to do about the situation in series of
phone calls since the alleged plot was uncovered and believe more support for
yemen coastguard is also needed the statement added
brown will also ask that the situation be discussed by the european union and
push for tougher action on yemen from the financial action task force an
international body tackling money laundering and funding for violent extremist
groups
he is also to hold meeting of special committee featuring leading members of
his cabinet to discuss britain response to the alleged plot
on friday the british premier called london meeting of international powers
on yemen on january and announced review of airline security here which
could see the use of full body scanners in british airports
he added that the detroit incident which nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab is
accused of carrying out showed terrorism remains very real global threat as
the world enters new decade eight years after the september attacks
on the us
enemies of democracy and freedom now trying to mastermind death and
destruction from yemen as well as other better known homes of international
terror such as pakistan and afghanistan are concealing explosives in ways
which are more difficult to detect he wrote in an article on the downing
street website
al qaeda and their associates continue in their ambition to indoctrinate
thousands of young people around the world with deadly desire to kill and
maim
our response in security intelligence policing and military action is not
just an act of choice but an act of necessity
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
nba arenas apologizes for gun joke
washington jan afp
gilbert arenas says he took unloaded guns from his locker in the washington
wizards arena in misguided effort to play joke on teammate
arenas spoke with law enforcement officials on monday answering all questions
he faced in two hour interview his lawyer said
afterward the nba player issued written statement in which he repeated his
claim that he brought four firearms to the verizon center to store unloaded in
his locker because he didn want them in his house with his children
the presence of the guns at the facility had already sparked police
investigation when the new york post reported on friday that arenas and teammate
javaris crittenton drew guns on each other in dispute over gambling debt
arenas who had previously said the report was overblown said he took the
unloaded guns out of his locker on december in misguided effort to play
joke on teammate
joke or not now recognize that what did was mistake and was wrong
arenas said should not have brought the guns to dc in the first place and
now realize that there no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns
even if unloaded
am very sorry for the effect that my serious lapse in judgment has had on my
team my teammates the national basketball association and its fans arenas
said want to apologize to everybody for letting them down with my conduct
and promise to do better in the future
crittenton agent mark bartelstein said monday that his client did nothing
wrong it wasn clear whether crittenton would also meet with investigators
probing the incident
nba rules bar players from possessing firearms at league facilities or when
traveling on league business
us skeptical on myanmar elections
washington jan afp
the united states on monday voiced doubts on whether myanmar upcoming
elections would be credible and urged the military regime to engage the
opposition and ethnic minorities
myanmar leader senior general than shwe in message read out monday for the
nation nd independence anniversary urged people to make correct choices
in the elections which the junta wants to hold sometime in
state department spokesman ian kelly said the united states was taking
measured approach to elections until it could assess the conditions including
whether the opposition and ethnic groups will participate
so far we have not seen any meaningful steps by the regime to indicate it is
putting in place measures that would lead to credible elections kelly said
much of the opposition leadership remains in prison there is no space for
political dissent or debate and no freedom of press kelly said
kelly called for myanmar formerly known as burma to engage opposition leader
aung san suu kyi and ethnic leaders in comprehensive dialogue on democratic
reform
this would be first step towards inclusive elections he said
the election would be the first since aung san suu kyi national league
for democracy won the last election by landslide but was never permitted to
take office
instead aung san suu kyi has spent most of the past two decades under house
arrest despite appeals for her release and her winning of the nobel peace
prize
president barack obama administration has switched gears on myanmar opening
up dialogue to improve relations with state that has long been treated as
pariah by the united states
myanmar opposition leaders say the elections will be sham to legitimize
military rule and some have voiced fear that the junta sees the dialogue with
the united states as way to bide time before the vote
fbi in ghana to probe botched us plane attack minister
accra jan afp
agents of the us federal bureau of investigation are in ghana to find out about
the sojourn in the country of nigerian man accused of trying to blow up us
airliner ghanaian minister said monday
the investigation will allow the fbi agents to gather more information on the
suspect stay in ghana deputy information minister james agyenim boateng told
afp
he did not say when the fbi team arrived in ghana and how long the agents plan
to stay in the west african country
it is ghana first known official comment on the allegations by nigerian
authorities that the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab arrived in lagos on
december on virgin nigeria flight from ghana
agyenim boateng said abdulmutallab flew in to ghana on december on an
ethiopian airlines flight out of addis ababa where he was believed to have
connected from dubai
on his immigration form in ghana he stated dubai address although he gave one
hotel name as his address in accra he checked into different one said the
minister refusing to give names of the hotels
nigerian information minister dora akunyili had said on thursday that the
suspect after arriving from ghana spent less than minutes at the lagos
airport before boarding his next flight for amsterdam
abdulmutallab allegedly bought on december the ticket for the bomb targeted
flight in ghana where his journey began
the director general of the nigerian civil aviation authority ncaa harold
demuren had explained on december that abdulmutallab boarded klm flight out
of lagos on the th december enroute detroit michigan usa via amsterdam
the suspect personally checked in at pm gmt and he went through
normal checking process his passport was scanned his us visa was scanned and
the apis advance passenger information system returned with no objection he
said
his multiple us entry visa issued in london on june last year was not due
to expire until june next year he added
agyenim boateng said ghana was unhappy about not being informed of concerns
about abdulmutallab whose father had reported the young man radical views to
the united states and other foreign security agencies
fighting terrorism is collective responsibility of every country and it is
therefore important that we share security information of this nature if we are
to fight terrorism agyenim boateng said
if we have heard this information given to the us embassy in nigeria from our
nigerian counterparts the suspect would have been subjected to more thorough
screening he said
nigeria and ghana are both members of the nation regional bloc the economic
community of west african states ecowas
agyenim boateng also said that ghana has purchased full body scanner to be
installed at the kotoka international airport in accra the nation biggest
airport where security has been beefed up
the scanner when installed would ensure that travellers go through full body
scanning and find out if they are carrying any weapons or drugs he said
us authorities have accused the nigerian suspect of trying to trigger an
explosion on northwest airlines flight from amsterdam to detroit on christmas
day with chemicals that had been stitched into his underwear he is currently
being held in michigan prison
washington said monday stricter measures will be compulsory on flights from
nations including nigeria while random enhanced checks will be carried out
on all planes landing at us airport
all travellers from the targeted countries would be subjected to extra body pat
downs and advanced screening of baggage us official said imaging and
explosive detection technology might also be used
new us screening rules ill considered expert
washington jan afp
new us rules tightening security checks on air travelers from nations are
ill considered and unlikely to prove effective against future threats
security expert said monday
the transportation security administration tsa said the new measures would
include random enhanced checks on all international passengers flying into us
airports as well as compulsory stricter checks on those coming from or via
nations
the countries targeted include four nations that are us designated state
sponsors of terror as well as number of majority muslim or arab countries
edward alden security expert with the council on foreign relations denounced
the measures as crude
think that this is an ill considered response that will do more harm to the
united states than it does good he said
alden the author of book on us border policies after the september
attacks pointed out that former president george bush administration
learned we needed to handle people individually because there were bad people
coming from what we considered to be good countries
taking more nuanced approach led to whole series of developments these
include the watchlists information sharing within the government and within
allies he noted
the latest tsa measures come in the wake of christmas day plot in which
year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate an
explosive device and bring down northwest airlines plane as it came in to land
in detroit
the countries targeted for more stringent checks under the new rules include
nigeria but alden said reactive approach would not account for changes in al
qaeda recruiting measures
any crude screening system based on nationality is just going to be too
easy for al qaeda to defeat by recruiting elsewhere and the classic case of this
was of course was the failed shoe bomber richard reid said alden
he carried british passport so he not an individual who would have been
identified under the new system that tsa set up today
reid like abdulmutallab attempted to light an explosive device aboard an
airplane in both men were overpowered by other travellers and flight crew
if we put that new screening system in place with what we knew on december
th abdulmutallab would never have been picked out and targeted so think
that just underscores that these kind of measures are not the most effective way
to respond
alden instead urged efforts by president barack obama administration to
further improve intelligence sharing and monitoring systems
the challenge is to make this targeting system work better and that what the
various reviews that are underway in the administration right now are about but
adding another crude system that just targets everyone from these countries is
going to be ineffective and is going to hurt larger us interests
the nations affected by the new measures include cuba iran sudan and syria
all us designated state sponsors of terrorism
the checks will also apply to all passengers travelling from or via afghanistan
libya pakistan somalia and yemen as well as nigeria
the new york times and washington post quoted government officials as saying the
other four countries were algeria lebanon saudi arabia and iraq
facebook blocks social network suicide website
washington jan afp
facebook said monday that it is blocking website called web suicide
machine that helps users delete their social network profiles
the number one social network also said it had sent cease and desist letter
to another website seppukoo com which also helps you kill off your virtual
identity
the web suicide machine site which features hangman noose on its
homepage deletes profiles friends and other information on facebook myspace
twitter and linkedin for users who provide their account information
this machine lets you delete all your energy sucking social networking
profiles kill your fake virtual friends and completely do away with your
web alterego it says
facebook in statement to afp said the suicide site was in violation of
facebook rules
facebook provides the ability for people who no longer want to use the site to
either deactivate their account or delete it completely facebook said
web suicide machine collects login credentials which is violation of our
statement of rights and responsibilities srr it said
we ve blocked the site access to facebook as is our policy for sites that
violate our srr facebook said we re currently investigating and considering
whether to take further action
facebook which claims more than million users also said it had sent
seppukoo com cease and desist letter for similarly violating our policies
seppukoo com urges users to impress your friends and disconnect yourself by
committing online suicide in the manner of japanese samurai
ritual samurai suicide was known as seppuku
as the seppuku restores the samurai honour as warrior seppukoo com deals
with the liberation of the digital body the site says
suicide attacker at cia base was jordanian report
washington jan afp
the suicide attacker who killed eight people in an attack on cia base in
afghanistan was jordanian who had been recruited by jordanian intelligence as
double agent us media said monday
nbc news cited western intelligence officials as saying the jordanian
identified in the report as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi had been brought
to afghanistan with the specific mission of finding and meeting al qaeda number
two ayman al zawahiri
nbc said his handler in afghanistan captain in the jordanian intelligence
services identified by the jordanian state news agency petra as ali bin zeid
was killed in the attack along with seven cia officers
the officer was also member of the hashemite royal family which is part of
the reason the king and queen attended his funeral and why he is being
remembered as national hero bruce riedel former cia officer and white
house adviser told afp
western intelligence officials told nbc that al balawi reportedly called his
jordanian handler last week to say he needed to meet with the cia team based in
khost afghanistan because he had urgent information about zawahiri an
egyptian
the bomber allegedly was sent by ayman zawahiri himself to conduct the attack
and claimed he had information on zawahiri riedel said adding that all
remains unconfirmed as far as know
there had been earlier reports that the suicide attacker was an informant who
might not have been rigorously screened before being brought onto forward
operating base chapman base in eastern afghanistan that the cia used for its
campaign against militants on both sides of the afghan pakistani border
current and former us intelligence officials said the special relationship with
jordan dates back at least three decades and has recently progressed to the
point that the cia liaison officer in amman enjoys full unescorted access to
gid headquarters according to the report
the close ties helped disrupt several known terrorist plots including the
thwarted millennium conspiracy to attack tourists at hotels and other
sites the paper pointed out
jordanians also provided us officials with communications intercepts in the
summer of that warned of terrorist plans to carry out major attack on the
united states the post said
after the september attacks jordan agreed to create bilateral
operations center with the cia and helped in interrogations of non jordanian
suspects captured by the us central intelligence agency and transferred to
jordan in now famous rendition flights the paper noted
yemen instability threatens regional stability clinton
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton warned monday that instability in yemen
where the united states has closed its embassy over fears of an al qaeda strike
threatens regional stability
word of possible attack by the fundamentalist group prompted washington to
close its embassy in the yemeni capital on sunday the british and french
authorities followed suit while japan suspended consular services at its
embassy
the instability in yemen is threat to regional stability and even global
stability clinton told reporters following talks with qatari prime minister
sheikh hamad bin jassem bin jabr al thani
and certainly we know that this is difficult set of challenges but they
have to be addressed
she noted that washington was working closely with its allies to chart the best
way forward to address the security concerns
the united states will reopen its embassy in yemen when the conditions permit
the chief us diplomat added noting security was under constant review
long standing concerns that yemen has become haven for islamic terror groups
were thrown into sharp relief when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was
charged with trying to blow up us airliner on december
umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly confessed to being trained by an al
qaeda bombmaker in yemen for his alleged mission to blow up the plane as it came
into land in detroit sparking major international security scare
president barack obama has revealed that abdulmutallab spent time in yemen
during the summer where he was allegedly in contact with al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap
clinton noted the state department was reviewing whether to revise procedures
that allowed abdulmutallab to board the amsterdam detroit flight
based on what we know now the state department fully complied with the
requirements set forth in the interagency process as to what should be done when
information about potential threat is known she said
but we re looking to see whether those procedures need to be changed
upgraded
washington has noted that abdulmutallab the son of wealthy nigerian banker
was added to watchlist of some names last month after his father
warned us officials in abuja about his son increasing radicalism
but he was not added to the no fly list meaning he was able to use his
multiple entry two year visa obtained from the us embassy in london in june
to fly from lagos to amsterdam then on to detroit on christmas day
us updates no fly lists as airports tighten checks
washington jan afp
the united states monday radically overhauled its terror watch blacklists
adding dozens more suspects to no fly lists as air travelers around the world
faced tough new screening rules
there already been rescrubbing of all the different lists white house
spokesman bill burton told journalists referring to the lists which determine
whether person is allowed to board us bound flight in foreign airport
probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and
probably dozens were moved to different lists he added of the reviews carried
out in the wake of botched christmas day bombing of northwest jet
new rules at international airports also went into effect from early monday
meaning all passengers boarding us bound flights may now be subjected to random
checks and baggage searches
further boosting security measures all travelers coming from or via terror
linked countries will have to undergo compulsory enhanced screening
afghanistan cuba iran libya nigeria pakistan somalia sudan and syria and
yemen are among the countries affected
the alleged bomber of northwest flight year old nigerian umar farouk
abdulmutallab boarded the plane in amsterdam after arriving from lagos
he is also said to have spent time in yemen where he came into contact with
cell of the al qaeda network
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap has said it was behind the christmas
day plot to blow up the plane over detroit which failed when chemicals sewn into
abdulmutallab underwear failed to explode correctly
with western pressure growing for sanaa to tackle aqap yemeni forces shot dead
two al qaeda militants monday in bid to capture mohammed al hanq one of the
group most senior leaders who managed to flee the firefight
the united states britain and france have all closed their embassies in the
yemeni capital amid fears the al qaeda cell may be planning an attack
us secretary of state hillary clinton warned instability in yemen posed threat
to its neighbors and even further afield
the instability in yemen is threat to regional stability and even global
stability clinton told reporters and certainly we know that this is
difficult set of challenges but they have to be addressed
she said the us embassy would remain closed until the security conditions were
deemed to have improved
but yemeni foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi rejected any comparison between
his country and afghanistan as an al qaeda haven
the situation is different in yemen and cannot be compared to afghanistan
kurbi told reporters during visit to doha
yemen is capable of confronting these groups but it needs international aid to
form and train anti terrorist units as well as economic aid since the problem
also has an economic dimension
un chief ban ki moon meanwhile voiced support for upcoming international talks
on strife torn yemen proposed by british prime minister gordon brown later this
month
britain has denied accusations that it failed to share information about
abdulmutallab graduate of university college london who was put on
watchlist barring him from future entry into britain in may
brown office said information gathered while he was student in london
between and had been passed to us authorities
clearly there was security information about this individual activities and
that was information that was shared with the us authorities that is the key
point brown official spokesman told reporters
as the investigation into the botched bombing continued us president barack
obama prepared to meet tuesday with intelligence and security chiefs at the
white house
fbi agents were also in ghana investigating abdulmutallab stay where he
allegedly bought the ticket for the bomb targeted flight
nigerian officials meanwhile hit out at the new air travel rules it is unfair
to discriminate against over million people because of the behavior of one
person information minister dora akunyili told journalists
guard gunman killed in vegas courthouse shootout
las vegas nevada jan afp
gunman clad in black opened fire at las vegas federal courthouse monday
killing security guard and wounding deputy us marshal before he was shot
dead by law enforcement as he fled
federal bureau of investigation officials declined to release the identity of
the shooter or offer any motive for the am gmt incident that rattled
the city downtown area
witnesses heard lengthy rat tat tat of gun fight that left the suspect dead
on the sidewalk across the street from the courthouse
at this point we believe it was lone gunman criminal act not terrorist
act fbi special agent joseph dickey said
we are following up on this to determine why this man did what he did today
that going to take some time we are not going to release the name of this
person at this point
the gunman entered the lloyd george federal courthouse pulled concealed
shotgun from his jacket and began firing away indiscriminately from outside the
metal detectors dickey said
security officer stanley cooper was slain retired year veteran of
the las vegas metropolitan police department cooper had worked at the
courthouse since said jeff carter spokesman for the us marshals division
of the department of justice based in washington
year old deputy marshal whose identity has not been released was shot in
the upper arm and was in good enough condition to speak to investigators few
hours after the incident dickey said
henrietta moss was walking to work at pawn shop in the area when she
heard the commotion
it was pop pop pop pop pop and it went on said moss whose description
supported youtube video posted from few blocks away on which about shots
are heard
dickey said seven federal marshals and other security personnel from the
courthouse chased the suspect after he opened fire at which point he fled
before he was shot down
football scottish football league result
glasgow jan afp
scottish football league result on monday
first division
partick morton
us overhauls terror watch lists
washington jan afp
us terror watch lists have been radically overhauled after foiled attack on
us bound jet the white house said monday as president barack obama readied for
key talks on the security scare
the news came as tougher screening procedures for all us bound air travelers
swung into effect in airports around the world
obama who has denounced systemic intelligence failures in the christmas day
plot was preparing to meet with us intelligence chiefs and security officials
on tuesday to review the findings of two probes into the incident
but white house spokesman bill burton said safety and security measures are
moving forward even as the review goes on in bid to plug security gaps
there already been rescrubbing of all the different lists he told
journalists referring to the lists which determine whether person is allowed
to board us bound flight in foreign airport
probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and
probably dozens were moved to different lists he added
