motivated but acknowledged obama campaign inspired me to get back into the
electoral process
when asked if he was surprised by the audience enthusiastic reception
hutchins said yeah not that thought it was bad music but you never know
how people are going to react to do something you do from your heart
obama us approval ratings have fallen since he took office year ago but he
is popular in germany where percent saw him as their political role model in
november poll almost twice the number of the closest german politician
the rising us political candidate drew people to berlin event in july
and wilson who has performed all over germany in other shows says
they re big fans of president obama
in us quinnipiac university poll released last week voters were split
on whether obama first year was success or failure compared with percent
approval just after his inauguration
in frankfurt the show drew relatively young crowd which clapped drummed on
specially designed seats and gave performers standing ovation at the end
preferring the powerful gospel based numbers most of all
plans are being laid to take it to other cities around germany
the one off performance would benefit from longer run so actors could get
deeper into their roles but one spectator roswitha bauer said it had done
pretty good job of presenting obama story
spectator hirschfeld brought her year old son david who will recommend any
future shows to friends for the music and the dance but thought an early scene
where women go to spa to relieve the tension of daily life was pretty
confusing
having visited the united states he said what up with that don think
they go to the spa that often
two other shows have already put the us president on stage meanwhile obama on
my mind in london and obama the musical in nairobi
jal shares sink on eve of expected bankruptcy filing
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines shares plunged to an all time low of just five us cents monday on
the eve of an expected bankruptcy filing by the carrier that could be one of the
biggest in japan in recent decades
jal shares slid two yen or percent to end at five yen five us cents as
investors bailed out ahead of an announcement tuesday on state backed
restructuring package for the troubled airline
the market value of the once venerable carrier now stands at just million
dollars less than the cost of one new jumbo jet
with debts estimated at about two trillion yen billion dollars jal
bankruptcy would be the biggest failure among japanese non financial firms since
world war ii according to tokyo shoko research an advisory firm
jal which lost about billion dollars in the six months to september has
already received an emergency loan from state backed bank and is seeking more
public aid in the face of mounting debts
according to japanese media jal is set to receive an injection of public funds
worth several hundred billion yen under turnaround plan that would see it file
for bankruptcy but continue flying
at the same time jal creditor banks are expected to be asked to forgive loans
worth several hundred billion yen
in painful bid to return to profitability the airline is reportedly set to
slash more than jobs roughly third of its workforce and sell non
core assets such as hotels to stem massive losses
experts said radical downsizing was long overdue at jal which has been hobbled
by high costs since its days as state owned flag carrier and is overexposed to
unprofitable domestic and overseas routes
until now jal has never been able to carry out fundamental restructuring
said katsuyuki nakai an analyst at the credit ratings agency standard and
poor
the key is whether they can quickly implement truly effective policies
jal has been hit hard by industry turbulence unleashed by the september
terrorist attacks in the united states the iraq war and the global financial
crisis as well as the sars bird flu and influenza health scares
the formerly state owned carrier the recipient of series of government
bailouts has faced political pressure to service unprofitable routes to small
domestic airports built in an effort to revive the ailing economy
jal was also slower than its rival all nippon airways to slash flights on
underperforming routes following the september attacks making it
particularly vulnerable when the global economic crisis exploded in
but eyeing its lucrative asian landing slots us carriers american airlines and
delta air lines are now in bidding war for slice of the airline
the top selling yomiuri newspaper reported saturday quoting unnamed company
sources that jal had reached an agreement to tie up with delta air lines and
switch to the skyteam alliance
while the government has pledged to do its utmost to ensure the airline keeps
flying during restructuring jal bankruptcy would likely leave investors out
of pocket and impact the aviation and related industries
tokyo shoko research estimated that some companies worked with the jal
group as their major customers those companies collectively conducted business
with more than other firms it said
one of the biggest worries is whether those business relationships would be
maintained said an official from the research firm
malaysia summons us diplomat over terrorist attack warning
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia has summoned us diplomat over travel advisory that warned of
terrorist attacks targeting borneo tourist destinations senior official said
monday
the us embassy in kuala lumpur said friday there were indications that criminal
and terrorist groups are planning strikes in isolated areas of eastern sabah
state on borneo island including the diving resort of sipadan
malaysian authorities have played down the warning saying that security
measures and intelligence gathering in the area have been dramatically increased
since foreign hostages were snatched in
tan tai heng head of the foreign ministry information department said us
embassy official was expected to arrive at the ministry later monday for
discussions over the issue
it could be the us ambassador or representative of the us embassy he told
afp the us mission was not immediately able to comment
tens of thousands of westerners visit the state of sabah annually attracted by
its scenery and world class diving especially in the waters off sipadan which
lies close to the troubled southern philippines
other foreign countries have warned their citizens of the threat of attacks in
sabah which lies in malaysia half of borneo which is split with indonesia
but the us advisory was more specific on the areas targeted
it identified the destinations of semporna mabul and sipadan and called on
citizens to please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with any travel
in these areas or locations
in the abu sayyaf militant group took people hostage including
foreigners in sipadan and took them to their base on jolo island in the
philippines holding most of them for several months
tourism is major foreign exchange earner for malaysia which has seen its
export dependent economy hit hard by the global recession contracting by
forecast percent in
afghan capital shut down as taliban lay siege to city centre
kabul jan afp
the acrid stench of cordite hung in the clear blue winter sky after blinding
flash announced the latest eruption of taliban violence in kabul driving
residents and shoppers scurrying for safety
sirens sounded through the deserted streets as ambulances and fire engines sped
towards the main fighting in pashtunistan square where taliban militants laid
siege to major buildings in the heart of the capital
massive explosion shook the city as television pictures showed one of kabul
few shopping malls burning and billowing black smoke
saw police and army soldiers running all over the place they seemed like
were trying to stop car said afp driver aktar mohammad who was just
metres yards away from roundabout near the foreign ministry when suicide
car bomber apparently detonated his vehicle monday
at that time saw huge light flash right in front of me then big
explosion and thick smoke billowing up he said adding just shifted into
reverse and drove out of there
police officer told an afp photographer that the suicide bomber had used an
ambulance
less than kilometre half mile away outside the qari sami shopping centre
formerly one of the biggest fashion outlets in kabul security forces took cover
behind military vehicles
they trained their automatic weapons on the building where taliban militants
were believed to have taken up positions
international military said they were helping afghan army and police to secure
the area bringing in humvees and other armoured vehicles
nato international security assistance force isaf said that afghan security
forces had killed two militants and the health ministry said people had been
wounded and taken to hospital
the taliban said it had sent suicide bombers into the heart of the capital
its targets including the presidential palace and the central bank
man calling himself zabihullah mujahid and claiming to be spokesman for the
militant taliban organisation added that one militant had detonated suicide
vest at the entrance to the presidential palace complex
it is our work the targets are the presidential palace the finance justice
and mines ministries and the central bank purported taliban spokesman told
afp by telephone from an undisclosed location
twenty of our suicide bombers have entered the area and fighting is ongoing
he said
floors collapse in fatal ukraine hospital blast pm office
kiev jan afp
several floors collapsed in an explosion monday at hospital in ukraine
eastern city of lugansk that reportedly killed two people the office of prime
minister yulia tymoshenko said
as result of violation of security rules in the intensive care unit of
hospital number seven of lugansk oxygen canisters exploded it said in
statement
several floors of the hospital collapsed it said adding that tymoshenko was
flying to the scene
the interfax ukraine news agency reported earlier that two people were killed in
an explosion caused by the canisters exploding on the fourth floor of the seven
storey hospital citing sources
world tourism to recover in unwto
madrid jan afp
international tourist arrivals should increase to percent in after
difficult year the un world tourism organisation said monday
international tourist arrivals fell by an estimated percent in it said
in its world tourism barometer
but prospects have also improved with arrivals now forecast to grow between
and percent in this outlook is confirmed by the remarkable rise of
the wnwto panel of experts confidence index
most wanted fugitive arrested in philippines
manila jan afp
philippine security agents shot and then arrested the main suspect wanted over
the killing of the son of senior aide to president gloria arroyo officials
said monday
police launched massive manhunt for jason ivler after he allegedly shot dead
renato ebarle jnr during road rage incident in manila in november in crime
that shocked the nation
ivler was wounded in shootout when agents of the national bureau of
investigation nbi stormed his family home in manila suburb said nbi deputy
director ruel lasala in radio interview
two nbi agents were also wounded in the incident which was captured live by
television news crew
television footage showed nbi agents shooting into darkened doorway after
coming under fire allegedly from ivler who was armed with an assault rifle
bleeding screaming ivler is then shown being held down by nbi agents
he had been one of the most wanted men in the country since he was identified as
the motorist who shot dead ebarle jnr who was at the wheel of another car
ivler is alleged to have been in vehicle bearing licence plates reserved for
foreign diplomats his step father is an asian development bank staffer but
police have not linked him to the shooting
the victim was the son of renato ebarle snr undersecretary at the office of the
executive secretary making him the main assistant to arroyo chief aide
undersecretary ebarle said in television interview that he was happy about the
arrest but expressed resentment at the ivler family accusing them of hiding
their son while claiming he had fled possibly abroad
the mother marlene ivler who had previously made public appeal for her son
to surrender was also arrested and could be charged for harbouring fugitive
the failure to capture ivler became major embarrassment for the government in
one incident filipino working in qatar was deported in december because he
was mistaken for the suspect
ivler was in hospital receiving treatment after his capture monday nbi
officials said he was conscious but gave no further details on his condition
pope failed assassin proclaims end of world
ankara jan afp
mehmet ali agca the turk who tried to kill pope john paul ii in
proclaimed the end of the world in written statement upon being released
from jail monday after nearly three decades behind bars
the year old agca who claims to be the second messiah and is believed by
some to be mentally disturbed described himself as the christ eternal in
statement distributed by his lawyer outside high security prison near ankara
proclaim the end of the world all the world will be destroyed in this
century every human being will die in this century he wrote
the gospel is full of mistakes will write the perfect gospel he said
signing the paper as the christ eternal mehmet ali agca
memorable picture of agca shaking hands with pope john paul ii was attached to
the statement
the late pope had visited agca in his italian jail in and forgave him for
the attack which had left the pontiff seriously wounded
in series of rambling letters from prison agca had fed suggestions he is
mentally unstable asking also to team up with best selling writer dan brown for
novel called the vatican code and volunteering to go to afghanistan to
kill al qaeda leader osama bin laden
urgent floors collapse in ukraine hospital blast pm office
kiev jan afp
several floors collapsed in an explosion monday at hospital in ukraine
eastern city of lugansk that reportedly killed two people the office of prime
minister yulia tymoshenko said
child among three killed in kabul attacks official
kabul jan afp
child is among the dead in one of the worst insurgent attacks on kabul
officials said monday adding that police officer and an afghan soldier have
also been killed
total of people were wounded said defence ministry spokesman mohammad
zahir azimi adding they included civilians and members of the afghan
security forces
speaking on private tolo television he said four terrorists had also been
killed bringing the toll so far to seven
an unknown number of heavily armed gunmen took over government buildings and
some shopping centres in the centre of the afghan capital keeping afghan and
international security forces at bay for more than three hours
interior ministry spokesman zemarai bashary told afp that most of the buildings
taken over by militants had been cleared and firefighters were moving in to
quell blazes
there is still resistance in the cinema he said referring to french style
cinema close to the justice ministry
security forces have moved there to clear it he said
hotel owner sent sms to get rescue after four days report
berlin jan afp
the german co owner of top port au prince hotel sent an sms message to her son
to get help to drag her out of the earthquake rubble bild newspaper reported
monday
nadine cardoso riedl spent four days in the debris of the montana hotel
used by foreign tourists and officials until she was rescued in the early hours
of sunday the report said
the woman was said to be badly dehydrated but otherwise in good condition
about people were said to be missing in the rubble of the hotel according
to french minister
football nigeria promised big pay day to win nations cup
benguela angola jan afp
nigeria are set for big pay day with each player guaranteed at least
dollars should they win their third africa cup of nations here in angola
officials have disclosed
the nigeria football federation nff have already announced that each player
will get if they qualify the team to the knockout stage of angola
and draw with mozambique on wednesday in lubango will earn them this bonus
officials informed that the super eagles as the nigeria team are known by their
fans could almost triple this bonus if they go all the way and clinch the
trophy on january at the november stadium in luanda
breakdown of this payment showed win in the quarter finals will earn each
player another victory in the semi final means each player will pocket
an additional while winning the final will make each player another
richer
the nff now pay each player daily camping allowance of meaning that for
the three weeks they will be in angola player will be paid another
they have already pocketed man as an appearance fee for the competition
bringing the total of these bonuses to
the nff and the presidential task force for the world cup will each
contribute half of these payments
it is now left for the players to earn it said top nff official
the nff have also made it rule for the eagles to now travel in more comfort
and so each player is now entitled to fly business class during any
international engagement
besides huge financial rewards players were given houses and national honours
by the nigerian government when they won the nations cup in and
hotel owner sent sms to get rescue after four days report
berlin jan afp
the german co owner of top port au prince hotel sent an sms message to her son
to get help to drag her out of the earthquake rubble bild newspaper reported
monday
nadine cardoso riedl spent four days in the debris of the montana hotel
used by foreign tourists and officials until she was rescued in the early hours
of sunday the report said
the woman was said to be badly dehydrated but otherwise in good condition
about people were said to be missing in the rubble of the hotel according
to french minister
cricket zaheer jolts bangladesh with two quick wickets
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
zaheer khan grabbed two wickets in successive overs to end bangladesh early
flourish in the opening test against india here on monday
bangladesh were comfortably placed at for no loss before slipping to at
tea on the second day in reply to india first innings total of with left
arm paceman zaheer taking two wickets and ishant sharma one
sachin tendulkar earlier scored brilliant not out for his th test
century to boost india total he cracked two sixes and fours in his
ball knock
for bangladesh raqibul hasan was unbeaten on one at the interval and mohammad
ashraful had yet to open his account when tea was taken early due to bad light
the home side got off to sound start with left handed openers tamim iqbal
and imrul kayes playing some handsome shots against the indian strike
bowlers
iqbal was initially more aggressive scoring in the opening four overs before
his partner opened his account he hit runs including two fours in the
first over bowled by zaheer
kayes outscored iqbal after lunch hitting zaheer for two boundaries in an over
and then driving shanthakumaran sreesanth for four
zaheer provided the breakthrough when he removed kayes who was trapped leg
before while playing across the line he then bowled iqbal in his next over with
delivery that kept low
sharma lone victim was shahriar nafees who was caught by venkatsai laxman at
second slip after contributing only four
india posted their lowest ever total against bangladesh despite tendulkar
century their previous lowest in completed innings was in dhaka in
india reeling at on sunday lost their remaining two wickets in less than
eight overs in the morning with left arm spinner shakib al hasan and paceman
shahadat hossain finishing with five wickets apiece
shakib grabbed for his sixth haul of five or more wickets in tests and
shahadat took for his third
tendulkar who had only tail enders sharma and sreesanth for company went for
shots early in the morning in pursuit of his century
resuming on his overnight score of he pulled shahadat for four in the
first over after play started minutes late due to fog and then hoisted
shakib over long on for six
tendulkar was on when last man sreesanth joined him and completed his century
with two successive fours off shahadat
ukraine presidential vote heads for tense run off
kiev jan afp
ukraine on monday braced for tense presidential election run off between two
old rivals who favour close ties with russia after voters rejected the pro
western leader of the orange revolution
preliminary results showed dour pro moscow candidate viktor yanukovich had won
sunday first round of voting in stunning turnaround for the politician
blamed for organising poll rigging in that sparked the orange uprising
but having failed to muster majority yanukovich will face the second place
candidate the glamorous prime minister yulia tymoshenko in run off on
february
in stinging rebuke for the pro west revolt some six years later its leader
and the country incumbent president viktor yushchenko was eliminated in the
first round with miserable single digit result in the poll
with votes from percent of polling stations counted yanukovich had
percent of the vote and tymoshenko percent the central election commission
said
third place went to businessman sergiy tigipko who polled percent his
electorate will now prove crucial in determining the fate of the second round
yushchenko meanwhile languished on five percent in fifth place behind youthful
former parliament speaker aresniy yatseniuk who took fourth with seven percent
while tymoshenko must make up serious deficit in the second round analysts
have said the image conscious prime minister could reel in the difference if she
mobilises anti yanukovich voters
if tymoshenko is less than percent behind then her chances of winning in the
second round climb sharply said analyst igor zhdanov of the open policy think
tank
tymoshenko famed for her peasant style blond hair braid was leader of the
orange revolution along with yushchenko but in recent years has played up her
close ties to russian strongman prime minister vladimir putin
and while yanukovich has long been seen as kremlin favourite he has sought to
reinvent himself with the help of western public relations strategists and
present himself as defender of ukrainian interests
yanukovich never distanced himself from the fraud of said nico lange of
the konrad adenauer foundation in kiev but my impression is that the
yanukovich of is different to the yanukovich of
the pair who have been rivals for the last decade while occasionally even
flirting with an alliance both said they were certain of victory
yanukovich who represents criminal circles has no chance in the second
round said tymoshenko at her post election news conference resplendent in
pure white costume
her opponent snapped back that ukrainians had voted for change and said that
tymoshenko was in despair
the second round promises to be gloves off affair and analysts have warned of
high risk that the result will be taken to the courts perhaps even sparking
fresh street protests
the bitter campaign has already seen the shady pasts of the candidates once
again dredged up
yanukovich was jailed twice in the soviet era for theft and assault though the
convictions were erased in the late tymoshenko herself was briefly
detained in on smuggling charges that were later quashed
the orange revolution swept yushchenko to power in re run of the rigged
poll and raised hopes of new era free of kremlin influence for the country of
million that would set precedent for other ex soviet states
though ukraine now boasts improved freedom of speech steps to implement reform
and end corruption were forgotten as government became paralysed in bitter
power struggle between yushchenko and tymoshenko
as in previous votes the election showed ukraine to be divided nation with
the industrial and largely russian speaking east of the country backing
yanukovich and the ukrainian speaking west going for tymoshenko
yanukovich polled crushing percent of the vote in his eastern regional
stronghold of donetsk but could manage mere six percent in the lviv region
close to the polish border the results showed
somali pirates free greek supertanker
mogadishu jan afp
somali pirates on monday freed the greek supertanker vlcc maran centaurus one
of the largest ships ever hijacked after plane dropped at least five million
dollars in ransom on the deck
the ransom also one of the largest ever paid sparked deadly feud within the
group of pirates delaying the release of the ship and its crew of seamen who
were taken in the indian ocean on november
she free she preparing to sail out from the pirate lair of harardhere
andrew mwangura of the east african seafarers assistance programme told afp
pirate sources in harardhere said the huge ship was still anchored off
harardhere on monday apparently receiving last minute technical assistance from
nearby foreign warship
ecoterra international an environmentalist ngo that monitors illegal maritime
activity in the region said the last pirates left the very large crude carrier
vlcc early monday
the stash of the record breaking ransom over seven million dollars is
reportedly now held in heavily guarded house in harardhere the group said in
statement
it added that pirates reportedly bragged about generously giving dollars to
each crew member filipinos nine greeks two ukrainians and romanian
for good cooperation
on december the metre foot long ship was brought to the pirate
base of hobyo but was subsequently moved further south to harardhere the
capital of somali piracy
the built supertanker the second largest vessel seized by somali pirates
yet is carrying two million barrels of crude which is equivalent to the daily
output of some of the world top oil producers
the largest snatched by somalia marauding freebooters was the sirius star
saudi owned vlcc seized in for which an estimated eight million dollars
were paid in ransom money
the hijacking of the sirius star sent shockwaves through the shipping world as
pirates showed they could disturb key interests on one of the world busiest
maritime trade routes
the incident also raised fears that pirates might one day use hijacked ship as
weapon to carry out an attack and cause unprecedented human and environmental
damage
the ship the first known case of greek flagged vessel being hijacked was
headed from saudi arabia to the united states
the tonne deadweight supertanker hijacked by nine pirates was easy
prey for pirates equipped with fast skiffs and grapnels as it moves slowly and
could not outmanoeuvre the nimble sea robbers and has low freeboard
supertankers such as these with less than crew on ship third of
kilometre long cruise on auto pilot most of the time and would rarely have
anybody keeping watch on deck at night
since foreign navies deployed to protect the crucial maritime choking point of
the gulf of aden somalia sea bandits have ventured deeper into the indian
ocean seizing ships as far east as the seychelles and beyond
always paid in cash to avoid modern transaction monitoring large ransoms have
often been parachuted from small planes directly onto the deck of the hijacked
ship
in the vlcc maran centaurus case such an operation is facilitated by the fact
that its deck can hold three football pitches
according to ecoterra the pirates still hold at least ships and around
seamen hostage
bears rescued from bile trade in vietnam activists
hanoi jan afp
an animal welfare group in vietnam on monday rescued bears that were living
in cramped containers on an illegal bile farm the group said
hong kong based animals asia foundation said the bears were being driven to the
group moon bear rescue centre near hanoi after being discovered in foot
metre cargo containers in binh duong province near southern ho chi minh
city
the containers are divided into six to seven compartments with one bear per
compartment this is the first time we ve seen bears kept under these
conditions animals asia vietnam director tuan bendixsen said in statement
the group said the central and provincial forest protection departments asked
for its help few weeks ago after authorities decided to close down the bear
farm for not meeting regulations
taiwanese businessman who owned the bears moved them to cargo containers two
months ago after authorities warned him about the concrete cells in which he
had kept them for several years animals asia said
bear bile is extracted with needles in process which activists say endangers
the bears
in traditional chinese medicine it is prescribed as health tonic an anti
inflammatory cure for liver and heart ailments and an aphrodisiac it is even
found as an additive in shampoo toothpaste and soft drinks
bile farming has been illegal in vietnam for years but farmers were allowed to
keep the bears they already had and in thousands were given microchips in
an effort to monitor the population
bendixsen said staff at the binh duong farm told him two of the rescued bears
did not have microchips
asiatic black bears also known as moon bears are under threat of extinction
animals asia says
alert
several floors collapse in ukraine hospital explosion pm office
suu kyi lawyers give final appeal arguments
yangon jan afp
myanmar supreme court heard final arguments on monday against the extended
house arrest of detained pro democracy icon aung san suu kyi her lawyer said
the year old opposition leader was ordered in august to spend another
months in detention after being convicted over an incident in which us man
swam to her house lower court rejected an initial appeal in october
monday hearing at the top yangon court where both sides gave arguments
lasted more than three hours according to suu kyi main lawyer kyi win he
said decision was expected within month
we expect them to accept our arguments and after that release daw aung san suu
kyi he told afp daw is term of respect in myanmar
