qualify repeatedly
he also asked why there were no powder traces from the alleged shots on
curtain in the immediate vicinity does this make sense he asked
human rights groups say the biggest mystery about siddiqui is her whereabouts
during the five years prior to the alleged assault
siddiqui was living in pakistan when she vanished in march this was at
time of intense efforts by us backed pakistani security forces to root out al
qaeda and relatives believe she was grabbed in one of these operations
where she went then nobody knows
figure skating germans on top after short programme at euros
tallinn jan afp
two time world pairs champions aliona savchenko and robin szolkowy moved closer
to claiming fourth straight title at the european figure skating championship
by leading the short programme here on tuesday
the german pair earned standing ovation for their emotional and error free
performance to send in the clowns to lead russia yuko kavaguti and alexander
smirnov by points going into wednesday free skate final
savchenko and szolkowy scored just below their personal best with points
world bronze medallists kavaguti and smirnov beat their personal best by over
two points achieving despite mistake coming out of one of their lifts
in their programme to camille st saens the swan
russians maria mukhortova and maxim trankov are third with
earlier world ice dancing champions oksana domnina and maxim shabalin turned up
the heat as they returned from injury to lead russian in the compulsory
dance
domnina and shabalin performed to the sultry tango romantica to lead reigning
european champions jana khokhlova and sergei novitski by comfortable
points going into thursday original dance with the free dance final set for
friday
we looked into each other eyes and we showed true passion said domnina
the role of the strong courageous man suits maxim very well
shabalin said for the first day we can be very happy we coped with our
nerves and we skated well without any mistakes or wobbles
the couple were unable to defend their european title last year after shabalin
injured his knee during the compulsory dance and they missed this year grand
prix season because of the recurring problem
but their tango proved hit as they achieved points with khokhlova and
novitski scoring
the competition continues wednesday with the men short programme as five time
champion yvegeny plushenko of russia makes his international return after
retiring from competition four years ago
the olympic champion will be up against three time winner brian joubert of
france returning from foot injury and two time world champion stephane
lambiel of switzerland looking for his first european title
us designates al qaeda in arabian peninsula terrorist group
washington jan afp
the united states named tuesday al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap
terrorist group in bid to cut support to the outfit blamed for the plot to
bring down detroit bound jet on christmas day
the terrorist designations against aqap and its leaders nasir al wahishi and
said al shihri were made by secretary of state hillary clinton in consultation
with other senior officials in president barack obama administration
these actions prohibit provision of material support and arms to aqap and also
include immigration related restrictions that will help stem the flow of
finances to aqap clinton spokesman philip crowley said in statement
the measures also give the department of justice the tools it needs to
prosecute aqap members he added
crowley said the yemen based group has claimed it was behind number of attacks
saudi korean yemeni and us targets since it was founded in january
these include march suicide bombing against south korean tourists in yemen an
attempt in august to assassinate saudi prince muhammad bin nayif and the
december bid to blow up flight from amsterdam as it landed in detroit
the designations represent just one phase of the us government response to
the aqap threat adding washington had asked officials at the united nations to
take similar actions against the group and its leaders crowley said
rugbyu perpignan schuster banned for two weeks
dublin jan afp
perpignan prop jerome schuster has been banned for two weeks after being found
guilty of headbutting denis leamy during the french club european cup loss to
irish province munster last month
european rugby cup disciplinary officer lorne crerar ruled the incident was of
low end level of seriousness
taking into account schuster previous clean record he imposed ban until
february two weeks shorter than the international rugby board recommended
sanction for this type of offence
mixed feelings as us soldiers take control in haiti
port au prince jan afp
for solid week haitians prayed for deliverance first from the ravages of the
massive january earthquake then from the looting hunger and desperation
that have overtaken port au prince since the disaster
but the arrival of us paratroopers at haiti damaged general hospital tuesday
elicited mixture of both joy and resentment among divided residents of the
quake ravaged haitian capital
some residents said they welcomed the machine gun toting american soldiers
dressed in full combat gear who took control of the rubble strewn main
hospital
it good that they ve arrived here they re soldiers but there no need to
be afraid of them they are here to help us said gregory jeamblin man of
about years old
but there was also grumbling and resentment over the arrival at the hospital of
or so troops from the us army nd airborne division who immediately
after landing in port au prince marched through the city rubble strewn
streets and past its smashed businesses to take control of the hospital
look at that they re already telling us to leave said shelove cassamager
who said he had come to the hospital to tend an injured relative but was
unceremoniously shown the door by the us troops
the us military forces were part of global relief effort that gathered pace on
tuesday one week after the disaster
meanwhile us military helicopters also touched down tuesday on the grounds of
the damaged presidential palace dropping off more than us marines
deployment met with even greater ire on the part of many patriotic haitians
for many dejected haitians even as they welcome the prospect of vital aid the
arrival of us troops is symbol for how low the country has fallen in the space
of one dismal week
and the us deployment was not welcomed by some in the crowd who saw the arrival
as an affront to haitian sovereignty
haven seen the americans in the streets giving out water and food but now
they come to the palace said wilson guillaume as some of the homeless living
rough in the champ de mars square before the palace shouted abuse
it an occupation the palace is our power our face our pride said feodor
desanges
us officials said the troops are part of mobilization that will involve more
than troops they insist however that their presence was not meant to be
seen as show of military might but gesture of support
we are here to provide security to hospital we work with the government of
haiti there are rules of engagement but we are here in humanitarian mission
they asked us to help them said sergeant bill smith
as the us troops entered the hospital haitians crowded around on the sidewalk to
watch the procession some cheering and other glumly silent
quickly and decisively within minutes of their arrival at the hospital the
soldiers established their command of the facility ordering about or so men
to leave the building
inside the hospital the ill and injured watched the process as one soldier
barked out orders to thronging crowd to back up
they don understand what you ve saying another soldier told his comrade
the first soldier then instructed local official in loud voice tell them
to make way as he tried to clear the entrance for ambulances and to allow
patients in and out an order which the compliant crowd quietly obeyed
excited we are here to do good work for people one of the uniformed
soldiers told afp
sahara activist returns to spain for medical check
madrid jan afp
western sahara independence activist who staged hunger strike at spanish
airport last year that stoked tensions between madrid and rabat returned to
spain on tuesday for medical tests
aminatou haidar arrived at the airport of las palmas on spain canary islands
of flight from laayoune the main town in western sahara late on thursday
local media reported
she is expected to stay in the canaries for few days before heading to madrid
where she will undergo check up
haidar suffers from low blood pressure and stomach pain since she ended her
month long hunger strike at lanzarote airport also on the canary islands in
december her supporters told reporters in laayoune before she border her flight
for spain
the year old mother of two launched her hunger strike on november at
lanzarote airport after morocco denied her entry to her native western sahara as
she returned from accepting human rights award in the united states
moroccan authorities confiscated her passport after she refused to declare
herself as moroccan on an official form which they said was rejection of her
moroccan nationality and put her on plane back to lanzarote
morocco eventually yielded to pressure from several foreign governments and let
her return home on december soon after she was hospitalised after taking ill
from the effects of her month long hunger strike
earlier on monday amnesty international said haidar who holds spanish
residency permit has been under constant police vigilance since she returned
to the western sahara and do not let her speak to the foreign media
morocco annexation of the western sahara sparked war with the algeria backed
polisario front movement the two sides agreed ceasefire in but un
sponsored talks on its future have since made no headway
morocco has pledged to grant the territory widespread autonomy but rules out
independence
microsoft patching ie hole used by china cyber spies
san francisco jan afp
microsoft said tuesday it is working around the clock to patch an internet
explorer ie software hole through which china based cyber spies attacked
google and other firms
microsoft is testing security fix and will make it available as soon as it is
ready instead of following its protocol of releasing security updates the second
tuesday of each month
we are working by around the clock microsoft general manager of
trustworthy computing security george stathakopoulos told afp we have been
monitoring the threat landscape since the start of this issue
microsoft is to announce wednesday when the security patch will be released
attacks that prompted showdown between internet giant google and global power
china only worked against ie so computer users can protect themselves by
switching to newer versions of the web browser according to stathakopoulos
ie and seem to be holding stathakopoulos said none of the attacks we
know of will be effective against ie that could change but that is what we
know
no matter which web browser people use upgrading to the most current version
promises to increase protection against hackers
microsoft confirmed last week that previously unknown security vulnerability
in its ie browser was used in cyberattacks which prompted google to threaten
to shut down its operations in china
revealing the attacks on january google said they originated from china and
targeted the email accounts of chinese human rights activists around the world
but did not explicitly accuse the chinese government of responsibility
web security firm mcafee inc said that the attacks on google and other
companies showed level of sophistication beyond that of cyber criminals and
more typical of nation state
dmitri alperovitch vice president of threat research for mcafee said that
while mcafee had no proof that the chinese are behind this particular attack
think there are indications though that nation state is behind it
google said more than other unidentified firms were targeted in the highly
sophisticated attacks while other reports have put the number of companies
attacked at more than
stathakopoulos described the attacks as limited and targeted
only one other company adobe has come forward so far and acknowledged that it
was target
attackers used email or some other lure to get employees of targeted company
to click on link and visit specially crafted website using internet
explorer alperovitch said
malicious software would then be downloaded that has the capability to
essentially install back doors in machines and give hackers access according
to mcafee
urgent haiti death toll rises to government
port au prince jan afp
the number of people killed in last week devastating haitian earthquake has
risen to while were injured and million left homeless the
haitian government said tuesday
obese flyers to pay more with air france klm
the hague jan afp
obese people who are unable to squeeze into single plane seat will have to pay
nearly double to fly with air france klm in future the company said tuesday
extra large flyers will have to pay percent of the cost of second seat the
full price excluding tax and surcharges on top of the full price for the first
spokeswoman monique matze told afp saying the decision was taken for safety
reasons
we have to make sure that the backrest can move freely up and down and that all
passengers are securely fastened with safety belt said matze
people who cannot fit into single seat are fastened by slotting the belt tip
of one seat into the plug of the next stretching over both seats
by paying for both the overweight passenger will be assured that two seats will
be available next to each other they will however get their money back on
flights that are not fully booked said matze
the new measure will apply for people who book their tickets from february for
all flights from april this year
the average plane seat is centimetres about inches wide
centimetres for long haul flights
corrected us military to use two more airports for haiti aid
washington jan afp
the us military is to start operations at two other airports as port au prince
damaged airport equipped with single strained runway struggles to deal with
over aid flights day
the pentagon told reporters tuesday it would begin using other runways inside
haiti and across the border in the dominican republic
the first runway in haiti proper will go into operation in the vicinity of
jacmel within the next hours said major general daniel allyn the deputy
commander of the us task force responding to last week massive earthquake
jacmel to the south west of port au prince was badly hit by the magnitude
quake but has an airfield that allyn said had been assessed for use
we will begin to use that airfield primarily initially supporting the build
up of the canadian humanitarian assistance efforts that will be centered there
in jacmel allyn told reporters at the pentagon
he added the airport would also be used to continue to deliver food and
emergency supplies to the people in the southern provinces of haiti
the other airport that will be used is san isidro in the dominican republic
allyn said we are obviously very conscious of the need to have multiple ports
of entry
international military and aid personnel have struggled with haiti limited
airport capacity since the launch of massive relief effort last week
port au prince airport which is being run by the us military has single
airstrip and is being operated with damaged control tower
the country main seaport was also damaged in the disaster but allyn said the
military was close to initial operating capability in the port of port au
prince and was doing assessments of the other ports to rapidly support joint
logistics brought from afloat to shore
us designates al qaeda in arabian peninsula terrorist group
washington jan afp
the united states named tuesday al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap
terrorist group in bid to cut support to the outfit blamed for the plot to
bring down detroit bound jet on christmas day
these actions prohibit provision of material support and arms to aqap and also
include immigration related restrictions that will help stem the flow of
finances to aqap state department spokesman philip crowley said
alert
haiti death toll rises to government
gates seeks to reassure india over us plans in afghanistan
new delhi jan afp
defence secretary robert gates promised indian leaders in new delhi that
washington will not abandon afghanistan despite timeline for the withdrawal of
us troops officials said
in separate meetings with prime minister manmohan singh and foreign minister
krishna on tuesday gates discussed regional security and offered
reassurances over the target date of july for starting drawdown of
american forces us defence official said
gates mindful of india concerns about an early us exit pledged the united
states would remain committed to kabul with major economic and diplomatic
support even as its military presence is gradually scaled back after mid
the official told reporters
he told singh and krishna that we intend to be involved in the region for
very long time said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity
the united states which armed afghan islamic fighters against soviet forces in
the had made the mistake of turning away from afghanistan after the
soviets were driven out but would not repeat that mistake gates said according
to the official who attended the meetings
the secretary anticipated india concern and with both ministers was able
to stress that mid was the beginning of process that we have learned
from our experience in that we re not going to leave the region the
official said
india view was that washington needed to stay the course in afghanistan and
gates comments resonated very well with his hosts the official said
the prime minister and foreign minister for their part offered to keep up
india major reconstruction aid for afghanistan the official said
before landing in new delhi for his two day visit gates described india as
vital strategic partner fighting the threat posed by islamist militants in
afghanistan and pakistan
gates who was due to meet defence minister antony on wednesday also
discussed expanding military cooperation with india to include joint efforts to
safeguard sea lanes and ports cyber networks and space the official said
we want to develop cooperative programmes particularly in the maritime area
the cyberspace area and the space area the official said without offering
more details
the attacks on mumbai which left dead and which india has blamed on
the pakistan based islamist group lashkar taiba underlined the importance of
maritime security he said
the attack in mumbai came from the sea so there definite need to track the
movement of people who want to do harm to us out there the official said
us officials said the visit reflected blossoming relationship between the two
countries that has dramatically transformed since the mutual unease of the cold
war
defence ties have expanded following the attacks of september and
deal in july between the two countries helped clear the way for the sale of hi
tech us weaponry to india
gates told the prime minister and foreign minister that there were more
opportunities for defence trade and promised to help remove us legal barriers
blocking india access to some military technology defence officials said
number of cooperation agreements were under discussion that would permit india
to purchase wider array of weaponry with sophisticated technology the
officials said
the pentagon chief wanted to enable india to take advantage of the best
technology that we can offer the defence official said
gates cited the recent sale of us made transport planes to india as success
and said american industry appeared well situated in competition for
lucrative contract to build fighter jets for india the official said
kennedy seat loss would imperil obama health drive
boston massachusetts jan afp
republicans hoped for huge upset in us senate election in massachusetts
tuesday which could scupper president barack obama health reform drive and
cloud his entire agenda
the white house admitted obama was surprised and frustrated and not pleased
about the narrow nature of the race but dismissed the idea that it showed he
was out of touch with the angry mood felt by americans
voters headed to the polls undaunted by crisp winter weather and some light snow
in special election called following the death of party icon and health care
champion edward kennedy who died from cancer last august
should democrats lose the seat their vote senate supermajority will
dissolve allowing republicans to throw up multiple road blocks to slow obama
sweeping domestic agenda
lackluster campaign by democratic nominee martha coakley and fiery
insurgent bid by republican scott brown fanning populist anger at obama
program and the economic crisis set up the possibility of stunning upset
the choice could not be more stark and the result could not be of greater
consequence for massachusetts or the nation obama said in an email to
voters
brisk turnout was recorded in the liberal state with democrats hoping to
confound late polls showing brown with an unlikely advantage by firing up
massive voter turnout operation
both parties spent millions of advertising dollars when it became clear late
last week that the race was unexpectedly close and top democrats and party
workers from outside massachusetts have been flooding voters with calls
obama had appeared to be on the verge of passing historic health reform
package goal which confounded generations of previous presidents
but without senate votes prospects for passing the bill would be uncertain
brown has promised to be the st republican vote to derail health care reform
if he wins
think you can make pretty good argument that health care might be dead
representative anthony weiner told msnbc
brown triumph would have wider implications for obama agenda and political
prestige and complicate his bid to pass items like cap and trade climate
legislation and immigration reform
republican win would also likely scare some conservative democrats away from
obama side as they face mid term congressional polls in november with the
president approval ratings slipping and the economy in the mire
the reality of it is that people of boston have very definite idea of what
they want and what they don want said republican national committee chairman
michael steele told cbs
the white house has been arguing that the massachusetts vote is not referendum
on obama pointing out he still enjoys high approval in the state
they also reject the idea voters are out to thwart his bid to rein in insurance
companies cut costs and grant health care to of the million americans who
currently lack it
obama will nevertheless call the winner of tuesday election his spokesman
robert gibbs said and views the race as more evidence of the popular upset and
anger at incumbent politicians which powered his own election race
that not surprise to us in this administration because in many ways
we re here because of that upset and anger gibbs said
obama faces this perilous situation just year after his january
inauguration which saw democrats in control of both congress and the white
house and predictions new progressive era was dawning
the latest public policy polling survey of the race gave brown percent of the
vote to coakley percent
another poll commissioned by the politico website showed the republican ahead
percent to percent
democratic alarm over massachusetts became clear when obama took time off from
the haiti earthquake crisis to put his prestige on the line and campaign for
coakley on sunday
several voters questioned at boston polling station tuesday said they would
back coakley
voted for coakley because democrat and because of health care
continue to support obama agenda said leon martinez
an estimated to million voters were expected to turn out on tuesday
despite light snow falling in the boston area polls were not due to close until
pm gmt with nervous night ahead for both candidates
russian right winger suggests polygamy to boost population
moscow jan afp
russian ultra nationalist politician vladimir zhirinovsky on tuesday suggested
raft of measures including polygany to reverse post soviet population decline
russian agencies reported
speaking at russian parliament meeting zhirinovsky the flamboyant leader of
the liberal democratic party suggested allocating rubles euros
dollars for first born
with such payment assure you half of the women planning an abortion would
change their minds he said
currently the russian state pays mothers euros us dollars for
every second birth
zhirinovsky also said men should be authorised to marry twice and that the
state should provide special assistance for the estimated six million childless
couples in the country
if we helped just five percent of these couples we would have around
extra births per year he said
russian president dmitry medvedev reportedly said the proposals were very
interesting and told his ministers to look into them
russia population fell precipitously after the collapse of communism
dropping from around million then to some million today due to various
factors including economic difficulties and high alcoholism rates
the government has taken range of measures to fight the population decline
including awarding medals of parental glory to parents of many children
in late december prime minister vladimir putin announced that russia in
had experienced its first annual population increase since
us congress considers tax break for haiti aid donations
washington jan afp
both chambers of the us congress will on wednesday consider legislation allowing
americans to claim tax deductions on donations to the massive relief effort
underway in haiti
the legislation which has bipartisan support is intended to encourage us
citizens to donate generously to the aid operation launched in the wake of last
week catastrophic magnitude earthquake
in the house of representatives the bill is the first order of business for
lawmakers wednesday and could pass the chamber by day end
in the senate the text of the legislation will be introduced on wednesday but
vote is not expected the same day senate source said
us lawmakers approved similar measure in after december tsunami
devastated parts of asia they extended the fiscal year until january to
encourage more tax deductible donations
the legislation to be considered this week in the senate would apply to
donations up until march
this proposal is call to arms for all americans to give to the relief and
rebuilding of this struggling nation to help ease the suffering they face each
day and for days and weeks to come senator max baucus said in statement
released friday
rugbyu wales peel promises to be back in weeks
cardiff jan afp
wales scrum half dwayne peel said he hoped to be back training in couple of
weeks after scan revealed his groin injury was not as severe as first feared
the sale number nine suffered the injury during saturday european cup defeat
by cardiff blues and has been ruled out of wales six nations opener against
england at twickenham on february
there were fears that peel capped times might miss the whole of the
tournament but he could yet be fit for the february clash with scotland in
cardiff although the millennium stadium encounter with france on february
looks more likely date for possible comeback
the specialist scanned the injury and it groin strain peel said tuesday
hopefully should be back in full training in couple of weeks
wales are also currently without another british and irish lions scrum half in
mike phillips who has an ankle injury
martin roberts appears to be in pole position to start against england but wales
coach warren gatland has alternatives for the no shirt in the experienced
gareth cooper and cardiff in form richie rees
around dead in nigeria clashes paramedic clerics
kano nigeria jan afp
around people have been killed in three days of muslim christian clashes in
the central nigerian city of jos according to unconfirmed figures given by
clerics and medical sources on tuesday
there was no official confirmation of the death toll amid reports of continuing
armed clashes in various parts of the city
christian leader said followers had died by monday while he counted more
deaths on tuesday
as at yesterday had dead the reverend chung dabo secretary of the
christian association of nigeria can in jos told afp
dabo said the additional deaths had been reported in the small town of
bukuru on the outskirts of jos
muslim leader balarabe dawud earlier said at least had died overnight and
on tuesday on monday he gave toll of deaths from sunday when fighting
first erupted between christians and muslims in the divided city
fighting in bukuru on the outskirts of jos on tuesday left another five people
dead according to maryam mohammed paramedic working at the clinic there
venezuela government moves into seized supermarkets
caracas jan afp
venezuela said tuesday it was temporarily taking over exito supermarkets the
franco colombian chain which president hugo chavez had ordered seized for
alleged price gouging
we are carrying out this step temporary takeover ahead of legal proceedings
to conclude expropriation of the entire supermarket chain interior minister
tareck el aissami said in one of the stores in anzoategui state
president chavez is charging in the battle against speculation he added
the leftist chavez said sunday the government would expropriate exito
supermarkets for price speculation in the wake of the devaluation of the
national currency the bolivar last week
the exito chain is majority owned by french group casino and has branches in
several venezuelan cities it sells everything from food to home appliances
chavez week ago announced crackdown on price gouging day ahead of an
official devaluation of the bolivar which on monday began trading at to
the us dollar for non essential goods double the previous rate and at
to the dollar for basic goods
by thursday he made good on his threat by temporarily shuttering more than
retail stores some of which he accused of hiking prices by percent
the bolivar devaluation was the first since and was designed in part to
bolster public finances that have withered amid dwindling oil revenues and
rapidly contracting economy
