there are many of us thinking of you and appreciating the work you do it was
very rewarding for me to come meet you the princess told the troops at
swedish finnish camp northern lights in mazar sharif the military reported
wish you the best of luck in your work and hope you realise what difference
you are making for the people of afghanistan
more than swedish troops are currently deployed in afghanistan they are
stationed in the minority ethnic uzbek tajik and hazara dominated north of the
country along with finnish troops
greenpeace urges denmark to release detained members
madrid dec afp
the head of greenpeace international south africa kumi naidoo appealed to
danish authorities monday to release four members of the organisation arrested
at the un climate summit last month
the director of greenpeace spain juan lopez de uralde and norwegian nora
christiasen fooled security staff at the danish parliament in copenhagen by
drawing up to december gala dinner of the un climate conference in
limousine and wearing evening attire
there they unfurled banners reading politicians talk leaders act at the
entrance
two others greenpeace activists were also held over incident
naidoo said he is on european tour to campaign for their release as well as
to keep pressure on the governments following the disaster of the copenhagen
summit
we are already saddened that the response of danish authorities has been so
disproportionate to keep them in prison during christmas and new year to
deprive them visits from their families and easy access to lawyers he told
news conference in madrid
he is to be in copenhagen on thursday when danish court to announce whether
the four will remain in custody
greenpeace spain last week delivered petition backed by people to the
danish embassy in madrid demanding their release
fbi in ghana to probe botched us plane attack minister
accra jan afp
agents of the us federal bureau of investigation fbi have arrived here to
probe the sojourn in ghana of nigerian man accused of attempting to blow up
us airliner minister told afp monday
the investigation will allow the fbi agents to gather more information on the
suspect stay in ghana deputy information minister james agyenin boateng told
afp
he did not say when the fbi team arrived in ghana and how long the agents plan
to stay in the country
cricket dilshan stars in sri lankan victory
dhaka jan afp
tillakaratne dilshan cracked solid century to power sri lanka to an emphatic
seven wicket victory over bangladesh in triangular one day series match here
on monday
the in form opener hit for his sixth one day hundred as sri lanka surpassed
bangladesh with more than five overs to spare in the day night match
bangladesh were earlier well served by mohammad ashraful who made an impressive
to help his side post competitive total
sri lanka will now clash with india on tuesday each side will play four league
matches before the top two make it to the final on january
dilshan who had smashed two centuries in india in five match series just
before this tournament put his side on course for an easy victory with
run stand for the second wicket with skipper kumar sangakkara
the sri lankan captain was more aggressive than his partner scoring ball
with fours before being caught behind off debutant seamer shafiul islam
sangakkara who elected to field after winning the toss said he did not want to
bowl in the night because of the dew
have seen dew before but never like this would not want to field in
conditions like this my bowlers would not want to bowl in these conditions he
said
bangladesh had chance to dismiss dilshan when the batsman was on in total
of but skipper shakib al hasan failed to hold return catch
man of the match dilshan batting with runner because of hamstring injury
during the later part of his knock completed his century when he drove spinner
ashraful for four
dilshan who put on for the third wicket with thilan samaraweera not
out hit fours in his ball knock
bangladesh were earlier struggling at when ashraful added for the fifth
wicket with mushfiqur rahim and for the next with mohammad mahmudullah
we batted really well although some of our middle order batsmen did not click
today said shakib
the dew also hampered us as we had four spinners
ashraful reached his th half century in one day internationals with an
aggressive shot pulling paceman suranga lakmal for four he hit six
boundaries in his ball knock before being run out in the penultimate over
bangladesh scored in the last overs with naeem islam not out
smashing in the closing over bowled by lakmal
the hosts made an impressive run start through tamim iqbal and imrul
kayes before losing four wickets in the space of nine runs with lakmal
taking two
iqbal struck on the helmet off paceman chanaka welegedara smashed the bowler
for four boundaries in the same over
lakmal put bangladesh under pressure when he dismissed raqibul hasan for nought
and shakib for one in successive overs to reduce the hosts to
urgent fbi in ghana to probe botched us plane attack minister
accra jan afp
agents of the us federal bureau of investigation fbi are to probe the sojourn
in ghana of nigerian man accused of attempting to blow up us airliner
minister told afp monday
bad year for brazil exports
brasilia jan afp
brazil exports plunged by percent in after full decade of record
growth to hit billion dollars the industry and trade ministry announced
monday
sliding exports meant the trade surplus was off by one percent the worst
showing in seven years at billion dollars the ministry said
after marking major gains since brazilian exports in hit their record
high billion dollars
but the global economic crisis has hit home in many ways
imports last year plunged by similar percent to billion dollars
down from the record high billion the previous year
brazil trade surplus saw its best year yet in when it topped billion
dollars in it also was above billion dollars after which imports
started to surge thanks to strong real
one dead two wounded in vegas courthouse shootout
las vegas nevada jan afp
suspected gunman was shot dead after he opened fire inside federal court
building in las vegas early monday wounding two personnel officials said
federal bureau of investigation special agent joseph dickey told reporters
outside the lloyd george federal courthouse that the building was being
evacuated as authorities searched the complex following the shootout
at approximately am gmt there was shooting at the federal court
building in las vegas dickey said
two personnel inside the building were injured during the shooting one suspect
has been shot and killed at this point
no information about the condition of the wounded was immediately available
local media reports said the shooting occurred in the lobby of the court
building the nearby las vegas academy had been placed on lockdown as
authorities cleared the court building
cricket morkel steyn keep test in the balance
cape town jan afp
south african fast bowlers morne morkel and dale steyn took three wickets each
and ensured that the third test against england remained evenly balanced after
the second day play at newlands on monday
england were for seven at the close behind south africa first innings
total of
thanks mainly to morkel who took three for and steyn three for
england were unable to take control despite ripping through the south african
lower batting order early in the day
the bowlers came out and showed what they can do said all rounder jacques
kallis
the guys have really stepped up to the plate and delivered the goods as we know
they can and as they did in australia and england in winning series in
england top scorer alastair cook who made gave credit to the bowlers too
they kept us under constant pressure he said
kallis felt south africa had slight edge in their quest to level the four
match series despite having struggled early on after being sent in on sunday
and losing their last four wickets for runs at the start of monday play
if we can knock over the tail and then our batsmen get through the new ball we
will probably be ahead of the game said kallis who felt final innings
target of or more would be difficult for england to chase down
it very different newlands wicket it bit more uneven and perhaps done
little more than what we are used to
england remaining batsmen led by wicketkeeper matt prior on not out will
be in similar situation to south africa on monday when they resume on the
third day the south african bowlers will be armed with an almost new ball and
according to kallis the pitch has history of being tricky to bat on early in
the day
kallis himself was out to the first ball he faced on monday edging graham
onions to prior without adding to his overnight score of
james anderson then scythed through the last three wickets finishing with five
for his eighth five wicket haul in tests
morkel had captain andrew strauss caught behind in the first over of the england
innings and the tourists slipped to for three when steyn dismissed jonathan
trott and kevin pietersen in the space of three balls
seven wickets fell during dramatic morning play and another wicket fell soon
after the interval when paul collingwood was leg before wicket to morkel for
cook playing what he described as his patience game followed up his century
when england won the second test in durban by an innings and runs with
another careful innings leaving as many deliveries as possible
he took balls to post his fifty hitting five fours and faced balls
before scooping catch to midwicket off morkel in the first over after tea he
and ian bell ground out runs for the fifth wicket in minutes off
balls
prior played and missed several times but survived to add with bell
bell another century maker in durban never got on top of the bowling and faced
balls before slapping short ball from jacques kallis to backward point
racing british gambler punished for threats to kill conduit
london jan afp
british gambler was given suspended jail sentence monday for threatening to
kill top racehorse
andrew rodgerson sent text messages and emails to his owners threatening to
kill the thoroughbred conduit if he ran in valuable race at ascot after he
forgot to place bet for syndicate
had the st leger and breeders cup winner been victorious the syndicate would
have expected pounds dollars euros in winnings from
rodgerson
at bolton crown court in northwest england he was sentenced to weeks in
jail suspended for two years and hours of community service
rodgerson sent texts and emails to peter reynolds the general manager for
ireland ballymacoll stud farm which owns and bred conduit the court heard
ten days before the race he texted the message dear peter we would just like
to warn you should conduit run in the king george then the horse will be
killed
five days later he sent an email reading dear peter don believe you are
taking the threat of death to conduit very seriously
we want the horse removed from the king george this weekend if you cooperate
the horse will live
there are people living in and around newmarket who are ready and willing
there will also be people around at ascot on saturday
rodgerson was arrested two days before the race he admitted making the threats
the travel agency worker pleaded guilty to threatening to commit damage at an
earlier hearing
foaled in march conduit is trained by michael stoute
in jockey frankie dettori rode him to victory in england st leger
classic and ryan moore rode him to win the breeders cup in the united states
becoming the first horse to win both races
he repeated his breeders cup victory last year again with moore at the helm
judge angela nield said rodgerson had embarked on foolish escapade
if offences such as this are not dealt with seriously than the horseracing
industry will be undermined and those who work in it risk their livelihood being
damaged and the manner in which they operate being altered for good she said
rodgerson lawyer joseph hart said this was clever series of bets and it
required quite precise timing because the odds changed so rapidly
he mistimed the conduit bet during busy day in the travel agency and realised
that if conduit won he would owe this syndicate more than pounds
already in financial difficulties due his gambling rodgerson was utterly
terrified
these were powerful men he thought these were shadowy men he thought perhaps
they would be people who would hurt him
he still owes the bulk of the debt to the syndicate
egypt jails railway workers over deadly crash
cairo jan afp
an egyptian court sentenced eight railway workers to prison terms ranging from
three to seven years on monday over deadly train crash in october that killed
people the official news agency mena reported
the crash happened when one train hurtled into the back of another stationary
train and the accident led to the resignation of then transport minister
mohammed mansur
the trains collided near guerzah close to the town of al ayyat around
kilometres miles south of cairo
the court held at the site of the accident found the defendants guilty of
manslaughter and negligence
it sentenced the driver of the stationary train which had stopped after hitting
buffalo to seven years blood sample given by its driver contained traces
of hashish egyptian officials said after the crash
the driver of the other train received five year sentence the assistant
drivers and signalman were among the others sentenced
mohammed mansur was the second transport minister to step down because of
train crash predecessor quit after an accident in killed people
qaeda militants killed as yemen boosts security at embassies
sanaa jan afp
yemeni forces shot dead two al qaeda militants on monday as more embassies in
sanaa closed their doors and the united states rolled out new screening of air
travellers over fears of fresh bomb attacks
as yemen pleaded for western help to take on the hardline islamists behind
failed bid to blow up an airliner the would be bomber homeland nigeria
criticised the new security measures facing passengers flying to the united
states
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap yemen based cell says it was behind
the christmas day plot to blow up plane over detroit which failed when
chemicals sewn into umar farouk abdulmutallab underwear failed to explode
with western pressure growing for sanaa to tackle aqap website linked to the
defence ministry said two bodyguards had been killed as security forces tried to
capture mohammed al hanq one of the group most senior leaders
while hanq had managed to flee the clashes led to the killing of two
bodyguards who are relatives of his and are suspected al qaeda members
sep net website quoted security official as saying
earlier tribal source requesting anonymity said two suspected al qaeda
members were shot dead near arhab kilometres miles north of sanaa by
security forces hunting for hanq
two of hanq company his son and his nephew were killed and three others were
wounded in the firefight while he managed to escape the source said
with fears of fresh attacks still rife the us and british embassies remained
shut for second day running while other missions also limited access
france said it would no longer authorise public access to the premises of our
diplomatic mission while japan and the netherlands halted consular services and
italy said it would only deal with people with appointments
speaking on visit to qatar yemeni foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi said
that his country needed help to take on the militants who have found the
impoverished arabian peninsula country fertile ground for recruitment
abdulmutallab himself was staying in yemen until earlier this month where he is
said to have undergone training
certainly there is problem with al qaeda and an interest among the
international community in its activities kurbi said
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
us president barack obama counter terrorism adviser john brennan said on
sunday that washington was making determined and concerted effort to help
fund yemen special counter terrorism unit
at the same time us officials said yemen was one of terror linked
countries to which enhanced airline passenger screening would be applied cuba
iran sudan syria afghanistan libya nigeria pakistan and somalia are among
some of the other countries affected
the new designation means that all passengers flying into the united states from
the countries will be subject to measures such as body pat downs and searches of
their hand luggage
nigeria which has already announced plans to introduce body scanners at lagos
airport in the wake of the christmas day plot was angered by the new move which
it said amounted to discrimination
it is unfair to include nigeria on the us list for tighter screening because
nigerians do not have terrorist tendencies information minister dora akunyili
told journalists
it is unfair to discriminate against over million people because of the
behaviour of one person
the new security measures have caused confusion in some airports including at
rome fiumicino where passengers headed to the united states faced major delays
at security checks on monday
lax us rules let chinese evade iran sanctions study
washington jan afp
chinese companies blacklisted in the united states for selling military
equipment to iran have been skirting sanctions due to weak enforcement
researchers said monday
the wisconsin project on nuclear arms control private group that opposes
proliferation found that us companies have taken imports from sanctioned
chinese firms without facing consequences or even knowing they had done so
chinese companies banned from the united states for dealings with iran have
managed to enter the market using alternate names or identities of their
subsidiaries which may not appear on the us blacklist
unfortunately in recent years more attention has been given to announcing
prohibitions than to enforcing them the report said warning that us sanctions
risked being mostly symbolic gestures
the study listed us companies that since have imported from china
precision machinery import and export shanghai pudong corp which us officials
brand serial proliferator for long time sales to iran of missile technology
the sanctions are enforced by the office of foreign assets control whose
responsibilities range from blocking transactions with accused terrorists to
controlling us travel to cuba to ensuring that diamonds do not fund african
wars
the office part of the treasury department had budget last year of
million dollars which the wisconsin project pointed out was equivalent to
single fighter jet
the report comes as president barack obama administration considers seeking
international support to expand targeted sanctions against iran over concerns
about the islamic regime alleged ambitions for nuclear weapons
think any company would balance the pros and cons of how much they have to
gain from selling something to iran if the possible outcome is that they can no
longer sell to american customers report author matthew godsey told afp
it would be much more powerful deterrent than it is now if it was clear it
would really be enforced he said
global stocks gain on hopes for new year gains
london jan afp
global stock markets began the new year on positive note as investors counted
on strong recovery from the worst economic slump since the to extend
substantial gains made in dealers said
they said strong chinese manufacturing data showing the world third largest
economy clearly on the mend bolstered hopes that the worst of the downturn is
well and truly over with the despair and uncertainty of months ago fading
into memory
similarly positive us manufacturing sector report later in the day gave wall
street solid early boost reinforcing the more positive outlook
financial markets appeared on the brink of collapse in late with the
failure of us investment banking giant lehman brothers but sentiment turned in
march last year as the first green shoots of recovery were seen after huge
state stimulus programmes
dealers said the big question now is whether the momentum can be sustained as
governments wind down their costly rescue programmes
in new york the dow jones industrial average of leading shares was up
percent at around gmt with the tech heavy nasdaq composite gaining
percent
there is bullish bias that is often associated with the start of new year
as new money gets put to work riding the wave of typically upbeat forecasts
said patrick hare at briefing com
in europe paris was the main feature topping very strong resistance at
points as investors pushed the cac up percent to points its
best finish since october
everybody was expecting it and finally it happened said xavier de villepion
of global equities adding that investors will be closely looking at upcoming us
data to confirm they are on the right track
london ftse index of leading shares rose percent to points
while in frankfurt the dax added percent to points
dealers said that apart from the data european stocks got an additional boost
from news that swiss pharmaceutical giant novartis was to spend nearly
billion dollars to take over the world biggest eye care firm alcon from
nestle
james hughes market analyst at cmc markets said that after positive opening
the us manufacturing data gave investors another boost
shares managed to add to this morning gains after strong start on wall
street the us ism manufacturing numbers seemed to be catalyst as was
surge in the oil price hughes said
the us manufacturing sector in december expanded at its fastest pace since april
as factories ramped up production to make up for massive drawdown in
inventories the institute for supply management said
the ism purchasing managers index climbed to percent in december from
percent in november well above analyst forecasts for rise to percent
any number above percent indicates growth
overall the december survey points toward sturdy growth in manufacturing
industrial production said ryan sweet at moody economy com
elsewhere in europe amsterdam gained percent brussels was up
percent madrid rose percent and swiss stocks put on percent
london and paris each gained more than percent in with frankfurt up
nearly percent
in asia early monday tokyo struck month high buoyed by government plans to
expand credit line to troubled japan airlines with the benchmark nikkei
index jumping percent to points the best finish since early
october
rights groups laud end of us hiv aids travel ban
washington jan afp
human rights groups on monday praised the official lifting of decades old ban
that prevented people with hiv aids from traveling to the united states
president barack obama announced in october that his administration would end
the ban and the legislation lifting the travel restrictions came into effect on
monday
we re very excited to finally see the end of this discriminatory and harmful
policy said victoria neilson legal director at the advocacy group immigration
equality
getting rid of the hiv ban has been part of our core mission since we were
founded in she told afp
the ban on hiv positive foreigners entering the united states had been in place
since
while people living with the virus could receive day waivers to visit the
united states the ban made it nearly impossible for hiv positive individuals to
study or work at us institutions
the human rights campaign which advocates for gay lesbian bisexual and
transgender rights also hailed the end of the ban
today sad chapter in our nation response to people with hiv and aids has
finally come to close and we are better nation for it said hrc president
joe solmonese
this policy in place for more than two decades was unnecessary ineffective
and lacked any public health justification he added in statement
the united nations issued statement congratulating both the united states and
south korea which lifted its own restrictions on visitors with hiv aids on
january
unaids executive director michel sidibe said the repeals were victory for
human rights on two sides of the globe
let no country obstruct someone because of their hiv status such
discrimination has no place in today highly mobile society he added
ending the us travel ban had been an uphill struggle for rights groups who saw
former president bill clinton attempts to repeal the restrictions shot down by
conservatives
but ultimately it was former president george bush staunch republican who
set in motion the end of the ban by removing hiv from list of diseases of
public health significance
it then fell to the obama administration to issue rule ending the travel
restrictions which was announced in october as the president signed bill
extending funding for hiv aids treatment
neilson said lifting the ban proved much less controversial this time around
think it sign of changing attitudes across the board she said it just
seemed like more of non issue at this point
fifteen years later there just so much more information about how hiv is and
is not transmitted at this point it seen much more as virus as it should
be than as plague
among the first travelers taking advantage of ban lifting are clemens ruland
and hugo bausch who are to arrive at new york jfk airport from the
netherlands later monday according to immigration equality
the end of the ban was also heralded by the international aids society which
announced in november it would hold its conference in the us capital
washington where three percent of all residents over the age of have hiv or
aids
the united nations hiv aids agency and the us centers for disease control and
prevention cdc have said hiv is generalized and severe when one percent of
given population is infected
some million people in the united states are believed to have hiv according
to the cdc
alert
fbi agents in ghana to investigate botched us plane attack minister
chadian opposition figure arrested in togo
lome jan afp
police in togo have arrested an exiled chadian opposition figure given five
year jail sentence in absentia for his part in multi million dollar
international fraud security official said monday
hassan fadoul kitir was one of several people convicted last november by paris
court for fraud and counterfeit operation involving total of million
bahrain dinars about million euros million dollars dating from more
than decade ago
hassan fadoul kitir was arrested last week and is being held in secure
place the official told afp asking not to be named and declining to give any
motive for the arrest
kitir is former special advisor to chad president idriss deby itno
dubai opens world tallest skyscraper at metres
dubai jan afp
the financially troubled gulf emirate of dubai on monday opened the world
tallest building glistening concrete glass and steel pinnacle rising
metres feet out of the desert sands
blazing fireworks rippled up and down the massive structure after it was
officially opened by dubai ruler sheikh mohammad bin rashed al maktoum
he renamed the building previously known as burj dubai burj khalifa in honour
of united arab emirates president sheikh khalifa bin zayed al nahayan
sheikh khalifa is also ruler of abu dhabi the emirate which came to dubai
help late last year to the tune of billion dollars to bail out troubled
property developer nakheel subsidiary of dubai world
today the united arab emirates achieves the tallest building ever created by
the hand of man and this great project deserves to carry the name of great
man today inaugurate burj khalifa sheikh mohammad said
parachutists bearing the uae colours of red green black and white then touched
down as giant portrait of sheikh khalifa was projected on an outer wall of the
structure which cost billion dollars to erect
in the fireworks spectacle that followed blossoms of flames crackled up and down
the huge building and out into the dubai night sky followed later by lasers
sweeping the horizon from the tower many levels
dubai hopes the opening of the burj khalifa the latest in series of
grandiose projects will burnish an image tarnished by its crippling debt
woes
the needle shaped tower described by its developer as vertical city as it
dwarfs existing skyscrapers boasts new limits in design and construction
emaar properties the partly government owned developer had maintained the
suspense about the skyscraper final height saying only that it exceeded
metres feet
on monday it said the tower has more than floors only of which will be
inhabited while the remaining floors are for services
burj khalifa has total built up area of million square feet including
million square feet of residential space and more than square feet
of prime office space emaar said
this amounts to apartments and floors of office space served by
lifts it also has hotel carrying the georgio armani logo
bill baker structural and civil engineer and partner in chicago based
skidmore owings and merrill som which designed the tower said it has set
new benchmark
we thought that it would be slightly taller than the existing tallest tower of
taipei emaar kept on asking us to go higher but we didn know how high
we could go he said
we were able to tune the building like we tune music instrument as we went
higher and higher and higher we discovered that by doing that process we
were able to reach heights much higher than we ever thought we could
spiralling shaped design by som architect adrian smith was used to support
the structural core of the tower which narrows as it ascends higher up it
becomes steel structure topped with huge spire
