to kill of members of one particular faith as they exit from mass shows
qualitative change in acts linked to sectarian tensions he said
in report the eohr said the lack of democratic climate which allows
citizens to express their problems and exercise their rights naturally is one of
the main causes of sectarian incidents
the egyptian initiative for personal rights eipr echoed the view
eipr director hossam bahgat told reporters that authorities were trying to de
contextualise the nagaa hammadi events to narrow the scope
there is big effort to refuse to describe this event as sectarian which is
neither good for muslims or christians he said
egypt has been seeking to minimise the repercussions of christmas eve shooting
by qualifying the incident as criminal rather than sectarian affair
nearly two weeks after the incident president hosni mubarak made indirect
mention of the attack calling on muslims and christians to unite and rejecting
sectarian disputes and extremism especially as there are some abroad seeking to
deepen rifts between muslims and christians
egyptian officials have denied sectarian element in the attack insisting it
is purely criminal act and have linked it to the the alleged rape of muslim
girl by coptic man in the nearby village of farshut last november
copts who account for nearly percent of egypt population of million
are the middle east largest christian community but complain of routine
harassment and systematic discrimination and marginalisation
three muslims were arrested two days after the attack and charged with
premeditated murder they will stand trial before an emergency security court
next month
urgent at least dead in prison riot in mexico
mexico city jan afp
rival gangs clashed inside prison in the mexican state of durango on
wednesday leaving at least people dead prosecutors there said
international death toll from haiti quake
paris jan afp
the tens of thousands of people dead and missing after haiti devastating
earthquake includes nationals from more than countries according to
compilation of various figures
following is breakdown of foreign nationals confirmed killed or reported
missing after the january disaster
argentina policeman serving with the united nations was killed
australia an australian british un worker was confirmed dead
austria year old austrian woman working for german aid development
organization died
belgium the foreign ministry has said that belgians were unaccounted for in
haiti
brazil twenty brazilians have been killed soldiers with the un
peacekeeping force in haiti the deputy head of the un mission there luiz
carlos da costa and high profile children rights campaigner zilda arns
britain year old un worker died and another briton was missing
burkina faso burkinabe nationals were missing but no figures or details were
available
canada thirteen canadians were confirmed killed and nationals were missing
chile year old chilean woman working for the un was killed and another
chilean was missing
china eight nationals four peacekeepers and four others who were part of
chinese public security team were killed
democratic republic of congo congolese audit assistant for the un died
france latest toll from the french foreign ministry reports dead with
still missing
germany one german citizen was killed and eight others were missing
guatemala guatemalan national working for the un was killed
india an it technician from india was confirmed to be among the un dead
ireland un official with dual irish and us citizenship was killed
italy authorities had no news of nationals including two un workers
another italian was believed dead
jordan at least three soldiers with the un peacekeeping contingent were killed
mauritius the foreign ministry said it had not heard from two mauritian
citizens one serving with the un and the other in the tourist sector
mexico total of mexicans were unaccounted for according to the foreign
ministry one mexican resident of port au prince died when hospital where she
was patient collapsed
the netherlands seven dutch citizens have been killed including two couples
and their three adopted children while three remain missing
new zealand two new zealand born children and their french haitian father were
believed killed
niger security officer from niger was listed by the un among the dead
philippines two filipinos died one male civilian un staff member and one
female soldier serving with un peacekeepers two other filipino peacekeepers
were missing
peru year old peruvian working with the un was crushed by falling wall
relative told lima radio station
poland one student is missing
portugal two citizens could not be contacted according to the department for
portuguese communities
senegal two policemen serving with the un mission were missing
spain three spaniards were reported killed in the quake including woman
police officer working for the un mission
syria syrian man and his wife were killed
thailand the foreign ministry said one thai was missing
tunisia the tunisian civilian head of the un mission to haiti hedi annabi was
killed
united nations forty seven un personnel have been confirmed killed and more
than are missing or unaccounted for
united states at least of its citizens were killed including one working
for the us government
us military defends efforts to manage haiti airport logjam
washington jan afp
the us military defended its management of the flow of aid flights into port au
prince airport wednesday saying it was working hard to free up bottlenecks but
space was limited
doctors without borders said tuesday that cargo plane carrying tons
tonnes of medical equipment had been diverted for the third time since sunday
despite repeated assurances it could land at port au prince
paris has also sought to defuse row with washington after french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet called on the united nations to clarify the
us role in haiti saying the priority was helping haiti not occupying haiti
but senior us military official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity
said priorities on which aircraft could land were set by the haitian government
and the united nations with the united states playing only an enabling role
there will be times when folks are unhappy when they have things that they
want to get in and need to get in the official said and it sheer issue
of physics and geometry you just can get them all in there
there are great people on the ground working very very hard to try and get as
much in as they can as fast as they can and try and keep everybody impressed
that we are there to support them
but there are some people that are just not going to be happy because we
can get it all the official said
with only foot runway meters the port au prince airport has
been choked with aid flights since the january earthquake that caused massive
death and destruction throughout much of the haitian capital
some aircraft were coming in to haiti without the proper clearances and were
then diverted to other airports according to the official
but he said about flights day were now flowing into the airport up from
an initial to flights day
to relieve the stress on port au prince the united states was operating from an
airport in san isidro in the neighboring dominican republic
the canadian military meanwhile was clearing debris from an airfield in
jacmel south of port au prince and adding lighting and fueling stations to
make it operational hours day canada defense minister peter mackay said
in ottawa
the us military official said us military flights accounted for percent of
the traffic at the port au prince airport with the remainder belonging to the
united nations non governmental groups other us government agencies and other
international efforts
the us agency for international development was identifying medical supply
requirements to allocate time slots for aircraft to land at the airport with
input from the united nations non governmental organizations another senior
military official said
meanwhile us defense secretary robert gates said in new delhi wednesday that he
had ordered port clearance ships to deploy to haiti in bid to re open the
country main port within week or two
an initial report by the pentagon after tuesday magnitude quake had said
that the badly damaged port could take to days to be put back into
operation
gates insisted the pentagon had moved quickly to respond to the disaster and
defended the pace of the us relief effort
it hard for me to see what more the united states could make available or how
we could make it available faster in trying to deal with the tragedy there he
told reporters
german teens hospitalised after chilli sauce dare
berlin jan afp
eight teenagers were rushed to hospital wednesday after drinking concentrated
chilli sauce in spicy game of dare german police said
the youths aged and complained of severe stomach pains after the game
and were treated by the german red cross before being taken to nearby
hospital
police said their lives were not in danger
iran snubs nuclear fuel deal diplomats
vienna jan afp
iran has effectively rejected un brokered nuclear fuel supply deal diplomats
here said wednesday but the un atomic watchdog the iaea insisted the offer
was still on the table
diplomats said the islamic republic had effectively rejected the deal because it
refused to accept some of the conditions called for by the west and insisted on
simultaneous exchange of fuel which western countries have ruled out as
unacceptable
the proposal made by the international atomic energy agency iaea last october
which was supported by france russia and the united states continues to be on
the table said iaea spokeswoman gill tudor
the iaea is not in position to discuss the views of the parties involved but
it is aware that they are considering the best solution
the iaea will continue to work in good faith as an impartial intermediary and
we hope that agreement among the parties will be reached as quickly as possible
which will contribute to the establishment of confidence
earlier one western diplomat speaking on condition on anonymity told afp that
iran had effectively given formal response at meeting between the iaea new
new chief yukiya amano and iranian ambassador ali asghar soltanieh earlier this
month
the iaea refused to say whether the meeting took place or discuss its possible
content
but according to the diplomat soltanieh reiterated the islamic republic
earlier position including the demand for simultaneous fuel swap which the
west has persistently ruled out as unacceptable
the iranians did not give their response in writing however the diplomat
noted
instead the iaea drew up the minutes of the meeting and then asked soltanieh to
verify that the memo correctly reflected iran position
his response was yes the diplomat said
another diplomat also said it was unclear whether iran had actually delivered
written response but certainly there was no agreement to the trr tehran
research reactor proposal the diplomat said
under the terms of plan hammered out under the iaea auspices last october
the islamic republic was to have shipped abroad most of its stockpile of
enriched uranium for processing into fuel for reactor that makes radio
isotopes for medical use
the proposals brokered by the iaea then chief mohamed elbaradei were seen as
way of appeasing western fears that iran was stockpiling uranium for covert
nuclear weapons programme because it would have seen most of the islamic
republic uranium taken out of the country before any reactor fuel was
dispatched in return
but tehran which insists its atomic programme is entirely peaceful declined
for months to give any formal response to the offer with iranian officials
taking seemingly contradictory positions on it
world powers gave iran until the end of to accept the deal but the deadline
was ignored prompting talk of fresh sanctions against the islamic republic
in washington on tuesday us state department spokesman philip crowley said
am not sure that they have delivered formal response but it is clearly an
inadequate response
on january iran repeated its counter proposal for staged fuel swap but
left the details open to discussion
if the other side expresses readiness for the gradual and staged swap we will
discuss the details foreign ministry spokesman ramin mehmanparast said
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki insisted that tehran in fact had
until the end of january to reach uranium swap deal stressing it will press
on with plans to produce highly enriched nuclear fuel if there is no agreement
mottaki gave the west one month ultimatum to accept the iranian counter
proposal
iran is already under three sets of un security council sanctions over its
defiance and refusal to suspend enrichment which lies at the heart of
international fears about its nuclear programme
the process that makes nuclear fuel can also be used to make the fissile core of
an atomic bomb
the united states israel and other world powers suspect tehran is making
nuclear bomb under the guise of civilian programme an allegation iran
vehemently denies
iran ex consul general in oslo seeks asylum
oslo jan afp
iran ex consul general in oslo who quit his job this month in protest against
tehran violent repression of opposition demonstrators has sought political
asylum in norway he said wednesday
ve asked udi the norwegian immigration authority but they told me it would
take few months mohammed reza heydari told afp
heydari announced in early january that he had resigned from his position after
tehran crackdown on opposition demonstrators on december left at least
eight people dead and hundreds of others either injured or imprisoned
heydari who lost his diplomatic passport when he quit said he was seeking
political asylum in order to obtain documents that would allow him to travel
freely
tehran has urged the ex diplomat to return to iran but he has refused to do so
for fear of reprisals
he lives in oslo with his wife and two children
am diplomat and everyone knows what happens to diplomat if he turns his
back on regime such as the one in place in iran he told afp on monday
returning to tehran would be putting my life and my family at risk he said
alert
at least dead in mexican prison riot prosecutors
security scare at munich airport man flees police
munich germany jan afp
parts of munich airport were sealed off on wednesday after laptop tested
positive for the possible presence of explosives and its owner fled into
secured area police said
an explosives scanner at the german airport alerted personnel as the man went
through security at around pm gmt but instead of stopping he ran
into restricted area police said
the fourth floor of the airport terminal two used for european flights was
evacuated and all docked planes were stopped the man was still at large
police were unable to comment on his nationality spokesman cautioned that the
scanner could have been set off by chemicals such as perfumes and that the man
may simply have been in hurry to catch his plane
it is not percent clear that there were in fact explosives spokesman
berti habelt of the federal police told news channel tv
airports around the world have been on high alert since nigerian man was
arrested and accused of trying to blow up an airliner over the united states on
december with explosive chemicals concealed on his person
football balint appointed moldova new national coach
chisinau jan afp
romanian gabi balint was on wednesday appointed moldova new national coach
the country football federation press service announced
the year old who won the european cup as player with steaua bucharest in
signed two year contract with the country federation
no financial details of the deal were disclosed
in balint who played for romania at the world cup finals guided
moldova flagship side sheriff tiraspol to the national title
he has also coaching romanian sides timisoara and bihor and been assistant coach
of the romanian side three times
iran nuclear fuel deal still on table iaea
vienna jan afp
the un atomic watchdog said wednesday that un brokered offer to supply nuclear
fuel to iran was still on the table downplaying reports that tehran had
rejected it
the proposal made by the international atomic energy agency last october which
was supported by france russia and the united states continues to be on the
table said iaea spokeswoman gill tudor
the iaea is not in position to discuss the views of the parties involved but
it is aware that they are considering the best solution
the iaea will continue to work in good faith as an impartial intermediary and
we hope that agreement among the parties will be reached as quickly as possible
which will contribute to the establishment of confidence
earlier diplomats close to the vienna based agency had said that tehran
effectively rejected the deal because it rejected some of the conditions called
for by the west and insisted on simultaneous exchange of fuel which is seen
as unacceptable by both the iaea and washington paris and moscow
under the terms of the plan hammered out under the iaea auspices last
october the islamic republic was to have shipped to russia and france most of
its stockpile of enriched uranium for processing into fuel for reactor that
makes radio isotopes for medical use
the proposals brokered by the iaea then chief mohamed elbaradei were seen as
way of appeasing western fears that iran was stockpiling uranium for covert
nuclear weapons programme because it would have seen most of the islamic
republic uranium taken out of the country before any reactor fuel was
dispatched in return
but tehran which insists its atomic programme is entirely peaceful declined
for months to give any formal response to the offer with iranian officials
taking seemingly contradictory positions on it
world powers gave iran until the end of to accept the deal but the deadline
was ignored prompting talk of fresh sanctions against the islamic republic
football catania sign striker maxi lopez
rome jan afp
catania on wednesday completed the signing of former barcelona forward maxi
lopez on three and half year deal
the year old joined barca in january after an injury to henrik larsson
but never managed to secure regular first team berth
the former river plate star was loaned out to mallorca and then sold to fc
moscow but in february was loaned to gremio in brazil
no details of the fee have been released
catania are in the serie relegation zone with points from games three
points from safety
figure skating flawless plushenko rolls back the years
tallinn jan afp
olympic champion yevgeny plushenko marked his international return with
record breaking men short programme at the european figure skating
championships here on wednesday
the competition in the estonian capital is the first major event since the
year old retired four years ago because of knee injuries after claiming gold at
the turin olympics
but he showed he is ready to defend his olympic title by breaking the points
record he set in turin to lead three time winner brian joubert of france by
points going into thursday free skate final
visibly relaxed plushenko opened his routine to concierto de aranjuez with
quadruple toeloop triple toeloop combination following up with triple axel
and triple lutz as he nailed all his required elements
can skate better believe me he warned
and replying to defending champion joubert claims that he could beat the
russian plushenko told the frenchman try it
the skater from st petersburg scored points bettering his previous record
by and putting him closer to sixth european title
joubert making his return after two months out with foot injury gave
strong performance to rise by safri duo but was technically lacking compared to
the russian as he doubled the planned triple toeloop in his opening quadruple
triple toeloop combination to score
watched him plushenko on tv said year old joubert
saw it was perfect and when saw the score said it going to be
difficult to beat him but it was possible
he added it like for the olympics but then did very bad short
programme now did good short programme and able to fight him
france yannick ponsero is sitting third with as two time world champion
stephane lambiel of switzerland failed to shine on his return to competition by
placing fifth
olympic runner up lambiel retired for just over year because of thigh
problem but his return was not solid one as he doubled his opening triple
axel and stumbled out of the following quadruple toeloop jump during his crowd
pleasing routine to rossini wilhelm tell
the mistake made is mistake that can happen in competition because of the
stress said the swiss it was not good performance for me
the short programme counts for third of the marks with the remainder coming in
the free skating final
rallying monte carlo rally results
monte carlo jan afp
results from the first day of the monte carlo rally the opening round of the
intercontinental rally challenge here on wednhesday
mikko hirvonen fin ford fiesta hr min sec kris meeke
gbr peugeot at juho hanninen fin skoda fabia nicolas
vouilloz fra skoda fabia bastien ogier fra peugeot
bruno magalhaes por peugeot toni gardemeister fin abarth
grande punto st phane sarrazin fra peugeot
franz wittmann aut peugeot guy wilks gbr skoda fabia
us makes profit of billion dollars from bank warrants
washington jan afp
the us treasury said wednesday it reaped profit of billion dollars from
warrants or options to buy shares in banks which got capital injections during
the height of the financial crisis
treasury officials said that as of december treasury had received four
billion dollars in gross proceeds for the sale of warrants in banks either
repurchased by the banks themselves or sold via auction
the goverrnment at the end of the year still held warrants in banks that had
repaid the treasury for capital injections and intends to sell those positions
in the near future
treasury also holds warrants in public companies that have not repaid the
investments
the warrants were received when the government began to pump capital into the
banks to help keep credit flowing during the height of the crisis
these were in addition to the capital injections themselves which amounted to
billion dollars in banks
when bank repays the investment it has the right to repurchase its warrants
at an agreed upon fair market value but if they do not exercise that option
treasury may sell the warrants
goldman sachs paid billion dollars for its warrants while the us received
million dollars for the auction of warrants in jpmorgan chase
football togo attack could have been avoided cocan
luanda jan afp
the deadly attack on the togo team bus could have been avoided the africa cup
of nations local organising committee cocan insisted on wednesday
togo assistant coach and its squad spokesman were killed when the team
convoy was ambushed by separatist guerillas in the angolan enclave of cabinda
after it had crossed the border from congo on january
but cocan said the deadly attack need not have happened if togo had communicated
their travel plans to africa cup of nations organisers beforehand
cocan director general justino fernandes told press conference at luanda
november stadium they did not have any idea the togo team were travelling by
road rather than flying into the northern oil rich province
he said togo had ignored advice from the continent ruling football body the
confederation of african football to fly into cabinda
togo had used the congo for their training base and then travelled to cabinda
by bus neither caf nor the local organising committee here in luanda were aware
of their travel plans fernandes said
fernandes who is also president of the angolan football federation added that
cocan had been surprised at togo decision to enter angola by road
if we had been told we would have certainly put an aeroplane at the disposal of
the togo team to fly them from the congo to cabinda
we were not aware that they had entered the country by road
despite his assertion fernandes would not be drawn when asked at the press
conference why if they were unaware there was heavy security accompanying the
togo team convoy into angola
angolan security forces were engaged in minute gun battle with the
separatists in the incident which cast deep shadow over the competition
togo on the advice of their national government withdrew from the competition
on saturday more than people joined march organised by the ruling mpla
popular movement for the liberation of angola to condemn the shooting which
has been claimed by several factions of the separatist movement flec front for
the liberation of the enclave of angola
flec has been fighting for independence of cabinda for more than three decades
and despite peace deal in continues to wage low level attacks in the
province
togo goalkeeper kodjovi obilale injured in the shooting attack is responding
well to treatment but remains hospitalised in south africa spokeswoman said
on tuesday
angolan police have made number of arrests in the wake of the attack
corrected spanish photographer stripped of wildlife prize
london jan afp
spanish photographer was stripped of major wildlife prize wednesday after
the british organisers said it was likely that the apparently wild wolf featured
in his entry picture was tame
jose luis rodriguez won the highly prestigious wildlife photographer of the year
competition in october with stunning picture of wolf leaping over gate
entitled the storybook wolf
however doubts were raised about the wolf provenance and following an
investigation the natural history museum in london and bbc worldwide who
jointly run the prize said the entry had been disqualified
it saddens us to confirm that after careful and thorough investigation into
the image the storybook wolf the co owners of the wildlife photographer of
the year competition have disqualified the winning entry of the photographer
jose luis rodriguez they said in statement
the judging panel was reconvened and concluded that it was likely that the wolf
featured in the image was an animal model that can be hired for photographic
purposes
rodriguez strongly denies that the wolf in the image is tame it said
the competition rules clearly state that photographs of tame animals may not be
entered and any transgression is taken very seriously it added
the pound dollar euro prize was never awarded to the
photographer although he did receive pounds for winning his category which
organisers said they had agreed he could keep in lieu of royalty payments
as result of his disqualification there will be no winner
saudi tallest skyscraper evacuated for bomb threat
riyadh jan afp
false bomb scare phoned into bank office forced the evacuation wednesday of
the floor kingdom centre saudi arabia tallest skyscraper security
official said
the threat warning that bomb was hidden in vehicle was phoned into branch
of samba bank in the centre late afternoon as offices were closing on the last
day of the saudi workweek said interior ministry spokesman general mansour al
turki
it was false threat he told afp
the kingdom complex the headquarters of flamboyant tycoon prince alwaleed bin
talal kingdom holdings group houses offices luxury hotel and an upmarket
three storey shopping centre which was just getting busy when the order to
evacuate came around pm gmt
staff member at the entrance told afp that the building which is metres
feet high was evacuated in search for something
witness said she saw armed security men rushing into the building as she and
other civilians were being asked to exit
armed security men cordoned off the outside of tower and security alerts were
sent by businesses and embassies around the city warning employees to stay clear
of the area
world economy could see double dip recession un
geneva jan afp
the world economy is set to bounce back in with growth of percent but
could slump back into recession if state stimulus spending is wound up too
early the united nations said wednesday
the un preliminary report on the world economic situation and prospects
cautioned that premature removal of state support could trigger the second
part of double dip recession after last year contraction
world gross product fell by an estimated percent in un economic bodies
estimated in preliminary report
premised on continued supportive policy stance worldwide mild growth of
percent is forecast for the report added
mild growth of five percent in world trade volume was forecast for this year
after falling by record percent last year
the un warned that the recovery was uneven and conditions for sustained growth
were fragile with consumer demand and investment remaining weak as unemployment
continued to rise especially in wealthy nations
it cautioned against any early move by governments to unwind total of about
trillion dollars of economic stimulus measures for in the wake of
the financial and economic crises
the rebound in domestic demand remains tentative at best in many economies and
is far from self sustaining the report said
much of the rebound in the real economy is due to the strong fiscal stimulus
provided by governments in large number of developed and developing
countries
industry was also restocking inventories it had run down during the crisis
reviving production the report added
an additional trillion dollars of taxpayers money was set aside to rescue
the financial sector after the credit crunch toppled major banks the un also
underlined
