orangzeb khan local legislator with the secular awami national party anp
whose politician brother alam zeb khan was killed in similar bombing last
year escaped life threatening injury in the attack
the blast partially destroyed the car the politician was travelling in and blew
small crater in the road in the capital of north west frontier province where
an anp led coalition government backs military operations against islamist
extremists
it was remote controlled bomb buried in the road kiramat khan police
official on the scene told reporters
the explosives detonated near khan home as he passed by peshawar top
administrative official sahibzada mohammad anis told afp while the main
hospital treated five people with blast wounds
we have received total of five injured orangzeb khan has wounds on his
forehead chest and one arm but he is out of danger said abdul hameed afridi
chief executive of the city lady reading hospital
there was no claim of responsibility for the attack but the bombing bore the
hallmarks of the islamist taliban who are blamed for most of the strikes which
have killed nearly people across pakistan since july
government officials are frequent target of militants who are battling to
impose harsh brand of islamic law across parts of the northwest and oppose
islamabad alliance with the united states in the war on terror
orangzeb khan won his brother provincial seat after alam zeb khan was killed
by bomb planted in bicycle in peshawar in february
last month another anp northwest provincial assembly member shamsher ali khan
was killed when suicide bomber walked onto the grounds of his home in swat
valley and blew himself up
peshawar on the edge of pakistan lawless tribal belt has seen the worst of
the taliban insurgency in october about people were killed in the city
when suicide car bomb ripped through busy market
pakistani troops have fanned out across the tribal belt to try to quash taliban
strongholds in the mountainous zone along the afghan border which is also
haven of al qaeda linked extremists
about troops have been sent into tehreek taliban pakistan bastion south
waziristan where landmine on wednesday killed soldier and wounded four
others near sararogha town
one soldier embraced martyrdom while four were wounded when landmine hit
patrolling party in the area military official in peshawar told afp
obama urged to free iraq aziz on humanitarian grounds
amman jan afp
lawyer for iraq jailed ex deputy prime minister tareq aziz hospitalised
after suffering stroke on wednesday urged us president barack obama to free
the year old on humanitarian grounds
call on american president obama to release my client from jail for
humanitarian reasons so we can move him out of iraq and save his life amman
based lawyer badie aref told afp
telephoned the americans in iraq today and they told me his condition is
stable but refused to give me any details fear for his life heard he lost
the ability to speak and that his health is deteriorating
aref said he was also trying to contact the vatican through french and italian
lawyers to help release aziz who hails from chaldean catholic family
the lawyer said on sunday that aziz has been moved from jail to an american
military hospital in the us base at balad kilometres miles north of
baghdad after stroke on friday
one of handful of long term senior survivors of saddam hussein regime aziz
who has been convicted for crimes against humanity is reported to have already
suffered two heart attacks in custody
named foreign minister in and then deputy premier minister in aziz
turned himself in to us forces in april just days after saddam was
overthrown
about million iraqis have fled their homes since the invasion almost seven
years ago with about now living in neighbouring jordan according to un
and jordanian figures
alert
bank of america posts loss for quarter profit for year
love story author erich segal dies aged family
london jan afp
love story author erich segal whose popular romantic drama coined the phrase
love means never having to say you re sorry has died of heart attack at the
age of his daughter said
segal who also wrote the screenplay for the beatles animated film yellow
submarine died at his home in london on sunday his daughter francesca segal
said
the author had been suffering from parkinson disease for many years she said
tuesday
the us born writer was classics professor at yale university when he wrote the
book love story which was made into hit film starting ryan neal and
ali macgraw
the movie which won an oscar and was nominated for six others tells the story
of wealthy young man oliver who becomes estranged from his father when he
marries jennifer woman from less privileged background
but the tale takes tragic twist when jennifer develops leukaemia and
eventually dies
oliver father has change of heart when he hears what has happened and races
to see him telling his son he is sorry to hear the sad news
this is when oliver replies loves means never having to say you are sorry
in article for granta magazine the author daughter said love story
inspired by true tale captured her father imagination and made him
world famous author
his agent begged him to put it aside convinced it would ruin his reputation as
writer of macho action screenplays
but it had poured from him in what felt like single sitting and although he
could not have known to what extent he knew it was worth fighting for
the two monoliths that dominated my father identity the peak and the trough
of his life were love story and parkinson disease she added
segal continued regular literary output over the next two decades including
fairy tale oliver story man woman and child and only love but
none matched the success of love story
speaking at his funeral tuesday francesca segal paid tribute to her father
tenacity
that he fought to breathe fought to live every second of the last years of
illness with such mind blowing obduracy is testament to the core of who he
was she told mourners
erich segal was born in new york and was an honorary fellow of wolfson college
at oxford university
he is survived by his wife karen james and daughters francesca and
miranda
three week old baby found alive in haiti rubble report
paris jan afp
rescuers pulled three week old baby girl alive from the rubble of house more
than week after it was destroyed in haiti devastating earthquake french
radio reported on wednesday
french rescuers found the girl in hollow beneath the ruins of the house in
jacmel town in the south of the island after spending five hours trying the
get through to her france inter station said
the baby uncle told the station that the girl named elisabeth was days
old the station reported she was in healthy condition and did not appear
wounded and had been taken to an american field hospital nearby
the united nations said on wednesday that people had been rescued by
international teams from the debris of collapsed buildings in haiti since the
january earthquake
dutch filmmaker in court over anti islam hate speech
amsterdam jan afp
dutch far right lawmaker geert wilders on wednesday appeared in an amsterdam
court for the first time in connection with charges of inciting racial hatred
against muslims
mr wilders has always made his statements in his capacity as public
representative his lawyer bram moszkowicz argued at the start of the hearing
held amid heavy security
the year old mp creator of the controversial anti islam film fitna was
greeted outside the amsterdam district court by about supporters some of
whom came from belgium and germany to attend the proceedings
no date has yet been set for the trial which wilders has said is political
process
the politician faces five charges of religious insult and anti muslim incitement
after court last week dismissed his final challenge against the pending
prosecution
wilders stands accused of insulting muslims by describing islam as fascist
religion and calling for the banning of the koran which he likens to adolf
hitler mein kampf
he is also accused of inciting hatred and discrimination for stating that
moroccan youths were violent calling for the koran to be banned and for dutch
borders to be closed to all non western immigrants as well as for advocating
an end to what he terms the islamic invasion
wilders who arrived at court in black suit contrasting with his
characteristic platinum dyed mop of hair faces up to one year in jail if
convicted
his minute film fitna was called offensively anti islamic by un
secretary general ban ki moon after its screening in the netherlands in
prompted protests in much of the muslim world
the prosecution service initially declined to charge wilders dismissing dozens
of complaints from around the country in the context of freedom of speech
but an appeals court last january ordered prosecutors to put the mp on trial
saying politicians should not be permitted to make statements which create hate
and grief
wilders party for freedom has nine seats out of in the dutch parliament
loss in kennedy seat haunts obama agenda
washington jan afp
on the last day of barack obama first year in power republicans cast huge
doubts on his hopes of transformative presidency by capturing the senate seat
once held by his mentor edward kennedy
in stunning upset angry massachusetts voters tuesday chose republican scott
brown who vowed to be the single vote his party needs to block democratic
health care reform the cause of the late kennedy life
the loss snatched away the vote super majority democrats needed to trump
republican blocking maneuvers in the senate calling into question the party
capacity to pass not only health care but other top obama agenda items
of course it is rotten news for the administration of course it is rotten
news for health care reform said barbara kellerman of the center for public
leadership at the harvard kennedy school
the triumph will electrify republicans bent on blocking obama agenda and scare
democrats facing reelection in mid term elections in november
massachusetts democrat martha coakley fell for many reasons complacency poor
campaign public disdain for incumbent leaders in congress and independent
voters making point in vote some saw as referendum on obama
but republicans were already driving simple narrative tuesday night that
voters lashed out against obama and his health care reform plan
the question must also be asked if democrats cannot hold liberal massachusetts
and the dynastic perch of kennedys what other seat is safe
the massachusetts loss follows two stinging democratic defeats in gubernatorial
races in new jersey and virginia where obama won big in and comes as his
personal approval ratings dip below percent
can imagine stronger message that voters are sending but am not sure
that the white house is listening said costas panagopoulos campaigns
specialist at fordham university new york
the white house earlier rejected the idea of the special election as
repudiation of its tactics spokesman robert gibbs said the president knew
americans were upset and angry but dismissed he had lost touch
coakley loss gives democrats an immediate problem passing healthcare the
cause of kennedy life until he died in august and set of long term
political headaches
house speaker nancy pelosi was adamant on tuesday that health care would pass
into law but democrats will need to use political sleight of hand to do so
we will have quality affordable health care for all americans and it will be
soon she said
longer term republicans will relish the chance to gum up the senate frustrate
democrats and possibly spark political stalemate in the run up to november
elections
obama has packed agenda and had signaled attempts to pass huge climate bill
financial regulatory packages and even to the hot button issue of immigration
reform next year
but can such transformative goals be reconciled with an angry populace skittish
lawmakers and obama diminished political standing
the agenda is going to slow somewhat just by virtue of the political
climate said bruce buchanan political science professor at the university
of texas at austin
obama took office at time of deep national economic peril and on the
rationale that huge crisis requires fundamental change pursued an ambitious
domestic political agenda
but will he now simplify his agenda and downplay expectations in bid to head
off an electoral calamity in november and can he avoid repeat in those polls
stripped down version on which he could focus more personally and carefully
would be my recommendation said kellerman
but it would be mistake to write off obama given that ex presidents bill
clinton and ronald reagan also rebuilt their presidencies on economic recovery
the economy and the state of unemployment have huge impact on how people view
the political debate buchanan said
democratic house majority leader steny hoyer argued the massachusetts race
revealed deep anxiety among americans
people are angry people are fearful people are very concerned about where the
economy is he said
we re all pretty unpopular why because people don feel good and we re the
leaders and we re in office and they expect us to do something about it
saudi sabic bullish on petrochemicals market ceo
riyadh jan afp
the ceo of saudi petrochemicals giant sabic on wednesday forecast good
performance in even as the company adds large amount of capacity into
weak global economy
with three new projects coming on line an expansion of the sharq refinery
the new yansab refinery and petrochemical complex in china saudi basic
industries corp chief executive mohammed al mady said he was not concerned about
some economists forecasts of weak global recovery this year
we are very happy where we are today he told journalists as the company
detailed its results
the company has strong foundation in its production costs we are in very
good condition because we are in saudi arabia where the company key raw
materials crude oil and natural gas are cheap he said
sabic one of the world largest petrochemical groups reported late on tuesday
net income for all of at billion riyals billion dollars
percent below billion riyals billion dollars
but income surged in the three months to december with profits hitting
billion riyals billion dollars compared with just million riyals
million dollars year earlier well exceeding analysts expectations of
less than four billion riyals
the stock of the gulf largest listed company surged percent to
riyals dollars in early afternoon trading on wednesday after the results
were released and was up percent from the beginning of
mady said the company percent controlled by the government was well placed
in whatever direction the global economy moved this year
you cannot talk to two people and get the same answer on forecasts for
economic growth he said but we stand to gain lot of momentum from the cost
reduction programmes in the past
new obstacles hit historic armenia turkey deal
yerevan jan afp
armenian and turkish efforts to establish ties after decades of hostility hit
fresh snags wednesday after ankara accused yerevan of trying to set new
conditions on the historic deal
armenian foreign minister eduard nalbandian expressed bewilderment at turkish
claims that ruling by armenia constitutional court this month had changed
the outlines of the deal
nalbandian said in statement that he intended to speak with turkish
counterpart ahmet davutoglu in order to express my bewilderment and clarify
where exactly in the decision of the constitutional court the turkish side sees
preconditions
turkey and armenia signed two protocols in october to establish diplomatic ties
and reopen their shared border in deal hailed as historic step towards
ending decades of hostility stemming from world war era massacres of armenians
under ottoman turkey
armenia constitutional court on january upheld the legality of the
agreement but also said the two protocols cannot be interpreted to contradict
paragraph in armenia declaration of independence that refers to the
genocide in ottoman turkey and western armenia
turkey refusal to establish ties with armenia stems in part from yerevan
attempts to have the world war era massacres internationally recognised as
genocide
in statement turkey foreign ministry said the court ruling contains
preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of
the protocols
turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan said wednesday that the ruling was
an attitude that can never be accepted anatolia news agency reported
armenia has attempted to doctor the text this must be rectified or otherwise
the process will be harmed he told reporters during visit to saudi arabia
football under pressure mowbray adds teen spirit to celtic mix
glasgow jan afp
celtic have signed norway under defender thomas rogne in the latest move by
manager tony mowbray to revitalise and rejuvenate squad struggling to keep
pace with rivals rangers in the scottish premier league spl
rogne joins as free agent and has signed three and half year contract
but celtic will have to pay his former club stabaek compensation for their
role in developing the player
after several days training with the first team squad rogne appeared unfazed by
the challenge ahead of him
the celtic first team is where want to be and ll be doing my very best to
try and make an impact and ensure that can achieve this as soon as possible
he said after the announcement of his move on wednesday
mowbray also believes rogne can start challenging for place in celtic first
team immediately
he only but has had good experience in the norwegian league the hoops
boss said we ve had chance to have look at him in recent days at
lennoxtown and he shown up well
he has all the physical attributes and personality to be success at celtic
thomas has bright future and will be training with the first team squad and
competing for place in the side
rogne joins celtic squad that already contains year old english centreback
josh thompson and czech fullback milan misun but can no longer count on the
services of gary caldwell following the experienced scotland centreback move
to wigan earlier this month
we are bringing these talented players to the club in order to ensure the
foundations are in place for the coming years added mowbray
as well as being forced to sell caldwell because of the club refusal to meet
his terms for new contract mowbray has offloaded barry robson chris killen
and willo flood to middlesbrough now managed by former celtic manager gordon
strachan
there is also growing speculation that he could sell another scotland
international midfielder scott brown who confirmed to the daily record that
talks on his future had taken place
yes there was conversation between myself and the manager but am not
prepared to go into details brown said believe these things should remain
private maybe you should ask him what was said
english premier league clubs birmingham and tottenham are both reportedly
interested in signing the combative midfielder brown is close to returning to
action after several months on the sidelines with troublesome ankle injury
last week mowbray spent reported two million pounds on the signing of dutch
defender jos hooiveld from swedish club aik solna
he has also been linked with nigerian teenager rabiu ibrahim midfielder
currently at sporting lisbon and arsenal defender philippe senderos although
he has played down the possibility of move for the latter
celtic certainly appear to be in need of reinforcements draw at lowly falkirk
at the weekend left mowbray men trailing spl leaders rangers by nine points
both old firm clubs advanced to the th round of the scottish cup on tuesday
evening
celtic overcame morton thanks to goal from northern ireland nial mcginn
while rangers won their replay with hamilton courtesy of an extra time
double from steven whittaker
celtic travel to dunfermline while rangers are at st mirren in their last
ties
tennis dementieva says henin back to her best
melbourne jan afp
elena dementieva said belgian star justine henin had returned to tennis as good
as ever after losing an epic second round australian open match to the former
world number one on wednesday
in classic encounter that ebbed and flowed throughout and lasted almost three
hours the year old henin eventually edged past the russian fifth seed in two
gripping sets for her biggest win since returning
henin retired from tennis when was on top of the world in may citing
fatigue but announced her comeback in september and was playing just the
seventh match since then
the pair had faced each other times previously with henin winning all but
two of those encounters and dementieva said the time away from the game had
definitely not affected the belgian form
think she was playing very well the world number five said she was moving
well and hitting hard it just doesn feel like she had the break
she was as good as she was before
dementieva dismissed any disappointment about facing the seven times grand slam
champion so early in the tournament
rather she welcomed the return of henin to women tennis
she great player she said playing against her you really can learn
lot and improve your game
we really need these kind of players to increase the level of the game so it
great to have her back here on the tour
dementieva lamented missed opportunity saying she was not aggressive enough
and allowed henin to dictate terms
think just let her play that aggressively today she said was not
playing deep enough so just let her dictate the whole game and that not the
way was planning to go feel like was not aggressive enough
she was playing well but feel like gave her the opportunity to play that
well
gates warns of militant threat to india pakistan ties
new delhi jan afp
us defence secretary robert gates warned wednesday that south asian militant
groups were seeking to destabilise the entire region and could trigger war
between nuclear armed pakistan and india
reflecting anxiety in the region about new delhi reaction if it were attacked
by militant group with roots in pakistan gates said restraint by india could
not be counted on
gates said rebels in al qaeda syndicate which includes the taliban in
pakistan and afghanistan as well as pakistan based islamist group
lashkar taiba posed danger to the region as whole
they are trying to destabilise not just afghanistan not just pakistan but
potentially the whole region by provoking conflict perhaps between india and
pakistan through some provocative act gates said during visit to new delhi
it important to recognise the magnitude of the threat that the entire region
faces he added following talks with his indian counterpart antony
india and pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in and
tension spiked again in when militants that new delhi identified as
belonging to lashkar taiba attacked the city of mumbai killing people
india did not mobilise forces unlike in when it massed troops on the
border with pakistan after an attack on its parliament
this drew praise from gates but he said such restraint might not be repeated
next time
think it not unreasonable to assume india patience would be limited were
there to be further attacks gates warned
new delhi suspects the pakistani intelligence service of supporting terror
groups that target india and has consistently called on islamabad to crack down
on militants operating on its soil
gates described india as vital partner in the struggle against extremist
threats and said that he had discussed how to bolster us india military
cooperation
he also lauded india extraordinary financial aid to afghanistan but
acknowledged the tension this created as both islamabad and new delhi vie for
influence in kabul
there are real suspicions both in india and pakistan about what the other is
doing in afghanistan he said
so think each country focusing its efforts on development on humanitarian
assistance perhaps in some limited areas of training but with full
transparency for each other would help allay these suspicions and frankly
create opportunities he said
gates after cultural trip to visit the taj mahal on wednesday afternoon is
to head to pakistan on thursday
during his two day trip to india gates has also reassured leaders in new delhi
that washington will not abandon afghanistan despite timeline for the
withdrawal of us troops
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
us officials said the visit to india 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
in november president barack obama rolled out the red carpet for the indian
prime minister in the first full fledged official visit of his presidency
toasting india as an indispensable partner
strong quake hits haiti us geologists
port au prince jan afp
port au prince was hit wednesday by strong earthquake measuring on the
moment magnitude scale eight days after the haiti capital was razed by
quake
the quake struck kilometers miles west of the capital port au prince
according to the us geological survey
it followed the much more powerful quake on january that is thought to have
killed to people
residents reported low vibration followed by brief but more powerful
rumbling shake at am gmt
afp reporters in the city said there was no immediate sign of damage or
casualties but crashing sound could be heard suggested that an already
damaged building may have collapsed
in nearby petionville afp staff said the quake was felt for around ten seconds
the us geological survey initially measured wednesday quake at
it struck at depth of kilometers miles at am gmt
vietnam dissidents jailed up to years for subversion
ho chi minh city jan afp
vietnamese court on wednesday sentenced group of dissidents to up to
years in prison for trying to overthrow the communist regime in case which has
sparked global concern
after day long trial human rights lawyer le cong dinh french trained
computer expert and blogger nguyen tien trung internet entrepreneur tran
huynh duy thuc and le thang long were convicted of activities aimed
at subverting the people administration
thuc received year sentence trung seven years while dinh and long got
five years each the court announced
they could have been sentenced to death
their prison terms will be followed by house arrest of three years for all the
men except thuc who faces five years
un deeply concerned about health system in gaza
gaza city jan afp
the united nations on wednesday said it was deeply concerned about the
deterioration of the health care system in the gaza strip due to israeli
closures of the hamas ruled territory
year after israel devastating offensive in gaza the borders of the
impoverished territory remain mostly sealed preventing hundreds of patients
each month from leaving to receive timely advanced care officials said
we are deeply concerned about the current health system in gaza and in
particular its capacity and ability to deliver proper standards of health care
to the people of gaza un humanitarian coordinator max gaylard said
this adverse situation is not like haiti haiti has been destroyed by an
earthquake he told reporters at gaza main al shifa hospital the
circumstances here are entirely man made and can be fixed accordingly
israel tightened sanctions on gaza in june after the islamist hamas
movement seized power sealing the territory of million people off from all
but vital humanitarian aid and strictly limiting travel into and out of gaza
the israeli military would not immediately comment on the un allegations but has
said in the past that it is allowing humanitarian needs to be met while putting
pressure on hamas which won legislative elections but is blacklisted as
terrorist group by the west
the world health organisation who says the embargo has led to shortages of
certain drugs delayed or prevented the entry of vital equipment and spare
parts and kept doctors and nurses from pursuing advanced training
gaza has reasonably decent health care system quite sophisticated health
care system it not if you like third world country in this respect said
tony laurance the who head for the palestinian territories
but you cannot run system of this kind modern health care system in
isolation from the international community
the lack of certain kinds of advanced care meanwhile forces hundreds of gazans
to seek passage to israel each month for treatment there or in third countries
but many are denied or receive no response
in december there were applications for advanced care with percent of
applicants declined and patients died while waiting for israeli permits in
according to the who
if that happened in my country in the uk in europe in israel if an
individual who needed urgent treatment was unable to get out because of
bureaucratic obstacle it would be scandal laurence said
here it happens to or people every month
one such patient was fidaa hijjy an year old woman diagnosed with hodgkins
disease who applied for permit to be treated in israel on three occasions last
autumn but did not receive any response
