remote desert area of the province saying instead that some of its members had
been wounded
the government claimed that qassem al rimi the military leader of aqap was
among those who died in the missile attack
it also said shabwani ammar al waili saleh al tais egyptian ibrahim mohammed
saleh al banna and an unidentified sixth person were killed
rimi was among people who had made daring escape from state security
prison in sanaa in february that left the yemeni government red faced and
he was on list of wanted suspects
on saturday the government said it was pressing ahead with its crackdown on the
group and had arrested three suspected militants in the northern area of alb
near the border with saudi arabia
it named them as ahmed al razehi yasser al zubai and ahmed al heemi and said
they were wearing military fatigues and had guns and explosives
saturday arrests were the latest in series of blows since late december
when the government launched its latest campaign against al qaeda
on january security forces killed abdullah mehdar said to be the group
kingpin in shabwa
provincial governor ali hassan al ahmadi said dozens of fighters including
saudis and egyptians who had fled afghanistan were holed up in shabwa
among them he said were current aqap chief nasir al wahishi his saudi number
two saeed ali al shehri and radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi
on wednesday yemeni journalist close to awlaqi abdullah shaea said the
cleric had told him he would not surrender and denied claims the government was
negotiating with him in hopes he would give himself up
the prospects of the married father of five being captured are scant given
shaea description of sentiment in shabwa after deadly december air raid
there by government forces that killed al qaeda suspects and number of
civilians
after that raid on an area controlled by the awlaqi tribe people were
furious throughout the region they all went over to the side of al qaeda and
prevent anyone from approaching shaea said
there was fighting the government well knows that if it sends forces into the
area they will be beaten it will not even try that is why anwar is safe where
he is
yemeni officials also announced earlier this month the capture of mohammed al
hanq and two other militants believed to be behind threats against western
interests in sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days
yemen is under us pressure to clamp down on al qaeda which claimed
responsibility for botched attempt on christmas day by nigerian national to
bring down us airliner
analysts say that the government in the impoverished state is keen to show the
world it can crush al qaeda militants on its own
an international conference on yemen will be held in london on january
china liquidity fears unsettle investors
hong kong jan afp
uncertainty over beijing monetary policy weighed on shares in shanghai and
hong kong wednesday overshadowing strong lead overnight from wall street as
asian markets fell
shanghai tumbled percent with banks leading the losses on renewed concerns
over tighter controls on lending dealers said
china will rein in credit after explosive growth last year top regulator said
wednesday as the nation vies to cool its red hot economy
this year we will continue to control the pace of the credit supply banking
regulator liu minkang told the asian financial forum in hong kong
however he downplayed report by the official china securities journal that
major banks had been told to stop extending new loans for the rest of january
given mainland investors acute sensitivity to policy changes the tumble in
stocks we ve seen today isn that surprising zhou lin an analyst at huatai
securities said
industrial and commercial bank of china the nation biggest lender dropped
percent to yuan
expectations of slower loan growth also hit real estate developers which relied
on relatively high leverage ratios to achieve business growth
china vanke declined percent to yuan
hong kong hang seng index where mainland lenders are also listed dived
percent by midday
other markets were mixed following wall street overnight percent rise
us shares were helped higher on news british confectioner cadbury agreed to
sweetened billion dollar takeover bid from american giant kraft foods
tokyo shed earlier gains to end down percent as investors turned cautious
ahead of another batch of us corporate earnings results
the nikkei fell points to close at
investors continued to dump shares in japan airlines day after the debt
ridden carrier filed for bankruptcy and announced it would delist its shares
next month in move expected to wipe out investors
jal ended at record low of two yen two us cents down three yen or
percent
investors were eyeing upcoming chinese economic data and fourth quarter us
earnings reports from companies including bank of america and wells fargo after
citigroup on tuesday posted net losses of billion dollars for the final
quarter of
australian shares moved marginally higher but earlier gains led by major miner
bhp billiton were eroded by uncertainty over beijing monetary policy
the amp asx index added points or percent to
it was pretty solid open with the financial and materials sectors adding
good points but then about midday those reports came out of china ig markets
research analyst ben potter said
shares in bhp billiton rose percent to dollars us after it
reported record iron ore production in the six months to december
seoul closed percent higher led by telecom and utility stocks the kospi
gained points to
mounting worries over the outlook for the european economy in light of weak
german data and greece fiscal woes hit the euro in asian trade
the european currency slid to dollars in tokyo hitting its lowest
against the greenback this year from in new york late tuesday it
weakened to yen from
the dollar strengthened to yen from
oil was lower new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery was down cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march dipped cents to
hong kong gold finished at us dollars down from tuesday
close of dollars
in other markets
singapore straits times index closed down percent or points
lower at
singapore investors have turned more cautious because of uncertainty in
overseas markets due to factors such as china tightening and mixed recent us
economic data and results said an analyst with local brokerage
dbs bank fell cents to and capitaland climbed two cents to while
singapore telecom edged up one cent to dollars
taipei fell points or percent to on profit taking
dealers said
malaysia kuala lumpur composite index gained points or percent
to close at
the market has stayed resilient despite mixed picture around the region and
this augurs well for it to rise further in the mid term dealer said
telecoms company axiata rose percent to ringgit as food company nestle
slid percent to ringgit
indonesian shares were flat gaining points to
carmaker astra international fell percent to plantation firm astra
agro lost percent to and bank rakyat dropped percent to
wellington closed flat with the nzx index edging points lower to
on low summer holiday volumes
air new zealand rose five cents to dollars after the consumer price index
showed percent seasonal increase in international airfares
manila ended flat shedding points to as investors took profits
on key blue chips
philippine long distance telephone was unchanged at pesos
bangkok fell percent or points to close at
energy firm ptt plc fell to close at baht while coal producer banpu
closed unchanged
mumbai closed flat with the sensex edging down points to
india third largest software exporter wipro fell percent to on
profit taking after it said consolidated third quarter net profit beat
forecasts to rise percent
british engineers slam home wind turbines as eco bling
london jan afp
installing wind turbines and solar panels in people homes is eco bling that
will not help meet britain targets on cutting carbon emissions engineers
warned wednesday
in new report by the royal academy of engineering rae professor doug king
said it was better to adapt buildings to make them more energy efficient than
try to offset energy use with on site renewable energy generation
the leader of britain main opposition conservative party david cameron is
among those who have installed wind turbines fixing one onto the roof of his
home in the plush west london district of notting hill
eco bling is term coined to describe unnecessary renewable energy visibly
attached to the outside of poorly designed buildings king told the daily mail
newspaper ahead of the report publication
it achieves little or nothing if you build building that is just as energy
hungry as every other building and you put few wind turbines and solar panels
on the outside that addresses few percent of that building energy
consumption you have not achieved anything
it just about trying to say to the general public that being good
putting renewable energy on my building
in existing buildings which account for the vast majority of those in use in
king suggested low cost alternatives such as installing thermostats on
central heating systems or using low energy light bulbs
the report said it was also vital to engineer buildings to minimise energy
demands in the first place including using masonry to store heat or ensuring
good use of natural light in homes and offices
before renewable energy generation is even considered it is vital to ensure
that buildings are as energy efficient as possible otherwise the potential
benefits are simply wasted in offsetting un necessary consumption it said
however it warned lack of skills in understanding energy use in buildings
meant the construction industry would struggle to meet government targets to
make all new buildings zero carbon by
philippines estrada confident after election path cleared
manila jan afp
deposed philippine leader joseph estrada declared wednesday he was confident of
reclaiming the presidency after the election commission ruled he could run
again in this may polls
the commission on elections comelec rejected challenge from group of
lawyers that estrada should be banned due to constitutional requirement that
says presidents cannot seek re election after serving their six year term
however the case on estrada was not so clear cut as he served only three years
in office before being deposed in due to massive corruption during his
reign
in the end it is the filipino people who would act as the final arbiter on
whether they would have estrada sit again as president it is the electorate
choice of who their president should be the comelec committee ruled
comelec committee head nicodemo ferrer ruled the constitutional ban did not
apply to estrada saying this pertains to an incumbent president and not to
someone already previously elected
however signalling the legal battle may not be over lawyer evilio pormento said
he would appeal the ruling to the entire comelec body
comelec chairman jose melo can still either uphold or reverse wednesday
ruling
nevertheless estrada said comelec decision on wednesday was major victory
now it settled sovereignty emanates from the people and it will be the
people who will decide who will be the next president estrada told reporters
very confident like in he said referring to the presidential
election which he won by landslide
the former movie star now is polling in third place behind senators benigno
aquino and manuel villar
stays in spanish hotels drop statistics office
madrid jan afp
overnight stays in spain hotels dropped percent in over the previous
year despite fall in rates official data showed wednesday in the latest sign
that the country key tourism sector has taken hit due to the recession
the number of overnight stays by residents of spain fell percent to
million while the number of stays by non residents fell percent to
million the national statistics institute said in statement
average hotel rates declined percent in over the previous year as
establishments slashed rates in bid to woo tourists in the midst of recession
in spain and in the country main sources of foreign visitors
in spain lost its ranking as the world second most visited country to the
united states as the number of tourists it welcomed dropped percent to
million its first reversal in visitor numbers in over decade
apart from the recession spain is feeling the pinch from the drop in the pound
to near parity with the euro which has made it more expensive for british
holidaymakers to spend time at the resorts that dot its extensive coastline
the appeal of the package sun and sand holidays that spain pioneered is also
beginning to wane as the popularity of independent travel booked over the
internet increases
the tourism sector employed people last year or percent of all
workers in the country according to the industry and tourism ministry
germany and britain accounted for percent of all overnight stays by non
residents in
the number of overnight stays by germans fell percent to million while
the number of stays by britons also fell by percent to million
the number of foreign tourists who visited spain last year slipped percent
to just over million the second straight year of falling visitor numbers
afp animated graphics advisory
paris jan afp
we will move the following animated graphic
nigeria violence
interactive graphic on unrest in nigeria as the government sends
more troops to the troubled city of jos where clashes between
muslim and christian mobs have left about people dead
format adobe flash cs player px nigeriariotsen gmt
slug nigeria unrest religion
afp animated graphics
peter shard tel
football dede ayew following in famous footsteps
luanda jan afp
seldom does player languishing in the backwaters of the french second division
hog the international headlines but then andre ayew is no average player
dede ayew sent ghana into the africa cup of nations quarter finals with his
first half goal against burkina faso on tuesday to do his famous father proud
ayew senior abedi pele ayew was the pivotal figure in ghana last africa
cup of nations title winning side in years on his son could emerge
as the black stars hero
dede struck with fine header in the th minute to save ghana from the
disgrace of becoming the first of the five world cup qualifers competing in
angola not to make it past the first round
his goal greeted with jubilation by fans back home sent ghana into last
eight match up with the hosts at luanda november stadium on sunday
the ayew family are pivotal in the history of football in ghana
pele ayew was voted african footballer of the year three times collected an
african nations cup winners medal at and helped marseille become the first
french holders of the european champions league in
uncle kwame ayew was member of the first ghana football squad to compete in
the olympics when he appeared at the barcelona games
dede older brother ibrahim midfielder with egyptian giants zamalek came on
as second half substitute against burkina faso and another brother year
old jordan is also at marseille
dede skippered ghana team to win africa youth title last year in rwanda
scoring two goals and with raft of senior ghana stars like michael essien
injured he took centre stage here on tuesday
the year old is on marseille books but is currently on loan at second
division ac arles avignon
born in france when his father was playing for lille the left footed striker is
product of marseille youth acedemy he joined the south coast superpower in
sons of famous fathers can struggle to live up to expectations but ayew is
determined to fulfil his destiny
every father wants his son to follow in his footsteps and if god permits want
to better what my father did for our country and africa he has said
after tuesday match he cut modest figure telling reporters very happy
to help my country we wanted to win for the fans
everyone thought we were going out but we showed our determination and we re
still in the competition
now we face angola there going to be even more pressure they are the home
side but we are concentrated and we want to do well
we have lot of injuries in the team it ll be tough playing angola in luanda
but we will follow the coach instructions
ghana serb coach milovan rajevac said the injuries to key players like michael
essien were giving ghana youngsters like dede the chance to shine
we ve had lot of problems with injuries throughout the entire team some
before the competition and others like essien during it
we ve got big problems but this is good opprotunity for young players they
need to prove themselves we believe in them
france prepares fresh carbon tax plans
paris jan afp
france renewed efforts on wednesday to become the first big economy to tax
harmful carbon emissions with the government due to thrash out new plans for
the measure to curb climate change
ministers were due to draw up amendments to law that was rejected last month
by the country high court days before it was to kick in an embarrassing
setback for president nicolas sarkozy
the tax is aimed at encouraging french consumers to stop wasting energy but the
court ruled that too many exemptions created inequalities and unfairly placed
the burden of cuts on minority of consumers
sarkozy had fiercely defended the measure in the face of strong public
opposition calling it revolutionary approach in the fight against climate
change and making it pillar of his budget
france would be the biggest economy to apply direct carbon tax mirroring
measures that exist in sweden denmark and finland
ecology minister jean louis borloo said he would propose plans to preserve most
of the earlier bill vowing not to hit families and key sectors hard while
seeking an agreement on how to tax heavy industry by july
we will not touch households hauliers or fishermen ecology minister jean
louis borloo told reporters
industries such as metals and refineries seen as major polluters were spared
under the earlier tax plan since they were already subject to european emissions
quotas
borloo announced plans to launch formal talks with companies and authorities on
ways to tax industry fairly possibly through incentive schemes and tax credits
after this consultation he aims to present new bill to parliament by may
while pursuing environmental reforms on the one hand sarkozy risks jeopardising
another of his major priorities making french businesses more competitive
when the bill was struck down last month numerous industry bodies said they
feared that new version would penalise them hurting their competitiveness
the leading business association medef called on tuesday for the tax to be
postponed to and said it should be introduced throughout the european union
in order to avoid putting french industry at competitive disadvantage
such an approach would avoid all distortion of competition said medef
leader laurence parisot
she added that an eu level tax would strengthen europe stance in fighting
global warming after the copenhagen climate summit last month where world
leaders failed to reach climate binding deal
poll released wednesday showed that the public appeared to have turned against
the planned tax the survey by pollster viavoice showed percent of the french
thought the government should abandon it
afptv advisory for wednesday
paris jan afp
we will file the following videos
as part of our news coverage on quake hit haiti we are offering the following
videos
first us patrols set scene for haiti aid drop
port au prince
most of them recently back from combat tours in iraq and afghanistan us
paratroopers are boarding waves of choppers and flying into the united states
latest nation building adventure shuttling back and forth navy seahawks
disgorged some of the troops on dusty field barely one kilometer from the
haitian capital port au prince airport hub of the post earthquake
international aid effort
news
images and soundbites already transmitted
raw vid
web mmv
rescued mexican professor back on home soil
port au prince
mexican teacher carlos peralda who was rescued from the rubble of school in
quake hit port au prince returned to mexico on tuesday the year old spanish
teacher had been trapped under the debris for nearly week and was brought out
of the plane on stretcher
news
images already transmitted
raw vid
web mmv
haiti aid relief steps up
port au prince
with us troops in or around haiti several thousand from the un and
relief organisations on the ground aid operations are getting organised in
haiti more than week after the catastrophic quake in huge global effort
more than billion dollars has been pledged in aid funding to continue on
news
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
we are also offering the following
republicans deal obama massive blow with senate victory
washington
republicans won stunning upset in massachusetts senate election on tuesday
dealing potentially fatal blow to us president barack obama health care
reforms republican scott brown pulled off the shock victory capturing the late
democratic icon edward kennedy seat in stern rebuke of obama exactly year
after he swept into office afptv looks at the consequences for the obama
administration
news
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
punks and rockers grapple with myanmar censors
yangon
myanmar has budding music scene that belies the country image as tightly
controlled military state but every song must pass strict censors who strike
out any remotely political or controversial material this makes life difficult
for bands even when they would rather rock than change society
culture amp lifestyle
voiced report already transmitted
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
as part of our african nations cup coverage we will file the following report
football star skipper eto backs his cameroon fighters
douala
as cameroon prepares to play against tunisia in the african cup of nations
quarter finals on thursday its superstar team captain samuel eto is banking
on his indomitable lions fighting spirit for the afptv it the occasion to
look back on eto life and childhood in cameroon where the iner milan
striker is already legend
sport
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
medical marijuana gains legitimacy in the us
durango colorado
support for legalizing marijuana is growing in the united states in colorado
the number of medical marijuana dispensaries has increased exponentially ever
since local laws loosened up and president barack obama said the federal
government would no longer pursue sellers and users who are obey state laws
fourteen states currently permit the medicinal distribution of marijuana and
several others could be heading in that direction
special report
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
bc vid
web mmv
zimbabwe food crisis has been growing problem for the last years
zimbabwe
after president robert mugabe controversial land reforms production stopped
completely in many areas can new investment from international donors help get
the farming industry back on its feet
special report
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web vid
french film pays tribute to gainsbourg
paris
he was the controversial singer songwriter with all the best women the finest
cigarettes and the catchiest tunes now serge gainsbourg behind such enduring
french classics as je aime moi non plus has been given the big screen
treatment with the release of biopic serge gainsbourg vie heroique
lifestyle amp culture
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
gaza flowers in europe again as israel eases closures
gaza city
this time last year adham hijazi was feeding his world class carnations to
animals but now he hopes they will reach european markets thanks to an easing
of israeli closures on the gaza strip for the first time since the islamist
hamas movement seized power in the territory in june gaza flower and
strawberry farmers may be able to export most of their produce to europe with
help from the netherlands
special report economy
voiced report to be transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
sled dogs mush through the alps
val cenis france
it one of the most gruelling sled dog races in the world france grand
odyssey currently underway in the alps
lifestyle amp culture
images and soundbites to be transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
rescued from haiti debris since quake un
geneva jan afp
the united nations said wednesday that people had been rescued by
international teams from the debris of collapsed buildings in haiti since the
january earthquake
we are at people found elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un
organisation for the coordination of humanitarian affairs told afp describing
it as miracle
on tuesday the un said people had been extracted alive compared to on
saturday
it was not immediately clear when the extra survivors were pulled out
experts said the chances of survival were greatly diminished three days after an
earthquake
byrs said second international relief operations centre was set up in the
capital of the neighbouring dominican republic santo domingo alongside the one
in haiti capital port au prince
three airports as well as ports in the dominican republic were being used for
international aid deliveries she added to relieve bottlenecks that had stifled
the relief effort over the past week
aid group medecins sans frontieres msf doctors without borders said tuesday
that one of its planes carrying vital medical equipment to haiti quake victims
had repeatedly been prevented from landing at port au prince
msf doctors reiterated wednesday that they were running of short of basic items
like bandages plaster for fractures as well as drugs that were crucial for
surgery
on saturday we didn have one of our anaesthetics said paul mcmaster
surgeon at hospital in the port au prince suburb of of carrefour
we ve run out of plaster of paris for fractures and we ve no crepe bandages at
the moment so it just nightmare to get these basic materials he added in
statement
loris de filippi msf coordinator in choscal hospital in port au prince said
doctors were permanently confronted with pleas for treatment week after
thousands were injured by the huge quake
it the most difficult part of our job every time we go out of the operating
theatre we see faces imploring us for treatment and they are begging us there
in front of the hospital de filippi said
it very unacceptable situation what we are trying to do is to expand our
capacity to answer these calls
msf said it was treating variety of quake injuries from fractures to burns at
nine locations in south haiti while dialysis machines were due to arrive by
road
yemen air strike hits qaeda leader home tribal source
sanaa jan afp
yemeni aircraft carried out air strikes wednesday on the home of suspected al
