abuja nigerian court to rule in case brought by lawyers seeking to force
ailing president umaru yar adua to properly handover executive powers to his
deputy until he is well enough to return to office nigeria politics
damascus hamas sponsored meeting remembering israel devastating offensive in
gaza which ended just over year ago mideast conflict gaza hamas memorial
geneva us secretary for homeland secretary janet napolitano discusses airline
security with airline chiefs at the international air transport association
iata gmt us attacks transport airline security iata
islamabad us defense secretary robert gates speaks before military audience
as he seeks to improve relations and security cooperation with pakistan
pakistan us unrest military
mumbai india largest private firm reliance industries announces third
quarter earnings india company reliance earnings
washington sentencing of james wilbur fondren who was found guilty in
september of spying for china gmt us china espionage court
the house financial services committee weighs in on the explosive issue of
bonuses and other compensation for top bank executives us finance banks
afp
urgent figure skating plushenko wins gold at european championships
tallinn jan afp
olympic champion yevgeny plushenko claimed men gold for the sixth time at the
european figure skating championship here on thursday
the three time world champion marked his international return after retiring
following his olympic success in by crushing his rivals to take the
continental title ahead of stephane lambiel of switzerland
defending champion brian joubert of france took bronze after the free skating
finale
alerte
figure skating yevgeny plushenko wins men european gold
emotional brazil mourns peacekeepers killed in haiti
brasilia jan afp
president luiz inacio lula da silva on thursday led an emotional ceremony with
full military honors for brazilian peacekeepers who died in last week
earthquake in haiti
lula himself wept as he gave his condolences to family and friends of the
soldiers whose bodies were were laid out in coffins under brazilian flags in
the capital brasilia
they were brave compatriots who went to haiti with one message you are not
alone lula said in speech
he added that in haiti our warriors of peace were never mistaken for foreign
occupiers
the died in the january quake that killed more than haitians
they were part of strong un peacekeeping mission that has been in haiti
since brazil has military command of the force and has contributed the
biggest contingent of soldiers numbering
in addition two brazilian civilians died in the quake bringing the total
national toll to
they were the deputy un head of the peacekeeping mission luis carlos da costa
and high profile children rights campaigner zilda arns
funeral was held for arns last week while commemorative service took place
thursday in rio de janeiro for da costa
there are moments when words are too weak in front of the brutality of events
lula said
the tragedy that crashed down on haiti was one of those episodes when fate
pulled up the reins on the human condition
each of the soldiers killed was given posthumous promotion and medal of
honor
yemen stops giving entry visas at airports over qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
yemen stopped granting entry visas on arrival at airports on thursday to prevent
militants from entering the country widening its dragnet against an al qaeda
cell believed behind spate of global attacks
the measure comes amid military crackdown on al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
aqap which is entrenched in mountain redoubts east of the capital and claimed
responsibility for the botched christmas day bid to down us airliner
approaching detroit
yemen has stopped granting visas at the airport to halt terrorist
infiltration state news agency saba announced
military official said that in light of this decision granting visas to
foreigners will take place only through the embassies of yemen and after
consulting security authorities to verify the identities of travellers
this is to prevent the infiltration of any suspected terrorist elements he
was quoted by the defence ministry newspaper september as saying
six yemeni airports handle international flights and until now only travellers
from few countries had to obtain visas before flying
top us general david petraeus said on thursday that the fact aqap has emerged in
yemen is not something that is total surprise for us at all
yemen was very much at my sights as much as two years ago when was
commander in iraq part of the countries we were focused on as source of
foreign players was yemen he told the center for strategic and international
studies think tank in washington
earlier this week the us senate foreign relations committee released report
warning that aqap might be training as many as three dozen americans who
converted to islam in prison
these people travelled to yemen upon their release ostensibly to study arabic
but possibly for al qaeda training the report said
under previous regulations they would have been allowed to enter the country
without being vetted beforehand
us officials are on heightened alert because of the potential threat from
extremists carrying american passports and the related challenges involved in
detecting and stopping homegrown operatives the report added
sanaa has been under intense international pressure to eradicate aqap which has
claimed it was behind attacks against saudi korean yemeni and us targets
since it was founded year ago
in late december yemen launched new military campaign against the group
claiming to have killed or arrested dozens of jihadists and their leaders
as recently as wednesday yemeni warplanes bombed site that was believed to be
hideout for prominent al qaeda members in maarib province
the general committee of president ali abdullah saleh general people
congress praised strikes against al qaeda on thursday saying they prevented
terrorist elements from carrying out operations aimed at the security of the
state and its citizens saba reported
sanaa official on thursday applauded citizens for their help in the fight
against the extremists saying they had provided useful information that has
strengthened the government efforts in pursuing al qaeda members
the most high profile yemeni american in the country is fugitive radical imam
anwar al awlaqi native of new mexico who is now in hiding presumably in part
of eastern yemen where his family tribe holds sway
white house aide has directly accused awlaqi of links with major nidal hasan
the man suspected of shooting dead people at texas military base in
november
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan has also said
awlaqi might have had contact with the man who allegedly attempted to blow up
the us airliner on december umar farouk abdulmutallab
officials are also worried about non yemeni americans blonde haired
blue eyed types who travelled to yemen converted to islam became
fundamentalists married yemeni women and fit the profile of americans that al
qaeda has sought to recruit
aqap meanwhile has issued statement celebrating the first anniversary of its
founding according to the us based site intelligence group which monitors
jihadist websites
the tuesday statement claimed the botched strike on the detroit bound airliner
and failed attempt to assassinate saudi arabia deputy interior minister
it claimed aqap was an inspiration to muslims the world over and nightmare
from which the zionist crusaders and the arab apostates cannot seem to awaken
rebuilding haiti to take years dedication ngo
washington jan afp
rebuilding haiti out of the ruins of an earthquake will take many years and
require sustained commitment from international donors non governmental
organization said thursday
there is going to be long and challenging recovery and we need sustained
support said jonathan reckford chief executive officer of the organization
habitat for humanity
people need to think in terms of year time frame he told afp after
visiting the devastated caribbean nation
the trail of destruction left by the january magnitude quake was one of
the worst have ever seen he said
habit for humanity also took part in the rebuilding efforts after the
indian ocean tsunami and hurricane katrina which ravaged new orleans in
the organization figures some families lost their homes in the quake
the international organization of migration has estimated that some are
homeless in the capital of port au prince alone
once we have done the basic relief food water the need is going to be
shelter reckford said
hope the people will think from long term perspective and recognize that
short term relief is the shortest part of the whole process
he said the group wanted to help build as many homes as we can raise the
resources for so far the group has raised million dollars in donations
but he hoped the figure would be substantially more by the time they start
construction
football frankfurt sign us world cup hopeful clark
frankfurt germany jan afp
eintracht frankfurt on thursday signed american international defender ricardo
anthony clark on six month deal from mls side houston
the year old who has caps hopes the move will boost his chances of
playing in the world cup this summer
more arrests in cyprus media magnate murder
nicosia jan afp
two more people were arrested late on thursday in connection with the gangland
style killing in cyprus of media tycoon andis hadjicostis police said
the two are expected to appear before nicosia district court on friday for
remand order following new evidence said the capital police chief kypros
michaelides
the latest arrests take the number of suspects in police custody in connection
with the killing to five
the year old media mogul was gunned down outside his home near the us embassy
in nicosia on january
hadjicostis father of two was chief executive of the dias media group one
of the island largest which owns the sigma tv channel radio proto daily
newspaper simerini and other publications
the state broadcaster said that one of the three suspects already in police
custody had admitted to taking part in the crime that sent shockwaves across the
east mediterranean island
he was reported to have named names leading police to others they suspect of
having masterminded the murder
us senate unlikely to vote on bernanke this week
washington jan afp
the us senate will not vote until next week at the earliest on the nomination of
ben bernanke to second term as federal reserve chief aides to the democratic
majority said thursday
bernanke who has faced sharp criticism over his role in the global
financial meltdown was still expected to be confirmed by lawmakers most likely
before his term runs out at the end of the month said one official
senate democratic majority leader harry reid was expected soon to start the
process of ending debate on the nomination triggering process that would
culminate with final vote next week
small group comprising democrats and republicans has fought against bernanke
confirmation demanding greater accountability from the fed and assailing his
oversight in the years leading up to the crisis
ice hockey canadiens bid farewell to laraque
montreal jan afp
georges laraque was sent packing by the montreal canadiens on thursday week
after the right wing of haitian heritage scored his only goal for the national
hockey league club
laraque has played only games for his hometown team over the past two seasons
and had dedicated his goal against dallas last week to the victims of the
haitian earthquake
the year nhl veteran will be paid his million dollar season salary and
remain on the canadiens roster but will not play again team general manager
bob gainey said calling laraque an unproductive distraction
told him that he would not be continuing as part of our group for the rest of
this season for reasons of lack of productivity and distractions to our group
gainey said
we felt our goals were more achievable to continue without him as part of the
group
laraque three year million dollar contract includes no movement clause
that kept montreal from trading him or sending him to the developmental leagues
at for points the canadiens are one point behind the new york
islanders for the last eastern conference playoff spot
formula one rossi sets stunning lap in barcelona
rome jan afp
moto gp champion valentino rossi admitted he was delighted after setting
stunning lap time of min sec during testing at the circuit de catalunya
in barcelona on thursday
rossi was taking part in his second day of testing with the ferrari the
same car with which world champion kimi raikkonen set the circuit lap
record in
that was time of just over couple of tenths faster than rossi
penultimate lap
we kept the last three quarters of an hour to try time attack with little
petrol and fresh tyres said year old rossi who added he had enjoyed
himself even more than during his last test with ferrari at mugello in november
it more effort in mugello but this track here is really wonderful with
motorbikes and cars
rossi spun twice at the turn during wet conditions on wednesday and although the
weather was not ideal to begin with on thursday he still managed to complete
km over the two days
oil prices skid on worries about us demand
new york jan afp
world oil prices skidded thursday as traders reacted to bearish us energy
report that signaled weak demand in the world biggest energy consuming nation
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery tumbled
dollars to close at dollars barrel on the first day of trading of the
new futures contract on wednesday crude had fallen by dollars
in london brent north sea crude for delivery in march shed dollars to
settle at dollars
the market accelerated its decline after the us government department of
energy doe report
the doe said that gasoline reserves increased by stonger than expected
million barrels in the week ending january striking two year high
however us crude stocks fell by barrels last week according to the
weekly doe energy report confounding expectations of large gain of
million barrels
demand for oil products remained weak said nic brown of natixis
the report suggests that us demand for oil products has the scope to surprise
on the downside this year he added
hussein allidina at morgan stanley noted gasoline was off to weak bloated
start and stronger dollar and economic data also dented market sentiment
rallying dollar bearish data on european manufacturing and services and the
rise in us jobless claims are all pressuring crude lower he said
the doe published the report one day later than normal because of public
holiday monday
it said refineries operated at percent of capacity last week their lowest
rate in at least two decades apart from the immediate aftermath of hurricane
refineries just don want to produce product as demand is lackluster and the
money is not there said mike zarembski senior commodities analyst with us
group optionsxpress
the market closely watches the doe report because the united states is the
biggest energy consumer followed by china
analysts pointed out the market was worried about the chinese government move
to tighten credit to rein in strong economic growth which beijing said thursday
reached pace of percent in well above the government target of
percent
crude futures sank by almost dollars on wednesday amid market concerns that
credit squeeze in china and swelling us stockpiles could dampen demand for the
key commodity traders said
the new york benchmark contract fell below dollars barrel yesterday for
the first time since december with fears that the chinese economy may
suffocate under lending restrictions and have corresponding effect on
commodity demand stirring up some allayed fears said barclays capital analyst
amrita sen
but the analyst said chinese oil demand has been growing at phenomenal pace
over the past few months and we see little reason to believe that this trend is
unlikely to continue into much in line with overall economic growth
court rejects appeal from wife of murdered english aristocrat
paris jan afp
french court has rejected an appeal by the widow of the th earl of
shaftesbury who was convicted for plotting to murder the british aristocrat in
making her year prison sentence final
the court rejected former nightclub hostess jamila barek appeal on
wednesday more than five years after the killing
barek and her tunisian brother mohamed were jailed for years in for
plotting to kill year old anthony ashley cooper out of fear an impending
divorce would threaten her inheritance
her sentence was reduced last year from years to in an earlier appeal
believing her to be pregnant the earl wrote her into his will when they married
in leaving her large chunk of his multi million dollar estate but in
their marriage broke down and he was seeing another woman
the earl decomposing body was found in april on patch of wasteland on
the french riviera five months after he disappeared from his home in cannes
forensic tests showed he had been strangled
barek has said she was only an eyewitness to scuffle that turned violent
youtube streamlines its video viewing page
san francisco jan afp
youtube on thursday debuted revamped video viewing page that offers larger
screens and less clutter
we re excited to unveil the first major example of our efforts to simplify and
streamline the video page to offer the best possible watching experience
youtube engineer igor kofman and designer julian fromar said in blog post
the concept at the heart of the redesign is to make the video the star
according to kofman and fromar
to that end the new look is more subdued stripped down and simple than
before the pair said the design should help ease users into advanced
features while providing power users with all the functionality they want
new features include letting youtube users search for videos while watching one
instead of having to break from viewing to conduct searches
youtube users can opt in for the new viewing page format or stick with the old
one
as with all things on the web and in life change is hard and can take some
time to get used to fromar and kofman said
that why we did lot of research talked with so many of you and
incorporated your thoughts into this latest back to basics playback page
youtube playback page redesign was unveiled day after the google owned
online video sharing hotspot announced it will begin testing an online movie
rental service on friday to kick off the sundance film festival
five independent films from the and sundance festivals will be part of
small collection of rental videos to be available to us users of the popular
video sharing website in the weeks ahead according to youtube
sundance films available for rental from friday through january will include
bass ackwards and children of invention
youtube invited independent film makers to sign on to have their works offered
for rent at the website
the video rental move represents another step for google in generating revenue
from youtube which it bought in in deal valued at billion dollars
youtube will also be stepping in as potentially formidable contender in the
growing market of online distribution of films that includes videogame consoles
apple itunes shop and us dvd rental giant netflix
obama moves to rein in banks in wall street assault
washington jan afp
president barack obama unveiled plans thursday to limit the size and scope of us
banks and finance firms in new assault on the wall street excesses laid bare
by the financial crisis
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail obama vowed flanked by former federal reserve chief paul volcker
who advised the president on the rules
the plans to limit excessive risk taking and protect taxpayers are aimed at
preventing banks or finance institutions from owning investing in or sponsoring
hedge fund or private equity funds
they will effectively force finance firms to choose between proprietary
activities trading in stocks and sometimes risky financial instruments and
commercial activities like making loans and collecting deposits
the initiative which must be approved by congress includes new proposal to
limit the consolidation of the finance sector placing broader limits on
excessive growth of the market share of liabilities at the largest financial
firms
obama blamed banks for sparking the worst economic crisis since the great
depression with huge reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and massive
bonuses in binge of irresponsibility
he vowed to enact the reforms in congress even if wall street deployed an army
of lobbyists to kill them
if these folks want fight it fight ready to have he vowed
defiantly
the announcement was the latest attempt by the white house to harness popular
fury at massive wall street bonuses and the financial crisis which is adding up
to an angry political mood in crucial election year
separately the federal reserve and other us regulators ordered banks thursday
to follow tougher rules on capital requirements and accounting standards
starting in november
banking organizations affected by the new accounting standards generally will
be subject to higher risk based regulatory capital requirements said joint
statement by regulators
the new accounting standards require banks to include number of off balance
sheet items in their liabilities which could raise capital requirements
wall street gave an immediate thumbs down to obama plans as us stocks plunged
with the blue chip dow jones industrial average down more than points or two
percent
rather than arbitrarily banning certain activities or setting arbitrary size
limits our policy response should focus on improving risk management internal
controls corporate governance and supervisory oversight said the financial
services forum
it is nonpartisan group of the chief executives of of the largest and most
diversified financial services institutions in the united states
the obama administration proposal is inconsistent with achieving goals
such as promoting responsible lending increasing jobs and promoting stronger
economy said steve bartlett president for the financial services roundtable
the group represents top financial services firms providing banking
insurance and investment products and services
obama first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue handful of
banks that threatened to topple the us economy after being exposed to massive
losses on the subprime mortgage market
according to treasury officials about billion dollars was pumped into
banks under the government rescue plans
obama has sounded tougher tone towards banks in recent weeks as he faced
widespread voter anger at the massive government bailout which came as
americans faced surging unemployment home foreclosures and national debt
top obama economic aide austan goolsbee sought to counter criticism that the
plan is returning to the depression era law creating wall between investment
and commercial banks
it not returning to glass steagall goolsbee said
while the act repealed in forbid underwriting securities or investing in
securities by any commercial bank goolsbee said this is not that this says
bank cannot own hedge fund cannot own private equity fund or do trading for
its own account that is not related to its client business
he added that the goal is to get back to the fundamental nature of the bank
which is serving its clients rather than investing for its own profit
emergence of al qaeda in yemen not surprise general
washington jan afp
yemen emergence as hotbed for al qaeda militants has not come as surprise
top us general david petraeus said thursday adding he had been concerned about
the country for some years
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap has dug in near the yemeni capital amid
military crackdown after the group claimed responsibility for the botched
christmas day bid to down us airliner approaching detroit
that the group has emerged there is not something that is total surprise for
us at all petraeus the top commander of us forces in iraq and afghanistan
told the center for strategic and international studies think tank in
washington
yemen was very much at my sights as much as two years ago when was
commander in iraq part of the countries we were focused on as source of
foreign players was yemen petraeus said
the general said he had traveled there in november and december after being
appointed head of central command and insisted us forces had strengthened their
intelligence there
we got along with building the kinds of efforts that were necessary to develop
the intelligence baseline he said adding those efforts enabled raid
operations in december that killed or imprisoned dozens of al qaeda members
petraeus stressed the fight against al qaeda in yemen was part of the greater
challenge dealing with development aid and the economic issues that are
often reasons that individuals become extremists
earlier this week the united states named aqap terrorist group in bid to cut
support to the outfit
state department spokesman philip crowley said the group has claimed it was
behind number of attacks against saudi korean yemeni and us targets since
it was founded in january
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
what happening in the americas on friday
haiti struggles to cope after huge quake
celebrities join telethon for haiti
port au prince haitians struggle to cope amid the chaos left by the january
quake expect coverage haiti quake picture video graphic
washington the us television network link up for telethon for haiti hosted by
george clooney with help from alicia keys christina aguilera shakira john
legend justin timberlake and stevie wonder gmt saturday expect coverage
haiti quake us telethon
elyria ohio president barack obama goes to ohio to talk about the economy and
jobs at time of painfully high unemployment expect coverage us politics
economy obama
los angeles new court hearing is scheduled in the decades old child sex case
of filmmaker roman polanski gmt coverage on merit entertainmentm us
france film polanski
united nations un security council meets on kosovo gmt coverage on
merit un kosovo
washington sentencing of james wilbur fondren who was found guilty in
september of spying for the chinese government gmt expect coverage
us china espionage court
the house financial services committee weighs in on the explosive issue of
bonuses and other compensation for top bank executives gmt expect
coverage us finance banks
nba cavaliers guard williams out with shoulder sprain
cleveland ohio jan afp
cleveland cavaliers point guard mo williams has been sidelined indefinitely with
sprained left shoulder robbing the nba club of its number two scorer behind
superstar lebron james
williams suffered the injury when he reached for steal in the third quarter of
victory tuesday over toronto leaving him out for thursday home showdown
against the reigning nba champion los angeles lakers
in christmas day victory at los angeles williams led the cavaliers over the
lakers with points
delonte west will move into the starting rotation for the first time this season
with daniel gibson set to see more playing time as result of the injury to
williams who averages points game
the cavaliers are the best record in the eastern conference
nba thumb surgery benches thunder forward
oklahoma city oklahoma jan afp
oklahoma city thunder forward white underwent successful surgery thursday
to repair broken right thumb but will the next miss six to eight weeks of the
season the club announced
white first round selection in the nba draft suffered the injury during
tuesday practice session he missed most of his rookie season in the nba after
surgery to remove benign growth from his jaw
white averages points and rebounds for the thunder he played in only
eight games this season and had not played in more than month
at the thunder are level with utah for the final two playoff positions in
the western conference
haiti government on course to regain control president
port au prince jan afp
haiti government is in the process of regaining control and organizing aid
efforts in the wake of the devastating january earthquake president rene
preval said thursday
it is difficult to work as before the quake but we re on course to regain
control preval told reporters here
the aid is being organized and the situation will continue to improve he
pledged
answering criticism of his government weak response to the quake preval
said haiti has just suffered catastrophe that would have been major
disaster for any country
the presidential complex the parliament the courthouse many ministries and
other government buildings were destroyed in the quake preval noted saying all
government documents were lost at that time
but from his temporary offices near the international airport preval assured
haitians over of whom are thought to be dead and over half million
homeless that the government was working to resume regular operations amid
the ruins
preval said that haitians will have noticed that we have collected
corpses referring to the enormous death toll that left dead bodies lying piled
in the streets of the capital
the gas pumps have begun to be supplied and the banks reopened today preval
