resource rich caucasus republic energy company
in the volume of supplies will total around billion cubic metres
gazprom said in statement after meeting with azerbajian socar oil company
on thursday
the two sides confirmed an agreement announced by azerbajian energy firm socar
in december that in the company would supply one billion cubic metres of
gas to russia doubling an initial figure
last october socar and gazprom signed contract to pump million cubic
metres of gas annually as moscow seeks to extend its grip on potential european
energy supplies in the hydrocarbons rich caspian sea
under the contract gazprom purchases of azerbaijani gas started on january
this year the price for the gas is to be agreed quarterly based on global
market rates
the agreement on increasing gas supplies may ultimately deprive the european
pipeline project nabucco of portion of gas from azerbaijan
from nabucco rival of the russian south stream gas pipeline plans to
deliver gas from the caspian sea to europe through turkey to reduce europe
dependence on russian supplies
rich in oil and gas and strategically located between russia and iran
azerbaijan has been courted by both moscow and the west since gaining its
independence with the collapse of the soviet union
backed by western governments companies such as britain bp have invested
heavily in its energy sector building corridor of oil and gas pipelines from
azerbaijan through georgia and turkey to europe
azerbaijan last year produced billion cubic metres of natural gas
according to government figures and it expects to nearly double gas production
to billion cubic metres by
the nabucco pipeline is billion euro billion dollar venture to feed
billion cubic metres of natural gas each year from the caspian sea to europe
due to start in
urgent cyberattackers need consequences hillary clinton
washington jan afp
in the wake of cyberattacks on google allegedly by china us secretary of state
hillary clinton will say in major speech on the internet thursday that
countries or individuals engaging in such attacks should face consequences
british court ruling alarms north cyprus property owners
nicosia jan afp
foreign property owners in northern cyprus have expressed alarm over british
court ruling that ordered couple to tear down villa built on disputed land
and pay compensation to the owner
it very bad news for everyone what can they do pack up and leave asked
marian stokes an irishwoman who lives in the northern port town of kyrenia
tuesday ruling by the court of appeal in london that the british couple must
demolish and abandon their holiday home in northern cyprus came as great
shock said stokes
the foreigners have done nothing wrong added stokes founder of home
buyers property group that advises potential buyers in northern cyprus
they ve done everything by the rules they went to lawyer and got advice the
title deeds were stamped by the government
the landmark court ruling requires david and linda orams to hand the land they
bought in back to meletios apostolides the original greek cypriot owner
and pay him damages
apostolides family like thousands of others fled to the south of the island in
when troops invaded the north in response to an athens engineered greek
cypriot coup aimed at uniting cyprus with greece
many of the abandoned properties were distributed among turkish cypriots who had
left behind assets in the south and many of whom subsequently sold them on to
foreigners mainly britons
apostolides launched court action in nicosia in which was followed by
string of subsequent legal hearings amid disagreements over the case
around britons live in the north of the mediterranean island and it would
be ridiculous to bring cases to court said morton coles chairman of the
british residents in northern cyprus society
the only way to be sure that no one will ask for the land people buy in the
north is to have pre title deed from british expatriate or turkish
cypriot said coles
resolution of the property issue for both turkish and greek cypriots can
only come about as part of comprehensive settlement he added
briton living in kyrenia who requested anonymity said he didn know what he
would do in light of the court ruling
we have to see what the orams will do then we will decide if we stay or
leave the country
but he said it would not be easy for the orams to knock their house down as
ordered by the court because they have to get demolition permit from the
turkish cypriot government
another briton with house in the north of the island criticised the greed of
the property agencies and the ignorance of the buyers
most expats are not aware of the property problem in cyprus and are not
interested in finding out he said adding that they just accept what the
estate agents tell them
as well as affecting the expatriate community the ruling could have worrying
consequences for northern cyprus where according to the greek cypriot
government statistics as much as percent of the land was owned by greek
cypriots before
property is one of the most complex and divisive issues of the cyprus problem
the greek cypriot side is expected to use the ruling to support its stance and
proposals in ongoing un backed talks aimed at reunifying the mediterranean
island this year
but the turkish cypriot manager of an estate agency in kyrenia says foreigners
should not assume that all title deeds issued by the government of northern
cyprus are fake and will inevitably create problems
to potential buyers we say that they take the risk if they buy someone
property without these pre deeds some clients buy thinking that there
will be solution and the case will be settled
the manager pointed out that turkish cypriots living in the south before
have also been dispossessed including her father who applied to greek
cypriot court in to recover his land in limassol on the south coast
his case was dismissed because he had to stay six months in the south before
applying she said
greek cypriots have submitted around property claims to the european court
of human rights in strasbourg according to greek cypriot lawyer achilleas
demetriades
some living outdoors in haiti iom
geneva jan afp
at least half million people are living outdoors in improvised camps in
haiti capital port au prince the international organisation for migration
said thursday
spokeswoman for the iom which had accounted for people in improvised
settlements on wednesday said the count of those who were homeless or staying
outside their homes after last week earthquake was climbing
so far some improvised settlements comprising at least people have
been identified in this city alone out of which settlements have been
assessed by iom the haitian government and humanitarian partners the agency
said in statement
many of them are living out in the open while others had cobbled together
makeshift shelters spokeswoman jemini pandya told afp as aid workers continue
to locate such camps in and around the capital
the number is growing and it doesn include the number of people outside port
au prince she added
the iom which is charge of shelter for the un led relief effort said it had
received more deliveries of tents on wednesday
transportation of the relief items from the airport to warehouses and then to
distribution points remains challenge with trucks and fuel still in limited
supply it added
china fears rock world markets
london jan afp
global stocks mostly recovered from sharp setback on thursday but mounting
worries over china economy and huge national debts in europe sent shivers
through the oil market and the euro traders said
the euro sank to five month low against the dollar and oil prices dipped
before recovering as investors also worried about the strength of global
economic recovery amid weak us corporate earnings
china gets touch of overheat markets across the rest of the world shudder
that is the way of things today in global economy controlled as much in the
east as it is in the west said analyst howard wheeldon at bgc brokers
chinese government data showed on thursday that the country red hot economy
expanded by percent in but inflation surged towards the end of the
year highlighting the risks of overheating
gross domestic product in the world third largest economy which analysts say
is on track to overtake number two economy japan returned to double digit
growth in the fourth quarter of at percent
but china biggest rise in inflation in months underlined the broader
challenges of breakneck growth and came as the world bank and international
monetary fund warned anew that the country could face an economic bubble
concerns over credit squeeze in china and fears over the fledgling global
economic recovery had sent jitters through the stock markets on wednesday
liu mingkang chairman of the china banking regulatory commission said on
wednesday beijing would rein in credit after explosive growth last year
wall street stocks suffered their biggest drop for the year on wednesday
following news of china expected credit moves and mixed earnings from key
american banks in europe the bourses in paris and frankfurt lost percent
in value
but european markets bounced back on thursday with london benchmark ftse
rising percent at midday frankfurt dax gaining percent and the cac
in paris growing percent
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index closed up percent on
thursday shrugging off the negative lead from wall street as foreign investors
bought heavyweight companies such as toyota and sony
faster than expected chinese growth has heightened fears that the people bank
of china may hike interest rates this quarter said analyst jane foley at
online trading site forex com
this may not yet be consensus view but the rise in tightening fears was
sufficient to push most asian stock indices lower which led to flurry of
dollar buying
the euro fell amid worries about china and the fiscal crises in greece and
portugal countries which use the single european currency
the imf warned portugal on wednesday of the critical importance of getting its
public finances amid existing concerns over greece own massive debt troubles
as soon as markets had digested the situation in greece it now portugal
turn said commerzbank analyst antje praefcke adding that the imf report put
additional pressure on the euro
the euro dived as low as dollars at gmt its lowest point since july
world oil prices also fell but later recovered
oil prices also took hit with brent north sea crude for delivery in march
shedding cents to dollars barrel new york main contract light
sweet crude for march delivery fell six cents to dollars
china growth figures came one day after united nations report said the world
economy would grow by percent this year but could slump back into double
dip recession if governments withdraw stimulus spending too early
separately the world bank said the global economy would grow percent this
year after shrinking in in report highlighting risks to fragile
recovery
imf head dominique strauss kahn said asia may need to erect temporary capital
controls among other measures to guard against the risk of new economic bubbles
as speculative money floods into the region
strauss kahn said the global economy looked on course to beat the percent
growth forecast currently expected by the imf for as post crisis
recovery accelerates
further ahead china could overtake the united states to become the world
largest economy as early as top business consultancy said on thursday
underlining the seismic change in global economic power
pricewaterhousecoopers pwc also said in its report that by the top
world economies could be china followed by the united states india japan
brazil russia germany mexico france and britain
euro parliament approves all vetted eu commission nominees
strasbourg jan afp
euro mps voiced approval thursday for of the would be members of eu
commission chief jose manuel barroso new team with bulgaria replacement
choice yet to be vetted spokesman said
the european parliament is scheduled to give its official green light for the
barroso ii commission on february after sofia second choice candidate for
its humanitarian aid portfolio has been quizzed
however the approval in principle of the plus the impressive cv of the new
bulgarian pick world bank vice president kristalina georgieva make it
extremely likely that the commission team will be up and running next month
barroso was to meet georgieva in brussels later thursday to get the vetting
process underway
bulgaria first choice rumiana jeleva was this week forced to withdraw from
the brussels post and resign as bulgaria foreign minister after allegations of
incompetence and financial wrongdoing arose during her grilling at the eu
parliament last week
the parliament cannot veto an individual commissioner designate but can block
the team as whole
european parliament president jerzy buzek on thursday received the last of the
letters from the parliamentary committees which interviewed the would be
members of the eu executive arm
spokesman for buzek said all the committees gave favourable opinion except
for that vetting jeleva who failed the audition quite badly
her failure has delayed the entry into force of barroso cabinet for his second
five year term as commission head
it is the second postponement for the commission which was unable to take up its
functions in november due to delays in getting the eu reforming lisbon treaty
ratified
the parliament will now deliver its definitive opinion on all policy
commissioners on february
we are very confident and optimistic that the new commission can be in place
according to the timetable set out by the european parliament commission
spokesman said
the parliamentary green light is good news for barroso particularly after
rumblings from the parliament centre right european people party of which
jeleva is senior figure of tit for tat attack on socialist commissioner
the news was also very welcome to the likes of olli rehn finland choice for
the monetary affairs brief and neelie kroes the dutch pick for new
technologies who did not overly impress the meps during the days of
hearings
british peer catherine ashton the eu foreign affairs supremo received
unenthusiastic support after giving vague replies on major global issues
source said
the commission will comprise members one from each eu nation the figure
includes portuguese barroso who was re selected for the job last year
it is deja vu for barroso in when his first team of policy commissioners
was being vetted the parliament forced the withdrawal of italian candidate
rocco buttiglione over his views on gay rights
alert
cyber attackers should face consequences hillary clinton
iran denies rejecting un nuclear swap offer
tehran jan afp
iran has not rejected un brokered offer to exchange enriched nuclear fuel but
it wants staged swap rather than wholesale handover of most of its
stockpile foreign ministry officials said in comments published thursday
iran did not reject the principle of the exchange of nuclear fuel foreign
minister manouchehr mottaki was quoted as saying by the mehr news agency
his denial followed charges by western diplomats that iran had effectively
rejected proposal put forward by six major powers in talks in vienna brokered
by the international atomic energy agency the un nuclear watchdog
our position has not changed from what we already expressed in the past we
are ready for gradual exchange of fuel mehr quoted foreign ministry
spokesman ramin mehmanparast as saying
but his comments suggested that iran remains at odds over the proposals with the
six powers britain china france germany russia and the united states
the iaea plan calls on iran to hand over most of its stocks of low enriched
uranium in return for the phased supply by france and russia of nuclear fuel
enriched to the higher level required for tehran research reactor
iran insists it will only hand over its stocks gradually as it receives the
fuel
western diplomats in vienna said on wednesday that iran insistence on phased
exchange effectively amounted to rejection of the iaea offer
western governments regard iran prior handover of most of its stocks of low
enriched uranium as central plank of the deal as it will provide reassurance
that the stockpiles will not be covertly enriched further to the much higher
level required for nuclear weapon
iran has always denied any such ambition insisting that its nuclear programme
is for civilian programmes only
but the iaea said talks on its plan were still continuing and that the offer to
iran remained on the table
the proposal made last october which was supported by france russia and the
united states continues to be on the table said the watchdog 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 tudor added
western diplomat in vienna told afp that iran had effectively given formal
response at meeting between its ambassador ali asghar soltanieh and the iaea
new new chief yukiya amano earlier this month
according to the diplomat soltanieh had verbally reiterated the islamic
republic earlier position including the insistence on gradual swap
the iaea refused to say whether the meeting took place or discuss its possible
content
another diplomat 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
after the proposal was delivered to iran in october the powers gave it until
the turn of the year to accept the deal but the deadline was ignored prompting
talk of fresh sanctions
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 phased fuel swap but
left the details open to discussion
mottaki has insisted that tehran in fact has until the end of january to reach
uranium swap deal stressing it will press on with plans to enrich nuclear fuel
to higher level itself 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 sanactions over its refusal to heed repeated
un security council ultimatums to suspend enrichment
the sensitive process lies at the heart of western fears over iran nuclear
programme as it can produce the fuel for nuclear reactors or in highly extended
form the fissile core of an atomic bomb
iran denies rejecting un nuclear swap offer
tehran jan afp
iran has not rejected un brokered offer to exchange enriched nuclear fuel but
it wants staged swap rather than wholesale handover of most of its
stockpile foreign ministry officials said in comments published thursday
iran did not reject the principle of the exchange of nuclear fuel foreign
minister manouchehr mottaki was quoted as saying by the mehr news agency
his denial followed charges by western diplomats that iran had effectively
rejected proposal put forward by six major powers in talks in vienna brokered
by the international atomic energy agency the un nuclear watchdog
our position has not changed from what we already expressed in the past we
are ready for gradual exchange of fuel mehr quoted foreign ministry
spokesman ramin mehmanparast as saying
but his comments suggested that iran remains at odds over the proposals with the
six powers britain china france germany russia and the united states
the iaea plan calls on iran to hand over most of its stocks of low enriched
uranium in return for the phased supply by france and russia of nuclear fuel
enriched to the higher level required for tehran research reactor
iran insists it will only hand over its stocks gradually as it receives the
fuel
western diplomats in vienna said on wednesday that iran insistence on phased
exchange effectively amounted to rejection of the iaea offer
western governments regard iran prior handover of most of its stocks of low
enriched uranium as central plank of the deal as it will provide reassurance
that the stockpiles will not be covertly enriched further to the much higher
level required for nuclear weapon
iran has always denied any such ambition insisting that its nuclear programme
is for civilian programmes only
but the iaea said talks on its plan were still continuing and that the offer to
iran remained on the table
the proposal made last october which was supported by france russia and the
united states continues to be on the table said the watchdog 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 tudor added
western diplomat in vienna told afp that iran had effectively given formal
response at meeting between its ambassador ali asghar soltanieh and the iaea
new new chief yukiya amano earlier this month
according to the diplomat soltanieh had verbally reiterated the islamic
republic earlier position including the insistence on gradual swap
the iaea refused to say whether the meeting took place or discuss its possible
content
another diplomat 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
after the proposal was delivered to iran in october the powers gave it until
the turn of the year to accept the deal but the deadline was ignored prompting
talk of fresh sanctions
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 phased fuel swap but
left the details open to discussion
mottaki has insisted that tehran in fact has until the end of january to reach
uranium swap deal stressing it will press on with plans to enrich nuclear fuel
to higher level itself 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 sanactions over its refusal to heed repeated
un security council ultimatums to suspend enrichment
the sensitive process lies at the heart of western fears over iran nuclear
programme as it can produce the fuel for nuclear reactors or in highly extended
form the fissile core of an atomic bomb
taiwan says china trade talks to start this month
taipei jan afp
taiwan economic affairs minister confirmed thursday the first round of talks
on major trade pact between the island and china would start late this month
shih yen shiang said the taiwanese delegation would be led by huang chih peng
head of the bureau of foreign trade and who was the island top negotiator
during the previous four rounds of informal talks the state central news agency
reported
shih said the talks aimed at signing trade pact known as the economic
cooperation framework agreement would be held before the month end but was not
specific on where they would take place it said
the chinese side would be led by tang wei director of the department of taiwan
hong kong and macau affairs under the ministry of commerce according to shih
his remarks came after taiwan premier wu den yih had said the first round of
talks was due to kick off on january in hopes of signing the pact in may
but an official told afp on tuesday that since the time and place had yet to be
finalised the first round of talks was likely to be delayed
taiwan china friendly government is eager to conclude the trade pact which it
says could lift growth and boost employment
but the opposition democratic progressive party which favours independence from
china fears it would increase taiwan reliance on china and imperil the
island de facto separate status
relations have improved since taiwan current administration assumed power in
may pursuing programme of stepping up economic ties
fallen democrat star edwards admits love child
washington jan afp
one time democratic party star and presidential hopeful john edwards admitted
for the first time thursday he fathered child from an affair during his white
house run as his wife battled cancer
am quinn father will do everything in my power to provide her with the
love and support she deserves edwards said in statement to nbc news
it was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day
when she understands she will forgive me he said
edwards north carolina senator before joining the presidential race in
and later the campaign had up until now denied fathering the now two year
old child with filmmaker rielle hunter
to all those have disappointed and hurt these words will never be enough but
am truly sorry year old edwards said in the statement
in bombshell disclosure in august the two time presidential hopeful had
admitted publicly to his long rumored affair
he conceded it went on as he prepared for his white house run and while his
wife elizabeth edwards was being treated for breast cancer
edwards apologized profusely and admitted life on the campaign trail had made
him increasingly egocentric and narcissistic
asked by nbc why it took two years for edwards to publicly admit paternity
advisor harrison hickman insisted he had acknowledged it long before now
the reason for the public delay hickman said was that there are lot of
adults involved there are number of families involved and there are also
lot of kids involved
edwards was john kerry running mate in his unsuccessful bid to unseat then
president george bush in
according to an nbc news wall street journal poll released last month americans
consider edwards to the most disappointing public figure
football loew names world cup training squad
berlin jan afp
germany coach joachim loew on thursday named an extended group for three day
world cup training camp in stuttgart to look at potential candidates for the
final squad set to travel to south africa
the national squad is set to assemble in the southern german city on sunday
evening with extensive fitness tests planned until wednesday next week
captain michael ballack will be missing as he is involved in his club chelsea
premier league clash against birmingham city while cologne striker lukas
podolski and schalke defender heiko westermann are both injured
rising stars thomas mueller of bayern munich and leverkusen toni kroos both
are included while hamburg defender david aogo has also been called up
defenders robert huth of english club stoke city and stuttgart christian
traesch are also included
the man squad is of players who played role in our team over the last few
months and for younger players who are prospective talent for the world cup
said loew
this group as well as those who can attend the stuttgart training through
injury will be observed through the coming months
of course the door is not closed to other candidates but they will need to
produce significant performances from now up until the end of the season
goalkeepers
rene adler bayer leverkusen manuel neuer schalke tim wiese werder
bremen
defenders
dennis aogo hamburg andreas beck hoffenheim jerome boateng hamburg arne
friedrich hertha berlin robert huth stoke city eng philipp lahm bayern
munich per mertesacker werder bremen marcel schaefer vfl wolfsburg
serdar tasci vfb stuttgart christian traesch vfb stuttgart
midfield
christian gentner vfl wolfsburg thomas hitzlsperger vfb stuttgart aaron
hunt werder bremen marcell jansen hamburg sami khedira vfb stuttgart
toni kroos bayer leverkusen marko marin werder bremen thomas mueller
bayern munich mesut oezil werder bremen simon rolfes bayer leverkusen
bastian schweinsteiger bayern munich piotr trochowski hamburg
forwards
cacau vfb stuttgart mario gomez bayern munich patrick helmes bayer
leverkusen stefan kiessling bayer leverkusen miroslav klose bayern munich
stolen arbeit macht frei sign returned to auschwitz
warsaw jan afp
the infamous arbeit macht frei sign from the nazi german death camp of
auschwitz stolen last month and recovered two days later was thursday returned
to the museum there
bartosz bartyzel spokesman for the auschwitz birkenau memorial and museum
told afp that investigators had handed over the sign which had hung over the
gate of the camp in occupied poland since world war ii
our conservation experts will now examine it to determine how to restore it
bartyzel said
only after that will the museum management and the international auschwitz
committee decide whether or not to put it back in place he added
the museum placed copy of the sign over the gate immediately after the theft
the need to restore the original which thieves had cut into three pieces means
it is certain not to be back in place in time for ceremonies on january
marking the th anniversary of the camp liberation by soviet troops
the five metre foot metal sign which means work will set you free in
german was stolen on december from the site of the camp on the outskirts
of the southern polish city of oswiecim
police recovered it two days later in northern poland and forensic experts have
since been examining it as evidence
police arrested and charged five polish men over the theft swedish former
neo nazi has also been indicted and poland is seeking his extradition
the sign has long symbolised the horror of the camp where some million
people the vast majority jews fell victim to nazi german genocide most died
in the camp notorious gas chambers
the nazis set up the camp in year after invading poland it operated
until the eve of its liberation in
kenya renews effort to deport radical imam court official
nairobi jan afp
kenya on thursday made fresh attempt to deport radical imam abdulla al faisal
back to his home country of jamaica state counsel said at court where the
cleric had been due to appear
the subject is no longer within the court jurisdiction his destination is
jamaica state counsel edwin okello told high court judge in nairobi
al faisal who was jailed for four years in britain for inciting racial hatred
was arrested in the port city of mombasa on december by kenyan police who
have since repeatedly tried to deport him
