srebrenica survivors to appeal un immunity ruling
the hague jan afp
survivors of the srebrenica massacre europe worst atrocity since world
war ii will appeal ruling next week preventing them from suing the un for
failing to protect the enclave their lawyer said thursday
we find it unacceptable that the actions of an organisation like the united
nations cannot be independently assessed lawyer axel hagedorn told afp the
appeal is due next thursday
the srebrenica massacre has been termed genocide by the international court of
justice which handles disputes between nations and the international criminal
tribunal for the former yugoslavia icty set up by the un to try war crimes
committed during the balkans conflict
the un has admitted it failed to protect the muslims of srebrenica but none of
its officials were held responsible
especially in case like this one that involves genocide we believe judge
must be able to test whether the un had acted correctly or not the un cannot be
above the law said hagedorn
the mothers of srebrenica group comprises survivors mostly women and
relatives of the men and boys killed in the massacre by bosnian serb
forces
in july dutch district court ruled that the group could not sue the un
in the netherlands on the ground that in international law practice the
absolute immunity of the un is the norm and is respected
the survivors are seeking trial of the un and the dutch state over
peacekeeping troops alleged failure to protect the enclave they also want
compensation
srebrenica was un protected muslim enclave until july when it was
overrun by bosnian serb forces who loaded thousands of men and boys onto trucks
executed them and threw their bodies into mass graves
the serbs brushed aside lightly armed dutch un peacekeepers in the safe area
where thousands of muslims from surrounding villages had gathered for
protection
urgent 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
yemen an easy haven for foreigners drawn to militant islam
sanaa jan afp
thousands of foreign students are thought to be in yemen learning arabic or
studying islam but authorities can keep track of them especially when they
choose to disappear experts say
concerns surfaced few weeks ago when it was disclosed that the nigerian
arrested for allegedly attempting to bring down us airliner on christmas day
had gone underground for two months while studying in yemen and then left the
country with an expired visa without being interviewed about what he had been
doing
another example is that of john walker lindh the so called american taliban
who was captured in afghanistan lindh spent some time in yemen where he
arrived in to study arabic at the yemen language centre in sanaa
he reportedly dropped out after five weeks and spent the rest of his year in
yemen listening to sermons at radical mosque in yemen where he became
attracted to the islamic salafi ideology that is shared by many adherents of al
qaeda
these concerns were further highlighted on tuesday when the us senate
committee on foreign relations issued report warning that al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap might be training as many as three dozen us citizens
who converted to islam in prison
there are legitimate reasons for americans and others to study and live in
yemen but some of the americans had disappeared and are suspected of having
gone to al qaeda training camps in ungoverned portions of the impoverished
country the senate report said
yemen is the ancestral home of al qaeda leader osama bin laden
no one has any idea how many of them schools there are there are no reliable
figures said western diplomat in yemen
theoretically they are all registered but no one really knows how many
language and religion schools there really are in the country any mosque can
open one said the diplomat who did not want to be identified
foreigners must obtain student visa and an obligation to register with the
authorities but rampant official corruption means that the system can be easily
sidestepped diplomats and analysts say
you buy tourist visa for days when you arrive at the airport after which
it costs about dollars in bakshish bribes to get one year visa
diplomat said
but authorities announced thursday that airport visas would no longer be granted
in an effort to halt terrorist infiltration
yemen is serious about requiring visas and residency permits for students
coming here to learn arabic or religion but once the students are here it
very difficult to keep track of them and they can disappear into the
countryside yemeni analyst said
the authorities regularly toughen the requirements for obtaining student visas
and the regulations regarding stays in the country but they simply do not carry
out regular surveillance on schools some of which are located in regions
outside effective central government control
with an armed rebellion in the north growing separatist sentiment in the south
and al qaeda active in various parts of the country the police and security
services have simply not put the activities of foreign students at the top of
their list of priorities it is often heard in western embassies
there are police checkpoints on roads leading out of the big cities but it is
not difficult to slip past them in exchange for few dollars to guide or with
the help of someone in militant network
yemen has been adamant in insisting that it does not want foreign military
intervention in the battle against extremism but instead wants cash help and
training perhaps it will raise this problem next week at an international
meeting on yemen to be held in london
some of the religious schools are on the radar of western intelligence services
such as the dar al hadith centre in damaj in the northwest and the famous al
iman university founded in sanaa by radical yemeni cleric sheikh abdulmajeed
al zendani who has been on washington list of specially designated global
terrorists since
zendani said during friday prayers last week that it would be religious duty
dictated by god to defend yemen through jihad or holy war if it is occupied
by foreign power
oil prices edge up before us inventory data
london jan afp
oil prices rose slightly on thursday before the release of widely monitored data
on us energy reserves and following sharp losses caused by concern about the
chinese economy
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery rose cents to
dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march edged up one cent to dollars
in early london trading
crude futures had closed down almost dollars lower on wednesday amid market
concerns that credit squeeze in china and swelling us stockpiles could dampen
demand for the key commodity traders said
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
top beijing regulator lim mingkang on wednesday said that china would rein in
credit after explosive growth last year as the world most populous nation
moves to cool its red hot economy also major energy consumer
the chairman of the china banking regulatory commission told forum in hong
kong wednesday that new bank loans in the country this year would fall to about
trillion yuan trillion us dollars from about trillion yuan in
analysts have said the policy was likely response to concerns about asset
bubbles bad loans and an overheating economy
data released by china on thursday showed the economy grew percent in
well exceeding the government target of percent
the us department of energy doe was meanwhile preparing to publish its weekly
report on energy stockpiles in the united states the world biggest energy
consuming nation followed by number two china
analysts polled by dow jones newswires said they expected us crude reserves to
show rise of million barrels rise to inventory levels is seen as an
indication of weak demand
gasoline stocks are seen increasing by million barrels the poll said the
doe is releasing its report one day later than normal owing to us bank holiday
on monday
the opec oil producers cartel this week forecast world oil demand in to
grow by million barrels per day to average million bpd
the organization of petroleum exporting countries which is headquartered in
vienna pumps about percent of the world oil supplies
quitting smoking after lung cancer diagnosis helps survival
paris jan afp
smokers diagnosed with lung cancer should not assume they have been handed
death sentence as quitting tobacco even at this stage can greatly boost their
survival chances doctors said on friday
among those smokers who quit swiftly after diagnosis percent were still
alive after five years benchmark of survival in cancer research compared
with only percent among those who continued to smoke they said in an
online report published by the british medical journal bmj
the study carried out by scientists at birmingham university central england
entailed review of published studies into smoking and cancer survival
the authors speculate that tobacco smoke may accelerate progression of tumour
although further work is needed to confirm this
in any case they say the study says that it could be worthwhile for doctors to
encourage smokers to give up their habit when diagnosed with early stage lung
cancer
the link between lung cancer and smoking has been established for more than half
century lifelong smokers face fold risk of developing primary lung
tumour compared with non smokers according to study
alert
kenya orders radical jamaican imam deported court official
us norwegian duo ski across antarctic into record books
oslo jan afp
norwegian woman and an american man were set to make history on thursday by
becoming the first to cross the antarctic on skis and without any outside help
their team said
cecilie skog and ryan waters left berkner island in the weddell sea on
november and were on thursday approaching their goal at the great ross
barrier
almost there skog wrote on her blog cecilieskog vgb no
we had some extra food with us now we re forcing down as much as we can today
ve eaten so much chocolate marzipan nuts and cookies that about to
burst she wrote
the two adventurers have skied more than kilometres miles each
pulling sled full of equipment and necessities that weighed kilos
pounds at departure
this is the first time that someone has crossed the antarctic unassisted and
unsupported using just their muscles spokesman for the expedition bjoern
sekkesaeter told afp
until now those who have crossed the antarctic have either used skis with
sails or received outside help for supplies he said
in skog nurse by training became the first woman in the world to
complete the adventurers grand slam after climbing the seven highest peaks on
each of the seven continents and reaching the two poles
waters who has worked as guide in the himalayas and andes has meanwhile
completed nine expeditions on summits higher than metres feet he
also recently crossed greenland on skis without any assistance
palestinians reject israeli presence in future state
ramallah west bank jan afp
the palestinians on thursday rejected the idea of an israeli presence on the
eastern border of their future state which was mooted by israel hawkish prime
minister
the palestinian leadership will not accept the presence of single israeli
soldier in the palestinian territories after the end of the occupation nabil
abu rudeina spokesman for president mahmud abbas told afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on wednesday said israel would patrol
the eastern border of any future state to prevent the smuggling of weapons
especially rockets like those fired from the gaza strip and lebanon
the ability to proliferate into contiguous areas thousands of rockets and
missiles is something that creates monumental security problem he told
foreign reporters in jerusalem
but the palestinians said they would insist on the full sovereignty of any
future state
we will not accept anything less than completely sovereign palestinian state
on all the territories with its own borders resources and airspace abu
rudeina said
we will not accept any israeli presence either military or civilian on our
land and we will not accept that our state be under israeli protection
abu rudeina added that netanyahu insistence on an israeli border guard would
place more obstacles in the way of restarting peace talks
the dispute erupted as us middle east envoy george mitchell made his latest in
series of visits to the region aimed at convincing both sides to relaunch
negotiations suspended during last year gaza war
the palestinians have said they will not return to the negotiating table without
complete halt of settlement growth and have rejected limited month
moratorium imposed by netanyahu in november as insufficient
turkish army rejects fresh coup allegations
ankara jan afp
the turkish army thursday denied fresh allegations of military plot to lay the
ground for coup against the islamist rooted government
it is impossible for anyone with reason and conscience to accept the
allegations the general staff said in statement
the liberal daily taraf which routinely targets the military reported
wednesday that army members planned to bomb two istanbul mosques and escalate
tensions with greece to force greek jets to down turkish plane over the
aegean
the plots were allegedly part of plan spearheaded by the now retired
commander of the first army that aimed to spark choas in turkey and show the
ruling justice and development party akp as being inept
taraf said it had audio tapes and documents confirming the plan was discussed at
seminar in march attended by some military officials
the general staff said the seminar was routine gathering to discuss war time
contingency plans and was based on scenario of period of constantly
escalating tensions
the accused general dogan cetin confirmed the threat of islamist movements was
discussed but said documents were patched and doctored to include plans to
bomb mosques and have turkish plane downed in remarks to the vatan daily
last month the chief of staff decried psychological campaign to smear the
army and voiced concern over possible confrontation between institutions
over series of allegations of military plots against the akp carried mostly
by pro government media
the turkish army which sees itself as the guardian of turkey secular system
has unseated four governments since
dozens of suspects among them retired generals are currently on trial as part
of controversial case against an alleged secularist network accused of
plotting assassinations and political chaos to prompt coup against the akp
the moderate offshoot of now banned islamist movement
international death toll from haiti quake
paris jan afp
the tens of thousands of people dead and missing after haiti devastating
earthquake include nationals from more than countries according to
compilation of various figures
following is breakdown of foreign nationals confirmed killed or reported
missing after the january disaster
argentina policeman serving with the united nations was killed
australia an australian british un worker was confirmed dead
austria year old austrian woman working for german aid development
organization died
belgium the foreign ministry has said that belgians were unaccounted for in
haiti
brazil twenty brazilians have been killed soldiers with the un
peacekeeping force in haiti the deputy head of the un mission there luiz
carlos da costa and high profile children rights campaigner zilda arns
britain year old un worker died and another briton was missing
burkina faso burkinabe nationals were missing but no figures or details were
available
canada thirteen canadians were confirmed killed and nationals were missing
chile year old chilean woman working for the un was killed and another
chilean was missing
china eight nationals four peacekeepers and four others who were part of
chinese public security team were killed
democratic republic of congo congolese audit assistant for the un died
france latest toll from the french foreign ministry reports dead with
still missing
germany one german citizen was killed and eight others were missing
guatemala guatemalan national working for the un was killed
india an it technician from india was confirmed to be among the un dead
ireland un official with dual irish and us citizenship was killed
italy authorities had no news of nationals including two un workers
another italian was believed dead
jordan at least three soldiers with the un peacekeeping contingent were killed
mauritius the foreign ministry said it had not heard from two mauritian
citizens one serving with the un and the other in the tourism sector
mexico total of mexicans were unaccounted for according to the foreign
ministry one mexican resident of port au prince died when hospital where she
was patient collapsed
the netherlands seven dutch citizens have been killed including two couples
and their three adopted children while three remain missing
new zealand two new zealand born children and their french haitian father were
believed killed
niger security officer from niger was listed by the un among the dead
philippines three filipino soldiers serving with un peacekeepers were killed
and one male civilian un staff member the military said two women remain
missing from collapsed port au prince supermarket where they were working
peru year old peruvian working with the un was crushed by falling wall
relative told lima radio station
poland one student is missing
portugal two citizens could not be contacted according to the department for
portuguese communities
senegal two policemen serving with the un mission were missing
spain three spaniards were reported killed in the quake including woman
police officer working for the un mission
syria syrian man and his wife were killed
thailand the foreign ministry said one thai was missing
tunisia the tunisian civilian head of the un mission to haiti hedi annabi was
killed
united nations forty nine un personnel have been confirmed killed and more than
are missing or unaccounted for
united states the us state department said at us citizens were killed
including one working for the us government three us government officials
remain unaccounted for
moody upgrades bulgaria ratings outlook
sofia jan afp
moody investors service upgraded on thursday its outlook on bulgaria
sovereign debt ratings to positive from stable citing the country
resilient government finances
but whether the international credit rating agency would actually raise
bulgaria current and baa debt ratings depended on when the economy
returned to growth moody said in statement
the bulgarian government finances were relatively resilient through
financial crisis moody said
moody sovereign risk group vice president kenneth orchard praised sofia
ability to run very low budget deficits and keep government debt ratios low and
stable
an upgrade is contingent upon the country ability to renew growth and
weather the impact of regional shocks the agency said
moody forecast that bulgaria current recession would end in mid but
recovery this year was uncertain due to problems in neighbouring greece which
is major investor
economic growth should resume in moody said
british borrowing hits record high official data
london jan afp
british state borrowing worsened to record deficit in december official data
showed on thursday as the recession hammered taxation revenues and ramped up
spending on benefits and stimulus measures
the public finance figures stole the limelight with public sector net
borrowing in december coming in at significantly smaller than expected
billion pounds in december said daiwa economist colin ellis
but as welcome as today figures are they obviously do not change the big
picture which is one of massive fiscal deficit
the public sector net borrowing requirement the government preferred
measure of public finances grew to billion pounds billion euros
billion dollars in december the office for national statistics said in
statement
that was the highest ever level recorded for december and compared with net
borrowing of billion pounds for the same month one year earlier
however it was smaller than market expectations of billion pounds
according to economists polled by dow jones newswires
britain total net debt hit billion pounds which was the equivalent of
percent of the nation gross domestic product gdp the ons said
that was the highest proportion of economic output since records began more than
years ago
the news also comes as greece grapples with soaring debts which have sparked
recent turmoil on global financial markets and created uncertainty about the
economic health of the eurozone peripheral members
britain is not member of the eurozone but is leading economy in the european
union
many nations around the world are now dealing with the fall out of enormous
borrowing because they implemented emergency economic stimulus measures to fight
the global financial crisis and deep worldwide downturn
britain has borrowed billion pounds in the financial year which began in
april the ons revealed on thursday that compared with the billion pounds
recorded at the same stage of last year
the government treasury department said on thursday that borrowing was on
course to hit the official forecast of billion pounds for the
financial year which ends in early april
the ons added that the public sector net cash requirement psncr an
alternative measure of public finances worsened last month to deficit of
billion pounds
that was the highest ever level recorded for december and compared with
deficit of billion pounds in the same month of market expectations
had been for larger deficit of billion
football mozambique coach nooij to go state radio
maputo jan afp
the head of mozambique national football association said coach mart nooij
will be fired after the team failed to reach the africa cup of nations quarter
finals in angola state media said thursday
speaking in lubango after the mambas loss to nigeria on wednesday feizal
sidat president of the mozambican football federation said nooij contract
will not be renewed when it expires at the end of january
we aren going to renew our contract with him he has already worked with the
mambas for two and half years sidat told radio mozambique
we are going to remodel our coaching team the results haven corresponded to
the expectations
dutchman nooij coached mozambique to its first nations cup qualification in
years
but the team also had disappointing results in several key matches
it failed to win game in its group matches in angola taking only one point
in draw with benin
according to radio mozambique team captain manuel tico tico bucuane has also
left the squad after angola
bucuane striker who has played for the mambas for almost two decades said
the nigeria game was his last before retirement
my exit didn happen how imagined it would have liked to say good bye
with qualification for the quarter finals said bucuane quoted in an article
on the radio mozambique web site
but football is like that he said when we commit errors as we did we
can win
greek farmers extend roadblocks after athens says no cash
athens jan afp
greek farmers kept up pressure on the cash strapped government thursday manning
some roadblocks across the country including one at the main crossing point
with bulgaria
police said long queues of trucks had built up on both sides of the border with
bulgaria whose prime minister boyko borisov has called on the european
commission to intervene
at other border posts with albania macedonia and turkey as well as second
one with bulgaria the farmers blocked traffic for short periods other actions
hit greece main north south highway the central plain of thessaly and around
thessaloniki in the north
more than tractors have been used since sunday to block roads in pursuit
of demands for thousands of euros dollars in state support to counterbalance
falls in prices for produce including wheat cotton and milk
they are also seeking price cuts on fertilisers pharmaceutical products and
seeds rebate on the cost of electricity and fuel and three year freeze on
their debts to the greek agricultural bank
but the recently elected socialist government which is already labouring to fix
the country ailing national finances under pressure from brussels says it
gave financial aid to farmers last month and could afford no more
katerina batzelis minister of rural development and food has invited the
farmer unions to roundtable talks on monday and tuesday
greece is in recession and has been hit by major financial crisis with debt
constituting percent of gross domestic product
greek farmers protested at the same time last year for similar reasons putting
down roadblocks that lasted more than two weeks the right wing government then
in power promised them more than million euros in compensation but brussels
has not allowed it according to the daily kathimerini
tennis australian open results day four collated
melbourne jan afp
collated results from day four of the australian open at melbourne park here
thursday denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
nikolay davydenko rus bt illya marchenko ukr
novak djokovic srb bt marco chiudinelli sui
nicolas almagro esp bt benjamin becker ger
denis istomin uzb bt michael berrer ger
juan monaco arg bt michael llodra fra
alejandro falla col bt marcel granollers esp
marcos baghdatis cyp bt david ferrer esp
mikhail youzhny rus bt jan hajek cze
lukasz kubot pol bt santiago giraldo col
lleyton hewitt aus bt donald young usa
stefan koubek aut bt ivan dodig cro
tommy haas ger bt janko tipsarevic srb
fernando verdasco esp bt ivan sergeyev ukr
jo wilfried tsonga fra bt taylor dent usa
albert montanes esp bt stephane robert fra
roger federer sui bt victor hanescu rom
women singles
nd round
agnieszka radwanska pol bt alla kudryavtseva rus
gisela dulko arg bt ana ivanovic srb
carla suarez navarro esp bt andrea petkovic ger
victoria azarenka blr bt stefanie voegele sui
li na chn by agnes szavay hun
caroline wozniacki den bt julia goerges ger
vera zvonareva rus by iveta benesova cze
shahar peer isr bt tsvetana pironkova bul
tathiana garbin ita bt yaroslava shvedova kaz
samantha stosur aus bt kristina barrois ger
francesca schiavone ita bt julie coin fra
daniela hantuchova svk bt sofia arvidsson swe
alberta brianti ita bt sabine lisicki ger
venus williams usa bt sybille bammer aut
serena williams usa petra kvitova cze
casey dellacqua aus bt karolina sprem cro
corrected don leave me mama cries haiti girl alive eight days on
port au prince jan afp
mendji bahina sanon just years old lay emaciated her breathing labored
fighting nightmares as she gradually came back to life wednesday after spending
eight days buried under haiti rubble
at the foot of her bed in french run clinic in haiti ravaged capital ernst
clerge tried to comfort her anguished child who struggled against the terror of
her dreams crying out
mama is not in the hole don leave me mama the little girl said
her rescue is an amazing story of survival amid little but news of sorrow in
port au prince
it truly is miracle she came back to life bit by bit she is blessed by the
gods said dominique jan surgeon working at field hospital set up and
staffed by french aid groups chaine de espoir and alima
on january sanon mother was on her way home from her job as cleaning
lady for the united nations mission here when the deadly earthquake began
had left my five children at home was panic stricken the two story
building had collapsed though they were all dead she said
my year old daughter appeared first and fell into her arms and then with
the neighbors we dug out two more children who had injuries to their feet
we recovered the lifeless body of my five year old son the next day she said
working with her neighbors she continued to search for her missing daughter
looking for two days in vain
then on wednesday she heard neighbor cry out heard your daughter she
called out
didn believe it but rushed the neighbors dug she was alive and they
dug her out the grateful mother said
she talked to me and asked me for milk and cornflakes and then she fainted
she told me that she had prayed lot and thanked jesus we must have faith
in jesus she said adding out of her daughter earshot haven told her
yet that her favorite little brother died she still very weak
mendji father who was abroad when the quake hit last week sat by his wife
