obama spokesman said friday
the president has great deal of confidence in what chairman bernanke did to
bring our economy back from the brink deputy white house spokesman bill burton
told reporters traveling with the president with senate vote awaited on
bernanke
the president thinks he is the right person for the job and believes he will be
confirmed
boat lands migrants in corsica
bonifacio corsica jan afp
traffickers landed boatload of illegal migrants on beach in corsica
authorities on the french mediterranean island said on friday
the migrants were dropped off near the southern town of bonifacio by boat
which then departed officials said they were taken to gymnasium to be
treated by doctors and aid staff
among them were children and five pregnant women one of whom was
hospitalised in nearby porto vecchio the town mayor jean charles orsucci told
afp that most of them were in good health not starving
they were put ashore from boat by traffickers apparently on thursday
evening but were not discovered on the isolated beach until friday morning
corsican official said
immigration minister eric besson said in statement that some of the migrants
identified themselves as kurds from syria and others were from north africa
he told reporters suspect boat had since been spotted in international waters
and was due to be stopped by italian authorities
it was the first known large scale landing of migrants on the shores of the
mediterranean island boat carrying some kurds capsized off southern
france in in case involving syrian and lebanese traffickers
migrants have often arrived in similar way on spanish and italian soil after
dangerous sea crossings
spokesman for the local maritime authorities bernard celier said they were
patrolling to see if there were other trafficking vessels nearby and police and
helicopters were scanning the shore for migrants
russian police whistleblower arrested investigators
moscow jan afp
russian policeman who accused his superiors of corruption and appealed to
prime minister vladimir putin for help has been arrested for abuse of office
investigators said friday
the former employee of the directorate of internal affairs with the city of
novorosiisk in the krasnodar region alexei dymovsky has been detained for abuse
of office the investigative committee of the russian prosecutor office said
in statement
dymovsky became an internet sensation in november when in highly unusual move
for member of the security forces he posted video alleging chronic
corruption in his force
he issued litany of complaints about the conditions of work and said officers
were treated like cattle he also demanded meeting with putin that was never
granted
authorities announced in december that they were investigating dymovsky for
fraud linked to abuse of office crime punished with maximum sentence of six
years in jail
dymovsky formerly senior investigator with the novorossiisk police in the
department of drug trafficking crimes said authorities had accused him of
misappropriating rubles dollars over four years
in messages posted friday on website set up by supporters he said that an
investigator summoned him to novorossiisk primorsky district court and that he
was being sent to krasnodar penal detention centre
the reason as the investigator explained is that yesterday he received
information that put pressure on participants of the investigation and
witnesses he said
the case is political and made to order
human rights activist lyudmila alexeyeva the head of the moscow helsinki group
called dymovsky detention outrageous in comments to the interfax news
agency
he spoke out on the illegal actions of his bosses is that forbidden she
asked adding that she would help dymovsky find lawyer and publicize his case
yemen shiite rebel chief mocks death reports video
dubai jan afp
the chief of shiite rebels in northern yemen appeared in video posted on the
internet on friday denying his own death in military air strike in december
as claimed by the government
all these allegations are fabricated and baseless abdul malek al huthi said
in the video in response to the reports that he had been either killed or
wounded
these allegations are intended to justify the massacres of civilians committed
by the authorities he said of an intensified government military offensive
against the rebels since late last year
huthi appears in the video with his head uncovered and wearing dark jacket
over white robe with traditional yemeni curved dagger on his belt it is
unclear when the footage was taken
reports about his death or serious injury often distributed by the authorities
in sanaa have circulated in recent weeks but they have been denied by the
rebels who are also known as zaidis or huthis
one such report was on december when website linked to the defence
ministry said huthi may have been killed and buried following an air raid
there are increasing reports of the death of the terrorist abdul malek al
huthi who suffered serious injuries in raid in the northern mountainous
province of saada www sep net said at the time
information indicates that he was buried in jebel talan near the house of
one of the relatives of the huthi family ahmed al hadawi it said
week earlier sep net said huthi had been hit in an air strike and forced to
leave matra southeast of saada town after delegating relative named youssef
madani to head the rebels
the sanaa government has been engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebels since
the latest round of clashes erupted on august when government forces
launched operation scorched earth an all out offensive to stamp out the
uprising among the zaidi shiites minority in mainly sunni yemen but the
majority in the northern mountains
saudi arabia joined the fray on november targeting huthi positions day
after riyadh accused the rebels of killing saudi border guard and occupying
two villages inside its territory
local tribal sources also told afp that huthi was seriously wounded around the
same time and had transferred command to an uncle abdul karim al huthi and
madani husband of daughter of hussein al huthi the late leader killed in
after whom the rebels are named
the rebel spokesman at the time insisted their leader was fine the authorities
are trying to cover up for their failure in the field by spreading such
rumours he said
in addition to the rebels sanaa is also battling local al qaeda militants after
it emerged that the suspect in failed christmas day bombing of us airliner
was allegedly trained by them in the arabian peninsula country
urgent obama has confidence in bernanke calls for confirmation
aboard air force one jan afp
president barack obama has great deal of confidence in federal reserve
chairman ben bernanke and believes the senate will confirm his reappointment an
obama spokesman said friday
alert
obama troubled by china cyberattacks on google spokesman
greek bonds hit worst level since joining eurozone
athens jan afp
the spread between greek and german sovereign bond yields on friday hit its
worst level since greece joined the eurozone underscoring the country low
credibility on international markets
the yields on greek bonds which move opposite to prices rose to percent
at gmt after the socialist government announced that it would sell up to
five billion euros of bonds through group of banks
the interest rate spread between greek and german year bonds widened to
percentage points returning to levels unseen since early before greece
adopted the euro
this spread means that greece has to spend three times more than germany to
attract lenders to finance its overspending
greece sovereign debt has been hit by three credit downgrades in reaction to
concerns over the country huge debt and public deficit which reached
percent of output last year far above the percent ceiling for eurozone
members
the government which was elected in october has since proposed three year
crisis plan to slash the deficit to percent of output in
bosnian serb general to go on trial next week
the hague jan afp
former bosnian serb general zdravko tolimir is set to go on trial on genocide
charges next week the un yugoslav war crimes tribunal said friday after
delays caused by his poor health
this trial chamber hereby orders that the parties may make opening statements
on friday february the international criminal tribunal for the former
yugoslavia in the hague said
the prosecution should start presenting its evidence in the week of march it
added
tolimir is accused of committing genocide war crimes and crimes against
humanity between july and november related to the massacres of thousands
of bosnian muslims in the towns of srebrenica and zepa
following his arrest in bosnia in may the trial was to have started last
month but was postponed for tolimir who will represent his own defence in
court to study new charges added to the indictment
he was one of seven deputy commanders in the bosnian serb army during the
bosnian war and was responsible for intelligence and security
tolimir arrested in bosnia in may reported directly to overall military
chief ratko mladic who has been on the run from the icty since
tolimir trial will be the last to start before the icty created by the un
security council in to prosecute those accused of serious crimes during the
balkans wars
the icty has indicted individuals
alert
obama has great deal of confidence in fed chairman ben bernanke
figure skating kostner takes control at europeans
tallinn jan afp
italy carolina kostner moved closer to third european figure skating title
by leading friday short programme at the continental championships
kostner the and champion served notice she is ready to reclaim the
title she lost last year to finn laura lepisto by opening up point
advantage on second placed kiira korpi of finland
although lepisto was the only skater in the top three to attempt triple triple
jump the standard of the skating was high as competitors fine tune their
routines for the winter olympics in three weeks time
the year old gave an error free performance to classical medley from chopin
and tchaikovsky nailing all of her elements as she opened with triple flip
double toeloop and followed up with triple toeloop and double axel she scored
total of points
had lot of fun today and when have fun skate very well said kostner
korpi the european bronze medallist showed she was back to her best after
health problems marred last season
the year old also hit all her jumps including triple lutz double toeloop
combination to score personal best for the short programme
happy to be back last season was very difficult for me she explained
had some health problems and could only do three competitions
it was mentally very hard to go to europeans knowing was not in the best
shape
improved lot in summer training and got lot of self confidence
defending champion lepisto who last year became the first finnish skater to win
the title blamed problems with her boots for distracting her as she placed
third
she touched down on her opening triple triple toeloop combination and stumbled
on spiral sequence to the music imagined oceans scoring
have to change my boots after this competition she said
they won last much more ve been thinking about it for couple of weeks
have to concentrate on my skating now
the short programme counts for third of the points with the remainder coming
in saturday free skating finale
the competition continues friday with the free dance final in ice dancing
iraq says barred election candidates must denounce saddam
baghdad jan afp
iraq government said friday that more than candidates disqualified from
march general election for alleged links to saddam hussein must denounce his
ousted regime and its crimes
disavowal of the executed dictator and his now outlawed baath party would enable
the candidates reintegration into iraqi society government spokesman ali
dabbagh said without specifically offering reinstatement on ballot papers
the baathists whose names figure on the list drawn up by the integrity and
accountability committee must declare their innocence and condemn the crimes and
failings of saddam hussein regime and the baath party dabbagh said
it will provide them with the opportunity to live normally and integrate back
into iraqi society he said in statement
the blacklist of more than names has stoked tensions between the shiite
majority that leads the government and the sunni arab former elite alarming the
white house and the united nations ahead of the march vote
the row sparked flurry of contacts in recent days by us vice president joe
biden aimed at brokering compromise notably through president jalal talabani
who is kurd
biden proposed that the disqualifications be deferred until after the election
and that those candidates who have been barred condemn and disavow the baath
party and undertake to act through democratic means talabani said
electoral commission chief faraj al haidari meanwhile told afp more candidates
could be barred from contesting the election with the defence and interior
ministries publishing lists naming numerous candidates who have criminal
records or false diplomas
haidari said the list of former baathists barred from running in the election
includes an equal proportion of sunnis and shiites as well as kurds and all
the components of iraqi society
but he said the government has no authority to reintegrate the baathists
since only the supreme court has the power to declare that the candidates
disqualifications lacked legal basis and to reinstate their names
talabani called on thursday for just such referral to the supreme court
questioning the legality of the integrity and accountability committee which
drew up the blacklist
our question is is the organisation that took this decision legal the
president said
prominent sunni arab mps have advanced similar argument pointing out that the
committee was never approved by parliament
however senior iraqi shiite cleric voiced his support for the bans during
friday sermon while criticising us and arab league interference
the exclusion of baathists from the political process is legal constitutional
legitimate and necessary imam abdel hadi mohammedawi told worshippers at
mosque in the town of kufa south of baghdad
we call on the government to strike the baathists with an iron fist
the blacklist includes members of saddam once deadly fedayeen men of
sacrifice militia and mukhabarat intelligence division
baath party membership was essential for obtaining job and promotion in iraq
omnipotent public sector during saddam regime
process of de baathification was adopted by washington diplomat paul bremer
head of the coalition provisional authority following the us led invasion of
which saw thousands of saddam era employees lose their jobs
talabani urged iraqis to draw distinction between hardcore saddam loyalists
and the many more who joined the baath party for pragmatic reasons
hundreds of thousands of people were forced to join the party because
membership was mandatory he said we should not be unjust with them
but to reverse the candidates disqualification would risk alienating the
majority community in the run up to the election the second since saddam
regime was toppled in in which for the first time leading shiite
politicians are standing on opposing lists
on thursday thousands of shiites took to the streets of the central shrine
cities of karbala and najaf as well as the main southern city of basra in
support of the blacklist
olympics rudman bags world bronze
paris jan afp
briton shelley rudman won bronze medal at the skeleton european championships
at igls in austria on friday to show her form ahead of the winter olympics
rudman who pocketed olympic silver at turin four years ago and who last year
added the european crown was the only briton to take medal at the last games
but has impressed throughout this season and looks solid bet for repeat
showing
she finished fourth on the day at igls in the final round of the world cup and
with the event counting additionally as the european championships she earned
her bronze by dint of being the third placed european
in eight world cup races she managed four podium finishes
in the overall standings she placed second for the second straight year as
melissa hollingsworth of canada won the world title
germany anja huber took the european title
britain amy williams missed out on the medals as she placed sixth in the
european standings and fifth in the world cup
the men will compete at igls on saturday
armenia warns of breakdown in turkey reconciliation
yerevan jan afp
historic efforts to establish ties between armenia and turkey may break down
the armenian foreign minister warned on friday blaming ankara for obstructing
the process
if turkey is not ready to ratify the protocols if it continues to speak in
ultimatums to set preconditions and to obstruct the process then do not
exclude that negotiations will break down eduard nalbandian said at press
conference
his comments came after efforts to establish ties after decades of hostility hit
fresh snags this week as the two sides traded accusations of trying to modify
the landmark deal
turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan accused yerevan of trying to
doctor the agreement saying that ruling by armenia constitutional court
this month had set new conditions
nalbandian dismissed ankara accusations as absurd
statements by turkey that the constitutional court decision creates
preconditions or contradicts the principles of the protocols do not
correspond with reality and are absurd he said
these statements will not be believed not only in the international community
but also in turkey itself he said
but turkey said friday that it expected armenia to offer an explanation on the
court ruling with foreign minister ahmet davutoglu saying it is against the
letter and spirit of the protocols
nalbandian told me in telephone conversation that the ruling did not affect
previously agreed points in the protocols but we expect clearer picture
explanation over this davutoglu told reporters
yerevan has also accused turkey of trying to set new conditions on the deal by
linking it with armenia conflict with turkish ally azerbaijan over the
disputed nagorny karabakh region
nalbandian said he did not expect breakthrough in talks on karabakh in the
near future
it is difficult to say what will happen in if the azerbaijani side shows
more constructive approach then there may be changes but cannot say that in
the near future we can expect breakthrough he said
turkey and armenia signed two protocols in october to establish diplomatic ties
and reopen their shared border in deal hailed as historic step towards
ending decades of hostility stemming from world war era massacres of armenians
under ottoman turkish rule
armenia constitutional court on january upheld the legality of the
agreement but also said the two protocols cannot be interpreted to contradict
paragraph in armenia declaration of independence that refers to the
genocide in ottoman turkey and western armenia
turkey rejects armenian claims of genocide and says the number of those killed
during civil strife is inflated it also objects to reference to western
armenia seeing it as territorial claim on its eastern regions
neither country parliament has yet ratified the two protocols
turkish officials have repeatedly said the agreements will not be ratified
without progress in the dispute over nagorny karabakh
backed by yerevan ethnic armenian separatists seized control of karabakh and
seven surrounding districts from azerbaijan during war in the early that
claimed an estimated lives
turkey closed its border with armenia in in show of solidarity with
azerbaijan with which it has strong ethnic trade and energy links against
yerevan support for the enclave separatists
the head of armenia parliament said last month that it will not ratify the
deal before the turkish parliament does
major food distribution begins in haiti capital
port au prince jan afp
tens of thousands of desperate haitian quake survivors braved two new
aftershocks to queue up to receive the first major hand outs of food and water
in central port au prince on friday
ten days after catastrophic earthquake killed at least people another
are homeless and hungry in the capital as well as an unknown number
outside said united nations spokesman nicholas reader
international teams of search and rescue experts are continuing to comb the
ruins of the city for survivors trapped under rubble but it had been hours
since anyone was found alive un relief spokesman vincenzo pugliese said
despite the long wait in many areas for humanitarian supplies and outbreaks of
looting earlier in the week afp reporters found the crowds attending food hand
outs mainly disciplined and dignified as they waited their turn
the security situation in port au prince is calm pugliese said percent
of the haiti national police reported for duty this week nationwide
the sea port of port au prince is now partially operational but can only
receive humanitarian aid thirty percent of gas stations are operational and
there is no fuel shortage at the moment
most supermarkets will open next week commercial flights to port au prince
have not resumed delta airlines will have two flights week from january to
he added
line of hungry but calm residents snaked around the presidential palace once
proud national symbol and now battered ruin surrounded by makeshift
refugee camp as brazilian un peacekeepers began their handout
the brazilians brought ten tonnes of ration packs and litres of water in
order to feed families for three days each officers said
in the champ de mars ceremonial square in front of the palace the french
embassy and international aid agencies were to erect tents to hold
people later in the day ambassador didier le bret told afp
elsewhere the un world food programme staged large scale aid distribution
visits at football stadium and in the downtown delmas district designed to
feed people in total its spokesman david orr told reporters
un spokesman reader told reporters that haitians had now received food
aid with two million more due to do so in the coming weeks while there are
plans to set up temporary camp for people
foreign donors have contributed pledges of million dollars million
euros or percent of the funds requested he added
in addition to trying to feed and house the homeless international teams are
also trying to provide healthcare in series of field hospitals us naval
floating surgical hospital and reinforced haitian clinics
we have lots of surgical capacity but the need is going down olivia lawe
davis spokeswoman for the world health organisation said
now we need facilities for people to go to after treatment and transport to
take people to follow on care we re not yet seeing infectious diseases but
we re keeping an eye on it she said
pair of brief but relatively strong aftershocks rocked port au prince friday
sending some residents running in panic there was no immediate sign that they
had added to the devastation in the city however
the scale of the humanitarian crisis outside port au prince proper is not yet
clear but us marines operating by helicopter from ships moored offshore have
begun to visit more outlying coastal areas to distribute aid
football bruce patience snaps over liverpool pursuit of jones
london jan afp
steve bruce has insisted he will not allow kenwyne jones to leave sunderland on
loan and voiced his frustration at persistent speculation linking the trinidad
and tobago striker with move to liverpool
kenwyne jones is not going to go on loan to anybody for the help of liverpool
or anybody else bruce said friday would be mad
bruce did not rule out selling the striker but questioned whether liverpool had
the funds to pay the huge amount of money it would take for sunderland to let
one of their prize assets leave
the sunderland boss added haven even got price because don think
liverpool can go there it like me asking for steven gerrard on loan ll
try maybe it hugely disrespectful
burnley meanwhile have signed france under striker frederic nimani from
monaco on an initial five month loan
the year old becomes new clarets boss brian laws first signing since taking
over at turf moor
manchester city have loaned slovakia winger vladimir weiss to bolton until the
end of the season
ebrd sees brighter outlook for ex soviet economies
london jan afp
the european bank for reconstruction and development on friday raised its
growth forecast for the economy of the ex soviet bloc region badly ravaged
by the global economic crisis
the ebrd has revised upwards its growth forecasts for the region
reflecting slightly faster economic recovery than anticipated last october
but with stark variation across the region the bank said in statement
the percent predicted expansion in gross domestic product gdp was stronger
than the ebrd earlier forecast for percent across the countries in which
the bank invests which include azerbaijan moldova and ukraine
the upward revision is driven by stronger than expected performance in four
large economies in the region poland turkey russia and kazakhstan on the
back of stronger commodity prices and resumption of capital flows to large
emerging market countries the bank said
the ebrd investment zone which comprises countries and was one of the areas
worst hit by the global economic crisis shrank by six percent in
the area which also includes mongolia romania and turkmenistan was forecast
to grow by percent in the london based bank said
the group also warned that some member countries of the ebrd region would
continue to suffer economic contraction this year because they did not have
large commodity sector
for most of the smaller countries that do not export commodities the recovery
will continue to be slow and in some cases the baltic countries and hungary
we expect to see continued negative growth in it said
ebrd chief economist erik berglof also said that the recovery would be fragile
across the bank operating region
the recovery in the region remains fragile with large variations across
countries berglof said
the gradual global recovery will support regional growth but local factors
will dampen it
appropriate public and private sector policies and actions to clean up balance
sheets restructure debt and deal with distressed assets will be important to
help sustain credit growth and support economic recovery
the ebrd was formed in to help former communist nations adopt market
economies after the collapse of the soviet union
the financial crisis which erupted in late has slammed economies in central
and eastern europe largely because many of them have relied heavily on
foreign capital or high commodity prices for their economic development
wwf fears for siberian tiger after russian oil leak
moscow jan afp
leak from russia new siberian oil pipeline shows the potentially damaging
consequences the project could have for the endangered siberian tiger an
environmental campaign group warned on friday
around cubic metres cubic feet of oil leaked from the pipeline in
eastern siberia igor dyomin spokesman for russian oil pipeline monopoly
transneft told afp
the leak covered an area metres yards across and two kilometres miles
long he said
the major accident on the new siberia pacific oil pipeline which has just come
into operation shows the project has major flaws around ecological safety the
environmental campaign group wwf said in statement
the wwf is worried about the planned extension of the pipeline through the
siberian tiger habitat
the first section of the pipeline linking taishet in eastern siberia with
skovorodino in the amur region entered service in december
second section is planned which will run kilometres miles from
skovorodino to the kozmino oil terminal near the pacific ocean port of nakhodka
russia the world largest exporter of crude oil hopes the route will help it
diversify its customer base away from europe by supplying energy hungry asian
nations
discharge of oil took place during regulatory work on the pipeline dyomin
said
we are trying to establish the cause but it is not connected to the operation
of the pipeline we have not ruled out human error he said adding that the
results of the investigation were expected in month
the wwf said the causes of the accident should be assessed in public and called
for fresh assessment of the second stage of the pipeline project involving
all parties
far eastern russia is the main habitat for the siberian tiger the world
largest feline
around remain in the wild there and further to live in china
haiti benefit to be streamed live on youtube other sites
washington jan afp
televised benefit for haiti earthquake victims hosted by george clooney and
featuring performances by wyclef jean bruce springsteen madonna jay and
others will be streamed live on youtube myspace and other websites organizers
said
the two hour hope for haiti now telethon sponsored by mtv networks starts at
pm gmt saturday and is to be shown on all of the major us broadcast
television networks as well as number of cable channels
google owned youtube said it will provide live stream of the event at
youtube com hopeforhaitinow and mtv said it will also be shown live on hulu
myspace fancast aol msn yahoo bing com bet com mtv com cnn com vh com
and rhapsody
the benefit is being held to raise money for number of organizations including
oxfam america the red cross unicef the un world food program partners in
health the clinton bush haiti fund and yele haiti charity foundation set up
by the haitian born hip hop star wyclef jean
according to mtv more than hollywood and music stars have agreed to take
part in the benefit which will be broadcast commercial free from new york
london los angeles and haiti
mtv said it will feature performances by bruce springsteen jennifer hudson
mary blige shakira sting alicia keys christina aguilera dave matthews
