meeting without giving further details
but izvestia said the us side had initially invited number of russian ngos to
the meeting before apologising when moscow pointed out this did not correspond
to the framework of the working group
surkov us co chair on the working group is michael mcfaul the top white house
advisor on russia
china hits back at us internet criticism
beijing jan afp
china on friday rejected criticism of its internet censorship by us secretary of
state hillary clinton saying it harmed relations as row over google threat
to leave the chinese market escalated
clinton had urged china on thursday to conduct thorough probe into
cyberattacks on google and other us companies and lamented what she said was
beijing increasing efforts to control what its million web users can see
we firmly oppose such words and deeds which go against the facts and are
harmful to china us relations foreign ministry spokesman ma zhaoxu said in
china strongest comments since the google dispute erupted last week
we urge the united states to respect facts and stop using the so called
internet freedom issue to criticise china unreasonably he said in statement
posted on the ministry website
in major policy speech on internet freedom in washington clinton reiterated
us support for single internet where all of humanity has equal access to
knowledge and ideas
she called on china to conduct thorough investigation of the cyber
intrusions revealed by google and for its results to be transparent
the two sides have become locked in spiralling dispute over chinese web
controls sparked by internet giant google announcement last week it would no
longer obey china censorship rules and might pull out of the country
google said the decision was made after it suffered cyberattacks that the
company believes originated in china and appeared aimed at cracking the email
accounts of chinese human rights activists
china government declined to respond to afp requests friday for comment on
possible investigation of the attacks
until friday beijing had generally held fire in the dispute defending its
censorship as necessary and saying foreign firms must comply but refraining
from hitting back at mounting us criticism over its control of the internet
china is believed to employ thousands of people in vast system of internet
censorship that has been dubbed the great firewall of china which polices
what the world largest online population can see and do on the web
beijing regularly invokes the need to stamp out pornography as key reason for
the controls but critics contend its primary purpose is to quell political
dissent or content seen as threatening to communist party rule
google microsoft yahoo and cisco are among the us technology giants that have
been accused of cooperating with the great firewall by acquiescing to
beijing demands
in her speech clinton appeared to call on other companies to follow google
lead and defy china
the private sector has shared responsibility to help safeguard free
expression clinton said
and when their business dealings threaten to undermine this freedom they need
to consider what right not simply the prospect of quick profits
the state department has plans to hold high level meeting next month with
companies that provide network services for talks on internet freedom
google chief executive eric schmidt said the california company would like to
remain in china but could no longer agree to censor results on its web search
engine there
we continue to follow their laws we continue to offer censored results
schmidt warning that in reasonably short time from now we will be making
some changes there
microsoft on thursday released patch for an internet explorer software hole
through which china based cyber spies allegedly probed the computer systems of
google and other companies
on thursday chinese vice foreign minister he yafei was quoted by state media as
saying the google case should not be linked with sino us relations
ma on friday also urged the united states not to let the dispute upset
relations which are already dogged by range of disputes over trade and
currency issues us arms sales to taiwan and climate change
ma said china hoped both sides would respect each other core interests and
major concerns properly handle differences and sensitive issues to maintain the
healthy and steady development of sino us relations
kenyan herders get satellite livestock insurance
nairobi jan afp
researchers on friday launched an insurance scheme for kenyan herders using
satellite images to provide broader and fairer compensation for livestock
losses
launched in northern kenya pastoralist or livestock raising marsabit
region the index based livestock insurance ibli uses vegetation images to
estimate cattle mortality as function of forage loss
project leader andrew mude explained that the system will be an improvement on
compensation system based on costly damage assessment
the transaction cost for normal insurance where they have to verify the claims
and the truth of the claims would be too expensive he told afp
rather than verify losses all you have to do is to look at the state of that
index because it will give you very good sense of what the condition is on the
ground he added
very good indicator of drought and of livestock mortality due to drought is
the availability of pasture
livestock is the key source of livelihood for the millions of residents in the
east africa country arid northern regions which has witnessed major
droughts in the past years
four of those droughts occurred in the past decade prolonged dry spell last
year decimated thousands of livestock in the region leaving families to depend
on aid
under the scheme developed jointly by the international livestock research
institute and team of american university researchers the insurance will
cover losses in excess of percent of the herd value
herders will be compensated for their cows camels sheep and goats whose value
is calculated in units known as tropical livestock unit tlu
cow is worth one tlu camel and sheep or goats are equivalent to one
tlu which in turn is worth shillings dollars the average local
price for cow
the pilot scheme targets between and households said mude adding
that it could help stabilise the income of some of the country poorer
communities
gates regrets past grave mistakes in pakistan
islamabad jan afp
us defence secretary robert gates took on his critics in pakistan on friday
apologising for past grave mistakes as he works to bolster ties with
washington key ally in the fight against al qaeda
in his first visit to islamabad in three years and first under us president
barack obama gates tried to reassure public and leadership sceptical of
washington plan to tackle militancy and turn around the war in afghanistan
pakistan has seen security drastically deteriorate since joining in washington
war on terror in and balks at complaints from us officials that it is not
doing enough to tackle militant groups
us drone strikes targeting islamist fighters in pakistan also stir anger in the
muslim nation while many pakistanis voice bitterness over us abandonment of the
region once the soviet union withdrew from afghanistan in
was in government in the early when russia left the region and the
united states largely abandoned afghanistan and cut off defence ties with
pakistan grave strategic mistake driven by some well intentioned but short
sighted us legislative and policy decisions said gates
speaking at the national defense university in islamabad he said us ban on
military contacts in the over pakistan nuclear programme undermined
bond between the armed forces and created trust deficit that lingered
he vowed the united states was prepared to invest whatever time and energy it
takes to forge and sustain genuine lasting partnership with pakistan
rebuilding relationships with generation of pakistani officers who have had
little contact with the us military will take years gates said
after his speech gates took questions from the audience of senior military
officers in session that was closed to the media
the very candid exchange included pointed question that suggested the us led
war in afghanistan was to blame for pakistan problem with violent extremists
on its western border gates press secretary geoff morrell told reporters
the thrust of the question was we re in this mess because of you to which he
took great exception morrell said
gates told the officers that afghanistan had been unstable long before the us
military moved in and that it was unrealistic to assume pakistan could be spared
from the growing strength of islamist militants
but gates appeared to have already rattled pakistan military on this trip
with comments thursday warning that taliban sanctuaries must be tackled or
pakistan and afghanistan would suffer more lethal and more brazen attacks
in commentary in the english language daily the news gates wrote that making
distinctions between the different extremist groups as pakistan is often
accused of doing was counterproductive
while pakistan has launched multiple assaults on taliban strongholds in recent
months washington is also anxious for islamabad to target the afghan taliban
and al qaeda linked militants within its borders
pakistan military spokesman major general athar abbas rejected gates
description and said it was not so black and white
gates also said he would ask pakistani leaders about plans to expand its
campaign to north waziristan bastion of al qaeda and the haqqani network
known for attacking us and nato troops fighting the taliban in afghanistan
but abbas told reporters no new operations would be launched until the current
push into south waziristan was complete which would take between six months to
year
gates held talks thursday with pakistani army chief general ashfaq kayani
defence minister ahmed mukhtar intelligence chief lieutenant general ahmed
shuja pasha and president asif ali zardari
the former cia director who flew out of islamabad friday was also seeking
pakistan cooperation on obama new strategy to turn around the war in
afghanistan which involves sending more troops but drawing down forces starting
in july
leak at german nuclear plant man hospitalised firm
berlin jan afp
leak in uranium enrichment plant in germany exposed an employee to high
level of radiation but posed no danger to people outside the facility the firm
operating the plant said on friday
the employee was taken to hospital as precaution spokeswoman for the german
subsidiary of british nuclear firm urenco said
none of the radiation escaped the company added
there is no danger to the public the necessary authorities were informed
straightaway urenco said in statement
joachim neuser spokesman for the local government in north rhine westphalia
where the accident occurred said authorities were studying report into the
incident and would draw the appropriate conclusions
the plant near germany border with the netherlands has been in operation
since according to the urenco website
cricket snub ignites india pakistan row
new delhi jan afp
perceived snub to pakistani players by the glitzy indian premier league has
sparked diplomatic spat between the great rivals for whom cricket is more
than just game
no pakistani player was bought by the eight indian clubs during an auction on
tuesday for the third edition of the league despite the pakistan team being the
reigning world champions in the twenty format of the tournament
the omission has triggered widespread protests in pakistan with effigies of ipl
chief lalit modi being burnt on the streets of lahore amid condemnation from
politicians and threats of boycotts from other pakistani sports teams
indian foreign minister krishna was drawn into the maelstrom thursday
denying that his government was behind the move following suggestions from ipl
franchises that pakistani players may have been refused indian visas
the government has nothing to do with ipl on selection of players and various
exercises that are connected with it he said
in pakistan retaliatory steps against india are escalating
parliamentary delegation trip to the country has been cancelled and
scheduled visit by the kabaddi traditional tag wrestling team was called off
the pakistan national hockey team attendance at the world cup in new delhi
next month is also in doubt
agree this is private event but pakistani players being excluded without
any reason and without looking at the background is unfair the chairman of the
pakistan cricket board ijaz butt told afp
foreign office spokesman abdul basit told the newspaper dawn it is clear from
what we heard from the indian high commission that the decision to not include
pakistani players was influenced by variables extraneous to sports
india and pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in and
tension spiked in when militants killed people in an attack on mumbai
new delhi pointed the finger at pakistan based islamist group
india cancelled scheduled cricket tour of pakistan after the mumbai attacks
breaking sequence of bilateral test series held on each other soil every
year from to
in further setback the international cricket council withdrew pakistan
right to host matches in next year cricket world cup following the lahore
terrorist attack in march on the visiting sri lankan cricket team
pakistan matches were instead shared among co hosts india sri lanka and
bangladesh
the third season of the lucrative ipl which features the world top players in
eight teams owned by rich businessmen and bollywood stars will be held in march
and april this year
one franchise official who preferred to remain unnamed told afp that he was
not surprised that the pakistanis were excluded
we were not sure if they would get visas and we did not want players who won
be available he said besides there is also the security issue no one was
willing to take chance
indian cricket board secretary srinivasan who owns the chennai super kings
team in the ipl also said the franchisees should not be blamed
they the franchisees have the right to pick the players they want after all
it is their money srinivasan told the hindu newspaper on friday
how can you say if you do not buy player from particular country it is an
insult to that nation
how much team is prepared to spend on and on whom is the sole prerogative of
the franchisees
srinivasan stressed that even players like west indian batsman ramnaresh sarwan
australian wicket keeper brad haddin and england spinner graeme swann had been
ignored at the auction
such arguments are unlikely to placate critics across the border
think this is lesson to all the pakistani players to think about their
country only and don play only for the lust of money in the ipl basit ali
former pakistan player told afp
leading sports personalities have called on pakistan to boycott next month
field hockey world cup at which the arch rivals are due to clash in the opening
match on february
pakistani cricketers were treated badly by india so to keep our national pride
we must not send our hockey team to the world cup said former pakistan hockey
captain and coach islahuddin siddiqui
an indian field hockey official said it was the international hockey
federation fih decision on which teams took part in the nation world cup
we are only the hosts the official told afp it will be sad if pakistan did
not play but the tournament will not be affected the fih will nominate
standby team if pakistan pull out
armenia warns of breakdown in turkey reconciliation
yerevan jan afp
armenia foreign minister on friday warned that historic efforts to establish
ties with turkey may break down 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 foreign minister eduard nalbandian
said at press conference
his comments came after armenian and turkish efforts to establish ties after
decades of hostility hit fresh snags this week as the two sides traded
accusations of trying to set new conditions on 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 earlier expressed bewilderment at the turkish position and said
ankara was to blame by linking the deal with armenia conflict with turkish
ally azerbaijan over the disputed nagorny karabakh region
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 turkey
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 refusal to establish ties with armenia stems in part from yerevan
attempts to have the massacres internationally recognised as genocide
tennis clijsters humiliated by petrova at australian open
melbourne jan afp
reigning us open champion kim clijsters was humiliated in just
minutes by russia th seeded nadia petrova in the third round of the
australian open on friday
the belgian was shadow of her normal self as petrova totally dominated one
sided match to the dismay of most of the fans at melbourne park hisense arena
from the moment this year australian open began all the talk has been about
the return to grand slam tennis of clijsters and countrywoman justine henin
but while henin scraped through against russia alisa kleybanova earlier in the
day shellshocked clijsters was blown off court by the powerful russian who
scored her first win over the belgian in five meetings
petrova raced through the first set in only minutes with clijsters winning
measly five points in the first six games
the second set was not much better for the belgian world number who only got
on the scoreboard in the fourth game when she at last managed to hold her serve
however that was merely tiny stumble for the year old muscovite who
promptly held her own serve then broke clijsters for the fifth time in the match
to open an unassailable lead
petrova showed no signs of nerves as she served for the match and despite
clijsters saving two match points she couldn save the third and the russian
was through to fourth round meeting with either fellow countrywoman svetlana
kuznetsova or german angelique kerber
the loss was sad end to the tournament for the much loved clijsters who came
back to tennis midway through last year after getting married and having baby
she capped her comeback with sensational triumph at september us open then
added the brisbane international to her trophy cabinet in the first week of
beating henin in magnificent three set final
henin had defeated petrova in straight sets in the first round of the brisbane
tournament but it was very different russian on friday as she served with
accuracy and power and barely missed shot
petrova has now made the fourth round at the australian open for her third
straight year while it is clijsters earliest exit since she first played in
melbourne years ago and lost in the first round
haiti search teams start to go home un spokeswoman
geneva jan afp
un led teams in haiti are switching their focus away from searching for people
trapped in collapsed buildings and some teams are starting to go home
spokeswoman said friday
the rescue teams are concentrating more and more on humanitarian aid for those
who need it said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the un office for the
coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha
some teams which are exhausted are starting to go home she told afp while
teams equipped with heavy equipment were continuing to pull out corpses
international search and rescue teams coordinated by the united nations had
managed to find people alive under the rubble by earlier this week record
number in such disaster according to ocha
korea seeks talks with korea in latest dialogue bid
seoul jan afp
north korea called friday for military talks with south korea seoul officials
said its latest proposal for dialogue after months of tensions
seoul unification ministry said the north sent message proposing talks next
tuesday to discuss problems impeding business at their kaesong jointly run
industrial estate
south korea has long called for the north to ease restrictions on travel in and
out of the estate just north of the heavily fortified border
the ministry said the north military which controls the frontier proposed
talks on free communication the passage of people and customs clearance
it said the south had not yet responded to the offer the last military talks
were held in october
the two sides held civilian talks this week about developing kaesong despite
pyongyang threat on january to cut off all dialogue
no agreement was reached at the kaesong talks but the delegations will meet
again on february
the cash strapped north has also urged discussions on restarting south korean
tours to its mount kumgang resort the tours earned the sanctions hit communist
state tens of millions of dollars until they were suspended in
the south has yet to respond to that proposal
last week pyongyang national defence commission the top decision making body
threatened to cut all dialogue and cooperation unless the south apologises for
an alleged contingency plan to handle regime collapse in the north
the commission in its january statement also warned of holy war against
the south should there be any attempt to carry out the plan
analysts say the north hit harder by international sanctions following its
nuclear and missile tests last year seems willing to promote economic exchanges
with the south despite political tensions
around north koreans work at south korean funded plants in kaesong
producing cookware textiles electronics and other light industrial goods
but its operations have often been hit by political strains with the north
expelling hundreds of south korean staff and intermittently restricting access
in
afghan warlord open to talks but conditions remain
kabul jan afp
warlord gulbuddin hekmatyar is open to peace talks with the afghan government
and us negotiators his spokesmen said friday but on the condition that all
foreign troops leave afghanistan
the comments by two of his spokesmen come as president hamid karzai outlines an
ambitious western backed plan to tempt fighters away from their insurgent
masters by offering money and jobs
hekmatyar served as prime minister briefly during the civil war but
has become one of the top militant leaders opposing the afghan government
claiming attacks on foreign troops and operating across the north and east
waliullah spokesman for hizb islami afghanistan the radical islamist group
that hekmatyar commands told afp by telephone from an undisclosed location
that the warlord was open to talks with all those concerned
we are ready for negotiations anywhere and at any stage the doors are open but
they the united states imposed war on us and we have no option left but to
fight for our country waliullah said
we want free and independent afghanistan we are ready for positive
negotiations which can bring results and peace in our country we agree that all
those concerned should be part of these negotiations
but despite the apparent conciliatory tone another spokesman told afp that all
the preconditions hekmatyar raised in the past remained
we have five conditions for peace talks said zubair sediqi spokesman who
frequently calls reporters to claim attacks on hekmatyar behalf
all the foreign forces must leave afghanistan unconditionally permanent
ceasefire must be enforced all prisoners from all side must be freed an
interim administration must take charge for one year
such an interim administration must organise an election within one year
sediqi added also speaking from an unknown location
his comments reflected video of hekmatyar posted on the wall street journal
website on thursday in which the warlord said that before talks took place
they foreign forces should be willing to leave afghanistan
on every level we are ready for negotiations but when we understand that the
adversary is sincere in holding negotiations and that negotiations with him
could be beneficial for the country and for the nation hekmatyar said
sediqi said the video had been recorded in late
hekmatyar led the biggest anti soviet faction during the us backed effort
to oust the russians from afghanistan but the group he commands is now believed
to be second only to the taliban in power and strength
karzai is due to announce full details of his new peace plan at london
conference on january aimed mainly at convincing lower ranking insurgents to
lay down their weapons in exchange for jobs and security
russia regrets iran rejection of nuclear deal lavrov
moscow russia jan afp
russia regrets that iran has apparently rejected un brokered nuclear fuel
exchange deal to ease the standoff over its atomic programme foreign minister
sergei lavrov said on friday
we regret that iran as far as we can see does not consider it possible to
agree to the formula that it was offered lavrov told news conference
under the plan iran would hand over most of its stocks of low enriched uranium
in return for the supply by france and russia of nuclear fuel enriched to the
higher level required for tehran research reactor
russia veto wielding permanent un security council member is one of the few
major powers to have close relations with iran
turkish police round up in al qaeda raids report
ankara jan afp
turkish police friday rounded up suspects in massive dawn operation across
the country targeting the al qaeda network following similar raids earlier this
week anatolia news agency reported
senior members of al qaeda cells in turkey were among the suspects detained in
simultaneous raids in provinces the report said
the security forces also seized weapons and documents it said
police officials contacted by afp declined to comment
the raids were carried out after police seized documents shedding light on the
extremist network activities in turkey anatolia said
among five suspects detained in the eastern city of van was an academic who
allegedly sought to lure militants for al qaeda camps in afghanistan on the
local university campus and on the internet
another five people among them suspect who had allegedly received training in
afghanistan were detained in the southern gaziantep province anatolia said
ankara and istanbul were among the cities where the operation took place
on monday police arrested suspects and seized weapons and ammunition in
raids in ankara and the southern city of adana the courts later charged
people who were remanded in custody pending trial
media reports have said the suspects are believed to have been involved in plots
to carry out suicide attacks on turkish soldiers serving in afghanistan and on
police in turkey
turkish cell of al qaeda was held responsible for four truck bomb attacks on
two synagogues the british consulate and british bank in istanbul in
the attacks killed people including the british consul and left hundreds
injured
seven men were jailed for life in over the bombings among them syrian
national who masterminded and financed the attacks
urgent un teams switch focus to aid for haiti survivors spokeswoman
geneva jan afp
un led teams in haiti are switching their focus from searching for people
trapped in collapsed buildings to providing humanitarian aid to those who need
it spokeswoman said friday
afghan president bans fertiliser used in bombs
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai has banned the sale and possession of ammonium
nitrate fertiliser which is used by islamist insurgents to make deadly homemade
bombs statement said friday
import production possession use purchase and sale of ammonium nitrate
fertiliser is banned the president decree said
the substance is intended for agricultural use and widely available but it is
key ingredient in improvised explosive devices ieds the taliban weapon of
choice in the worsening insurgency
based on investigations by security forces terrorists widely use the
fertiliser in making explosives to avoid such terrorist actions any use of this
substance will result in judicial prosecution the statement said
the militants waging bloody insurgency against the afghan government and
international forces use widely available materials to make deadly suicide
vests car bombs and roadside bombs
the decree said anyone in possession of the fertiliser must hand it over to
branches of the ministry of agriculture within one month
the interior and finance ministries will train police and customs employees to
detect recognise and seize the chemical while the national security council
will oversee the implementation of the decree
militants also use ball bearings nuts and bolts pressure cookers batteries
and electric wires and use cheap mobile phones to remotely detonate the bombs
the taliban have used ieds to devastating effect they are the biggest killer
of foreign troops in afghanistan
experts say ieds are cheap and easy to put together rigged to timers or remote
controls they can be detonated when vehicles drive over pressure plates or are
linked into chain of bombs to cause maximum damage
urgent tennis clijsters humiliated by petrova at australian open
melbourne jan afp
reigning us open champion kim clijsters was humiliated in just
minutes by russia th seeded nadia petrova in the third round of the
australian open on friday
asia pacific airline passengers slump percent in
kuala lumpur jan afp
asia pacific airlines suffered percent drop in passenger numbers and an
percent slump in cargo traffic in as they weathered their worst ever
downturn an industry body said friday
the association of asia pacific airlines aapa said that the collapse in
corporate travel and intense price competition during the global recession saw
airline revenues tumble percent
we have been through downturns before but none as severe as we
experienced in the past two years aapa director general andrew herdman said in
statement
airlines cut flights and cargo capacity and shaved back on costs but were
still not able to fully offset the effects of sharply lower revenues compounded
by continuing volatility in oil prices he said
overall asia pacific airlines are expected to report significant losses for
following similar heavy losses suffered in he said
however herdman said traffic numbers in recent months had shown signs of
recovery
the cargo business is regaining some of its dynamism and passenger demand on
short haul leisure routes within the region has already picked up although
business travel demand is recovering more slowly he said
