the carrier started operations in year after it was founded and is
considered to be among trio of sub saharan aviation giants alongside south
african airways and kenya airways
it serves international destinations with weekly international departures
from its addis ababa hub and total of weekly international departures
worldwide
on its website the company says that it hopes to increase revenue to one billion
dollars and to increase the number of destinations it serves to in
ethiopian airlines which say it employs more than people currently has
fleet of aircraft and more on order
last week boeing said that ethiopian had ordered jets in deal
valued at million dollars
until flight lost contact with beirut airport control shortly after takeoff
early monday and crashed into the mediterranean ethiopian had better safety
record than any other african airline with the exception of south african
airways industry sources said
apart from an emergency landing earlier this month that left no casualties the
two incidents involving the company go back more than years
earlier this month one of the company made an emergency landing at
malta airport while on its way from addis ababa to rome the pilot reported
problem with one of the two engines the passengers continued their journey via
london heathrow while the plane and its crew remained in malta
other major security incidents involving ethiopian airlines go back more than
decade
in november ethiopian airlines flight was hijacked between addis ababa
and nairobi by three ethiopians seeking political asylum the aircraft crashed
into the indian ocean off the comoros when it ran out of fuel killing of
the people on board
in september one of the airline boeing made crash landing at bahar
dar in ethiopia after birds entered both engines during takeoff thirty one of
the people on board were killed
afghan pakistani presidents meet for security summit
istanbul jan afp
the presidents of afghanistan and pakistan meet in turkish sponsored talks here
monday to discuss cooperation against islamist extremists and improve ties
poisoned by the insecurity plaguing their rugged border
turkish president abdullah gul will host the talks between hamid karzai of
afghanistan and asif ali zardari of pakistan which will also be attended by
military and intelligence officials from the two countries
the trilateral summit is the fourth round of fence mending talks since held
under the auspices of turkey the sole muslim member of nato which is using its
traditionally close ties with both countries to mediate
ties between kabul and islamabad were strained as pakistan northwestern tribal
regions became stronghold for extremists who fled afghanistan after the us led
invasion toppled the hardline taliban regime in late
afghanistan says much of its insurgent violence including attacks on us and
nato soldiers is planned in pakistan and has accused its neighbour of not
doing enough to curb the militants
afghan and us officials suspect pakistan powerful military is sponsoring the
afghan taliban preparing for the day us troops leave so islamabad can exercise
influence over taliban government to offset regional superpower india
monday meeting comes day before gathering in istanbul of countries
neighbouring afghanistan to discuss ways to help the war ravaged country achieve
stability security and prosperity
the meeting will be attended by gul karzai and zardari as well as senior
officials from iran china tajikistan and turkmenistan turkish government
official said
several countries and international organisations will send observers among
them british foreign secretary david miliband
the meeting aims to encourage countries to tackle problems in their own region
rather than giving the lead to the west and underline the need to back up the
military struggle against the taliban with economic and social measures the
official said on condition of anonymity
there cannot be more important strategy than winning the minds and hearts of
the afghan people he said sometimes drilling simple water well for
instance can be more valuable in the eyes of the people than costly project
turkey has some soldiers stationed in afghanistan and takes part in
several restructuring projects as well as role in training afghan police and
security forces
in meeting late sunday turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan agreed
with karzai on providing three mongh training course for afghan police and
military the anatolia news agency reported
the istanbul meetings come days before london conference aimed at promoting
afghanistan development fighting corruption improving security achieving
good governance and reconciliation with taliban fighters
at the gathering karzai will present an ambitious western backed reconciliation
package aimed at tempting fighters away from their taliban masters by offering
money and jobs to draw them back to civilian life
cousins jailed over ritual killing in malaysia
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysian court on monday sentenced man and his cousin to years each in
prison over the death of the man parents during violent spiritual cleansing
ritual their lawyer said
defence lawyer supramaniam kasia pillai said third man accused over the grisly
murder of the couple during ceremony to expel evil spirits was
acquitted on the grounds of insanity
supramaniam said the couple had been beaten with everything the men could get
hold of helmets table tops and even the table legs with the aim to drive
out evil
he said the high court found muhamad fauzi abdul razak and his cousin
muhammad nizam mohamad ibrahim guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced
them to years in prison for each of the deaths to be served concurrently
public prosecutor aidatul azura zainal abidin said the three accused had
testified that their victims were willing participants in the cleansing ritual
but this is something terrible normal people will not do this harmful act
they took video of the session the victims were beaten with helmets she
said
mohamad ilyas the acquitted third suspect said during the trial that he had
gained spiritual powers through his association with banned islamic cult and
that he could heal sick people and raise the dead
malaysia is predominantly muslim country and the authorities periodically
crack down on unauthorised sects including the one mohamad ilyas was member
of
trailblazing uzbek photographer says charged with slander
tashkent jan afp
prominent uzbek photographer said on monday she had been charged with
slandering the dignity of the ex soviet central asian state an accusation
that could lead up to three years in prison
umida akhmedova told afp that prosecutors had labeled collection of her
photographs and documentary film both funded by the swiss embassy in
tashkent as slanderous over their portrayal of life in the isolated state
an investigator in tashkent mirabad police station informed me that was
charged with part three of article of the uzbek criminal code she said
the charges of slander with selfish ends or vile motives carry maximum
sentence of three years in jail in uzbekistan whose government is frequently
criticized by human rights groups
the works book of more than photographs of rural life titled woman and
man from dawn till night and documentary film about women rights dealt
with topics sensitive to the government which carefully guards its image
abroad
swiss embassy officials who had distanced themselves from the projects after
the film the burden of virginity proved controversial upon its release in
declined to comment on the case
the uzbek prosecutor general office meanwhile denied it had opened
criminal case against akhmedova
authorities in tashkent rarely comment on elements of criminal cases to the
press and deflect criticism of their tough policing methods as necessary to
protect the state against islamist groups in the volatile region
critics say the uzbek criminal justice system is often used to silence dissent
akhmedova said investigators offered her amnesty if she pleaded guilty
refused it as am not criminal she said
the new york based committee to protect journalists blasted uzbekistan over the
case and called for tashkent to immediately drop the charges
it is unthinkable that documentarian should go to prison because the state
interprets her work as insulting cpj europe and central asia programme
coordinator nina ognianova said in statement
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
international community to offer finance for haiti
turkish afghan and pakistani presidents to meet
montreal port au prince international donors hold an emergency meeting in
montreal canada to map out key priorities for rebuilding quake stricken haiti
from gmt haiti quake aid canada summit picture
istanbul the turkish president abdullah gul meets his afghan and pakistani
counterparts hamid karzai and asif ali zardari to discuss security cooperation
meeting expected at gmt press conference at gmt afghanistan
unrest picture
berlin israeli president shimon peres begins four day state visit to germany
arrives gmt address before berlin jewish community gmt germany
israel mideast diplomacy picture
brussels eu foreign ministers meet to discuss aid and police mission for
haiti talks are also expected to cover iran nuclear ambitions meeting starts
gmt press conference planned for gmt eu diplomacy picture
chicago chicago businessman tahawwur hussain rana is arraigned on charges
he helped plot the deadly mumbai attacks and an attack on danish
newspaper in gmt attacks india us pakistan court
colombo final campaigning ahead of sri lanka presidential elections on
tuesday with the incumbent mahinda rajapaksa pitted against his former general
sarath fonseka srilanka vote
geneva press conference with the head of the un palestinian refugee relief
operations on its work in gaza year on from the end of the war with israel
gmt un palestinians
lisbon all star charity football match featuring players including zinedine
zidane and kaka to raise funds for the victims of the haiti earthquake
organised by the united nations development programme and the benfica
foundation gmt haiti quake portugal
london former defence secretaries des browne and john hutton give evidence to
the public inquiry on the iraq war from gmt britain iraq military
politics inquiry
sochi russia russian president dmitry medvedev meets his armenian and
azerbaijani counterparts for talks on the breakaway nagorny karabakh region
picture russia armenia azerbaijan karabakh diplomacy
afp
us actor james mitchell dead at report
los angeles jan afp
us actor james mitchell who became widely known for his role as palmer
cortlandt on the long running abc show all my children has died at the age
the los angeles times reported monday
the newspaper said mitchell had died friday at cedars sinai medical center in
los angeles of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated by pneumonia
mitchell joined all my children in playing self made millionaire who
loves his family
his final appearance was earlier this month for the show th anniversary
episode the report said
he was nominated for seven daytime emmy awards for his role in the soap opera
mitchell was born on february in sacramento california the times
said in the course of his career he had leading roles in such broadway
musicals as bloomer girl billion dollar baby brigadoon and paint your
wagon
more than join exodus from haiti capital un
geneva jan afp
more that haitians have taken advantage of free transport to flee the
quake struck port au prince area where as many as are thought to have
gathered in makeshift camps the un said monday
the exodus from the capital was gaining pace as local inhabitants headed mainly
to rural areas and towns north and east of port au prince the united nations
said in its latest situation report on the relief effort
the number of people leaving port au prince for other departments continues to
increase the report by the office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
said
the government estimates that people have left port au prince using the
free transportation being provided by the government it added
the last estimate on friday stood at while many more are thought to
have left by their own means
meanwhile aid agencies counted approximately displaced people in the
port au prince region but estimated that the number was far higher because many
people only sought refuge in camps overnight
as result the actual number of populations living in transitional sites
could be as high as people the report added
german rebound boosts eurozone industrial orders eu
brussels jan afp
new industrial orders shot up by percent in november across the countries
that share the euro thanks to german rebound massively revised figures
showed on monday
the european union originally issued figure of percent on friday but
published new numbers on monday after corrected german data was received
underlining huge turnaround from october percent fall also upwardly
revised
the amended eurostat data also showed that factory orders in the eurozone were
down just percent as against the percent originally announced
compared to one year earlier
in the nation eu as whole industrial orders followed similar course
rising by percent in november from october the increase was originally
pegged at percent but falling by percent instead of percent over
months
among the member states for which data was available orders rose in
during november two more than initially thought with greece notably
posting percent increase
on an annual basis countries saw reduced orders with ireland recording the
largest drop at percent
afghanistan future and yemen threat at stake in london
london jan afp
stabilising afghanistan so nato troops can hand over to local forces will top
the agenda at talks in london this week while the newly highlighted al qaeda
threat from yemen will also take centre stage
security will be tight as foreign ministers including us secretary of state
hillary clinton gather for the meetings wednesday and thursday while afghan
president hamid karzai will attend to face his western backers
the week of high level diplomatic activity will be followed by intense political
drama on friday when former prime minister tony blair makes his long awaited
appearance at britain iraq war inquiry
the world attention has largely shifted from iraq to afghanistan where in
fresh illustration of the country fragility elections planned for may have
been postponed to september
re elected in bitterly disputed circumstances in november karzai is struggling
to keep hold on his country in the face of resurgent taliban
with thousands of us troops now arriving in the country for us president barack
obama surge karzai has unveiled an ambitious plan to pay off taliban
fighters
the london conference is likely to discuss western funding for that initiative
plus tackling corruption and regional cooperation said british government
official speaking anonymously
such measures could help stabilise the country amid hopes cited by the
official that some districts could be handed over to afghan control over the
next to months
however report in the times newspaper on monday quoting leaked draft of the
meeting communique said british and international troops will have to stay in
afghanistan for at least another five years
karzai told the bbc friday that he believed taliban fighters could be persuaded
to lay down their weapons in return for money and jobs
we must have peace at any cost karzai said in the interview
those that we approach to return will be provided with the abilities to work
to find jobs to have protection to resettle in their own communities
in response us defence secretary robert gates described the taliban as part of
afghanistan political fabric but said any future role would depend on the
insurgents rejecting violence
british foreign secretary david miliband told the bbc sunday that dividing the
enemy is very important part of our strategy it the counterpart of
military strategy it vital
but the taliban leadership remains hostile to any negotiations
miliband will also chair meeting of countries wednesday to discuss fears
that yemen is becoming failed state where an al qaeda outpost is increasingly
training extremists for attacks on the west
the talks come month after the attempted bombing of an airliner as it
approached the us city of detroit us authorities have charged year old
nigerian thought to have been trained in yemen over the incident
al qaeda chief osama bin laden claimed in tape released sunday that his
network had sent the nigerian on the mission and said more attacks were on the
way
miliband said the detroit incident marked new phase in al qaeda campaign
against the west
the london meeting will however last just two hours prompting claims from some
british lawmakers that it is little more than gimmick
adding to the pressure on the security forces guarding the two meetings in
london britain has raised its terror threat assessment from substantial to
severe suggesting an attack was highly likely
rounding off the week former prime minister tony blair faces tough questions
over his role in taking britain to war in iraq
watched by relatives of soldiers killed in the conflict blair is expected to be
grilled on the claim that iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within
minutes key premise for britain involvement in the war
anti war groups have promised to launch huge protests to coincide with blair
appearance
bodies pile up as haiti begs for aid
port au prince jan afp
earthmovers cleared rotting corpses from haiti ruined capital as donors met
monday to draw up recovery plan from an earthquake now known to have killed at
least people
with strong aftershocks bringing new terror to the streets of port au prince
police struggled to control fresh outbreaks of looting in the city where
hundreds of thousands are homeless hungry and wounded
haitian police shouted out from time to time to deter the gangs but with little
conviction and less success the police shot one young man witnesses said who
was treated by us troops
with the search for survivors officially over mechancial diggers demolished
damaged buildings and cleared downtown rubble in the tropical heat
the stench from bodies which had been entombed in the rubble since tragedy
struck on january reeked through the capital
communications minister marie lawrence jocelyn lassegue said she had been told
by the national recovery commission to expect figure of dead by
monday referring to the number of bodies found and officially counted
it very difficult to estimate how many more people might be dead but the
prime minister has spoken of she added
previously haitian health officials had quoted figure of just over
dead
there were no reports of new casualties after magnitude aftershock rattled
haiti sunday
heard sound like grumbling then drumbeat as if something wanted to
burst from the belly of the earth said patrice dumont teacher from the
ruined town of leogane west of the capital
ministers in montreal will discuss how to streamline the delivery of food
water drugs and medical supplies to the swelling number of people living in
makeshift camps around the shattered capital
us secretary of state hillary clinton haitian prime minister jean max
bellerive canadian prime minister stephen harper and officials from the united
nations will attend monday talks
aid workers have been moving into the recovery phase after the government
officially called off search and rescue efforts but french rescue workers said
on sunday they had detected what might be another survivor
we detected movement on radar we don know what it is it could be an
animal or person we have been digging since gmt and it will take
hours french civil defense service commander philippe chaussinaid told afp
in the downtown district of delmas two dozen french firefighters were working
in and around the building behind cordon protected by armed french gendarmes
there was someone who came to talk to tell us that they heard noises from that
house there commander samuel bernes also of the french civil defense service
told afp at the scene
search teams on friday dug out year old shop employee wismond exantus
from the ruins he said he survived his days beneath the ruins by drinking
coca cola and eating snacks
meanwhile mass exodus from the capital was putting huge burden on small
towns like saint marc where refugees were lodging with friends
strangers or in churches
buses passed incessantly through the town some kilometers miles north of
port au prince loaded with earthquake victims hoping to find food and shelter
my house was destroyed we slept on the pavement near the wounded we had to
leave said magalie esteverle year old dressmaker with three children
staying with distant cousin of her husband
as the potential for chaos rose the new un chief of mission in haiti called for
more manpower and vehicles and said that clearing rubble and counting victims
could take years
need manpower need soldiers edmond mulet whose predecessor was killed
when the un headquarters in port au prince collapsed in the january quake
told cnn
experts warn that hundreds of thousands of haitians will be living off foreign
aid and in temporary housing for years to come as rebuilding the nation may take
at least decade thousands have been left disabled
football mozambique not firing coach official says
maputo jan afp
the head coach of mozambique national team is not being fired top football
official said monday backtracking from statements made last week by the head of
the national federation
mozambican football federation boss feizal sidat had spoken in the heat of the
moment when he told reporters that nooij contract would not be renewed after
mozambique elimination wednesday from the africa cup of nations said antonio
chambal the federation vice president for national teams
there no firing of the coach here chambal told afp
there process of negotiation that in progress
chambal said nooij and his agent are scheduled to meet monday with the
federation board to discuss proposed renewal of the coach contract which
expires january
chambal said nooij had achieved the objectives of his current contract which
included qualifying for the nations cup football officials have sent the coach
draft renewal contract even before the nations cup began he added
he achieved mozambique objectives for the nations cup we are satisfied with
the mozambican team performance chambal said
nooij who has coached mozambique since led the team to its first nations
cup appearance in years this year
but the mambas failed to win any games in their group matches in angola
taking only one point in draw with benin
after the team elimination in loss to nigeria sidat told reporters we
aren going to renew our contract with nooij adding that the results
haven corresponded to the expectations
but sidat backtracked on the statements after returning to mozambique telling
independent newspaper pais didn say we were going to interrupt the
negotiations
what said and it fact is that anywhere in the world when team
doesn win it has to undergo changes
chambal said sidat had exploded when he made his earlier statement to
reporters
maybe because he was seeing the negative results of the team and in the heat
of the moment he reacted hotly without reflection and without consulting his
colleagues on the board chambal said
mozambique lost and he exploded and said that
kddi to buy com stake for four billion dollars
tokyo jan afp
kddi corp japan number two telecoms firm said monday it was buying
percent of jupiter telecommunications co japanese internet and cable
television provider for four billion dollars
kddi has agreed to buy the stake in the company also known as com from
liberty global inc an international cable operator based in colorado in
cash deal
kddi reported monday its net profit in the quarter through december fell
percent from year earlier to billion yen million dollars hit by
tough price competition in the crowded mobile telephone market
dow jones newswires contributed to this story
tennis dominant serena warns she can get even better
melbourne jan afp
defending champion serena williams warned her rivals she can get even better
despite playing brilliant tennis to crush samantha stosur in the fourth
round of the australian open on monday
williams wiped the big serving stosur off court in just minutes to reach the
quarter finals where she will play either victoria azarenka of belarus or
russia vera zvonareva
she remains on track for semi final against sister venus and possible
blockbuster final against belgium justine henin
the world number one gave herself only plus when asked to rate her game
saying perhaps she could have returned better
think sam really burned me on couple of returns but she serving
incredible williams said
it really good to match my game against her serve because she one of the
best servers on the tour
by rating her game only plus williams was being tough on herself as the
four time champion never looked in any trouble against the australian number
one
she served brilliantly throughout both sets and dismantled stosur serve as the
match wore on quickly silencing the large partisan crowd
it important when you re playing local girl to not let the crowd get too
involved or else they ll kill you williams said
that was the plan to not let them get involved
stosur had gone into the fourth round clash on rod laver arena with some
expectation of an upset after beating williams the last time the pair met
stosur had also complained that williams had not given her much credit for that
win saying the american implied she was lucky player with many of her
winners coming from miss hits
but on monday she came up against fiercly determined williams and simply had
no answers
williams conceded just two points on serve in the first set and three in the
second to completely demoralise stosur
think today it was all about the serve williams said
honestly just hoping can serve again like that because that was pretty
cool
knew going into the match had to serve well against sam she big server
and even though she not as tall she serves incredibly well
despite saying she could have returned better the world number one was almost
as ruthless as when she was serving breaking stosur once in the first set and
twice in the second to wrap up comfortable win
when someone playing that aggressively and not giving you anything at all
she pretty hard to beat admitted stosur
today was disappointing that lost definitely but know that that maybe
where need to try and keep aspiring to get to
williams has continued her love affair with melbourne park where she has won
four times in and
the year old has now reached the quarter finals in melbourne four times in
the last five years and showed against stosur that she is the hot favourite to
win fifth crown
if she does win again it will be the first time woman has successfully
defended her title since fellow american jennifer capriati in
bank fears send asian shares lower
hong kong jan afp
uncertainty over us president barack obama bank revamp plans and fears of
policy tightening by beijing spooked risk averse investors in asian trade
monday as financial stocks continued to slide
world market sentiment has soured since obama unveiled on thursday plans for
tough banking reform that would limit excessive risk taking blamed for the
economic crisis move that would affect the scope of financial institutions
fears beijing will curb credit as it tries to rein in its scorching economy have
also eroded risk appetite while its calls for banks to raise funds to meet
regulatory requirements have prompted concerns of share value dilution
confidence is brittle due to concerns about further tightening measures in
china francis lun general manager at fulbright securities told dow jones
newswires
shanghai closed down percent with banks leading the losses after bank of
china announced aggressive plans over the weekend to issue new shares and
billion yuan billion dollar convertible bond sale
the shanghai composite index shed points to
dealers fear other mainland banks will also launch fund raising plans to shore
up their balance sheets amid stricter regulatory requirements for capital after
boosting lending to support the government massive stimulus efforts
bank of china shares saw volatile trade closing down percent to yuan
banks may continue to fall as investors are unsure how successful the capital
raising exercises would be said simon wang an analyst at guoyuan securities
hong kong shares closed down percent or points to in
their fourth straight day of decline heavyweight hsbc fell percent to
hong kong dollars
in tokyo the nikkei was down percent or points to
seoul kospi shed percent or points to
it seems that the obama administration is trying to fight the decline in its
voter support by addressing popular criticism against the financial sector
said mizuho securities analyst yukio takahashi
this issue could continue to weigh on wall street
the region saw broad falls following percent slump on the dow jones index
friday its biggest weekly drop since february
sydney shed percent with the amp asx down points at
financials were hardest hit with westpac down percent at australian
dollars us and anz percent lower at mining giants bhp
billiton fell percent to but rio tinto rose percent to
markets also grappled with doubts about the future of us federal reserve
chairman ben bernanke after key democratic senators said last week they would
