Swiss whistleblower to give bank data to WikiLeaks

Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer is planning to handover to WikiLeaks two CDs containing data of around 2,000 bank clients who may have been evading taxes, according to an interview in Swiss newspaper Sonntag.

AFP - Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer is planning to handover to WikiLeaks two CDs containing data of around 2,000 bank clients who may have been evading taxes, according to an interview published Sunday.

"The documents show that they are hiding behind bank secrecy, possibly to avoid taxes," Elmer, a former Swiss banker, told Swiss newspaper Sonntag.

The data is to be handed over on Monday, during a press conference in London during which WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would also be present, said Sonntag.

However, the information would not be published immediately on the whistleblower website, said Elmer, noting: "WikiLeaks will go through the data, and if they really deal with tax evasion, they will be published later."

According to Elmer, the clients listed on the two discs include multimillionaires, multinationals and hedge funds from several countries, including Switzerland, the United States, Germany and Britain.

The data also implicate around 40 politicians.

Elmer said that the data stem from "at least three financial institutions and cover the period of 1990 and 2009.

Elmer, who was a director at Bank Julius Baer in Cayman Islands, is to appear before a Zurich court on Wednesday to answer to charges of bank secrecy violation, after he passed on clients' data to WikiLeaks in 2007.

The move led to tax evasion prosecutions in several countries against these clients.

Oldest African-American dies at 113

By Phil Gast, CNN

January 16, 2011 -- Updated 0042 GMT (0842 HKT)

Mississippi Winn, who died Friday in Shreveport, Louisiana, never married and lived independently until 103.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Mississippi Winn died Friday at age 113
• Her parents were apparently born into slavery
• She was independent until 10 years ago
• Shreveport, Louisiana, has begun to honor her each year

(CNN) -- Mississippi Winn didn't get caught up in the amazing statistics that accompanied someone her age.

Only 1 in 5 million people in the industrialized world live to be 110. About 60 people that age live in the United States, with another 300 or so scattered around the globe. Nine of 10 are women.

Winn was believed to be the oldest living African-American when she died Friday afternoon in Shreveport, Louisiana, at 113.

Investigator Milton Carroll of the Caddo Parish Coroner's Office said he was not permitted to disclose a cause of death, but a relative said Winn -- who was nicknamed "Sweetie" -- had been in declining health since last autumn.

Robert Young, a senior claims researcher with the Gerontology Research Group and a senior consultant for Guinness World Records, visited Winn at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home in July 2010.

"She looked to be in very good shape," he said Saturday. "It was a surprise she went downhill so fast."

Young believes Winn's parents were born into slavery. Her father was born in 1844 and her mother in 1860.

But Winn "never discussed it," said her great-niece Mary C. Hollins of Shreveport. "She would say, 'I don't know about that.'"

Winn, who did not marry and lived independently until 103, appears to have lived a life that made her especially well-qualified for the elite club of supercentenarians -- those who live to be 110 or older.

We have declared March 31 as Ms. Mississippi Winn Day since her 110th birthday.
--Cedric Glover, Shreveport, Louisiana mayor

"She had always been kind to others," Hollins said on Saturday. "She was always respectful."

Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover said the city has honored several centenarians.

"We have declared March 31 as Ms. Mississippi Winn Day since her 110th birthday," he wrote in an e-mail.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Miss Winn's family, relatives, her beloved Pastor Clarence Hicks and her church family and friends who all loved and cherished her," he said.

The secret to living to and past 110, besides not having an unhealthy weight, said Young, is a positive attitude and emotional and physical stability. Most supercentenarians take little medication during their lives, he said.

"They do things in moderation," he said. "They don't get upset."

Most were still walking at age 105, he added.

Born in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, on March 31, 1897, Winn moved with her family to Shreveport after her father died in 1908.

One of 15 children, eight of whom lived to adulthood, Winn had a sister who lived to be 100 and a brother who lived to 95.

She worked as a domestic, cooking and helping families raise children.

She worked in Kansas City for a time and lived in Seattle, Washington, from 1957 to 1975, helping to raise three boys, before returning to Louisiana. Winn had a child who died at age 2, Hollins said.

Before she moved to the nursing home, Winn lived on her own, doing her own laundry and walking around a track for exercise. She never learned to drive. Instead, she got rides or took a bus to the grocery store.

She liked bingo and sewing and loved to cook vegetables and stewed chicken. Said Hollins: "She didn't make much over modern things."

Winn was clear about what she liked.

"She was a disciplinarian," said Hollins. Right or wrong, it was her way."

A member of Avenue Baptist Church, Winn received visits from church members and was able to attend a service on August 29. The chuch will hold her funeral next Saturday.

She outlived many of her church friends.

"When each one passed I could see part of her leaving with them," said Hollins, whose grandmother was Winn's sister.

In time, Winn came to enjoy the attention paid to her age.

But she remained even-keeled, said Hollins, recalling what her great-aunt would say.

"I'm just going to stay here until he's ready for me."

The oldest known African-American is now Mamie Rearden of Edgefield, South Carolina, who is 112.

The world's oldest known living person is Eunice Sanborn, 114, of Jacksonville, Texas, according to Young.

47 dead from flooding in the Philippines; 1.5 million affected

By the CNN Wire Staff

January 16, 2011 -- Updated 1255 GMT (2055 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Dozens die from drowning, landslides or electrocution
• Disaster agency: 25 provinces are affected
• Thousands of homes are damaged or destroyed

(CNN) -- The death toll from flooding in the Philippines has climbed to 47, the country's national disaster agency said Sunday.

Parts of the Philippines have been dealing with the effects of heavy rainfall for weeks. A monsoon triggered rains, flooding and landslides affecting 25 provinces, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a statement.

More than 1.5 million people have been affected, the disaster agency said. Among 10 impacted regions, Caraga -- on the eastern island of Mindanao -- has the greatest number of people affected at more than 600,000.

Many of the 47 fatalities -- ranging from ages 1 to 80 -- died from drowning, landslides or electrocution, according to the disaster agency. At least four people remained missing Sunday.

In addition, 503 homes have been destroyed, and 1,914 have been damaged, the agency said.

An aircraft carrying a medical team and emergency medical supplies was scheduled to land in Siruma, Camarines Sur, on Sunday "to address the life-threatening condition" of about 450 households affected by diarrhea, the disaster agency said.

Tunisia works to form new government amid tension

From Rima Maktabi, CNN

January 16, 2011 -- Updated 1328 GMT (2128 HKT)

If you're in Tunisia, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and video with CNN. Please don't do anything that could put you at risk.

For full coverage of events in Arabic, head for CNN.com Arabic

Tunis, Tunisia (CNN) -- Tunisian officials scrambled to form new leadership Sunday as military tanks patrolled the streets days after enraged protesters ousted the nation's authoritarian leader.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi was meeting with opposition leaders, who want a major role in the unity government, Mustapha Ben Jafar, top opposition official, told CNN.

A unity government may be announced Sunday or Monday, Jafar said, who added that the opposition does not want to be a cover-up for the ruling party, but is aiming for an active role in running Tunisia.

"The most important thing for me is to build during this period the basis for a democratic Tunis where all the citizens participate and where we can build a civic society -- this I what I spent 40 years of my life working for," Jafar said.

As officials met in the capital, Tunis, police arrested more people, including looters and some of the deposed president's relatives.

Imed Trabelsi, the nephew of the ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was detained along with 23 other relatives, state-run Tunis TV reported.

The head of Ben Ali's security was also arrested, according to Tunis TV.

Tunisians have been protesting for days over what they consider poor living conditions, high unemployment, government corruption and repression.

Citizens called for the ouster of Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday after ruling the country for 23 years.

The wave of rallies was stirred by the suicide of an unemployed college graduate, who torched himself last month after police confiscated his fruit cart, cutting off his source of income.

Tensions remained high Sunday as Tunisians armed with sticks and knives formed groups to guard their neighborhoods. They stopped suspicious cars near their homes, saying security forces did not have the manpower to guard the suburbs.

A French photojournalist was killed in Tunis Sunday morning, according to his uncle, who said Lucas Mebrouk Dolega "was dedicated to his career and he was always very brave."

"He was at the heart of major events happening around the world," Hamid Lhorri told CNN, though he did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding his nephew's death.

Despite the instability, there was a glimmer of good news.

Tunisians experienced newfound freedoms online as the acting president, Fouad Mebazaa, took over Saturday. The former parliamentary speaker promised to restore stability and respect the constitution of the north African country, words echoed by the opposition's Jafar.

"We will be loyal to this noble people and youth that put fear aside and went down to the streets asking for reforms we have been asking the government for during the past 20 years since Ben Ali assumed power," Jafar said.

Filters on social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube, put in place under Ben Ali, were dropped.

Internet speed picked up considerably -- a development that followed the new government's vow to ease restrictions on freedoms.

Some top regional officials remained wary as protests swept over the nation, with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi saying he was "sad and hurt" by the developments. He blamed the unrest on criminal gangs.

"Sadly, Tunisia is headed to more chaos, and we do not know how it will end," he said. "I hope your sanity returns and your wounds heal, because you had a big loss that will never return."

Tunisian state TV reported that officials plan to hold presidential elections in 60 days.

The pro-Western nation supports U.S. policy in the Middle East and its efforts against terrorism. President Barack Obama has condemned the use of force on protesters and called for free and fair elections.

CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

How a fruit seller caused revolution in Tunisia

From the CNN Arabic staff

January 16, 2011 -- Updated 1324 GMT (2124 HKT)

Former Tunisian President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali (second left) visits Mohamed Al Bouazzizi (right) at the hospital in Ben Arous near Tunis on December 28, 2010. Source: Handout from Tunisian Presidency of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Al Bouazizi was a poor 26-year old Tunisian who could not find a job
• His attempt to overcome his poverty was halted by a police officer
• On December 17 last year Al Bouazizi set himself on fire
• Al Bouazizi died of his injuries on January 4

If you're in Tunisia, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and video with CNN. Please don't do anything that could put you at risk.

(CNN) -- One figure has played a pivotal role in the tumultuous events that have swept through Tunisia during the past few weeks, resulting in the fall this weekend of President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali and his regime after 24 years.

But Muhammad Al Bouazizi did not live to see the historic outcome of which he was a key part.

Al Bouazizi was a poor 26-year old Tunisian who could not find a job after finishing college. He refused to join the "army of unemployed youth," as it has become known in Tunisia, and instead started a small business as a street vendor, selling vegetables to support his family.

His attempt to overcome his poverty in the streets of Sidi Bouzid, central Tunisia, was halted by a police officer who seized his goods, claiming that Al Bouazizi was working without the necessary legal permit.

The exact reasons behind Al Bouazizi's subsequent outrage are not clear. Some observers allege that the police officer slapped him across his face; others that Al Bouazizi tried to complain at a center for unemployed graduates -- but that no one listened to him and he heard only laughter and insults.

Whatever his intentions, Muhammad Al Bouazizi's actions changed Tunisian history.

On December 17 last year Al Bouazizi set himself on fire in front of a government building. He remained in hospital for 18 days, fighting severe burns over his entire body. At one point he was visited in hospital by President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali and a photo was released of the meeting by the presidency.

Khadija Cherif, who works for the Paris-based group Federation of Human Rights Leagues, said he was a "symbol for all the young college graduates who were unemployed, and Bouazizi was a sort of catalyst for the violent demonstrations which followed in the Sidi Bouzid region."

Rioting followed not only in Sidi Bouzid -- a traditional stronghold for opposition against authoritarianism in Tunisia -- but across the country as young and unemployed Tunisians took to the streets to protest against living conditions and the economy.

Al Bouazizi died of his injuries on January 4: 10 days later Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled with his family to Saudi Arabia.

Each year thousands of young men and women from north Africa try to enter Europe illegally, looking for a better life.

They call themselves "harraka" -- which translates as "the burners" -- because the first thing they do when they reach Europe is to set fire to their passports and documents to avoid being sent back home.

Many in Tunisia now see Al Bouazizi as a "harraka" -- but in his own way.

More stories at CNN Arabic

-- Mustafa Al-Arab of CNN Arabic and Nick Hunt contributed to this story

Pakistan lacks sound security strategy: think tank

By Michael Georgy

ISLAMABAD | Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:08am EST

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan gained ground against militant violence in 2010, but urban "terrorism" is a growing threat and military success will not bring stability unless a comprehensive strategy is developed, a think tank said.

A report from the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) to be released on Monday says the number of incidents of "violence and terrorism" in Pakistan fell by 11 percent in 2010 compared with the previous year.

The number of suicide attacks fell by 22 percent to 68 in 2010, compared with 87 in 2009, PIPS said.

But the nuclear-armed South Asian country has yet to come up with a sound, long-term strategy to tackle militancy, PIPS said. A total of 2,113 militant, insurgent and sectarian attacks were reported across the country in 2010, killing 2,913 people, it said.

The United States has been waging war against Taliban militants in Afghanistan for nearly 10 years, but many Western nations think neighboring Pakistan poses a bigger threat.

Pakistan's lawless Pashtun tribal areas in the northwest are home to some of the world's most feared militant groups, including ones who attack Western forces in Afghanistan.

Military campaigns are draining the U.S.-backed government's coffers, while public discontent is deepening over poverty and corruption, complicating efforts to stabilize the country.

"Better coordination among intelligence agencies, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, curbs on terrorism financing, and most importantly, adequate measures to prevent banned militant groups from operating across the country remained persistently lacking," PIPS said in its annual Pakistan security report.

Pakistan's military has launched a series of anti-Taliban offensives in the militant-infested northwest that have disrupted their activities. A sharp rise in U.S. drone strikes also contributed to the decrease in militant attacks, PIPS said.

Still, sustainable security remains elusive because of the "less than impressive performance of a weak political administration beset by chronic challenges of poor governance," said PIPS.

Security crackdowns have focused on the northwest but instability in Pakistan's biggest city and commercial capital Karachi is a growing concern. Aside from political, ethnic and gang violence, authorities there are confronted with a growing nexus of militant groups who have found safe havens there.

As many as 93 militant attacks which killed 233 people were reported in 2010, PIPS said. In one high-profile attack in November, a Taliban suicide car bombing demolished a crime investigation department compound where senior militants were interrogated. At least 18 people were killed and 100 wounded.

Overall violence in Karachi spiked by 288 percent, PIPS said.

(Editing by Chris Allbritton)

Afghanistan condemns Iran fuel blockade amid protests

By Hamid Shalizi

KABUL | Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:11am EST

KABUL Jan 16 (Reuters) - Afghan fuel protesters targeted an Iranian diplomatic mission for a second day on Sunday, as the commerce minister said Tehran had not given any reason for an export clampdown that is choking Afghan oil supplies.

Around 300 people took to the streets in western Herat city, armed with stones and eggs, and marched to the Iranian consulate carrying banners with slogans including "Death to Iran".

At a border crossing barely 100 km (62 miles) away nearly 2,000 fuel trunks are waiting. Only 40 are allowed to leave Iran each day, said Afghan Commerce Minister Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi.

"The stoppage of fuel tankers has created great problems and a crisis for us in terms of fuel supply," Ahadi said, adding that around 40 percent of the landlocked country's fuel usually comes from Iran. Afghanistan is suffering after several weeks cut off from a major supply route.

"The Iranian authorities have assured us the issue is being solved but unfortunately the crisis is where it was," Ahadi told a news conference in the capital Kabul.

Fuel prices have gone up around the country, in some areas by as much as 35 percent, the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries said earlier this week. Provinces bordering Iran have seen the most dramatic increase.

Kabul has asked Kazakhstan to sell Afghanistan some 200,000 tons of fuel immediately, and private sector deals have been made with a Russian oil firm , Ahadi said.

"We are unhappy about the progress of our negotiation with Iranian authorities in regard to tackling the crisis," he said.

"We have not yet heard any convincing justifications from Iranian authorities (for the blockage)."

Iran has rejected Afghan criticism, saying the slowdown was due to "technical problems" related to the reduction of Iranian fuel subsidies and that the issue was now being solved.

Demonstrations earlier in the week in Kabul about both fuel prices and the deaths of Afghans in Iran prompted Tehran to call in the Afghan ambassador in protest.

The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries said it was told by Iranian officials the tankers were delayed because Tehran believed the fuel was destined for U.S. and NATO forces, which are fighting a resilient insurgency in Afghanistan.

Ahadi also said he thought worries the oil was reaching international forces could be the reason for the blockade.

A spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said their fuel came from other routes.

"ISAF and NATO do not receive any fuel shipments through Iran, so operationally the blockade does not impact ISAF," said spokeswoman Major Sunset Belinsky.

(Additional reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul and Sharafuddin Sharafyar in Herat; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)