national basketball association commissioner david stern suspended gilbert
arenas indefinitely wednesday saying the washington wizards playmaker is not
currently fit to take the court
arenas ran afoul of nba rules when he brought guns to the wizards arena and he
has provoked further ire by his apparently lighthearted response to the
controversy
he said he was storing unloaded weapons in container in his locker to keep
them away from his children at home but arenas and the league were engulfed in
controversy when the new york post reported arenas and teammate had drawn guns
on each other in december incident
arenas has insisted that account was overblown but the incident remains under
investigation by law enforcement authorities
stern said in statement that arenas actions will ultimately result in
substantial suspension and perhaps worse
the possession of firearms by an nba player in an nba arena is matter of the
utmost concern to us stern said
the commissioner said he first planned to refrain from taking action because of
the pending criminal investigation which includes grand jury sitting in the
district of columbia
but stern indicated that arenas behavior had prompted him to take immediate
action
wizards played tuesday night in philadelphia and before that game he was
photographed surrounded by teammates smiling and pointing his index fingers at
them as if they were guns
although it is clear that the actions of mr arenas will ultimately result in
substantial suspension and perhaps worse his ongoing conduct has led me to
conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an nba game stern
said accordingly am suspending mr arenas indefinitely without pay
effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the nba
arenas who turned on wednesday is slated to make million dollars this
season
the wizards voiced support for stern decision
strictly legal issues aside gilbert recent behavior and statements
including his actions and statements last night in philadelphia are
unacceptable said statement attributed to president ernie grunfeld and the
pollin family who own the team
some of our other players appeared to find gilbert behavior in philadelphia
amusing this is also unacceptable under abe pollin leadership our
organization never tolerated such behavior and we have no intention of ever
doing so
late owner abe pollin changed the team name from the bullets because of the
violent connotation
olympics usoc names blackmun chief executive
colorado springs colorado jan afp
the us olympic committee tabbed scott blackmun prominent sports executive and
former usoc leader as chief executive officer on wednesday
blackmun returns to the usoc where he previously spent three years including
serving as acting chief executive officer from november october
he first joined the usoc in september as general counsel and director of
legal affairs and in he moved into the role of senior managing director
where he was responsible for sport operations and resource allocation to ngbs
and athletes
we are pleased to introduce scott as our new ceo and to welcome him back to the
usoc usoc chairman larry probst said with deep understanding of the
olympic movement established relationships in the olympic family and strong
commitment to the community of colorado springs we know he will move seamlessly
into the role and be ready to represent the usoc as we head into the vancouver
olympic and paralympic winter games
nine person board with guidance from nine person search committee led by
usoc board member bob bowlsby and spencer stuart consultant jed hughes chose
blackmun over chuck wielgus the executive director of usa swimming
blackmun will take over on january from acting ceo stephanie streeter
streeter had announced in october she was stepping down five days after
chicago bid to host the olympics ended in defeat
am thrilled to be returning to the usoc and to be part of an organization
and movement am so passionate about blackmun said am ready to make
long term commitment to the success of this organization and america
athletes and to supporting the growth of the olympic movement worldwide
trial security to cost million dollars year mayor
new york jan afp
security for the upcoming trial in new york of suspects in the attacks will
cost more than million dollars year mayor michael bloomberg said
wednesday
giving the first estimate of the price tag for securing the highly sensitive
trial of khalid sheikh mohammed and four co defendants bloomberg said the city
would need federal assistance
we estimate the cost for security operations will be approximately million
dollars for the first year and million dollars annually in subsequent
years bloomberg wrote in letter to the director of the federal office of
management and budget in washington
bloomberg wrote that federal assistance was needed because new york financial
resources are in short supply and we have been forced to reduce our police
department headcount
as was an attack on the entire nation we need the federal government to
shoulder the significant costs we will incur and ease this burden
by comparison he wrote the republican party convention held in new york
lasted week and cost million dollars for security
for the suspects the security arrangements for the incarceration and
trial periods will need to be in place around the clock over period of years
prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for mohammed the self
proclaimed mastermind of the september attacks against the world trade
center in new york and the pentagon outside washington
president barack obama and his attorney general eric holder have made bringing
him from guantanamo bay to civilian trial centerpiece of broader plan to
end what they see as serious abuses of law under the previous administration of
george bush
opponents to the move some citing security fears say terrorism suspects
should remain in the controversial guantanamo prison and be tried in military
courts
last minute deal to save saab unlikely gm chief
chicago jan afp
last minute deal to save swedish carmaker saab from being shut down is
unlikely the head of general motors said wednesday
gm extended deadline to consider offers for saab last month after dutch sports
car maker spyker approached the us automaker with last ditch proposal
but gm chairman and chief executive officer ed whitacre told reporters that he
was not confident deal could be made given what happening here and the
speed with which it moving
it real easy just show up with the money and you can have it whitacre
said but nobody shown up with the money so we re in wind down mode here
spyker efforts to purchase saab came after interest from swedish luxury sports
car maker koenigsegg which withdrew its bid for saab in november citing costly
delays in the transaction
but whitacre dismissed critics who said gm was giving up too easily on the
historic swedish brand don think we could do any more than we ve done
think we ve done everything possible
the swedish government has repeatedly said it will not bail out the
trollhaettan based company which directly employs around people but
would help workers re skill
analysts have warned that some jobs could be lost with saab closure
saab which has barely turned profit in two decades under gm management was
due to resume production on january after four week shutdown as part of
plans to close the plant
saab closure would be just the latest upheaval in sweden once blooming auto
industry
in december us auto giant ford agreed to sell its swedish brand volvo cars to
chinese car maker geely
ford said the geely deal would provide volvo which employs people
worldwide with the resources to further strengthen the business and build its
global franchise
saab is one of four storied brands that gm is shedding as part of massive
restructuring effort that began in and accelerated last year when the
largest us automaker went bankrupt
whitacre said the sale of the hulking hummer brand to china heavy machinery
equipment maker tengzhong is proceeding as it should proceed
sale of gm saturn brand fell through earlier last year and gm also decided
to eliminate pontiac
whitacre told reporters that gm is focused on achieving long term profitability
repaying its debt to the us government which holds percent stake in gm
and launching an initial public stock offering
we re in busines to make profit we re in business to repay taxpayers he
said
when asked if gm will be able to make profit in whitacre said my
prediction is we will be
do we have obstacles on our way of course we do he said
but think we have good enough management team hopefully the economy will
keep improving
whitacre said gm does not feel pressured to launch stock offering this year
but did not rule it out as possibility
things have to be right before we do it he said we have to get everything
set up
whitacre said he hopes that gm tarnished image will get boost at the detroit
auto show which begins next week and will showcase the automaker futuristic
new lineup
dollar wavers as fed evokes possible new stimulus move
new york jan afp
the dollar sputtered wednesday as federal reserve minutes showed the us central
bank was looking at the possibility of expanding stimulus efforts dampening
expectations for tighter monetary policy
the euro firmed to dollars at gmt from dollars on tuesday
but the us unit rose to yen from yen after japan announced the
appointment of new finance minister
the dollar turned decidedly lower after the release of minutes from last month
federal open market committee the policymaking arm of the us central bank
terri belkas at forex capital markets said traders focused on the minutes that
showed few members said more stimulus might become desirable beyond the
first quarter especially if the economic outlook weakens or if there is
deterioration in the functioning of the mortgage market
this news served to quell speculation that the end of the fed liquidity
programs in the near term is sure thing and that rate hikes are on the way
belkas said
markets have been looking closely to see when the fed and other central banks
may start draining some of the massive amounts of liquidity made available to
tame the recession
one additional piece of the puzzle will come with us employment data due friday
with some hoping it will show the first job creation after more than seven
million positions were lost in the past two years
strong jobs report would bolster the dollar as it would increase speculation
that the federal reserve might hike interest rates sooner than expected from
their current record lows
survey by payrolls firm adp did little to change the outlook the survey
showed the nonfarm private sector shed jobs in december decline of
percent from the prior month and the smallest drop since march
the price action of the us dollar suggests that traders are banking on positive
job growth said kathy lien at global forex trading
this optimistic sentiment is not necessarily misplaced considering that this
morning leading indicators for nonfarm payrolls all point to further
improvement in the labor market
the consensus forecast of private economists for us payrolls is loss of
jobs in december but few analysts have said they expect the labor market to
turn positive for the first time in two years
news that japanese prime minister yukio hatoyama picked his deputy naoto kan as
finance minister replacing year old hirohisa fujii who is stepping down for
health reasons helped the dollar against the yen but had little apparent wider
impact dealers said
as regards japan change in personnel will have little impact on the yen but
evidence of internal disagreement on fiscal policy could well become yen
negative factor said derek halpenny bank of tokyo mitsubishi
the euro recovered after falling as low as dollars earlier wednesday
after the european union indicated that it would not come to the rescue of
greece
greece struggling with double digit public deficit cannot expect the
european union to save it the european central bank chief economist said in
an interview
greece problems are decidedly greek as prime minister george papandreou has
himself admitted juergen stark told the italian financial daily il sole
ore
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs after
tuesday
the pound was at dollars after on tuesday
rallying dakar rally results
antofagasta chile jan afp
dakar rally results on wednesday in the km special fifth stage from copiapo
to antofagasta
cars
mark miller usa volkswagen hr min sec carlos sainz
esp volkswagen at nasser al attiyah qat volkswagen robby
gordon usa hummer mauricio neves bra volkswagen guerlain
chicherit fra bmw orlando terranova arg stradale carlos
sousa por stradale krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan
leonid novitskiy rus bmw
overall standings
carlos sainz esp volkswagen hr min sec nasser al attiyah
qat volkswagen at mark miller usa volkswagen robby gordon
usa hummer carlos sousa por stradale hr min sec krzysztof
holowczyc pol nissan mauricio neves bra volkswagen
guerlain chicherit fra bmw guilherme spinelli bra stradale
stephane peterhansel fra bmw
motorbikes
francisco lopez chi aprilia hr min sec cyril despres fra ktm at
david fretigne fra yamaha ruben faria por ktm
pal ullevalseter nor ktm helder rodrigues por yamaha
paulo goncalves por bmw alain duclos fra ktm jakub
przygonski pol ktm olivier pain fra yamaha
overall standings
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec francisco lopez chi aprilia at
sec helder rodrigues por yamaha alain
duclos fra ktm pal ullevalseter nor ktm jonah
street usa ktm marc coma esp ktm paulo
goncalves por bmw luca manca ita ktm juan
pedrero garcia esp ktm
wall street stocks flatline as job concerns weigh
new york jan afp
wall street stocks ended little changed wednesday as the market digested
disappointing report on private sector jobs and federal reserve minutes showing
concern about high unemployment
the dow jones industrial average gained mere points percent to
close at barely ending in positive territory after weak opening
the technology heavy nasdaq composite fell points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
point percent to finish at
stocks treaded water on wall street today economic reports failed to provide
boost and minutes from the december federal reserve meeting revealed division
among policymakers on the need for further stimulus said al goldman chief
market strategist at wells fargo advisors
the market had batch of economic news to weigh beginning with payrolls firm
adp report before the opening bell that showed the nonfarm private sector shed
jobs in december the smallest drop since march
most analysts had expected job losses for the key private sector report
ahead of the labor department nonfarm jobs data release friday which includes
government workers
the labor department is expected to report nonfarm payrolls fell by
after shedding in november and the unemployment rate holding at
percent
the institute of supply management said its latest survey of the services sector
found return to growth in december just barely though jobs were still being
lost
minutes from the federal open market committee december policy setting
showed members expressed concern that unemployment would remain elevated for
quite some time and limit economic growth
overall the discussion points to an fomc still mainly concerned about weakness
in growth said dean maki at barclays capital
among stocks in focus monsanto vaulted percent to dollars after
reporting fiscal first quarter loss amid falling sales in herbicide roundup
and corn and soybean seeds
the tech sector weakened ahead of the mega consumer electronics show in las
vegas that opens thursday
google dropped percent to dollars after unveiling tuesday its new
nexus one smartphone and launching an online store to sell it
apple maker of the popular iphone fell percent to dollars
boeing soared percent to dollars the aerospace giant announced an
order from the united arab emirates for six military airlifters at an
undisclosed price
exxonmobil edged up percent to dollars the oil major and state owned
qatar petroleum announced they would jointly develop petrochemical complex on
the industrial site of ras laffan the financial terms were not disclosed
kraft foods rose percent to dollars after european union competition
regulators cleared kraft foods hostile bid to buy british confectioner
cadbury
hershey slipped percent to dollars the online wall street journal
reported cadbury board members were in talks with hershey board members to
encourage rival offer
bonds pulled back the yield on the year treasury bond climbed to
percent from percent tuesday while that on the year bond rose to
percent from percent bond yields and prices move in opposite directions
ny opera to star in planetarium production
new york jan afp
new york opera will have few more stars this month when it performs at the
planetarium in new york museum of natural history
the gotham chamber opera will stage joseph haydn work il mondo della luna
the world on the moon starting january in the rose center for earth and
space part of the famous museum off central park in manhattan
spokeswoman for the museum ellen evaristo said it was probably the first
time an opera has been performed in planetarium
opera goers and space buffs will get an out of the world experience evaristo
said promising live opera and stargazing using the degree dome with
projections courtesy of nasa
by coincidence the planetarium is named after charles hayden not composer
but us financier century ago
schwarzenegger urges tax reform for california
los angeles jan afp
governor arnold schwarzenegger called for reform of california tax and budget
system wednesday saying sweeping changes were necessary to break the state
endless cycle of fiscal problems
addressing california lawmakers in his final state of the state address before
leaving office schwarzenegger said he would push for the adoption of recent
recommendations put forward by the state tax reform commission
the commission has recommended reducing personal income tax across all income
groups eliminating state sales tax changing business tax and strengthening
rainy day fund
schwarzenegger said the overhaul was needed to combat the kind of multi billion
dollar budget deficits which have paralyzed his second term in office since his
re election
the basic problem is that our tax system does not reflect our economy
schwarzenegger said our economy is diverse whereas our tax system is not
taxpayers pay almost percent of all personal income taxes
think about it million californians have to rely on people for
their schools their fire protection their health care their public safety and
many other services that makes no sense
schwarzenegger dismissed criticism of the tax reform proposals as too hard to
implement if had hesitated to attempt something because it was too hard
still be yodeling in austria the former bodybuilder turned actor said
we must begin work on these tax reforms because we simply cannot wait for the
rich to bounce back he added noting that state revenues were not expected to
recover to pre recession levels until or
schwarzenegger also urged lawmakers to adopt proposals to california budget
drafted by the reform group california forward
california has projected budget deficit of nearly billion dollars for the
current year last year the state was forced to close billion dollar gap
in the state finances with brutal cuts to services such as education and
health care attracting howls of protest
the budget crisis is our katrina schwarzenegger said we knew it was coming
we ve known it for years and yet sacramento would not reinforce the economic
levees
california constitution requires two thirds majority to pass budget or raise
taxes the state is only one of three to require such margin
california forward has recommended lowering the vote requirement for adopting
state budget to simple majority vote of the legislature
us cuba tensions sharpen as obama honeymoon ends
havana jan afp
us cuba tensions are on the rise over us decision to include cuba in strict
aviation security checks imposed after foiled al qaeda airline bomb plot
ending president barack obama fleeting honeymoon in havana
the cuban foreign ministry on tuesday called in the top us diplomat in havana
jonathan farrar head of the us interests section to lodge protest over being
included in list of countries requiring special scrutiny at airports
we categorically reject this new hostile action by the us government which
stems from the unfair inclusion of cuba on the state departmemt list of state
sponsors of terrorism ministry statement said
the list is politically motivated and its only goal is to justify the policy of
economic embargo against cuba that the international community is united in
rejecting the statement added
the us state department claims that cuba gives safe haven to terrorists
including members of the basque separatist group eta leftist colombian rebels
the national liberation army eln and revolutionary armed forces of colombia
farc
cuba communist party newspaper granma said the us measures were tantamount
to antiterrorist paranoia
the us transportation security administration tsa said the new measures would
include random enhanced checks on all international passengers flying into us
airports as well as compulsory stricter screenings of those coming from or via
countries all but cuba are muslim majority nations
besides cuba the countries targeted by the new measures include iran sudan and
syria all us designated state sponsors of terrorism they also apply to
passengers traveling from or via afghanistan algeria iraq lebanon libya
pakistan saudi arabia somalia yemen and nigeria
there are no regular flights between cuba and the united states but four daily
charter flights connect havana with three us cities including miami where more
than one million cuban exiles and immigrants reside
the charter flights were increased to eight per day in late december after
obama earlier lifted some travel and remittance restrictions to cuba
washington broke off diplomatic relations with cuba in and imposed
comprehensive economic sanctions on the communist island
both governments recently resumed negotiations on migration and postal exchange
issues but efforts to end the boycott are stymied by us insistence that cuba
should change its policies while havana suggests the united states do the same
spinal pain puts walesa trip to peru on hold
warsaw jan afp
lech walesa has postponed planned visit to peru this weekend due to ill
health close collaborator of the nobel peace prize winner and former
president of poland said on wednesday
walesa is suffering spinal pains resulting from tumble that he took
during ceremony marking the th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall
said piotr gulczynski head of the lech walesa institute
he nevertheless is hoping to make the journey to peru where he was invited by
university in april said gulczynski quoted by poland domestic pap news
agency
walesa leader of the solidarity trade union that spurred the demise of
communism in poland in the was seen falling when he was hit by
television camera operator trolley when the first of series of dominoes fell
during the berlin ceremony on november
he has been suffering back problems ever since gulczynski said
football beckham back in groove but inter still motoring
rome jan afp
david beckham began his second loan spell with ac milan on wednesday in style as
the rossoneri came from behind to beat genoa and leapfrog juventus into
second place in serie
beckham who scored in the same fixture last season after being loaned out from
la galaxy looked hungry for action as he earned starting place with fellow
midfield veteran clarence seedorf out through injury
the three points took ac milan onto points from games eight behind
reigning champions inter who returned from their winter break with win
over chievo to maintain their eight point lead though beckham and company have
game in hand
jose mourinho inter were deprived of number of midfield stars handing
rare start to wantaway french midfielder patrick vieira reportedly bound for
manchester city
but they still took the points courtesy of th minute goal on the counter
attack from striker mario balotelli
it was not all good news for inter as their romanian international defender
cristian chivu fractured his skull in clash of heads in the th minute while
balotelli was subjected to racist abuse
balotelli born in palermo but of ghanaian heritage is regularly subjected to
such insults but this time spoke out
every time come to verona realise that the supporters disgust me more and
more it completely unacceptable balotelli told sky sports
juventus are third point behind ac milan having played game more after
winning at parma
midfielder hasan salihamidzic scored after just three minutes and an own goal
had them up by the break
the old lady hung on for the three points despite having on loan defender
martin caceres sent off in the second half
juventus suffered an injury worry as french striker david trezeguet went off
with an apparent sprained ankle after being tackled by parma veteran defender
christian panucci in the th minute
with inter streaking clear the onus was on milan and the returning beckham
to show their steel and after false start they did just that once they had
recovered from giuseppe sculli shock opener stooping header past flat
footed defence after minutes
ten minutes earlier milan should have been ahead after giuseppe biava fouled
massimo ambrosini but ronaldinho placed his kick too close to marco amelia
but the keeper then fouled ambrosini for another spotkick
this time ronaldinho drilled the ball low inside the opposite corner as amelia
guessed wrong in going the same way as for the first kick
beckham then fired into the side netting as milan began belatedly to force the
pace
and the pressure told as thiago silva fired them ahead in the th minute after
amelia was only able to parry ambrosini initial vicious effort
two minutes after the restart it was ronaldinho sending through cute pass
to luca antonini and he teed up marco borriello to clip home from close range
borriello then added icing to the cake with spectacular overhead kick though
he appeared to have strayed marginally offside
klaas jan huntelaar thrashed home the fifth from yet another penalty after marco
rossi had brought down the marauding ronaldinho
david suazo fired in late consolation for genoa but that could not take the
gloss off an emphatic milanese win
napoli lie fourth on points after victory over atalanta while roma will
be kicking themselves after letting lead slip away at cagliari with the
home side scoring twice in time added on to force draw
roma are fifth on points
argentina bank chief refuses president demand to resign
buenos aires jan afp
argentina central bank chief refused to resign after president christina
kirchner demanded on wednesday that he step down in growing row over payments
of debt
martin redrado had declined to hand over billion dollars of argentina
foreign currency reserves to pay off national debt after the president ordered
him to do so three weeks ago
the standoff could lead to political crisis since redrado can only be fired
by decision from argentina lawmakers
kirchner announced the call for redrado resignation on her official website
early wednesday
they have asked him to step down he responded that he will not quit
central bank official said adding that the government would have to apply the
appropriate mechanism to remove redrado
according to the bank charter the government would have to turn to congress
to decide to remove sitting central bank president
however kirchner control over congress has weakened since mid term elections
last year
several hundred employees demonstrated wednesday outside the central bank in
support of their boss redrado will not leave read pamphlet handed out to
passersby
kirchner in december signed presidential decree ordering the transfer of
billion dollars from central bank reserves to new fund known as the
bicentennial fund to guarantee debt payments in and free up cash for other
spending
redrado had sought to investigate all the possible legal consequences of such
decision which was opposed by opposition lawmakers and which the supreme court
sought to clarify
kirchner said in december that she wanted to guarantee the debt payment in an
effort to help argentina end its isolation from global credit markets
international investors remain skittish after the south american nation
massive sovereign debt default
the prospective payment aimed to lower as much as possible the future potential
indebtedness of our country kirchner said
opposition lawmaker and redrado predecessor alfonso prat gay said
wednesday the central bank shouldn get instructions from the executive
branch adding that the bicentennial fund violates the central bank charter
redrado took control of the central bank in under the government of nestor
kirchner the husband of the current president and his mandate is due to expire
