live on the borneo island states and who mainly speak malay
arctic front chills central us
chicago jan afp
bitterly cold arctic front swept through the central united states thursday
bringing temperatures as low as minus degrees fahrenheit minus degrees
celsius
the national weather service nws said the winter snap which has gripped the
southern states this week will deposit snow and ice from texas and louisiana in
the south to the northern us border
in north dakota safety warnings were issued as strong winds were expected to
bring temperatures down to minus degrees fahrenheit
governor rick perry of texas state known for its relatively balmy winter
conditions directed the activation of state resources including military
personnel to help residents weather the cold front
an arctic system sweeping over texas communities will bring severe cold weather
and could create dangerous road conditions for drivers perry warned in
statement thursday
further north in kentucky transportation officials said highway crews had been
mobilized to battle snowstorm that is expected to leave extremely cold
temperatures in its wake
nws winter weather advisory warned temperatures would drop overnight to
degrees fahrenheit degrees celsius
forecasters said several inches of snow could fall over parts of the state with
heavier build up in parts due to strong winds and snow drifts
airports in the chicago area meanwhile already have canceled more than
flights aviation officials said in anticipation of the winter storm
british pm dismisses plot as storm in teacup
london jan afp
embattled british prime minister gordon brown dismissed as storm in teacup
thursday new plot questioning his leadership few months before general
election
in deeply embarrassing challenge to his already weakened authority former
ministers geoff hoon and patricia hewitt called wednesday for ballot of
governing labour party lawmakers on whether brown should remain their leader
but brown in his first comments on the plot said it not going to take up
much of my time and hasn certainly taken up much of my time
this is bit of storm in teacup we are actually dealing with real storms
at the moment he told bbc radio referring to bitterly cold temperatures and
snowfalls gripping the country
in their letter to all labour lawmakers hoon defence secretary when britain
joined the invasion of iraq in and former health secretary hewitt said
the party was deeply divided over whether brown should be leader
many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this
question is affecting our political performance they wrote
the letter gained early support from handful of persistent brown critics but
no major labour figure backed the move and hoon admitted late wednesday that it
had failed
brown who succeeded tony blair as prime minister in must face general
election by june at the latest his labour party has long been more than
points behind in polls against the main opposition conservatives
ministers rallied round brown on thursday after the failed leadership challenge
it is something we could have easily done without justice secretary jack
straw admitted but insisted think it will actually have the effect of
bringing people behind the leadership even more
in june last year brown fended off nascent leadership plot after several
government ministers quit in quick succession and one james purnell urged him
to step down
commentators agreed thursday that brown appeared to have seen off the latest
attempt to unseat him despite receiving only lukewarm public backing from
some of his key cabinet ministers
foreign secretary david miliband who reportedly considered standing against
brown in took seven hours to issue statement which failed to mention
brown by name commentators noted
the times newspaper described miliband statement as less than wholehearted
while the guardian daily said it was both later and less full throated than
anything offered by fellow cabinet members
the bbc reported wednesday that six cabinet ministers had been prepared to
support coup but straw among those named on thursday denounced the report
as sub standard journalism
miliband insisted no senior ministers were involved in the plot
we have got an election to fight gordon is leading us into it we are
determined to win it under his leadership and am looking forward to getting
stuck into it he told sky news television
scottish secretary jim murphy also one of those named by the bbc dismissed
claims he was involved in the plot as utter rubbish
it was ludicrous thing to do and the response from the vast majority of
labour mps has confirmed that view he wrote on his blog
the timing of the row could hardly be worse for brown he and conservative
leader david cameron effectively started election campaigning this week after
the christmas break even though ballots are not expected until may
cameron said the fresh labour infighting showed the government was deeply
divided
we cannot go on like this we ve got to have an election and change of
government he said adding if ever there was time when our country needed
strong leadership and united government it is today
chad sets election dates
ndjamena jan afp
long delayed parliamentary elections in chad will be held in november this year
with presidential vote scheduled for the country electoral authority
said thursday
an election census would be conducted between march and may the president
of the independent national election commission ngarmadjal gami told
reporters
the legislative elections are to be held in november and the first round of
the presidential election on april he said
chadians last elected their parliament in with vote due in scrapped
by agreement between the government and the opposition to prolong the terms of
the deputies
the previous presidential vote was in and won by president idriss deby who
came to power in coup in
the history of the central african country has been marked by political violence
and instability
airline plot buck stops with me obama
washington jan afp
us president barack obama declared thursday the buck stops with me over huge
intelligence flaws exposed by an al qaeda attack on us jet and vowed sweeping
and costly new measures to fix them
obama speaking before the publication of two first probes into the thwarted
christmas day bombing blamed us spy agencies for failing to properly connect
and analyze signs an al qaeda affiliate in yemen was planning the attack
but trying to temper criticism that his administration is too soft on terror
he said the united states was at war with al qaeda while promising that
terrorists would not be able to redefine the american way of life
am less interested in passing out blame than am in learning from and
correcting these mistakes to make us safer obama said in televised statement
in the state dining room of the white house
ultimately the buck stops with me as president have solemn responsibility
to protect our nation and our people and when the system fails it is my
responsibility
obama also signaled that despite gathering political witch hunt in washington
there would not be immediate firings or resignations among top spy chiefs over
the attempt to bring down the northwest jet on christmas day
it appears that this incident was not the fault of single individual or
organization but rather systemic failure across organizations and agencies
he said
obama said the us homeland security system and intelligence community broke down
in three main ways allowing year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab to
board jet bound for detroit with hidden explosives
he said that us spies failed to aggressively combat the al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula group that planned the attack then failed properly analyze
intelligence he also cited mistakes in the us terror watch list system
rather than failure to collect or share intelligence this was failure to
connect and understand the intelligence that we already had obama said
to remedy the failures obama directed that specific individuals or teams must
be assigned to follow up on intelligence leads to ensure accountability and
close attention to suspected threats
he said intelligence reports on threats to us security must now be handed around
the clandestine community more quickly and better analyzed and he vowed
improvements to watch listing procedures
though warning there were no silver bullets obama also vowed significant
investments in aviation security
we are at war obama said
we are at war against al qaeda far reaching network of violence and hatred
that attacked us on that killed nearly innocent people and that is
plotting to strike us again
we will do whatever it takes to defeat them
new details meanwhile began to emerge of the planning of the plot blamed by
the united states on al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in yemen
the arab country deputy prime minister for defense and security affairs rashad
al aleemi said abdulmutallab had met anwar al awlaqi us yemeni cleric also
linked to the fort hood massacre
the united states has accused awlaqi of terrorist links and said nidal hasan
the us military officer accused in the november military base shootings in texas
that killed people had also been in contact with the cleric
aleemi said abdulmutallab may also have been recruited by al qaeda while at
university in london
deepening the conundrum in widening front on the us anti terror fight aleemi
also warned that american military intervention in yemen could backfire and
strengthen jihadists
but the us military played down its role
yemen is sovereign government just like pakistan is we want to work with
government officials in ways that are helpful to them pentagon spokesman bryan
whitman said
nigeria smarting from us criticisms of its aviation security procedures
offered to provide washington investigators images of adbulmutallab going
through security checks at lagos airport on december before flying to
amsterdam
justice minister michael aondoaaka told reporters the images would prove that
security staff had done their job
nigeria has demanded it be removed from us aviation watchlist of countries
including iran iraq syria and afghanistan introduced after security review
ordered by obama
abdulmutallab was indicted on six counts wednesday by us grand jury for
attempted murder and trying to use weapon of mass destruction aboard us
plane and could face life imprisonment
us rejects cuba spy charges against american
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday rejected charges by havana that detained us
citizen working in cuba for development contractor is secret intelligence
agent
those charges are false state department spokesman pj crowley told reporters
this person is not associated with our intelligence services
the us company that employed the contractor development alternatives inc
dai also denied the espionage charges
the detained dai subcontractor was not working for any intelligence service
said company president james boomgard in statement
he called the detained american committed development professional with many
years of experience providing humanitarian and development assistance
worldwide
boomgard said the subcontractor had been employed by dai to work on us agency
for international development project to help cuba improve its ability to
communicate with its members across the island and overseas
his activities included the distribution of basic it equipment such as cell
phones and laptops designed to facilitate this communication the company
president said
the us and dai reactions came in response to statement in havana on wednesday
by ricardo alarcon speaker of cuba national assembly denouncing the american
as secret intelligence agent dispatched by the united states to aid in the
demise of the communist regime
the us citizen who remains unidentified was arrested december reportedly
while distributing cell phones laptops and other communications equipment
hugh grant sets marriage as new year resolution
madrid jan afp
getting hitched and having kids are among hugh grant new year resolutions
for the british film star said thursday in an interview with spanish
television
have some resolutions like losing some pounds also need to get married and
have children need new house he told the evening news broadcast of
private television telecinco
the year old actor in spain to promote his new movie did you hear about the
morgans his first film in more than two years added he was flirting with
two new projects
neither are romantic comedies one involves animals and the other involves
music just need to pluck up up the courage to to them he said
the bridget jones diary star has had string of companions including
elizabeth hurley and jemima khan but has never been married
earlier thursday grant joked during an interview with the online edition of
daily newspaper el mundo that he had changed from young loveable man full ot
hope and enthusiasm to an old alcoholic since he filmed rowing with the
wind in spain over two decades ago
last month he confessed he was drunk when bought painting by andy warhol
of elizabeth taylor at an auction for two million pounds he sold it six years
later for million pounds
fresh caution helps dollar ahead of us jobs data
new york jan afp
the dollar gained thursday as markets were unsettled by comments from japan
new finance minister that he wanted the yen to weaken and surprise move by
china to nudge rates higher
the euro fell to dollars at gmt from in new york late on
wednesday
the dollar jumped to yen from yen
traders flocked to the safe haven dollar in the wake of unsettling news from
around the world and ahead of friday us jobs data which will provide new
clues on the direction of the us economy
dealers said japanese finance minister naoto kan remarks were unusually frank
and marked distinct shift from his predecessor tolerance of stronger
currency
the comments suggest that the new japanese government is returning to weak
yen policy in contrast to comments from the new government last year said
michael malpede at easy forex
dealers said it was rare for minister to comment on specific currency levels
japan has not intervened in the currency market since march allowing the
yen to find its own level against the dollar but finance minister comments
on currencies can have big impact on trading
move by china to boost yields on some bonds was an effort to rein in recent
growth and record lending said any douglass at pnc bank
the market is concerned that this could slow the overall recovery and as
result the dollar was bought
douglass also cited news of currency interventions by indonesia singapore and
south korea to keep the dollar from falling
all three central banks were large dollar buyers and sellers of their own
currencies overnight in an attempt to stem some of the recent currency
strengthening that has hurt their heavily export dependent economies he said
dealers said the key issue remains the strength of the us recovery and the
timing of any hike in us interest rates which some have suggested could come
sooner than expected if recent positive data continues
with friday report on us payrolls and unemployment looming wide range of
forecasts is keeping the market guessing estimates range from loss of
jobs to gain of the consensus estimate calls for loss of
jobs
kathy lien at global forex trading said she expects the us economy to show job
growth for the first time in two years but that many market participants are
skeptical
therefore we expect to see an unusual amount of volatility following the
nonfarm payrolls release on friday since the bar is set high this month she
said
there was little reaction to the bank of england expected decision to leave
monetary policy on hold
the bank of england left its key interest rate at record low percent and
maintained radical credit easing plans as britain awaited data set to signal the
end of deep recession
britain is the last major economy officially in recession but data due later
this month is expected to show that the nation returned to growth in the fourth
quarter of last year
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs from
wednesday
the pound was at dollars after
us stocks mostly higher ahead of key jobs data
new york jan afp
wall street stocks ended mostly higher thursday as traders awaited us
unemployment and nonfarm payrolls data to test the strength of the recovery from
recession
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to close at
in second straight day of modest gains that brought the blue chip
index to its highest level since october
the technology heavy nasdaq composite dropped points percent to
while the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to
analysts said the market shook off weak start and moved higher on generally
better than expected sales results from us retailers but that gains were capped
by caution ahead of friday key report on us employment for december
the stock market appears to be marking time waiting for friday employment
report said fred dickson at da davidson amp co
the labor department data is expected to show nonfarm payrolls fell by
after shedding in november and the unemployment rate holding at
percent
the department reported thursday initial claims for unemployment benefits edged
up by an adjusted in the past week to while other claims data
showed modest improvement in the troubled labor market
today data is still headed in the right direction but the problem is that
these figures are not deemed anywhere near enough to considerably move the
needle in unemployment nor in jobs growth said jon ogg at wall street
financials were in the vanguard bank of america climbed percent to
dollars after positive credit suisse analyst comment the amp banking index
gained percent
retailers which initially got lift from better than expected december sales
numbers ended mixed macy added percent at dollars and discounter
target rose percent to dollars while saks plunged percent to
dollars
general electric led the dow gainers vaulting percent to dollars
after jpmorgan chase upgrade
boeing surged percent to dollars after reporting percent rise in
commercial aircraft deliveries in
amr the parent of american airlines climbed percent to dollars
the wall street journal reported amr raised its offer to invest in japan
airlines by million dollars to billion dollars stepping up its battle
with rival delta air lines to forge partnership with the struggling carrier
delta climbed percent to dollars
ford revved percent higher at dollars after announcing with its
chinese partners that sales rose record percent year on year in in
china the world largest automobile market
microsoft slid percent to dollars after chief executive steve ballmer
unveiled new tablet computer from hewlett packard in speech kicking off the
consumer electronics show in las vegas
bonds retreated the yield on the year treasury bond held steady increased to
percent from percent wednesday and that on the year bond rose to
percent from percent bond yields and prices move in opposite
directions
consultant in galleon probe pleads guilty
new york jan afp
former senior partner in the mckinsey amp co consulting firm pleaded guilty
thursday in new york to taking money for providing tips in the alleged galleon
hedge fund insider trading ring
anil kumar pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy and securities fraud
and said he had been paid large sums of money for the information on mckinsey
clients by galleon founder raj rajaratnam
from through kumar and rajaratnam who met in the while they
were both at the same business school conspired to engage in insider trading
statement from the prosecutor office said
kumar received amounts ranging up to one million dollars in certain years the
statement said specifically in rajaratnam approached kumar and offered
to pay him up to dollars per year for information
after kumar provided this information to rajaratnam rajaratnam directed
trading for the galleon technology funds on the basis of it and made at least
million dollars in illegal profits the prosecutor office said
us attorney preet bharara said kumar was cooperating with the government probe
into galleon
with his guilty plea today anil kumar acknowledged his role in massive
insider trading conspiracy which was essentially get rich quick scheme for
the already wealthy bharara said
rajaratnam was indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges on december
nfl browns stick with mangini as coach
cleveland ohio jan afp
eric mangini will return for second season as coach of the cleveland browns
who finished the nfl season with four game winning streak after starting
woeful
newly installed team president mike holmgren made the decision on thursday and
mangini staff was asked to stay on also
holmgren said he and mangini who was sacked after last season by the new york
jets spent the past two days in meetings
was able to gain some tremendous insight into his thought process and
philosophies and came away from our meetings very impressed holmgren said in
statement
in my opinion eric has gained the respect and admiration of players coaches
and others in the organization and with him continuing to lead the team feel
that we are headed in the right direction
working together our goal is to build on the strong tradition of this
franchise and help get the browns back to the playoffs
during his introductory news conference tuesday holmgren said that mangini had
real chance of keeping his job his talks with mangini apparently made up his
mind
want to thank mike for the opportunity to not only meet with him and share my
thoughts and vision on what it takes to lead team but also to continue what
we started here mangini said
israel un reach tentative gaza compensation deal
united nations jan afp
israel and the united nations have reached tentative accord on terms of
compensation deal for damage caused to un facilities during the jewish state
military offensive in the gaza strip year ago un spokesman said thursday
martin nesirky said talks between the two sides are at very advanced stage and
that an agreement was reached in principle on the terms of an arrangement under
which israel would make payment to the un
we anticipate receiving that green light from israel imminently when that
given an agreement will be formalized and payment will be made he added
according to the bbc website israel is to pay million dollars in
compensation which will mark the first time the jewish state has paid for the
damage caused during its gaza offensive which was launched december
more than palestinians and israelis were killed during the three week
assault which israel said was aimed at halting palestinian rocket fire from the
coastal enclave where the islamist hamas movement seized power in june
in one of the most controversial events involving un buildings drone missile
struck school run by the world body on january killing three young
men from the same family
the buck stops with me in plane plot obama
washington jan afp
us president barack obama said thursday that systemic failures among
intelligence agencies to detect christmas day plane plot were his
responsibility maintaining the buck stops with me
as he unveiled series of security reforms obama again criticized intelligence
services for failing to connect the dots and forewarn us officials earlier that
an attack was being planned
all of these agencies and their leaders are responsible for implementing these
reforms and all will be held accountable if they don obama said in brief
white house statement
but the president added am less interested in passing out blame than am in
learning from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer for ultimately the
buck stops with me
as president have solemn responsibility to protect our nation and our
people when the system fails it is my responsibility
nigerian national umar farouk abdulmutallab has been charged with attempted
murder and trying to use weapon of mass destruction on board northwest plane
carrying people from amsterdam to detroit
the attack was thwarted when explosives allegedly stitched into his underwear
failed to detonate as the plane approached detroit
col jkb jm
obama unveils reforms to boost us watchlists
washington jan afp
president barack obama thursday unveiled measures to strengthen us watchlists as
well as new steps to boost airport screening and bomb detection after the
botched christmas day plane attack
ordering an immediate effort to strengthen the criteria used to add
individuals to our terrorist watch list especially the no fly list obama said
in brief statement after reviewing probe into the thwarted bombing
we must do better in keeping dangerous people off airplanes while still
facilitating air travel he insisted
the us president added he had directed the department of homeland security to
take additional steps to boost airport screenings and security around the world
there should also be greater use of advanced explosive detection technologies
he said
now there is of course no foolproof solution as we develop new screening
technologies and procedures our adversaries will seek new ways to abate them as
was shown by the christmas attack obama said
in the never ending race to protect our country we have to stay one step ahead
of nimble adversary
nigerian national umar farouk abdulmutallab has been charged with attempted
murder and trying to use weapon of mass destruction on board northwest plane
carrying people from amsterdam to detroit
argentine president decrees removal of central banker
buenos aires jan afp
argentine president cristina kirchner signed decree thursday firing the head
of the central bank in showdown over payments on the country national debt
the president of the central bank dr hernan martin perez redrado has been
removed from office for misconduct and having failed in his official duties
the decree stated
kirchner called on redrado to step down on wednesday but he refused invoking
the bank autonomy from the executive which must ask congress to remove
sitting central bank president under the bank charter
kirchner control over congress has weakened since mid term elections last
year
the confrontation stems from redrado refusal to hand over billion dollars
from argentina foreign currency reserves to pay off part of billion
dollar payment of the national due this year after the president ordered him to
do so
kirchner called for the money to guarantee debt payments part of an effort to
end argentina isolation from global credit markets in the wake of its
default
in defying the president demand on wednesday that he resign redrado said he
would stay in his post to guarantee as we have done in the last five years
monetary and financial stability
redrado became president of the central bank in under the government of
nestor kirchner the husband of the current president and his mandate was due
to expire in september this year
the government has offered his post to mario blejer who led the central bank
under the government of eduardo duhalde in during one of the country
worst economic crises
more eurostar misery as winter chill brings mayhem
london jan afp
eurostar passengers faced new winter misery thursday with another high speed
train breaking down in the channel tunnel while heavy snow also left thousands
in britain with no electricity
across the rest of northern europe one of the most brutal winters in decades
caused more travel mayhem with scores of flights cancelled and many roads
blocked
overnight temperatures dropped to minus degrees celsius zero degrees
fahrenheit in woodford outside manchester northwest england and in benson
southern england glasgow saw minus nine celsius while london minus three
no major british airports reported closures thursday with runways open following
day of disruption wednesday
but budget airline easyjet scrapped around flights as result of severe
weather conditions largely in and out of gatwick airport major hub for
holiday charter flights
british airways said it had cancelled number of flights and was experiencing
delays due to icy conditions at both gatwick and london bigger heathrow
airport
in ireland dublin airport which closed for several hours on wednesday
operated normally but there were number of flight cancellations and delays as
some airlines continued to experience knock on effects
at orly airport south of paris outgoing flights were cancelled or delayed and
incoming ones diverted spokesman for aeroports de paris told afp
eurostar faced fresh embarrassment on thursday when brussels to london train
had to be towed out of the channel tunnel after being stuck for around two
hours
snow and freezing temperatures were blamed for the breakdown last month of
several eurostar trains in the tunnel between britain and france which sparked
three day suspension of the service
at first they told us that it was an engine problem jonattan lurasin
from liege in belgium told afp at london saint pancras international station
they tried to restart two or three times but it didn work
french railway operator sncf the biggest shareholder in eurostar later
blamed the problem on signal failure in the train driver cab
