domestic product gdp growth of percent in sharp percent
increase from the prior forecast
china the emerging market leader and massive engine of the global recovery
will see growth accelerate to percent this year full percent higher
than previously estimated
the imf held unchanged its growth forecast for japan saying the second largest
economy would expand at percent
the nation eurozone gdp was set to expand percent up from the prior
percent estimate
advanced economies overall would grow by percent much slower than the
percent pace seen for the emerging and developing economies
global production and trade bounced back in the second half of and
confidence rebounded strongly on both the financial and real fronts as
extraordinary policy support forestalled another great depression the
washington based institution said
an extraordinary amount of policy stimulus was driving the global recovery
the imf said noting there were still few signs that private demand not
stimulated by governments was taking hold at least in advanced economies
big risks remain to the still fragile recovery of gdp broad measure of
goods and services output the nation institution said
key risk is that premature and incoherent exit from supportive policies may
undermine global growth and its rebalancing it said
the imf also cited risks to economic stability from high public deficits and
debt as countries eventually exit from emergency support programs
high fiscal deficits and debt are raising concerns about sustainability and
sovereign risk which is the primary consideration in many countries
among the other considerations authorities should take into account are low
interest rates that might be contributing to asset price bubbles
crucially there remains pressing need to continue repairing the financial
sector in advanced and the hardest hit emerging economies
the imf called for gradual unwinding of financial sector support measures and
for policymakers to move boldly to reform the financial sector that is at the
heart of the global downturn
policymakers should work toward the objectives of reducing the risks of future
instability and rethinking how the potential fallout of financial crises would
be borne in the future while at the same time making the sector more effective
and resilient
summit in finland to save baltic sea
helsinki jan afp
heads of state and government from countries bordering the baltic sea are
expected to meet in finland next month to commit to saving what organisers say
is the world most polluted sea
we would like them to come here with clear commitment about what they will
do what their governments will do finland baltic sea ambassador jari luoto
told reporters ahead of the baltic sea action summit scheduled in helsinki for
february
finnish president tarja halonen and prime minister matti vanhanen will host the
summit together with the baltic sea action group bsag foundation aimed at
coordinating action to save the polluted body of water
all nations with baltic sea coast norway sweden denmark germany
poland russia estonia latvia lithuania and finland have confirmed high
level attendance luoto said adding the names would be published on february
finnish media have reported that russian prime minister vladimir putin and
german chancellor angela merkel are among the participants
in addition to national leaders invitees include european commission chief jose
manuel barroso business leaders and non governmental organizations ngos with
some people expected to attend
the shallow semi enclosed and brackish baltic sea is particularly vulnerable to
pollution and takes far longer than many other large bodies of water to flush
out toxic and other harmful substances
around million people live in countries either bordering the baltic sea or
with major tributaries
luoto said radical measures were needed to save it
the meeting is expected to yield around commitments to concrete action
luoto said including business innovations for recycling nutrients from waste
water and technology to enhance maritime communication between vessels and local
authorities to improve safety
briton in custody over synagogue arson in greece
hania greece jan afp
greek authorities put year old briton into pre trial custody on crete on
tuesday over arson attacks on synagogue that destroyed hundreds of rare books
judicial official said
the manchester native has been charged with arson and the formation of
criminal gang year old briton and year old greek implicated in the
same incident were conditionally released on tuesday pending trial
fourth suspect year old american will be arraigned before prosecutor
in the town of hania on thursday
the police are seeking second american who is believed to have fled to italy
in connection with the arson
trial date has not yet been set
the attacks on january and seriously damaged the historic etz hayyim
synagogue in hania the last monument testifying the presence of small jewish
community on crete that was eradicated during the second world war
the accused are suspected of entering the synagogue via an adjacent building and
starting fires destroying archives and equipment including computers and cds
the director of the synagogue nikos hanaan stavroulakis said rare books
were destroyed and called on the authorities to take action against the anti
semitic and racist attacks
the britons had been living on the island of crete for three months they worked
with the greek suspect as touts for tourist spots in the town according to
police
the detained american has been described as an itinerant labourer who offered
english language courses
police source said the group was motivated by hostility towards jews
greek justice minister haris kastanidis publicly condemned the attacks and
human rights group called them the worst anti semitic incidents in greece in
recent years
greece pre war jewish community was decimated by nazi deportations and now
numbers around people community cemeteries and monuments in various parts
of the country are sporadically targeted by vandals
egypt prosecutor calls for death penalty in hezbollah trial
cairo jan afp
the prosecution in trial of alleged hezbollah members charged with planning
attacks in egypt demanded the death sentence on tuesday judicial source said
the prosecutor made the request during hearing at the emergency state security
court trying the high profile case which has damaged relations between egypt
and the powerful lebanese shiite militant group
he called for the harshest sentence against the defendants the judicial
source said the trial will resume on february
the men are accused of plotting attacks against ships in the suez canal and
tourist sites and of spying along with other charges
most of the group which includes five palestinian suspects and one sudanese
were rounded up between late and january
four of the defendants among them the alleged lebanese ringleader mohammed
qublan are being tried in absentia after they fled the country
the defendants had said in hand written letter obtained by afp that they never
planned attacks in egypt but sought to help the islamist hamas rulers of gaza
who have close ties with hezbollah
abdel moneim abdel maqsud one of the defence lawyers said he believed the
court would not sentence the men to death if they were convicted because they
did not commit any violence
it impossible even if we were to suppose that the charges were true which
they are not they would have been in the planning stages he said
at previous hearing lebanese suspect mohammed mansur told afp during court
break that he and the other defendants were tortured police have denied the
accusation
hezbollah chief hassan nasrallah had admitted after the arrests were publicised
in april that he sent mansur identified by his code name sami shihab to egypt
to support palestinian militants in the gaza strip
he said the cell comprised no more than people and denied they planned
attacks in the country
the trial reignited war of words between egypt hezbollah and its iranian
backers
egypt which has no formal diplomatic ties with shiite iran accuses tehran of
backing the plot
iran and hezbollah say egypt contrived the case against the men
egypt had responded angrily to speech by nasrallah calling on egyptians to
protest and army officers to resign over the government refusal to
permanently open its crossing with gaza during war between israel and hamas
last winter
uganda reverses decision to block british oil bid
kampala jan afp
uganda backed down from pledge to bar tullow oil from acquiring more oil
fields after the british firm presented the president with choice of chinese
french and us partners officials said tuesday
state minister for investment aston kajara told afp that senior tullow
executives met president yoweri museveni in his office on monday to discuss the
fate of the east african country much coveted oil fields
tullow presented proposal to his excellency the president which revealed they
had number of partners interested in developing oil in uganda he said
kajara listed china state oil giant cnooc france total and us company exxon
mobil as partners it could bring in to develop the oil fields if it was allowed
to buy the assets of its canadian partner heritage oil
tullow and heritage control much of uganda confirmed oil reserves in
partnership tullow by itself also owns separate oil field zone
when heritage announced its desire to sell its share tullow invoked
previously negotiated pre emptive right to buy out the canadian company and made
bid of billion dollars
tullow move to swallow up heritage assets had sparked ugandan fears that the
british group would secure virtual monopoly over the country oil fields and
drew pledge by kampala to support rival bid by italian group eni
we haven vetoed yet but our statement is very clear that we shall not allow
process that will promote monopoly and therefore we support the heritage eni
transaction energy minister hillary onek had said last week
eni chief paolo scaroni even told italy la repubblica daily on monday that his
group was planning to invest billion dollars billion euros to develop
hydrocarbons in uganda after acquiring heritage rights
but information minister kabakumba matsiko told afp tuesday that uganda had not
made final decision to block tullow bid
the final decision is process and government has not yet reached final
decision he said
kajara suggested that museveni and the tullow executives ironed out their
differences during monday meeting at state house
they said they wanted to remain working in this country and wanted to involve
other partners who have experience in developing refining and pipelines he
said
the president listened to them and he advised that onek should retract that
letter he said referring to letter the energy minister sent to tullow to
inform them that the government objections were final
the latest estimates suggest that uganda northwestern lake albert region holds
two billion barrels of oil
expectations for uganda embryonic oil sector are for refinery with
capacity of barrels per day with production predicted to ramp up to
that level between and
the prospect of seeing british firm secure stranglehold on the industry has
sparked concerns among some commentators and officials that their country was
being re colonised
some of these oil companies are behaving as if they own the oil they don
these are resources that belong to the people of uganda onek said last week
echoing those concerns
but several ugandan analysts have said that museveni is anxious to reap some
benefit from uganda oil reserves before the upcoming general elections
scheduled for early next year
they argue the president would be drawn by bid that offers uganda significant
cash upfront before any oil is pumped
asian economies seeing growth accelerate imf
washington jan afp
asia developing economies are seeing acceleration in led by china
percent growth rate the imf forecast tuesday as the region recovers swiftly
from global downturn
the emerging economies in the region are set to grow at an average percent
this year as well as in compared with the percent in the
international monetary fund said in its world economic outlook update
china growth was likely to slow to percent next year after posting
percent this year and percent in the imf said
the washington based fund said key emerging economies in asia are leading the
global recovery as the region
india is expected to join china in providing impetus to growth in asia this year
and in
india should post percent growth in and percent next year after
managing percent last year according to the imf projections
japan is poised to emerge with growth of percent in unchanged from
the last forecast after sharp percent contraction last year the imf
said adding that asia richest economy could accelerate to percent next
year
gross domestic product in china returned to double digit growth in the fourth
quarter of at percent according to the chinese authorities last week
and it surpassed the government target of eight percent level that is seen
as crucial to foster job creation and stave off social unrest in china
urbanizing population of billion people
but china biggest rise in inflation in months underlined the broader
challenges of breakneck growth and came as the imf and world bank warned anew
that the country could face an economic bubble
asia growth forecast is above that for the world emerging and developing
economies of about six percent in following modest two percent last year
the imf sees more rapid output in for the world developing economies
stronger economic frameworks and swift policy responses have helped many
emerging economies to cushion the impact of the unprecedented external shock and
quickly re attract capital flow it said
trade in spyker shares suspended
the hague jan afp
the dutch financial market regulator suspended trade in spyker shares on the
amsterdam stock exchange tuesday pending press release from the sportscar
maker bidding for sweden saab
trade was suspended at gmt until further notice the netherlands
authority for the financial markets afm said in media statement
spyker shares gained percent tuesday to reach euros at suspension
having risen more than percent during the course of monday
spyker spokesman sander van dijk confirmed that we will issue statement later
today but gave no further details
on monday spyker said the outcome of negotiations with general motors over the
acquisition of saab remained uncertain
spyker is the only remaining bidder after luxembourg investment firm genii
capital which was backing formula one boss bernie ecclestone bid to buy saab
said monday it was dropping out of the race
saab which employs people in sweden is one of four brands being shed by
gm as part of massive restructuring effort that began in and accelerated
last year when the largest us automaker went bankrupt
gm announced on december that it would wind down saab while considering
several last ditch bids for the iconic brand which has barely turned profit
during two decades under gm ownership
earlier this month gm chief ed whitacre said the us auto giant had essentially
given up on selling saab as nobody had come up with the money to seal the deal
he has put price of million dollars on the swedish carmaker
football ferdinand charged by fa over fagan clash
london jan afp
rio ferdinand was left facing the prospect of three match ban after being
charged with violent conduct on tuesday by the football association
the manchester united defender faces disciplinary action after clashing with
hull forward craig fagan during the second half of saturday premier league
victory at old trafford that saw champions united return to the top of the
table
england international ferdinand has until gmt wednesday to respond to the
charge
regulatory commission will hear the centre back case on thursday
french government warns total over refinery shutdown
paris jan afp
the french government is ready to pressure total to prevent it from shutting
down refinery in northern france that would lead to hundreds of job losses
the industry minister said tuesday
president nicolas sarkozy stepped in this month to tell carmaker renault that it
should not move production of its new clio model to turkey and he could do the
same with total said christian estrosi
when the president determination and that of the government is there we can
see that we can reverse avoid and prevent certain number of initiatives
said estrosi on france info radio
the government must tell the president of total and his board of directors that
we must have shared vision of the economic development of the dunkirk
factory he added
total announced in december that it was considering shutting down its refinery
in flanders near dunkirk which employs people directly and sub
contractors
workers at the flanders plant went on strike on january to protest the
planned closure and the factory works council is due to meet on monday to
discuss the future of the site
unlike renault which is percent owned by the french state total is wholly
private company although the state did have stake in the oil giant
predecessor elf
total france biggest company last year announced record profit for of
billion euros billion dollars
obama to take questions via youtube answer them online
washington jan afp
president barack obama will take questions from the public via youtube about his
state of the union speech on wednesday and answer them online next week the
white house said
white house new media director macon phillips said in post on the white
house blog that questions can be submitted at youtube com citizentube after the
pm gmt thursday address to congress begins
from our live webstream to free iphone app the white house is using
technology to make sure the president state of the union address reaches as
many people as possible phillips said
now we are excited to announce how president obama will also be using the web
to offer the public direct and participatory way to communicate back to him
he said
phillips said the youtube questions will be answered by obama next week in
special online event live from the white house
obama relied heavily on the internet during his presidential campaign for
organizing fundraising and communicating and has created myspace and facebook
pages and twitter feed since entering the white house
obama new media team has also launched channel on google owned youtube and
the white house is present on photo sharing site flickr
last week the white house unveiled free application for the apple iphone
which features live video streaming of presidential events
baghdad hotel bombs mark new tactics top us general
baghdad jan afp
the us army top officer in iraq said tuesday insurgents used new tactics the
military was warned of month ago to conduct three suicide vehicle bombings
that killed people at baghdad hotels
general ray odierno told reporters at least two of monday attacks at the
sheraton babylon and hamra hotels involved gunmen in first car shooting to
kill security guards before second driver detonated his bomb laden vehicle
what happened was there was two cars he said the first car came in with
small arms fire followed by the suicide bomber we have not seen that before
odierno was speaking at media briefing arranged prior to the coordinated
attacks which also wounded people less than six weeks before iraq march
general election
it was reported as new tactic although we had some intel intelligence
information that they were going to try to conduct some of these attacks under
the cover of small arms fire we ve had that for about month
the hotels targeted by the bombers are used by foreign businessmen as well as
locals one of the hotels is also home to several international journalists
odierno said us forces were immediately called on by iraqi security forces to
help investigate evidence at the scenes of monday attacks and more time was
needed to complete their findings
he said all intelligence information received by us and iraqi forces was being
shared however the hotel bombings signalled insurgents are becoming more
creative
they are doing lot less attacks but they are trying to get the biggest
outcome he said they are trying to get the most attention they can do the
most damage they can so that people question the government
we don have proof yet but believe this was al qaeda
odierno dismissed the suggestion the bombings were linked to the iraqi
government announcement that chemical ali hassan al majid cousin and
henchman of executed dictator saddam hussein had been hanged
in no way was this attack attached to chemical ali odierno said
that happened very quickly we did not turn chemical ali over from us custody
until yesterday
we didn make the decision to turn him over until the day before there no
way anyone could have known that was going to happen
speed skating pechstein fails in final attempt to skate at vancouver
berlin jan afp
top german speedskater claudia pechstein has been definitively ruled out of
competing at the vancouver winter olympics her manager said tuesday after
last ditch appeal to swiss federal court
pechstein five time olympic champion was banned for doping in july by
the international skating union isu on the basis of irregularities on her
blood passport and not because she had failed drugs test
the ban was upheld by sport top court the court of arbitration for sport
cas in november
pechstein was given glimmer of hope when after an appeal to the swiss federal
court the highest judicial authority in switzerland she was allowed the chance
to participate in world cup event at salt lake city
however the german skating legend did not obtain the minimum qualification
requirement after finishing th in her preferred event the metres
pechstein name was nonetheless included on list of athletes handed to the
germany olympic committee by german speed skating desg president gerd heinze
last week
the german olympic committee is required to provide definitive list of
athletes going to vancouver by friday afternoon but desg have opted to give
themselves room for manoeuvre in the hope that pechstein appeal is upheld by
swiss court
however the swiss federal court on tuesday rejected her latest appeal
pechstein who has never failed drugs test has always maintained her
innocence and claims that the abnormal readings in her biological passport
occurred naturally
liberia sirleaf seeks second term as president
monrovia jan afp
liberian president ellen johnson sirleaf africa first woman president has
announced she will run for re election next year despite previously promising
to serve only one term
now announce to you and to the thousands of supporters in radio land and
abroad that will be candidate she said during her annual address to
parliament on monday which received sharp criticism from opposition parties
government spokesman cyrus badio told state radio on tuesday that sirleaf
decision was due to her successes as president after her election in in
the wake of brutal civil war
the president has decided to go for second round because of the numerous
successes she has realised over the years in power she has significantly
changed the lives of liberians said badio
sirleaf candidature comes despite report by liberia truth and
reconciliation commission naming her among some people who it recommended be
banned from holding public office for years for supporting warring factions
during the civil war
in her address to parliament sirleaf proposed amendments to the national human
rights commission act to enable commission to work alongside the justice
ministry to determine those recommendations that are implementable under
the constitution and laws of our nation
the announcement prompted storm of criticism from the opposition
opposition liberty party chairman israel icinsiah said sirleaf decision was
signal to voters that she would renege on her election pledges
this is the clear indication that she does not do what she says he said
congress for democratic change chairperson geraldine doe told afp that the
annual address to parliament was was not the right forum for such statement
you invite diplomats and other dignitaries to such an important event and you
bring cheering squads for political statement that has nothing to do with what
we came here for it is wrong she said
in august last year us secretary of state hillary clinton threw her support
behind sirleaf during an official visit praising her post war transformation of
liberia
founded by freed us slaves in the th century liberia remains friendly with
the united states and sirleaf has generally enjoyed strong support overseas
badio the government spokesman said sirleaf could be proud of her record as
president
she has reinstalled water and electricity in the capital and some parts of the
rural parts of liberia she has rebuilt the infrastructure that was destroyed
during the war
the west african nation was ravaged by successive civil wars in which some
people died between and leaving the infrastructure ruined and
the economy in tatters
supplies of water and electricity in the capital are still haphazard and
unemployment and illiteracy in the west african state are high
the panel investigating liberia civil wars included sirleaf name in list
of people it accused of being the financiers and political leaders of the
different warring factions
sirleaf denied ever being member of the movement led by rebel leader and
warlord charles taylor
she told the truth panel she had met taylor several times during liberia
successive conflicts and had also collected funds for him in the
taylor is on trial in the hague on counts of war crimes and crimes against
humanity stemming from his support of revolutionary united front guerrillas in
neighbouring sierra leone civil war
milan choking as high pollution enters third week
milan italy jan afp
milan mayor defended tuesday her city efforts to combat pollution after two
straight weeks of high levels of airborne particulate matter pm
the air in the northern italian city is better than it has been in recent
years letizia moratti wrote in letter to the leading italian daily corriere
della sera
over the first days of the month the average concentration of pm was
lower than in said the right wing moratti who introduced tax on high
polluting vehicles in the city centre in
the populist northern league party has called for traffic to be alternated
between odd and even numbered licence plates during february while the left
wing opposition said non essential traffic should be banned altogether for three
days
parents group meanwhile called protest demonstration saturday outside city
hall
pollution in italy industrial capital has led consumer group to lodge
formal legal complaint against moratti and the provincial and regional
presidents
environmentalist damiano di simine said the problem stems from milan
geographical location as well as from failed policies
milan lombardy region is one of the least ventilated areas of europe said
di simine head of lombardy chapter of the environmental group legambiente
the fact that the densely populated region lies in plain bordered by the alps
promotes pollution he told afp
but he added that the region inhabitants are too dependent on cars for
transport
we have twice as many cars per capita as londoners he said calling for
pollution tax on all vehicles and greater investment in public transport
imf says global economy to grow percent in
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said tuesday the global economy was poised to
rebound from last year contraction and grow percent better than previous
forecasts
the imf said the overall world economy would swing back to growth after the
global decline in output of percent which it said was the first contraction
since world war ii
the growth forecast was percent higher than the percent estimated
four months ago with sluggish recovery in advanced economies offset by
relatively vigorous growth in emerging and developing economies
the global recovery is off to stronger start than anticipated earlier but is
proceeding at different speeds in the various regions the imf said in an
update of its october world economic outlook report
among advanced economies the united states the world largest was expected
to post gross domestic product gdp growth of percent in sharp
percent increase from the prior forecast
the eurozone gdp was set to expand percent up from the prior percent
estimate
china the massive engine of the global recovery will see growth accelerate to
percent this year full percent higher than previously estimated
global production and trade bounced back in the second half of and
confidence rebounded strongly on both the financial and real fronts as
extraordinary policy support forestalled another great depression the
washington based institution said
an extraordinary amount of policy stimulus was driving the global recovery
the imf said noting there were still few signs that private demand not
stimulated by governments was taking hold at least in advanced economies
big risks remain to the recovery of gdp broad measure of goods and services
output the nation institution said
key risk is that premature and incoherent exit from supportive policies may
undermine global growth and its rebalancing it said
the imf also cited risks to economic stability from high public deficits and
debt as countries eventually exit from emergency support programs
high fiscal deficits and debt are raising concerns about sustainability and
sovereign risk which is the primary consideration in many countries
among the other considerations authorities should take into account are low
interest rates that might be contributing to asset price bubbles
crucially there remains pressing need to continue repairing the financial
sector in advanced and the hardest hit emerging economies
