to percent of their income and tax credits will be expanded to protect
retirement savings
the administration will also create new system of workplace individual
retirement accounts requiring all companies to give employees the option of
saving for their futures
unfortunately the middle class has been under assault for long time obama
said
too many americans have known their own painful recessions long before any
economist declared that there was recession
but john boehner the top republican in the house of representatives dismissed
obama announcement saying it did not satisfy the primary concern of americans
jobs
americans are asking where are the jobs but none of the proposals outlined
by the white house today would in fact create jobs boehner said
the american people don need more photo ops they need new policies that
create jobs
the state of the union address beamed simultaneously on us television networks
and cable news stations offers president his best annual chance to bypass the
media and speak directly to americans
white house spokesman robert gibbs rejected the media narrative that obama
needed to use the speech as reset as high unemployment and an unpopular
health reform plan drag down his administration
gibbs argued that obama had consistently spoken out in favor of the stretched
middle class during his campaign and even years ago as state lawmaker
so was not raising such issues now for mere political gain
and gibbs also laid out the general themes of wednesday address
the president will outline that fall into few different categories how to
get our economy back on firmer foundation and how do we create an atmosphere
in the private sector that lends itself to more hiring
obama would also talk about changing the way washington works so that people in
this country feel like the middle class is getting as fair shake as the
special interests
with quarter of his term expired obama will step up in the house of
representatives on wednesday night saddled by diminished approval ratings
averaging around percent and with his health reform plan on life support
with unemployment at percent obama bond with the us public is frayed and
he is losing his hold on crucial independent voters
that could be crucial in mid term congressional elections in november which
usually provide bloody nose for first term president and have democrats
locked in gloomy mood already
the republican victory in massachusetts seat last week which stripped
democrats of their seat supermajority in the senate sparked panic in obama
party and left his ambitious agenda in limbo
all seats in the house of representatives are up for grabs in november
along with third of the senate seats
sarkozy vows to get france back to work
paris jan afp
president nicolas sarkozy vowed to get france swelling ranks of unemployed
back into work on monday in rare bid to defend his record as he slips in the
polls and regional elections loom
the right wing president has vaunted measures that helped drag france out of
recession last year and has repeatedly insisted that it fared better in the
global downturn than britain and certain other rich countries
but he has failed so far to reverse the climb in unemployment which is on track
to hit percent this year and stepped up for monday rare televised
appearance to clarify his priorities to an increasingly sceptical public
questioned on air by the tf channel prime time news programme and then by
members of the public he promised to support those whose jobs and earnings have
been wiped out by the crisis
but he attacked france generous and costly social welfare and labour system as
one of the things holding back the growth of the economy europe third
biggest
in the weeks and months to come you will see unemployment fall in our
country he promised
the solution is not to multiply benefits of all kind in our country where the
level of public spending is the highest in the oecd grouping of rich
economies he said
the choice of the hour working week introduced decade ago has turned out
to be catastrophic in two ways for salaries which are not high enough and for
growth
poll released ahead of sarkozy television appearance showed that jobs was
the number one concern in france followed by pension reform and cost of living
sarkozy used monday interview also to reiterate his call for responsible
behaviour by banks and his government plan to introduce tax this year on
carbon emissions which he hopes will extend to the european union borders
sarkozy has been struggling with near record lows in his approval rating since
taking office in with poll at the weekend showing that only percent
support him while percent disapprove of his performance
his right wing ump party is now gearing up for regional elections in march
hoping to beat back the opposition socialists who control of france
regions
the president who turns on thursday was elected on promise to reform
france and rev up its economy but voters and the media have complained that his
priorities appear muddled
the country jobless rate remained stable at percent in the third quarter
of but sarkozy government has warned that the employment outlook will
take some time to improve following last year recession
growth returned in the second quarter of but joblessness soared in the
crisis and million people are forecast to reach the end of their entitlement
to benefits this year according to unemployment authorities
what people are asking us for is not to be able to stay unemployed for three
years but to find job sarkozy said on monday no one will be left
behind but france problem is to work more not less
greek pm urges more effort on turkey ties
athens jan afp
greek prime minister george papandreou has called on his turkish counterpart to
revive efforts to improve ties between the two long standing rival countries
the ana news agency said monday
papandreou wrote to turkish leader recep tayyip erdogan saying he was
encouraged by the willingness of the two sides to improve bilateral relations
in recent years
the letter was in response to one sent by erdogan in november and included an
invitation to the turkish premier to make an official visit to greece
papandreou said he hoped for revival of efforts to establish more lasting
and productive relationship between the two countries and lasting peace
he called on turkey to respect athens sovereignty in the aegean sea and stop
violating greek airspace the agency said
last week the greek premier said he would invite erdogan to come to athens to
discuss ankara bid to join the european union and the question of reunifying
cyprus
cyprus has been split since turkey occupied its northern third in in
response to an athens engineered greek cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island
with greece
twitter to hold chirp first conference for developers
san francisco jan afp
twitter on monday announced plans to hold its first conference for developers
interested in making applications to synch with the wildly popular microblogging
service
we re happy to tell you that chirp has now officially launched members of
twitter chirp team said in an email message
speakers at the two day event will include twitter founders ev williams and biz
stone
the first day of the conference on april will take place in the palace of
fine arts theater in san francisco marina district and be devoted to topics
including business strategies geolocation services and streaming content
the second chirp day will be hour nonstop hackathon at fort mason where
developers will get to adapt applications to twitter software platform
the chirp team promises attendees sneaky peak at twitter features poised for
release and an after party to be missed at your peril
twitter said there will be tickets for the event with the first wave of
tickets made available on monday the sign up cost for chirp was
dollars according to an official chirp twitter com website
israel adopts law on amnesty for gaza protestors sources
jerusalem jan afp
israel parliament on monday passed law granting amnesty to hundreds of
demonstrators charged over violent protests against the withdrawal from the
gaza strip officials said
backed by mps and opposed by nine the legislation was presented to
parliament by feuven rivlin of hawkish prime minister benjamin netanyahu likud
party to promote national reconciliation
it provides for the abandonment of all prosecutions against people but does
not cover others already convicted of violence over the incidents the
officials said
the opposition denounced the law with dov khenin of the leftist hadash party
saying it encouraged extremists
the message is being sent to right wing activists that they can throw boiling
water stones and do whatever they want because they know that mps will support
them and get pardon said khenin
israel unilateral withdrawal from the gaza strip in sparked many protests
by jewish settlers and extremists bitterly opposed to the move some of them
leading to clashes with israeli security forces
haiti pm begs for quake aid as looting spreads
port au prince jan afp
haiti prime minister begged foreign donors monday to back the reconstruction
of his quake hit country as police shot looters and mass exodus from the
shattered capital intensified
nearly two weeks after the disaster which killed around people an
emergency meeting of international powers in montreal heard that it would take
at least decade to rebuild the stricken caribbean nation
the grim conditions in port au prince were underscored when haitian police fired
indiscriminately at scavengers who moved into downtown area being cleared by
bulldozers hitting two looters in the head
the country is ravaged ask myself how it can be rebuilt after this
catastrophe the haitian government is very corrupt said gesnel faustin
living in tent outside the destroyed presidential palace
but if the united states france and canada get together for reconstruction it
will work
in montreal haitian prime minister jean max bellerive said the world must map
out long term strategy for the americas poorest nation after meeting
immediate needs for food water shelter and health care
just want to say that the people of haiti will need to be helped to face this
colossal work of reconstruction bellerive told world officials including us
secretary of state hillary clinton
canadian prime minister stephen harper warned of long path ahead to rebuild
haiti and urged international leaders to hash out coordinated plan for the
ill starred country
it was not an exaggeration to say that at least years of hard work awaits
the world in haiti harper said
donor countries had agreed to hold full conference on aid to haiti at the un
headquarters in new york in march canadian foreign minister lawrence cannon
said
huge international effort led by us troops has struggled to distribute
enough aid in the capital and badly hit towns near the epicentre of the
magnitude quake increasing fears about post quake security
group of haitian police trying to keep control among desperate population
after the quake which was also wrecked the city prison opened fire on
warehouse where many looters were hiding out
an afp photographer inside the building said two men were shot in the head one
of whom received medical attention two others were lying prone on the floor
one lifeless the other was treated for serious head wound
bulldozers cleared corpse filled houses elsewhere in the city centre as hopes
dimmed of finding more miracle survivors in the rubble the last man who
survived for days by drinking cola was found on saturday
the un said more than haitians have taken advantage of free buses to
flee the filthy conditions in port au prince for more hygienic camps outside the
capital others have used private transport
health minister alex larsen said tents were being readied for quake
victims at mini villages outside the capital that will initially hold
people and in the long term accommodate around one million
but the tide of humanity is putting huge burden on small towns like saint
marc some kilometers miles from the capital where refugees were
lodging with friends strangers or in churches
my house was destroyed we slept on the pavement near the wounded we had to
leave said magalie esteverle year old dressmaker with three children
staying with distant cousin of her husband
survivors who have stayed on at makeshift camps in the capital have started to
piece their lives together by building huts and setting up neighborhood
committees but finding supplies remains daunting task
our aim is to clean these places get tents and find food and water said
michel emile at one of the biggest camps outside the palace but we don yet
understand where the food and water distribution points are located
the international aid effort also came under fire from italy public safety
chief sent to haiti last week who criticized lack of leadership in the
response to the quake
guido bertolaso who led the response to the aquila earthquake in april
said it was terrible situation that could have been managed much better and
said us forces had too many officers to find capable leader
urgent venezuela vice president ramon carrizalez resigns
caracas jan afp
venezuelan vice president ramon carrizalez who also holds the title of defense
minister resigned monday for personal reasons he said in statement
ethiopian pilot ignored control tower before crash minister
beirut jan afp
an ethiopian airliner that crashed into the sea off lebanon on monday failed to
follow instructions from flight control tower for unknown reasons lebanon
defence minister said
command tower recording shows the tower told the pilot to turn to avoid the
storm but the plane went in the opposite direction defence minister elias
murr said in television interview
we do not know what happened or whether it was beyond the pilot control he
added
ethiopian airlines flight lost contact with beirut airport shortly after
takeoff at am gmt and crashed into the mediterranean nautical
miles from the town of naameh south of the airport in stormy weather
so far rescuers have failed to find any survivors from the people on board
and murr said the official death toll would be limited to bodies delivered to
the state hospital in beirut
red cross volunteers on monday transported bodies and some body parts to the
rafik hariri state hospital
murr statements came after prime minister saad hariri chaired an emergency
meeting with officials including murr health minister mohammed jawad khalifeh
army commander jean kahwaji and police chief ashraf rifi
the lebanese army navy the united nations interim force in lebanon unifil
and aircraft from france britain cyprus and the united states were all
assisting in rescue efforts officials said
an american destroyer the uss ramage which specialises in rescue operations
arrived on site at pm gmt us embassy spokesman said
but officials said hopes of finding any survivors were quickly fading as the
search pushed on
we hope to find survivors but it unlikely health minister mohammed jawad
khalifeh told reporters
of the passengers were lebanese ethiopians one french one british
one iraqi one syrian one turkish and another of as yet undetermined
nationality
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton wife of paris
ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
three of the lebanese passengers had dual nationality from britain canada and
russia
urgent haiti donor conference set for march at united nations
montreal jan afp
donors conference for quake hit haiti will be held in march at the un
headquarters in new york canada foreign minister lawrence cannon announced
monday at conference in montreal
football everton move excites senderos
liverpool england jan afp
philippe senderos is confident he can revive his career after moving on loan to
everton from premier league rivals arsenal until the end of the season
the year old swiss defender has struggled to break into the title
challengers first team this season but believes he can nail down place in an
everton side now on an unbeaten seven match unbeaten league run
am delighted to be an everton player for the remainder of the season
senderos told his new club website on monday
can wait to get stuck in and play for everton hopefully can get some
first team football in during my time here
am here with high hopes and hopefully can fulfil them
senderos who spent last season on loan at ac milan for whom he made
appearances said he had been buoyed by conversation with everton manager
david moyes
have spoken to david moyes and he hopes to give me opportunities here
senderos explained
hopefully can grab that opportunity and stay in the team
everton form over the last few weeks has been better and they are getting
stronger
wall street rebounds as bernanke prospects brighten
new york jan afp
us stocks posted modest gains monday rebounding from last week heavy selloff
as prospects improved for the confirmation of federal reserve chairman ben
bernanke for second term
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to
at the closing bell coming off the market worst weekly losses since last
march
the nasdaq composite added points percent to and the broad
market standard amp poor index advanced points percent to
preliminary close of
analysts said the markets had calmed down after several days of nervous trade
during which president barack obama launched series of initiatives to restrict
the banking sector and senators raised doubts about bernanke confirmation
the market got some early encouragement from reports that fed chairman ben
bernanke will be confirmed to second term in senate vote this week said
scott marcouiller at wells fargo advisors
the mood was tempered by news that sales of us existing homes fell more than
expected in december by nearly percent following three month surge driven
by government tax credit
joel naroff at naroff economic advisors said the report was not unexpected but
still showed the economy and the housing market remain fragile
this report also makes it clear that while housing may be out of intensive
care it is not yet ready to leave the hospital he said there is no need to
panic but thoughts of strong economic recovery should be tabled for while
alert
international conference on haiti at un headquarters in march canadian fm
alert
venezuela vice president ramon carrizalez resigns official
nba obama praises lakers as champs visit white house
washington jan afp
us president and avid basketball fan barack obama welcomed the reigning nba
champion los angeles lakers to the white house on monday honouring the club for
achievements on and off the court
the lakers powered by playmaker kobe bryant defeated orlando in last year
nba finals for their th nba title and own the nba second best record so far
this season at one win shy of the cleveland cavaliers top mark
nobody exemplifies excellence in basketball better than the los angeles
lakers obama said want to congratulate everybody who helped make this team
what it is from the assistants to the front office staff to the trainers and
the ticket takers all the fans back in la who bleed purple and gold
you all should be very proud
obama praised the team for individual and group donations to the haiti
earthquake relief effort noting spanish star pau gasol contributed
dollars for his point effort against new york
this team also knows that being champ is about more than trophies and rings
it about being winner off the court as well as on and giving back to those
who are less fortunate obama said
obama was especially excited to meet lakers coach phil jackson who guided
obama hometown chicago bulls to six nba crowns and the lakers to four more
ve been fan of coach jackson ever since his days running the triangle
offense in chicago obama said want to congratulate him on his nba
championship the most in history do want to point out that six of them came
with the bulls
obama teased retired lakers star magic johnson about chicago victory over
his squad in the nba finals but also singled out the businessman for praise
with his work in struggling us inner cities
what makes magic special wasn just how he played on the court but also
just the infectious enthusiasm about life and what he doing with businesses
and minority communities obama said
he has just been an outstanding leader in our country for long time
obama called bryant one of the most competitive players ve ever seen after
shrugging off broken finger to lead the championship run
if had broken finger would have trouble getting out of bed and he still
leading the team day in and day out obama said
football webo predicts bright future for cameroon despite egypt loss
benguela angola jan afp
real mallorca striker achille webo has said he foresees bright and exciting
future for cameroon after gutsy display by several upcoming players against
defending champions egypt in nations cup quarter final here on monday
the indomitable lions of cameroon fell to egypt but webo said several
younger players who were picked ahead of their more experienced teammates
showed that they could soon take over the mantle of the national team
the younger players in the team have shown that they are capable of taking
over from the older generation they proved they can live with the best said
webo who came on second half substitute in what was rematch of the
final of the nations cup in ghana
there was nothing to be ashamed by this defeat but rather we saw several
younger players really push egypt very hard till extra time when couple of
mistakes in the defence allowed the champions back into the game
the experienced defender rigobert song was consigned to the bench as
cameroon coach paul le guen preferred monaco nicolas koulou and
aurelien chedjou in the heart of the defence
ajax midfielder enoh eyong and year old georges mandjeck were picked
ahead of more experienced players like jean makoun and stephane mbia as they
combined with alexandre song of arsenal to put the egyptian engine room on the
back foot for most of this clash that was only decided after extra time
mandjeck in particular caught the eye with lively and energetic display
behind the two top strikers that took the shine away from an egyptian team that
lined up accomplished players like hossam ghaly ahmed fathi and skipper ahmed
hassan who set an african record of caps on monday
we played our best football against egypt today and really deserved more
than what we got in the end probably it was because egypt were better
prepared said the year old webo
le guen ensured all outfield players registered for angola tasted
action as he began in earnest his build up for the world cup in june
sam cw
afp world news agenda
hong kong jan afp
what coming up around the world
iraq mourns victims of baghdad bombings
hope fades for lebanon plane crash survivors
sri lankan voters go to the polls
aid efforts continue in haiti
baghdad stunned iraqis mourn the dead and tensions run high in baghdad after
three massive car bombs targeting hotels in the capital killed at least
people picture iraq unrest
beirut officials search for the cause as hopes fade for survivors from the
crash of an ethiopian airliner carrying people that plunged into the sea off
lebanon shortly after takeoff picture lebanon plane crash
colombo full coverage of sri lanka presidential election that pits the
incumbent against his former army chief polls open at gmt srilanka vote
port au prince international aid continues to flow into devastated haiti as
world leaders warn it could take decade to rebuild the ravaged nation expect
coverage graphic picture video haiti quake
abuja nigeria senate debates the protracted absence of president umaru
yar adua from the country due to illness gmt nigeria politics president
health parliament
beijing taipei reporting as china and taiwan are set to hold the first round of
talks on trade pact between the erstwhile bitter rivals china taiwan trade
talks
berlin latest round of crisis talks on the troubled military transport
plane amid pressure from airbus to ditch the project unless governments provide
more funding eu aerospace defence
istanbul afghan president hamid karzai meets leaders of his country
neighbours ahead of london summit on afghanistan future afghanistan unrest
london two former government lawyers appear before the public inquiry into
britain war in iraq and are expected to say it was illegal three days before
tony blair gives evidence
new delhi india celebrates th republic day with security high due to the
threat of militant attacks india security republicday
paris france moves closer to barring muslim women from wearing the full islamic
veil when parliamentary committee releases its recommendations report due
gmt france politics religion islam women rights
warsaw israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu meets his polish counterpart
donald tusk on the eve of ceremonies to mark the th anniversary of the
liberation of the auschwitz concentration camp gmt picture poland israel
diplomacy holocaust
washington the federal reserve opens its two day meeting amid doubts over
senate vote to reappoint chief ben bernanke to second term us economy bank
white house hopes for strong growth number
washington jan afp
the white house said monday it was hoping for strong quarterly economic
growth number when the us government reveals its latest gross domestic product
figures this week
according to revised figures released in december the economy limped forward at
percent in the third quarter and the white house navigating political
storm over the economy is hoping for stronger growth this time
we saw as result of the recovery act at the end of last quarter the first
positive economic growth in four quarters white house spokesman robert gibbs
said
our hope is that you ll see another strong number on friday
it hard to create jobs in this country without positive economic growth that
without strong economic growth strong job growth is next to impossible
private economists on average are expecting the gdp report to show an annual
growth pace of percent strong rise from the third quarter
but most forecasters say the figures will be skewed by bounce in inventory
rebuilding to make up for the drawdown during the recession and that the
underlying pace of activity is more modest two to three percent which is not
strong enough to have big impact on employment
exercise regularly age better studies
washington jan afp
taking regular exercise helps you to stay physically healthier and mentally
sharper into old age four studies published in the archives of internal
medicine showed monday
one of the studies found that women who exercised more during middle age
defined as an average age of by researchers at the harvard school of public
health brigham and women hospital and harvard medical school were less
likely after to develop chronic diseases heart surgery or any physical
cognitive or mental impairments
another study found that year of resistance training once or twice week
improved older women attention spans and conflict resolution skills
third found that adults aged and older who engaged in moderate or high
physical activity were less likely to become cognitively impaired than their
couch potato equivalents
and women aged or older who took part in an exercise program for months
appeared to have denser bones and reduced risk of falls than women the same
age who followed less intense wellness program fourth study showed
the findings of the studies which were conducted in canada germany and the
united states could be just what the doctor ordered to get more americans to
exercise the authors of the first study said
since the american population is aging rapidly and nearly quarter of
americans do not engage in any leisure time activity our findings appear to
support federal guidelines regarding physical activity to promote health among
older people and further emphasize the potential of activity to enhance overall
health and well being with aging the authors of that study said
the notion that physical activity can promote successful survival rather than
simply extend the lifespan may provide particularly strong motivation for
initiating activity they said
inconvenient truth director turns to us education
park city utah jan afp
after his oscar winning an inconvenient truth spotlighted climate change
davis guggenheim is hoping to do for the us public education system what he did
for the environment
guggenheim new film waiting for superman is vying for honors in the
sundance film festival us documentary competition and offers searing look
at the problems facing schools and colleges in the united states
like the oscar winning an inconvenient truth guggenheim film utilizes
graphs and animated charts intercut with interviews with students and educators
to illustrate the sector woes
according to the film the cost of funding high school student has doubled
since while over the same period academic results have stagnated
the film also estimates that by the education system will produce only
million students capable of filling more than million jobs seeking highly
qualified individuals
as much as politicians reformers and the press know what the real problems
are they re not going to talk about them because they re politically deadly
guggenheim states
but the only way we re going to address this crisis is if these uncomfortable
truths are spoken out loud
us does not rule out karzai taliban plan
washington jan afp
the white house on monday was noncommittal but did not rule out afghan president
hamid karzai plan to ask for taliban names to be removed from un blacklist
to spur reconciliation
karzai said before heading for major international conference on afghanistan
in london this week that he would also seek western support for plan to offer
