believe this debate is going nowhere said frieden whose country along
with austria is resisting pressure to open up its culture of banking secrecy at
time of desperately short public finances elsewhere
finance ministers from the eu nations are meeting in brussels seeking the
automatic exchange of account information between member states and third party
tax havens some of which are territories dependent on member states britain and
the netherlands
the long running issue has acquired renewed political vigour as recession has
wreaked havoc with governments tax takes and attempts to recover every last
penny available to shore up treasury finances are pursued across the board
however amendments to eu laws on the taxation of savings interest on
cooperation between tax administrations and on tax recovery as well as anti
fraud agreements with non eu neighbours andorra liectenstein monaco san
marino and switzerland remain firmly stalled
the eu current spanish presidency wants to put pressure on renegades austria
and switzerland pressure which some countries such as britain say will
eventually become unbearable in the context of moves to close tax loopholes
around the globe
but frieden is clearly in no hurry to budge adding the debate is extremely
limited to my mind
arguing he wants level playing field with nations on information
exchange and not simply an opening up of its books to larger rivals with more
political clout he said the issue needs an objective serene debate on several
aspects of taxation
all of that must be discussed unless we want to see to see financial activity
moved to asia he stressed
urgent under fire bulgarian eu commission nominee pulls out
brussels jan afp
bulgaria under fire eu commission nominee has withdrawn her bid and resigned
as her country foreign minister the head of the centre right group in the
european parliament announced tuesday
taiwan prosecutor general impeached over chen case
taipei jan afp
taiwan prosecutor general has tendered his resignation after being impeached
over his handling of the corruption probe into former president chen shui bian
officials said tuesday
chen tsung ming was held responsible for failing to prevent huang fang yen the
ex leader family doctor and suspect in the case from fleeing abroad said
an official at the top government watchdog the control yuan
he was also blamed for not coming clean about meeting privately with huang then
justice minister shih mao lin land developers and media commentators on various
occasions the official said
the control yuan has decided to impeach chen for damaging the judicial
credibility and the government image the official said
chen who became taiwan first ever prosecutor general to be impeached has
tendered his resignation which will be reviewed by president ma ying jeou the
justice ministry said in statement
justice minister wang ching feng apologised to the public saying the
prosecutor general case has hurt the judicial system the justice
ministry and the whole cabinet credibility to certain degree
the case will be sent to special disciplinary commission which will decide
penalty and could order the dismissal of the prosecutor general according to
the official
chen shui bian was sentenced to life in jail in september for embezzling state
funds laundering money accepting bribes and forgery his wife wu shu chen also
received life imprisonment on graft convictions
his doctor and close friend huang now on taiwan wanted list was suspected of
hiding million taiwan dollars million us dollars for wu prosecutors
have said
chen whose term as president ended in may has dismissed his conviction as
political vendetta by the china friendly kuomintang government for his
lifelong push for the island independence
he is currently appealing the life sentence while in detention
universal studios to build major theme park in korea
seoul jan afp
us film giant universal studios tuesday signed deal with south korean partners
to build its largest theme park in asia at cost of around three trillion won
billion dollars
universal parks and resorts and south korean partners including lotte group
and subsidiary of steel giant posco signed the framework agreement to develop
the park at hwaseong by
the initial deal was announced in late but faced problems raising capital
until retail and hotels group lotte was persuaded to join the project
universal studios also operates theme parks in hollywood orlando in florida and
japan and park on singapore sentosa island is nearing completion
when completed the south korean resort kilometres miles southwest of
seoul will be larger in area than all four combined and will create more than
jobs according to kim moon soo governor of gyeonggi province
lotte asset development will have percent stake while posco
construction subsidiary posco and is the second largest shareholder with
percent
work is due to start in march next year on the venue which will include water
park theme hotel apartments golf course and other facilities
culture minister yu in chon called it major opportunity to develop the
national tourism industry
universal parks and resorts chairman and ceo thomas williams said he was very
optimistic the resort would attract substantial segment of the south korean
population as well as growing number of asian international tourists
he said director steven spielberg creative consultant to universal parks and
resorts is expected to take part in the korea project
he already has number of ideas that think will contribute to making it
quite unique and in the spirit of differentiation something that caters to an
international crowd williams said
universal parks and resorts will lend operational experience and its brand name
to the south korean developers officials from the province and the culture
ministry said
williams said his company was investing in the project but declined to give
figure
we believe in the south korean tourism business and we believe the universal
studios korea project will play leading role in the growth and development of
the korean tourism industry williams said
the number of asian tourists has been significantly growing he said
provincial governor kim said south korea would become the fifth of the
nations to have global theme park following tuesday agreement
the park will become the focal point of the west coast economic tourism belt by
successfully attracting tourists from china and other nations kim predicted
basketball nba results and standings
washington jan afp
results and standings after monday national basketball association games
monday january th results
new york detroit
washington portland
oklahoma city atlanta
charlotte sacramento
houston milwaukee ot
la clippers new jersey
minnesota philadelphia ot
san antonio new orleans
golden state chicago
memphis phoenix
dallas boston
la lakers orlando
eastern conference
atlantic div pct gb
boston
toronto
new york
philadelphia
new jersey
central div pct gb
cleveland
chicago
milwaukee
detroit
indiana
southeast div pct gb
atlanta
orlando
charlotte
miami
washington
western conference
northwest div pct gb
denver
portland
oklahoma city
utah
minnesota
pacific div pct gb
la lakers
phoenix
la clippers
sacramento
golden state
southwest div pct gb
dallas
san antonio
houston
memphis
new orleans
tuesday january th schedule
toronto at cleveland pm
indiana at miami pm
all times are eastern
afp
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
us forces join haiti aid effort
blair defence minister testifies on iraq war
senate election crucial to obama agenda
port au prince amid dimming hopes rescuers search for quake survivors while
the international relief effort intensifies haiti quake
london geoff hoon defence minister under prime minister tony blair at the
start of the iraq war in testifies before iraq war inquiry gmt
britain iraq military politics inquiry
boston massachusetts voters cast ballots to fill senate seat left vacant by
the death of ted kennedy in special election with major implications for
president barack obama reform agenda us politics senate vote
brussels eu finance ministers meet primarily to discuss the debt crisis in
greece from gmt picture eu economy finance greece
cairo trial starts of coptic christian man accused of raping muslim girl in
the southern egyptian province of qena with religious tensions high after six
copts were killed this month egypt unrest religion copt
kabul authorities probe coordinated taliban attack on central kabul which left
five dead and more than injured afghanistan unrest
new delhi us defense secretary robert gates meets prime minister manmohan singh
and foreign minister krishna on visit to promote strategic partnership
india us diplomacy
new york citigroup once the world largest bank and rescued from collapse
with state funds releases annual results us banking citigroup
sydney britain prince william begins first visit to australia since he was
baby boy in australia britain royals william
tokyo japan supreme court rules on tomomitsu niimi former senior member of
the aum supreme truth sect who was sentenced to death by lower courts for
sarin nerve gas attack on tokyo subway among other crimes japan court sect
afp
german investor sentiment falls zew survey
frankfurt jan afp
sentiment among german investors has dropped again and now stands at an indexed
points the zew economic research institute said on tuesday
that was the fourth fall in row to the lowest level since july
the barometer of germany financial sector stood at points in december and
analysts polled by dow jones newswires had expected it to edge down to
points this time around
the index remained well above its historical average of points
the development of the indicator suggests that the surveyed financial market
experts expect the german economy to recover only at slow rate within the next
six months zew statement said
according to the experts the automobile and consumption sector is likely to
develop downwards in the next half year it added
the german government has cut it jobless forecast meanwhile to around
million from previous estimate of million the handelsblatt business daily
said on tuesday
the new figure would be released in yearly report published on january it
added
germany emerged from its worst post war recession in the second quarter and is
expected to post modest possibly uneven growth in
in december unemployment crept up to an unadjusted level of percent while
the raw number of jobless the headline figure in germany climbed to
million
in its measure of the current situation zew said that an assessment by
investors improved in december by four points to minus points zew said
the eighth consecutive rise and the highest level since november
analysts had expected it to improve to minus points from minus points
in november
the ups and downs of japan airlines
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines went bust tuesday in one of the country biggest ever corporate
failures capping dramatic fall from grace by the once proud carrier
following are milestones in jal history
established as private airline
government takes percent stake
flies first international route to san francisco via honolulu
expands international routes as economy booms and tokyo olympics
boost the number of foreign tourists
jal flight from amsterdam is hijacked by palestinian and japanese
extremists all passengers and crew are released at an airport in libya where
the aircraft is destroyed by bomb
jal becomes the top international air cargo operator
becomes the top carrier for scheduled international operations
jal boeing domestic flight crashes in central japan killing of
the people aboard in the worst single airplane accident ever
jal is fully privatised
airline admits ties with organised crime in massive scandal
two jal airplanes narrowly avoid mid air collision company requests
public assistance after air travel demand slumps following the september
terrorist attacks in the united states
seeks more public assistance amid sars and iraq war
completes merger with japan air system
unveils plans to slash jobs
announces further job cuts joins oneworld airline alliance
reports billion dollar half year loss and receives billion dollar
emergency loan from state owned lender to keep flying us carriers american
airlines and delta air lines bid for stake in jal
jal files for bankruptcy with debts of about billion dollars and moves
to slash about jobs government announces billion dollars of public
funds and fresh emergency loans of billion dollars
un says still hope to find survivors after haiti quake
geneva jan afp
there is still hope of pulling more survivors from the debris from haiti
earthquake week after the disaster struck the united nations said tuesday
hope persists there is still hope said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un
office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
byrs earlier told afp that international search and rescue teams had pulled out
more than people from beneath collapsed buildings since the disaster struck
last tuesday
alert
bulgaria under fire eu commission nominee withdraws euro mp
once proud jal victim of japan economic decline
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines rise and fall mirrors the nation economic miracle following
world war ii as well as its years of stagnation after the bubble burst in the
the airline which filed for bankruptcy protection tuesday was established in
and two years later the government took percent stake it made its
international debut in connecting tokyo honolulu and san francisco
flying to airports in countries and regions jal transported about
million passengers last fiscal year million of them on domestic routes
it employs about employees but plans to slash about jobs as part
of radical overhaul of its money losing operations
sporting its trademark crane logo jal rapidly widened its operations at home
and overseas during the and at one stage becoming the world largest
carrier in terms of regular flights
disaster struck in when jal jumbo jet crashed into mountain in central
japan killing of the people aboard in the worst single airplane
accident in aviation history
as it battled to overcome the tragedy the carrier was fully privatised in
and expanded its fleet in the early move that soon turned out to be
financial burden as the economic bubble burst
the carrier now has aircraft including leased planes most of them
boeing jets
as the global aviation industry was battered by the fall out from the september
attacks as well as the sars and bird flu scares jal plunged into huge
losses and sought massive credit lines from the government
in bid to survive the tougher business environment jal and domestic carrier
japan air system merged to form jal group changing the logo to the current arc
of the sun resembling the national flag
the integration however led to further losses and slowdown in restructuring
efforts while jal smaller rival all nippon airways ana moved into high
gear
despite the privatisation jal has often come under political pressure to
maintain regular flights to more than half of domestic airports even though many
are unprofitable analysts say
jal also miscalculated international demand said nomura securities analyst
makoto murayama
ana predicted the decline in demand for international flights would not recover
after the terrorist attacks in the united states which proved to be
right in later years he said jal thought demand would recover
more recently the global economic crisis as well as the swine flu outbreak
dealt another serious blow jal lost about billion dollars in the six months
to september
but its landing slots remain coveted with us carriers american airlines and
delta air lines locked in bidding war for slice of jal as they look to
increase their share of the asian market
jal shares plunged to an all time low of just three yen three us cents at one
point tuesday slashing the market value of the group to about million
dollars far less than even the cost of new jumbo jet
national hockey league results
washington jan afp
national hockey league results and standings after monday games
monday january th results
ottawa boston
ny islanders new jersey
tampa bay carolina
columbus st louis
buffalo phoenix
florida atlanta
toronto nashville
dallas minnesota
colorado edmonton
san jose calgary
eastern conference
atlantic division
new jersey
pittsburgh
ny rangers
ny islanders
philadelphia
northeast division
buffalo
boston
ottawa
montreal
toronto
southeast division
washington
florida
atlanta
tampa bay
carolina
western conference
central division
chicago
nashville
detroit
st louis
columbus
northwest division
colorado
vancouver
calgary
minnesota
edmonton
pacific division
san jose
phoenix
los angeles
dallas
anaheim
note overtime losses ot are worth one point in the standings and are not
included in the loss column
tuesday january th schedule
buffalo at anaheim pm
toronto at atlanta pm
tampa bay at ny rangers pm
columbus at philadelphia pm
detroit at washington pm
san jose at los angeles pm
chicago at ottawa pm
ny islanders at pittsburgh pm
all times are eastern
afp
crew passengers fret about future of japan airlines
tokyo jan afp
passengers and crew of japan airlines clung to hopes revamped carrier would
spread its wings again as the company went bust tuesday in an emblematic
illustration of the nation economic decline
once iconic airline synonymous with top notch service that symbolised japan
post war renaissance the debt laden carrier filed for protection from creditors
and is set to lay off more than employees
for many japanese the airline rise and fall is saga as emotionally charged
as the television series in the early that depicted jal air hostess
gruelling training to perfect her skills
ve always flown japan airlines since was very young so it is unfortunate
that its image has been damaged in this way said year old kuniaki fujiwara
as he stepped off jal flight at tokyo haneda airport
its presence was like dream and it symbolised japan rebirth from the ashes
of war he added recalling his first flight in the early around the
time the beatles first arrived to fanfare on jal flight to tokyo
but it has been having so many problems for so many years that think it was
inevitable for the bankruptcy to happen hope and pray that new jal will
fly again and keep its name said fujiwara
with the trademark crane logo on its wings jal rapidly widened its operations
at home and abroad after its creation in at one stage becoming the world
largest carrier in terms of regular flights
now with estimated debts of two trillion yen billion dollars its
bankruptcy is japan biggest outside the financial sector since world war ii
shocked at the news its presence was so large that it hard to imagine
said year old yukiko nishii who said she had once applied for job at jal
as an air hostess before becoming bank employee instead
every woman has dreamed at least once in her lifetime of being jal flight
attendant she said but now that think about it it scary to think what
would have happened if had accepted the job
but even as shares of japan airlines dived and the company headed for
bankruptcy it was business as usual at haneda airport where employees
continued to serve customers with smile
year old jal female employee who joined the company during the worst of
japan recession early last year said that her superiors had not yet spoken to
regular staff about the company prospects
we were told to believe in the company so despite what the media are
reporting ve chosen to have faith in the company she said speaking on
condition of anonymity
job at jal was really dream job it company where women thought they
could shine it had the image of being very glamorous but the reality is
different she said smiling apologetically
despite its privatisation in jal has often come under political pressure
to maintain regular flights to more than half of japan domestic airports even
though many routes are unprofitable
but for year old hideharu seiyama from shimane prefecture in western japan
those flights are crucial because jal is the only airline to service them
will really be in trouble if services are stopped he said even if it
changes its name hope it will keep flying those routes
eu candidates to receive financial supervision training
frankfurt jan afp
the european central bank said on tuesday it will set up two year programme to
train financial watchdogs in the western balkans and turkey as they pursue eu
membership
the programme joint exercise with the european commission aims to
strengthen macro and micro prudential supervision in the western balkans and in
turkey an ecb statement said
the announcement came as the commission prepared to respond to greek crisis
plan aimed at curbing massive debt and deficits that shocked markets after
official data proved to be highly inaccurate
the programme is to begin on february last two years and cost million
euros million dollars the ecb added
central banks and supervisory authorities in croatia the former yugoslav
republic of macedonia albania bosnia and herzegovina montenegro turkey
serbia and kosovo will benefit from the programme
turkey bid to join the european union is backed by some eu states while
others have called for ankara to be offered lesser privileged partnership
relationship turkey began eu accession talks in
asian shares mixed as jal files for bankruptcy
hong kong jan afp
japan airlines filed for bankruptcy protection on tuesday as it battles to
overcome crippling debts while uncertainty over us bank earnings led to mixed
day for asian markets
asia biggest carrier will receive billions of dollars in public aid to keep it
flying as it undergoes painful revamp that will see it cut about jobs
about third of its staff
management at japan airlines jal formally began proceedings tuesday afternoon
making it one of the highest profile victims yet of japan economic woes
soon after its filing the tokyo stock exchange said the company would be
delisted from the bourse on february
the firm has estimated debts of about two trillion yen billion dollars and
as well as cutting jobs will also look to slash routes and sell assets
dealers expected the decision which came after the stock market closed and jal
shares hit an all time low of three yen three us cents cutting its market
value to about million dollars far less than the cost of new jumbo jet it
finished flat at five yen
the nikkei ended down percent or points at
investors are expected to be left out of pocket if jal goes bust although tokyo
says it will stay in the skies during the restructuring which is expected to be
similar to the process used for us auto giant general motors
the government has prepared various support measures transport minister seiji
maehara told reporters we want to help jal to recover while operating
safely he added
with wall street closed for public holiday on monday markets elsewhere in the
region were given little direction and dealers were looking ahead to us banks
fourth quarter reports
jp morgan chase last week announced fourth quarter net earnings quadrupled and
profits doubled for the full year but the news came in below many analysts
expectations weighing on the stock on friday
while investor sentiment started with flourish mixed dose of us
corporate earnings has seen risk appetite fade little danica hampton
forex strategist at bank of new zealand told dow jones newswires
citigroup is set to announce its results later tuesday with bank of america
morgan stanley and wells fargo to follow later in the week
sydney fell percent or points to
financials ended percent lower while the materials sector including miners
rio tinto and bhp billiton dropped percent
the market opened the session slightly higher but by mid morning the
financials had begun to lead the sell off said ig markets analyst ben potter
seoul closed flat with the index edging down points to
but shanghai and hong kong rose helped by banks and property developers due to
easing concerns over monetary tightening in china dealers said
hong kong rose percent or points to
and the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was up
percent or points to
oil majors were also helped by slight upturn in crude prices
china banking regulator said overnight it had always required banks to base
