the warning came as president barack obama who inherited streak of red ink
from the previous george bush administration prepared to unveil partial
spending freeze in his state of the union address wednesday
the cbo an independent nonpartisan agency that provides economic data to
lawmakers said the budget gap for the fiscal year ending september would
show deficit of about trillion dollars
at percent of gross domestic product gdp the basic measure of country
overall economic output that deficit would be slightly smaller than the record
shortfall of trillion dollars or percent of gdp
last year deficit was the largest since the end of world war ii and as share
of gdp
the cbo cautioned that if legislation were enacted in the next several months
that either boosted spending or reduced revenues the deficit could equal
or exceed last year shortfall
it estimated still massive billion dollars deficit in
the federal fiscal outlook beyond this year is daunting the cbo said citing
projected deficits averaging about billion dollars per year over the
period even as they were expected to fall
the accumulating deficits could double federal debt held by the public to
trillion dollars or percent of gdp by the end of it said
at the end of debt held by the public was trillion dollars or
percent of gdp
with such large increase in debt plus an expected increase in interest rates
as the economic recovery strengthens interest payments on the debt are poised
to skyrocket the cbo said
the us government closed its fiscal year with record trillion
dollar budget deficit as it poured resources into the economy to contain
serious financial crisis that plunged the nation into recession
the white house in october had forecast an even bigger gap of trillion
dollars in fiscal
obama on wednesday will call for three year partial freeze on spending that
would save billion dollars over decade in bid to show he is serious
about cutting the huge deficit officials said
he will unveil the plan to cap discretionary non security government spending in
his state of the union address showpiece event shaping up as chance to
recast his presidency amid fierce political storm
the obama administration budget plan will be released next week
the republican party seized on the latest deficit estimates to attack the the
democrats and the obama administration
these numbers are just staggering and it appears that the sky is the limit for
this tax spend and borrow democratic majority said republican senator judd
gregg ranking member of the senate budget committee
despite all of the dire news about our mountain of debt the spending spree
continues and only lip service is being paid to the issue of debt reduction
he charged
but john spratt democrat who chairs the house budget committee said the cbo
report underscored the financial mess inherited from by obama
it confirms that the recession inherited from the bush administration continues
to erode the budget bottom line and that the economic rescue efforts needed
to spur the recovery have had an impact as well he said
alpine skiing austrian herbst wins world cup slalom
schladming austria jan afp
austrian reinfried herbst won the men world cup slalom race here on tuesday
ahead of switzerland silvan zurbriggen and manfred pranger also of austria
herbst timed min sec over the two legs sec ahead of zurbriggen with
pranger at sec
alcoa to shutter italian plants
milan italy jan afp
us aluminium giant alcoa said tuesday that it planned to shut down two plants in
italy temporarily as it waited for solution to the problem of high energy
prices
at the same time however it said there was no hope given the current
situation of reopening one of the plants at later date
they would stop production until february it said
late last year eu regulators ordered alcoa to repay italy for state aid worth
between and million euros received since in the form of subsidised
electricity prices for the two smelters at fusina and portovesme
price subsidies that result in artificially low energy prices for selected
companies waste taxpayers money and distort competition in the single market
eu competition commissioner neelie kroes said in november
alcoa will have to pay back most of the illegal subsidies she added
alcoa said it would appeal the decision and temporarily idle production at its
two aluminum smelters
the curtailment is result of uncertainty in obtaining future power supply for
the smelters at competitive rates and the financial impact of the european
commission decision alcoa said
alcoa said the tariff had been in place for more than years in italy and
approved by the eu in the year that alcoa purchased the operations
oil prices slip as market frets about chinese demand
new york jan afp
oil prices resumed their downward movement tuesday as the market fretted about
china moves to tighten credit to cool economic growth that could weaken energy
demand in the asian giant
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in march slid
cents to close at dollars barrel
in intraday trade the futures contract fell to dollars its lowest prices
since december
in london brent north sea crude for march shed cents to settle at
dollars
the market had rebounded monday after last week selloff buoyed by receding
doubts that us federal reserve chairman ben bernanke would be confirmed by the
senate for second term that reduced uncertainty over the central bank near
zero interest rate policy
the growing concerns over the chinese banking sector and the continuing
tightening of chinese credit may quickly dampen some of that bullish
enthusiasm said phil flynn of pfg best
the concern for the energy markets is that this will slow manufacturing leading
to major slowdown in oil demand growth for the country flynn said
victor shum an analyst at energy consultants purvin and gertz agreed
prices were driven lower on concerns that china might further restrict bank
lending he said
policymakers in china have taken steps to tighten credit in bid to slow its
roaring economy which grew by sizzling percent in the fourth quarter of
last year
china is the world second largest consumer of oil after the united states
prices slumped last week on the growing concerns about chinese economic policy
and after us president barack obama unveiled plans to crack down on the us
financial sector hitting overall investor confidence
fall of almost dollars in just over two weeks shows the market
weakness said mike fitzpatrick of mf global
clearly the sentiment pendulum has shifted towards pessimism about the pace
and sustainability of recovery he added
fitzpatrick said that wednesday official data on us energy stockpiles were
expected to show crude oil stocks continued to grow
the centre for global energy studies said in monthly report published tuesday
that world oil demand had risen in the fourth quarter after falling the previous
five quarters but recovery was still fragile
global oil demand has finally turned the corner with oil use in the fourth
quarter of up on the fourth quarter of after five consecutive quarters
of year on year decline the london based cges said
the recovery in oil use remains fragile though and concentrated in developing
countries
the cges also cautioned that supply and demand conditions would not warrant
higher prices this year
despite rising demand market fundamentals are not expected to support upward
pressure on oil prices in it said noting that only temporary factors
had boosted the market in recent months
the recent surge in oil demand has been boosted by temporary seasonal factors
driven by extremely cold weather across much of the northern hemisphere which is
unlikely to last beyond the end of the first quarter
israeli pm honours holocaust victims in polish capital
warsaw jan afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu honoured holocaust victims at war
memorial in the polish capital tuesday the eve of the th anniversary of the
auschwitz death camp liberation
the israeli leader bowed his head in front of the imposing grey marble
umschlagplatz collection point memorial in central warsaw laying wreath
draped in banner in the blue and white colours of the israeli flag
with him were holocaust survivors and polish woman whom israel has honoured as
righteous among the nations title it awards to non jews who risked their
lives to save jews
at this place from where hundreds of thousands of our people were sent to death
camps and where we meet today the righteous among the nations we encounter the
worst evil in the history of mankind together with the greatest courage in the
history of humanity netanyahu told reporters
it was from the infamous umschlagplatz site that in warsaw wwii nazi
german occupiers sent more than jews by train to the notorious treblinka
death camp kilometres miles northeast of the city
this is not an easy encounter but it gives us hope and direction for our
future may god avenge the victims said the israeli leader standing alongside
his wife sara whose father was the only member of his family to survive the nazi
holocaust in which some six million jews were murdered
netanyahu later visited the city warsaw uprising museum where he honoured
victims of the bloody and doomed revolt by polish partisans against the nazi
occupiers
the uprising came over year after jewish resistance fighters led an equally
doomed revolt in the warsaw ghetto against the nazis in
netanyahu wrote in hebrew in the museum guestbook the people of israel have
learnt their lesson
on the eve of the trip to poland netanyahu had warned that jews were again
facing calls for their extermination in an apparent reference to iranian
president mahmoud ahmadinejad
there is evil in the world if it is unstopped it expands and it is
expanding and it is threatening the same people the jewish people but we know
it only starts with the jewish people netanyahu said on monday
there is new call for the extermination of the jewish people he said at the
opening of an exhibition of the auschwitz blueprints at the yad vashem holocaust
memorial in jerusalem
ahmadinejad has repeatedly said the jewish state was doomed to be wiped off the
map and has questioned the scale of the holocaust israel considers iran to be
an existential threat
earlier tuesday netanyahu met with polish foreign minister radoslaw sikorski
senior israeli official told reporters the talks had focused on the middle
east peace process international efforts to halt iran nuclear programme and
ways to impose effective sanctions on tehran
they also discussed bilateral and trade relations including the sale of israeli
drones to the polish army said the official who requested anonymity
netanyahu later met president lech kaczynski and his polish counterpart donald
tusk
referring to the bone chilling temperatures outside netanyahu said at joint
press conference with tusk that there is no winter in our relations there is
lot of sunshine
poland is trying to positively and effectively contribute to the peace process
in the middle east tusk said he also underscored warmth in bilateral
relations
both agreed to annual ministerial meetings chaired by their prime ministers and
to upgrade military and economic cooperation
we believe that there is great future for our two peoples the future is
ours to seize netanyahu said
on wednesday he is due to visit the former nazi auschwitz death camp for
ceremony marking international holocaust remembrance day and the th
anniversary of the liberation of the camp where some one million jews perished
between june and january
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor michael langan
tel
what happening in the americas on wednesday
obama delivers first state of the union speech
apple unveils notebook computer
aid efforts continue in haiti
fed holds second day of meetings
washington president barack obama gives his first state of the union speech
before the us congress gmt expect coverage us politics obama picture
san francisco apple unveils its highly anticipated tablet computer which
analysts said could shakeup the computer world gmt expect coverage us
it telecom apple picture
port au prince international aid continues to flow into devastated haiti
expect coverage haiti quake graphic picture video
washington the federal reserve meets for second day amid doubts over senate
vote to reappoint chief ben bernanke to second term expect coverage us
economy bank
chicago alleged mumbai plotter david headley to appear in court gmt
expect coverage attacks india us pakistan court
tegucigalpa porfirio lobo elected in controversial presidential polls is to
be sworn in expect coverage honduras politics coup
deposed honduran leader manuel zelaya says he will finally leave the
brazilian embassy where he has been holed up for more than four months expect
coverage
united nations the united nations security council meets to discuss the middle
east gmt coverage on merit mideast diplomacy un
washington treasury secretary timothy geithner appears before house of
representatives committee to discuss his role in the bailout of insurance giant
aig coverage planned finance economy us company aig public aid politics
obama will take questions from the public via youtube about his state of the
union speech and answer them online next week expect coverage us it
politics internet youtube
haiti ambassador to us raymond joseph to give keynote address to american
enterprise institute coverage on merit
nasa briefing on the next space shuttle mission to the international space
station coverage on merit
afp
rugby union gray gets scotland call
edinburgh jan afp
scotland summoned northampton back row forward scott gray into their squad on
tuesday ahead of next week six nations opener against france
the year old who won the last of his eight caps against england last year
came in after fellow flankers ross rennie and alasdair strokosch were forced to
sit out tuesday training session through injury
rennie will require further assessment to the knee injury he sustained in
edinburgh european cup victory over stade francais at the weekend
meanwhile scotland team doctor james robson said strokosch was stepping up his
rehabilitation following an ankle injury he sustained on club duty with english
premiership side gloucester
robson added scrum half mike blair was making encouraging progress following
an ankle injury
ex england flanker and coach andy robinson first six nations match as scotland
coach is at home to france at murrayfield week on sunday
spirit rover to remain stuck in martian sand
washington jan afp
nasa admitted defeat tuesday saying efforts to free the spirit rover bogged down
by martian sand were over and instead the plucky robot was hunkering down to
brave the harsh mars winter
spirit is not dead it has just entered another phase of its long life said
doug mccuistion director of the mars exploration program at nasa headquarters
in washington
it looks like spirit current location on mars will be its final resting
place
earlier this month nasa celebrated spirit bountiful six year stint on the red
planet way longer than the three months it was forecast to last
but in april the tireless kilogram pound six wheel robot broke
through crusty surface layer and hit sand at one edge of the troy crater west
of the home plate plateau in the martian southern hemisphere
all attempts to extricate it have failed dead in its tracks spirit cannot
shake off the martian dust that has been slowly accumulating on its solar
panels preventing its batteries from recharging
now with winter arriving in may the spirit will not get enough light from the
sun to be able to recharge nasa said
solar energy is declining and expected to become insufficient to power further
driving by mid february the rover team plans to use those remaining potential
drives for improving the rover tilt nasa said in statement
nasa hopes to be able to tilt the spirit enough to keep it going through the
winter
getting through the winter will all come down to temperature and how cold the
rover electronics will get said project manager john callas
every bit of energy produced by spirit solar arrays will go into keeping the
rover critical electronics warm either by having the electronics on or by
turning on essential heaters
even though it will be stationary spirit will still be able to carry out
studies and has already begun to monitor tiny wobbles in the rotation of mars to
gain insight about the planet core
if the final scientific feather in spirit cap is determining whether the core
of mars is liquid or solid that would be wonderful said researcher steve
squyres
rugby union gray gets scotland call
edinburgh jan afp
scotland summoned northampton back row forward scott gray into their squad on
tuesday ahead of next week six nations opener against france
the year old who won the last of his eight caps against england last year
came in after fellow flankers ross rennie and alasdair strokosch were forced to
sit out tuesday training session through injury
rennie will require further assessment to the knee injury he sustained in
edinburgh european cup victory over stade francais at the weekend
meanwhile scotland team doctor james robson said strokosch was stepping up his
rehabilitation following an ankle injury he sustained on club duty with english
premiership side gloucester
robson added scrum half mike blair was making encouraging progress following
an ankle injury
ex england flanker and coach andy robinson first six nations match as scotland
coach is at home to france at murrayfield week on sunday
french report calls for burqa ban
paris jan afp
french parliament report called tuesday for ban on the full islamic veil
saying muslim women who wear the burqa were posing an unacceptable challenge
to french values
after six months of hearings panel of lawmakers recommended ban on the
face covering veil in all schools hospitals public transport and government
offices the broadest move yet to restrict muslim dress in france
the wearing of the full veil is challenge to our republic this is
unacceptable the report said we must condemn this excess
the commission however stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw
the burqa in the streets in shopping centres and other public venues after
raising doubts about the constitutionality of such move
the wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg said communist
lawmaker andre gerin the chair of the commission who presented the report to
the parliament speaker
there are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil said gerin who vowed
to fight the gurus he said were seeking to export radical brand of
fundamentalism and sectarianism to france
tensions flared at the last minute when group of right wing lawmakers pushed
unsuccessfully for tougher measure to ban the burqa in all public venues
in the end the commission called on parliament to adopt resolution stating
that the all encompassing veil was contrary to the values of the republic and
proclaiming that all of france is saying no to the full veil
the national assembly resolution would pave the way to legislation making it
illegal for anyone to appear with their face covered at state run institutions
and in public transport for reasons of security
women who turn up at any government building wearing the full veil would be
denied services such as work visa residency papers or french citizenship the
report said
the opposition socialists refused to endorse the final report to protest the
government launching of debate on national identity which has exposed
french fears about islam
critics of the burqa debate have warned that it risks stigmatising france
six million muslims and describe the wearing of the garment as marginal
phenomenon affecting few women
but president nicolas sarkozy sought tuesday to reassure france estimated six
million muslims saying in speech at cemetery for french muslim soldiers
that freedom to practise religion was enshrined in the constitution
our country which has known not only wars of religion but also fratricidal
battles due to state anti clericalism cannot let french muslim citizens be
stigmatised he said at notre dame de lorette cemetery in northern france
an imam in drancy northeastern suburb of paris who recently backed ban on
the full veil calling it prison for women complained to police on tuesday
after around people burst into his mosque and threatened him late on monday
the intruders seized the microphone in front of worshippers and called the
imam hassen chalgoumi an infidel before threatening to liquidate him
councillor from the conference of imams which chalgoumi leads told afp
chalgoumi said he would not be intimdated by the threats saying the intruders
wanted extremism and hatred towards christian and jewish communities
despite large muslim presence the sight of fully veiled women is not common
in france only women wear the burqa according to the interior ministry
half of them live in the paris region and percent are under
home to europe biggest muslim minority france is being closely watched at
time of particular unease over islam three months after swiss voters approved
ban on minarets
sarkozy set the tone for the debate in june when he declared the burqa not
welcome in france and described it as symbol of women subservience that
cannot be tolerated in country that considers itself human rights leader
french support for law banning the full veil is strong poll last week
showed percent are in favour
the leader of sarkozy right wing party in parliament jean francois cope has
already presented draft legislation that would make it illegal for anyone to
cover their faces in public
the bill is not expected to come up for debate before regional elections in
march
in france passed law banning headscarves and any other conspicuous
religious symbols in state schools after long running debate on how far it was
willing to go to accommodate islam in its strictly secular society
denmark the netherlands and austria are also studying measures to ban the full
veil
us sees finish line in russia nuclear treaty
washington jan afp
the united states said tuesday it was approaching the finish line in talks
with russia on new nuclear weapons disarmament treaty as negotiators prepared
to resume talks
state department spokesman philip crowley confirmed russian accounts that
negotiators from the two countries would meet monday in geneva to discuss
successor for the expired strategic arms reduction treaty start
it is hard to make any predictions in terms of what timeline is but think
we re reasonably optimistic that the finish line is within sight crowley told
reporters
start which expired on december was signed in just before the break up
of the soviet union
russian president dmitry medvedev said sunday that negotiations were going well
with the two sides in agreement on percent of the issues
medvedev and us president barack obama have set goal of reducing the nuclear
warheads stockpile to between and for each country
the presidents also agreed that the number of carriers capable of delivering
the warheads should be limited to between and
the two nations said they saw progress during two days of closed door talks last
week in moscow by national security advisor general james jones and the chairman
of the joint chiefs of staff admiral mike mullen
football germany rolfes facing cup injury heartache
stuttgart germany jan afp
bayer leverkusen germany midfielder simon rolfes may miss the world cup finals
after finding out he requires knee surgery national coach joachim loew said
tuesday
rolfes had been complaining of knee pain for several days and germany
medical staff recommended he go under the knife after he met up for squad get
together
it shock for all of us as simon has always performed very well foir the
national team notably in the decisive group qualifier against russia said
loew
to date rolfes has won caps having pushed veteran torsten frings into the
background but he now faces several months on the sidelines
rugby union england get haskell six nations boost
london jan afp
england flanker james haskell may yet be available for next week six nations
opener against wales after knee injury he sustained on club duty appeared not
to be as severe as first feared
haskell who plays for paris based stade francais suffered knee injury during
the french club european cup loss away to edinburgh on saturday
however rugby football union rfu statement tuesday said scan on the
times capped haskell had not shown any structural damage and that he would
resume light training in the next hours
england six nations squad are currently in portugal for week of warm weather
training ahead of the tournament
two players left the squad tuesday with uncapped wing chris ashton the leading
try scorer in the premiership this season given clearance to play for
northampton in their anglo welsh cup tie against sale on friday before returning
to the england set up
meanwhile leicester scrum half ben youngs is to join the england saxons the
national reserve side ahead of their match against ireland in bath south
west england on sunday
afptv agenda
paris jan afp
we plan to file the following videos on wednesday please consult the daily
advisories for additions and amendments
haiti two weeks after devastating quake
port au prince
the latest news coverage out of quake hit haiti where millions are struggling
to survive
as part of our coverage of the international conferences on afghanistan and
yemen we are providing the following reports
yemen talks open in london
london
world powers gather in london to discuss tackling violent extremism in yemen
called in the wake of an alleged bid to blow up us airliner by nigerian
linked to al qaeda there images of arrivals
yemeni religious school under close watch
sanaa
thousands of foreign students are thought to be in yemen learning arabic or
studying islam at universities or religious schools handful become radicals
and authorities try to keep track of them one institution under watch is al
iman university founded in sanaa by radical yemeni cleric sheikh abdulmajeed
al zendani who has been on washington list of specially designated global
terrorists since voiced report
angela merkel greets afghan president ahead of london conference
berlin
after germany announced on tuesday more troops for afghanistan and
doubling of its development aid german chancellor angela merkel meets with
afghan president hamid karzai ahead of this week london conference on the
war torn nation images and soundbites of joint press conference images and
soundbites of merkel address to parliament
london conference on afghanistan what is at stakes
kabul london
look ahead to key conference on afghanistan which will take place in london
on january it will focus on fighting corruption in the war torn country
along with the security situation good governance and reconciliation with
taliban fighters voiced report
to mark the th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz birkenau death camp
we plan to file the following
remembering the liberation of auschwitz years on
auschwitz poland
ceremonies to mark since the liberation of the nazi death camp at auschwitz
birkenau in presence of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu images and
soundbites
goodwill trip by two top philanthropists
cotonou
french first lady carla bruni sarkozy and us philanthropist melinda gates visit
benin images
the world economic forum opens in davos
davos switzerland
opening of the world economic forum wef images and soundbites interview with
economist roger bootle
as part of our african nations cup coverage we plan to file the following
fighting against sportsmen trafficking
paris douala cameroon
the organisation solidarity football is fighting against the trafficking of
young african football players afptv meets with them
the difficult task of matchmaking in iraq
baghdad
it tough finding man in iraq after multiple wars since the eighties the
country has lost many men the result an imbalance between the number of men
and women young iraqi women now find it hard to find suitable mate voiced
report
guantanamo yemeni calls for trial in us federal system
washington jan afp
defense lawyers for yemeni man accused of being an aide to osama bin laden
launched an appeal tuesday against his life sentence arguing he had the right
to new trial before us federal court
ali hamza ahmad al bahlul said to have been an aide and media secretary to the
al qaeda leader was convicted in november by military commission at the
us naval base in guantanamo bay cuba
he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of conspiracy solicitation to
murder and terrorist acts as well as providing material support for terrorism
but his lawyer told washington appeals court that bahlul had the right to
new trial in federal court and contested the evidence used to convict his
client
