the labor department said energy prices surged percent in the
sharpest rise since
gasoline prices leapt percent an all time record gain in the data series
that began in
food prices fell percent over the year the steepest decline since
core annual inflation was percent within the federal reserve comfort zone
on monetary policy
the fed said wednesday in its beige book report on the economy that because of
the high level of unemployment wage pressures were subdued and overall
inflationary pressures modest
the us economy expanded at percent pace in the third quarter of
after four quarters of contraction the government is set to release its initial
estimate of fourth quarter gross domestic product on january
the fed and most economists expect data to show continued growth in the fourth
quarter and into but worry that high unemployment will curb consumer
confidence and spending
the jobless rate held at percent in december while jobs were cut
highlighting the sluggish pace of recovery from the deepest recession in
decades
us retail sales fell unexpectedly by percent in december capping the
worst year on record the commerce department reported thursday
five hurt as kenya police teargas muslim protesters
nairobi jan afp
kenyan police fired shots and tear gas as they fought running battles in
downtown nairobi friday with muslim demonstrators demanding the release of
radical jamaican cleric
at least one policeman and four demonstrators were injured in the violence in
the central business district which erupted as police tried to disperse crowds
gathered after friday prayers according to afp reporters on the scene
some protestors hurled stones at the police shouting allahu akbar god is
greatest and waving banners that read release al faisal he is innocent
abdullah al faisal who is on global terror watchlist and served four years in
british jail for inciting racial hatred has been in kenyan custody since last
week after the authorities tried and failed to deport him
anti riot police charged at the dozens of youths surrounded the jamiah mosque
in the city centre and used water cannons to repel them as an ambulance picked
up injured people including some reporters
war against muslims is intolerable read one placard while protestor waved
black flag with arabic inscription and another brandished osama bin laden
portrait
crowds of by standers also joined the chaos throwing rocks and calling the
muslims many of them of somali descent foreigners and chanting kenya yetu
swahili for kenya is ours or ua swahili for kill as the police charged
the riot highlighted longstanding grievances by kenya minority muslims of
being unfairly targeted by security forces and perceived neglect by previous
regimes in appointment to government posts
since the setting up of the anti terrorism police unit in muslim rights
groups have complained of repeated police harassment arbitrary arrests and
rendition of muslims suspected of terrorism
faisal lawyers and rights groups have complained that the cleric is being held
without charge
the december arrest of faisal who police and immigration officials said
violated immigration regulations by preaching is the latest in string of
protests by the muslims
faisal was arrested in britain in after spending years urging his
audiences to kill jews hindus and westerners
kenya attempts to deport the cleric first to tanzania and then to gambia have
failed due to the refusal by authorities and airlines to grant him entry
three held in cyprus media boss killing
nicosia jan afp
three suspects were held in police custody on friday in connection with the
cold blooded killing of cyprus media boss andis hadjicostis who was shot dead
outside his nicosia home
police said the arrests took place thursday night and the trio appeared before
district judge on friday who ruled the hearing had to take place at private
clinic where one of the suspects was receiving medical care
the suspects cypriots all in their are being held in custody for eight
days as part of the investigation into the shooting
they face possible charges of premeditated murder conspiracy to commit murder
illegal transportation of weapon and explosives
police said they have evidence incriminating the suspects including cctv
footage fingerprints found on crash helmet and motorcycle tread at the scene
that matched bike belonging to one of the men
the murder weapon has yet to be recovered
witnesses said they saw the men acting suspiciously at the crime scene just
before christmas
the judge was also told that police had witness accounts of the men boasting
about committing crime that earned them lot of money
hadjicostis was ambushed monday by two men while getting out of his car
outside his home about metres yards from the heavily guarded us embassy
and shot twice at close range in the chest and the back
the father of two was chief executive of the dias media group one of the
island largest which owns the sigma tv channel radio proto daily
newspaper simerini and other publications
his attackers wore crash helmets and used motorbike to flee the scene
the three suspects are believed to be the gunman the getaway driver and the
person who organised the killing according to media reports all three were
apparently known to police from other crime investigations
police believe fourth person ordered the contract hit and that the motive
behind the shooting could be financial and personal rather than political
further arrests have not been ruled out
justice minister loucas louca told reporters friday that the police were very
close to solving the crime and authorities were now focusing on the person
behind the killing
the breakthrough came day after hundreds of family and friends paid their last
farewell to the popular publisher who is credited with revolutionising the local
television industry and revamping simerini daily
according to state television one of the suspects had been questioned earlier
in the week and when his alibi came unstuck search warrant was issued for his
home
president demetris christofias had urged police to pull out all the stops to
solve the murder of the media mogul
tv and radio shows have been inundated by people expressing their horror and
disbelief over the killing
central african opposition quits electoral process
bangui jan afp
opposition parties in the central african republic on friday announced that they
were quitting the electoral process and demanded the resignation of the head of
the independent electoral commission
the opposition suspends its participation in the commission and demands the
immediate resignation of the head of the cei jean jacques demafouth the head
of former rebel movement told afp
the commission chief joseph binguimale was accused of breaching his oath
total absence of independence scheming with the aim of promoting massive fraud
dubious morality and notorious incompetence demafouth said
the walkout involved of the members of the commission which was set up in
august to organise and supervise elections at dates that have yet to be
announced all those to quit including former rebels as well as the political
opposition demanded binguimale resignation
nicolas tiangaye the chairman of the republican convention for social progress
crps said that binguimale is far from bringing together all the qualities
necessary to carry out the electoral process in peace and national harmony he
openly displays his allegiance to president francois bozize
tiangaye accused binguimale of trampling on the electoral code by setting up
local committees in the name of kwa na nwa knn the presidential party at the
expense of other parties which took part at the end of in forum for peace
with the government the opposition rebels and civil society
demafouth demanded the dissolution of these local committees as well as an
audit of electoral commission finances
the commission spokesman rigobert vondo told afp that he regretted the
decision of the opposition and former rebels but played down its impact
we take note of the opposition decision but the cei will continue to make
progress on the electoral process with those who are left said vondo who is
one of the representatives of the presidential majority
he also wanted the immediate implementation of decision taken during the
national dialogue namely to set up permanent framework for consultation to
prevent further political crises
austrian avalanche experiment with pigs called off police
vienne jan afp
an experiment in austria in which live pigs were to be buried under masses of
snow to study human survival chances in avalanches has been called off for fear
of public protests police said friday
animal rights groups condemned the experiment as bizarre and macabre and
activists had started gathering in the tyrol oetz valley where the research
was being conducted by the medical faculty of innsbruck university and the
emergency medicine centre at bolzano italy
the outcry is understandable but also naive animal experiments take place
every day in different places one of the researchers peter paal told the apa
news agency
in response to the animal rights activists the scientists had said that the
pigs were sedated and that the authorities had given their approval
scientists want to study the effect of air pockets that form under snow during
avalanches on victims survival chances
one in five people hit by an avalanche found themselves with an air pocket and
the pig experiment could allow the development of new life saving rescue
techniques scientists said
football benitez apologises for liverpool woes but won walk away
liverpool england jan afp
rafael benitez has apologised to liverpool fans for his side woeful season but
the under pressure reds boss insists he has no intention of quitting
benitez saw liverpool troubled campaign hit new low on wednesday when
championship strugglers reading claimed shock fa cup third round win at
anfield
the spaniard had already presided over champions league group stage exit as
well as what looks certain to be another failed attempt to end liverpool
year wait to win the league title
it appears unlikely that benitez will be sacked by liverpool american owners
tom hicks and george gillett midway through the season after club sources hinted
that the manager job was safe for the moment
that may not be the case if he fails to secure the top four finish that
guarantees champions league football and benitez speaking ahead of saturday
trip to stoke was quick to acknowledge that performances have been way below
what is expected by the fans
recalling his infamous rant at manchester united manager sir alex ferguson last
season benitez addressed reporters from sheet of paper as he mounted
staunch defence of his reign
we are not playing well and everyone here feels sorry for our fans he said on
friday this is bad moment we are not doing well during the season and we
know have to improve and we have the belief we can do it
how can we improve winning on the pitch how can we be sure we win on the
pitch by training well
if am worried about my position or the future of the club at this moment
will lose my focus
stoke is the most important game now and we have to prepare properly cannot
be worried about the other things my future is stoke now
with liverpool financial worries mounting benitez could also be protected by
the long term contract he signed in march worth an estimated million pounds
paying off that deal would be daunting prospect for hicks and gillett but
regardless of what his employers may be planning benitez is determined to
concentrate on getting liverpool back on track
the spaniard hopes of restoring the feelgood factor around anfield won be
helped by the injuries to key players fernando torres steven gerrard and yossi
benayoun sustained against reading
torres needs knee surgery which will keep him out for six weeks benayoun
sustained broken rib which is likely to sideline him for month and gerrard
is out for fortnight with hamstring problem
however argentine midfielder javier mascherano returns after four match
suspension and new signing maxi rodriguez will also be involved after joining
from atletico madrid in midweek
facing an obdurate outfit like stoke at the intimidating britannia stadium is
hardly the fixture benitez would have chosen to erase the reading defeat
but he was backed by stoke boss tony pulis who said think rafa has been
little unfortunate this year in the respect that his best players have either
been injured or not really on top form they ve not performed like they can do
against reading pepe reina didn play and he is arguably the best
goalkeeper in the premier league
javier mascherano was missing and he the best holding player in the
premier league and then you ve gerrard and torres who have played with injuries
and who have come off you also had quality right back in glen johnson who
didn play through injury
so there are five players who if they were available and playing to their
maximum would make liverpool completely different team
yemen kills six qaeda leaders senior official
sanaa jan afp
an air strike friday on an al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap position in
north yemen killed six suspected leaders of the group including its military
boss yemeni official said
six al qaeda leaders including the network military chief qassem al rimi
were killed on friday the senior official said speaking on condition of
anonymity
ammar al waili ayedh al shabwani and saleh al tais were also killed in the
raid at al ajashir desert region in the eastern part of saada province he
said
the two other leaders names were not given while two other men fled the scene
the friday morning raid targeted two vehicles carrying eight members of al
qaeda six of whom were killed and two managed to escape an official said
earlier
the campaign to track down al qaeda terrorists will continue and the
government will use all means at its disposal to eradicate terrorism from yemeni
territory the official said
aqap has claimed responsibility for botched attack carried out by nigerian
national on us airliner on christmas day
israel inflation stable at percent in
jerusalem jan afp
inflation ran at stable percent in israel last year slightly up from
percent in the statistics office said on friday
central bank governor stanley fischer had targeted an inflation rate of no more
than three percent for
but he is not expected to raise israel base lending rate at the end of january
from its current percent since the shekel has gained in value against the
dollar in recent weeks
in march the bank lowered the rate to percent record low for
israel but gradually raised it later in the year
merkel denies criticizing greece
berlin jan afp
german chancellor angela merkel denied friday that she had sought to criticise
greece day earlier with forecast that the euro would face very difficult
phase because of athens budget crisis
merkel told reporters she had only recalled that the european union stability
and growth pact was the common platform for eurozone countries and each member
country should adopt necessary measures to respect it
she also stressed that important steps have been taken in greece towards
balanced budget and that she understood what they represented in terms of
effort from her colleague the greek prime minister george papandreou
greek officials are finalising three year plan to resolve debt and deficit
crisis that was to be presented friday to the european commission
the plan calls for slashing greece public debt from percent of gross
domestic product in to percent in below the stability pact
limit of percent of gdp
in october athens had estimated the deficit at percent of output but
the data was subsequently repudiated by the new government of papandreou
in rare critical remarks made on wednesday merkel voiced concern that the euro
is in very difficult phase for the coming years because the greek debt
debacle had fueled speculation regarding eurozone cohesion
the greek example is putting us under great great pressures questions are
being asked that are anything but trivial merkel said according to
transcript of her comments released on thursday
turkish activists demand barak be tried over gaza report
istanbul jan afp
turkish human rights activists friday asked prosecutor to order the arrest of
israel defence minister for genocide over the gaza war when he visits this
weekend the anatolia news agency reported
the complaint by mazlum der an islamist leaning rights group accused ehud
barak of genocide and crimes against humanity during the jewish state three
week offensive in gaza which was launched in december
if the prosecutor sees fit he will launch an investigation to see whether the
complaint merits charges if not he will dismiss mazlum der initiative
similar complaint by the associations against several israeli officials
including barak in february last year was thrown out by prosecutors
the complaint comes ahead of one day visit by barak to turkey on sunday for
talks with his counterpart vecdi gonul and foreign minister ahmet davutoglu in
bid to patch up ties poisoned over the gaza offensive
the islamist rooted government in ankara has kept up an almost daily barrage of
criticism against israel over the humanitarian situation in gaza leading to
cooling of ties which flourished under military deal
in the latest spat between the two countries israel had to issue formal
apology wednesday after turkey threataned to withdraw its ambassador over
israeli deputy foreign minister danny ayalon public dressing down of the envoy
over television series portraying mossad agents as child snatchers
bill clinton appeals for small donations for haiti to save lives
washington jan afp
former us president bill clinton urged americans friday to make donations as
small as dollars urgently to help bring life saving food and water to
earthquake ravaged haiti
you ve got unprecedented numbers of the people roaming the streets at night
with no place to sleep they haven had any sleep in two days they don have
water they don have food clinton said on cnn television
so the most immediate thing now is for people even to give small amounts of
money but we need large numbers of people giving small amounts of money so we
can get food water medical splifs and shelter there he said
clinton said people were urged to rush donations through
clintonfoundation org haiti earthquake or to text haiti to to make
dollar donations
they can give ten bucks we ve got to do this that how we re going to avoid
having the city erupt more the former us president argued
president barack obama enlisted both clinton and former president george bush
to lead private sector fund raising for haiti
secretary of state hillary clinton who canceled trip to asia to address the
humanitarian crisis also made the rounds of six morning television news shows
where she urged americans to make dollar donations by cellular telephone
bill clinton writing in the washington post said aid should go to building
better future for the western hemisphere poorest nation including better
buildings schools and health care
the clintons have long running involvement with haiti where they spent their
honeymoon
berlusconi corruption judges reject bid to start again
milan jan afp
judges in corruption trial against italian prime minister silvio berlusconi
rejected request from his lawyers friday to have earlier hearings invalidated
and to restart proceedings from scratch
the billionaire politician is accused of buying the silence of his british
former tax lawyer david mills for dollars euros in two court
cases in the mid
berlusconi trial was resuming in milan after month break and judges
agreed to separate defence request to adjourn proceedings until february
pending supreme court ruling on mills final appeal
mills the estranged husband of britain olympics minister tessa jowell was
tried separately and given four year prison sentence in february
the supreme court decision will certainly be very important to this trial
judge francesca vitale said as she adjourned the hearing
after two hours of deliberations judges dismissed an application from
berlusconi lawyers to invalidate all previous hearings ruling each could be
decided on its own merit as the trial progressed
the defence believes the past actions of the court are no longer usable one
of berlusconi lawyers piero longo told reporters before the hearing
under italian law berlusconi lawyers were allowed to seek the invalidation of
all proceedings leading up to mills trial
the case against berlusconi was suspended in october under law he
initiated shortly after winning elections with comfortable majority that
granted him immunity from prosecution while in power
italy constitutional court quashed the immunity law in october allowing
the trial to resume
the year old prime minister also faces tax fraud trial set to resume
monday involving his sprawling media empire
berlusconi did not attend court on friday but another of his lawyers niccolo
ghedini said he would come when needed adding that two further procedural
hearings were expected in january
the court also suspended the statute of limitations in the case which was due
to come into effect on april according to the ansa news agency
ruling party lawmaker arrested in japan over funds reports
tokyo jan afp
prosecutors arrested lawmaker from japan ruling party in connection with
political funding scandal damaging further the troubled government reports
said friday
tomohiro ishikawa parliamentary representative of the democratic party of
japan dpj was held over accounting irregularities at political fund group
run by ichiro ozawa the dpj secretary general media said
ishikawa arrest came as investigators probe separate political fund scandal
involving prime minister yukio hatoyama whose centre left government took power
four months ago in landslide win masterminded by ozawa
on wednesday tokyo prosecutors who could not be reached for immediate comment
raided offices related to the year old ozawa veteran backroom fixer
nicknamed the shadow shogun
ishikawa was in charge of accounting at ozawa fund management body called
rikuzankai according to jiji press
investigators also arrested former aide to ozawa jiji press reported
chief cabinet secretary hirofumi hirano told japanese press he was surprised but
said he had no knowledge of the matter
am surprised since it was so unexpected hirano said in statement
according to jiji press we can only monitor the situation because we don
know much about it
tokyo prosecutors are reportedly probing whether ishikawa handled rikuzankai
land purchases using an unregistered million yen million dollars
ozawa who has maintained he and his associates are innocent of any wrongdoing
has reportedly refused to respond to prosecutors requests to question him on
voluntary basis
ozawa was credited with engineering the devastating poll defeat inflicted last
summer on the conservative liberal democratic party ldp which had ruled japan
with only one interruption for more than five decades
but ozawa money troubles have increased the pressure on hatoyama who has seen
his public support plunge to just above percent in the latest polls
bank of italy raises growth forecast to percent
milan jan afp
italy central bank on friday forecast weak recovery in the next two years
because of flagging domestic demand but raised its economic growth outlook for
to percent
for and still weak recovery looks likely the bank of italy said
recovery will be slowed by the weakness of domestic demand while the
unemployment rate in november reached five year high of percent and
purchasing power has fallen in context of weakening of support measures
put in place to face the global financial crisis the central bank said
despite steady improvement in confidence businesses are still hesitating to
increase production it said in an economic bulletin
the bank of italy nevertheless raised its gross domestic product growth
prediction to percent for this year because of general pickup in world
trade it said
the last central bank prediction in july was of zero growth in
the government budget plan in september targetted percent growth in
but economic minister giulio tremonti in late november was more optimistic
saying growth might exceed percent
for the bank of italy forecasts percent growth while the government
predicts percent growth
italy formally emerged from recession in the third quarter of recording
growth of percent over the previous quarter shift attributed to greater
industrial production
the bank of italy said it expects final figures to show percent
contraction in gdp in
the official figures will be issued on february
yemen kills six qaeda leaders senior official
sanaa yemen jan afp
an air strike friday on an al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap position in
north yemen killed six suspected leaders of the group including its military
boss yemeni official said
six al qaeda leaders including the network military chief qassem al rimi
were killed on friday the senior official said speaking on condition of
anonymity
ammar al waili ayedh al shabwani and saleh al tais were also killed in the
raid at lagasher desert region in the eastern part of saada province he
said
the two other leaders names were not given while two other men fled the scene
us industrial production up in december
washington jan afp
us industrial production rose percent in december on the back of higher
electricity and gas consumption amid cold snap the federal reserve said
tuesday
the sixth consecutive rise in output was in line with the expectations of most
economists and underscored the industrial sector lead in spurring recovery
from recession in the world largest economy
the december reading matched the percent increase in november which was
initially reported at percent
the december gain primarily resulted from an increase of percent in
electric and gas utilities due to unseasonably cold weather the fed said in
report
manufacturing production however edged down percent while the output of
mines rose percent
for the final quarter as whole industrial production increased at an annual
rate of percent
former swedish red cross official charged with fraud
stockholm jan afp
prosecutors charged the former director of communications of the swedish red
cross with aggravated fraud on friday along with two alleged accomplices the
organisation and judicial authorities said
the prosecutors office said that johan af donner had been charged with
aggravated fraud and aggravated bribery and his accomplices were charged with
aggravated bribery aggravated accounting fraud and aggravated fiscal fraud
in statement the red cross said the fraud amounts to million kronor
about euros million dollars
they are accused of stealing million kroner from the red cross between
and and million kroner from the swedish cancer society where af
donner had previously worked between and
af donner who worked for the red cross until the middle of last year is
accused of making up fake invoices with the help of his unidentified
accomplices who worked for suppliers
massive us ship nears haiti to join relief effort
washington jan afp
nuclear powered us aircraft carrier arrived in haiti friday poised to deploy
an arsenal of resources to aid the haiti relief effort amid rising anger that
international help has been slow to arrive
the chief of us naval operations admiral gary roughead said the massive uss
carl vinson equipped with helicopters water purification plant and
carrying tons of medicines was in the relief area and will begin operations
it arrived after untold numbers of victims both living and dead spent
third night trapped under rubble and survivors faced another day in the boiling
tropical sun without water or food and facing the gathering threat of disease
the streets of port au prince now home to an estimated people made
homeless by the quake grew ever tenser with victims angry that what little
help arrived appeared to be trained on foreigners
aircraft from the vinson began to arrive at the airport where aid flights
already jostled for space on the tarmac logistical bottleneck that threatened
to further hamper aid efforts
us president barack obama promised haitians they would not be forgotten and
pledged to devote every element of us power to their recovery
the ship was just part of massive us response to the disaster which obama
described as one of those moments that calls out for american leadership
secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates both
canceled foreign trips to help coordinate the effort which includes million
dollars in immediate assistance and the deployment of over us troops
we stand in solidarity with our neighbors to the south knowing that but for
the grace of god there we go obama said
us businesses joined the effort pledging millions of dollars in cash and
assistance as images of corpse lined streets of port au prince made their way
into newspapers and television broadcasts
the us department of health and human services said it was deploying
personnel to haiti and white house official said obama national security
chief of staff denis mcdonough would also head to the country
rajiv shah director of the us agency for international development which is
helping coordinate us relief efforts in haiti said the deployments were ramping
up to become one of the most extensive aid operations in recent years
we are working aggressively to try and address the needs and try and save lives
while we still can shah told cnn
we re responding strongly he said
three large ships with marines on board and several coast guard cutters
were dispatched along with the vinson
the carrier is outfitted with water purification equipment that can produce
gallons of drinking water day and also boasts hospital beds operating
rooms and giant flight deck
they are going to serve as floating airport for lot of different
helicopters navy lieutenant nate christensen told afp
you have ship that very ready and very flexible
the desperate need for more ways to deliver aid was illustrated thursday when
