brussels jan afp
pre christmas fall in retail sales across the euro countries caused flutters
among experts on thursday who worried that recovery prospects could run into
rut
disappointing figures proved setback amid generally positive run of data
which underlined the fragility of confidence indicators published simultaneously
by brussels
retail sales in the nations using the shared currency fell by percent in
november compared to the previous month and by percent compared to one year
earlier the european union eurostat data agency said
the figures across the nation bloc as whole which includes britain and
eastern industrial powerhouse poland saw percent drop over the previous
month and percent on month basis
the data raises concern that muted consumer spending could hold back eurozone
recovery said howard archer of ihs global insight for whom an appreciably
lower fall for food and drink sales suggested that discretionary spending is
particularly weak at such critical periods for the economy
he cited an ongoing underlying softness in three month volumes and warned that
consumers are clearly still reluctant to splash out
the release coincided with european business and consumer confidence firming in
december for ninth month running marked by big jump in key recession
straggler britain
the european commission economic sentiment indicator for the eurozone rose to
points in december up points from one month earlier and better than
consensus of analysts polled by dow jones newswires
the index hit record low points in march
for the nation eu as whole economic confidence was also up and in
britain which went into reverse between october and november the index rose by
whopping points
france italy germany and spain where some experts fear double dip
recession were also on an upward trend although poland hit reverse
the improvement was due to higher confidence mainly in industry the commission
said
but clemente de lucia of bnp paribas said the survey contained worrying signs
he noted employment expectations in both manufacturing and services sectors
increased only moderately remaining at very low level by historical standards
this combined with rising inflation will limit private consumption over next
quarters
separate monthly business climate indicator for the eurozone also improved in
december hitting minus points up from minus points
athletics britain set for gold in pettigrew fall out
london jan afp
great britain world championship metres relay team are to receive
the gold medal after finishing second behind quartet featuring us dope cheat
antonio pettigrew the bbc reported thursday
pettigrew ran the anchor leg for the united states team that won gold in athens
years ago but subsequently admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs
the bbc citing uk athletics uka and the international association of
athletics federations iaaf the sport global governing body said the
brtitish quartet of roger black jamie baulch iwan thomas and mark richardson
would now be promoted to gold
we have had official notification that the medals are ours uka spokeswoman
told the bbc
meanwhile an iaaf spokesman quoted by the bbc said the decision to strip
pettigrew of his medals was approved by the iaaf council in late november
at that point efforts were made to recover the original medals in the end not
all were returned so the iaaf decided to make new set of medals
in close race the american team beat the british quartet by just
seconds in the athens final
have missed out on years of telling people am world champion baulch
told the bbc on thursday
there is little bit of bitterness that we were robbed of the gold it is
bit of disgrace as missed an opportunity to celebrate in front of
people as the sport was at its peak it was the golden days of athletics
when you think of it and to put it into perspective we ran four seconds faster
than the current gb team ran last year so that was how fast we were
it is bit sad that it has happened the way it has but that the way the
cards have been dealt to me so you may see us in medal ceremony in the next
amount of months he added
last year pettigrew together with his team mates was stripped of the gold
medal the united states won for the relay at the sydney olympics
because of his doping offences
germany urges turkey to stay on eu reform track
ankara jan afp
german foreign minister guido westerwelle urged turkey thursday to press ahead
with reforms to bring it closer to the european union and denied berlin was
blocking ankara bid to join the bloc
westerwelle on two day trip to turkey dismissed fears that chancellor angela
merkel new centre right government was throwing up hurdles for turkey
some have asked whether the new german government wants to close the door to
eu membership for turkey he told conference of turkish ambassadors
will tell you quite clearly what the eu and turkey have agreed stands and
that applies to this german government too am committed to that
merkel conservative christian union would prefer to see turkey granted
privileged partnership with the eu while westerwelle pro business free
democrats are seen as more open to ankara ambitions
westerwelle who is also vice chancellor quoted from the october coalition pact
in which berlin pledges its support for open outcome accession talks with
turkey
asked later at press conference with his counterpart ahmet davutoglu whether
his statements meant merkel had dropped her opposition to turkey eventually
joining the eu westerwelle said he spoke for berlin
am not here as tourist in shorts am the german foreign minister and
what say counts he said with smile
we are reliable partners that is why germany has such good reputation in the
world
he noted that turkey had as yet failed to meet key eu criteria such as opening
its borders to member country cyprus but also called on nicosia to contribute to
solution and praised ankara for its democratic reforms
encourage you to press on particularly in the areas of freedom of religion
expression and the press and its treatment of the kurdish minority
westerwelle hailed ankara key role in trouble spots such as iraq lebanon
afghanistan and pakistan and efforts to heal long standing rifts with neighbours
such as armenia
davutoglu said ankara hoped to deepen trade security and political ties with
europe biggest economy
and we of course plan to implement all the necessary eu reforms he said
the glacial progression of eu accession talks has been major source of
frustration for ankara
the island of cyprus has been divided since when turkey occupied the north
in response to an athens engineered coup in nicosia aimed at uniting the island
with greece
ankara has since refused to open its frontiers and ports to cyprus under an
eu turkish accord
since it began eu accession talks in turkey has managed to open of the
so called chapters and successfully negotiate and close just one
on top of its row with cyprus there is bigger more fundamental issue raised
by eu powerhouses france and germany and others whether such large mainly
muslim country on the borders of asia has place in europe
germany has the largest ethnic turkish population outside turkey with nearly
three million members in bilateral trade volume reached nearly billion
euros billion dollars
westerwelle was also to meet prime minister recep tayyip erdogan and other
government ministers on trade ties iran nuclear programme the stability of
afghanistan and the threat posed by al qaeda in yemen
president abdullah gul cancelled planned talks due to illness
after meeting with kurdish politicians westerwelle was to travel to istanbul
before continuing on to saudi arabia qatar and the united arab emirates
taiwan court rejects frozen asset appeal by ex leader wife
taipei jan afp
taiwan court on thursday turned down an appeal by the wife of the convicted
former president chen shui bian who was seeking access to some of the family
frozen domestic assets
the chen family assets have been frozen since october by prosecutors who
intended to use them to pay off fine the ex president was handed on top of
life jail term for graft
chen wife wu shu chen had appealed to the supreme court asking that
prosecutors remove the freeze on one of the family bank accounts with deposit
of more than eight million taiwan dollars us but the appeal was
dismissed on grounds of wrong procedure
the family frozen assets include stocks six housing units parking space
land and more than million taiwan dollars of cash deposited in domestic bank
accounts
chen and his wife were both sentenced in september to life in jail for
graft and other abuses carried out during his years in power from to
chen and his family were also fined more than million taiwan dollars
prosecutors have said they are also seeking the return of some million us
dollars from the bank accounts held by the chen family in switzerland
chen whose term as president ended in may last year is appealing his
conviction as is his wife
he has dismissed his conviction as political vendetta by the current china
friendly government because of his lifelong push for the island independence
some legal scholars have expressed concern over the handling of chen case
particularly criticising the length of his detention which started last
december
bank of england freezes rates amid recovery signs
london jan afp
the bank of england left its key interest rate at record low percent and
maintained radical credit easing plans on thursday as britain awaits data set to
signal the end of deep recession
following two day meeting the central bank nine member monetary policy
committee mpc agreed to freeze borrowing costs at percent where they
have stood since march
the boe also announced it would continue to pump out up to billion pounds
billion euros billion dollars of new money under its quantitative
easing project that seeks to boost lending by commercial banks
britain is the last major economy officially in recession but data due later
this month is expected to show that the nation returned to growth in the fourth
quarter of last year
bank of england inaction on both quantitative easing and interest rates was
pretty much nailed on certainty at its first meeting of ihs global
insight chief uk economist howard archer said on thursday
the mpc were always likely to remain in wait and see mode given that
november billion pound extension in quantitative easing will last through
to early february
archer added that thursday decisions were also expected given that the british
economy seemingly returned to growth in the fourth quarter of latest
economic data have been more upbeat overall and tentative signs are emerging
that money supply growth and bank lending could be picking up
in bid to lift britain out of recession the boe decided last march to slash
borrowing costs to their current record low level
at the same time the central bank launched its quantitative easing qe
programme whereby it creates money by purchasing bonds from commercial
institutions the programme is due to finish next month
the bank of england monetary policy committee today voted to maintain the
official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at percent the boe
said in statement on thursday
the committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases
totalling billion pounds financed by the issuance of central bank reserves
markets will have to wait until january when minutes of the central bank
latest meeting are published for reasons behind the announcements
the boe main task is to use monetary policy to keep annual inflation close to
government set target of percent
twelve month inflation jumped to percent in november owing to rising fuel
prices recent official data showed it is expected to rise further in the
coming months before falling back to about percent in late according
to the boe
british gross domestic product gdp meanwhile contracted percent during
july september compared with the previous three month period recent official
data showed
britain begins as the only top economy in recession after the eurozone
france germany japan and the united states last year each emerged from the
deep downturn that was sparked by the global financial crisis
the british economy which is struggling with high unemployment and massive
public debt caused by the financial crisis has contracted for six quarters in
row its longest recession since official records began in
finance minister alistair darling recently admitted that britain recession
would be deeper than thought with the economy predicted to have shrunk by
percent in compared to previous estimate of percent
the economy is expected to grow percent in according to darling
management of the british economy is the key issue in general election due no
later that june with the opposition conservatives widely expected to oust the
incumbent labour government
eu grills greek ministers on debt analysts see great strains
athens jan afp
eu officials grilled greek ministers on thursday on their crisis action to
rescue the economy from mounting debt but analysts warned that the task is huge
and uncertainty high
missions from the european commission and europe central bank are on three day
visit to assess the socialist government crash pre christmas switch into
damage control which has yet to convince financial markets
there is widespread concern that greece in facing internal policy dilemmas
also poses potential threat to the cohesion of the eurozone
but the chief economist at the ecb juergen stark warned as the experts arrived
here that greece must not expect an eu bailout
analysts at capital economics in london commented while there are growing
signs that pressure from the markets is forcing greece to put its fiscal house
in order there is real risk that it will result in catastrophically large
economic contraction
such an event could eventually lead default to become an increasingly
attractive option
they said that given the ecb warning that other eurozone countries would not
automatically provide bailout further rise in the steep interest rate
greece has to offer to attract lenders was possible
the government may ultimately be forced to scale back its fiscal plans they
said
economist alan mcquaid at bloxham stockbrokers in dublin also warned on
wednesday the key questions for investors rating agencies and greece eu
partners will be whether the plan set of policy initiatives contains enough
structural cost cutting measures to be deemed feasible and convincing
he said that the greek government initial outline of action failed to impress
markets which were looking for detailed long term cuts in public spending
including pension reforms
although the ecb was talking tough about no bailout no one seems to believe
them at this juncture but if the ecb is not bluffing there could be
eventually chain reaction which could destabilise the whole region
source at the finance ministry who declined to be named told afp that the
european experts will be told of the measures which will be adopted to
strengthen the competitiveness of the greek economy and reduce the deficit to
less than percent by
the officials met the president of the national council of financial experts
geroge zanias and were meeting finance minister george papaconstantinou and
economy minister louka katseli
the crisis programme to be submitted to the eu commission at the end of
january is based on raising tax revenues by fighting chronic tax evasion and on
drastic cut in public spending
greek finances are in parlous state the public deficit on central government
welfare and local authority budgets is estimated at percent of output in
the public debt of accumulated past annual deficits is put at percent of
output in and is set to rise
the government expects to borrow further billion euros this year half of
it abroad meanwhile it expects to pay billion euros or percent of
output in interest and also faces an estimated shortfall of billion euros
on state hospital budgets
the government has warned that debt is threat to the nation and that unless it
gets on top of the problem by may it might have to borrow to pay pensions
some other eu countries have such high deficits and in some cases debt but
greece is suffering also from credibility problem over the reliability of its
data and application of promises
under intense pressue from the eu and financial markets the government proposed
to hack the deficit back to the maximum permitted under eu rules of percent
of output by
then on tuesday prime minister george papandreou shortened radically even this
ambitious target
greek media noted on thursday that the target is public deficit of percent
this year and further reduction of three percentage points in and
football urawa net aussie spiranovic on loan
tokyo jan afp
league side urawa reds said thursday they had signed towering australian
defender matthew spiranovic on loan from bundesliga club nuremberg
the year old who has played four matches for the socceroos and also for the
under team at the beijing olympics will arrive in japan on tuesday next
week and sign formal contract after medical check up urawa said
the details of the deal were not immediately available
spiranovic has sought the move after struggling to earn playing time at
nuremberg he has played just one bundesliga game so far this season
romania extradites suspect over german billionaire body theft
budapest jan afp
romania extradited one of its citizens to hungary who is suspected of stealing
the remains of german billionaire friedrich karl flick in austria in
hungarian police said thursday
laszlo nicknamed grizzly was arrested in central romanian village
in december shortly after the billionaire remains were recovered near
budapest after being missing for year
thieves in november stole flick coffin and remains from his mausoleum at
the cemetery in velden southern austria
three hungarians including one year old lawyer from budapest thought to be
the ringleader were also arrested in hungary at the start of december
police are still searching for three more suspects
according to investigators the robbers demanded ransom of six million euros
million dollars to return the coffin and remains
flick who died in aged was ranked among the world richest people
that same year by forbes magazine
he was heir to an industrial empire that made its fortune under germany third
reich
tennis brisbane international results collated
brisbane australia jan afp
collated results from the fifth day of the brisbane international tennis
tournament on thursday denotes seed
quarter finals
men
radek stepanek cze bt wayne odesnik usa
gael monfils fra bt james blake usa
women
ana ivanovic srb bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
andrea petkovic ger bt daniela hantuchova svk
justine henin bel bt melinda czink hun
kim clijsters bel bt lucie safarova cze
eu regulators move against drugmaker lundbeck
brussels jan afp
european union regulators said thursday they had launched an antitrust
investigation against danish anti depressant drugmaker lundbeck
the european commission said it had reason to believe the firm may have
impeded the sale of cut price generic versions of its citalopram drug within
the eu weighing on national health budgets across the bloc
action to examine potential breaches of eu rules on restrictive business
practices and on the abuse of dominant market position was underway
statement said
brussels is to investigate unilateral behaviour and agreements by lundbeck
which may hinder the entry of generic citalopram into markets in the european
economic area home to well over half billion people and the world biggest
market
the commission jonathan todd told journalists that competition enforcers were
concerned at implications for national health budgets
this is very important issue and the commission intends to get to the bottom
of it he said
investigators raided series of european pharmaceutical giants early in
december over suspected competition violations stepping up sector wide probe
first launched in january
it was part of an investigation announced in july into the relationship between
companies that patent their products as brand named medicine as well as their
ties with generic drug producers
brussels said the knowledge acquired through these raids has allowed the
commission to draw conclusions on where commission action based on competition
law could be appropriate and effective
the commission has decided that the investigation focusing on lundbeck
conduct should be dealt with as matter of priority and as result has opened
proceedings
these proceedings are separate from the sector inquiry it underlined
according to commission report produced last summer generic drugs cost on
average percent less two years after they enter the market and save patients
and insurance firms money without compromising on effectiveness
but some companies have in the past been accused of using patent strategies to
stop generic medicines hitting the market or tying up potential competitors in
legal disputes
football conte resigns as atalanta coach
rome jan afp
atalanta coach antonio conte resigned from his post thursday according to the
club as the bergamo based side continues its gradual slide towards relegation
from serie
with only three wins and four draws from matches atalanta are only one point
ahead of bottom side siena
conte former midfielder with juventus in the took over atalanta just
five games into the season succeeding angelo gregucci who was sacked after four
defeats in row
youth team coach valter bonacina becomes atalanta caretaker as the club begin
their search for new coach
suicide bomb in eastern afghanistan kills eight official
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber wearing an explosives filled vest thursday killed eight people
and wounded others while targeting private security convoy in an eastern
afghan town an official said
this was suicide attack so far we know that eight people are dead but that
figure could change said rohullah samon spokesman for the governor of
paktia province
the attack happened in gardez the provincial capital at pm gmt
outside branch of the kabul bank when the suicide bomber approached on foot
the head of security company was moving with his convoy when he was
attacked by suicide bomber wearing suicide vest samon said
he said the dead included the security company manager two of his guards two
butchers and two young girls
all were killed on the spot he said adding that other civilians were
wounded
suicide attacks are hallmark of the taliban who are waging an increasingly
virulent insurgency aimed at toppling the afghan government in kabul and
destabilising the rest of the impoverished country
nato and the united states have deployed in afghanistan to fight the
militants who are concentrated in the south and east of the country but are
spreading their footprint further north and west
another troops are due to arrive in the country this year and the
taliban have vowed to match the international surge with one of their own
in recent weeks attacks have escalated with civilians bearing the greatest
burden of taliban tactics which also include remote controlled bombs
controversial top star to quit bbc
london jan afp
the bbc best paid star said thursday he was quitting after years having
decided not to re negotiate his high salary contract which had attracted
criticism
jonathan ross got into hot water in for on air lewd prank phone calls
made to veteran actor which then drew attention to his reported million
pound million dollar million euro three year deal
it was expected that ross would have been asked to follow other top presenters
at the licence fee funded british broadcasting corporation and accept pay cut
ross presents chat show and the bbc film review programme on television
saturday radio show and occasional television specials his contract runs out in
july
over the last two weeks have decided not to re negotiate when my current
contract comes to an end he said in statement no negotiations ever took
place and my decision is not financially motivated
he said he would happily have stayed with the bbc for any fee they cared to
offer but there were other considerations
the news followed reports that ross future at the bbc was looking increasingly
uncertain
jana bennett director of bbc vision said it been difficult year for him
and understand why he feels it the right thing to do
the broadcaster suspended ross for weeks without pay over the prank calls
affair triggered when he and comedian russell brand left messages on the
answerphone of andrew sachs star of the cult comedy series fawlty towers
about brand liaisons with the actor grand daughter
the bbc is regularly attacked in britain for relying on its licence fee
compulsory pound per household levy while private sector broadcasters
and other media struggle to survive amid the global downturn
yemen warns us military intervention could strengthen qaeda
sanaa jan afp
us military intervention in yemen to help fight al qaeda militants could
backfire and strengthen the jihadists believed behind the botched attack on us
airliner top yemeni official said thursday
any intervention or direct military action by the united states could
strengthen the al qaeda network and not weaken it deputy prime minister for
defence and security affairs rashed al aleemi told press conference
our position is clear we will fight and chase the al qaeda group depending on
yemeni forces and security agencies alone he said
aleemi however said that yemen needs the united states to help in training
yemeni counter terrorism units
since al qaeda is global organisation that threatens international stability
all countries in the world headed by the united states must cooperate to
confront them he said
all we need from the united states is training and providing weapons and
equipment to counter terrorism units and they are capable of liquidating al
qaeda and all terror elements aleemi said
he said sanaa security cooperation with washington is based on the exchange of
information the same applies to saudi arabia he added
long standing concerns that yemen country on the southern tip of the arabian
peninsula has become haven for islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp
focus when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was charged with trying to
blow up us bound jet
the botched christmas day attack was claimed by al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap which also urged attacks on western interests in yemen
aleemi said that the alleged assailant umar farouk abdulmutallab had met with
radical us yemeni cleric anwar al awlaqi while in yemen
the nigerian hid in shabwa area in wadi rafadh east of sanaa where he met
awlaqi and mohammad omair who was killed in the air raid on wadi rafadh he
said
yemeni jets staged an air raid on december on wadi rafadh in shabwa
province about kilometres miles east of sanaa officials said
suspected al qaeda militants were killed
the united states has accused awlaqi of terrorist links and said that nidal
hasan the army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead people at the fort hood
base in november had also been in contact with the cleric
abdulmutallab had disappeared in yemen between september and december
while authorities said they were investigating how he managed to leave the
country after overstaying his visa
aleemi added that based on investigations the explosives found on the year
old alleged bomber came from nigeria and not from yemen as previously reported
abdulmutallab was on wednesday indicted on six counts arising out of the
thwarted plot to blow up northwest airliner packed with passengers and
crew as it approached detroit michigan
in the wake of the failed attack general david petraeus the us regional
military commander went to sanaa for talks with yemeni president ali abdullah
saleh
petraeus according to the saba news agency reaffirmed washington support for
yemen in its efforts to fight terrorism and delivered message from president
barack obama related in particular to bilateral cooperation in the fight against
terrorism and piracy
group of top us lawmakers on wednesday urged obama to ramp up aid to yemen
military saying they had lost trust in the country ability to be strong
partner against terrorism
we no longer have confidence that the yemeni government has the capacity to
assist the united states in providing for our nation security the senior
republicans on five key committees urged obama in letter
yemeni security forces insist they are winning the war against the jihadists
pointing to two separate air raids on their lairs in december which killed more
than suspected al qaeda members
on wednesday yemeni officials announced the capture of key al qaeda leader
and two other militants believed behind threats against western interests in
sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days
the interior ministry also said its security forces were repeatedly raiding
hideouts of terrorist elements in several provinces and had turned their
fight against terrorism into daily confrontation
al qaeda elements are no longer the ones taking the initiative in deciding the
time and place of confrontations it said
mou ak bpz
ex child soldiers leave un camps in nepal
sindhuli nepal jan afp
more than former child soldiers who fought for the maoists in nepal bloody
civil war said an emotional goodbye thursday to the un monitored camp where they
have lived for over three years
the young men and women swapped their blue people liberation army pla
uniforms for civilian clothes and began their journey home after an official
ceremony at the sindhuli camp in central nepal
