john legend justin timberlake stevie wonder keith urban kid rock sheryl
crow beyonce coldplay and collaboration between bono and the edge of with
jay and rihanna
hollywood stars making appearances will include brad pitt ben stiller chris
rock clint eastwood denzel washington halle berry julia roberts leonardo
dicaprio matt damon meryl streep morgan freeman nicole kidman samuel
jackson tom hanks and will smith mtv said
wwf fears for siberian tiger after russian oil leak
moscow jan afp
leak from russia new siberian oil pipeline shows the potentially damaging
consequences the project could have for the endangered siberian tiger an
environmental campaign group warned on friday
around cubic metres cubic feet of oil leaked from the pipeline in
eastern siberia igor dyomin spokesman for russian oil pipeline monopoly
transneft told afp
the leak covered an area metres yards across and two kilometres miles
long he said
the major accident on the new siberia pacific oil pipeline which has just come
into operation shows the project has major flaws around ecological safety the
environmental campaign group wwf said in statement
the wwf is worried about the planned extension of the pipeline through the
siberian tiger habitat
the first section of the pipeline linking taishet in eastern siberia with
skovorodino in the amur region entered service in december
second section is planned which will run kilometres miles from
skovorodino to the kozmino oil terminal near the pacific ocean port of nakhodka
russia the world largest exporter of crude oil hopes the route will help it
diversify its customer base away from europe by supplying energy hungry asian
nations
discharge of oil took place during regulatory work on the pipeline dyomin
said
we are trying to establish the cause but it is not connected to the operation
of the pipeline we have not ruled out human error he said adding that the
results of the investigation were expected in month
the wwf said the causes of the accident should be assessed in public and called
for fresh assessment of the second stage of the pipeline project involving
all parties
far eastern russia is the main habitat for the siberian tiger the world
largest feline
around remain in the wild there and further to live in china
british pm to appear at iraq probe before election
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown will appear at britain iraq war inquiry before
this year elections its chairman said friday forcing the divisive conflict
right up the campaign agenda
brown was initially told by the chilcot inquiry he could not give evidence
before voting takes place in the general election expected to be on may
that changed after brown faced intense pressure from political rivals for full
disclosure on the invasion about which he has previously said relatively
little
now his inquiry appearance plus blair due next friday risks reviving
memories of controversial war which britain was led into by labour
administration
brown spokesman insisted he had nothing to hide at all and was keen to take
up the opportunity to state the case why britain was right to take the action it
did
earlier inquiry chairman john chilcot said he had invited brown to appear ahead
of the election after receiving letter from the premier
he also voiced concern about the mounting risk of his probe being hijacked for
political ends in note to brown published by the inquiry
with labour around points behind the main opposition conservatives in opinion
polls brown opponents are likely to scrutinise his evidence for lines of
attack
although the conservatives also backed the iraq conflict brown could be
vulnerable to criticism after ex defence secretary geoff hoon accused the former
finance minister of depriving the armed forces of funds in the run up to the
invasion during his evidence tuesday
he could also face questions about whether he tried to talk blair out of the
war which he supported in crucial house of commons vote
blair former communications chief alastair campbell told the probe last week
that brown was one of the key ministers his boss consulted in the run up to
the invasion
brown could be questioned in late february or early march just weeks before the
election the poll must be held by june and although no date has officially been
confirmed all indications point to may
conservative leader david cameron said brown had made the right decision by
appearing before the election
he was chancellor of the exchequer finance minister at the time he said
he got some important questions to answer and glad they are going to be
asked and hope answered before the general election
commentators said the appearance could prove tricky for brown and labour in the
run up to the poll
on the one hand this could damage brown reminding voters that this was
labour war wrote james macintyre of the centre left new statesman magazine
friday
on the other hand brown strategists believe this could be chance for
brown to level with the british people
current foreign secretary david miliband and international development secretary
douglas alexander are also being given the chance to appear before the election
and have indicated they would be willing to
the chilcot inquiry was announced by brown in june honouring pledge that the
run up to and conduct of the conflict would be examined once british troops
withdrew from iraq
brown predecessor blair faced intense public hostility after backing then us
president george bush in the war during which british soldiers died
his popularity plummeted and he stepped down in after ten years in office
handing over to brown
major demonstrations are expected in london when blair appears before the probe
the chilcot inquiry has heard that part of blair argument for war was that
iraqi ruler saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could be
deployed within minutes but these were never found
bank sheriff obama hits hard in europe analysts
london jan afp
european analysts hit back in scathing terms on friday at tough proposals by us
president barack obama to crimp us banks warning they could damage us finance
and global investment
one analyst suggested that obama was behaving like sheriff shooting at
bankers from the hip but an academic said that regulators in london should copy
the way obama was bringing the banking plutocracy to heel
stock markets generally have recoiled at the tone of obama proposals to curb
trading by banks and force them to separate high risk activities and amid
uncertainty about the implications
much of the comment argued that obama measures which still face long road
to approval were driven by political opportunism and missed the true causes of
the global economic crisis
wider warning came from capital spreads which said the rest of the world had
been trying for century to break the monopoly enjoyed by new york and london
in many financial activities and would now cheer loudly
in their desperation to appease ignorant public opinion the regulators risk
undoing this age old pre eminence said simon denham head of capital spreads
financial spread betting company in london
but stefano harney business professor at queen mary university in london
welcomed obama stance president obama announcement means the uk government
will have to act to break up the banks here in britain
not to follow his lead would be to condemn the city of london to become the
largest offshore banking colony in the world with all the corruption and
instability that would come with that he said
analysts at cm cic bank in paris commenting on why stocks had fallen after
obama announcement said that the proposals will cause difficulties in
valuing banks and will slow down reorganisation of the sector
they also questioned whether proposals by politicians wanting to change
everything in the heat of the moment for sector in the middle of an economic
crisis were appropriate
at brokers aurel analyst christian parisot provided similar comment the
sector could experience strong volatility because of the impossibility for
analysts of working out the fundamental value of banks he said
however professor harney said that the only way to ensure that big banks
created jobs and made loans was if they are broken up and forced to make money
from investment not speculation
massive bonuses by us bank goldman sachs were an example of the arrogance that
can lead from democracy to plutocracy
this view was strongly challenged in colourful language in blog by economist
kit juckes at asset management ecu
maybe in the american wild west of the cinema the moral of the tale would have
been don provoke the sheriff he said
sheriff obama wanted the bankers to eat humble pie wear sackcloth and ashes
and show some humility but when he didn get that response he clearly got
riled and has come out looking for fight
juckes argued that so called proprietary trading targeted by obama was not the
cause of the crisis and was small part of bank revenues
policy makers set interest rates far too low encouraging binge borrowing
regulators were asleep at the wheel bankers failed to see the dangers inherent
in what they were doing and borrowers simply borrowed too much he argued
the measures would reduce the capacity of banks to lend and would reduce their
profitability undermining banking shares
this meant that the upward trend in equity indices has ground to halt at
least for now
in the same vein the senior strategist at bgc partners howard wheeldon argued
that the plan opened period of political acrimony that is as undesirable as
it could be potentially damaging to the us
at citibank in london michael hart said that the proposals had raised aversion
to risk and were likely to lead to massive reduction in financial investment
around the world and consequent capital repatriation
fund manager tim roberts at cavendish asset management said the announcement
goes far beyond what the markets can stomach from the volatile banking sector
and the creeping political tenor of financial debate
attacking the heart and soul of wall street is not the answer he said
roberts argued the causes of the crisis were long standing and arose from easy
access to capital resulting in over leveraging the answer he said was to
restrict this by tightening rules on capital
obama plan would simply damage long term economic prospects for everyone
boat lands kurdish migrants in corsica
bonifacio corsica jan afp
traffickers landed boatload of kurdish migrants on beach in corsica
authorities on the french mediterranean island said on friday
the migrants were dropped off near the southern town of bonifacio by boat
which then departed officials said they were taken to gymnasium to be
treated by doctors and aid staff
among them were children and five pregnant women one of whom was
hospitalised in nearby porto vecchio
they were put ashore from boat by traffickers apparently on thursday
evening but were not discovered on the isolated beach until friday morning
corsican official said
authorities said the migrants identified themselves as kurds from syria the
town mayor jean charles orsucci told afp that most of them were in good
health not starving
it was the first known large scale landing of migrants on the shores of the
mediterranean island boat carrying some kurds capsized off southern
france in in case involving syrian and lebanese traffickers
migrants have often arrived in similar way on spanish and italian soil after
dangerous sea crossings
spokesman for the local maritime authorities bernard celier said they were
patrolling to see if there were other trafficking vessels nearby and police and
helicopters were scanning the shore for migrants
cricket pakistan to get new captain after aus tour butt
karachi jan afp
pakistan are to appoint new captain after the tour of australia next month
the country cricket chief said friday
this captain mohammad yousuf was for this series only and we will decide
after the tour of australia about the captain we will change pakistan cricket
board pcb chairman ijaz butt told the private ary news channel
yousuf led pakistan were whitewashed in the test series against australia
earlier this month
pakistan had appointed younus khan captain for the tour of new zealand in
november december last year but he pulled out to take rest forcing the pcb to
hand over the captaincy to yousuf
following the new zealand trip yousuf was retained for the australia tour as
younus did not make himself available
butt said the loss of younus as captain was unfortunate
we did not change younus unfortunately the sports committee of the parliament
made him run away after they levelled match fixing allegations against him
butt told the channel in an interview
younus resigned after the standing committee on sports alleged that the pakistan
team had thrown match against australia in the champions trophy in south
africa in september
australia sneaked home by one run off the last ball to qualify for the semi
finals
how can someone fix match on the last ball only magician can do that and
on this allegation younus was mentally disturbed and resigned butt said
butt asked younus to reconsider his decision and the player led the team against
new zealand in the five match one day series held in the united arab emirates
in november last year
younus managed just runs in three matches in pakistan defeat slump
in form which led him to pull out of the new zealand tour
younus was good captain but he was hurt on the allegations and quit now we
will soon decide about the change said butt
pakistan next test assignment is in england where they play australia in two
tests series shifted out of pakistan over security fears
they are due to play four tests against england on the same tour
us warns of risks of identical airport security measures
toledo spain jan afp
airports around the world must adopt different security measures or else it will
become easier for terrorists to exploit weaknesses to carry out attacks us
homeland security secretary janet napolitano said friday
what we do not want is cookie cutter approach where the same measures are
in place everywhere because then terrorists can plan and work around them
she told news conference in toledo in central spain
napolitano recommended using wide range of security measures including
information sharing on suspected terrorists and detection technology like full
body scanners to protect passengers
we need all of those layers in sequence to maximize the ability to protect
travelers from terrorist acts she said adding full body scanners were
tool but there must be combination of other measures
nations decide for themselves the combination of these measures she added
napolitano is meeting eu officials to try to convince the eu to install body
scanners at its main airports for use by us bound passengers
the united states has accelerated the installation of the scanners at its
airports since the attempted attack on christmas day on jet bound for detroit
from amsterdam and britain and the netherlands have followed its example
but other european nations like germany have been more cautious
spain which holds the rotating presidency of the eu wants the nation bloc
to develop common policy on the use of the scanners which can see through
clothing to reveal concealed liquids explosives or weapons
spanish interior minister alfredo perez rubalcaba said thursday that the
european commission was carrying out the studies into the effectiveness of the
devices as well as their possible impacts on health and privacy
once we have these studies on the table we will make decision he told
journalists following meeting between napolitano and eu interior and justice
ministers
the outgoing european commission dropped plans to introduce the scanners europe
wide in after the european parliament opposed the move calling for more
studies on the possible radiation dangers and privacy issues involved
privacy campaigners say the technology violates european law by producing
sexually explicit images of the passengers
they have raised the possibility that images taken by the scanners could be
leaked online
napolitano will later on friday meet in geneva with members of the international
air transport association which represents approximately airlines and
more than percent of the world air traffic to discuss ways to bolster
aviation security
the reinforcement of air transport security is an international effort which
involves all countries and companies am going to geneva to listen to ideas
and the problems she posed she said
iata welcomed the collaborative taken by president barack obama adminstration
towards air security
this type of approach is really new it is historic first an iata spokesman
said
internet generation at risk of rickets study
paris jan afp
bone bending rickets can now be added to the list of ills linked to children
spending uncounted hours before computer screen british researchers said
friday
youngsters with rickets caused primarily by chronic lack of vitamin
develop painful and deformed bow legs that do not grow properly
the condition is linked mainly with extreme poverty and the th century
victorian england of charles dickens and can be easily avoided through
balanced diet and exposure to sunlight
but doctors reported this month that cases of the debilitating disease have once
again become disconcertingly common in britain
kids tend to stay indoors more these days and play on their computers instead
of enjoying the fresh air said simon pearce professor at newcastle
university in northeast england and lead author of new study on vitamin
deficiency
this means their vitamin levels are worse than in previous years he said in
press release
half of all adults in britain especially in the north have vitamin
deficiency in winter and spring with one in six having severe deficiency
the condition has been linked to cardiovascular disease type diabetes
several kinds of cancer and soft bone condition in adults called osteomalacia
while the study focused on britain the same trend is likely elsewhere in the
industrialised world the researchers suggested
the solution soaking up sunrays helps boost vitamin levels but can also
increase the risk of skin cancer
the other option is adjusting diet the rickets preventing vitamin is present in
oily fish such as salmon mackerel sardines and herring
fifty years ago many children would have been given regular doses of cod liver
oil but this practice has all but died out noted co author tim cheetham also
professor at newcastle
but if foul tasting oils and expensive fish are not options there is another
ready mode of tranmission milk
the study published in the current issue of the british medical journal called
for new regulations recommending the addition of vitamin to milk and similar
food products as has been done in several other countries
excessive time spent in front of computer has also been linked to increased
obesity jump in attention deficit disorder and anti social behaviour
cycling cavendish postpones season start
paris jan afp
british sprint specialist mark cavendish will launch his campaign at the
spanish stage race la ruta del sol which starts on february his columbia
team announced on friday
the manx rider had initially been scheduled to begin his season at the tour of
qatar but was forced to scale back on his training due to dental problem
we want to take maximum precautions said columbia german team principal
rolf aldag
the main objectives for the season remain the same added aldag who said that
cavendish would target the spring classics milan sanremo and the tour of
flanders before focusing his attention on the major stage races
cavendish was due to race the tour of qatar from february followed by the
tour of oman from february
the year old sprint sensation recorded professional victories last year
including milan sanremo three stages at the giro italia and british record
six stages at the tour de france
internet generation at risk of rickets study
paris jan afp
bone bending rickets can now be added to the list of ills linked to children
spending uncounted hours before computer screen british researchers said
friday
youngsters with rickets caused primarily by chronic lack of vitamin
develop painful and deformed bow legs that do not grow properly
the condition is linked mainly with extreme poverty and the th century
victorian england of charles dickens and can be easily avoided through
balanced diet and exposure to sunlight
but doctors reported this month that cases of the debilitating disease have once
again become disconcertingly common in britain
kids tend to stay indoors more these days and play on their computers instead
of enjoying the fresh air said simon pearce professor at newcastle
university in northeast england and lead author of new study on vitamin
deficiency
this means their vitamin levels are worse than in previous years he said in
press release
half of all adults in britain especially in the north have vitamin
deficiency in winter and spring with one in six having severe deficiency
the condition has been linked to cardiovascular disease type diabetes
several kinds of cancer and soft bone condition in adults called osteomalacia
while the study focused on britain the same trend is likely elsewhere in the
industrialised world the researchers suggested
the solution soaking up sunrays helps boost vitamin levels but can also
increase the risk of skin cancer
the other option is adjusting diet the rickets preventing vitamin is present in
oily fish such as salmon mackerel sardines and herring
fifty years ago many children would have been given regular doses of cod liver
oil but this practice has all but died out noted co author tim cheetham also
professor at newcastle
but if foul tasting oils and expensive fish are not options there is another
ready mode of tranmission milk
the study published in the current issue of the british medical journal called
for new regulations recommending the addition of vitamin to milk and similar
food products as has been done in several other countries
excessive time spent in front of computer has also been linked to increased
obesity jump in attention deficit disorder and anti social behaviour
ge profit tops forecasts despite finance weakness
new york jan afp
general electric on friday reported stronger than expected profits as the giant
us conglomerate results from energy and manufacturing offset weakness at its
financial and media units
net profit was billion dollars in the fourth quarter down percent from
year earlier and was billion dollars for common shareholders at the big
conglomerate sometimes viewed as proxy for the overall economy
that pushed the profit for the full year to billion dollars including
discontinued operations representing percent decline from
ge environment has improved and we saw some encouraging signs at year end
chairman and chief executive jeff immelt said
during the difficult economy of we took series of actions to improve ge
so that we would be positioned for growth in the future
immelt said the group was seeing increased orders for infrastructure and health
care equipment and that for its financial arm consumer delinquencies are
stabilizing
the overall profit amounted to cents share in the fourth quarter two cents
better than expected by analysts
revenues fell percent to billion dollars in the final quarter but were
also ahead of expectations
full year revenues fell percent to billion dollars capping difficult
year for the company that traces its history back to and inventor thomas
edison
the company which makes aircraft engines energy equipment and owns the nbc
universal media entertainment group said the profits from continuing operations
fell percent in the fourth quarter from the same period year ago
ge energy unit which makes wind turbines as well as oil and gas equipment
led the earnings with an operating profit of billion dollars up nine
percent from year ago
the technology division which includes ge aircraft engine manufacturing saw
percent drop in operating earnings to billion dollars
profits fell percent to million dollars at nbc universal the media
entertainment arm that ge has agreed to merge with comcast
the financial arm ge capital finance suffered percent plunge in earnings
but stayed profitable producing million dollars the unit has suffered from
some of the same problems as banks in an environment of difficult credit and
rising loan defaults
capital finance is executing well in difficult environment immelt said
every segment at ge capital was profitable with the exception of commercial
real estate
deutsche bank analyst nigel coe said ge had solid quarter with better orders
and profit margins and real signs of stability in the financial unit but said
it was not clear how wall street would view the results
in early trade ge shares leapt percent to dollars
douglas mcintyre at wall street said that even though ge topped forecasts
there was plenty of bad news below the top line with troubles in the
financial and media segments raising questions about ge business model
so much for owning diversity of businesses he opined
afp client advisory embargoed russia economy industry output
paris jan afp
the afp story slugged russia economy industry output was moved in error
the story is under embargo until gmt friday and should not be used in any
format until that time
football ranieri plays down talk of revenge
rome jan afp
as roma coach claudio ranieri has moved to dismiss suggestions that revenge
would be on his mind when his team travel to turin to tackle crisis club
juventus on saturday
ranieri spent two years in charge of the northern giants leading them to
third place finish in in their first season back in serie following
their relegation to serie in for match fixing
last season his team briefly battled inter milan at the top of the table before
becomming embroiled in straight fight with ac milan for second place
but two games before the end of the season he was dismissed with juve in third
and replaced by ciro ferrara
juve won those two matches and finished second with ferrara also begining this
season with four straight league wins
but since then juve have got gradually worse while ranieri was not out of work
for long taking over from luciano spalletti in rome two games into this season
and ranieri insists that juve could not be further from his mind given he was
born in rome and is now coaching the club where he started his playing career
if you knew how happy am to have come home you wouldn ask me this question
about revenge he told reporters on friday
for me roma are the only thing that counts doing well for roma and with roma
however despite these assertions ranieri did let slip that there were things
that went on during his time in turin that still rankle
one day ll write book in which ll also explain how things went with
juventus he said
but jokes apart believe coach receives pay off not just to leave but also
to keep things to himself
roma come into this match in fine form having won seven and drawn three of their
last league matches
that run has seen them climb to third in serie two places above juve who have
lost seven of their last in all competitions
un death toll in haiti quake rises to spokesman
washington jan afp
the number of un staffers confirmed dead in the devastating haiti earthquake has
risen from to with others still unaccounted for un spokesman said
friday
the magnitude quake on january levelled the main headquarters of the un
mission in haiti and is the worst disaster in the un history in terms of loss
of life of its own employees
we now have people confirmed dead and are still unaccounted for un
spokesman farhan haq said
the un previously said around others were missing but haq said more than
people had been found alive while the bodies of another nine were found in the
ruins
he said that of the dead were civilian employees of whom worked at the un
mission in haiti minustah the other were soliders and policemen from
minustah
the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha in geneva
said friday that rescue teams in haiti were switching their focus away from
searching for people trapped in collapsed buildings and starting to go home
international rescuers have pulled at least people alive from the ruins
since the disaster the un said
the magnitude quake killed at least people and left half million
homeless
net tightens on chad rebels in darfur analysts
khartoum jan afp
the thaw in relations between khartoum and djamena could tighten the net
around chadian rebels based in the conflict torn western sudanese region of
darfur analysts said on friday
for the last five years chad has accused sudan of supporting rebels seeking to
oust the government while khartoum has charged ndjamena with backing ethnic
minority rebels in darfur
but last week the two neighbours signed an agreement to set up joint force on
their troubled border which effectively means that chad would have to stop
supporting darfur rebels and sudan cease backing chadian rebels
the two countries have agreed to the manning of the outposts and the
securitisation of the border which will take place between february and
chad and sudan had in the past signed agreements aimed at normalising relations
between them and securing the border but these accords were never implemented
this time it seems serious they both need it right now one diplomat told afp
on condition of anonymity
chad is heading towards legislative elections in november and presidential
elections in april while elections in sudan are scheduled for april
and referendum in january on southern independence the diplomat said
the thaw in relations between khartoum and djamena could strike blow to the
union of forces for resistance ufr grouping of the main factions of chadian
