the haitian health minister told me what he needs if we can give it to him is
an entirely new medical infrastructure ellison said we don know how long
we are going to be here
football loew calls time on frings germany career
berlin jan afp
germany midfielder torsten frings was told wednesday his international career is
over after national coach joachim loew said the werder bremen star will play no
part in his world cup plans
the year old won caps and scored goals for his country but has been
out of favour since october and loew told the midfielder he now plays no
roll in his plans for june tournament in south africa
the defensive midfielder last international appearance was the defeat to
norway in friendly in february
frings was at the centre of row in october when captain michael ballack
accused loew of not showing his senior players respect after frings was dropped
for the win over russia in world cup qualification match
productivity slumps in eurozone rises in us institute
brussels jan afp
productivity in the euro nations fell last year due to the recession but
continued to rise in the united states narrowing the transatlantic gap the
conference board economic institute said wednesday
in the single currency bloc in productivity in terms of output per hour
fell percent yet remained strong in the united states growing
percent
these are unusually large differences in productivity growth between the united
states and europe said conference board chief economist bart van ark
us employers have reacted much more strongly to the recession than their
european counterparts in terms of cutting jobs and hours he said in
statement
faced with the crisis us employers slashed jobs as their eu counterparts
preferred to temporarily stand workers down rather than lay them off leading to
drop in productivity with staff idle
however the institute forecast turnaround for with productivity in the
eurozone predicted to grow by two percent compared to three percent growth
across the atlantic
in both europe and the united states will see higher productivity growth
coming out of recession van ark said however jobless productivity recovery
is the most likely scenario in both regions
of the major european economies productivity in germany dropped percent
last year while britain recorded percent slump france was one of the few
to record any growth with its productivity rising percent
level quake shakes mexico guatemala border nicaragua
managua jan afp
an earthquake measuring on the richter scale shook the border of guatemala
and mexico seismologists in nicaragua said wednesday saying that there was no
immediate word of damage or injuries
nicaragua institute of territorial studies said the quake struck at about
local time gmt but did not pinpoint the epicenter of the temblor
football league and inter confirm cup dates
rome jan afp
the italian football league on wednesday refused inter milan request to alter
next week coppa italia fixtures while the italian champions confirmed they
would go ahead with their game against juventus
row was sparked last week after the league inexplicably switched ac milan
home quarter final clash with udinese from january to january
this was done because milan had asked to have their match moved to leave them
free week ahead of sunday crucial serie derby against inter who had no
midweek commitments
however that meant the league moved the match to the day before inter were
already due to play juventus at the same stage of the competition and on the
same san siro pitch
inter protested claiming the pitch would be unplayable if game was scheduled
on it hours earlier and even threatened to pull out of their match
however on wednesday they opted to commit to their original date due to
television schedules but delegative administrator ernesto paolillo pleaded with
the league to switch milan game
we ve decided to respond to the demands of rai tv but ask the league to find
an adequate solution for the milan udinese match so that the san siro pitch will
be in optimal condition for the inter juventus clash as would have been the
case if the original calendar had been kept
paolillo also vowed to ask firmly during the next league assembly that clearer
rules regarding the fixture calendar be implemented
however league president maurizio beretta responded that it not possible to
make changes to the fixture list despite not having had the slightest problem
in doing so at the request of milan week ago
unlike cup competitions in other countries the various rounds of the coppa
italia are not played over individual weekends or midweeks
as several teams share grounds each coppa italia round is usually played over
at least one week sometimes more
that would have been the case had the league stuck to its original date of
january for milan udinese
both milan and udinese were also already commited to playing previously
postponed serie matches on january with milan due to travel to fiorentina
that day
however having decided to meet milan exigencies the league has caused havoc
with the fixture lists and opened themselves up to accusations of bias in
milan favour
to play two cup matches on successive days on the same pitch also shows lack
of respect for competition already beset by such apathy that milan have had to
offer free tickets to season ticket holders to try to get any crowd at all for
their match with udinese although beretta was at pains to stress otherwise
this way we can give the greatest value also from televisual point of view
to this footballing offer of great quality that sees italian teams challenged in
one of the greatest competitions in the world he said seemingly oblivious to
the sheer irony of his description of competition played out in front of empty
stadiums until the final
beretta also claimed that there were no other windows of opportunity in which to
play the match due to several teams being involved in european competition
failing to mention that the original date for milan udinese was indeed such
window and in fact two other cup quarter finals will be played on that date
france adapts carbon tax climate plan
paris jan afp
france outlined new efforts on wednesday to become the first big economy to tax
harmful carbon emissions with government proposals to curb pollution while
protecting businesses
the government proposed measures to amend law that was rejected by the high
court last month days before it was to kick in an embarrassing setback for
president nicolas sarkozy
the tax is aimed at encouraging french consumers to stop wasting energy but the
court ruled last month that too many exemptions created inequalities and
unfairly placed the burden of cuts on minority of consumers
sarkozy had fiercely defended the measure in the face of strong public
opposition calling it revolutionary approach in the fight against climate
change and making it pillar of his budget
in statement on wednesday the government said it planned to maintain tax of
euros per tonne of carbon dioxide with compensation for households
certain sensitive and energy intensive sectors will still receive special
exemptions with farming and fisheries paying just quarter of the normal rate
and road transport and shipping percent
there will also be sector specific measures to preserve the competitiveness of
businesses it said without elaborating heavy industries subject to european
quotas which become payable in will be taxed until that date
meanwhile the government said it will launch consultation next month with
businesses and environmentalists on how to shape the tax it added
the government said it would also push for an eu wide carbon tax that would also
apply to imports into the bloc which would establish fair competition for
businesses based in europe
france would be the biggest economy to apply direct carbon tax mirroring
measures that exist in sweden denmark and finland
the government agreed that new bill will be submitted to parliament for entry
into force on july
while pursuing environmental reforms on the one hand sarkozy risks jeopardising
another of his major priorities making french businesses more competitive
the leading business association medef called on tuesday for the tax to be
postponed to and said it should be introduced throughout the european union
in order to avoid putting french industry at competitive disadvantage
poll released wednesday showed that the public appeared to have turned against
the planned tax the survey by pollster viavoice showed percent of the french
thought the government should abandon it
reacting to the government announcement on wednesday green party leader
cecile duflot said the carbon tax will provide absolutely no way of handling
the transition of energy to clean sources
football egypt benin teams
benguela angola jan afp
teams for africa cup of nations group match between egypt and benin on
wednesday
egypt
essam el hadary mahmoud fata alla ahmed al mohammadi moatasem salem
abdelzaher al saka hossam ghaly mohamed abdel shafi hosni abdrabou ahmed
hassan capt ahmed raouf emad motaeb
coach hassan shehata
benin
yoann djidonou khaled adenon djiman koukou damien chrysostome capt
felicien singbo romuald boco seidath tchomogo pascal angan muri ogounbiyi
arnaud seka razak omotoyossi
coach michel dessuyer
referee daniel bennett rsa
afp
urgent level quake shakes mexico guatemala border nicaragua
managua jan afp
an earthquake measuring on the richter scale shook the border of guatemala
and mexico seismologists in nicaragua said wednesday saying that there was no
immediate word of damage or injuries
alert
magnitude quake shakes guatemala mexico border nicaragua
wall street slumps on bank results china credit squeeze
new york jan afp
wall street stocks slumped wednesday amid mixed earnings results from key banks
and credit tightening by global economic growth driver china
the dow jones industrial average shed points percent in early
trades to day after the key us indexes leapt to their best levels in
more than months
the nasdaq composite fell points percent to and the
standard amp poor index lost points percent to
the market opened after top banks morgan stanley bank of america and wells
fargo declared their fourth quarter earnings which provided mixed
picture on the sector so far
bank of america and morgan stanley missed analysts expectations while wells
fargo posted an unexpected profit but its revenues came up short of
expectations
stocks are under pressure in early action as traders digest key banking
earnings reports and actions from china to stem excess liquidity analysts at
charles schwab amp co said in client note
china will rein in credit after explosive growth last year top regulator said
wednesday as the nation vies to cool its red hot economy
this year we will continue to control the pace of the credit supply banking
regulator liu minkang told the asian financial forum in hong kong
however he downplayed report by the official china securities journal that
major banks had been told to stop extending new loans for the rest of january
russia rights severely deteriorate in watchdog
moscow jan afp
russia suffered severe deterioration in human rights in despite pledges
of reform from president dmitry medvedev human rights watch said in its annual
report released on wednesday
murders of activists had chilling effect on the work of rights advocates
while atrocities continued in chechnya despite the official end of moscow
decade long antiterror operation there the new york based group said
the grim conclusions came despite liberal rhetoric and few modest reforms
under medvedev who became president in but is still widely seen as less
powerful than his predecessor president turned premier vladimir putin
the brazen murders of at least five civic rights activists and violence and
harassment toward several others marked severe deterioration in the human
rights climate in russia human rights watch said
these shocking developments contrasted sharply with some positive rhetoric by
president dmitry medvedev recognising the importance of civil society
the report singled out the murders of lawyer stanislav markelov and reporter
anastasia baburova shot dead in moscow in january and the killing of
prominent rights activist natalya estemirova in chechnya in july
two nationalists were arrested and charged in november for the markelov and
baburova killings estemirova murder remains unsolved although human rights
activists have blamed moscow backed authorities in chechnya
human rights watch said that grave abuses continued in war torn chechnya and
the predominantly muslim regions of the north caucasus as authorities battled an
intensifying islamist insurgency
counterterrorism operations continue to involve grave human rights violations
such as torture enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions impunity
for these abuses is rampant it said
although the kremlin said in april that it was ending decade long federal
antiterror operation in chechnya the announcement had no bearing on the
authorities use of torture and illegal detention
medvedev had raised hopes among liberals by stressing the need to improve
democracy and human rights and granting an interview in april to opposition
newspaper novaya gazeta which has been highly critical of putin
human rights watch noted that russia had eased some restrictions on civil
society groups under medvedev but it added that ngos were still subject to
excessive unwarranted government scrutiny and interference
us intel chiefs admit failure in christmas attack
washington jan afp
the us counter terrorism system collectively failed in not stopping
christmas day attack on us bound airliner two top us intelligence chiefs
acknowledged wednesday
national intelligence director dennis blair and michael leiter head of the
national counter terrorism center jointly made the admission at congressional
hearing on the attack which was foiled by passengers and crew of the northwest
jet
the young nigerian charged in the attack umar farouk abdulmutallab should not
have stepped on to plane on christmas day the counter terrorism system
collectively failed leiter said
afghan forces to number by afghan un body
kabul jan afp
an afghan un body on wednesday approved government recommendation to boost
police and army numbers to about by mid step towards reaching
strong security force
the joint coordination and monitoring board chaired by afghan officials and the
un to oversee reform development and financing in afghanistan met with an eye
on major conference in london later this month
afghan finance minister omar zakhailwal said the defence and interior ministry
proposals for the army and police were both approved
the defence ministry proposal was that their troops must reach the strength
of by mid next year now they have more than troops zakhailwal
told reporters
the number of police must reach by mid next year both the proposals
were fortunately approved the proposals will be put forward in london he
added there are currently about police in afghanistan
defence minister abdul rahim wardak said in november that the goal was to
eventually pump up the forces to soldiers and police
asked if this too would be proposed in london on january when governments
meet to discuss afghanistan zakhailwal said yes confirm it
there are currently about foreign troops under nato and us command in
afghanistan helping fight worsening taliban insurgency and local security
forces have suffered from lack of funding training and willing recruits
president hamid karzai has however vowed to take over the nation security from
foreign troops by the end of his new five year term
us president barack obama has said that american forces will start drawing down
in july
the panel also agreed wednesday to back new peace initiative aimed at
reconciling with taliban militants battling the government
zakhailwal did not give details of the new peace scheme which is also expected
to be presented at the london conference
karzai announced his plans for the peace initiative day before taliban gunmen
and suicide bombers launched co ordinated attacks across kabul on monday
killing five people in one of the worst attacks on the capital
football loew calls time on frings germany career
paris jan afp
germany midfielder torsten frings was told on wednesday his international career
is over after national coach joachim loew said the werder bremen star will play
no part in his world cup plans
the year old won caps and scored goals for his country but has been
out of favour since october and loew told the midfielder he now plays no
role in his plans for june tournament in south africa
the defensive midfielder last international appearance was the defeat to
norway in friendly in february
frings was at the centre of row in october when captain michael ballack
accused loew of not showing his senior players respect after frings was dropped
for the win over russia in world cup qualifier match
rights report pillories african leaders over icc
nairobi jan afp
african leaders have sent their people an alarming message by siding with
sudanese president omar al beshir over his victims human rights watch hrw
said in its annual report wednesday
the page review of human rights in the world criticised african governments
for blocking justice mechanisms and warned that rights activists were
increasingly threatened
the new york based watchdog hailed the march international criminal court
icc arrest warrant against beshir for war crimes and crimes against humanity
in sudan strife wracked darfur region as major development
but in an introduction entitled the abusers reaction intensifying attacks
on human rights defenders organisations and institutions it also deplored
the african union decision to stand by beshir
one would have wanted african leaders to applaud the move after all the world
had dithered for more than five years as the people of darfur faced mass murder
and forced displacement the report said
unfortunately some african leaders seemed less troubled by the slaughter of
ordinary african people than by the audacious prospect that sitting african
leader might actually be brought to justice for these horrendous crimes it
said
the nadir came during the african union summit held in july in sirte
libya hrw said the au led by some of the continent worst autocrats
began accusing the court of unfairly targeting africans in reality these
leaders were cynically trying to protect one of their own
human rights watch which reviewed the status of human righhts in around sub
saharan countries also highlighted government obstruction or misuse of justice
mechanisms at national level
yachting oracle is french yacht alinghi owner
valencia spain jan afp
the billionaire owner of america cup defender alinghi on wednesday hit back at
oracle by accusing the us challenger of using french boat in violation of
nationality rules
oracle and alinghi are due to face off in best of three event from february
in the spanish mediterranean port of valencia to decide the rd edition of
yachting most prestigious competition
but the event remains in doubt after oracle last week asked the supreme court of
the state of new york to rule on whether alinghi had infringed nationality rules
by allegedly using us made sails for its catamaran
our sails are based on swiss technology while the american team is using
french boat built by french designers alinghi owner ernesto bertarelli told
news conference
oracle yacht was built in california and designed jointly by french team vplp
bertarelli called on oracle to drop its latest legal case against alinghi
threatening in turn to take action against the us syndicate over its alleged
violation of the nationality rules
the swiss biotech billionaire also again accused oracle owned by us billionaire
larry ellison of attempting to win the cup in the courts rather than on the
water
if we can use our sails we can win he said if larry ellison wins in
court ll bring the champagne to new york and tell him well done larry
the two sides have been arguing over the rules of the america cup in court
since the swiss syndicate won the last edition in valencia in
the new york court ruled in april that the cup should be settled by one on one
multihull duel between the two sides next february instead of the traditional
fully fledged regatta involving several teams
oracle on tuesday also rejected the rules for the rd edition of the race
proposed by alinghi arguing they are heavily biased in favour the swiss
defender and said they would ask jury to revise the rules before the match
the latest disputes further diminish the chances that the multihull duel between
the two sides will take place valencia next month
urgent us intel chiefs admit failure in christmas attack
washington jan afp
the us counter terrorism system collectively failed in not stopping
christmas day attack on us bound airliner two top us intelligence chiefs
acknowledged wednesday
zambia gang rape threat opinion ruling party
lusaka jan afp
zambia ruling party on wednesday said threats by its youth league leader to
gang rape an opposition female politician were opinion and not policy but
stopped short of condemning the remarks
as mmd we do not allow violence and the youth that has threatened violent
attacks on anybody was expressing his opinion said movement for multiparty
democracy chairman michael mabenga
as ruling party we do not condone violence whether from our party or the
opposition
the party youth leader chris chalwe on tuesday threatened to rape edith
nawakwi the head of small opposition party unless she stopped criticising
president rupiah banda leadership ahead of next year elections
we are going to gang rape nawakwi if she continues attacking the president
said chalwe who currently faces assault charges for beating journalists last
year
nawakwi leader of the forum for democracy and development fdd told afp that
she would blame banda if his supporters harassed her
there is no way the youths can be saying such without the authority of the
higher organs of the party if anything happens to me and my family it will be
banda to blame because he is the one authorizing violence nawakwi said
morgan stanley notches profit in final quarter
new york jan afp
leading us bank morgan stanley said wednesday it posted fourth quarter
net profit of million dollars chalking up annual income to billion
dollars
the profit was equivalent to cents share lower than the cents expected
by most wall street analysts
morgan stanley chief executive and president james gorman said he was
confident that the bank would improve its position further as the economy
recovered from the worst recession in decades
while the environment remains extremely fluid we are confident the steps we
have taken this year will ensure that morgan stanley remains well positioned to
serve our clients seize new opportunities in the markets and deliver superior
returns to our shareholders in the years ahead he said
alert
us counterterror chief admits collective failure in christmas attack
coalition calls on berlin to protect holocaust mass graves
berlin jan afp
coalition of international jewish leaders convened in berlin wednesday to urge
the german government to help ensure the preservation of mass graves of
holocaust victims in eastern europe
the rabbis jewish community activists and historical preservationists said they
were facing race against time to prevent the permanent destruction of the
final resting places of millions of victims of the nazis
the campaign focuses on those killed not in the concentration camps but in the
holocaust by bullets carried out by nazi ss paramilitary death squads and
their collaborators in countries including today belarus ukraine and russia
the director of the berlin office of the american jewish committee ajc deidre
berger said the fall of the berlin wall years ago created the possibility to
complete this sacred work
we ve become aware of the fact that these killing fields have remained largely
untouched said berger who hosted the meeting
it is time to seal the graves it is time to protect the graves it is time to
commemorate the victims it is time to rescue where possible the histories and
memories of those whose lives were brutally extinguished
the us government special envoy for holocaust issues christian kennedy
called tending to the nazi era mass graves of eastern europe one of the great
unfinished tasks of world war ii and signalled his support
the coalition is seeking to establish pilot projects with the financial and
political support of berlin
what we would hope is that the german government could play leading role
here said the ajc director of international jewish affairs in washington
rabbi andrew baker
think the sense of mission here to complete something that should have been
done decades ago is obvious
the project would identify what are believed to be thousands of unidentified
mass graves of holocaust victims with the help of witnesses seal them with
concrete to prevent plundering and desecration and memorialise them
baker did not specify how much funding would be needed but the executive
director of the lo tishkach european jewish cemeteries initiative in brussels
philip carmel estimated the cost to seal each grave in the low tens of
thousands of dollars range
two more french found dead after haiti quake
port au prince jan afp
french rescue workers found the bodies of two more french citizens wednesday in
the ruins of port au prince home destroyed in last week catastrophic
earthquake an official said
earlier the french foreign ministry had given french death toll of with
still missing out of population of french citizens living in haiti
around half of them dual haitian french nationals
samuel bernes member of french civil defence unit sent to haiti to help in
rescue and recovery operations said the two women had been found dead in rubble
on rue marcadier near the city french lycee high school
the school has been converted into field hospital since last week quake
which is believed to have killed at least people and left more than
million homeless in the region around the devastated capital
suspect arrested in killings of eight people in us police
washington jan afp
police on wednesday said they arrested man suspected of shooting to death
eight people in the southern state of virginia
the suspect christopher speight turned himself in to police following
massive manhunt through rural central virginia police statement said
police said in statement that speight surrendered without incident cornered
him in woods west of the historic town of appomattox after they discovered seven
bodies at rural home and another victim nearby
at est gmt this morning christopher speight walked in the
security perimeter and turned himself in without incident charges are pending
he was taken into custody and is being debriefed police statement said
more than sheriff department deputies police officers and state troopers
worked throughout the night to find speight cordoning off section of the
woods where he was hiding
the suspect on tuesday fired at helicopter called in to aid with the search
at least four shots hit the craft forcing it to make an emergency landing
officials said
nearby residence was evacuated as the manhunt grew ever tenser
the incident unfolded around noon on tuesday when deputy from the appomattox
sheriff office responded to an emergency call about an injured man lying on
country road
the victims were male and female according to police who did not give motive
for the attack although local media reported the wife and the son of the
suspect were among the dead
police issued call for information about two cars owned by the suspect tan
ford escort and green ford pickup truck
the office of recently elected virginia governor robert mcdonnell described the
shootings as horrific tragedy according to statement carried by the
washington post
the shooting came less than two years after virginia was rocked by the fatal
shooting of people at virginia tech by student gunman seung hui cho
appomattox small town in the south of the state is best known as the venue
for the surrender of confederate general robert lee that ended the us civil
war
courts delay verdict on addax gabon manager trial
port gentil gabon jan afp
gabon district court wednesday delayed its verdict in the slander trial of
gerard hautavoine managing director of the local subsidiary of swiss oil
company addax petroleum
the district court in the city of port gentil western gabon gave no
explanation for putting the date back to january only the judges know why
hautavoine lawyer jean pierre akumbu oluna told afp
we trust the law if it was not able to conclude the case we can not force it
to do so said armand dagraca hautavoine former co managing director at
addax gabon who lodged the complaint
hautavoine was sentenced to three months in prison for slander in november last
year and won provisional release after serving two weeks of his sentence he
was also ordered to pay euros dollars which he is appealing
he was also charged with contempt of court after leaving the court before the
session was over judicial sources said
the chinese company sinopec bought addax petroleum in august for
million dollars million euros
addax gabon has existed in the equatorial african country since producing
barrels of oil per day
us envoy stresses syria role in mideast peace
damascus jan afp
us envoy george mitchell on wednesday met president bashar al assad and said
syria had an important role to play in the search for peace in the middle east
mitchell reaffirmed president barack obama and secretary of state hillary
clinton commitment to comprehensive peace in the middle east that includes
peace between israel and palestinians israel and syria israel and lebanon
