the initiative which must be passed by congress would prevent banks or finance
institutions owning investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity
funds
obama also unveiled new proposal to limit the consolidation of the finance
sector
while the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago it
is still operating under the exact same rules that led to its near collapse
obama said
my resolve to reform the system is only strengthened when see return to old
practices at some of the very firms fighting reform obama said
it is exactly this kind of irresponsibility that makes clear reform is
necessary
obama vowed to close loopholes that let finance firms trade risky products like
credit default swaps without oversight to identify system wide risks that could
pass meltdown and strengthen capital and liquidity markets
facing widespread voter anger over state take overs of the troubled firms obama
earlier this month proposed tax on big banks and warned the banking industry
not to block or water down his planned regulatory reforms
world bank waives haiti debt payments
washington jan afp
the world bank said thursday it was waiving haiti debt payments for the next
five years due to the devastation caused by the earthquake and is studying
efforts to cancel the nation remaining debt
in statement the washington based multilateral lender said haiti debt to
the world bank which is interest free is about million dollars or around
four percent of haiti total external debt
due to the crisis caused by the earthquake we are waiving any payments on this
debt for the next five years and at the same time we are working to find way
forward to cancel the remaining debt the statement said
last week the world bank said it planned to provide an additional million
dollars in emergency aid to haiti after the january earthquake ravaged the
impoverished nation officials fear up to people were killed
since the development lender said it has provided grants interest free
aid of million dollars to the caribbean nation the poorest country in
the western hemisphere
that amount does not include the million dollars in grants announced on
january it said
the world bank and its sibling institution the international monetary fund
classify haiti among heavily indebted poor countries that are eligible for
debt forgiveness haiti was granted billion dollars in debt relief last
june
bur vs rl
orthodox jew headgear sparked plane bomb scare source
new york jan afp
an orthodox jew prayer rituals including wearing sacred box on his head
triggered bomb scare thursday aboard us passenger plane security source
told afp
the chautauqua airlines jet bound from new york to louisville kentucky
diverted to philadelphia international airport after what authorities described
as security incident caused by disruptive passenger
it appears that it was misunderstanding with religious passenger wearing
religious item and praying loudly the source who spoke on condition of
anonymity said
the flight crew deemed guess his actions and his item he was using to be
suspicious and diverted the airplane the security source said
the false alert reflected jitters throughout the us air travel network since an
alleged attempt by nigerian man to set off bomb on december on
northwest airlines plane bound from amsterdam to detroit
newark international airport was paralyzed earlier this month when man made an
unauthorized entry into secure zone just to give departing passenger
last kiss it turned out
another security scare occurred at california airport when transportation
security administration tsa agents found suspicious liquids on passenger
the substance was later found to be honey
greg soule spokesman for the tsa said that the passenger in thursday
incident was questioned by law enforcement officers on the ground and that the
plane was searched with negative findings
there an individual in custody an fbi spokesman in philadelphia told afp
there was security concern but can comment on that
initial reports on cbs television referred to male passenger who strapped
wire from his fingers to his head
the security source told afp that the passenger in question was in fact wearing
phylactery the box containing bible verses that orthodox jews strap around
their head as part of their rituals
he was praying loudly and using this device the source said what we re
hearing is there was language barrier
the misunderstanding echoed string of embarrassing incidents involving muslims
or people of middle eastern appearance over recent years
in an architect was prevented by security staff from boarding jetblue
flight from new york to california while wearing shirt with arabic writing
on the front
raed jarrar who is of iraqi descent said he was told by one official that
going to an airport with shirt in arabic script is like going to bank and
wearing shirt that says robber
the shirt actually said in arabic we will not be silent an anti war slogan
in the middle east
us airways was initially reported to be the airline involved in thursday
scare chautauqua airlines operates in partnership with us airways as well as
other major brands
alpine skiing maier happy with decision to quit
kitzbuhel austria jan afp
former olympic and world cup champion hermann maier insisted on thursday that he
would not go back on his decision to quit skiing despite the upcoming vancouver
olympics
maier won four olympic medals in his illustrious career including two
golds in six world championship medals as well as capturing four overall
world cup titles
am very satisfied with my decision have retired at young age in top
shape and now have the time to do other things in life other than skiing
said the man nicknamed herminator
maier quit in october failing to recover from knee injury sustained in march
nigerian activists stage anti yar adua rally in lagos
lagos jan afp
about people marched through lagos on thursday to demand absent president
umaru yar adua hand full powers to his deputy goodluck jonathan ending power
vacuum in nigeria
the crowd marched to the lagos state governor office and handed in letter
demanding yar adua who has been in hospital in saudi arabia for two months
step down
the demonstrators carried placards reading enough of the offshore president
and go umaru go
we have ship now without captain plane without pilot said joe okei
odumakin leader of nigeria campaign for democracy
yar adua has spent nearly days in jeddah for treatment for acute
pericarditis an inflammation of the membrane covering the heart
similar rally was held in the capital abuja last week led by nobel literature
laureate wole soyinka
calls for yar adua to step down or transfer power to jonathan the vice
president have mounted in recent weeks
opposition lawyers have petitioned the high court in abuja to have jonathan
sworn in with full powers on the ground of yar adua incapacity
the same court ruled last week in separate case that jonathan can carry out
presidential duties in yar adua absence without formal transfer of power
bombardier says it wins hungarian rail contract
budapest jan afp
the hungarian state railway company mav has ordered new locomotives from
bombardier of canada in deal worth approximately million euros million
dollars bombadier announced thursday
the contract was financed with loan from the european investment bank and
germany investment financing bank kfw ipex according to the announcement
debt ridden mav is to purchase locomotives with an option for further
engines the first is scheduled to arrive to hungary in the spring of
the new traxx ac models were to service domestic passenger traffic as well
as transport between hungary and austria
mav was expected to have accumulated debt of billion forints
million euros by the end of mav deputy head laszlo atal told hungarian
newswire mti earlier
wall street dives on obama bank plan
new york jan afp
wall street stocks plunged thursday with the blue chip dow index down two
percent after president barack obama unveiled plans to limit the size and scope
of us banks and finance firms
the dow jones industrial average slumped points percent to
at gmt its biggest drop in the new year as obama moved to roll
back corporate excess and limit dangerous risk taking
the announcement was the latest attempt by the white house to harness popular
fury at massive wall street bonuses and tight credit markets which is adding up
to an angry political mood in crucial election year
the nasdaq composite fell points percent to and the
standard amp poor index shed points percent to
eu to push for new mideast peace talks spain
madrid jan afp
the spanish eu presidency pledged thursday to make every effort to ensure that
middle east peace negotiations resume as soon as possible
our aim as the rotating eu presidency in these important times is to make
efforts so that the negotiations and return to the table can come about as
soon as possible spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos
it important that the parties meet but it is up to the two sides to decide
when and how he told joint news conference with visiting palestinian prime
minister salam fayad ahead of talks between the two
spain has always had important role to play in the middle east as far as the
process is concerned and it is important for spain to continue to play
role said fayad
it should not be forgotten that this is where the peace process began madrid
is and must continue to be an integral part of the terms of reference of the
peace process if that peace process is capable of delivering what needs to be
delivered
middle east peace efforts are currently at standstill
the talks which resumed in after seven year hiatus came to halt again
when israel launched military offensive against the gaza strip in late
the palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless
there is complete freeze on jewish construction in the west bank including
east jerusalem
the eu is the world biggest aid donor to the palestinians but holds limited
influence over the israeli government
moratinos former eu envoy to the middle east said spain would provide
million euros million dollars in aid to the palestinians in
similar amount to that granted by madrid last year
he said said he saw in fayad desire to use the diplomatic way as the unique
instrument for the palestinians to properly defend their aspirations and
their rights and of course spain as the rotating president of the european
union will do all it can to push forward and accelerate this negotiation
process
fayad is also scheduled to hold talks thursday with spanish prime minister jose
luis rodriguez zapatero
urgent wall street dives on obama bank plan
new york jan afp
wall street stocks plunged thursday with the blue chip dow index down two
percent after president barack obama unveiled plans to limit the size and scope
of us banks and finance firms
biathlon world cup win for sednev
anterselva italy jan afp
sergei sednev of ukraine won the men biathlon world cup race here on thursday
his first career triumph
he covered the kilometres in min sec and didn miss shot to finish
sec ahead of austria daniel mesotitsch and alexis boeuf of france sec off
the pace
boeuf started well down the field but stormed through to make the podium
for the first time after previous best of th two years ago in south korea
many top names including overall standings leaders evgeny ustyugov of russia
and emil hegle svendsen of norway skipped the event as they prepare for next
month olympics
olympic pursuit champion vincent defrasne is still struggling for form after he
could only come in st having missed three targets
slovak police arrest man planning bombing at church
bratislava jan afp
slovak police said thursday they had foiled home made bomb attack on church
charging man in what they said was the country first ever terrorism case
we have arrested year old man from eastern slovakia who had produced an
explosive planned to plant it in church and set if off during mass police
chief jan packa told reporters
the suspect pharmacology graduate with criminal record for theft and
narcotics offences allegedly wanted to discourage people from going to church
dubbing religion way to control people and slow down progress packa said
about percent of slovakia million people are catholics
packa said that police found the explosives when they searched the man house
he had tested them in forest several times and they wopuld have had the
effect of hand grenade he said
packa said the man did not seem to be part of group or adhere to religious
belief
if convicted he could face up to years in prison
afp europe news summary
paris jan afp
top european news stories on thursday
britain iraq military politics inquiry
london britain was keen to avoid the war in iraq its foreign secretary at
the time said insisting ministers made the best judgements possible in the
run up to the invasion
eu aerospace defence company airbus germany
berlin representatives from seven cash strapped nato powers met in berlin in an
attempt to hammer out way forward for the troubled military transport
plane german officials said
attacks aviation security eu us talks
toledo spain the eu will decide on us request that europe install body
scanners at its airports after studies into their effects on health and privacy
are completed eu officials said
germany history holocaust
berlin german police raided the flat of an year old man suspected of having
helped murder hundreds of thousands of jews and others while guard at the nazi
death camp belzec prosecutors said
lifestyle france china russia tourism luxury sector
paris chinese tourists to france increased their spending massively on tax free
luxury goods last year despite the economic crisis overtaking cash strapped
russians report found
russia poland us defence missile
moscow russia said it had no plans to boost the arsenal of its baltic fleet in
response to poland announcement that the united states will deploy patriot
type missiles close to russian borders
france us film polanski family
paris filmmaker roman polanski wife defended him in rare interview
published saying the when he was convicted of having sex with year
old girl was crazy age of sexual permissiveness
lifestyle britain mideast china india islam science history
london the debt owed by european scholars to their muslim counterparts on
everything from water pumps and blood circulation to engineering and map making
was unveiled in london exhibition
norway road accident animal
oslo small town in norway has decided to leave the blood of moose killed in
traffic accidents on the road in order to raise motorists awareness about the
dangers posed by the hulking animals
alert
dow slumps two percent on obama bank limit plans
consumer confidence edges up from low base eu
brussels jan afp
the european union on thursday published consumer confidence indicator for the
first time showing slight improvement in sentiment from low base across the
countries that use the euro
the flash consumer confidence indicator for january released by the european
commission came in at minus up from minus in december in the
eurozone and minus up from minus for the full nation eu
while the index is being published on standalone basis for the first time
sentiment data has long been gathered for the purposes of providing regular
collated economic analysis hence the comparisons
angolan parliament approves constitution for stronger president
luanda jan afp
angola parliament thursday approved the nation first constitution cementing
the power of president jose eduardo dos santos who has ruled africa top oil
producer for years
the charter passed with votes in the seat parliament announced fernando
da piedade dias dos santos president of the national assembly drawing loud
applause and chants of angola angola in the chamber
today is day of victory and happiness for the people of angola long live the
angolan people he said
the session was boycotted by the main opposition unita party which claimed the
constitutional process was flawed and undermined democracy
the document which still needs final approval from the constitutional court and
dos santos replaces an interim constitutional law in effect in the southern
african country since
its articles set out how the country is to be governed and defines the
rights of citizens but notably strengthens the powers of the president
under the new system the president will be chosen from the top of the list of
the winning party in parliamentary elections which suggests that angolans will
not vote again until when the current legislative session ends
bornito de sousa lawmaker from the ruling mpla who headed the constitutional
commission told parliament the charter was reflection of equality of good
sense and true representation of the electorate
when asked if the election would take place in he told afp yes think
so but this is political decision
dos santos will choose his own vice president who would operate as his deputy
with hands on role in the government in place of prime minister
parliament can call for the president to be removed from office but such
motion must be referred to the supreme court whose members along with all
other courts are appointed by the president
on wednesday the opposition national union for the total independence of angola
unita walked out of parliament and on thursday the party boycotted the final
vote
we walked out because we didn want to be part of this constitution which is
complete fraud unita parliamentarian raul danda told afp on wednesday
this is very sad day for democracy in angola and that why we are all
wearing black because it like going to the graveyard to bury democracy
unita opposes number of clauses including the party list system for
president and said that mpla was using its percent majority in parliament to
push through changes that undermine democracy
dos santos has been accused of clinging to power the year old took over
following the death of angola first president agostinho neto in he faced
only one round in elections which were aborted after triggering new
phase of civil war
presidential elections were expected last year and analysts said the ruling
popular movement for the liberation of angola mpla appeared to have the most
to gain from the new electoral system
the delay would appear to favour the mpla but it could provide unita with an
opportunity to elect new leader who could mount serious challenge to dos
santos economist intelligent unit african specialist edward george told afp
jose patrocinio of the angolan human rights organisation omunga said the
process has been accelerated in recent days violating the rights of citizens
and disrespecting the normal elements of political ethics
us envoy in israel in bid to relaunch peace process
jerusalem jan afp
us envoy george mitchell met israeli officials on thursday in his latest bid to
restart talks with palestinians as the two sides sparred over future border
arrangements
president shimon peres said before meeting mitchell that time was of the
essence warning that negative forces could intervene if no progress is made
in peace efforts
the leaders have to keep the agenda of peace open and serious not to let
others come and again frustrate what was already achieved or what is in the air
hanging for further efforts he told reporters
mitchell said he shared the president assessment about the seriousness of the
situation and vowed to pursue us president barack obama objective of
comprehensive peace in the region
recognising the complexities and difficulties outstanding we will pursue until
we achieve that objective that my purpose here today mitchell said
the us envoy also met defence minister ehud barak and foreign minister avigdor
lieberman he was scheduled to hold talks with prime minister benjamin netanyahu
later before meeting palestinian president mahmud abbas on friday
already slow moving negotiations between israel and the palestinians came to
complete standstill more than year ago during israel massive offensive on
the islamist hamas ruled gaza strip
abbas has repeatedly said he would not return to the negotiating table until
israel imposes complete halt to settlement construction in the occupied
territories but recently appeared open to freeze for fixed period of time
netanyahu meanwhile said on wednesday that israel would maintain security
presence along the eastern border of any future palestinian state raising
tensions and further complicating us led peace efforts
in his first public comment on the issue of borders since assuming office last
year netanyahu said such presence between the west bank and jordan was
crucial to prevent the smuggling of rockets and other weapons
the palestinians categorically rejected the suggestion
we will not accept anything less than completely sovereign palestinian state
on all the territories with its own borders resources and airspace and we will
not accept any israeli presence either military or civilian on our land
abbas spokesman nabil abu rudeina told afp
netanyahu remarks place more obstacles in the way of restarting
negotiations these remarks reveal the solution that netanyahu wants and the
kind of state he would be satisfied with abu rudeina said
abbas has refused to renew negotiations short of full though possibly
temporary israeli halt of settlement activity in the west bank including
annexed east jerusalem which the palestinians consider their capital
this visit by mitchell is an attempt to save what remains of the peace
process which israel has paralysed abu rudeina said
this is because of israel refusal to completely halt settlements in all the
palestinian territories occupied in especially in jerusalem which we
consider red line in any negotiations he added
there is no palestinian state without jerusalem
netanyahu has refused to limit construction in jerusalem which israel considers
its eternal undivided capital but has said he is willing to meet abbas face
to face at any time
the palestinians are piling demand upon demand they should be told fair and
square get into the tent and start negotiating for peace netanyahu said on
wednesday
before travelling to israel mitchell held talks in lebanon and syria where he
stressed that both countries had key role to play in comprehensive middle
east peace
wall street falls hard as economic jitters intensify
new york jan afp
wall street stocks tumbled for second consecutive session thursday amid
growing fears that china may cool global economic growth and fears of tougher
bank regulations weighed on the sector
the dow jones industrial average slumped points percent to
extending losses after big drop on wednesday
the nasdaq composite shed points percent to and the
standard amp poor index dropped points percent to
the market opened mixed as traders digested strong financial results from
banking giant goldman sachs and an increase in initial claims for jobless
insurance benefits
fred dickson market strategist at da davidson amp co said that overshadowing
some of the domestic news were efforts of the chinese central bank to slow the
chinese economy
right now traders appear bit nervous digesting huge amount of global news
namely the aftermath of the earthquake tragedy in haiti and concerns that
slowing economic growth in china could spill over globally and dampen an
economic recovery just as it slowly gets under way he said
but dickson said the news may just be an excuse for the market to consolidate
and catch its breath after series of strong gains
we remain bullish recognizing that periods of above average stock market price
volatility are to be expected especially after percent rally over the
prior months he said
global markets were mainly lower after chinese government data showed on
thursday that the country red hot economy expanded by percent in but
inflation surged towards the end of the year highlighting the risks of
overheating
concerns over credit squeeze in china and fears over the fledgling global
economic recovery had sent jitters through the stock markets on wednesday
patrick hare at briefing com said the new banking regulation proposals were
also sending shivers through the markets
if enacted proposals of this kind would curtail big banks earnings power
which is not positive consideration for their investors he said
among stocks in focus goldman sachs slumped percent to even though
the investment giant blew past most forecasts with net profit of billion
dollars in the fourth quarter and billion dollars for the full year
other banks were also under heavy selling pressure following mixed set of
earnings for the sector and new caution about regulatory efforts
bank of america slipped percent to and jpmorgan chase dropped
percent to dollars
elsewhere starbucks rose percent to dollars after the coffee chain
profits topped forecasts
in technology ebay rallied percent to after the online auction group
delivered strong earnings report led by its paypal unit
bonds firmed on investor caution the yield on the year us treasury bond
eased to percent from percent wednesday and that on the year bond
eased to percent from percent bond yields and prices move in
opposite directions
nokia says to offer free maps to smartphone users
helsinki jan afp
nokia the world top mobile phone maker will offer free maps and navigation
services for its smartphone users it said thursday in move that puts pressure
on players in the gps industry
we are offering global car and pedestrian navigation in countries in
languages ovi maps becomes completely free from this moment onwards jukka
hosio director of nokia services marketing told press conference in
helsinki
the move follows and takes step further similar play by google which said
last year it would offer free navigation to users of motorola droid cellphone
model in the united states
with its global move nokia increases the pressure on key companies in the
global navigation market like tom tom and garmin which are likely to suffer
from an increase in smartphones that support navigation applications
consultancy firm isupply said in september it expected the gps market to fall
for the first time in after years of booming growth and to fall off in the
longer term afer rebound this year and next
it expected the number of smartphones with navigation programs to exceed the
number of gps devices by whereas today there are twice as many gps devices
compared to smartphones
shares in tom tom slumped on the news from nokia and were down percent at
euros in amsterdam at gmt while garmin shed percent to
dollars in new york
for nokia the move is an attempt to boost its own position in the global
smartphone market where it has lost market share to rivals like apple iphone
and rim blackberry
in mid october the finnish firm posted its first loss in decade hit in part
by tough competition in the top end smartphone market
suppose nokia thought it could stop some of the slide it has seen in the
smartphone market with this move said fim analyst michael schroeder
this is such tangible useful service that the fact that it is being offered
for free will likely attract buyers but will it be enough to stop the decline
in nokia market share don know schroeder said
work stoppages at nokia site in india company
helsinki jan afp
around workers at nokia manufacturing site in india have organized work
stoppages this week the world top mobile phone maker said thursday adding
client deliveries had not been disrupted
there have been some disruptions of work or work stoppages spokeswoman eija
riitta huovinen told afp adding that the stoppages did not affect all
production at the plant nokia largest manufacturing site globally
the disruptions are protest to around workers being suspended due to
serious misconduct huovinen said declining to specify what the suspended
workers had done
there has been no impact on client deliveries we have global network she
said adding that products made in the plant in chennai are targeted primarily
at the indian and asian markets
nokia was trying to resolve the issue as quickly as possible huovinen said
adding it was impossible to say how long the disruptions would continue and
declining to speculate on their financial impact
football tunisia lead cameroon at half time
lubango angola jan afp
amine chermiti headed first minute goal to give tunisia half time lead
over cameroon thursday in the final africa cup of nations group match for both
teams
balkan nations must improve rights record watchdog
belgrade jan afp
balkan countries hoping to join the eu must do more to improve their human
rights record including holding war crimes suspects accountable major rights
group said thursday
human rights watch surveyed bosnia croatia serbia and kosovo in its annual
report on the region
if governments in the balkans are serious about european integration they need
to give greater priority to human rights wanda troszczynska van genderen
western balkans researcher for the group said in statement
the watchdog registered mixed progress in the region on war crimes
accountability abuses against ethnic minorities and obstacles to the return of
