some eu employees and contract staff at the european commission
parliament council and court will only receive percent rise despite
having taken strike and other industrial action backed by staff unions
some member states have cut their own civil servants salaries in bid to
reduce swelling national deficits sometimes under orders from brussels where
the commission also acts as the bloc budgetary watchdog
the commission argues that its original figure of percent pay rise was
calculated through complicated but legally binding mechanism averaging pay
rises in brussels and eight eu countries
court judgment in near identical case backed the commission stance
twenty eu nations backed decision to invoke an unusual written procedure last
month to cut the raise seven others abstained but all face the same court
complaint which targets the collective entity for the the european
council
the commission said it had asked for speedy decision by the european court for
case which could otherwise trundle on for over year
the row could nonetheless disrupt eu parliament confirmation hearings beginning
on monday for barroso new team
the two key figures there are the eu new foreign affairs supremo britain
catherine ashton and top financial services overlord france michel barnier
both of whom face grillings from opponents in the parliament
basic gross monthly salaries for eu commission staff range from euros
dollars for secretary to around euros for department head
the commissioners themselves get even more plus housing and other perks
the new european union president herman van rompuy of belgium is to earn more
than us president barack obama
french opposition takes stand against burqa ban
paris jan afp
france opposition socialists on wednesday came out against calls for law
banning the full islamic veil but said muslim women must be discouraged from
wearing the burqa
the announcement by the socialists came after president nicolas sarkozy left
open the prospect of legislation to ban the veil and ahead of much awaited
parliament report on the loaded issue to be released at the end of the month
home to europe biggest muslim minority france set up the special panel six
months ago to consider whether law should be enacted to bar muslim women from
wearing the full veil known as burqa or niqab
the socialist party opposes the wearing of the burqa but is not favourable to
legal ban which would amount to an inconsistent ad hoc law its spokesman
benoit hamon said on rtl radio
we are totally opposed to the burqa the burqa is prison for women and has no
place in the french republic he said but an ad hoc law would not have the
anticipated effect
the socialist spokesman nevertheless called for action
the wearing of the full veil reflects shift away from certain type of
moderate islam he said adding we must use all of the legal instruments at
our disposal to ensure that this behaviour is condemned when it is encouraged
sarkozy himself has said that the burqa is not welcome in france but has not
stated publicly whether legislation should be enacted
the leader of sarkozy party in parliament jean francois cope has said he
will propose bill this month to ban the wearing of the burqa in public to
defend france from extremists
but many politicians from the left and right have cautioned that draconian law
banning the head to toe veil would be difficult to enforce and probably face
challenge in the european rights court
if tomorrow the burqa is not allowed in public places how would the police act
to convince woman to abandon her burqa would they force her to take it off
asked hamon
sarkozy this week raised the prospect of non binding parliamentary resolution
against the burqa and said he was not opposed to legislation members of his
right wing ump party told afp
critics argue that specific law enacted to ban the full veil would be
tantamount to using sledgehammer to swat fly only women wear the full
veil in france according to the interior ministry and more than half of those
live in the paris region
opponents warn that law would stigmatise france six million muslims who
already feel targeted in the government sponsored debate on national identity
which has exposed fears about islam
interior minister brice hortefeux last month told the parliamentary panel that
the burqa should be outlawed in public services such as the post office
government offices local administrations and in public transport
the law would invoke security reasons for the ban and the requirement that
citizens uncover their faces in public
in france passed law banning headscarves and any other conspicuous
religious symbols in state schools after long running debate on how far it was
willing to go to accommodate islam in its strictly secular society
pope celebrates epiphany mass under tightened security
vatican city jan afp
pope benedict xvi on wednesday celebrated mass in st peter basilica under
tightened security two weeks after woman knocked him to the floor at the start
of christmas eve mass
despite wider security cordon the year old pontiff approached the barriers
several times as he progressed up the central aisle to greet pilgrims greeting
babies and blessing some adults
under the new security measures the barriers have been moved back about one
metre three feet on each side of the aisle to allow more time and space for
bodyguards to react if someone again tried to approach the pope
benedict was not hurt in the december assault by woman said to have mental
health problems and has since carried out heavy christmas schedule with
apparent serenity
wednesday mass marked epiphany the end of the roman catholic church
christmas season celebrating the visit of the three kings or magi to the
infant jesus
also wednesday the pope prayed the angelus according to tradition from window
of his vatican apartment overlooking st peter square crowded with thousands
of pilgrims and tourists in bright sunshine
the pope had around his shoulders red velvet short cape with white ermine trim
that he often wears during the christmas period despite protests from animal
rights groups
avatar smashes china opening day record state media
beijing jan afp
science fiction blockbuster avatar grossed more than million yuan
million dollars on its opening day in china this week setting new record
state media reported wednesday
james cameron ground breaking epic surpassed zhang yimou simple
noodle story remake of the coen brothers blood simple which earned
million yuan when it opened on december xinhua news agency said
avatar which has already grossed one billion dollars worldwide opened on
monday in china to enthusiastic crowds of filmgoers
the movie tells the story of paralyzed war veteran jake who is sent on
mission from earth to the planet pandora where he falls in love with blue
humanoid named neytiri of the alien na vi race
the tickets for today were sold out before am song lichen the
communications director for the china national film museum where avatar is
being shown on the country largest imax screen told xinhua
the agency quoted spokesman for distributor china film group corporation weng
li as saying avatar was likely to surpass disaster flick as the
highest grossing film of all time in china
china currently allows foreign films to be shown in local movie theatres
every year on revenue sharing basis according to chinafilm com government
linked website
five policemen killed wounded in dagestan report
moscow jan afp
suicide bomber set off powerful car bomb outside police headquarters in
the restive russian republic of dagestan killing five policemen and wounding
an interior ministry spokesman said
the am explosion occurred in front of the traffic police headquarters in
makhachkala the dagestan capital investigators said in statement calling
the perpetrator suicide bomber
the bomber car was stopped by guards at the entrance into the police
headquarters and police car drove out to meet it they said praising the
policemen for their vigilance and selflessness
realising that he wouldn be able to get into the headquarters the suicide
bomber triggered an explosive device the investigative committee said
five policemen were killed in the blast along with the suicide bomber dagestan
interior ministry spokesman mark tolchinsky told afp further policemen and
six civilians were hospitalized with injuries he said
an earlier report on ntv television said that seven people were killed in the
blast including one victim who died in hospital
television footage showed deep crater outside the police headquarters roofs
blown off neighbouring buildings and piles of bricks lying on the ground cars
parked on the street were crumpled by the blast
the unidentified suicide bomber who drove the car alone was young man in
dark clothing according to witnesses the deputy head of public security police
in dagestan interior ministry magomed isayev told ntv television
concerns have mounted over increased militant attacks throughout russia
caucasus region where islamist militants have been battling pro kremlin local
authorities and russian security forces in sporadic insurgency
japan double atomic bomb survivor dies family
tokyo jan afp
tsutomu yamaguchi who survived the us atomic bombings of both hiroshima and
nagasaki in to tell the world of the horrors has succumbed to stomach
cancer his family said wednesday
yamaguchi the only person officially recognised as survivor of the two
attacks died on monday at hospital in nagasaki
thanked my father for leaving us with the treasure that was his effort to
call for world peace his daughter toshiko yamasaki told afp by telephone
he is survived by son two daughters and five grandchildren
it is to our regret that we have lost valuable story teller nagasaki mayor
tomihisa taue said in statement his painful experience of being bombed twice
in hiroshima and nagasaki drew worldwide attention
yamaguchi then an engineer at the mitsubishi heavy industries shipyard in
nagasaki was exposed to the first atomic blast in hiroshima on august
when he was there for work assignment
he was on street about two kilometres miles from ground zero
with severe burns to his arms he returned to nagasaki two days later to join
his family
yamaguchi was exposed to the second atomic explosion the next day when he was
reporting about the hiroshima holocaust at his work place about three
kilometers two miles from the epicentre
thought the mushroom cloud had followed me there he said later
the atomic blasts killed an estimated people in hiroshima and
others in nagaski leaving numerous others with ailments linked to radioactive
irradiation
yamaguchi started to publicly talk about his atomic bomb experience only in
when he lost his second son who survived the nagaski bombing as an infant
to cancer
in he was featured in documentary film entitled niju hibaku double
irradiation with seven others who were known to have survived the two attacks
the documentary was screened at the united nations headquarters in new york the
same year featuring yamaguchi as guest speaker
he became the only person officially recognised as double bomb survivor last
year when the city of nagasaki acknowledged he was also bombed in hiroshima
yamaguchi was diagnosed with stomach cancer in and he was hospitalised last
august
think this will be my last lecture hope the baton will be passed to other
people yamaguchi told seminar in nagasaki last june according to media
reports
on december us director james cameron of the titanic and avatar fame
called on him to outline his idea of shooting film on atomic bombs his
daughter said
my father had eagerly waited for the director to come he seemed to gather
strength after the meeting yamasaki said he was heard saying my mission is
over
suicide bomb kills four in pakistan as violence hits kashmir
muzaffarabad pakistan jan afp
suicide bomber killed four pakistani soldiers wednesday near the demarcation
line in disputed kashmir as gunmen opened fire in the main city in the indian
administered zone
competing claims over the himalayan region have sparked two wars between the
nuclear armed rivals and distracted islamabad from taliban rebellion along the
afghan border while bomb attacks in pakistan run kashmir are rising
the suicide attacker detonated his explosives outside barracks in tarar khal
southeast of muzaffarabad the capital of pakistani administered kashmir
it was suicide attack the target was the army barracks we have collected
evidence and body parts of the attacker which proves that it was suicide
attack police official irfan masaood kishvi said
sardar khurshid another senior police officer in the area said four soldiers
were killed and wounded in the blast
on the other side of the demarcation line wednesday suspected militants opened
fire and hurled grenades in the main market area of indian kashmir summer
capital srinagar killing at least one police officer
police said one or two gunmen had taken up positions in city centre hotel
which was quickly surrounded by heavily armed members of the security forces
we are trying our best to evacuate people police officer at the scene told
afp three civilians were reported injured in the fighting
local resident joginder singh said gunmen appeared to be directing their fire at
paramilitary camp near the hotel in srinagar lal chowk district
pro pakistan militant group jamiat ul mujahedin said it was behind the
assault with the group spokesman jameel ahmed telling afp three of our men
have launched fidayeen suicide attack in lal chowk
kashmir was split into two in the bloody aftermath of independence from british
rule over the subcontinent in india and pakistan each control part of
the mountainous land but both claim the region in full
tens of thousands of people have been killed in nearly year revolt in
indian kashmir where muslim militants have fought against new delhi rule
india has accused pakistan of arming and funding militants waging the insurgency
in kashmir although islamabad denies all charges
it was unclear if the two attacks in the himalayan region wednesday were
related with pakistani officials blaming the suicide blast on the taliban
the terrorists have attacked the pakistan army and the entire kashmiri nation
condemns this attack said raja farooq haider the elected leader of pakistani
kashmir confirming the toll of four dead and wounded
foreign hand is involved in all these incidents these people are not coming
across the line of control but from our western borders he said
wednesday attack was the fourth suicide bombing in pakistani kashmir since
june on december bomber killed seven people outside mosque in
muzaffarabad and analysts warn that the taliban are extending their reach
if they are coming from let say these tribal areas then perhaps the
underlying assumption may be that they want to expand their activities to build
greater pressure said security analyst hasan askari
militants have killed more than people across pakistan since july
until recently concentrating attacks in the northwest the neighbouring tribal
belt and cities rather than the northern mountains and the east
the united states is putting pressure on pakistan to do more to eliminate
taliban and al qaeda linked militants along its border with afghanistan but the
pakistani military still sees india as the primary threat to the country
regional peace is linked with the resolution of the kashmir dispute and peace
can only come if the issue is resolved president asif ali zardari said on
visit to pakistani administered kashmir on tuesday
relations between india and pakistan deteriorated drastically after the november
attacks on mumbai which new delhi blamed on pakistani militants and
accused official agencies of abetting
yen dips as japanese finance minister steps down
london jan afp
the yen slid against the dollar on wednesday as japan finance minister stepped
down for health reasons while the euro edged higher despite stubborn worries
over debt ridden greece analysts said
in london morning deals the dollar increased to yen from yen in new
york late on tuesday
the european single currency firmed to dollars from dollars on
tuesday
japan prime minister yukio hatoyama said wednesday he had picked his deputy
naoto kan as finance minister replacing year old hirohisa fujii who is
stepping down for health reasons
hatoyama said fujii resignation was unavoidable due to exhaustion and high
blood pressure caused by months of hard work drawing up the national budget
change in personnel will have little impact on the yen but evidence of
internal disagreement on fiscal policy could well become yen negative factor
said economist derek halpenny at the bank of tokyo mitsubishi ufj
the euro recovered after falling as low as dollars on wednesday after the
european union indicated that it would not come to the rescue of greece
greece struggling with double digit public deficit cannot expect the
european union to save it the european central bank chief economist said in
an interview published on wednesday
greece problems are decidedly greek as prime minister george papandreou has
himself admitted juergen stark told the italian financial daily il sole
ore
the markets are fooling themselves if they think that at some point the other
eu member states will put their hands in their pockets to save greece
he spoke as officials from the ecb and from the european commission began
mission in athens to examine with greek officials crisis programme to
stabilise national greek finances which the greek government is to submit to the
eu commission by the end of january
the comments underline the pressure the euro faces this year from worsening
public finances in the periphery said lloyds banking group economist kenneth
broux
greece deficit the difference between spending on central welfare and local
government budgets and revenues is estimated to be percent of gross
domestic product
investors were meanwhile awaiting the publication wednesday of key us economic
data and minutes from the federal open market committee december monetary
policy meeting
markets are also eagerly awaiting us non farm payrolls nfp data due on friday
in london on wednesday the euro was changing hands at dollars against
dollars late on tuesday yen pounds and
swiss francs
the dollar stood at yen and swiss francs
the pound was at dollars
on the london bullion market the price of gold increased to dollars an
ounce from dollars on tuesday
snow brings mayhem to britain as europe shivers
london jan afp
soldiers helped rescue stranded drivers wednesday as britain most brutal
winter in decades caused chaos for travellers and bitterly cold temperatures
cloaked much of europe
millions of people in london and the south east of england woke up to heavy snow
after storms spread overnight from scotland and the north of england where they
have caused problems for days
the current cold weather started in mid december and it has been the most
prolonged spell of freezing conditions across the uk since december
forecasters the met office said
bitterly cold and wintry weather is forecast to continue for the next couple of
weeks with further snowfall expected at times
southern counties could be hit by to centimetres inches of snow the met
office said
much of the rest of europe was also in the grip of freezing temperatures due to
weather front from siberia
norway was among the coldest with temperatures in the central town of roeros
falling to degrees celsius
in the netherlands the ice was thick enough for the year first natural
skating event to be held up to people were expected to take to the ice at
the henschoter lake in utrecht wednesday to enjoy two kilometre mile
circuit
snow and ice in france caused traffic problems in the west and southwest
including in bordeaux forecasters expected more snow later and normandy in the
northwest was expected to be hardest hit
hungary was covered in snow and motorists in the capital budapest were warned
not to use their cars parts of italy saw torrential rain and officials feared
the swollen tiber river could threaten rome in the coming days
in britain transport links in densely populated southern and central parts of
england were snarled up by the cold weather
the military was called in to help the drivers of up to cars which were
stranded overnight on major road in hampshire southern england
the military have been working with us all night they re helping people to get
out of their cars and moving the cars to the side of the road so gritters can
get through spokeswoman for the local police said
runways at london gatwick stansted and cardiff airports were closed as staff
battled to clear snow
many trains were delayed or cancelled eurostar the rail link which connects
britain with france and belgium ran full service but warned of possible
delays and cancellations
travellers could exchange their tickets for another day eurostar suffered
several days of shutdowns before christmas after trains broke down due to bad
weather conditions
hundreds of schools around britain were closed and football matches called off
including wednesday night league cup semi final between manchester united and
manchester city
hospitals were also affected all non urgent operations in oxford were
cancelled
the disruption turned the spotlight on infrastructure services in britain
the national grid issued gas balancing alert for only the second time ever
on monday after percent surge in demand because of the weather
this was an indication that it might be necessary to cut supplies or get hold of
more in order to avoid what it called gas supply emergency spokeswoman
stressed that supplies were in place to cope with demand
but the main opposition conservatives have obtained figures which they said
showed britain had only eight days of supplies in storage based on current
usage levels
meanwhile the operators of britain biggest rock salt mine winsford in
cheshire northwest england said it faced unprecedented demand
we would obviously like to be able to fulfil every authority needs in full
but the reality of the situation at present is that that is simply not
possible the winsford salt union said
we are therefore working closely with customers and with government agencies
to try to prioritise deliveries according to local needs
german salt company esco which supplies across europe also said it would
prioritise provision for motorways and major roads
european stocks mixed before us data
london jan afp
europe main stock markets traded narrowly mixed on wednesday as investors
banked recent profits awaiting the release of major us economic data analysts
said
london benchmark ftse index fell by percent to stand at
points in late morning deals
frankfurt dax edged up percent to points and in paris the cac
gained percent to
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares dipped percent in value
to reach
investors in europe decided to take some profits off the table today after
gains of over two percent since the start of the week said joshua raymond
market strategist at financial betting firm city index
what we have seen is simple profit taking as precaution with the markets
entering into raft of crucial economic data over the next three days he
added
dealers said that markets were in particular awaiting friday report on us
payrolls and unemployment for better sense of the economic recovery few
predict the december report will show the first job gains in two years
before then investors were looking ahead to the publication on wednesday of us
service sector activity as well as employment figures
minutes from the last us monetary policy meeting of will also be released
as investors counted on strong recovery from the worst economic slump since
the london ftse index closed at month high point on tuesday
however it fell on wednesday with the losers list headed by marks and spencer
the british food to clothes retailer share price slid percent to
pence as the group latest quarterly sales data undershot analyst forecasts
dealers said
across the atlantic wall street shares wobbled to mixed finish on tuesday as
traders paused after an opening new year rally
the dow jones industrial average lost percent to close at points
one day after jump of percent to kick off trading
the technology heavy nasdaq composite eked out gain of percent to
points and the broad market standard amp poor index gained
percent to
in japan the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index closed up
percent to points on wednesday
following the close japan prime minister yukio hatoyama said he had picked
his deputy naoto kan as finance minister to replace year old hirohisa fujii
who is stepping down for health reasons
iceland may hold referendum on icesave bill on feb pm aide
reykjavik jan afp
iceland parliament will cut short its winter break to debate on friday whether
to hold referendum on february on the vetoed icesave bill prime
minister aide told afp on wednesday
parliament was originally scheduled to reconvene on january
on tuesday iceland president olafur ragnar grimsson refused to sign the
icesave bill referring the issue to referendum instead because of public
opposition
the icesave bill narrowly approved by the icelandic parliament on december
calls for the payout of billion euros billion dollars to the british
and dutch governments for having compensated more than british and dutch
savers who lost money in the collapse of the icelandic bank
the payout has stirred up resentment among many ordinary icelanders hard hit by
their country financial meltdown in october
about people about quarter of the electorate have signed
petition protesting against the bill and calling for referendum
but the president veto has led to one credit rating agency downgrading
iceland credit standing and to another warning that it could do so
china to keep inflation in check in central bank
beijing jan afp
china central bank said wednesday it aimed to keep inflation in check in
while maintaining its pro growth monetary policy as the world third largest
economy recovers from the financial crisis
in statement outlining its tasks for this year the people bank of china
said it would adjust its policies at appropriate times and by appropriate
levels based on economic and financial market changes in china and overseas
the central bank said it would seek to ensure stable prices and to
effectively manage inflation expectations as well as keep the yuan exchange
rate basically stable according to the statement posted on its website
the bank did not elaborate on how it would carry out its plans
the consumer price index key measure of inflation rose in november after an
almost year long bout of deflation stoking expectations that beijing could
start tightening monetary policy in the coming months
central bank governor zhou xiaochuan said last week that would be key
year in the nation battle to overcome the global crisis and he pledged
relaxed credit policy to boost economic recovery
to handle financial macro economic adjustments well will be of great importance
in effectively warding off the attacks of the global financial crisis and
solidifying the basis of economic recovery zhou said
france stands by airbus military plane project
paris jan afp
france insisted on wednesday that the european eads group must complete the
airbus military transport plane project after report that it wants to
pull out triggered sharp words from germany
french defence minister herve morin said that the much delayed contract must be
fulfilled and insisted that client countries share the unforeseen extra costs
which he estimated at five billion euros
we want this programme to be completed morin said in televised interview on
wednesday we have put all possible technological efforts into this plane
he had said earlier that talk of dropping the project was bid by the european
aeronautic defence and space company to gain leverage in refinancing talks and
pointed the finger at the german government which is reportedly reluctant to
share the mounting costs
according to the financial times deutschland ftd on tuesday airbus chief
thomas enders told group of airbus directors he no longer believed in
pursuing the programme and had begun to prepare for it to be terminated
morin said on tuesday that this was way of putting pressure on the german
government to help pay for completion of the project
developing the innovative high tech aircraft has proved much more costly and
time consuming than first planned when the project was agreed in by nato
members germany spain france britain turkey belgium and luxembourg
total of aircraft had been ordered for about billion euros billion
dollars but clients are being asked to put up billions more to cover unexpected
costs
on wednesday morin criticised airbus the pride of the french aeronautic
industry for its handling of the civil contract for the planes
he said it should have drawn up specific military contract in which there
are always clauses that allow the price to be re evaluated because we know there
are always cost increases with military programmes
the german defence ministry has said it aims to continue with the programme and
hoped talks could be wrapped up the end of the month but morin told bfm radio
that germany was sticking point in the search for extra funding
source close to the german defence ministry was quoted on wednesday in the
newspaper handelsblatt as saying it is out of the question for us to pay more
than the million euros extra stipulated in the contract
us drone attack kills four in pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
us missiles flattened an extremist fort used as training centre in pakistan
tribal belt on wednesday killing four militants in the fourth such strike in
week pakistani officials said
the attack targeted the mud brick fort in sanzali village about kilometres
miles west of miranshah the main town in north waziristan and was the
fourth suspected us missile attack in the tribal district in week
one us drone fired two missiles it was taliban training centre we have
reports that four militants were killed and five wounded pakistani security
official told afp on condition of anonymity
two intelligence officials and local administration official confirmed the
attack and the same death toll
the area is stronghold of hafiz gul bahadur who fought with the taliban when
us led troops invaded afghanistan and is reputed to control up to fighters
