washington jan afp
president barack obama lashed out thursday at obscene corporate bonuses and
proposed fee to raise billion dollars from major banks to recover every
single dime used to rescue wall street
we want our money back and we are going to get it obama said terming
massive government bailout of the banking industry as distasteful though
necessary adding it left the sector with heavy duty to taxpayers
my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when see reports of
massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their
continued existence to the american people obama said
the plan if approved by congress would raise billion dollars from big
financial institutions over years including foreign banks operating in the
united states but is already facing opposition from the financial sector
obama blamed big banks and finance houses for causing the economic crisis with
high risk lending practices and blind rush to enrich themselves
firms took reckless risks in pursuit of short term profits and soaring bonuses
triggering financial crisis that nearly pulled the economy into second great
depression obama said
the administration unveiled the tax as wall street firms gear up to announce
huge bonuses for top executives move sure to inflame the public as americans
face percent unemployment and deep economic misery
the title of the initiative the financial crisis responsibility fee makes it
clear the administration is placing blame on the sector for the worst economic
meltdown since the great depression
yet valerie jarrett senior adviser to the president insisted that we re not
trying to pick fight with banks
it very solid solution to make sure taxpayers are made whole she told
msnbc television
the obama administration has repeatedly said it would try to recoup the full
cost of the billion dollar troubled asset relief program tarp which was
used to bail out banks and also tapped to aid crippled automakers
senior us official said the program which has seen some money already paid
back would now effectively leave the government around billion dollars out
of pocket
it is in many ways offensive for those at our major financial institutions to
suggest they can today afford excessive often outlandish bonuses for their top
executives but cannot repay taxpayers the official said
but the financial services roundtable which represents top financial
services firms said the fee was strictly political
two thirds of the tarp investment from banks has already been repaid with
large profit to the taxpayer said the roundtable president and chief
executive steve bartlett
this proposed tax will do nothing more than stifle economic recovery and
encumber more pressing concerns such as covering new regulatory costs
the administration proposal which requires congressional approval will apply
only to firms with over billion dollars in assets applying fee of
percent of liabilities of the companies
it will cover around firms including that are us based and to which
are us subsidies of foreign companies it will last years or as long as
necessary to recoup losses under tarp
no small or community banks would be covered by the plan
even though auto firms general motors and chrysler also got money from the tarp
fund they will not have to pay the fee officials said
according to treasury report to congress published on monday the government
had committed billion dollars of tarp funds as of january
of that figure billion dollars have been disbursed banks have already
repaid billion dollars of those funds leaving billion dollars
outstanding
sarkozy calls for international conference to rebuild haiti
paris jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy called thursday for an international conference
on rebuilding haiti after powerful earthquake devastated the impoverished
caribbean nation
france will work with the united states canada and brazil to quickly organise
donors meeting for the reconstruction of haiti former french colony he
said
haiti must not remain battered country sarkozy said following meeting
with top ministers on the crisis in haiti at the elysee palace
this new tragedy can be the last if the international community mobilises to
help the country he said
sarkozy said he would speak to us president barack obama in the coming hours and
propose the united states brazil canada take the initiative to organise
major international conference for reconstruction and development in haiti
france has flown rescuers sniffer dogs and tonnes of aid and rescue material
to help survivors in haiti where prime minister jean max bellerive has said the
death toll from tuesday quake may be as high as
the magnitude quake was the strongest to hit haiti in more than century
sarkozy said he planned to travel to haiti in the coming weeks for talks with
president rene preval on how we can very quickly after this catastrophe
rebuild this battered country
france is planning to send more rescue teams to haiti along with two navy ships
carrying medical equipment as part of its effort to help the french speaking
island nation
americans willing to sacrifice privacy for security poll
washington jan afp
americans find us anti terror policies too lax and believe that the government
should err toward increasing security over individual privacy new survey
found thursday
more than six respondents in ten to quinnipiac university poll percent
to percent said us anti terror policies lean too far toward protecting
civil rights rather than national security
by to percent respondents said they support greater use of airport body
scanners despite the privacy concerns voiced by some opponents and by
percent to percent they said they would support new airport security
measures even if it led to longer travel delays
the poll also found that public support for the war in afghanistan has risen and
now is at percent in favor and percent against measurably stronger than
in just december when it was at percent in favor and percent against
respondents said they disagreed with president barack obama plan to try
suspected terrorists in civilian courts expressing preference for military
tribunals by to percent
but to percent americans polled said they support obama overall
handling of terror
the american public struck decidedly more hawkish tone in the weeks since the
failed christmas day bombing plot against us airplane saying by to
percent that law enforcement should be able to single out people who look
middle eastern for screening and questions
more than three out of four said they believe it very likely percent or
somewhat likely percent that there will be terror attack with large
number of casualties in the united states in the near future
the survey of registered us voters was conducted from january to and
had margin of error of plus or minus percentage points
israel says ambassador unharmed in jordan bomb attack
jerusalem jan afp
israel ambassador to jordan escaped unharmed in bomb attack on his car in
jordan on thursday the israeli foreign ministry said in statement
in the afternoon there was bomb attack on the car of the ambassador there
were no injuries and the convoy continued on its way the ministry said
it said jordanian authorities were investigating the incident
the israeli embassy convoy left amman and was headed for the hussein bridge
when the blast occurred an israeli diplomat told afp in amman by telephone
referring to the crossing between between jordan and the israeli occupied west
bank also known as allenby bridge
the bridge stands about kilometres miles west of amman
israeli diplomats often travel home on thursdays the start of the muslim
weekend in jordan and return on sundays to jordan which has had peace treaty
with the jewish state since
us norway urge azerbaijan to probe alleged muslim crackdown
baku jan afp
the united states and norway on thursday urged authorities in ex soviet
azerbaijan to investigate claims of police crackdown on muslim worshippers in
remote village
in joint statement the embassies of both countries also protested that their
diplomats had been denied access to the village of bananyar in the nakhchivan
region an enclave separate from the rest of azerbaijan on the border with iran
the embassies said they had raised with the government of azerbaijan concerns
about the situation in the nakhchivani village of bananyar
they said diplomats had travelled to the village on wednesday but were prevented
from entering and were verbally threatened
we jointly call upon the government to fully investigate the incidents in
bananyar village and to provide protection to foreign diplomats working in
azerbaijan the statement said
local media and rights groups have accused police of beating and arresting
dozens of people in the village after they observed the shiite religious holiday
of ashura late last month
officials have denied any crackdown took place
rights groups have frequently accused azerbaijan of persecuting devout muslims
because of fears islamic influence will threaten the authorities grip on power
azerbaijan an oil rich mainly shiite muslim country of million on the
caspian sea has warned of rising threat from islamic militants and jailed
dozens of alleged extremists for planning attacks
authorities last year passed law banning foreign citizens from leading prayers
in azerbaijani mosques and requiring leaders of religious organisations to be
approved by the state
battle weary ireland voters calm over latest crisis
belfast jan afp
after decades of political and civil strife the latest turmoil to hit northern
ireland is seen by many in belfast as just another hurdle in the path to peace
albeit involving more sex than usual
already tense negotiations on transferring policing powers from london to the
devolved government here were made more crucial when first minister peter
robinson stepped aside monday over sex and cash scandal involving his wife
the crisis has sparked concerns that the power sharing administration could
collapse but for many people in northern ireland the saga is simply the
latest of line of distractions in the gradual return to normality
it doesn make any difference it happened so many times before as long
as there peace don think it ll ever go back to the paramilitaries in
control said clare hunter from southeast belfast
northern ireland endured three decades of sectarian violence over british rule
of the province before landmark peace accords in and since then power has
been gradually devolved to belfast
there have been numerous stops and starts including the suspension of the
northern ireland assembly following allegations of spy ring by republican
paramilitaries in but the process of entrenching peace has continued
car bomb attack on catholic policeman last week and other attempted attacks
as well as the shootings of two british soldiers and policeman last year
raised the spectre of return to violence
but for many this is not an option
we can go back it as simple as that said year old man from
andersonstown largely republican catholic suburb in west belfast that saw
considerable unrest in the and
declining to give his name he told afp it always been like this jumping
from one crisis to the next it going to continue for the next few years until
things stabilise
that is not say there isn deep anger at the politicians at the centre of the
scandal notably robinson wife iris her affair with teenager and the loans
she arranged for him ended her career and threatened her husband
she an embarrassment to herself and her family said gillian hamill out
shopping in the affluent south belfast suburb of castlereagh where iris
robinson was councillor before she quit over the revelations this week
jean garrett from stormont in east belfast said she had done good job
as politician but added she has made an absolute mess of everything
garrett and her husband noel had voted for the robinsons democratic unionist
party dup the pro london protestant party which shares power in the devolved
administration with the catholic republican sinn fein
but they were disgusted by the revelations from such an outwardly christian
couple even though peter robinson denied knowledge of his wife financial
dealings and has ordered an investigation which he hopes will clear his name
it all depends on the inquiry but will never vote dup again never said
noel garrett
one possible outcome of the crisis could be fresh elections in northern ireland
and some commentators believe the dup could lose its position as the province
biggest party to sinn fein
while strong critic of the republican party jean garrett said she would
accept sinn fein dominance adding genuinely don think it will fall
apart think they ll pull it together
many are adamant that the robinsons scandal and sinn fein leader gerry adams
shocking revelations last month of child abuse in his family do not detract
from dup sinn fein talks on policing the final part of devolution
iris robinson has resigned and now the politicians should just get back to the
table and move forward both sections of the community do not want to go
back said nuala back in west belfast
ve been in bomb explosions pregnant with my daughter and no we don want
to go back you want to stay focused you want to move forward
us retail sales drop in december
washington jan afp
us retail sales fell unexpectedly in december capping year showing the worst
decline on record official data showed thursday in disappointing report on
crucial driver of economic growth
the commerce department said adjusted retail sales were billion dollars
decline of percent from november instead of the consensus analyst forecast
of percent increase
the consumer didn hit the stores nearly as much as thought this holiday
season and that another indication that the recovery is likely to be
sluggish said joel naroff of naroff economic advisors
for all of retail sales key indicator of consumer spending that
drives two thirds of the country economic activity plunged percent from
year ago as consumers snapped wallets shut in the face of high unemployment
and economic turmoil
it was the steepest annual plunge since the data series began in sales had
slipped mere percent in the first full year of the worst recession
in decades
the surprise month over month decline in december followed sharp half point
upward revision to november rise to percent the department revised the
october sales increase up notch to percent
ian shepherdson of high frequency economics said the november and december data
taken together are not bad at all
we need the january data for final verdict on the holiday season but so far
it looks better than the december headlines alone suggest he said
separately weak unemployment data underlined the painful conditions in the
labor market where the unemployment rate held at percent in december and
employers cut jobs
the seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in
the week ending january stood at an increase of from the
previous week revised figure
the economy has shed more than seven million jobs since the economy officially
entered recession in december
the december retail sales report offered signs of improvement that would be key
to underpinning the fragile economic recovery
on month basis retail sales rose hefty percent from december
near the height of the global financial crisis
and fourth quarter sales were up percent from the prior quarter suggesting
positive contribution by household spending to gross domestic product gdp
broad measure of goods and services output
the department is scheduled to release the initial estimate of fourth quarter
gdp on january
the world largest economy grew percent in the third quarter after year
of contraction
real consumer spending is still on track to expand by just under percent in
the fourth quarter of and real gdp is still on track to expand by close to
percent said brian bethune chief us financial economist at ihs global
insight
although the full year retail sales decline marked the steepest falloff on
record the fourth quarter data broadly trended upward though auto and gasoline
sales were flat
there is an unusual amount of noise in these monthly numbers related to recent
sharp increases in gasoline prices which tended to push up sales in the past
two months and major discounting by retailers electronics suppliers and auto
companies at the end of the year in order keep inventories lean bethune said
he predicted the volatility would probably become even more apparent in
friday official data on december consumer prices
airbus aircraft partners hold crunch talks
london jan afp
the seven partner countries involved in the multi billion euro dollar airbus
plane project met in london on thursday amid doubts about the future of
the delayed and over budget programme
spokesman for the british defence ministry told afp that an official statement
was unlikely before gmt
france has vowed to do everything to save the airbus military transport
aircraft project but germany appears reluctant to invest more cash and britain
said that it remains committed but not at any cost
turkey has already refused to plough more money into the programme which is
three years behind schedule and is estimated to need more than five billion
euros and up to billion euros more to be completed
belgium luxembourg and spain are the three other countries in the project and
set to take part in the meeting at the british ministry of defence
european aircraft maker airbus and its parent group the european aeronautic
defence and space company eads were not invited to the talks
airbus has said it could pull the plug on the project unless it gets extra money
pledges by the end of the month warning that the failure of the programme
could hurt the viability of the company as whole
airbus has employees around europe with some working on the
transporter that can carry troops armoured vehicles and helicopters
the seven client nations have ordered total of aircraft for some
billion euros billion dollars
french defence minister herve morin told rfi radio on thursday that paris was
ready to share the burden of the extra costs
not bothered by the fact that we would have to pay part of the cost
overruns because believe this is magnificent programme morin said
we must still negotiate and these additional costs have to be shared between
the countries and the manufacturer he added
morin is hoping for cost sharing agreement before the end of january and ahead
of nato defence ministers meeting in istanbul on february and
but germany has shown little appetite to shell out more money
we are striving to find solution in accordance with the signed contract and
we will not be rushed german government spokesman ulrich wilhelm told press
conference on wednesday
britain defence ministry said on tuesday that it remains committed to the
project but not at any cost
we regard the ongoing negotiations as the best means by which to determine
more deliverable programme ministry spokesman said at the time
germany and france are the project biggest customers with and orders
respectively which means berlin position will be crucial
key to moving forward from here is germany not britain said howard
wheeldon senior strategist at brokerage firm bgc partners
guess that germany will be put under degree of pressure today but nothing
will emerge until they get back home and report back to german chancellor angela
merkel
overall still expect deal on price and quantity to emerge over the
next days or so
the heads of airbus and eads ramped up pressure on the governments this week to
pledge more money for the programme by the end of january warning that the
future of the company depended on it
eads chief executive louis gallois also expressed disappointment that thursday
meeting did not include the plane maker
now it high time for decision airbus chief executive tom enders said on
tuesday adding that the viability of airbus as whole was at stake
golf joburg open first round scores
johannesburg jan afp
leading first round scores in joburg open at par royal johannesburg and
kensington golf club on thursday rsa unless noted
neil schietekat
darren clarke nir simon khan eng jbe kruger david lynn eng charl
schwartzel
alastair forsyth sco
clodomiro carranza arg barry lane eng andrew mcarthur sco danny
willett eng matthew zions aus
paul broadhurst eng alejandro canizares esp adilson da silva bra
soren hansen den raphael jacquelin fra joost luiten ned henrik nystrom
swe john parry eng carl suneson esp peter whiteford sco
china sending lower level rep to six power meet on iran
washington jan afp
china will send lower level representative to meeting of six world powers on
iran nuclear program state department spokesman said thursday
we are aware that the representation will be below the level of political
director state department spokesman philip crowley said it will be useful
meeting to have regardless of the chinese representation
us secretary of state hillary clinton announced monday that the six powers
veto wielding un security council members britain china france russia and the
united states plus germany would meet over the weekend in new york to
consider new sanctions against tehran
the united states and other western powers fear that iran is developing fissile
material for nuclear weapons under the cover of uranium enrichment program the
islamic republic says is aimed at providing civilian nuclear energy
washington and the three european members of the group have been trying for
months to persuade russia and china to set aside their reluctance to impose new
sanctions
last week china ambassador to the united nations reiterated beijing
position that it was premature to adopt sanctions against iran insisting that
diplomacy still had role to play in getting tehran to the negotiating table
we re gonna work on this issue with our partners said crowley
we continue to engage china and other countries to convince them that the
urgency of the situation requires not only additional engagement but additional
support for additional pressure which obviously china is still working
through
the state department political chief bill burns has been in moscow since
wednesday to prepare for saturday meeting
he is scheduled to travel to madrid friday to meet with his counterparts from
the european union and with foreign minister miguel angel moratinos of spain
which holds the rotating eu presidency
the news that unlike other members of the so called china would not send
the political director of its foreign ministry comes after us internet giant
google charged it had been hit by massive cyber attacks coming from china
clinton reacted to that development by saying she would seek an explanation from
beijing the us diplomatic chief is expected to address the issue during
speech on internet freedom next week
cs jm oh
many foreigners missing in haiti quake
paris jan afp
foreign countries tried anxiously thursday to obtain news of their nationals
reported missing in haiti devastating earthquake
following is breakdown of foreigners feared or known to be casualties of
tuesday disaster which is thought to have killed some people many
others had not reported in to their respective embassies because of poor
communications
brazil at least brazilian peacekeepers were killed in the haiti earthquake
according to the country military
netherlands the dutch foreign ministry said it is seriously concerned about
nine dutch people thought to have been in hotels which collapsed
poland one student missing according to foreign ministry spokesman
portugal two citizens are so far uncontactable according to the department for
portuguese communities
france two french national an engineer and sales executive who were working
in haiti were killed by the earthquake their employer said
spain spanish worker with the european commission delegation in haiti is
missing spokesman said
thailand the foreign ministry said one thai missionary is missing
mauritius the foreign ministry said it had no news of two mauritian citizens
one serving with the united nations and the other in the tourist sector
philippines three philippine peacekeepers including two female sergeants are
missing although fourth who had been declared missing was rescued on thursday
from collapsed building
senegal two policemen serving with the un mission are missing the senegalese
gendarmerie said
united nations some un staffers are still missing after the quake which
killed at least united nations chief ban ki moon said
iraq election officials bar nearly candidates from poll
baghdad jan afp
iraq election organisers on thursday barred nearly politicians and parties
from contesting the country upcoming national poll including many linked to
saddam hussein outlawed baath party
we decided this afternoon to exclude around names and political entities
from the list of candidates said hamdia husseini senior official with the
independent high electoral commission ihec
husseini did not specifically mention the baath party but said the excluded
candidates fell under the law of the committee of justice and integrity which
bars saddam loyalists from taking part in elections
she said those who had been barred had three days to appeal the decision during
which time they could also present an alternative list of names to contest the
poll
the decision follows the exclusion on january of politicians and parties
linked to saddam and is likely to be seen as further blow for national
reconciliation efforts
among the most prominent to be banned was saleh al mutlak secular sunni
lawmaker who heads the national dialogue front
mahmud othman an independent kurdish mp said that decision would harm efforts
towards national reconciliation seen as key to reducing instability in
country that was engulfed in sectarian bloodshed in and
baath party membership was key condition for advancement in public sector
employment during saddam regime
us drags philippines to wto over whiskey gin tax dispute
washington jan afp
the united states said thursday that it was hauling the philippines to the world
trade organization over dispute on taxes imposed by the asian nation on
imported whiskey and gin
the us trade representative office ustr charged in statement that the
philippines taxed imported distilled spirits at significantly higher rates than
domestic distilled spirits
washington had requested for wto dispute settlement consultations with the
philippines over the issue it said
we are going to the wto today because we want to ensure that us producers have
access to their markets overseas ustr ron kirk said
although the united states has raised this issue many times the philippines
continues to tax distilled spirits from the united states at much higher rates
than distilled spirits produced in the philippines he said
we urge the philippine government to eliminate that discrepancy and level the
playing field for our exports immediately
wto rules generally bar members from discriminating between imported and
domestic products in their tax regimes
the us government has raised concerns over the issue with the philippines in the
past several years both bilaterally and in wto forums
in addition the european union had requested wto dispute settlement
consultations on these taxes in july and the united states joined these
consultations and participated in meetings between the eu and the philippines in
october
the first step in wto dispute is for both parties to consult formally
if consultations fail to resolve the dispute the united states will be entitled
to request that panel be established to determine whether the philippines is
acting consistently with its wto obligations
between and us distilled spirits exports worldwide averaged more than
one billion dollars per year making it one of the world largest exporters
of spirits ustr data showed
us russia on the verge of nuclear treaty burns
moscow jan afp
the united states and russia are on the verge of new nuclear disarmament
treaty after months of talks us under secretary of state william burns said in
comments released on thursday
we re on the verge of completing the agreement and optimistic that
we ll complete it soon burns said according to the transcript of an interview
released by the us embassy in moscow as he was visiting russia
washington and moscow have been seeking to agree the terms of new pact to
replace the strategic arms reduction treaty start which expired on
december
us president barack obama and his russian counterpart dmitry medvedev had
originally sought to have new treaty by december but talks have gotten
bogged down in recent months amid disagreements over various issues
many of the disagreements have centred on monitoring measures such as us
inspections of russian missile facilities which moscow does not want to be
included in the new treaty
there do remain few issues related mainly to verification that have to be
sorted through but believe they will be sorted through in the coming weeks
burns said
burns added that new us russian treaty would be very important signal to
the rest of the world especially ahead of may review conference on the
nuclear non proliferation treaty
burns who gave the interview to the russian news website gazeta ru did not
elaborate on the results of his two day visit to moscow
the obama administration has made efforts to replace start key element of its
initiative to reset us russian relations that were badly strained during the
previous administration of george bush
start seen as cornerstone of cold war era strategic arms control imposed
strict limits on the us and russian nuclear arsenals and set up system of
mutual inspections and data exhcanges to ensure compliance
the broad outlines of the new treaty have been clear since summit in july
when obama and medvedev agreed that the replacement treaty should slash the
number of warheads on either side to between and
the two presidents also agreed that the number of carriers capable of
delivering the warheads should be limited to between and
the united states has said it currently has some nuclear warheads while
russia is believed to have about
