president barack obama will on thursday propose new limits on the size of us
banks after spending billions of tax payer dollars to bail out to big to fail
firms senior official said
the measures would place sweeping new restrictions on sector seen as
responsible for sparking the largest recession since the great depression of the
couple of months ago the president began discussing with his economic team
the need to include in financial reform more specific and stronger provisions to
limit the size and scope of financial institutions the official told afp
the proposals aim to cut down on excessive risk taking among the largest
banks after crises at handful of the largest firms threatened to choke the
flow of cash to the us economy
on thursday the president will announce series of measures that address
size and scope of the institutions the official said
obama first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue banks that were
exposed to massive loses on the sub prime mortgage market
the official who asked not to be named said the new measures would limit
banks ability to use their own cash to buy such financial instruments so
called proprietary trading
the proposal will include size and complexity limits specifically on
proprietary trading the source said
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
it is both in the country interests and ultimately in the financial
industry interest to have updated rules of the road to prevent abuse and
excess
the new measures will have to be approved by congress before becoming law
tennis serena sprints into open third round
melbourne jan afp
defending champion serena williams showed she was still the one to beat at this
year australian open when she crushed petra kvitova of the czech republic
in the second round on thursday
easyjet announces sales rise expects positive year
london jan afp
british budget airline easyjet on thursday announced percent jump in
revenue during the group first quarter as it attracted more passengers from
outside britain
the airline also forecast significant rise in profits this year as it
shrugged off recent travel disruption caused by freezing weather conditions
revenue climbed to million pounds million euros million dollars
in the three months to december compared to year earlier easyjet
said in trading statement
passenger numbers increased by percent to million in the company first
quarter
the majority of the growth reflects the continued development of non uk
originating passengers which increased by percent in the quarter and now
percent of easyjet passengers originate from outside of the uk the
statement added
the airline outgoing chief executive andy harrison said easyjet faces tough
trading environment amid challenging economic conditions
however the underlying performance of the business in the first quarter has
been encouraging and easyjet remains on track to deliver substantial profit
improvement during he added
in december easyjet announced that harrison would step down from his position
as chief executive at the end of june
cycling scorching evans puts armstrong in shade
adelaide australia jan afp
world road champion cadel evans outshone cycling legend lance armstrong with
blistering ride thursday which shook up the tour down under on red hot day
three
the home favourite absorbed degree celsius fahrenheit heat on the
killer unley to stirling section to finish third behind portugal manuel
cardoso and alejandro valverde rising to seventh overall
germany andre greipel crossed rd to retain the ochre leader jersey and
second advantage over team sky greg henderson who also finished in the
leading group
evans who has stood by as seven time tour de france armstrong attracts huge
media and public interest said he had surprised even his own bmc team over the
kilometre miles stage with the lung busting finish
coming in the last kilometre it was like riding in slow motion almost
everyone was so exhausted he said
it was tough little race early in the season that changes everything
around my team are all bit disappointed told them not to ride for me
today and then came third
armstrong who came out of retirement last year and is targeting an eighth tour
de france win this year overcame an early puncture but was clearly unsettled by
the heat and relentless course
it was hot definitely hot it takes toll on everybody you see guys
suffering bit you see the salt on everybody jersey and you know it
tough day he said
this is the day that never flat and also windy tough tough stage in the
sprint the top guys were spread across the road and everybody looked round and
said can go dead
several riders went down in an early crash and then an optimistic five man
break was snuffed out with kilometres to go during the punishing final loop
around stirling
greipel htc columbia and armstrong team radioshack lined up for the sprint
but were unable to deliver as footon servetto fuji cardoso came through for
surprise stage win in his first professional race
don think have chance to win overall have had lot of hard days
over the first couple of days of this race and probably too far behind
cardoso said
but it was really important for me it is my first pro race first pro team
first protour victory for me so it is very important win
henderson was happy just to have kept up the pressure on greipel after an
arduous day in the saddle
it was just scorcher out there everybody was just melting he said
held on there for as long as could couldn sprint couldn go for
the win but still made it in first in the group so pretty happy with that
couldn do anything else was absolutely on the limit
the tour down under the southern hemisphere biggest race is held over
kilometres miles around adelaide with the final stage on sunday
korea eyes nuclear deal with bank project analysts
seoul jan afp
north korea plan for bank to attract foreign funds to revive its economy
shows it expects breakthrough in nuclear disarmament negotiations and an
easing of un sanctions analysts said thursday
body known as the korea taepung international investment group held its first
board meeting to launch state development bank pyongyang official korean
central news agency reported late wednesday
the bank will finance state projects after being equipped with advanced banking
rules and system needed for transactions with international monetary
organisations and commercial banks it said
leader kim jong il gave the order to set up the bank the agency said
tougher united nations sanctions imposed after missile and nuclear tests last
year restrict the communist state access to international credit
the un resolution passed last june calls on all member states and international
financial and credit institutions not to enter into new commitments for grants
financial assistance or concessional loans to north korea except for
humanitarian and developmental purposes directly addressing civilian needs
the north economy has been hit by the sanctions which restricted its weapons
exports the nation has relied on foreign aid to feed its people since it
suffered devastating famine in the
the un could decide to ease or roll back the sanctions if there is substantial
progress in six party nuclear disarmament talks which the north quit last april
the founding of the development bank indicates that north korean leader kim
jong il firmly believes that six party talks will produce breakthrough said
paik haksoon of seoul private sejong institute think tank
the goal of reviving the economy with the help of the international
community is too important for north korea to abandon paik told afp adding
he expects the north to return to talks soon
kim yong hyun an expert at seoul dongguk university said the north is
unlikely to win access to international loans any time soon
but north korea in an indirect manner is expressing its wish to settle the
nuclear issue and thus revive its moribund economy for the people he said
before returning to nuclear negotiations the north demands an end to sanctions
and early talks on peace treaty to formally end the korean war
the united states and south korea say it must first return to the talks which
group the two koreas the us russia china and japan and show it is serious
about scrapping its atomic programmes
in policy setting new year editorial the north put great emphasis on what it
called bringing about radical turn in the people standard of living in the
impoverished nation
this would be achieved by quicker development of light industry and agriculture
it said
leader kim last month paid his first visit to the rason free trade zone near the
border with china parliament later upgraded its status as part of efforts to
attract more investment in the faltering project
the communist regime is also taking steps to strengthen its grip over the
economy in the face of nascent free market
late last year it announced shock currency revaluation wiping out the savings
of many citizens in what central bank official called an attempt to
strengthen socialist principles and order in economic management
japan wwii sinking of hospital ship illegal aus pm
adelaide australia jan afp
japanese torpedo attack on an australian hospital ship in world war ii was
illegal and violated fundamental humanitarian principles australian prime
minister kevin rudd said thursday
but while condemning the sinking of the centaur with the loss of lives
rudd stressed the japan of today was vastly different and that australia must
deepen ties with its key trading partner
the action to sink the centaur by the japanese navy at the time was in our
view complete breach of international law rudd told reporters in the
southern city of adelaide
let be clear cut about it the decision to sink an unarmed hospital ship
clearly marked with red cross symbols as it was was violation of
international law and was complete violation of most humanitarian principles
the centaur was sunk on may and only found off australia northeast
coast last month when high tech search uncovered it at depth of metres
miles
australia believes the ship was struck without warning by japanese submarine
but the prime minister said the actions of the japanese vessel were the actions
of the war and that the matter had been put to rest by the australian
government in the
the japan of today is vastly different japan and think it important also
that we continue to build our future relationship with japan rudd said
the japanese embassy in canberra issued statement saying the circumstances in
which the centaur went down were not conclusive
rudd denied newspaper report that the australian defence department had warned
him to remain silent about the sinking because of fears that any comments could
damage relations with japan
he said he could not remember having received such document while his defence
minister john faulkner said defence department briefing paper on the centaur
had been prepared in but that its aim was not to gag rudd
that brief wasn of course about silencing the prime minister faulkner
said that is not the case at all defence didn do that and didn want to do
that
faulkner said the brief was instead about making contact with japan over plans
to find the hospital ship
in particular there was hope that there might be some involvement of the
japanese government in terms of assisting with archival research he said
in announcing the search for the lost ship last year rudd said its sinking
struck deeply at the heart of our nation and became symbol of our
determination to fight on against brutal enemy
the ill fated centaur was seen for the first time in years less than two
weeks ago when remote control camera captured footage of the wreck
search director david mearns said he hoped the photographic proof would
hopefully end the long quest for unanswered questions and bring comfort to many
families across australia and beyond
memorial services are expected to be held to honour those who died aboard the
ship
in australian searchers found the wreck of the hmas sydney ii which was
sank off the coast of western australia by the disguised german raider ship
kormoran in killing people
yemen halts giving entry visas at airports over qaeda threat
sanaa jan afp
yemen announced on thursday that it would stop granting entry visas to
travellers at the country international airports in order to halt terrorist
infiltration the saba state news agency reported
the measure comes as pressure mounts on yemen to crack down on al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula aqap which is entrenched in mountain redoubts east of the
capital and claimed responsibility for the botched christmas day bid to down
us airliner over detroit
yemen has stopped granting visas at the airport to halt terrorist
infiltration saba said
separately military official said that in light of this decision granting
visas to foreigners will take place only through the embassies of yemen and
after consulting security authorities to verify the identities of travellers
this is to prevent the infiltration of any suspected terrorist elements he
was quoted by the defence ministry newspaper september as saying
six airports in yemen receive international flights
there was no immediate explanation as to who might be the target of the new
measure but until now very few nationalities were required to apply for visas
in advance of travelling
earlier this week the us senate foreign relations committee released report
warning that aqap may be training as many as three dozen us citizens who
converted to islam in prison
the americans traveled to yemen upon their release ostensibly to study arabic
but possibly for al qaeda training the report said citing us law enforcement
sources
under previous regulations these people would have been allowed to enter the
country automatically without being previously vetted
while there is no public evidence of any terrorist action by the former
convicts who may have been radicalised in prison several have dropped off
the radar for weeks at time according to the report
us officials are on heightened alert because of the potential threat from
extremists carrying american passports and the related challenges involved in
detecting and stopping homegrown operatives it added
the most high profile yemeni american in the country is fugitive radical imam
anwar al awlaqi native of the state of new mexico who is now in hiding
presumably in part of eastern yemen where his family tribe holds sway
white house aide has directly accused awlaqi of having links with the man
suspected of shooting dead people at texas military base in november major
nidal hasan
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan has also said he
might have had contact with the man who allegedly attempted to blow up the us
airliner on december umar farouk abdulmutallab
us officials are also worried about non yemeni americans blonde haired
blue eyed types who travelled to yemen converted to islam became
fundamentalists married yemeni women and fit the profile of americans that al
qaeda has sought to recruit
in washington on wednesday top us officials told lawmakers that yemen leaders
had made decisive turn against al qaeda
in terms of the government of yemen determination and willingness to confront
threat of al qaeda militants in the country we should be and we are
encouraged by recent steps the government has taken said jeffrey feltman
assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs
the us state department top counter terrorism official daniel benjamin told
the senate committee he had no reason to contradict the report and that some
yemeni institutions had proved effective incubators of radicalisation
but benjamin praised decisive turn by the yemeni government and decisive
interest by the international community to help the sanaa government battle
extremism
tennis australian open schedule
melbourne jan afp
friday schedule of play on show courts for the australian open tennis at
melbourne park denotes seeding all sessions start at am gmt
unless stated
rod laver arena
elena baltacha gbr dinara safina rus
andy roddick usa feliciano lopez esp
florian mayer ger juan martin del potro arg
not before pm gmt
philipp kohlschreiber ger rafael nadal esp
angelique kerber ger svetlana kuznetsova rus
hisense arena
jelena jankovic srb alona bondarenko ukr
justine henin bel alisa kleybanova rus
andy murray gbr florent serra fra
not before pm gmt
kim clijsters bel nadia petrova rus
ivo karlovic cro ivan ljubicic cro
margaret court arena
rameez junaid peter luczak aus philipp marx ger igor zelenay svk
sara errani ita yanina wickmayer bel
john isner usa gael monfils fra
marin cilic cro stanislas wawrinka sui
not before pm gmt
bob bryan mike bryan usa rik de voest rsa scott lipsky usa
show court
lisa raymond usa rennae stubbs aus julie coin fra marie eve pelletier
can
evgeny korolev kaz fernando gonzalez chi
aus pm calls for perspective over indian attacks
sydney jan afp
prime minister kevin rudd on thursday urged india to keep perspective on
string of attacks on indians in australia day after new delhi warned the
violence could damage ties between the two nations
rudd speaking to reporters in adelaide said the attacks were regrettable and
had become difficult matters for both countries but insisted they should be
kept in context
obviously these are difficult matters in india they are difficult matters in
australia he said after incidents including the fatal stabbing of an indian
born student in melbourne that have inflamed diplomatic tensions
we are working through them in practical and effective way over time he
said adding that indians are currently studying in australia
rudd said he accepted that regrettably there had been violent incidents
recently
but he urged that they be viewed in the context of broader incidences of
violence to students of other ethnic backgrounds against australian
students or violence more generally in the nation larger cities
the prime minister said the vast majority of indian students were embraced by
the australian community and faced no problems while studying down under
think it important to keep all this into its context rudd stressed
the comments came as canberra moved to calm the situation after indian foreign
minister krishna on wednesday warned of harm to indian australian relations
after taxi driver was attacked in the town of ballarat on friday
it is very unfortunate that this should keep repeating which does not augur
well for our bilateral relations krishna told reporters in new delhi
the victim of the latest assault suffered bruising to his upper body and
swelling to his face after being assaulted by four passengers aged between
and
simon overland the police commissioner of the state victoria where many of the
attacks have taken place has admitted that police began to realise two years
ago there was problem involving crime against indians
have said from day one undoubtedly some of these attacks have racist
motive he said
ml ajc aad
dense fog causes travel chaos across north india
new delhi jan afp
thick fog across northern india has disrupted hundreds of flights and caused
chaos on the densely populated region roads officials said thursday
the last time we had such dense fog conditions was in yadav
spokesman for the new delhi weather office told afp this is not an isolated
phenomenon but it has covered the entire northern plains
more than domestic and international flights were delayed diverted or
cancelled at new delhi airport on wednesday while scores more flights were also
hit on thursday morning an airport authority spokesman said
departures were delayed by up to hours and several international flights to
new york and europe were cancelled
police reported multiple accidents and long tailbacks on roads while traffic on
national highways was reduced to crawl as drivers struggled with poor
visibility
railway schedules were also affected with many trains cancelled fog has been
blamed for series of train accidents in the past three weeks that have claimed
at least lives
foggy conditions are common across northern india in january but the region has
been hit by an unusually severe winter cold snap since the new year
yemen suspends granting entry visas at airports
sanaa jan afp
yemen announced on thursday that it would stop granting entry visas to
travellers at the country international airports in order to halt terrorist
infiltration the saba state news agency reported
the measure comes as pressure mounts on yemen to crack down on al qaeda in the
arabian peninsula which is entrenched in mountain redoubts east of the capital
and claimed responsibility for the botched christmas day bid to down us
airliner over detroit
yemen has stopped granting visas at the airport to halt terrorist
infiltration saba said
euro sinks to five month low after chinese data
tokyo jan afp
the euro fell to new five month low against the dollar in asian trade thursday
as worries that china will take fresh steps to cool its economy reduced demand
for risk sensitive currencies
the european unit dropped to dollars at one point the weakest since
august in late tokyo trade it stood at down from late
wednesday in new york
the dollar gained to yen from the euro rose to yen from
the euro was hit by combination of worries about the outlook for the eurozone
economies greece fiscal woes and the prospect that beijing will take more
steps to prevent overheating in its economy dealers said
the euro is seen as more vulnerable than the safe haven dollar to any
disappointment over the pace of the global economic recovery
china reported its economy expanded by blistering percent in the fourth
quarter of compared with the same period year earlier and by percent
for the whole of
the china data were strong so people are now even more anxious over when the
authorities might again try to apply the brakes on the economy yasuo nakayama
manager at shinkin central bank told dow jones newswires
the figures put even more downward pressure on the euro nakayama added
china banking regulator said wednesday it would rein in loan growth this year
the economy is growing firmly and this is an outcome china wants said
patrick bennett currency analyst at societe generale in hong kong
nevertheless the government policy will be tweaked to ensure the economy
does not grow too fast he added
against asian currencies the dollar rose to indonesian rupiah from
day earlier to philippine pesos from and to
singapore dollars from
the greenback gained to thai baht from and to taiwan dollars
from but fell to south korean won from
asia markets give mixed reaction to china economic data
hong kong jan afp
news of china blistering economic growth was tempered by looming inflationary
risks and fears of further tightening by beijing as asian shares put in mixed
performance thursday
chinese data out earlier in the day showed gross domestic product in the asian
powerhouse returned to double digit growth in the fourth quarter of at
percent while the full year figure of percent beat expectations
but china biggest rise in inflation for months underlined the broader
challenges of breakneck growth amid warnings from the world bank and
international monetary fund that the country could face an economic bubble
china consumer price index the main gauge of inflation rose percent
year on year in december prompting some risk aversion among investors focusing
on the possibility that beijing will again move to put the reins on lending
hong kong was percent lower by the break while sydney closed percent
down
policymakers will need to move soon to stop the economy from overheating said
brian jackson hong kong based strategist at royal bank of canada
shanghai saw volatile trade but edged percent higher on bargain buying
after earlier losing ground on monetary tightening fears on wednesday beijing
top regulator said that china will rein in credit this year
china is still definitely concerned about asset bubbles dealer with
amfraser securities told dow jones newswires
oil prices turned higher in asian trade ahead of the release of widely
monitored us energy reserves report
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery was up cents
to dollars barrel reversing decline in morning trade
brent north sea crude for delivery in march advanced cents to dollars
clarence chu an oil trader with hudson capital energy in singapore attributed
the price rise to market volatility
liquidity in the market is pretty thin now not much liquidity can make the
market more volatile he said
local markets followed the biggest drop of the year so far for us stocks as
wall street dived percent on china liquidity fears and mixed earnings from
key american banks
bank of america and morgan stanley missed analysts expectations while wells
fargo posted an unexpected profit goldman sachs usually the silver lining
against its peers woes was due to report thursday
japanese stocks nevertheless shrugged off wall street disappointment with the
nikkei closing up percent at
shares in japan airlines were flat at two yen day after sinking to new
record low following the carrier bankruptcy filing and announcement it would
delist its shares next month wiping out shareholders investments
sydney closed down points at after hitting three week low
intraday materials and energy stocks led the fall
bhp billiton fell percent to australian dollars and rio tinto shed
percent to
south korean shares closed percent higher on expectations for positive
business outlook for technology firms the kospi gained points to
singapore eased percent
the dollar gained to against the yen in asian trade from in new york
late wednesday as investors bought the safe haven greenback on china policy
concerns
the euro climbed to dollars from and was up at yen from
oil rose with new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery
up cents to dollars barrel reversing earlier losses
brent north sea crude advanced cents to dollars
hong kong gold opened lower at us dollars an ounce from
wednesday close of dollars
in other markets
taipei dropped points or percent to after overnight
declines on wall street
the market was also weighed by the government decision to sell shares that
state funds purchased last year to stabilise the market dealers said
wellington closed flat as lower local currency and stronger than expected
retail sales figures offset falls in overseas markets
the nzx fell points to
the market is holding up quite well considering what happened in overseas
markets overnight hamilton hindin greene broker grant williamson said
manila was flat after weak opening the composite index added points
to
philippine long distance telephone dropped percent to pesos
bur dwa dan
urgent yemen suspends granting entry visas at airports
sanaa jan afp
yemen announced on thursday that it would stop granting entry visas to
travellers at the country international airports in order to halt terrorist
infiltration the saba state news agency reported
gates warns of dangers in pakistan militant havens
islamabad jan afp
us defense secretary robert gates warned thursday that taliban safe havens along
the pakistan afghanistan border must be tackled or both nations would suffer
more lethal and more brazen attacks
writing in pakistan the news at the start of two day visit to islamabad
gates stressed washington commitment to pakistan and praised military
offensives launched against the pakistani taliban in recent months
but us officials have made clear that washington is anxious to see islamabad
also target the afghan taliban within its borders and al qaeda linked militants
using the northwest tribal region to plot and launch attacks into afghanistan
it is important to remember that the pakistani taliban operates in collusion
with both the taliban in afghanistan and al qaeda so it is impossible to
separate those groups gates wrote
if history is any indication safe havens for either taliban on either side of
the border will in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in
both nations he added in the editorial
gates wrote that making distinctions between the different extremist groups was
counterproductive
only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will
afghanistan and pakistan be able to rid themselves of this scourge for good
to destroy those who promote the use of terror here and abroad
the pentagon chief visit comes at time of diplomatic tension as volley of
us drone missile strikes hit militants in the northwest fuelling anti american
sentiment and drawing public condemnation from the government
officials in his delegation said gates hoped to reassure wary pakistan public
and leadership that the united states was not going turn its back on them as
in the past
gates has lamented that washington lost interest in the region after the soviets
withdrew from afghanistan and lost the trust of pakistani armed forces after
us ban on military aid over islamabad nuclear programme in the
gates will convey the message that we are not going to turn our back on the
