at this time
pelosi tempered her doubts by saying nothing is discarded everything is on the
table and underlined that democrats will go forward on obama top domestic
priority because the present system is unsustainable
the plan calls for extending health care coverage to tens of millions of
americans who currently lack it while ending insurance company abuses like
barring patients with preexisting conditions
the overhaul was thrown into uncertainty after republicans won special
election in massachusetts on tuesday stripping away the already fragile vote
democratic supermajority needed to ensure senate passage
top house and senate democrats had hoped to meld the two chambers versions and
vote again on compromise bill but their plan collided with republicans newly
acquired power to stall the legislation
house democrats met to consider their options including passing the senate bill
and trying to change it later crafting stripped down measure or pushing
series of what one lawmaker called bite sized health care proposals anchored
on largely uncontroversial items in the giant package
we re not in big rush pelosi said shortly after talks with senate
democratic majority leader harry reid we ll take the time it needs
at the white house obama spokesman robert gibbs said the president believes it
is the exact right thing to do by giving this some time by letting the dust
settle if you will and looking for the best path forward
republicans gleeful over winning the massachusetts senate seat held for nearly
half century by democratic icon ted kennedy have said tuesday election
means the democratic approach is dead
the bottom line is nobody wants this bill but washington special interests
and if they jam it through think they re going to face firestorm from the
american public said house minority leader john boehner
they have also pointed to recent public opinion polls showing stiff opposition
to the democratic approach though voters who say the plan does not go far
enough account for much of the resistance
and pelosi said the vote has not diminished the need for affordable quality
health care reform and for health care to be available to all americans as
right not privilege
we have to get bill passed we know that that predicate that we all
subscribe to we have to pass legislation said pelosi
democrats already worried about the fate of their majorities in november mid
term elections hoped to have clear plan before obama delivers his marquee
state of the union speech on wednesday aides said
leader on the democrats left flank representative raul grijalva came out
strongly against having the house pass what he termed the irredeemable senate
bill potentially deadly blow against that approach
grijalva called for two track approach using senate process called
reconciliation that requires mere majority for budget related items while
packaging the most popular regulatory proposals in separate bill
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
the united states spends more than double what britain france and germany do
per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
us sends temporary control tower to quake hit haiti
washington jan afp
us aviation authorities said thursday they had sent temporary control tower to
haiti to help deal with hundreds of flights bringing earthquake aid from around
the world
the tower is being transported on chartered cargo aircraft and federal
aviation administration technicians hope to have it ready at port au prince
airport within hours the department of transportation said in statement
this tower is visible representation of the department contribution to our
government swift and considerable efforts to help haiti deal with this
terrible tragedy said department secretary ray lahood
the airport existing control tower was rendered unusable by the devastating
magnitude quake on january which killed at least people and left
half million homeless
the portable tower is feet meters long feet high and eight feet
wide weighs about pounds and is powered by two diesel powered
generators the statement said
controllers have so far been working at folding table using military radios to
handle around flights per day it said
us personnel took over air traffic control at port au prince airport week
ago but the move raised tensions with some countries france earlier expressed
annoyance after aid planes were delayed from landing
three missing as helicopter crashes into sea off spain
madrid jan afp
three people were missing after maritime rescue helicopter crashed into the
sea off southern spain late on thursday emergency services said
fourth person aboard the aircraft was rescued after the accident off the port
of almeria and was hospitalised suffering from hypothermia
three boats and four helicopters of the rescue service were scouring the seas
late into the night for the three missing persons
the cause of the accident was not immediately clear
google quarterly net profit up five fold
san francisco jan afp
google on thursday posted five fold rise in quarterly net profit to
billion dollars as the internet giant turned its back on the fiscal crisis and
faced off with chinese censors
google said fourth quarter revenue climbed percent to billion dollars
and that it finished with its net profit up percent to billion
dollars
given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery this was
an extraordinary end to the year google chief executive eric schmidt said
schmidt credited google management team innovative talent and business model
as building blocks for the stellar final months of
as we enter we remain hugely optimistic about the internet and are
continuing to invest heavily in technological innovation for the benefit not
only of our users and customers but also the wider web schmidt said
in what could be good news for the economy and bode well for other internet
companies google saw percent increase in paid clicks on ads posted at
its online properties
while google tightly managed its budget through the economic meltdown it feels
the time is ripe to acquire promising new companies or technologies according
to executives
the pace of deals in shows that we re at least on path of one per month
and we should expect that to continue some big more small than big probably
schmidt said during an earnings conference call
google reported that it finished with billion dollars in cash cash
equivalents and short term marketable securities
about percent of google revenue for the quarter came from outside the
united states development that could shine an even harsher spotlight on the
internet giant threat to pull out of china over online censorship
google style capitalism with conscience is butting heads with china brand of
communism
google has vowed to stop bowing to chinese online censorship that came as
legal condition when the california technology firm tailored search engine for
that country in
the impetus for the stand was china spawned cyber espionage that recently
targeted google and other firms
as of thursday google was still censoring web search results in china but that
will change according to the chief executive
we re in conversation with the chinese government schmidt said our business
in china is today unchanged
we continue to follow their laws we continue to offer censored results
schmidt said but in reasonably short time from now we will be making some
changes there
schmidt did not provide further details google said last week that it would no
longer censor web search results in china even if that meant it had to leave the
country
schmidt said google would like to stay in china
we made strong statement that we wish to remain in china he said we like
the chinese people we like our chinese employees
we like the business opportunities there but we like to do that on somewhat
different terms than we have schmidt said
google chief legal officer david drummond has gone on record with afp saying
that the company stand in china is question of trying to do the right
thing and not matter of profit or publicity
analysts wonder what google shutting down its search engine in china will mean
to the firm bottom line as well as the future there of the company other
offerings such as mobile telephones with android operating systems
google earnings for the quarter bested analyst expectations but the company
stock price slid more than four percent to dollars per share in trading
that followed release of the report
online advertising in key sectors such as finance travel and auto have yet to
recover citigroup analyst mark mahaney highlighted in note regarding the
google earnings figures
but fundamentals did improve mahaney concluded
un chief backs us bid to resume middle east peace talks
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon on thursday backed us led efforts to revive stalled
israeli palestinian talks on all final status issues including jerusalem and
the fate of palestinian refugees
support the us led efforts to bring about resumption of meaningful
negotiations on all final status issues including the security of israelis and
palestinians borders refugees and jerusalem he said
he made the remarks at meeting of the un committee on the exercise of the
inalienable rights of the palestinian people here as us envoy george mitchell
met officials in israel in his latest bid to restart talks with palestinians
in the absence of talks confidence between the parties has diminished ban
said if we do not move forward on the political process soon we risk sliding
backwards
he noted with concern that despite israel decision to restrain some
settlement construction in the west bank activity and financial support for
expansion were continuing there and in east jerusalem
settlement construction violates international law and contravenes the roadmap
under which israel is obliged to freeze all settlement activity he said
he was referring to the blueprint for middle east peace worked out by the
diplomatic quartet the european union russia the un and the united states
calling for the creation of an independent palestinian state living side by
side with israel
settlement activity undermines trust between the two parties seems to prejudge
the outcome of the future permanent status negotiations and imperils the basis
for the two state solution ban added
it bears repeating that the international community does not recognize israel
annexation of east jerusalem which remains part of the occupied palestinian
territory the un chief said
way must be found through negotiations for jerusalem to emerge as the
capital of two states living side by side in peace and security with
arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all
ban also expressed concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the gaza
strip year after the end of devastating israeli military onslaught against
the hamas rulers of the palestinian enclave
he deplored the fact that accountability for violations of international human
rights law during the conflict have not been adequately addressed as called
for by an independent un enquiry panel
the panel led by respected former international prosecutor richard goldstone
found that both israeli forces and palestinian militants may have committed
serious war crimes during the gaza war
it recommended that its findings be transferred to the international criminal
court in the hague if israel and hamas fail to conduct credible investigations
of the charges
ban also called for complete end to violence and the targeting of israeli
civilians in rocket and mortar fire attack launched into southern israel by
palestinian militants
us senate beats back effort to end tarp
washington jan afp
majority of the us senate voted thursday to end the controversial troubled
asset relief program tarp bailout for wall street but the proposal fell short
of the votes needed to pass
thirteen of president barack obama democratic allies joined the chamber
republicans as the proposal from republican senator john thune went down to
defeat
thune proposal would have prevented the us treasury department from releasing
any more funds from the billion dollar bailout approved in october to
keep the global financial system from collapse
it would not have affected repayments by banks and other recipients of tarp
funds
under the agreement that permitted vote on the proposal votes were needed
for passage in the seat senate
somali islamists chop off phone thief hand
mogadishu jan afp
somalia al qaeda inspired shebab islamists on thursday publicly chopped off
the right hand of man accused of stealing mobile phones witnesses and
officials said
the punishment took place in the southern port town of merka under the control
of the extremist group and where they have imposed strict sharia or islamic
law
this punishment is part of broad effort to implement sharia in the country
anybody who steals gets his hands chopped off said sheikh isa mohamed
shebab official
the judge in the islamic court in the region announced the sentence after the
convict confessed to the charges against him
witnesses said that yusuf sheikh ahmed was brought before crowd then had
his right hand chopped off with big knife
the convict was then taken to hospital after the punishment ali said
four other people accused of taking alcohol and drugs were whipped between
and times each
the shebaba control large swaths of somalia southern and central regions
us will turn back haitian boat people clinton
washington jan afp
the united states will enforce its own laws and repatriate any haitians who
illegally enter us territory while fleeing quake hit haiti us secretary of
state hillary clinton said thursday
ordinary and regular immigration laws will apply going forward which means we
are not going to be accepting into the us haitians who are attempting to make it
to our shores clinton told reporters
they will be interdicted they will be repatriated the chief us diplomat said
when asked what could be done to prevent haitians from fleeing the country in
the first place
the us authorities said wednesday that they have not observed any massive influx
of haitian boat people since the devastating earthquake hit port au prince and
surrounding areas on january
clinton recalled that washington for humanitarian reasons has granted
temporary asylum to haitians who were in the country without proper legal
documents at the time of the quake
clinton also stressed us determination to help haitians fleeing their capital
for relatively safer areas in the countryside
we also know that so many people are leaving port au prince into the
surrounding countryside we re trying to get more aid out there more shelter
food medicine certainly water she said
people feel safer in the countryside and we want to support them she said
google to stop censoring china web results ceo
san francisco jan afp
google chief executive eric schmidt said thursday that the internet giant is
still censoring web search results in china but that will change in
reasonably short time from now
we re in conversation with the chinese government schmidt told financial
analysts in conference call after releasing google fourth quarter results
our business in china is today unchanged said schmidt speaking little over
week after the internet giant revealed it had come under attack from cyber
spies based in china
we continue to follow their laws we continue to offer censored results
schmidt said but in reasonably short time from now we will be making some
changes there
schmidt did not provide any further details google said last week that it would
no longer censor web search results in china even if that meant it had to shut
down its business operations there and leave the country
schmidt said google would like to remain in china we made strong statement
that we wish to remain in china he said we like the chinese people we like
our chinese employees
we like the business opportunities there but we like to do that on somewhat
different terms than we have schimdt said
the google chief executive also said the cyberattacks on google and other
companies which targeted chinese human rights activists were still under
investigation
we believe we ve made the necessary technical changes to prevent such future
attack he said
bill clinton asked to promote un cash for work haiti scheme
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon met with former us president bill clinton here thursday and
enlisted his support for cash for work program to revive quake devastated
haiti shattered economy
have asked president clinton if he can work for this cash for work program
ban told reporters am very glad that president clinton has committed himself
to working together with the un on this
the scheme aims to employ haitians in recovery efforts such as cleaning the
streets and clearing earthquake rubble that will contribute to revitalize
their economy ban added
it allows people to receive five dollars day for their work and hopes to
ultimately enroll some haitians indirectly benefiting one million
people according to un officials
the program has received five million dollars so far from the united nations
development program undp and the spanish government and the undp has made
flash appeal for million dollars
but ban said the un has not yet received much response from the international
community we hope to have generous and positive support for that
both ban and clinton separately visited the haitian capital port au prince in
recent days following the january quake that ravaged the city and killed at
least people in the impoverished country of nine million people
the former us president described the cash for work scheme as really
important adding that the united states has lot of experience with that in
the middle east in afghanistan
it is really important to give people something positive to do and lot of
people there in haiti want to be part of rebuilding their country the
former president said
ban said he and clinton also discussed ways to improve delivery of urgently
needed humanitarian aid to quake victims and provide better security as well as
plans for haiti long term reconstruction
the un boss said he was sending his humanitarian chief john holmes and undp head
helen clark to ministerial level donors conference in montreal monday that
will also pave the way for an upcoming international conference on haiti
reconstruction proposed by france
clinton unveils civilian strategy for afghanistan pakistan
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton on thursday unveiled long term non
military strategy to stabilize afghanistan and pakistan that calls for sending
more civilian experts to the region
more than month after the obama administration announced military surge for
afghanistan the new civilian strategy outlines plans to rebuild the afghan farm
sector improve governance and reintegrate extremists into society
it also calls for boosting pakistan capabilities to fight growing islamist
insurgency and to enhance the us partnership with islamabad partly through
supporting political and economic reforms
key part of the plan also calls for countering extremist voices in both
countries where anti american feelings run high
while our military mission in afghanistan is not open ended we are committed
to building lasting partnerships with afghanistan and pakistan clinton said in
statement timed with the release of the strategy
believe this strategy offers the best prospect for stabilizing afghanistan
and pakistan the chief us diplomat said
look forward to working with congress to secure the non military resources
needed to achieve our mission and to signal our commitment to afghanistan and
pakistan she said adding the money would be well spent
however it was not immediately clear how much support there is in congress for
the strategy
in terms of concrete civilian deployments clinton called for increases of
experts in afghanistan beyond the nearly us civilian experts due to be
deployed by now or in the next few weeks
we anticipate further increasing our civilian staffing in by another to
percent concentrating experts in the field and at key ministries that
deliver vital services to the afghan people the report said
the afghanistan and pakistan regional stabilization strategy was produced by the
office of the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan richard
holbrooke who briefed the senate foreign relations committee on it
in early december us president barack obama called for deploying another
us troops to afghanistan to reverse the momentum of taliban insurgency
holbrooke said he could not promise the committee that president hamid karzai
government could end corruption overnight or persuade thousands of militants to
leave the battlefield and return to afghan society
all can tell you is that found the situation in kabul in better
position than it been at any time since in the year we took office holbrooke
said
however the situation pakistan was far more complicated and the us had less
influence there
football spanish cup results collated
madrid jan afp
collated spanish cup results on thursday
quarter finals
st leg
racing santander colsa diop osasuna pandiani
atletico madrid tiago celta vigo trashorras
wednesday
real mallorca castro getafe del moral miku
deportivo la coruna sevilla negredo renato navas
quake survival there an app for that
miami jan afp
us filmmaker who lay trapped beneath haiti earthquake rubble for nearly
three days survived in part thanks to medical application installed on his
iphone he told television station thursday
dan woolley was making documentary about poverty in port au prince when last
week devastating magnitude earthquake struck trapping him in the ruins of
his hotel with fractured leg and profusely bleeding gash to his head
had my iphone with me and had medical app on there so was able to look
up treatment of excessive bleeding and compound fracture woolley told msnbc in
miami
using the jive media pocket first aid and cpr he found recommendations for how
to self treat his injuries
so used my shirt to tie my leg and sock on the back of my head and later
used it for other things like to diagnose shock he added
woolley also used the iphone more traditional functions setting its alarm to
go off every minutes to keep him from falling asleep
eventually after some hours trapped under the rubble woolley was pulled out
alive by french rescuers
figure skating plushenko crushes rivals to claim sixth euro title
tallinn jan afp
yevgeny plushenko gave warning that he is ready to defend his olympic title next
month by crushing his rivals to claim sixth men gold at the european figure
skating championships here on thursday
competing in his first major event since retiring four years ago because of knee
injuries after winning gold at the turin olympics the year old showed that
he can still compete at the highest level
the three time world champion finished massive points ahead of olympic
silver medallist stephane lambiel who jumped from fifth to claim third
european silver
defending champion brian joubert finished third after sloppy free skate in
podium which mirrored the championship
things have gone according to plan but the most important thing is the
olympics said plushenko who expressed his delight by kissing the ice
the only blemish in sometimes playful four and half minute routine to edvin
marton tango amore was the doubling of his planned triple lutz
he opened with solid quadruple toeloop triple toeloop combination adding an
additional five triples including two in combination to score for the
free skate and overall
it great to have six gold medals in european championships he said
have to skate much better at the olympic games but proud of myself
today
lambiel also returning from retirement after thigh injury touched the ice on
his opening quadruple jump and fell on step sequence but scored high for
artistry during his programme to verdi la traviata
the year old achieved in the free skate and overall
for me this competition was hard one he said
after the short programme yesterday was wondering how could make it work
knew was strong enough to do it and was ready to fight
three time winner joubert scored just ninth highest technically in weak
performance on his return after two months out with foot injury
very disappointed by my performance but it not big surprise said the
year old frenchman who had been second after the short programme
knew wasn ready for the free programme know what to do for the next
competition
and he expressed his hope that despite the podium being the same as at
europeans it would not mirror the olympics that year
it like but hope it not going to be the same for the olympic games
don want to be sixth again said joubert
plushenko gold gives russia their second title in as many events at these
championships after yuko kavaguti and alexander smirnov won the pairs on
wednesday
russia are also poised to take the ice dance title with oksana domnina and maxim
shabalin leading thursday original dance to take point margin on
italy federica faiella and massimo scali into friday free skate final
friday also sees the start of the women competition with the short
programme
british pm to appear at iraq inquiry before election reports
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown appearance before the iraq war inquiry
will be brought forward to before the election media reported thursday
brown had been due to give evidence after britain general election which must
be called by june but the bbc said that inquiry chairman john chilcot will call
him to testify ahead of the poll
the daily mirror newspaper citing senior government sources said an official
announcement would be made on friday
chilcot had ruled the prime minister evidence should be delayed in an effort
to keep party politics out of the probe
but political pressure had been mounting for brown who was finance minister
at the outbreak of war in to give evidence in advance of the election
calls intensified this week after the defence minister at the time of the
invasion accused brown of starving the armed forces of vital funding
government spokesman would not confirm the reports but said the prime
minister has said that he will give evidence whenever he called to do so
toyota recalls million us vehicles for accelerator problem
washington jan afp
toyota motor thursday recalled million vehicles in the united states to fix
problem with sticking accelerator pedals the latest in series of recalls by
the world largest automaker
the japanese company us division said in statement that the recall was to
correct accelerator pedals on specific toyota models that become worn and then
in some cases get lodged in partially depressed position
the action was separate to an ongoing recall of about million toyota and
lexus vehicles that was begun last year due to risk that loose floor mats
could slip forward and jam the pedals it said
in recent months toyota has investigated isolated reports of sticking
accelerator pedal mechanisms in certain vehicles without the presence of floor
mats irv miller vice president of toyota motor sales usa said in
statement
our investigation indicates that there is possibility that certain
accelerator pedal mechanisms may in rare instances mechanically stick in
partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position he added
consistent with our commitment to the safety of our cars and our customers we
have initiated this voluntary recall action
the models involved are the rav to model year corolla
matrix avalon camry highlander
tundra and sequoia
the condition could happen when the accelerator pedal mechanism becomes worn
making it harder to depress slower to return to idle or in the worst case
stuck in partially depressed position the statement said
it said drivers experiencing sticking pedal could control the car with firm
and steady application of the brakes without pumping the pedal and to
then guide it to the nearest safe location
toyota which overtook us rival gm in as the world largest automaker
issued its largest recall to date in early october to correct the separate floor
mat problem
it came after california highway patrol officer and three members of his
family were killed in fiery crash when the accelerator pedal of their lexus
became entrapped in the floor mat
around million toyota vehicles are subject to both separate recall actions
the statement said
toyota us division has made number of other recalls in the past year
in november it announced the recall of of its toyota tundra pick up
trucks in the united states amid concern over corrosion on the vehicle frame
that could damage brake lines and cause the spare wheel to become loose
in august the company recalled some cars in the united states saying
icing in cold temperatures could impair the braking system
toyota is also facing potential safety issue with its highest profile vehicle
the prius with growing number of complaints that brakes on the model can
malfunction unexpectedly
the automaker says it has launched its own investigation
us congress sends haiti aid bill to obama
washington jan afp
the us congress on thursday sent president barack obama legislation aimed at
boosting charitable donations to victims of the haiti earthquake including
vastly popular red cross text message appeal
the us senate adopted the bill without dissent one day after the house of
