economic worries that intensified after obama on thursday unveiled proposals to
limit the size and scope of us financial institutions
the dow jones industrial average slumped points percent to
its second day of losses over points and its biggest weekly drop
since february
the blue chip dow has lost about five percent in the past three days of the
holiday shortened week
the nasdaq composite tumbled points percent to and the
standard amp poor index dropped points percent to
late day sell off led by concerns that fed chairman bernanke might not be
reconfirmed left markets sharply lower for the third consecutive session said
sara kline of moody economy com
obama outlined tough financial reform program thursday that would limit
excessive risk taking blamed for the financial crisis that drove the world
biggest economy into its worst recession in decades
the president might be on the right warpath to soothe the american public yet
the market is telling him to be careful about using regulatory weapons of mass
destruction said patrick hare of briefing com
what we see in front of us is market that doesn like the idea of excessive
regulation since excessive regulation curtails earnings potential he said
in europe london benchmark ftse index dropped percent while the
paris cac fell percent and the frankfurt dax slipped percent
the tokyo stock market closed down percent sydney shed percent and
hong kong recovered from early heavy losses to finish percent lower
asian and european markets had followed the lead of wall street rout thursday
when the blue chip dow slumped percent in its worst fall of the year
news of growing opposition to the renomination of federal reserve chairman ben
bernank in afternoon trading further weighed on the us market as agitated
investors contemplated another major element of uncertainty about the direction
of the world largest economy
obama backs bernanke for another term at the helm of the central bank but
critics say the fed chief should have done more to avert the financial crisis
that triggered the country worst recession in decades
the president has great deal of confidence in what chairman bernanke did to
bring our economy back from the brink deputy white house spokesman bill burton
said as more lawmakers of obama democratic party announced their opposition
bernanke term ends january and the senate has not yet set date for the
vote
if he is not reappointed think the markets would have fit already we have
seen that in the markets what has happened in the last couple of hours is
related to the events around bernanke said nariman behravesh chief economist
at ihs global insight
but much of the spotlight was directed at obama proposals to limit risky
banking practices which require congressional approval
risks has its pitfalls but it also has its reward said douglas mcintyre at
wallst com
the by products of those reward include the creation of shareholder value the
creation of jobs in the financial sector and capital that can be put into
emerging american companies obama does not have an answer about how those
things would be replaced if his proposals become laws he added
obama words capped tough week for markets which also have taken hit from
fears that china moves to tighten credit to cool its red hot economy would
slow momentum in the fragile global recovery from recession
in other markets friday the dollar took beating as obama tough bank reform
plans heightened fears about recovery in the sector and the overall economy and
bernanke future was thrown into question
the euro climbed to dollars at gmt from dollars late in new
york on thursday and the dollar fell to yen from yen bur vs rl
britain ups terror level in line with us measures official
washington jan afp
britain decision to raise its terror alert level brings it in line with us
measures announced over the last few weeks the us department of homeland
security dhs said friday
the uk is raising their measures to effectively where we are with the airport
security measures that we have taken and announced over the last few weeks
said dhs spokesman matthew chandler
we have enhanced our security measures and communicated specific information to
industry law enforcement and the american people he said
chandler comments came after british home secretary alan johnson announced
britain had raised its terror threat level from substantial to severe
suggesting that an attack is highly likely
the joint terrorism analysis center has today raised the threat to the uk from
international terrorism from substantial to severe johnson said
this means that terrorist attack is highly likely but should stress that
there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent
in television statement shortly afterwards johnson refused to say whether the
change in the threat level which takes it to the fourth highest level out of
five was linked to the failed detroit plane bombing on december
but that the implication said us official who requested anonymity
dollar slides on obama bank plan
new york jan afp
the dollar took beating friday as us president barack obama tough bank
reform plans heightened fears about recovery in the sector and the overall
economy
doubts about the confirmation of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke also
weighed on the greenback after key democratic senators said they would oppose
the central bank chief bid for second term
the euro climbed to dollars at gmt from dollars late in new
york on thursday
the dollar fell to yen from yen
the action on currency markets undermined the notion that the us economy was
leading the race towards global recovery said mike mcgrath at pnc bank
obama proposal to ultimately inhibit the leverage utilized by financial firms
sent financial stocks and their corresponding indices into tailspin he
added
as the legislative proposal regarding the ability of financial firms to
generate ancillary revenue begins to surface aversion from long dollar
positions becomes the new theme causing the greenback to slip
phil mchugh at currencies direct said that after obama announcement there had
been scramble to safer currency shores but the markets could not seem to work
out where to drop the anchor
mchugh said currency movements showed an explosion of volatility
the euro is certainly not out of the woods yet but the feeling is that greece
will be able to actively work on selling their debt and reducing their
exposure he added referring to the debt crisis in eurozone member greece
kathy lien at global forex trading said the dollar eroded further amid news that
more democratic senators were opposing obama appointment of bernanke for
second term as fed chief
markets do not like uncertainty and having to deal with new fed chairman will
not sit well with traders she said
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs after
thursday
the pound was at dollars after
rugby union gara makes valiant saints pay the penalty
paris jan afp
two time european cup champions munster ensured they host one of the quarter
finals on friday when they edged out pool one rivals northampton to reach
the last eight for remarkable th time in row
ireland fly half ronan gara kicked all their points while saints will at least
take away defensive bonus point which puts them in good position to make the
quarter finals as one of the two best runners up depending on the weekend
other results
northampton are tough team and were on run of successive victories
said munster captain paul connell
we are very happy to win we didn play fabulous but we dug deep especially
when was sin binned
northampton director of rugby jim mallinder was proud how his mainly young
side had performed against the battle hardened opposition
we made some wrong decisions out there but thought we had the upper hand in
the second half said mallinder who will have been concerned by the sight of
christian day being stretchered off at the final whistle
we ve done all we can we more than matched them but we just didn take our
opportunities
munster took the lead in the third minute through gara calmly slotting over
penalty
munster veteran flanker and man of the match alan quinlan who will be
later this year and saints flying winger and former rugby league star chris
ashton were having great old tussle with the older man coming off the worse
when ashton clipped him
gara had the chance to extend the lead shortly before the half hour mark but
his penalty from just inside northampton half fell short former all black
bruce reihana though made no mistake for the visitors from metres out and
levelled the match in the st minute
however fine incisive run by gara brought another penalty to the hosts
after northampton player dove in too early to break down the attack just
metres from the line gara had no problem in converting the penalty to give
munster lead at the break
shane geraghty who was having curates egg of match levelled in the th
minute with penalty redeeming himself after making terrible hash of
previous effort
gara restored munster lead in the th minute with penalty from in front
of the posts though connell was testing referee roman pointe patience with
series of verbal exchanges the frenchman made it clear who was in charge with
retort of we do it my way
however pointe and connell titanic struggle mirroring that of the two
teams saw the british and irish lions captain yellow carded on the hour mark for
hands in the ruck
was steaming angry about being sin binned said connell
lot of things were confusing out there however thats what what happens when
one has no communication and its just dictation
despite northampton though twice opting to take five metre scrum with
connell off instead of kicking for goal it was heroic scrummaging by the
hosts that saw them win one against the head and clear the danger
incredibly it was the irish province that scored with gara adding another
penalty when ashton was penalised and if the roar for the score was deafening it
was outdone in volume by the return of the talismanic connell
geraghty went off to be replaced by another rugby league convert in stephen
myler who made the last five minutes nervy one for the hosts as he landed
penalty to make it and whilst they may not have won the bonus point
could prove to be as good as victory
taiwan president given permission to transit through us
washington jan afp
the united states said friday it has granted permission for taiwan president
ma ying jeou to transit through us territory next week on his way to central
america move likely to irritate china
we approved president ma request based on longstanding practice us state
department spokesman philip crowley told reporters when asked to confirm news
reports about the decision
our decision is consistent with the unofficial nature of our relations with
taiwan and in keeping with the criteria of safety comfort convenience and
dignity of the travel said crowley
think he will transit san francisco en route to central america and los
angeles when returning to taipei said the assistant secretary of state for
public affairs
crowley said ma would be greeted in both californian cities by raymond
burghardt chairman of the american institute in taiwan the organization that
carries out the unofficial relations with taiwan
in taipei last week the state funded central news agency said ma will leave
taiwan on january for the inauguration of honduran president elect porfirio
lobo sosa two days later stopping in san francisco
it added he would return to taipei via los angeles
crowley fleshed out reports from taipei that the united states also allowed
taiwan military cargo plane carrying relief for haitian earthquake victims to
land on us territory
we have allowed which has been participating in the rescue operations
in haiti to refuel here crowley said without saying when and where it
touched down
certainly that is consistent not only with our philosophy but also given
the importance of supporting the operation in haiti the spokesman added
it was the first us transit by taiwanese military plane since washington
switched diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in according to
the taipei based united daily news
china which sees taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification
usually reacts with anger at military and other official contacts between the
island and any country especially the united states
beijing repeatedly protested to washington whenever ma predecessor chen shui
bian high profile advocate of independence made transit stops in the united
states
confirmation of the decisions come as china on friday rejected criticism of its
internet censorship by us secretary of state hillary clinton saying it harmed
relations as row over google threat to leave the chinese market escalated
rugby union european cup table
paris jan afp
european cup pool table after friday matches played won drawn lost points
for against bonus points total points
pool
munster
northampton
perpignan
treviso
figure skating russians dance with passion to win euro gold
tallinn jan afp
russia oksana domnina and maxim shabalin danced to the theme of passion to
claim their second ice dancing gold at the european figure skating championships
here on friday
the world champions who created controversy this week by their aboriginal
original dance reclaimed the title they won in with dramatic free dance
to the double life of veronique by zbigniew preisner
the name of our programme is passion explained shabalin
passion of people we try to express the mood of people sometimes they love
each other sometimes they hate sometimes they fight there are many faces that
express this feeling so we tried to express this emotion
they took the title ahead of italy federica faiella and massimo scali with
defending champions jana khokhlova and sergei novitski of russia winning bronze
after the free skating final
as in the original dance they placed second behind the italians but sealed
victory as result of the comfortable margin they had built up in the opening
day compulsory dance in which faiella and scali placed third
it is the first international competition this season for the olympic favourites
who missed the grand prix series because of shabalin recurring knee problems
their routine included innovative lifts and moves with domnina costume
including an acrobatic belt which allowed shabalin to swing his partner around
in their first rotational lift
but while they scored highest artistically they lost out on their technical
score which was just seventh highest as they scored for their routine for
an overall
our technical points could have been better said shabalin we ll be flying
to the usa in two days and then we ll figure out what wrong there
the expression and everything is good hope we ll improve our technical score
at the olympic games
faiella and scali scored for their moving routine to nino rota the
emigrants giving them overall and their third straight silver at the
europeans
this free dance represents part of our life explained scali
we moved from italy to the us like italians did many many years ago it the
journey of two young people leaving their country and the emotion and how hard
it is to leave their family and friends but how exciting it is to arrive in
new country
khokhlova and novitski in fourth after the original dance snatched bronze for
stravinski firebird after their podium rivals nathalie pechalat and fabian
bourzat of france made mistakes in their routine
this was the premiere of our dance and we re glad it was well received so
we re happy said khokhlova
the title is russia third of the championships after yevgeny plushenko claimed
his sixth men title and yuko kavaguti and alexander smirnov won the pairs
earlier in the week
the competition winds up on saturday with the women free skating final with
two time winner carolina kostner of italy in pole position ahead of finnish duo
kiira korpi and laura lepisto the defending champion
russia look set to finish off the podium for the fourth straight year with their
highest placed skater alena leonova in fifth
britain ups terror level in line with us measures official
washington jan afp
britain decision to raise its terror alert level brings it in line with us
measures announced over the last few weeks the us department of homeland
security dhs said friday
the uk is raising their measures to effectively where we are with the airport
security measures that we have taken and announced over the last few weeks
said dhs spokesman matthew chandler
we have enhanced our security measures and communicated specific information to
industry law enforcement and the american people he said
chandler comments came after british home secretary alan johnson announced
britain had raised its terror threat level from substantial to severe
suggesting that an attack is highly likely
the joint terrorism analysis center has today raised the threat to the uk from
international terrorism from substantial to severe johnson said
this means that terrorist attack is highly likely but should stress that
there is no intelligence to suggest than an attack is imminent
in television statement shortly afterwards johnson refused to say whether the
change in the threat level which takes it to the fourth highest level out of
five was linked to the failed detroit plane bombing on december
dow plunges more than points for second straight day
new york jan afp
us stocks tumbled for second straight day on friday as markets were roiled by
us president barack obama bank revamp plans and doubts on federal reserve
chief ben bernanke renomination
the dow jones industrial average slumped points percent to
posting its third straight session of triple digit losses and its
biggest weekly drop since february
the nasdaq composite tumbled points percent to and the
standard amp poor index dropped points percent to
investors sold ahead of the weekend as the financial sector vociferously opposed
obama plans unveiled thursday to limit the size and scope of us banks and
finance firms in new offensive against wall street excesses
the measures would effectively force financial firms to choose between lucrative
proprietary activities trading in stocks and sometimes risky financial
instruments for their own benefit and traditional activities like making
loans and collecting deposits
analysts said the stock selloff over the last two days underscored market
concerns
the president might be on the right warpath to soothe the american public yet
the market is telling him to be careful about using regulatory weapons of mass
destruction said patrick hare of briefing com
what we see in front of us is market that doesn like the idea of excessive
regulation since excessive regulation curtails earnings potential he said
also friday doubts grew over bernanke renomination as key democrats voiced
opposition prompting renewed expression of support from the white house
if he is not reappointed think the markets would have fit already we have
seen that in the markets what has happened in the last couple of hours is
related to the events around bernanke said nariman behravesh chief economist
at ihs global insight
two members of obama party announced they would vote against bernanke
underscoring shift in the political landscape after the loss of seat in
massachusetts that ended the senate supermajority for the party
obama believes the senate will confirm bernanke white house spokesman told
reporters traveling with the president en route to ohio
beijing moves to clamp down on lending to cool an overheating chinese economy
also dragged down the market amid concerns over possible easing of the the
global economic recovery from recession
frankly we see china tightening as the biggest factor at work this week its
actions are highlighting for market participants that the easy money that fueled
the rebound is going to be less easy to get in hare said
naturally this has to take some wind out of risk trades
banking stocks extended their losses bank of america fell percent to
dollars morgan stanley by percent to dollars jp morgan chase
by percent to dollars and goldman sachs by percent to
dollars
general electric rose percent to dollars after notching stronger
than expected net profit of billion dollars in the fourth quarter down
percent from year earlier
fast food chain mcdonald rose percent to dollars after its net
profit jumped percent in the fourth quarter to billion dollars
internet giant google fell percent to dollars despite quarterly
profit that surpassed expectations of most wall street analysts
the bond market was mixed the yield on the year treasury bond fell to
percent from percent thursday and that on the year bond rose to
percent from percent
football french cup results
paris jan afp
french cup result on friday
last
saumur rennes marveaux sow
saturday
beauvais agen
quevilly angers
bordeaux ajaccio
raon etape vesoul
sunday
mulhouse guingamp
paris sg evian
monaco lyon
last matches previously postponed because of poor weather
saturday
grenoble montpellier
colmar lille
st ouen aumone sedan
compiegne lens
st louis neuweg sochaux
pontivy brest
sunday
thiers nancy
st etienne lorient
us chinese diplomats discuss google more meetings seen
washington jan afp
us and chinese diplomats have held several meetings to discuss the chinese based
cyberattacks on google including one with the chinese ambassador here on
thursday the state department said friday
we are having high level meetings and we will continue to have meetings and we
will continue to press this issue aggressively spokesman philip crowley said
we will continue to seek an explanation from china
google has said it will no longer censor search results on its web search engine
in china following the cyberattacks which the internet company said originated
in china and targeted the email accounts of chinese human rights activists
around the world
crowley said the latest us china meeting had been between kurt campbell us
assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs and the chinese
ambassador here zhou wenzhong
he said speech on internet freedom by secretary of state hillary clinton which
drew sharp reaction from beijing the cyberattacks on google and the broader
aspects of our relationship were all discussed
we have broad relationship with china crowley said we think that it is
far more stable than it has been in some time that said we have range of
issues where we have you know disagreements
clinton on thursday urged beijing to conduct thorough and transparent probe
into the cyberattacks on google and criticized china and other nations for
censoring the web and restricting the free flow of information
her comments drew the strongest reaction to date from china in the dispute over
google with the foreign ministry saying the united states should respect facts
and stop using the so called internet freedom issue to criticize china
unreasonably
crowley said the united states had taken note of the chinese foreign
ministry statement but had no further comment
he also said that washington had not yet made formal request to beijing
known as demarche asking for an explanation for the cyberattacks on google
senior state department official told reporters meanwhile that while the
united states and china have differences on the issue of internet freedom
clinton speech was not directed at china individually
asked about china public posture and the diplomatic talks the official said
there are things that china does for public consumption and that may or may not
reflect the conversations that we have in private
the chinese understood the context of the secretary speech and that it wasn
specifically directed at them said the official who spoke to reporters on the
condition of anonymity
that said we do have very significant issue in this space said the
official they do not see the issue of internet freedom in the same way that we
do
we have fundamental disagreement there
rugby union european challenge cup results collated
paris jan afp
european challenge cup results on friday
pool
montpellier fra worcester eng
newcastle eng padova ita
pool
montauban fra albi fra
aid finally brings relief in haiti for some
port au prince jan afp
some left with smile after queuing for hours for the first major hand out of
food and water in central port au prince since the massive earthquake days
ago others were not so lucky
we are hungry there is not enough aid and it has not come fast enough said
year old mason jean felix louis leaving empty handed after joining the
thousands of people who lined up around the ruined presidential palace
it over and we don know what will come next said worried filolia
wikenson
the first people had gathered by am gmt on friday in the champs du
mars the huge square outside the palace where around homeless survivors
have sheltered in abysmal conditions since the january quake leveled much of
haiti capital
queuing beneath the hot sun they waited with surprising calm and discipline
despite their growing hunger pains and the fact that they have been drinking
unsafe water for days
brazilian un peacekeepers then handed out litres of water and tonnes
of food including brazilian government rations and high energy biscuits from the
un world food programme
it was the first time that many survivors had smiled since losing their loved
ones their homes and everything they owned in the january disaster they
rushed off quickly clutching their supplies like treasure
happy had no money to buy water was drinking what could find at the
side of the road said lucienne mondesir who has been living with dozen
other people beneath sheet stretched out over the grass
but the food in the square ran out in two hours and the water in four leaving
many people with nothing to show for their patience
there wasn enough there were too many people even though we did our best
said brazilian lieutenant colonel sergio tratz
through loudspeaker atop vehicle belonging to the un mission in haiti
minustah man tried to calm the situation
haitian friends soon lots of food will arrive please cooperate with the
soldiers stay calm do not be violent don forget our motto unity brings
strength the man said
back in their tents those who only got water in the hand out were also annoyed
it good but you can live on water alone said guerrier cynthia cully
year old teacher
the problem is hunger we need food added marie michel joachim
others were critical of the wfp energy biscuits
gave packet of them to the kids but it not enough we need rice peas
oil salmon said jordani carnens
but the situation has slowly improved in the champs du mars for so many days
mass of human misery
street sweepers have been clearing the garbage from the area the smell is
becoming less unbearable and non governmental organisation has installed
pump for drinking water
and later in the day the french embassy and international aid agencies were to
erect tents there to hold people ambassador didier le bret said
biden in iraq to defuse barred election candidates row
baghdad jan afp
us vice president joe biden arrived in iraq on friday on mission aimed at
defusing political crisis after hundreds of candidates allegedly linked to
saddam hussein were barred from march elections
the visit was not announced in advance for security reasons but had been mooted
in recent days and comes amid festering row on election candidates that has
alarmed the white house and united nations six weeks from polling day
on arrival biden was briefed by ambassador christopher hill and general ray
odierno the top us officer in iraq he was due to meet prime minister nuri al
maliki and president jalal talabani on saturday
senior biden aide told reporters the vice president was not in iraq to offer
solutions to the dispute that has seen more than candidates banned from the
march poll but would give his advice if asked
if whatever process is agreed to is fair if its procedures are transparent
then there should not be problem tony blinken biden national security
adviser told reporters
the problem only arises if there is perception that the process is unfair and
lacks transparency and that as the result of an unfair process people may be
disqualified that should not be
biden first meeting on saturday will be with the un secretary general
special representative for iraq ad melkert
he will then meet maliki talabani parliament speaker iyad al samarrai several
government ministers and cross section of other political leaders
the blacklist of candidates said to have links with the executed dictator
regime has stoked tensions between the shiite majority now leading the
