it also tempered optimism about the resurgence in stock markets
the stronger than expected rebound in equity prices worldwide may belie the
fact that there are still problems remaining in financial sectors in major
economies which continue to constrain credit availability and could lead to more
failures of financial institutions in the near future the report said
the report indicated that developing and least developed countries had managed
to sustain growth through the crisis albeit at low levels allowing them to
recover much faster this year
the outlook for developed economies was more subdued with average growth of
about percent forecast for after decline of percent last year
football frings reach all time loew for german hardman midfielder
berlin jan afp
germany midfielder torsten frings was told on wednesday his international career
is over after national coach joachim loew said the werder bremen star will play
no part in his world cup plans
the year old won caps and scored goals for his country but has been
out of favour since october and loew told the midfielder in person he will
play no part in his plans for june tournament in south africa
the defensive midfielder last international appearance was the defeat to
norway in friendly in february
loew travelled to meet frings in bremen on wednesday to tell him face to face
that he had played his last international for germany
this step does not come as complete surprise for me frings told sid
you could see it coming if you read all the signs
there is nothing else for me to do but accept the decision even if it has
completely changed my opinion of joachim loew
believe that still have the potential to put in some strong performances at
the world cup and am determined to prove this in the bundesliga
loew has said he wants to give rising stars like exciting play maker bremen
mesut oezil and marko marin or bayern munich thomas mueller chance and there
is no place for frings experience even in the extended squad
we have many young players who fulfill our requirements in our extended squad
and are very good prospects both for the world cup and beyond said loew
we want to give young players international experience because we are
convinced of them and want to give them more responsibility and exposure at this
level
there will be other important and difficult decisions to be made in the next
few weeks
we travelled to see torsten because of his achievements with the national teams
over many years
with loew set to announce on thursday the extended germany squad who will report
for fitness training in stuttgart which starts on monday there will be no place
for frings
he made his debut against france in february but his last significant
appearance was the euro final when germany lost to spain in vienna
frings was at the centre of row in october when captain michael ballack
accused loew of not showing his senior players respect after frings was dropped
for the win over russia in world cup qualification match
germany have drawn australia ghana and serbia at this june world cup finals
in south africa from june to july
madagascar mammals came by sea not land study
paris jan afp
madagascar magnificent menagerie of mammals arrived tens of millions of years
ago on natural rafts carried by storms and currents and not across land bridges
as some scientists contend according to study released wednesday
evolutionary biologists agree based on evidence from molecular dna that the
island major fauna made their way from continental africa in four stages
first wave of lemur like animals appeared between and million years ago
followed by tenrecs some to million years ago carnivores just after that
and then rodents
tenrecs are insect eating relatives of hedgehogs shrews and opossums
but just how these fauna many of them today threatened with extinction got
there has been sharply debated
the so called sweepstakes hypothesis first laid out some years ago
speculated that the forebear of today madagascar mammals came via driftwood
rafts across the kilometre mile wide mozambique channel
the theory is consistent with relatively small number of mammalian families
suggesting rare opportunities for migration
all of the species that landed during the million year period in question
were also semi aquatic in other words being able to swim at least little bit
might have been required skill for the perilous voyage
but there has always been problem with this notion the currents swirling in
the channel and the surrounding indian ocean would make it virtually impossible
for floating noah ark of vegetation to reach madagascar shores
competing theory of land bridges argues that portions of the davie ridge
running on the sea floor along the channel separating madagascar and africa may
have been partially exposed
this would have creating causeway linking the two bodies of land
but the bridge hypothesis in turn raises questions
if animals could simply walk to madagascar why did so few species do so
in addition given the plate tectonics of the region it seems unlikely that if
some peaks broke the waterline they could have created contiguous pathway to
the island
in the new study matthew huber of purdue university in west lafayette indiana
and jason ali of the university of hong kong say land bridges were improbable
and argue they have an explanation which revives the raft theory
what if they speculated the ocean currents in the area were radically
different tens of millions of years ago
after all over the last million years australia and india have respectively
shifted kilometers miles and kilometers miles
northward and six major ocean gateways have opened or closed changing the
pattern of ocean currents
critically africa and madagascar have both moved north some degrees or
around kilometers miles over the same period
the researchers ran computer simulations based on what is known about the
position of continents at the time
in all our simulations the large scale ocean current systems in the eocene
epoch to million years ago were robustly different from modern observed
and modelled circulations they report in the british journal nature
their findings point to an occasional eastward flow from what is today
mozambique and tanzania
tropical storms generating large floating tree islands could also contribute
to making an ocean passage possible the study said
successful rafting may have involved the fortuitous coincidence of transient
storms and ocean current activity the researchers conclude
iran nuclear fuel deal still on table iaea
vienna jan afp
the un atomic watchdog said wednesday that un brokered offer to supply nuclear
fuel to iran was still on the table downplaying reports that tehran had
rejected it
the proposal made by the international atomic energy agency last october which
was supported by france russia and the united states continues to be on the
table said iaea spokeswoman gill tudor
the iaea is not in position to discuss the views of the parties involved but
it is aware that they are considering the best solution
the iaea will continue to work in good faith as an impartial intermediary and
we hope that agreement among the parties will be reached as quickly as possible
which will contribute to the establishment of confidence
football egypt lead benin at half time
benguela angola jan afp
two time defending champions egypt led benin in an africa cup of nations
group match on wednesday thanks to goals by ahmed al mohammadi and emad
motaeb
bank of america morgan stanley results disappoint
washington jan afp
deeper than expected losses reported wednesday by bank of america and morgan
stanley dampened the mood for banking sector struggling to get out from
bailouts and the financial crisis
bank of america the largest us bank by assets posted loss of million
dollars in the fourth quarter of but repayments of government aid boosted
the loss for shareholders to billion dollars
for all of the largest us bank by assets listed profit of billion
dollars but for shareholders the results were loss of billion following
payments to the us treasury stemming from bailout aid
the last quarter results were affected by charge of billion dollars to
repay the us government for its capital aid under the troubled asset relief
program tarp massive effort to stabilize the banking system bank of
america said
while it disappointing to report loss for the fourth quarter there were
number of important accomplishments worth noting said chief executive brian
moynihan
first we repaid the american taxpayer with interest for the tarp investment
second we have taken steps to strengthen our balance sheet through successful
securities offerings and third all of our non credit businesses recorded
positive contributions to our results
moynihan added as we look at we are encouraged by signs the economy is
improving as we have seen in the stabilization of our credit costs
particularly in the consumer businesses
that said economic conditions remain fragile and we expect high unemployment
levels to continue creating an ongoing drag on consumer spending and growth
analysts at deutsche bank called the bank of america results lumpy and cited
disappointments in areas such as fee income
morgan stanley meanwhile reported profit of million dollars in the fourth
quarter but little was left for shareholders of the investment giant that was
rescued by an infusion from japan mitsubishi ufj financial group
the profit applicable to common shareholders was just million dollars in the
quarter
for all of the posted profit was billion dollars but shareholders
suffered loss of million dollars
morgan stanley chief executive and president james gorman said he was
confident that the bank would improve its position further as the economy
recovered from the worst recession in decades
while the environment remains extremely fluid we are confident the steps we
have taken this year will ensure that morgan stanley remains well positioned to
serve our clients seize new opportunities in the markets and deliver superior
returns to our shareholders in the years ahead he said
gorman along with chairman john mack agreed to forgo bonuses for due to
the sector woes
joe weisenthal analyst at the financial website clusterstock said the results
followed pattern set by jpmorgan chase and citigroup which reported losses
for their lending operations offset by gains in other areas such as trading and
investment banking
the losses are raising concerns about the impact of credit problems on the
economic recovery he said
another major bank wells fargo posted net income of billion dollars in the
fourth quarter on record revenue of billion dollars
for the full year wells fargo said it had net profit of billion dollars on
record revenue of billion dollars
the financial results partly reflected the california based bank takeover of
wachovia on december making wells fargo the fourth largest bank by
assets in the united states the bank said it had trillion dollars in assets
at the end of
most major banks have repaid the government tarp injections although
citigroup has converted some of that to common stock
bank of america which weathered the financial crisis with billion dollars in
government aid after it absorbed troubled brokerage merrill lynch and home
lender countrywide financial said results were hurt by high credit costs
offset in part by gains in investment banking and trading
the group repaid the entire tarp injection in december after raising fresh
capital in the markets
us russia deal on afghan transit is working ambassador
moscow jan afp
us military planes are flying over russia with supplies for afghanistan under
deal signed last summer the us ambassador to moscow said wednesday denying
claims that the deal had broken down
there are many incorrect reports that this agreement is barely functioning
that supposedly there was only one flight of us plane john beyrle said in an
interview with echo of moscow radio
in fact there were five and more are planned he added
the number of flights given by beyrle was still far smaller than the maximum
number envisioned by the agreement signed in july during summit between us
president barack obama and his russian counterpart dmitry medvedev
the accord permitted up to military flights per year carrying troops arms
and other supplies
in november the us state department said the deal was still not being fully
implemented as logistical details were still being thrashed out
the afghan transit deal was regarded as one of the achievements of obama
efforts to reset us russia ties and its apparent inability to get off the
ground led to speculation about behind the scenes difficulties
beyrle said the united states would make more use of its transit agreement with
russia in as obama stepped up operations against the taliban and al qaeda
and sent thousands more troops to afghanistan
think we will use this agreement very much this year because as you know
president obama has announced that large number of forces will be sent to
afghanistan and the air corridor over russia will indeed be very important for
supplying our troops beyrle said
the importance of the russia air corridor has increased amid growing unrest and
attacks on nato convoys delivering supplies through pakistan afghanistan
neighbour to the south
urgent iran nuclear fuel deal still on table iaea
vienna jan afp
the un atomic watchdog said wednesday that un brokered offer to supply nuclear
fuel to iran was still on the table downplaying reports that tehran had
rejected it
us hospital ship taking worst haitian cases
port au prince jan afp
us naval hospital ship has arrived off haiti and is ready to begin taking on
board the worst of the injured still alive after last week devastating quake
the military said wednesday
colonel richard ellison said the usns comfort tonne mercy class
hospital ship will treat to patients at time chosen by haitian
officials from the thousands thronging hospitals and make shift clinics
the ship is now set up to do immediate life saving surgery he told reporters
at port au prince airport the hub of the massive international aid and rescue
operation that has begun to swing into action
we ve no idea how many patients are out there we know it in the thousands
it may be way more than that it just goes up every time new facility is
opened he said
the haitian civil defense department said tuesday that at least people
were killed in the quake and injured international aid teams have begun
arriving to reinforce local hospitals and set up field clinics
the haitian health minister told me what he needs if we can give it to him is
an entirely new medical infrastructure ellison said we don know how long
we are going to be here
but its top mission remains the medical emergency stemming from the devastation
of last week major earthquake in country that was already the poorest in
the americas before the latest disaster
the comfort which left with about medical staff on board has the capacity
to provide beds it has intensive care beds which will be expanded to
it will also have between eight and operating room beds
the main issue right now is medical assistance captain john kirby spokesman
for the chairman of us joint chief of staff michael mullen who was sent here as
special assistant to the mission told afp
the second biggest issue remains the distribution of supplies there is still
long way to go we want to make sure it is touching the haitian people kirby
stressed
football nigeria lead mozambique at half time
lubango angola jan afp
osaze odemwingie scored in the final minute of the first half to give nigeria
half time lead over mozambique in an africa cup of nations group match on
wednesday
rugbyu venter escapes with suspended ban
london jan afp
saracens director of rugby brendan venter escaped with suspended touchline ban
on wednesday after publicly criticising referee david rose
the former springbok centre was found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the
interests of the union by rugby football union rfu disciplinary panel which
met on tuesday but published its findings on wednesday
the panel said venter should make public apology to rose be suspended from
match day coaching for four weeks but that the suspension be suspended until
december and that he should pay costs of pounds
after saracens english premiership defeat by leicester at welford road on
january venter appeared to question rose integrity by saying the official
had been different referee in the second half
the south african remarks received wide publicity partly because he broadened
his comments to slam the standard of officiating in the premiership in general
which he blamed for lack of tries this season
venter was charged specifically due to comments he made during the course of
bbc radio interview in which he said think the referee was influenced at
half time and that all can think
all know is something happened at half time the game changed
but the panel accepted he was responding to question from the bbc about
inconsistency in refereeing
however the panel chaired by judge jeff blackett the rfu disciplinary
officer said there was an implication in the bbc question that the referee
had been improperly influenced at half time and the way in which venter answered
that question was likely to have left the listener with the impression that this
was the case
its judgment added we accept that venter is man of integrity who is
passionate about rugby who wants to improve areas which he considers in need of
improvement and speaks his mind
he also is aware his passion could get him into trouble and we advised him to
be careful in future about the way he espouses his theories in public
latvian president warns ruling parties amid bailout battle
riga jan afp
latvia president chided the country bickering ruling parties wednesday
ahead of parliamentary vote on an international bailout that is keeping the
recession afflicted baltic state afloat
all political parties in government and opposition must carefully
evaluate the proposals and vote with their conscience reaching compromises when
possible president valdis zatlers told reporters after talks with prime
minister valdis dombrovskis
the governing parties especially the people party and new era must stop
punching each other at the expense of state interests zatlers said
dombrovskis five party centre right coalition has been under renewed strain
ahead of parliamentary vote related to the rescue package agreed in december
under the terms of the billion euro billion dollar bailout steered
by the international monetary fund and the european union latvia has repeatedly
slashed public spending and raised taxes to try to plug gaping hole in state
coffers
payouts of tranches of the bailout depend on ongoing belt tightening which has
sparked regular coalition infighting
new concerns emerged over recent days as dombrovskis new era party sparred with
the coalition heavyweight people party which has made increasingly angry
public statements about the bailout conditions and said it wants lawmakers to
have more say
the government needs majority in the seat parliament to pass bailout
related measure thursday without the people party it only has votes
the issue before parliament is whether to continue the government mandate in
talks with lenders
it became necessary after latvia top court ruled in december that the
government had violated the constitution by cutting pensions to save money
requiring changes to the bailout
latvia is locked in one of the steepest recessions in the nation eu
authorities estimate its economy shrank by up to percent last year
that is far cry from the double digit boom it enjoyed after eu entry in
latvia country of million people broke from the crumbling soviet union
in
london meeting will not solve all yemen problems envoy
sanaa jan afp
conference later this month on yemen which is in the throes of battling
surge of al qaeda militancy will not solve all the country problems the
british ambassador said on wednesday
of course it will not solve all the problems of yemen in two hours tim
torlot told reporters of the gathering slated for january in london
it will not be pledge conference there will be no new offers of money no
promises of particular activities it the beginning of process
the international meeting focusing on extremism in yemen was called by british
prime minister gordon brown days after suspected suicide bomber failed to
detonate explosives on board us airliner on christmas day
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap the network franchise in yemen
claimed responsibility for the botched attack washington has accused aqap of
training the nigerian alleged assailant umar farouk abdulmutallab
torlot also referred to london decision on wednesday to suspend direct flights
from yemen to britain until further security measures are agreed
we are aware of the severe threat from al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
operating from yemen he said we hope they flights are going to be able to
resume very quickly
residents flee as nigeria religious clashes spread
kano nigeria jan afp
thousands of people fled the nigerian city of jos on wednesday after clashes
stoked by religious zealots spread to nearby towns following three days of
violence that has left dead
at least took refuge in military barracks churches and mosques after gun
and machete wielding gangs rampaged across the city on tuesday despite hour
curfew
the unrest erupted on sunday over plans to build mosque in mainly christian
district of the city which straddles nigeria muslim dominated north and
christian south
residents said the fighting spread overnight to areas on the fringes of jos the
capital of plateau state
idris sarki who fled into jos from the nearby town of kuru karama said
attacks are still going on in areas in the southern parts of the city
the area came from has been sacked all residents like me who are fortunate
have left but many many have been killed he told afp
witnesses reported that the mobs went from house to house hacking and shooting
those inside defying the curfew buildings and vehicles were set ablaze and
smoke rose over several parts of the city
vice president goodluck jonathan ordered extra troops into the city late tuesday
but for many it came too late
today people are counting their losses many were slaughtered and burnt inside
their homes said civil rights activist shehu sani speaking from jos
locals said the gangs were able to move freely on tuesday because there were not
enough security forces to enforce the curfew effectively
however residents reported they had seen fresh troops deploying wednesday
this crisis has done extensive damage to both human and material resources
nigeria police chief ogbonnaya onovo told journalists after touring jos
muslim and christian leaders and paramedic gave tolls of nearly dead but
there was no official confirmation about bodies had been taken to the
central mosque in jos by late tuesday an imam there said christian clergyman
said he had counted bodies elsewhere
several hundred people have been reported wounded and casualties have filled
hospitals some clinics were reportedly running out of medical supplies
aid agencies said more than terrified residents have been displaced and
were squatting in makeshift camps set up at police and army barracks and in
churches
the northern based civil rights congress put the number of displaced at over
according to its director shenu sani
johathan warned the violence was capable of further sundering the bonds of
unity in our country
human rights watch hrw urged the security forces to use restraint and comply
with international standards on the use of force in responding to the latest
deadly outbreak of inter communal violence
hrw said more than people have died in religious or ethnic clashes in
nigeria since the end of military rule in
this is not the first outbreak of deadly violence in jos but the government
has shockingly failed to hold anyone accountable said hrw researcher corinne
dufka
police minister ibrahim yakubu lame blamed the clashes on some highly placed
individuals in the society who were exploiting the ignorance and poverty of the
people to cause mayhem in the name of religion and ethnicity
local red cross chief awwalu mohammed said the city was faced with serious
humanitarian situation as the curfew was affecting water supply
displaced camps are fast increasing from the five we had yesterday people are
trooping into makeshift camps in many parts of the city the numbers are
overwhelming he said
jos has in recent years been hotbed of religious violence in nigeria whose
million people are divided almost equally between christians and muslims
in november hundreds were killed in two days of fighting in jos triggered
by rumour that mainly muslim party had lost local election to christian
dominated party
rwandan genocide suspect arrested in france
bordeaux france jan afp
french police on wednesday arrested rwandan doctor wanted on charges of
genocide and war crimes in his home country officials close to the case said
sosthene munyemana who has been working in hospital emergency ward in the
southwest bordeaux region for eight years was picked up by police acting on an
extradition warrant issued by kigali
munyemana denies taking part in the genocide in which people
essentially minority hutus were massacred between april and july
the year old doctor who hails from the southern butare region of rwanda had
been on an interpol list of wanted men since
french court in had rejected his asylum request ruling that there were
serious reasons to suspect he was involved in crimes against humanity
the arrest came just weeks after french foreign minister bernard kouchner
traveled to kigali the first high level visit since france and rwanda agreed in
november to resume diplomatic ties
rwanda broke ties in after french judge issued warrants for nine
officials close to president paul kagame who were suspected of being implicated
in the shooting down of the plane of former rwandan president
that incident is considered to have triggered the start of the genocide
rugby union parks recalled by scotland
edinburgh jan afp
scotland have recalled australian born flyhalf dan parks and included uncapped
glasgow duo richie gray and ruaridh jackson in their squad for their opening six
nations matches against france and wales next month
gray year old flanker and flyhalf jackson both step up from the
scotland squad while their club team mate parks returns to the fold after
being overlooked for scotland tests in november which included famous win
over his native country
head coach andy robinson decision to drop parks last year was controversial
but the glasgow number ten has forced his way back into contention after
becoming the leading points scorer in the celtic league
dan has been playing well and it an asset for us to have someone of his
ability in the squad robinson said ve been really pleased with his
consistency of performance
he been driving the glasgow team the glasgow team been playing well and
he been key reason for that he ll be an asset to us in terms of the first
two games
robinson said jackson would have been in his squad in november but for
shoulder injury and welcomed the competition he and parks would provide for phil
godman his first choice stand off
competition for places all the way through is what important for us and it
what drives and improves performance robinson said we ve got to improve our
standards
gloucester prop alasdair dickinson and edinburgh lock jim hamilton are back in
the squad having missed out in november through injury
toulon full back rory lamont may be added to the squad for the game against
france at murrayfield on february provided he comes through club game on
january
scotland will be without two former captains through injury scrum half mike
blair will train with the squad next week and could return from an ankle injury
later in the tournament but big hitting forward jason white is out for the
season with broken leg
scotland squad to face france at murrayfield on february gmt kick off
and wales at the millennium stadium cardiff on february gmt kick off
forwards john barclay johnnie beattie kelly brown all glasgow alasdair
dickinson gloucester eng ross ford edinburgh richie gray dougie hall
both glasgow jim hamilton edinburgh nathan hines leinster irl allan
jacobsen edinburgh alastair kellock glasgow scott lawson gloucester
moray low glasgow alan macdonald edinburgh euan murray northampton eng
alasdair strokosch gloucester eng
backs chris cusiter glasgow simon danielli ulster irl nick de luca
edinburgh max evans thom evans glasgow phil godman edinburgh alex
grove worcester eng ruaridh jackson glasgow sean lamont scarlets wal
rory lawson gloucester eng graeme morrison glasgow chris paterson
edinburgh dan parks glasgow hugo southwell stade francais fra
italy won identify nuclear power sites till official
rome jan afp
italy which plans to reintroduce atomic power after ban dating from the
chernobyl disaster will announce sites for new nuclear plants in an
official said wednesday
under secretary for economic development stefano saglia said the sites in the
controversial programme would be chosen in accord with regional governments the
ansa news agency reported
the centre left governments of naples campania region and that of apulia also
in the south have already said they would not host nuclear plants on their
territory
italy greens sparked fierce political debate in december when they released
list of sites they said the government was considering and the issue is
expected to colour regional elections in late march
the far left lost all representation in parliament in the elections and
berlusconi enjoys comfortable majorities in both houses of parliament
nuclear power was banned in italy after referendum held in the year
after the reactor accident at chernobyl ukraine sent highly radioactive
fallout over large areas of europe
the country four nuclear plants operating at the time were shut down
the centre right government of prime minister silvio berlusconi announced
shortly after taking office in may that it would begin building nuclear
power stations to solve the country dependence on foreign oil and gas
