vasella told journalists that he was more reserved about sales expectations for
the vaccine this year after governments sought to scale back their
orders and the pandemic appeared to wane
demand was likely to be moderate he added
novartis said it nonetheless expected to maintain momentum in with
strong array of newly launched drugs and helped on by the billion dollar
acquisition of dominant eye care group alcon from nestle this month
over the past months we sustained our lead in approvals for new products
achieving more than major new product approvals in the us europe and japan
vasella said
the planned acquisition of alcon will propel novartis to the global leadership
position in eye care and create new growth platform he added
the core annual net profit of billion dollars compared with profit of
billion dollars in
excluding exceptional items full year profit reached billion francs an
increase of four percent over the equivalent figure the previous year
analysts polled by financial agency awp had forecast net profit of billion
dollars
core operating income was up percent to billion dollars novartis said
operating income in the vaccines division more than doubled to million
dollars an increase of percent over while sales grew percent
operating income in the group core business and biggest earner
pharmaceuticals grew by percent to billion dollars in on sales
growth of eight percent
novartis said that vasella who became chief executive years ago would
relinquish the post to jimenez on february under transition process it
began in
vasella will continue as chairman of the group focusing on strategy it added
renee zellweger to join th berlin film fest jury
berlin jan afp
oscar winning actress renee zellweger will join the jury for the th berlin
film festival next month that will pick the winner of the coveted golden bear
top prize organisers said tuesday
the star of the bridget jones franchise will sit on seven member panel
chaired by academy award nominated german director werner herzog at the february
event the festival said in statement
also judging the competition will be chinese actress yu nan italian director
francesca comencini somali novelist nuruddin farah german actress cornelia
froboess and spanish producer jose maria morales
the jury is to hand out the prizes at glittering awards ceremony on february
highlights of this year line up include fresh releases by roman polanski
martin scorsese and michael winterbottom and the festival opener apart
together tuan yuan by china wang quan an
zellweger clinched an academy award for best supporting actress in for
the us civil war drama cold mountain which also featured in competition in
berlin
herzog was nominated for best documentary oscar in for encounters
at the end of the world and is festival circuit favourite for cult classics
such as nosferatu fitzcarraldo and the documentary grizzly man
the berlin film festival known as the berlinale ranks second below cannes
among europe top film festivals
last year jury president was oscar winning scottish actress tilda swinton
alert
suicide car bomb hits afghan capital kabul five wounded police
man arrested under terrorism laws in britain
london jan afp
police in britain were searching the home of man arrested tuesday under
terrorism laws days after the government raised its threat level to severe
suggesting an attack was highly likely
the year old man was held in birmingham central england on suspicion of
possessing material likely to be of use to terrorist and of distributing
terrorist publications
the arrest under the terrorism act came as result of long detailed and
ongoing inquiry according to the officer in charge of the investigation
detective superintendent kenny ball
the home of the man who has not been named in line with police policy and
another address in the city are currently being searched
home secretary alan johnson announced friday that britain was raising its terror
threat assessment level from substantial to severe four weeks after the
attempted bombing of an airliner approaching the us city of detroit
world bank president arrives in sierra leone for africa tour
freetown jan afp
world bank president robert zoellick arrived in sierra leone tuesday for the
start of an eight day three nation tour of africa which will also take him to
the ivory coast and ethiopia
zoellick was met at the airport by officials including finance minister saidu
kamara ahead of visit described by the government as an endorsement and
support for sierra leone government measures to steer the country out of
economic mismanagement to economic prosperity
the world bank chief will visit projects in energy agriculture and fisheries
which have benefited and will benefit from the bank funding officials told
afp
the two day visit will include talks with president ernest koroma and press
conference will be held on wednesday an official communique said
the world bank remains one of sierra leone leading partners according to
statistics released by the finance ministry providing technical and financial
support since the end of devastating year civil war in
since the public sector in sierra leone has benefited from million
dollars million euros in support from the world bank international
development association about one third of which is provided as direct budget
support
the world bank is currently supporting nine active projects at cost of
million dollars
the bank is collaborating with three other donors the british department for
international development dfid the european union and the african development
bank afdb in joint donor budget support framework
sierra leone joined the world bank in year after its independence
british envoy named nato rep for afghanistan diplomats
brussels jan afp
britain ambassador in kabul will be nato new civilian representative in
afghanistan alliance diplomats said tuesday ahead of major international
conference on the country
nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen will publicly present mark sedwill
who will have beefed up role coordinating civilian efforts in afghanistan with
the alliance at press conference in brussels at gmt tuesday
the new appointee succeeds ambassador fernando gentilini who served as nato
fourth senior civilian representative in afghanistan from may to january
nato said in statement announcing the press conference
sedwill will be responsible for carrying forward the political military
aspects of the alliance assistance to the afghan government
he will work closely with the afghan government isaf nato led international
security assistance force the united nations and other key stakeholders in
afghanistan it said
last week nato spokesperson said the new nominee would have bigger team and
beefed up role as the alliance seeks to streamline military and civilian
efforts to help rebuild afghanistan and beat taliban led insurgency
but she said he would not take over responsibilities currently held by the
united nations in afghanistan
senior us government official visiting brussels said the new appointee could
help improve cooperation and information exchange between so called provincial
reconstruction teams prts in afghanistan
according to isaf internet site civilian military prts are in operation
throughout afghanistan many led by the united states but almost dozen run
by other nations trying to encourage reconstruction
all of us who have prts in the country need to have better opportunity to
learn from each other to learn what works and what doesn work and to adapt
our practices the senior us official told reporters
part of that knitting together and learning from each other is really
important and think that the nato civilian representative can help he said
afghan government officials have complained that nations in charge of the prts
generally report back to their capitals rather than to kabul or some
centralised point
they also claim that money spent by the teams is difficult to account for with
some development projects being carried out at great expense and at cross
purposes with the needs of the government
senior international and afghan officials meet in london on thursday for
conference on military and civilian involvement in afghanistan aimed at adding
impetus to efforts to beat the taliban and their al qaeda backers
olympics russians announce cash for medals offer to athletes
moscow jan afp
russian gold medal winners at the vancouver winter olympics will be rewarded
with dollars as well as other top prizes russian sports minister vitaly
mutko announced tuesday
mutko added that all olympic champions would also receive luxury car courtesy
of the olympic athletes support foundation along with cash bonus from his or
her sport federation
all of our athletes who have won the right to represent our country at the
olympics are already heroes said mutko we understand how hard it was for
every one of them to achieve that right
he added every olympic champion will receive dollar bonus from the
russian government and car from the olympic athletes support foundation
mutko also said that the olympic silver medalist would receive of prize
dollars while bronze medal winners would pocket dollar prize
the vancouver olympics will be held from feb
alert
bin laden tape shows al qaeda greatly weakened obama
holocaust teaching must address human rights eu agency
vienna jan afp
teaching about the holocaust in schools should also include discussion on
current rights issues an eu agency said tuesday ahead of the th anniversary
of the auschwitz death camp liberation
schools should go beyond the mere transmission of historical facts to include
discussion and debate on past and present human rights issues the eu agency
for fundamental rights said in new report
the report examines the role of historical sites and museums in holocaust
education as well as human rights education in the european union
it is not enough to listen to witness who is over years old if you do not
connect his her experience to the present time if you don recognise there is
still deficit in human rights today the agency quoted one teacher as saying
based on the findings of its report the agency suggested that eu countries
better integrate rights education into the school curriculum
teacher education and training should also include both learning about the
holocaust and human rights more generally it said
many of the students the agency interviewed said they would appreciate
stronger connection to the present in education activities about the holocaust
both at school and at historical sites and museums it said
only one of the surveyed holocaust commemoration sites regarded informing
people about human rights as its most important objective
the auschwitz birkenau nazi concentration camp outside the city of krakow was
liberated on january by soviet troops the day was designated
international holocaust memorial day by the united nations in
spanish eu presidency mulls lifting china arms embargo
brussels jan afp
the european union spanish presidency is considering whether to lift the
bloc arms embargo on china spain foreign minister miguel angel moratinos
said tuesday
spain is weighing the pros and cons of the embargo which europe introduced
after the tiananmen square crackdown on chinese pro democracy protesters
moratinos told press conference
the european union has long agreed to reconsider the decision to ban the sale of
arms to china moratinos said
france has been one of the main supporters of lifting the ban and spain is
following that line he added
we are all aware of the new role which china is assuming in the world and the
desirability to improve relations with china to ensure the best possible
dialogue said moratinos whose country holds the eu presidency for the first
half of the year
the time is right to consider whether the consequences allow for the embargo
to be lifted he underlined
in the european parliament voted to retain the arms embargo as long as
beijing helps armed forces and groups involved in african conflicts in general
moratinos was reacting to reporters questions on comments made by spain
ambassador in beijing
we hope to deepen discussions on lifting the ban during spain six month eu
presidency ambassador carlos blasco villa tod the official english language
china daily
there is nonetheless reticence to lift the embargo unless done in tandem
with the united states due to security implications diplomat added
cycling tour de france to start in the vendee
les herbiers france jan afp
the tour de france will start in the atlantic coast department of the
vendee race director christian prudhomme announced here on tuesday
the first stage will get underway on saturday july close to the approaches to
the island of noirmoutier and will end at the mont des alouettes next to the
town of les herbiers
the following day will see kilometres team time trial around the town of
essarts with the third stage leaving from the vendee coastal town of olonne sur
mer
it will be the fourth time in the last years that world greatest cycle race
has started in the vendee after and
tour organisers underlined the fact the edition will not start with any
kind of time trial
instead the race to the uphill finish at mont des alouettes will closely
resemble the finish to the first stage of the tour in when spaniard
alejandro valverde claimed memorable victory at plumelec in brittany
in the race will begin in rotterdam in the netherlands
search for bodies and black boxes in lebanon plane crash
beirut jan afp
rescuers on tuesday combed the waters off the coast of lebanon for victims and
the black boxes of an ethiopian airliner that crashed into the mediterranean
with all passengers and crew presumed dead
transport minister ghazi aridi told afp that salvage crews were focusing their
search on square kilometre square mile area just south of the
airport in the hope of finding the plane black boxes and bodies of the
victims
there are no answers until we find the black boxes aridi said
information minister tarek mitri told afp that salvage crews had worked through
the night and were confident of identifying the area where the plane went down
they are scanning the area where the black boxes and the corpses are to be
found and there should be significant progress today mitri said adding that
improved weather should facilitate the search operations
ethiopian airlines flight tumbled in ball of fire into the mediterranean
early monday just minutes after takeoff from beirut airport in stormy weather
the boeing bound for addis ababa had passengers on board all are
presumed dead
lebanese officials have ruled out foul play and said the bad weather was likely
to blame
aridi said the pilot of the ill fated plane had initially followed control tower
instructions before the plane suddenly veered in different direction
he rogered instructions to go in one direction but then the plane deviated and
when the control tower tried to reach him they lost contact he said
health minister mohamed jawad khalifeh said bodies had been recovered so far
by an international task force including ships from the united nations interim
force in lebanon unifil us navy destroyer as well as aircraft from france
and britain
mitri had earlier put the body count at
senior lebanese security official told afp that authorities were relying on
the uss ramage which has specialised sonar equipment to locate the flight
recorders and debris
we also have divers and we are using specialised equipment that can go down as
deep as to metres he said speaking on condition of anonymity
the us embassy in lebanon said washington was also sending team of experts to
assist the lebanese government in its probe of the crash
officials said there was virtually no hope of finding any survivors given the
time that had elapsed and were pinning their hope on finding the black boxes to
provide answers to the tragedy
witnesses reported seeing ball of fire as the plane plunged into the
mediterranean at am gmt just south of the airport
experts have said that extreme turbulence or wind shear may have caused the
pilot to lose control of the plane which apparently exploded into four pieces
before crashing
captain habib karam the former head of the pilots union for lebanon national
carrier middle east airlines said the pilot probably flew straight into
cumulonimbus thunder clouds which would cause him to lose control of the plane
if pilot flies into this type of cloud it over he said
the passengers comprised lebanese nationals ethiopians one french
one british one iraqi one syrian one turkish and another of as yet
undetermined nationality there were seven crew members
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton wife of france
ambassador to lebanon
ethiopian airlines which was established in and operates an all boeing
fleet is considered one of africa best carriers
the airline had not been involved in major accident since when
nairobi bound jet was hijacked by three ethiopians seeking political asylum
the aircraft crashed into the indian ocean off the comoros when it ran out of
fuel killing of the people on board
afghanistan neighbours back plan to reconcile with taliban
istanbul jan afp
afghanistan neighbours and turkey tuesday backed president hamid karzai plan
to offer incentives to taliban fighters to make them lay down arms in joint
statement issued after talks here
we support the afghan national process of reconciliation and reintegration
in accordance with the constitution of afghanistan in way that is afghan led
and driven the statement said
the talks were attended by karzai his counterparts from pakistan and turkey as
well as senior officials from iran china tajikistan and turkmenistan
those taliban who were not part of terrorist networks or al qaeda are the sons
of the afghan soil karzai told reporters they are thousands and thousands
and thousands and they have to be reintegrated
the afghan leader plan is aimed at bringing low and mid level fighters into
mainstream society to end the gruelling insurgency in the country but the
leadership of islamist militant groups remain hostile to negotiations
the strategy based on money and job offers to taliban fighters to encourage
them to lay down arms is expected to win western support at major conference
in london on thursday
on monday karzai also said he would make statement at the london conference
asking for taliban names to be removed from un blacklist
haitians face decade to rebuild lives
port au prince jan afp
quake hit haiti will need at least decade of painstaking reconstruction aid
chiefs and donor nations warned as homeless scarred survivors struggled
tuesday to rebuild their lives
two weeks after the disaster which killed around people and left
million homeless fresh looting and chaotic food handouts underlined the grim
conditions facing those who lived through the magnitude quake
right now the needs of the people are survival and immediate recovery said
pierre kraehenbuehl who is director of operations at the international
committee of the red cross
next comes the phase of long term reconstruction he told foreign media in
tokyo this is going to be more than years of efforts
international powers meeting in montreal to discuss aid and reconstruction for
haiti one of the world poorest nations even before the quake heard
canadian prime minister stephen harper deliver similar timeframe
we must work to ensure that every resource committed every relief worker
every vehicle every dollar is used as effectively as possible he said
rescuers led by us troops have struggled to get enough aid into the
capital port au prince and flattened towns near the quake epicentre stoking
security fears
in the flimsy patchwork of camps people say they are hungry no one seems to
know where distribution points for food and water are located
they must begin by helping those who have lost their houses said suze jean
francois year old gardener who leaves makeshift encampment each day to
scrounge for food sometimes with no luck
the west has come to help us it is extraordinary but it will not last said
andre muscadin an evangelical pastor
rather than give us fish teach us to catch fish
haitian prime minister jean max bellerive said the world must hammer out long
term strategy after meeting the caribbean country immediate needs for food
water shelter and health care
we are still in an emergency us secretary of state hillary clinton told the
meeting in montreal
there is terrible humanitarian crisis that we are dealing with we don yet
feed all of the people we don yet have water for them
we have so many who have been grievously injured those who have received
medical care many of them have amputated limbs and there are no prosthetics
there are no places to sleep
donor countries agreed to hold full conference on aid to haiti at the un
headquarters in new york in march
haiti president rene preval in statement urged the world to urgently
airlift more tents and million ready to eat packs before the rainy
season starts in may
at the presidential palace daily aid hand out descended into chaos as small
team of uruguayan un peacekeepers were confronted by desperately hungry
haitians
whatever we do it doesn matter they are animals un trooper said as
others sprayed pepper spray and fired rubber bullets into the air
as the sun sets looters appear shots ring out in the distance as shadowy
figures flee clutching bolts of fabric soda bottles pants anything they
can get hold of
bulldozers cleared corpse filled houses elsewhere in the city centre but hopes
have faded of finding more miracle survivors in the rubble the last man who
survived for days by drinking cola was rescued on saturday
the united nations said more than haitians have used free buses to flee
the filth in port au prince for more hygienic camps outside the capital others
have used private transport
health minister alex larsen said that tents were being readied for
people at mini villages that will initially hold and in the long term
accommodate around one million
meanwhile fresh planeload of children landed in paris to join their
adoptive parents bringing to around the number to have arrived in france
since the quake in its former colony
in lisbon more than people turned out late monday at fundraising
football match for quake survivors led by stars including zinedine zidane of
france and brazil kaka
british economy crawls free of record recession
london jan afp
britain limped out of its longest ever recession in the fourth quarter of
official data showed on tuesday but massive debt is set to stunt recovery
beyond looming general election
british gross domestic product gdp grew by only percent in the three
months to december compared with percent contraction in the third
quarter the office for national statistics announced in statement
britain return to growth may not be enough for embattled prime minister gordon
brown to keep his job at general election due by june however as the nation
faces tough recovery amid high debt and unemployment
brown was confident but cautious about growth ahead his spokesman said on
following the first official estimate of fourth quarter gdp
the positive figure which undershot expectations of percent expansion
marked the end of recession that began in the second quarter of as
result of the global financial crisis
britain return to growth means that spain is the only major economy still
trapped in recession following the aftermath of the global financial crisis and
the subsequent worldwide downturn
but the outlook for the global economy is far from rosy with the international
monetary fund and the united nations recently warning of possible renewed or
double dip recession this year
those worries are mounting in europe where greece and portugal are also
struggling with soaring public debt
like many western countries britain public debt has rocketed to record levels
as the government spent billions on financial stimulus measures and banking
sector bailouts in an attempt to avert economic meltdown
the uk economy finally exited recession in the fourth quarter last year but at
snail pace said economist jonathan loynes at consultancy capital
economics
with households under pressure credit in short supply and fiscal squeeze
looming the path back to pre recession levels of activity will be long and
bumpy one
commentators also argued that the return to economic growth was skewed because
temporary factors had lifted gdp the total value of goods and services
produced in an economy particularly in the retail and car sectors
retailers won major boost from temporary cut in taxation on goods and
services value added tax vat was trimmed for one year from december to
help lift britain out of recession
the motor trade has also been energised by the government so called scrappage
scheme that subsidises the cost of buying new car if trading in an old model
these sectors will have been boosted by the pre announced vat rise in january
and the car scrappage scheme suggesting that on an underlying basis the
economy only stagnated at best said daiwa capital markets economist colin
ellis
never has an end to recession been so underwhelming he added
the ons added that the british economy shrank by percent over the course of
compared with the previous year the biggest annual contraction on
record
britain government had forecast contraction of percent in while the
country economy had shrunk by percent over six quarters
state borrowing is meanwhile predicted to strike record billion pounds
billion euros billion dollars in the financial year which
ends in april
however brown on monday insisted that now was not the right time to cut state
aid despite the mountain of debt that was largely caused by the multi billion
pound bailouts of struggling british banks
the state of britain troubled economy has become the key battleground ahead of
the general election that is likely to see brown labour party defeated by the
main opposition conservatives according to polls
whichever party wins power britain faces public spending cuts and taxation
hikes in the years ahead as it looks to reduce state borrowing economists said
finance minister alistair darling last month predicted that the british economy
would grow by percent in after admitting that the nation
recession was deeper than originally thought
to combat the downturn the bank of england cut interest rates to record low
level of percent where they have stood since march
the central bank also introduced radical policy of quantitative easing or
pumping new cash into the economy in bid to kick start lending
killed forensics hq wrecked in baghdad car bombing
baghdad jan afp
suicide attacker blew up his car on tuesday while racing it at iraq
forensics headquarters in central baghdad killing people injuring and
destroying the building officials said
the attack marked another devastating breach of security day after three huge
minibus bombs targeting hotels killed dozens in the iraqi capital as violence
spirals in iraq six weeks ahead of general elections
the blast also comes amid heightened tensions following the hanging of saddam
hussein notorious henchman chemical ali hassan al majid
an interior ministry official put the toll from tuesday attack at dead
five policemen and civilians and people injured those killed all died
in the blast while most of the injured were pulled from underneath the rubble of
the building
the attacker managed to evade tight security in the central neighbourhood of
karrada where checkpoints are located at all the entrances and police conduct
regular security searches
iraqi military spokesman in baghdad major general qassim atta said the attack
targeted the forensics institute which has been bombed twice before
at am suicide bomber raced his vehicle towards the institute and blew
it up said atta
an interior ministry official said the blast had wrecked the institute
the building collapsed soon after the explosion dozens of people usually work
in the forensics institute he said
the blast came day after three huge and apparently co ordinated minibus bombs
targeted hotels in baghdad killing at least people and wounding
security concerns raised by this week wave of bombings have been aggravated by
controversy over the effectiveness of bomb detection devices bought from
british company and routinely use by iraqi security forces
the ade hand held devices were last week banned from export after british
tests showed they were not suitable for bomb detection and the director of the
company that sells them was arrested on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation
by british police
the us ambassador in baghdad condemned the latest attacks as senseless crimes
we call upon all iraqis to unite in combating all forms of violence and
attempts at intimidation christopher hill said in statement on tuesday
iraqi politicians and us forces have warned of rising violence ahead of the
march vote the second parliamentary ballot since the us led invasion
ousted saddam hussein but ushered in deadly and long lasting insurgency
monday hotel bombings came on the same day the government announced that
majid symbol of the fallen regime had been executed
majid better known by his macabre nickname chemical ali was hanged just days
after he was sentenced to death for the gassing of thousands of kurds
crime that shocked the world
the execution and bombings also come amid bitter row sparked by the exclusion
of hundreds of candidates from the election because of their alleged links with
saddam which could see sunni arabs marginalised from the political process
the election is seen as crucial step towards consolidating iraq democracy
and securing complete us military exit by the end of as planned
there are widespread fears in the wake of the bloody attacks to hit baghdad
since the second half of that political violence will rise in the weeks
leading up to the march vote
nearly people were killed and more than were wounded last year in co
ordinated vehicle bombings at government buildings including the ministries of
finance foreign affairs and justice in august october and december
us troops start joint operations in iraq disputed zones
baghdad jan afp
