forex europe
london the euro lost ground against the dollar in mid afternoon trade on
concerns for the health of the world economy after the imf said government
deficits posed risk to recovery
commodities energy oil price
london oil prices dropped on concerns major energy consumer china will make
further moves to tighten credit new york main futures contract light sweet
crude for delivery in march slid cents to dollars barrel
anti davos crowd to welcome lula
porto alegre brazil jan afp
the world social forum gathering of leftwing activists on tuesday
ramped up its week of activities in brazil in traditional bid to counter the
davos economic meeting in switzerland
brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva was to address the international
meeting of unionists ecologists and indigenous rights campaigners in the
southern city of porto alegre late tuesday
lula former trade union leader whose workers party broadly supports the world
social forum ideologies was to travel later this week to attend davos
the world social forum began on monday with celebrations marking its th year
the event which had its roots in street protests against capitalism in the us
city of seattle in has grown into loose structure of groups debating
leftwing alternatives to neoliberal policies in an often festive atmosphere
frequently hosted in porto alegre the gathering focuses its criticism on davos
the conference of elite business and political leaders which kicks off on
wednesday
latin america and especially brazil have an important role in the fight to
change the world and defeat the neoliberal model said an italian activist
rafaella bollini
decades ago europe and the world gave its support to latin america now the
reverse has to happen she said
merkel warns iran time is running out
berlin jan afp
german chancellor angela merkel ramped up the pressure on iran tuesday over its
disputed nuclear programme saying next month would be critical time for the
world community to decide on sanctions
speaking after talks with israeli president shimon peres merkel said that the
theme of sanctions would be tackled in february when france holds the rotating
chair of the united nations security council
think february will be the crucial month merkel said
when asked by an israeli reporter whether berlin would support military
solution to the dispute merkel replied germany wants diplomatic solution to
this conflict and therefore we consider sanctions to be the next step
merkel said the sanctions should be agreed within the united nations but if
china or russia or other countries do not go along with the security council
then group of like minded countries should aim for the same result
peres said his country had nothing against the iranian people but rather the
iranian regime
would firmly urge the international community to act as soon as possible in
order to dismantle the threat to world peace which is being articulated in the
iranian regime he said
asked whether it was possible to compare iran president mahmoud ahmadinejad
with adolf hitler merkel said the fact that the iranian president has
questioned israel right to exist is completely unacceptable for german
chancellor
peres was due wednesday to address the parliament on international holocaust
remembrance day to pay tribute to the six million jews killed by the nazis
including his grandparents and uncle
the president who was accompanied to germany by holocaust survivors of german
origin attended memorial service tuesday at platform of the grunewald
train station from where thousands of berlin jews were expelled to nazi labour
and death camps
peres trip came exactly week after prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited
berlin for meeting between the german and israeli cabinets dominated by the
middle east peace process and the iranian nuclear programme
on thursday the president was due to leave germany for davos in switzerland
where he will join world leaders and top officials at the world economic forum
imf says banks may need to raise substantial capital
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said tuesday that banks may need to raise
substantial amount of additional capital to support the recovery of strained
credit and economic growth
even though some bank capital has been raised substantial additional capital
may be needed to support the recovery of credit and sustain economic growth
under expected new basel capital adequacy standards the imf said in an update
of its global financial stability report
the imf said the financial system had stabilized with systemic risks continuing
to ease since its last report in october
but it cautioned that the repair of the financial system is far from complete
and financial stability remains fragile
despite improvements financial stability remains fragile in many advanced
countries and some hard hit emerging market countries the washington based
institution said
russia rusal defends troubled guinea business amid ipo
moscow jan afp
russia uc rusal on tuesday denied illegally acquiring refinery in guinea
amid reports that the west african state would claim damages from the metals
giant share offering in hong kong this week
the company assets in guinea were acquired in full compliance with guinean
law rusal the world top aluminium producer said in statement
the financial times said guinea wrote to the hong kong bourse earlier this month
saying its claims on rusal reportedly totalling million dollars
million euros were materially important to any potential investor
the paper quoted the outgoing guinean minister of mines mahmoud thiam as
saying lack of settlement by rusal could negatively weigh on its stock value
in the initial public offering ipo worth billion dollars
the russian metals giant said it was considering whether to go after thiam on
libel charges it said thiam no longer represented the guinea government and
hinted he was businessman with private designs on rusal refinery
thiam is no longer guinean government official and therefore does not
represent the guinean government the statement said
rusal understands that thiam is president of private company whose mission is
to build group of commodity assets in guinea it added
rusal is fighting attempts by the guinean junta that came to power last december
to reverse its acquisition of the friguia alumina refinery from the west african
state in
the company which is controlled by debt ridden russian oligarch oleg deripaska
is to make its stock market debut in hong kong on wednesday rusal depositary
receipts are also to float on the paris based euronext bourse
football ancelotti expects anelka to stay despite contract worry
cobham england jan afp
chelsea manager carlo ancelotti insists nicolas anelka is percent committed
to the blues despite reports that talks over new contract for the france
striker have broken down
anelka has months left on his current deal and chelsea have been unable to
tie him to new contract during several months of negotiations
the year old has proved his value to ancelotti team this season with
goals including five in his last four appearances and his fine form has
ensured didier drogba has hardly been missed during his time at the african
nations cup
reports on tuesday that there was only small chance of positive contract
resolution raised the unwanted possibility of chelsea having to sell anelka in
the close season or risk losing him on free transfer in year
but ancelotti is adamant the former real madrid and arsenal star wants to remain
at the west london club and he expects compromise to be reached
asked if he believed anelka wanted to stay ancelotti said yes the same for
nicolas he happy to work with me and very happy to work with him that
wedding no we don want to break up
think that they are speaking with his agent and they will try to find the
right solution for both the club and for him
confident he ll sign anelka is top player and this club needs to have
lot of top players there will be resolution
after dropping to third place in the premier league while on fa cup duty at the
weekend ancelotti side have chance to regain top spot with win over
birmingham at stamford bridge on wednesday if arsenal fail to defeat aston villa
the same day
ancelotti knows in form birmingham will pose tough test for his team after
extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to matches over the weekend
but chelsea have won of their home league games this season scoring
seven times in their last home match against sunderland and ancelotti expects
his players to rise to the challenge of ending birmingham impressive streak
it not good to be third think it is important to win on wednesday
because we need three more points but it ll be very difficult because everyone
knows birmingham quality he said
they haven lost for games and are having an unbelievable season they have
done fantastically well
so it important for us to have very good performance the same as we did
against sunderland we hope because we play very compact team
it important to move the ball quickly against them because they are able to
stay compact for minutes if we do our best think we can win
ancelotti expects united and arsenal to push his side all the way in title
race shaping up to be tense three team scramble for the finish line
think we have to keep in control of both teams both teams have enough
quality to stay in the top until the end of the season he said
it ll be sprint to the final game think all three teams will be in it
until the end
the blues who have two games in hand on current leaders united will be
bolstered by the return to training of drogba and salomon kalou on wednesday
after ivory coast were knocked out of the african nations cup
neither will feature against birmingham but the pair should be available for
saturday trip to burnley
drogba is an important player for us but we ve played very well without him
added ancelotti
it important that he comes back here because we have lot of games in this
period and we need to have lot of players able to play
however juliano belletti won be available for up to month after scan
revealed the brazilian defender suffered knee injury during saturday fa cup
win at preston
top spanish chef to close el bulli for two years
madrid jan afp
ferran adria the world famous guru of avant garde cuisine announced tuesday
his renowned el bulli restaurant would be temporarily closed in and
while he takes sabbatical
no meals will be served in el bulli in and he told news
conference at madrid fusion the annual international culinary conference
focussing on the cutting edge in haute cuisine
but el bulli is not closing down these are two years on sabbatical need
time to decide how is going to be know that when return it will not
be the same
three guards of late guinea president freed
conakry jan afp
guinea military junta has freed three soldiers who were close to former
president lansana conte and arrested after coup that followed his death in
judicial official said tuesday
the three men who were members of conte personal guard detail were freed
late monday the official said
they are major issiagha camara who was conte nephew lieutenant hassimiou
pendessa and second lieutenant alpha oumar diallo
about officers and soldiers from conte personal guard were arrested in the
wake of the december coup and about dozen remain behind bars
relatives of some alleged they were tortured in the notorious stairs prison
in the alpha yaya diallo military base
those still in detention include colonel david sylla ex commander of the alpha
yaya diallo camp colonel soriba yansane ex adjutant of the army and major
alseny patcho bangoura the former military prosecutor
no was given for the release of the three on monday but they were freed in the
wake of an accord to end the crisis that has prevailed in guinea since the
military coup which brought captain moussa dadis camara to power
under an january agreement reached in burkina faso capital ouagadougou
camara will remain in convalescence abroad after an assassination bid on
december last year in which he was shot in the head
the army the political opposition and civil society associations agreed on
transition period of six months to pave the way for presidential election
football ferdinand charged by fa over fagan clash
london jan afp
rio ferdinand was left facing the prospect of three match ban after being
charged with violent conduct on tuesday by the football association
the manchester united defender faces disciplinary action after clashing with
hull forward craig fagan during the second half of saturday premier league
victory at old trafford that saw champions united return to the top of the
table
england international ferdinand has until gmt wednesday to respond to the
charge
ferdinand has the option of accepting the charge for which the standard
punishment is three game ban by pleading guilty or contesting the decision
which would lead to disciplinary hearing on thursday
even if he does plead guilty ferdinand could feature in wednesday league cup
semi final second leg against manchester city at old trafford and start his
suspension on sunday when united face title rivals arsenal in league match
were ferdinand to accept an immediate ban he would be ruled out of the matches
against city arsenal and portsmouth at old trafford on february
should he play against city the third match of any suspension would be against
aston villa on february
united know that if ferdianand does appeal the fa may deem such challenge
frivolous and increase the year old ban
ferdinand has only recently returned to action after three months out with
back injury and united manager sir alex ferguson has no doubt over the
importance of the player he signed for million pounds from leeds to his
team
rio performance level is important said ferguson it is important to have
him back because getting the centre halves fit is key to our progress this
season
two new aftershocks rock haiti
port au prince jan afp
two new aftershocks rattled haiti tuesday exactly two weeks after massive
quake left dead us officials and witnesses said
the us geological survey said magnitude tremor shook the caribbean nation
early tuesday at am gmt while afp journalists and haiti residents
were woken up an hour earlier by an aftershock about am
felix lundi one of thousands living in makeshift camp told afp that towards
am got up and went into the street it was not very strong but
still afraid of another big quake
trader edison constant said he felt the aftershock at am at his home in
the delmas district left my house to find some shelter he said
we just can get used to these quakes each aftershock is terrifying and
everyone is afraid
in the petionville district iron merchant julien louis said he had felt the
aftershocks hid under my bed he told afp
more than aftershocks have rocked haiti since the january magnitude
quake and each one brings new terror to the devastated people with million
left homeless the largest aftershock so far has measured
according to the usgs the risk of strong aftershocks remains high for haiti
during the next days with percent chance of one or more measuring more
than on the moment magnitude scale
urgent top spanish chef to close el bulli for two years
madrid jan afp
ferran adria the michelin starred guru of spanish avant garde cuisine
announced tuesday the temporary closure of his famous el bulli restaurant in
and
gm to build electric motors in us
washington jan afp
general motors said tuesday it would become the first major us automaker to
produce its own electric engines with million dollar facility that will
produce motors for its cars starting in
the automaker said the first gm designed and built electric motors are scheduled
to debut in in its two mode hybrid technology cars
gm said the move will lower costs and improve performance quality reliability
and manufacturability of electric motors by controlling design materials
selection and production processes
in the future electric motors might become as important to gm as engines are
now said tom stephens gm vice chairman for global product operations
by designing and manufacturing electric motors in house we can more
efficiently use energy from batteries as they evolve potentially reducing cost
and weight two significant challenges facing batteries today
gm was selected in august by the us department of energy for million
dollar grant for the construction of electric motors in the united states
the new gm is about speed and we are delivering quickly on the government
desire to grow domestic expertise in electric vehicle technologies such as
batteries and electric motors stephens said
gm emerged from bankruptcy last year with us and canadian government support for
massive restructuring
urgent imf says banks may need to raise substantial capital
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said tuesday that banks may need to raise
substantial amount of additional capital to support the recovery of strained
credit and economic growth
search for victims answers in lebanon plane crash
beirut jan afp
officials on tuesday sought to determine why an ethiopian airliner veered off
course on takeoff from beirut before crashing at sea as rescuers sought to
recover the black boxes and victims
transport minister ghazi aridi told afp the pilot of the ill fated plane had
initially followed control tower instructions before the jet suddenly went off
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
aridi said the search on tuesday was concentrated in square kilometre
square mile area off the coast just south of beirut airport
there are no answers until we find the black boxes he said
ethiopian airlines flight tumbled in ball of fire into the mediterranean
early monday just minutes after takeoff 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
experts have said that extreme turbulence or wind shear may have caused the
pilot to lose control of the plane which apparently exploded 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
health minister mohamed jawad khalifeh said bodies and some body parts 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
the army said in statement that debris from the plane including part of the
left wing had washed up on shore
information minister tarek mitri told afp salvage crews had worked through the
night and hoped to make progress tuesday in retrieving more corpses and debris
senior lebanese security official said authorities were relying on the uss
ramage which has specialised sonar equipment to locate the flight recorders
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
washington and france have also sent 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
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 ethiopian crew members
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton wife of france
ambassador to lebanon
khalifeh said authorities in addis ababa were to send dna samples from families
of the ethiopian passengers to assist in identifying the victims
ethiopia foreign minister seyoun misfin was also expected in beirut late
tuesday
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
novartis chief warns states over cancelled vaccine orders
basel switzerland jan afp
the head of swiss pharmaceutical giant novartis on tuesday warned that
governments now trying to cancel swine flu vaccine contracts might not be dealt
with so swiftly in the next pandemic
chairman and chief executive daniel vasella said those that had been reliable
partners would be favoured
the same governements that exerted lot of pressure on the industry to
deliver vaccines very quickly were the same governments that then said we don
want any more what we ordered once they saw they ordered too much he told
afp
if you want an effective vaccine industry you have to be consequent because
the next time that there will be pandemic and there will be another one
the governments who have been reliable partners will be treated preferentially
he added
vasella underlined that both sides had to respect legally binding contracts
if they are only binding for you and not for me it not contract anymore
we don want anybody to buy something that is not useful he explained
several big nations that rushed to order pandemic flu vaccine from
pharmaceutical firms while it was being developed last year have been trying to
scale back their orders
officials have blamed the poor response to mass vaccination campaigns and
change in expected dosage
the french health ministry announced earlier this month that it wanted to cancel
an order for million doses of vaccine million from gsk million from
sanofi pasteur and seven million from novartis
vasella said he understood the pressures that governments were under and was
ready to be flexible with outstanding orders
what was delivered has to be kept and has to be paid outstanding orders are
different story one should be flexible he added
development key to pakistan fight against militants fm
dubai jan afp
development programmes in violence plagued areas of pakistan are an essential
part of the country fight against militants foreign minister shah mehmood
qureshi said in dubai on tuesday
holding and building violence affected areas is fundamental to achieving
decisive victory against terrorism qureshi told the friends of democratic
pakistan conference
all our efforts against terrorism and extremism will come to naught should we
fail to address their root causes he said
poverty and socio economic deprivation are being exploited by the terrorist
outfits to recruit young people into militant organisations he said
qureshi said that failure to address economic problems may sap pakistani public
support for further operations
if we fail in looking after the local population and their lives do not change
for the better the public support for operations in the fata federally
administered tribal areas region may not hold qureshi said
the overwhelmingly pushtu majority fata border afghanistan where us led
coalition is battling the taliban and are widely believed to be the most likely
hiding place for al qaeda leader osama bin laden
pakistan three year plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation in swat
malakand and other areas affected by violence will cost million dollars
qureshi said while the country five year development plan for the same areas
carries billion dollar price tag
on the sidelines of the conference qureshi said that pakistan is open to
dialogue with militants willing to renounce violence
if there are elements who are willing to shun violence and terrorism we are
open and are willing to accept them into the government we are willing to
talk to them he told afp
at forthcoming london conference on afghanistan pakistan wants to forward
objectives outlined by afghan president hamid karzai qureshi said
we want to help afghanistan fulfil the objectives outlined by president karzai
in his inaugural address which include reconciliation with and reintegration
of militants reconstruction and training and equipping afghan security forces
he said
we want to see stability in afghanistan we want to see peace in afghanistan
qureshi also said his country is willing to resume peace talks with india that
were suspended in the wake of the attacks in mumbai india blamed the
attacks which killed people on the banned pakistan based group
lashkar taiba
pakistan is willing to sit with india and sort out all outstanding issues
bilaterally and peacefully qureshi said
united arab emirates foreign minister sheikh abdullah bin zayed al nahayan and
turkish deputy prime minister bulent arinc both emphasised in their remarks to
the conference that stability in pakistan is important for the middle east
stability in pakistan will contribute to stability in the gulf and the region
and the world sheikh abdullah told the conference
and arinc said that turkey considers pakistan cornerstone of safety and
stability in the region
alert
top spanish restaurant el bulli to close in chef
alert
imf says banks need to raise more capital to sustain economic growth
suicide bomb injures nine near us base in kabul
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber struck near us military base in kabul on tuesday injuring at
least nine afghans police and the nato force said just days ahead of global
summit on tackling taliban led insurgency
the attacker detonated car packed with explosives as convoy of foreign
forces passed near the main gate of camp phoenix us military base in kabul on
the main road out of the capital to the eastern provinces
although there was no immediate claim of responsibility the bombing bore the
hallmarks of the taliban who are waging an increasingly deadly insurgency to
topple the afghan government and oust foreign troops
there was suicide car bomb attack near camp phoenix the suicide attacker
detonated his car close to an international forces convoy kabul police chief
abdul rahman rahman told afp
he said nine afghan civilians including three who worked as interpreters for the
foreign forces were injured
nato international security assistance force said in statement it was aware
of an explosion outside the main gate of camp phoenix that occurred this
afternoon at approximately pm gmt
initial reports indicate the cause of the explosion was vehicle borne ied
the force said referring to an improvised explosive device in car
the bombing comes just over week after seven taliban gunmen armed with suicide
vests launched an attack on civilian and government buildings near the
presidential palace in kabul killing five people
the january attack was one of the most dramatic strikes on the capital since
the us led invasion ousted the taliban government sparking the insurgency
by remnants of the regime
afghanistan on sunday postponed parliamentary vote for four months in the face
of the insurgency and lack of funds
president hamid karzai is in istanbul seeking to win support for an ambitious
new plan to convince taliban foot soldiers to lay down their arms in exchange
for jobs and money
after talks with his turkish and pakistani peers as well as officials from
countries such as china iran and russia karzai described moderate taliban
fighters as sons of the afghan soil who should be brought back into the fold
in joint statement after the meeting in istanbul the participants declared
that they support the afghan national process of reconciliation and
reintegration in way that is afghan led and driven
on thursday the afghan government and its foreign backers will meet in london to
try and hammer out possible solutions to the insurgency but the taliban
leadership have repeatedly rebuffed any attempts at peace talks
us officials have said the militants will have to see the tide turn against them
on the battlefield before they come to the negotiating table and tens of
thousands more foreign troops are to be deployed this year
us president barack obama has pledged more troops to the afghan conflict
which along with more from other nato members will swell the foreign
force to about by the end of this year
the taliban and other insurgent groups have refused talks until the foreign
forces leave afghanistan and frequently attack the troops with record
foreign military casualties last year
camp phoenix where other nato member states also have presence was the site
of another suicide blast in november which injured both foreign soldiers and
afghan civilians
afghan soldiers are trained at the base by international troops strategy at
the heart of efforts to hand over responsibility for fighting the taliban
karzai wants to boost the afghan police and army from the current to
by mid next year and will use the london conference to drum up funding
for the scheme
imf says global economy to grow percent in
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said tuesday the global economy was poised to
rebound from last year contraction and grow percent better than previous
forecasts
the imf said the overall world economy would swing back to growth after the
global decline in output of percent last year which it says was the first
contraction since world war ii but said the recovery was still fragile
the growth forecast was percent higher than the percent estimated
four months ago with sluggish recovery in advanced economies offset by
relatively vigorous growth in emerging and developing economies
the global recovery is off to stronger start than anticipated earlier but is
proceeding at different speeds in the various regions the imf said in an
update of its october world economic outlook report
the united states the world largest economy was expected to post gross
