trading
the technology heavy nasdaq composite rose points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index edged up
points percent to
analysts said traders were digesting the big rally monday which often occurs as
investors put cash to work at the start of new year
traders are in wait and see mode they are waiting to see if there will be
follow through to yesterday big advance which presumably stirred fears of
missing out on further upside among sidelined investors said patrick hare at
briefing com
right now we would all be well served not to overanalyze the market action the
gains could simply be flow of funds story as the start of new year is
typically popular reallocation period that sees stocks get boost
some said the market was awaiting friday report on us payrolls and
unemployment for better sense of the economic recovery few analysts predict
the report for december will show the first job growth in two years
most investors and consumers still see little tangible sign that the economy is
moving forward said fred dickson market strategist at da davidson amp co
we will get the next significant report on friday with the monthly employment
report
dickson said that if the data show jobs are being added we would expect nice
market reaction to the news after the announcement early friday morning
among stocks in focus kraft foods rose percent to dollars as it
agreed to sell its north american pizza operations for billion dollars
billion euros to swiss based nestle to get cash for its hostile bid for
britain cadbury
the deal remained in doubt however as kraft largest shareholder warren
buffett berkshire hathaway said it would oppose issuing new shares for
cadbury takeover
the tech sector benefited from positive broker comments with research in motion
up percent at dollars palm up percent at and qualcomm
rising percent to
bonds firmed the yield on the year treasury bond dipped to percent
from percent monday while that on the year bond eased to percent
against percent bond yields and prices move in opposite directions
us eu officials meet on aviation security
brussels jan afp
senior us security officials held talks in brussels tuesday with eu
representatives on measures to improve safety at airports in the wake of the
botched christmas airliner bombing
the talks were the first phase of mission by the us department of homeland
security to ensure effective aviation security measures are in place for us
bound flights statement from the department said
the united states has begun introducing tough new security measures aimed at
preventing similar attacks with stricter rules on flights from nations and
random enhanced checks on all planes landing at us airport
that where our people are today they are meeting with eu commission and
presidency representatives one us official in brussels said adding that the
talks are partly to tell them what these new security measures are
the steps have raised some concern in europe where nations like britain and the
netherlands are keen to start using body scanners in their airports and the
european commission insists it is watching developments
there has to be clear transatlantic partnership when it comes to introducing
these sorts of measures an eu justice official said
an eu justice affairs spokesman refused to comment on the meeting while us
officials declined to provide details
travellers from the targeted countries arriving in the united states face
extra body pat downs and advanced screening of baggage imaging and explosive
detection technology might also be used
the countries include cuba iran sudan and syria all us designated state
sponsors of terrorism as well as passengers travelling from or via
afghanistan libya pakistan somalia and yemen and nigeria
us media said the other four were algeria lebanon iraq and saudi arabia
the us officials who include homeland security deputy secretary janet holl lute
and assistant secretary david heyman will also travel to countries with major
airports in africa asia the middle east and south america
their aim is to review security procedures and technology being used to screen
passengers and report back to homeland security chief janet napolitano
two more spanish savings banks announce merger
madrid jan afp
two regional spanish savings banks caja duero and caja espana announced on
tuesday they had agreed to merge the latest such move as the banking sector
consolidates in an effort to survive the country deep recession
the deal reached late on monday after months of negotiations was approved
tuesday by the boards of the two banks both based in the northern region of
castilla leon
the chairman of caja duero julio fermoso said the merger would create spain
seventh largest savings bank which would play in the premier league
spanish media said the two banks will request about million euros
million dollars from the government nine billion euro fund created in june
for the restructuring of the banking sector as part of business plan
last month two regional spanish savings banks unicaja and cajasur based in
the southwestern region of andalusia also agreed to merge
in november two savings banks based in the northeastern region of catalonia
caixa penedes and caixa laietana announced that they too had decided to join
forces
and last july three savings banks in northeastern spain caixa sabadell
caixa terrassa and caixa manlleu also joined forces
spanish banks got off relatively lightly from the subprime mortgage crisis in
as the country strict regulations meant they did not invest heavily in
the high risk loans that hurt financial institutions elsewhere
but many especially smaller unlisted saving banks usually controlled by
regional politicians were badly hit by the collapse of the country once
booming property market both through loans to developers and mortgages
bank of spain governor miguel fernandez ordonez said in november he would like
to see third of the country savings banks quickly absorbed by stronger
institutions in bid to help the struggling sector
think there are at least institutions that should merge with others
hope by next spring we have restructured all these institutions that my
idea we now have many many mergers that we are discussing he told the
financial times newspaper
the spanish economy europe fifth largest slumped into recession at the end
of as the international credit crunch hastened correction which was
already under way in the property sector
spain gross domestic product contracted percent in the third quarter its
fifth straight quarterly decline
nigeria will appeal to us to reverse flight screening
abuja jan afp
nigeria will appeal to the united states to remove it from terrorism flight
watchlist drawn up in the wake of failed plot to blow up us airliner
justice minister michael aondoaaka said tuesday
aondoaaka told reporters he believed the us will rescind that decision because
nigeria is not terrorist country and single incident that involves
nigerian cannot criminalise all nigerians
washington on sunday introduced new security measures for passengers flying to
the us from countries after year old nigerian was accused of trying to
blow up northwest airlines jet over detroit on christmas day
the west african country was listed alongside such countries as afghanistan
libya pakistan somalia and yemen
nigeria inspector general of police ogbonnaya onovo backed the call insisting
there was no security issue in the country
he cited the example of british national richard reid the so called shoe
bomber convicted of trying to blow up us flight from paris miami in
if the american authorities could not add britain to the list of countries
of interest then there is no reason to include nigeria onovo told the daily
next
we may be deeply religious but certainly we are no suicide bombers or
terrorists
nigeria information minister dora akunyili had branded the move as
discriminatory and unfair on monday
she said the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab was not influenced in nigeria
he was not recruited or trained in nigeria he was not supported whatsoever in
nigeria
britain iraq inquiry restarts ahead of blair evidence
london jan afp
britain public inquiry into the iraq war resumed tuesday after the christmas
break as details emerged about the looming appearance by tony blair who led
the country into the controversial conflict
blair will give evidence sometime in the two week period from january
although the exact date for his one day session has not yet been disclosed
public interest is so great that ballot will be held for seats
there will be particularly high level of interest from the families of
british soldiers who died in iraq statement from inquiry officials said
adding that third of seats are being reserved for them
but the first really high profile witness will come before blair alastair
campbell his fiery former communications chief and close ally will appear next
week on january
labour figures are reportedly worried blair appearance could cause problems
for the ruling party as struggling prime minister gordon brown starts
campaigning in earnest for britain general election to be held by june
meanwhile an internet campaign has been launched for blair to face tough
questions about why he took britain into the unpopular war amid criticisms the
probe led by retired top civil servant has gone too easy on some witnesses
when it comes to tony blair we can let this happen said activist group
degrees which is inviting people to submit questions they want the inquiry to
put to the ex premier
blair made the decision to commit us to war in iraq we deserve to know the
real reasons he went ahead
blair stood shoulder to shoulder with then us president george bush over the
invasion but faced major backlash in britain over the decision he
resigned in despite having led his labour party to three election wins
britain justified the invasion at the time by arguing that iraq had weapons of
mass destruction wmds but these were never found
blair insisted last month he would have supported the war which did not gain
explicit united nations approval even if he had known there were no iraqi wmds
the appearance of campbell could also cause headache for labour which is
battling to claw back the main opposition conservatives double digit opinion
poll lead before the election
in he strongly denied bbc report that he sexed up dossier claiming
iraq had wmds and could launch chemical or biological strike within
minutes an official inquiry also exonerated him
in july that year ministry of defence mod weapons expert dr david kelly was
found dead near his home with slashed wrists
campbell resigned from his job in august insisting he wanted to quit the
previous year
the inquiry has fought back against claims blair and others might not face
rigorous questioning
chairman john chilcot said last month that it was not here to provide public
sport or entertainment but to get to the facts
spokesman insisted blair will be appearing very much in public despite
fears some of his evidence could be heard privately for national security
reasons
the first witness to give evidence to the resumed probe tuesday was william
patey britain ambassador to baghdad between and
he said he had received almost daily telephone calls from downing street
acknowledging that politicians may have set over ambitious targets for what
could be delivered
there was tension between the desire for instant results and the realities on
the ground said patey now ambassador to saudi arabia
what you could achieve in the sort of timescales that london needed for
political reasons there was disconnect
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
tuesday graphics
available now
us attacks moussaoui
graphic on zacarias moussaoui whose conviction and life sentence for complicity
in the september attacks in the united states has been upheld by an
appeals court
text slug us attacks france sentence moussaoui
mm
china oil spill map
updated graphic on the diesel contamination in two tributaries of china yellow
river
text slug china environment energy oil accident
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mexico violence cuidad juarez map
map locating cuidad juarez in mexico where people have reportedly been
killed in hours of drug related violence
text slug mexico crime drugs police
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afghanistan cia attack khost map
map of afghanistan locating khost suicide attacker who killed seven cia
agents there last week was jordanian double agent according to us media
text slug afghanistan unrest us jordan cia intelligence
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philippines massacre ampatuan profile
profile of political massacre suspect andal ampatuan jnr who appeared in court
on tuesday
text slug philippines politics massacre trial
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china weather
updated map locating northern chinese provinces experiencing weather related
disruptions
text slug china weather snow
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brazil rains map
map of brazil showing angra dos reis where rescue teams are searching for
survivors of landslides that have killed at least people
text slug brazil floods
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nasa kepler telescope factfile
fact file on the nasa kepler telescope which has reportedly discovered five
new planets since its launch months ago
text slug us science space kepler
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airbus factfile
fact file on the airbus military transport plane which may be scrapped
according to german media
text slug germany defence aerospace company airbus
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asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
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moved earlier
us security blacklist map mm
body scanner fact file mm
afghanistan kandahar helmand map mm
solomons quake map mm
cinema biggest earners mm
dubai burj tower factfile mm
japan airlines share price mm
paris hong kong
tel
afp gmt economics news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor bryan mcmanus
tel
germany banking it rdlead
frankfurt
more than million german bank cards are hit by new year software bug
that leaves owners empty handed at cash machines and unable to buy goods across
the country public and private banks say
words gmt picture
iceland britain netherlands politics banking thlead
reykjavik
iceland president says he will not sign an unpopular bill to compensate
britain and the netherlands over the failure of icesave bank threatening the
survival of the government and triggering anger in london and the hague
words gmt by svanborg sigmarsdottir
switzerland us canada company takeover nestle kraft thlead
zurich
swiss food giant nestle bites off big slice of the huge pizza market in north
america announcing the purchase of kraft foods pizza business for billion
dollars billion euros
words gmt
japan economy politics fujii newseries
tokyo
the japanese government accepts finance minister hirohisa fujii offer to
resign on health grounds robbing tokyo government of what was widely seen as
safe pair of hands
words gmt
stocks europe wrap
london
european stock markets pause to digest sharp gains made the previous day as
investors wait for key us jobs data due later in the week to give them fresh
lead on an uncertain economic outlook
words gmt
forex europe wrap
london
the dollar holds little changed against the euro as the market weighs up the
case for holding the us currency ahead of key us employment figures
words gmt
commodities energy oil price ndlead wrap
london
oil prices edge higher to hold above dollars per supported by increased
consumption of heating fuel because of cold weather in the northern hemisphere
words gmt
germany economy unemployment ndlead wrap
frankfurt
german unemployment creeps up after several months of declines but short work
scheme and rise in start ups might have helped avoid sharp spike in job losses
in the country worst post war recession
words moved by william ickes file picture
india auto rdlead
new delhi
global car manufacturers eyeing the explosive growth of the indian market unveil
new compact models at the delhi auto show in bid to break the dominance of
entrenched local producers
words moved by adam plowright picture
kabila dismisses thousands for corruption in dr congo
kinshasa jan afp
president joseph kabila has sacked managerial staff and employees and
forcibly retired others in his fight against corruption in the democratic
republic of congo officials said tuesday
the dismissed staff worked for the ministries of finance and the budget the tax
department the customs and excise office and the directorate of administrative
receipts and state property
the dismissal concerns any agent who has been involved in the bad management of
public finances budget minister michel lokola told afp
at the same time some agents in the public services concerned were
promoted under series of decrees signed at the beginning of january by the
head of state
those who were laid off or retired often held the posts of directors of
services divisional chiefs and office chiefs mostly in the tax department and
in the finance ministry
there nothing arbitrary about this lokola said these measures are part of
the struggle against corruption and embezzlement
in mid kabila dismissed or retired almost civil servants and more
than magistrates again in the name of the fight against corruption
afp middle east news agenda
nicosia jan afp
duty editor albion land
news desk
middle east news agenda for wednesday
tracking events in yemen amid qaeda threat
sanaa following developments after the us embassy closed for two days
reopened after an easing of security fears prompted by al qaeda threats against
western targets in impoverished yemen attacks yemen qaeda
cairo foreign ministers of egypt france jordan spain and tunisia meet in
bid to relaunch the mediterranean union
ashkhabad iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad is in turkmenistan on his first
international trip since deadly crackdown on opposition supporters in tehran
monitoring
kuwait city parliament holds delayed vote on bill requiring the government
to buy some billion dollars of loans taken out by citizens kuwait
finance
palestinian president mahmud abbas wraps up two day official visit for talks
with the emir sheikh sabah al ahmad al sabah mideast diplomacy kuwait
riyadh jordan king abdullah ii ends two day visit to saudi arabia saudi
jordan diplomacy
sanaa tracking developments after shiite rebels in north yemen announce their
readiness for talks if the government halts the military offensive it launched
in august yemen unrest rebels
japan govt accepts finance minister resignation kyodo
tokyo jan afp
japan prime minister accepted his finance minister resignation offer because
of poor health despite earlier asking him to stay at the helm of the world
number two economy kyodo news said tuesday
during talks earlier in the day prime minister yukio hatoyama had said he
wanted hirohisa fujii to stay in the cabinet but the government eventually
decided to accept fujii resignation as he was adamant kyodo said citing
ruling party lawmaker who spoke on condition of anonymity
fujii was admitted to hospital on december due to high blood pressure
and fatigue saying he was exhausted after weeks of hard work on the national
budget for the next financial year
he has since resumed some of his duties but said he would respect the advice of
his doctors about whether to return to work full time
fujii had been expected to return to hospital after attending cabinet meeting
tuesday and his regular press conference on wednesday was cancelled finance
ministry spokesman said
hatoyama met fujii earlier in the day to discuss his health and had told
reporters he wanted him to remain in the key cabinet position
he fujii told me that he was undergoing tests in hospital and that his
doctors had yet to reach final conclusion hatoyama said
he has been carrying on and want him to carry on further it is matter of
course it was not that persuaded him to stay on he said
earlier in the day fujii declined to comment on whether he might step down
saying he was still waiting for test results
the doctors decision will come soon he said at press conference after
regular cabinet meeting will respect the doctors decision
asked whether he would consider leaving his post if the test results were not
positive fujii said the question was too hypothetical to answer
the veteran lawmaker was picked by incoming premier hatoyama in september to
steer asia biggest economy out of its worst recession in decades returning to
post he held briefly in the early
japan economy returned to growth in the second quarter of after severe
year long recession but renewed deflation and weak domestic demand are major
concerns for policymakers
one of the few members of the current cabinet with previous government
experience he had planned to retire from politics but was persuaded by hatoyama
to stay on to pursue an agenda of slashing public sector waste
law graduate of the elite university of tokyo fujii spent more than years
with the finance ministry before turning his hand to politics winning seat in
parliament for the first time in
his resignation would be another setback for hatoyama who has seen sharp drop
in his approval ratings since he took office in september with polls indicating
voters worry he lacks leadership
us embassy in yemen reopens as clinton warns of instability
sanaa jan afp
the us embassy in yemen reopened tuesday after two day closure prompted by al
qaeda threats as us secretary of state hillary clinton warned unrest in the arab
country is threat to global stability
the us embassy said on its website that yemeni security forces had addressed
specific area of concern in the north of the capital on monday paving the way
for tuesday reopening
warnings of possible al qaeda attack had led washington to close its embassy
in the yemeni capital on sunday the british and french authorities followed
suit while japan suspended consular services at its embassy full services at
the three latter missions have yet to be resumed
successful counter terrorism operations conducted by the government of yemen
security forces january north of the capital have addressed specific area of
concern and have contributed to the embassy decision to resume operations
the embassy said in statement
it was apparently referring to security operation conducted by yemeni police
monday in the area of arhab kilometres miles north of sanaa where two
suspected members of al qaeda were killed and three others wounded
long standing concerns that yemen country on the southern tip of the arabian
peninsula has become haven for islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp
focus when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was charged with trying to
blow up us bound jet
the botched christmas day attack was claimed by al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap which also urged attacks on western interests in yemen
the yemen interior ministry said tuesday that all foreign missions and interests
were safe pointing out that it has reinforced security measures around
embassies and residents of foreigners
the ministry also said that is arrested five terrorist elements over the past
two days near the capital but gave no details
the would be bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly confessed to
being trained by an al qaeda bombmaker in yemen for the suicide mission on the
northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit
it was foiled when explosives allegedly sewn into the man underwear failed to
detonate and passengers jumped on him
us president barack obama was to hold talks tuesday with his intelligence and
national security chiefs on the failed bombing with an administration official
telling afp that obama would unveil an initial series of reforms following the
meeting
clinton on monday warned of the potential threat to world stability posed by the
situation in yemen where the government is fighting al qaeda militants and at
the same time trying to quash shiite rebellion in the north and face down
separatists in the south
the instability in yemen is threat to regional stability and even global
stability she told reporters
and certainly we know that this is difficult set of challenges but they
have to be addressed
the bombing attempt triggered an overhaul of us terrorist watchlists and added
dozens more suspects to no fly lists
further boosting security measures all travellers coming from or via terror
linked countries will have to undergo compulsory enhanced screening
jihadists meanwhile on tuesday boasted that suicide bomber who killed eight
people at cia base in afghanistan was an al qaeda triple agent who duped
western intelligence services for months
western sources cited by us media said jordanian intelligence services had
brought the bomber to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding al qaeda
number two ayman al zawahiri believing he was their double agent
but instead he blew himself up at forward operating base chapman near the
pakistani border killing seven cia agents and his jordanian handler
both jihadist websites and western intelligence agents cited by nbc news
identified the bomber as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi who was arrested in
and then recruited by jordan but in reality continued to work for al qaeda
in an extraordinarily blunt report obama military spy chief in afghanistan
said us intelligence gathering there was starved of information which could
help wage successful war against insurgents
major general michael flynn recommended radical changes to an intelligence
apparatus which still finds itself unable to answer fundamental questions
about the environment in which we operate and the people we are trying to
protect and persuade
obama democrats forge ahead on health care overhaul
washington jan afp
president barack obama and his top allies in the congress worked tuesday to map
the way to enacting sweeping overhaul of us health care by his annual marquee
state of the union speech now weeks away
obama and the democratic leaders of the senate and house of representatives were
to discuss their final drive to pass the legislation his top domestic priority
in talks at the white house set for pm gmt
the high stakes discussions at the dawn of mid term election year expected to
see an erosion of the democrats house majority aimed to chart the best way for
the two chambers to reconcile their rival versions of the bill and approve
final compromise that the president could sign into law
both bills aim to extend health care coverage to some million americans out
of the million who currently lack it while banning abusive health insurance
practices and curbing skyrocketing us medical costs
passage would hand obama and congressional democrats huge victory ahead of
november elections that if history is any guide are likely to result in
sizeable republican gains in congress
with republicans locked in unyielding opposition to the plan obama and his top
legislative allies looked for ways to tamp down bitter intra democratic feuds
that still clouded the fate of the legislation
headline battle looms over the provision of government backed public
option to compete with private insurers core component of the house
version that senators stripped from their less expansive bill
another potential obstacle is the house bill tougher restrictions on federal
funds subsidizing abortions while pro choice lawmakers denounce the limits
some centrist democrats say they will withhold support without them
democratic house speaker nancy pelosi was to meet first with democratic
committee chiefs in the house amid an insurrection on the party left flank at
the senate watered down version of the bill
later pelosi and democratic house majority leader steny hoyer were to attend
the white house talks in person while democratic senate majority leader harry
