at gmt the euro was quoted at dollars compared with in late
new york trade on thursday
the dollar fell to yen from yen as the weak us labor report offset
the impact of further comments on the desirability of weaker japanese currency
by the country new finance minister naoto kan
this news has caused speculation of rate hike to be put on ice while
speculation that the federal reserve may extend stimulus measures to spur the
lagging economy has increased said pnc bank analyst fred rabb
the report reinforces dour outlook for private sector spending as households
continue to face weakening labor market paired with tightening credit
conditions added david song at forex capital management
although the dollar has in recent months gained on risk aversion in times of
financial market turmoil traders were focusing on the implications for interest
rates with the us federal reserve main rate still near zero
the unemployment rate held at percent but also reflected large number of
people dropping out of the workforce
the unchanged unemployment rate of percent understates labor market slack
since labor force participation fell sharply said sophia koropeckyj at moody
economy com
accordingly the broader measure of unemployment increased to percent
she said
in revising data for prior months the data showed net gain of jobs in
november instead of loss of previously reported the first positive
month after months of losses
economists said the news was disappointing but consistent with gradually
healing economy
we re getting steady but very slow improvement in the job market said
robert macintosh economist at eaton vance
we are going to have to get used to frustratingly high unemployment rate
this can only confirm fed chairman ben bernanke belief that the funds rate
needs to be kept low for an extended period said joel naroff at naroff
economic advisors
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs from
thursday
the pound was at dollars after
scrambled due to unruly airline passenger us
washington jan afp
two fighter jets took to the air friday after report of an unruly
passenger aboard airliner bound for san francisco the north american
aerospace defense command said
as the fighter aircraft arrived the air tran plane that had taken off from
atlanta landed safely in colorado springs colorado at noon local time
gmt norad said in statement
the warplanes were launched today in response to reports of an unruly
passenger aboard air tran flight from atlanta bound for san francisco norad
said
it was the second such incident in three days with two fighters
intercepting an airliner bound for hawaii on wednesday after passenger caused
disturbance
norad joint us canada mission scrambles fighter jets to respond to possible
terrorist threats from the air after the attacks of september
involving hijacked airliners
the fighter pilots are prepared to shoot down the airliners if necessary to
prevent possible repeat of the attacks when hijacked planes were flown
into the world trade center in new york and the pentagon in the us capital
based in colorado norad was created during the cold war in to protect
north america against air assaults
argentine judge blocks government debt plan
buenos aires jan afp
major political and institutional crisis brewing in argentina over repaying
its national debt deepened friday as the courts dealt two blows to president
cristina kirchner
in two rulings an argentine judge thwarted government efforts to use central
bank reserves to pay down the national debt and said the bank head sacked by
presidential decree must be reinstated
kirchner had strongly backed the use of dollar reserves to cover billion
dollars of debt that is due to mature in in bid to return argentina to
international credit markets
but judge maria jose sarmiento temporarily suspended the government decree
allowing the use of central bank reserves to make the payments
in second ruling the judge said dismissed bank chief martin redrado who has
clashed with kirchner over the plans should be reinstated
the judge decided to temporarily suspend the emergency decree which had led to
the dismissal of this official the justice department legal information
center said
am returning to work at the bank justice has been done delighted redrado
told reporters as he arrived back at the bank headquarters and marched into
his offices
he was sacked on thursday by kirchner accused of failing in his duties and
replaced by central bank vice president miguel pesce who was given provisional
control of the bank
ruling party lawmaker miguel angel pichetto said the government would
certainly appeal the decision
the government argues the move to use bank reserves to pay down the debt is
urgent and necessary to retain international creditors confidence shredded
after the country default in
the country owes around billion dollars in total
although argentina now has long running fiscal surplus it cannot borrow
freely in international capital markets due to lingering investor mistrust and
because it still has to settle with bondholders who boycotted previous debt
restructuring in
redrado refusal to transfer the cash to government coffers led to his sacking
on thursday but his stand drew support from opposition lawmakers who vowed not
to give his dismissal parliamentary backing
this is full blown institutional crisis said alberto bernal head of
research at bulltick capital markets miami based firm
this is very complicated situation bernal told afp if this lingers and
uncertainty is increased there is definite risk of bond problem
analysts at jp morgan wrote in briefing note on friday that kirchner decree
firing redrado risked sparking political spat with congress increasingly
dominated by the opposition and which has the power to authorize all use of
central bank reserves
the decision could cause crisis akin to that over plans to raise export taxes
in which led to countrywide protests and widespread rebellion among
farmers they warned
some warned that attempts by the argentine government to raise more money
through bond issues could also be called into question
investors are likely to shy away from any argentine debt issuance raising
the odds of another default in brown brothers harriman said in note to
clients as the crisis developed
redrado became president of the central bank in under the government of
nestor kirchner the husband of the current president and his mandate was due
to expire in september this year
investors were also looking to respected former central bank chief mario blejer
who is said to be outside the country as an anchor of stability in the crisis
blejer who led the central bank under the government of eduardo duhalde from
to during one of the country worst economic crises has been
tipped as redrado long term successor
us european allies urge sudan to ensure peace survives
washington jan afp
us president barack obama administration joined forces with european allies
friday to urge sudan northern government and southern leaders to redouble
efforts to save fragile peace accord
on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the comprehensive peace agreement cpa
ending africa longest civil war they voiced concern about recent violence
that has killed more than people and displaced others
violence in the south is rising and tensions continue in border areas us
secretary of state hillary clinton told reporters
threats to progress are real reform of key institutions has been sporadic and
true democratic transformation remains elusive
the accord was signed january by the national congress party ncp of
president omar al beshir the country arab and muslim leader and the former
southern rebel sudan people liberation movement which represents the mainly
christian or animist south
it provided for general election in april and an independence referendum
year later as well as for sharing the nation vast oil wealth but us
officials are worried the provisions may not be carried out
clinton urged both sides to make the compromises and commitments needed for
lasting peace but said the ncp as the dominant political force bears greater
responsibility for ensuring the accord is carried out successfully
the party must therefore suspend elements of the national security and public
order laws that are incompatible with free and fair elections said the chief
us diplomat flanked by her sudan envoy scott gration
there must be no efforts to restrict freedom of speech and assembly and there
must be no prohibitions on peaceful protests clinton added
there must be sincere efforts to appoint members of the two referenda
commissions and determine voter criteria for voter eligibility she said
she also urged both parties to begin immediate negotiations on how to share
wealth and resources before the peace deal expires in july next year
the white house also voiced its concern
president obama has made promoting peace and stability in sudan priority and
his administration is committed to supporting the cpa and its implementation
it said in statement
but time is limited the stakes are high and there is much work yet to be done
to secure lasting peace and prevent the resurgence of deadly war it said
there is also international concern as clinton joined her counterparts jonas
gahr store of norway and david miliband of britain in issuing joint statement
distributed by the state department
with one year left until the referendum on self determination for southern
sudan all sides must intensify efforts to implement the remaining provisions to
keep the cpa on track the three chief diplomats said
joining the chorus of concern was senator john kerry chairman of the senate
foreign relations committee
what happens over the next months will dictate whether the year begins
with peaceful transition or catastrophe he said in statement
rallying al attiyah wins seventh stage despres cruising in motos
antofagasta chile jan afp
nasser al attiyah of volkswagen won the seventh stage of the dakar rally cars
section on friday km special from iquique to antofagasta
al attiyah saw off early race pace setter stephane peterhansel of bmw by min
sec for his sixth career stage win and finished min sec ahead of spanish
teammate carlos sainz who still leads the overall standings min sec ahead
of al attiyah
mark miller of the united states in another volkswagen was fourth min sec
behind al attiyah with french bmw driver guarlain chicherit fifth min sec
off the pace
in the motorcycling category the day honours went to frenchman cyril despres
who leads the way overall after the longest special stage of the event
despres beat out spanish ktm rival marc coma by sec in finishing in hr min
sec while french yamaha racer david fretigne was third min off the pace
overall despres has healthy lead over coma with portugal helder
rodrigues of yamaha min further back
saturday is rest day before the km adventure resumes sunday with km
special stage from antofagasta to copiapo
us stocks gain despite disappointing jobs data
new york jan afp
wall street stocks made modest gains friday as the market was able to shake off
weak start due to disappointing government data on the troubled labor market
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to close at
getting boost in late session snapback
the technology heavy nasdaq composite advanced points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index added points
percent to
after opening lower the major wall street indices trended higher throughout the
session with the dow only reaching positive territory in the final half hour of
trade the blue chip index closed at its highest level since early october
the labor department reported the us economy lost jobs in december while
the unemployment rate held at percent
the payrolls number was much worse than the unchanged reading anticipated by
most analysts while the jobless rate was in line with consensus expectations
some noted that the overall trend is positive despite disappointing figure
today report does not change our view that the recovery is gaining speed and
should prove to be sustainable said michelle meyer at barclays capital
one month worth of data should not be given too much weight there are some
potential leading indicators that remain intact and continue to point to the
continuation of the trend of improving employment conditions charles schwab
amp co analysts said in note to investors
in revising data for prior months the data showed net gain of jobs in
november instead of loss of previously reported the first positive
month after months of losses
analysts said the jobs data dampened speculation that the federal reserve would
raise near zero interest rates sooner than anticipated as the economy emerges
from the most severe recession in decades
the december employment report will temper any tightening concerns for the time
being which in turn should weigh on the dollar in the near term said patrick
hare at briefing com
among stocks in focus package delivery firm ups powered percent higher to
dollars after raising fourth quarter earnings guidance and saying it would
cut us jobs
google rose percent to dollars the internet search giant google is
seeking government authority to buy and sell electricity in the united states
further expansion of its operations aimed at boosting renewable energy
coca cola dropped percent to dollars the steepest loser on the dow
after jpmorgan chase downgrade
boeing fell percent to dollars after announcing india has contacted
the us government about potential purchase of military transport
aircraft
the crucial labor report came ahead of the fourth quarter earnings season that
starts next week
aluminum giant alcoa which unofficially kicks off the reporting cycle monday
closed up percent at dollars
bonds traded mixed the yield on the year treasury bond fell to percent
from percent thursday while that on the year bond fell to
percent from percent bond yields and prices move in opposite directions
one in eight jailed us youths is sexually abused report
washington jan afp
around one in eight youths in prison in the united states some as young as
have been sexually abused by another inmate or jail staff first ever survey
by the department of justice shows
eighty percent of abuse cases involved member of the prison staff and in
nearly all those cases the alleged offenders were women even though less
than half the staff in us juvenile prisons are women the first national
survey of youth in custody report which was published thursday said
in more than third of cases where member of prison staff abused youngster
force was used or threatened the survey showed
boys who make up the majority of young prison inmates in the united states
were more likely than girls to report unwanted sexual activity with member of
prison staff percent of the boys surveyed said they had been sexually
abused by prison staff compared with less than five percent of girls
but in terms of unwanted sexual activity with other youth the complainants were
reversed with just over nine percent of girls and two percent of boys saying
they had been sexually abused by other youth
youth with sexual orientation other than heterosexual reported significantly
higher rates of sexual victimization by another youth percent
compared to heterosexual youth percent
nearly young inmates in large state or privately owned prisons were
interviewed for the survey between june and april last year
the youngest of the inmates was the oldest and only third of the young
convicts were older than statistician at the department of justice told
afp
some youngsters are incarcerated in large state or privately run prisons
across the united states according to the report
new york bomb suspect charged with false statement to fbi
new york jan afp
an associate of an afghan immigrant charged for an al qaeda linked plot to bomb
new york around last year anniversary of the september attacks was charged
friday with making false statements to the fbi
zarein ahmedzay reportedly taxi driver pleaded not guilty to the charge
handed down by the new york judge
he was arrested earlier friday by federal bureau of investigation agents along
with bosnian immigrant adis medunjanin who has yet to be charged
the men are associates of najibullah zazi who is accused of links to al qaeda
in pakistan and plotting bombing spree in new york around the anniversary of
the attacks said law enforcement source who asked not to be identified
dressed in gray sweatshirt and gray pants for the brief court appearance
ahmedzay was kept in custody pending bail hearings next week
joe biden year old mother dies white house
washington jan afp
us vice president joe biden mother died friday after falling seriously ill
the white house said she was
my mother catherine eugenia jean finnegan biden passed away peacefully
today at our home in wilmington delaware surrounded by her children her
grandchildren her great grandchildren and many loved ones biden said in
statement
her strength which was immeasurable will live on in all of us
biden rushed home thursday from washington to spend time with his mother who
was taken seriously ill this week
at she was the center of our family and taught all of her children that
family is to be treasured loyalty is paramount and faith will guide you through
the tough times biden noted
she believed in us and because of that we believed in ourselves
the vice president frequently sprinkles his speeches with wisdom and wit he
attributes to his mother and late father who died in often focusing on
lessons he learned as young boy struggling with speech impediment who
worried about being smaller and poorer than his peers
when got knocked down by guys bigger than me she sent me back out and
demanded that bloody their nose so could walk down that street the next
day biden said in his democratic national convention speech in
my mother creed is the american creed no one is better than you you are
everyone equal and everyone is equal to you
jean biden came into the national spotlight during the presidential
campaign when she made several appearances with her son
angola attack only latest violence against sports stars
paris jan afp
an ambush of the togolese soccer team that killed one person and injured nine as
the squad travelled to the troubled angolan region of cabinda friday is the
latest in string of attacks on sports stars
only months ago dozen men armed with guns and grenades carried out
brazen assault on sri lanka cricket side in the pakistani city of lahore in
which eight people were killed and seven squad members injured
that attack blamed on pakistan based islamic extremists threw massive
question mark over the future of the game in pakistan and wrecked its chance of
co hosting the world cup
the assault came as the team who had replaced an india side that pulled out
in the wake of the november mumbai attacks was heading for the third
day play in the second test
in sri lanka in suspected tamil tiger suicide bomber detonated explosives
prior to the start of marathon that was part of the country new year
celebrations the blast killed people and injured dozens more
probably the most infamous attack on sports team came at the olympics in
munich germany when radical palestinians linked to yasser arafat fatah
organisation took members of the israeli squad hostage
the black september militant group killed israeli athletes and coaches and
west german police officer while police killed five of the eight terrorists in
an abortive rescue attempt
the british grand national race the world most famous steeplechase was
cancelled in following bomb hoax after an anonymous call using code words
associated with the irish republican army
in spain basque separatist group eta in forced the abandonment of first
division game between real madrid and basque side real sociedad following
phone warning threatening the game at the bernabeu stadium
the champions league semi final between real and barcelona was called off
in similar circumstances
the dakar rally meanwhile was moved to argentina from africa two years ago
after the edition was cancelled amid security concerns arising from the
murder blamed on al qaeda sympathisers of four french tourists in december
in mauritania where the rally was to spend several days
urgent new york bomb suspect charged with false statement to fbi
new york jan afp
an associate of an afghan immigrant charged for an al qaeda linked plot to bomb
new york around last year anniversary of the september attacks was charged
friday with making false statements to the fbi
investors uneasy over argentine debt battle
washington jan afp
high profile clash between argentina president and its central bank on
friday left investors fearful of protracted institutional crisis and return
to economic instability
decision by president cristina kirchner to oust central bank boss martin
redrado by decree prompted analysts to warn of showdown between the
government and opposition lawmakers who back redrado that could hit the
country fragile economy
this is full blown institutional crisis said alberto bernal head of
research at bulltick capital markets miami based firm
kirchner on thursday dismissed redrado over his refusal to release billion
dollars from the central banks reserves to pay down national debt that will soon
mature
but kirchner faced two legal defeats on friday when judge temporarily
suspended decree allowing the use of reserves to pay debt and later when
judge ordered that redrado be reinstated
this is very complicated situation bernal told afp if this lingers and
uncertainty is increased there is definite risk of bond problem
argentine bonds sank on friday on news of deepening crisis as local investors
sought better returns for increased risk raising the cost of borrowing
argentina economy latin america third largest is still struggling to
recover from massive default in which left the country finances
decimated and choked access to international credit markets
in recent months kirchner had sought to return to the financial mainstream by
reaching compensation deal with the holders of defaulted bonds
but her handling of the issue was seen as heavy handed by some
analysts at jp morgan wrote in briefing note on friday that kirchner decree
firing redrado risked sparking political spat with congress which is
increasingly dominated by the opposition
the decision they warned could cause crisis akin to that over plans to raise
export taxes in which led to countrywide protests and widespread rebellion
among farmers
other financial advisers warned clients that the argentine peso would appreciate
against the dollar in the coming weeks as the central bank independence was
called into question
some warned that attempts by the argentine government to raise more money
through bond issues could also be called into question
investors are likely to shy away from any argentine debt issuance raising
the odds of another default in brown brothers harriman said in note to
clients as the crisis developed
according to bernal political deal will now be necessary to head off fully
fledged crisis
it is very complicated situation he told afp if the constitution is to be
complied with then the only solution is to have congress and the government sit
down and talk
alert
new york bomb plot suspect charged with false statement to fbi
rallying dakar rally results
antofagasta chile jan afp
results of the seventh stage of the dakar rally here on friday kilometres
special from iquique to antofagasta
motorcyclists
cyril despres fra ktm km in hr min sec marc coma esp ktm
at david fretigne fra yamaha ruben faria por ktm
pal ullevalseter nor ktm jose manuel pellicer esp yamaha
juan pedrero garcia esp ktm thomas berglund swe ktm
olivier pain fra yamaha stefan svitko svk ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec marc coma esp ktm
helder rodrigues por yamaha pal ullevalseter nor ktm
francisco lopez chi aprilia alain duclos fra ktm
david fretigne fra yamaha jonah street usa ktm juan
pedrero garcia esp ktm jose manuel pellicer esp yamaha
football african nations cup to go ahead caf
luanda jan afp
the african nations cup will go ahead as planned despite friday deadly attack
on the togo team buses which killed the driver and injured nine the
confederation of african football caf confirmed to afp
our great concern is for the players that our key priority but the
championship goes ahead souleymane habuba caf communications director
insisted
tragedy struck the build up to the nations cup which starts here on sunday when
gunmen fired on the togo team as they crossed the border from congo brazzaville
to the troubled province of cabinda
the head of the togolese football federation reported the driver had been killed
and nine other passengers injured in the attack claimed by the armed wing of the
front for the liberation of the enclave of cabinda flec
habuba revealed that caf vice president had set off from the angolan capital
of luanda to cabinda to find out at first hand what had occurred
we need to know all the facts about what happening on the ground we haven
got them all yet we can give full reaction from reports that we have got
from the media
habuba did however question why togo in contrast to the other teams making
their way to angola for the biennial competition had elected to travel by road
rather than flying
caf regulations are quite clear teams are required to travel by air not
road
we had meeting of all the teams this morning or at least almost all of them
togo didn show up and it was only later on friday afternoon that we heard
via information from the media that they had been the victims of an attack
but at no point were we told they were travelling by road
virgilio santos of the local organising committee confirmed they had been in the
dark as to how togo were arriving at the nations cup
we asked all the delegations to tell us how and when they were coming as well
as the players passport numbers togo was the only team not to reply and they
didn tell us they were coming by road said santos
habuba said caf would make further comment on the shooting once they had more
details either later friday or saturday
the togo team came under machinegun fire as they were travelling from their
training camp in point noire in congo to cabinda where they were scheduled to
play their opening match against west african neighbours ghana on monday
meanwhile the african division of the player union fifpro called on organisers
to leave no stone unturned assuming the cup can go ahead to ensure the
security of players and those accompanying them
football is an instrument of peace festival said fifpro it should not be
used as vehicle for mindless violence whatever the claims of those who seek
to take it hostage for their own ends
assuming the tournament does continue as habuba insists then caf and the angolan
authorities have series of major issues to tackle not least whether to
maintain the original programme with games being held in cabinda or transfer
them to the other cup venues in angola in luanda benguela or lubango
the other teams in their group are burkina faso and the star studded ivory coast
whose squad includes chelsea striker didier drogba and barcelona midfielder yaya
toure
afp world news agenda
hong kong jan afp
what coming up around the world
icy weather grips europe
africa cup hit by deadly shooting
london heavy snow and cold weather hits eurostar services through the channel
tunnel and disrupts air travel in number of countries europe weather
luanda countdown to sunday start of african nations cup marred by shooting on
buses carrying togo football team that killed driver togo angola violence
fbl afr
baghdad monitoring after iraqi politicians and parties linked to saddam
hussein baath party were barred from taking part in march elections iraq
vote politics
basel financial stability board chairman mario draghi holds press briefing at
around gmt after meeting of central bankers expected to discuss systemic
risks bank banking finance bis
islamabad following up after us missile strike kills five militants in region
of northwest pakistan known as stronghold of taliban and al qaeda linked
militants pakistan unrest
kuala lumpur malaysian police investigate firebomb attacks on three churches
which left one badly damaged amid row over the use of the word allah by
non muslims malaysia religion catholic church attack
moscow new round of talks due between russia and belarus over new oil supply
terms that could affect supplies to europe russia belarus oil
rome representatives of un refugee agency due to visit an area of southern
italy where racial clashes have left nearly wounded in two days italy
immigration violence
iceland mps agree to icesave referendum
reykjavik jan afp
iceland parliament voted on friday in favour of holding referendum on the
controversial icesave bill as soon as possible and prior to march but no date
has been set
forty nine of the members of parliament voted in favour of holding
referendum on the issue before march the remaining deputies were all
absent and no one opposed the motion
prime minister johanna sigurdardottir has suggested the referendum take place on
february or or march though the date is to ultimately be decided by the
justice minister
on tuesday president olafur ragnar grimsson refused to sign the so called
icesave bill referring the issue to referendum instead because of public
opposition
the bill narrowly approved by the icelandic parliament on december defines
the terms of the payout of billion euros billion dollars to london and
