celebrating the hong kong football team victory over japan in the east asian
games final
police could not immediately be contacted for comment
us officials tried to hide immigrant abuse report
washington jan afp
us officials used their role as overseers of the country immigrant detention
centers to cover up evidence of mistreatment and deflect scrutiny by the media
the new york times reported late saturday
citing documents in its possession the newspaper said that investigators had
concluded that unbearable untreated pain had been significant factor in the
suicide of year old immigrant detainee at the bergen county jail in
new jersey and that the medical unit was so poorly run that other detainees
were at risk
the investigation found that medical personnel at the jail had falsified
medication log to show that the detainee salvadoran named nery romero had
been given motrin
but the fake entry was easy to detect the report said when the drug was
supposedly administered romero was already dead
those findings were never disclosed to the public or romero relatives on
long island who had accused the jail of abruptly depriving him of his
prescription painkiller for broken leg
in february in the case of dying african man the immigration agency
spokesman for the northeast michael gilhooly rebuffed reporter questions
about the detainee who had suffered skull fracture at the privately run
elizabeth detention center in new jersey the paper said
but records show he had already filed report warning top managers at the
federal agency about the reporter interest and sharing information about the
injured man guinean tailor named boubacar bah
bah had been left in an isolation cell without treatment for more than
hours before an ambulance was called the times pointed out
while he lay in the hospital in coma after emergency brain surgery agency
managers in washington and newark conferred by telephone and mail about how to
avoid the cost of his care and the likelihood of media exposure the report
said
one option they explored was sending the dying man to guinea the paper noted
eventually faced with paying dollars month for nursing home care
officials settled on third course humanitarian release to cousins in new
york who had protested that they had no way to care for him the times said but
days before the planned release bah died
venezuelans clamor to buy goods after devaluation
caracas jan afp
thousands of venezuelans descended on local shops saturday hoping to buy
imported goods before currency devaluation ordered by president hugo chavez
ramps up prices
the firebrand leftist leader announced friday that non essential imports would
be subjected to an exchange rate of bolivars per dollar doubling from
per dollar today
the higher exchange rate will apply to items such as automobiles
telecommunications tobacco beverages chemicals petrochemicals and
electronics
that prompted throngs of customers to queue in front of electronics stores
while those who made it inside navigated crowded aisles to grab refrigerators
stereos and other imported goods
we decided that today was the day to buy television before the price
explodes customer told afp
we went to various shops but the queues were too long finally we found one
that was less crowed but the products just disappeared everybody wants to buy
today
in move that will lessen the impact of the devaluation on poorer venezuelans
who have traditionally formed the backbone of chavez support the president
said an exchange rate of bolivars to the dollar would apply to basic goods
on the black market dollar costs around six bolivars
the bolivar devaluation was the first since and was designed to aid
public finances that have withered amid reduced oil revenues and rapidly
contracting economy
critics said the move would allow chavez to boost public spending ahead of
elections in september but would severely damage the health of the economy
since coming to office the president has sought to remake the venezuelan
economy vowing to create more equitable socialist model
that has initiated string of nationalizations of foreign firms and measures
that have sent inflation soaring to around percent
critics said the move would further drive up inflation
it would be foolish on my part to deny that this measure will have an impact on
prices said finance minister ali rodriguez
economist orlando ochoa said that was the understatement of the year and that
venezuelan consumers would pay big for the dual rate move
the measures really are throwing gasoline on fire as far as inflation is
concerned ochoa said
prices are going to go up but the government needs more income and it will be
getting more for its exports he said
tennis murray keeps the faith
perth australia jan afp
scotsman andy murray shrugged off his shock singles loss to veteran spaniard
tommy robredo in the hopman cup final here saturday declaring he was still on
track to win the australian open
murray breezed through the first set against robredo in the mixed teams final
dropping just one game on the back of booming serve and impeccable
groundstrokes and was within few points of victory in the second set but
couldn stifle brave fightback by the spaniard that ultimately saw him win in
three sets
until the robredo rally murray hadn dropped set in his four singles matches
here disposing of andrey golubev philipp kohlschreiber and igor andreev in
impressive fashion
the loss again raised some question marks about murray temperament the scot
having been heavily favoured to break great britain long drought in all four
grand slams last year only to come up short each time
his fourth round losses to maran cilic at the us open and fernando verdasco at
the australian open for which he was pre tournament favourite were
particularly disappointing
however the year old had consistently declared his belief that he could win
his maiden grand slam singles title in melbourne during his press engagements at
the hopman cup this week and the loss to robredo didn change that
think ready to win it he said of the year first grand slam
just need to play well if do that then there no reason why can
feel like serving well moving well and playing the ball better than
have done for long time at the back of the court and volleyed well this
week
so there not whole lot to complain about
murray was unperturbed by the loss to robredo saying it didn affect his
mindset heading towards melbourne
was just really happy with the way that played the whole of the matches
he said
you know could have won today won all three and still felt the same
obviously would have liked to have won but winning isn always the most
important thing especially when you re going into slam
sure if you asked roger federer how he was feeling this week going into
australia after losing to nikolay davydenko pretty sure it not going to
put whole lot of doubts in his mind
feel like ve prepared well and ready to play there whether won or
lost the match still feel the same about it
the scot said he simply paid for slight lapse against an in form opponent in
the hopman cup final
played great he said
was up and didn for pretty much two sets give him any chance at
all
then had maybe five or ten minute spell where didn serve well and he
obviously played really well this whole week
really really happy with the way was playing and sure with another
week of training and practising ll be playing better and if do that there is
good chance can win
murray headed to melbourne on sunday where he is considering playing in the
aami classic at kooyong and he is confident the chance to practise and play
outdoors after playing indoors here will round out perfect preparation for
the australian open starting on january
britain to shrug off wintry economic chill analysts
london jan afp
the british economy forecast to emerge soon from recession will likely shrug
off the most brutal winter in decades as many britons simply delay purchases and
work from home to beat the big freeze
the confederation of british industry cbi the nation biggest employers
organisation admitted that the cold weather was causing massive disruption
for companies already suffering from weak demand in the downturn
the cbi also argued however that the economic impact will be mitigated by the
growing adoption of high speed internet services that allow many to shop or work
from the comfort of their own homes
economist howard archer who covers britain and europe for ihs global insight
played down the effects of heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures
these things tend not to have as much impact as often feared archer told afp
obviously the longer it persists the more it will hit retail spending and
affect some business activity but these things tend to be made up once
conditions return to normal
for example people tend to delay their retail spending rather than cancel it
he added
with icy conditions making it almost impossible to travel many people are
choosing instead to sit on their sofas flick on the heating and power up their
home computers and laptops
consumers will also transfer their spending to other items said collin ellis
economist at daiwa capital markets europe
would not expect the bad weather to have big impact on economic growth
ellis said obviously if people are struggling to get to work that means it
may take longer to fill orders
but suspect the most likely outcome may be further transfer between
different types of consumption more meals at home versus eating out
britain big freeze will slash around billion pounds billion euros
billion dollars from the nation daily economic output according to
forecasts from the centre for economics and business research consultancy
however keith pilbeam economics professor at london city university said
the true impact on the economy was impossible to quantify
although the true cost of the current wintry weather on our economy cannot be
calculated precisely it will create number of economic issues pilbeam told
afp
the full effects of the weather will depend on the severity and duration of the
wintry conditions we are currently experiencing
profits and sales will be damaged but some businesses will also benefit as more
people stay at home
for businesses the reduction in revenues coupled with paying staff who cannot
make it to work and so are not producing will be very damaging to their
profitability pilbeam said
however the absence of staff from the workplace will benefit some companies
such as utilities as people stay at home switch on the television and turn up
the heating
the widespread wintry weather will mean an increased demand for commodities
such as oil and gas which will lead to higher prices that may prove long
lasting he added
british annual inflation jumped to percent in november because of rising
fuel prices recent official data showed
cebr head douglas williams warned that some businesses could go to the wall in
the bad weather but agreed that the overall impact was limited
don exaggerate the economic impact of the freeze much of the lost gdp
gross domestic product will be made up in the coming weeks but some cash
strapped businesses might be pushed over the edge williams said
but all the past research shows that the impact of extreme weather on gdp is
surprisingly small he said adding that many businesses were already operating
below full capacity because of the recession
most analysts agree that the effects of wintry weather will simply be reversed
when the big freeze thaws out
the wintry spell is likely to have an adverse impact on industrial production
as well as generally disruptive effect on the service sector as three million
workers are reckoned to have missed work in the worst affected areas said vtb
capital economist neil mackinnon
obviously these are temporary effects as better weather would simply see
sharp rebound in output and activity
the underlying picture of the uk economy is one where there are tentative signs
of gradual move out of recession mackinnon added
tennis murray keeps the faith
perth australia jan afp
scotsman andy murray shrugged off his shock singles loss to veteran spaniard
tommy robredo in the hopman cup final here saturday declaring he was still on
track to win the australian open
murray breezed through the first set against robredo in the mixed teams final
dropping just one game on the back of booming serve and impeccable
groundstrokes and was within few points of victory in the second set but
couldn stifle brave fightback by the spaniard that ultimately saw him win in
three sets
until the robredo rally murray hadn dropped set in his four singles matches
here disposing of andrey golubev philipp kohlschreiber and igor andreev in
impressive fashion
the loss again raised some question marks about murray temperament the scot
having been heavily favoured to break great britain long drought in all four
grand slams last year only to come up short each time
his fourth round losses to maran cilic at the us open and fernando verdasco at
the australian open for which he was pre tournament favourite were
particularly disappointing
however the year old had consistently declared his belief that he could win
his maiden grand slam singles title in melbourne during his press engagements at
the hopman cup this week and the loss to robredo didn change that
think ready to win it he said of the year first grand slam
just need to play well if do that then there no reason why can
feel like serving well moving well and playing the ball better than
have done for long time at the back of the court and volleyed well this
week
so there not whole lot to complain about
murray was unperturbed by the loss to robredo saying it didn affect his
mindset heading towards melbourne
was just really happy with the way that played the whole of the matches
he said
you know could have won today won all three and still felt the same
obviously would have liked to have won but winning isn always the most
important thing especially when you re going into slam
sure if you asked roger federer how he was feeling this week going into
australia after losing to nikolay davydenko pretty sure it not going to
put whole lot of doubts in his mind
feel like ve prepared well and ready to play there whether won or
lost the match still feel the same about it
the scot said he simply paid for slight lapse against an in form opponent in
the hopman cup final
played great he said
was up and didn for pretty much two sets give him any chance at
all
then had maybe five or ten minute spell where didn serve well and he
obviously played really well this whole week
really really happy with the way was playing and sure with another
week of training and practising ll be playing better and if do that there is
good chance can win
murray headed to melbourne on sunday where he is considering playing in the
aami classic at kooyong and he is confident the chance to practise and play
outdoors after playing indoors here will round out perfect preparation for
the australian open starting on january
eurozone growth debt in focus as ecb mulls interest rates
frankfurt jan afp
the european central bank is widely expected to keep its key interest rate at
record low percent on thursday with the focus on eurozone economic
prospects and how the greek debt crisis plays out analysts said
the ecb should hint that official interest rates will be on hold for some time
yet capital economics economist jennifer mckeown said as unemployment hit
eurozone record of percent and plummeting retail sales raised fears
recovery could be derailed
meanwhile the current greek crisis has again moved the structural problems of
emu european monetary union into the focus of interest commerzbank chief
economist joerg kraemer said
across the continent there is concern that serious fiscal problems in greece
and elsewhere threatens the credibility of the eurozone ecb economist juergen
stark has publicly warned that athens must not expect european union bailout
greek public debt was estimated at percent of gross domestic product gdp
in and is set to rise further this year compared with an eu limit of
percent
the nation eurozone first recession has exacerbated fiscal weakness among
its members presenting the ecb with widely contrasting situations
germany should wrestle its finances back into shape fairly soon but peripheral
members like greece ireland portugal and spain must step up budget
consolidation far more than the core countries kraemer said
monetary policy that is right for amsterdam berlin and paris could thus mean
serious problems for athens lisbon and madrid
the eurozone has also seen private sector credit shrink over the past three
months and the ecb will probably not consider rate hikes until turnaround in
lending to the corporate sector is visible commerzbank michael schubert
said
one reason for the fall is weaker demand from companies and households amid the
recession which ended in late and is expected to be followed by
percent growth this year that the ecb warns will be uneven and uncertain
consumers in particular have proven wary of splashing out on big purchases as
unemployment climbs inexorably higher resulting in percent drop in retail
sales in november from october and month fall of percent
those figures confirmed that the recovery has yet to reach the household
sector mckeown noted
deutsche bank economist gilles moec said consumers recognised the end of the
deflation windfall which had propped up spending in the spring and early
summer
elsewhere eurozone industrial production expanded in december and consumer
sentiment reached its highest level since us investment bank lehman brothers
collapsed in september but the results were not broad based
overall output and consumer goods rose while new orders gained for the fifth
straight month but irish production fell and slumps in greece and spain remained
entrenched as more people left the workforce
spanish unemployment soared more than percent last year
all of this will make the ecb job considerably harder as it ponders the
appropriate monetary policy stance for the eurozone mckeown said
another bright spot was provided by inflation however which stood at tame
percent in december official eu data showed
ecb economist stark told an italian newspaper don see risks for price
stability from now to the end of suggesting that rates could be on hold
for longer than markets expect
in london the bank of england left its key interest rate at record low of
percent and maintained radical credit easing plans last week as britain
awaits data set to signal the end of its deep recession
crisis hit romania hopes for recovery in
bucharest jan afp
among the european countries worst hit by the global slump romania sets out in
in slightly better shape new government is in place an aid deal with
the imf could be revitalised and growth may return
on the downside however romania has had to pay very high price for its
troubles and the social cost be higher still for its million people analysts
warn
in the economy is likely to recover but from social point of view
things are likely to worsen nicolae chidesciuc chief economist at ing bank
romania told afp
while expecting growth this year ing analysts see unemployment jumping to
percent from percent at the end of the jobless rate was percent in
december before the global economic crisis hit
the economy is likely to have contracted percent in after years of
steady growth suffering much more than other former communist countries such as
the czech republic down percent or poland which held onto positive
figures
the situation was made worse by political turmoil between the main parties
holding up the formation of new government that the international monetary
fund could work with
tired of the instability the imf and the european union decided in october to
delay disbursements from billion euro rescue package agreed earlier in the
year to help bucharest cope with the impact of the world economic crisis
but in december new centre right government was sworn in draft budget for
is set to be approved by parliament before january and the imf has
revised its forecasts
we now project that growth will become positive for at about percent
as against an anticipated percent the imf head of mission jeffrey franks
said last month
growth will be fueled mainly by industry especially firms exporting to
romania main markets in other eu countries financial advisor aurelian
dochia who sits on the board of brd bank told afp
internal demand will recover more slowly he added
there is tinge of optimism as far as growth is concerned finance minister
sebastian vladescu told lawmakers this week
at the same time he warned them though not to push for amendments that could
impact the budget deficit target for set in agreement with the imf at
percent of gross domestic product gdp
if the budget is approved romania should then get access to two aid instalments
from the imf worth total of billion euros billion dollars
the central bank announced on tuesday surprise interest rate cut of half
percentage point to percent citing relative improvement in foreign
investor perceptions of the economy and the country
european firms present in romania also generally expect an improvement in
with the country paying an average net salary of euros month its
labour costs are low
although it is too soon to dismiss political risks out of hand as any further
political turmoil would once again hold up the rate easing cycle we see scope
for further interest rate cuts over the coming months analysts at capital
economics said in note
they added that they expect the central bank key interest rate to fall to
percent by the end of this year
despite the positive signs romania is not out of the woods yet and will
remain difficult for many
the government plans to cut jobs in the public sector including
in the education system and in child protection services as well as in
handicapped and old people assistance programs
investments badly needed to improve poor road network and the health system
are also seen as far too low by observers
we do not have the resources to spend what we would like to spend we do not
have the money finance minister vladescu conceded
iw bmm rl
winter of discontent for berlin commuters
berlin jan afp
berliners kicking their heels in the snow after months of rail breakdowns have
been told the city has decided to end rail operator deutsche bahn monopoly
over its urban train network
deutsche bahn is incapable of resolving the crisis that it was responsible for
creating by trying to cut costs before an eventual privatisation the city
transport head ingeborg junge reyer said
on thursday junge reyer announced the end of deutsche bahn monopoly over the
suburban bahn network but this will only come into effect when the current
contract finishes in so failing to address the current problem
and the problem is big one
at the start of january just trains out of were running for the
million commuters who depend on the kilometre miles network
buses and the underground run by another company continued to operate
normally but in berlin the suburban trains play vital role in city
stretching over square kilometres square miles eight times the size
of paris and with million inhabitants
maintenance work checks and refurbishment plus the disruption now caused by
the winter cold halted large number of trains deutsche bahn spokesman
said
ice and snow led to many delays in the past week but the real problem dates back
to may when train derailed leading to the discovery that line maintenance had
not been sufficiently attended to for years
as result services were reduced some routes were cut back and commuters were
left without information or help on what to do next
in july the problem was so serious that traffic was reduced to one train in
three and the network stopped serving the city centre for over two weeks
bosses at bahn were subsequently fired
we are making fools out of ourselves when we put ourselves forward as
candidates to run railway networks abroad yet we can not even get the trains
running in our own city deutsche bahn manager who asked not to be named
said in die welt newspaper report
in the long run deutsche bahn and bahn risk losing credibility and people
confidence said chrisfried tschepe president of berlin public transport
users association
deutsche bahn berlin biggest employer plans to re open recently closed
workshops in bid to deal with the maintenance problems
but the difficulties will persist for several months said deutsche bahn
ulrich homburg whose aim is to resume normal service on all lines before the
end of
deutsche bahn had previously promised this would be done by the end of
transport minister peter ramsauer criticised the rail operator in november for
trying to maximise short term profits
last week he added that deutsche bahn should compensate commuters making rare
intervention for government minister on local issue
deutsche bahn has already promised users million euros in compensation but
they may have to dig bit deeper to satisfy berliners struggling through the
snow this winter
the afp sunday economics news advisory
paris jan afp
we shall shortly move the following economics business and financial news
stories
ecb eurozone bank rate forex money
frankfurt
the european central bank is widely expected to keep its key interest at
record low percent on thursday with the focus on eurozone economic
prospects and how the greek debt crisis plays out analysts said
words by william ickes
britain weather economy business company analysis
london
the british economy forecast to emerge soon from recession will likely shrug
off the most brutal winter in decades as many britons simply delay purchases and
work from home to beat the big freeze
words by roland jackson picture
romania economy unemployment imf
bucharest
among the european countries worst hit by the global slump romania begins
in slightly better shape new government is in place an aid deal with the
imf could be revitalised and growth may return
words by isabelle wesselingh
germany transport rail
berlin
berliners kicking their heels in the snow after months of rail breakdowns have
been told the city has decided to end rail operator deutsche bahn monopoly
over its urban train network
words by francis curta file picture
india economy company earnings focus
mumbai
indian firms are set to report sharp rise in profits when the quarterly
reporting season kicks off this week aided by improving business and low
comparison level from the previous year
words by salil panchal
tennis dementieva on track for australian open
perth australia jan afp
russian world no elena dementieva said the heavy playing schedule at the
hopman cup was perfect preparation for her upcoming australian open campaign
the australian open semi finalist made her first appearance at the mixed
teams tournament here and teamed up with countryman igor andreev the second
seeded pair failing to reach the final after losing their last tie to great
britain
it was mixed week for the one of the best players never to win grand slam
dementieva struggling in her opening singles match and she was beaten
by germany sabine lisicki
however her doubles form throughout was outstanding and she rebounded from the
loss to lisicki to easily beat yaroslava shvedova and british teenager laura
robson in her other singles matches
with six matches under her belt dementieva said she got what her game needed
out of her first tournament for the year
had some good matches here singles and also mixed doubles and it is
good for your confidence to be playing real matches but also to be able to
relax and enjoy them she said
think it was good preparation we had done all the hard work already off
the court
now it is just about playing points and matches and feeling your game
dementieva was the in form player in women tennis going into last year
australian open winning straight matches to start the year and dropping just
one set in melbourne prior to losing to serena williams in their semi final
the russian didn look as advanced in her preparation here but said her form
improved with each outing and she expects that to continue when she defends her
title in the medibank international in sydney starting with her match against
francesca schiavone on sunday
feel had very slow start in my first match and just improved day after
day and finally started to play little bit better she said
next week am playing in sydney and hope to have some good matches there to
get my confidence up for melbourne
it is going to be tough draw in sydney and going to have some good
matches against top players and this is going to help me
dementieva serve improved as the hopman cup progressed but she was still prone
to untimely double faults and she could only laugh off the service woes that
have plagued her throughout her career
gonna struggle all my life she said of her serve
