against overregulation
goldman sachs climbed percent to dollars morgan stanley rose
percent to dollars bank of america jumped percent to dollars
and jpmorgan chase which reports quarterly results friday added hefty
percent at dollars
the market also mulled the federal reserve beige book report which found the
us economy is seeing broader improvement in activity even if conditions are
still sluggish
the report to be used by policymakers at the federal open market committee
meeting january said data from the federal reserve districts showed
modest improvement in key areas such as consumer spending manufacturing and
housing
among stocks in focus alcoa which had plunged more than percent tuesday
gained percent at dollars
kraft foods which had spent most of the session in the green after reporting
better than expected earnings slipped percent to dollars
google fell percent to dollars the internet search giant has vowed
to defy chinese internet censors and risk banishment from the lucrative market
in outrage at highly sophisticated cyber attacks aimed at chinese human rights
activists
its chinese rival baidu listed on nasdaq vaulted percent to
dollars
bonds weakened the yield on the year us treasury bond rose to percent
from percent tuesday and that on the year bond to percent from
percent bond yields and prices move in opposite directions
football milan edge minnows novara as juve bounce back
rome jan afp
mathieu flamini scored the winner nine minutes from time as second string ac
milan team beat third division novara at the san siro on wednesday to reach
the coppa italia quarter finals
the rossoneri were joined by juventus and catania after they recorded victories
over napoli and genoa respectively
milan coach leonardo made changes to the team that won at juventus on
sunday with ronaldinho loan signing david beckham andrea pirlo and alessandro
nesta not even included on the bench
veteran striker filippo inzaghi opened the scoring on minutes but in the
first minute of the second period pablo gonzalez stunned the san siro by drawing
novara level
flamini had the last word though and milan will play udinese or lumezzane in
the next round
eight people amongst them two children were taken to hospital after people
were injured in motorway crash between lorry and coach carrying novara
supporters to the game novara lies just km west of milan
juventus bounced back from their weekend humbling as an alessandro del piero
brace one from the spot helped them to victory in turin
diego scored the first as full strength and attacking juve blew away napoli
match unbeaten run under coach walter mazzarri although he did rest many
first team regulars in competition few teams take seriously in italy
catania recorded an impressive win away to genoa to reach the last eight
inter milan and as roma had previously also qualified for the quarters with the
final three qualifiers to be decided on thursday
football fa cup third round replay results
london jan afp
english fa cup third round replay results on wednesday
fa cup
rd rd replays
liverpool bertrand og reading sigurdsson pen playing extra
time
newcastle lovenkrands plymouth argyle
played tuesday
rd rd
bristol city williams cardiff chopra
rd rd replays
birmingham ferguson nottingham forest
coventry best portsmouth wright og mokoena after extra time
after minutes
derby davies millwall morison after extra time after
mins derby win on penalties
qpr buzsaky pen stewart sheffield united williamson ward
cresswell
postponed frozen pitch
rd rd
accrington stanley gillingham
brentford doncaster
notts county forest green
us lawmakers quiz top officials on christmas bomb plot
washington jan afp
senior us counter terrorism officials briefed lawmakers wednesday on the
christmas bomb plot amid congressional efforts to toughen aviation security in
response to the thwarted attack
director for national intelligence dennis blair national counter terrorism
center chief mike leiter and president barack obama top counter terrorism
aide john brennan held closed door question and answer sessions at the capitol
house intelligence committee chairman silvestre reyes said the briefing to his
panel aimed to provide complete accounting of the intelligence we had prior
to the incident as well as provide more detail on the failures identified in
the president preliminary report on the incident
reyes said lawmakers and the white house will have to cooperate to bolster us
counter terrorism capabilities and that he backed imminent changes that blair
outlined in the briefing
the briefings came ahead of wave of hearings by collection of us
congressional committees roughly months before november mid term elections
that will decide control of the senate and house of representatives
us lawmakers have been sharply critical of the failures that allowed young
nigerian man to get aboard crowded us bound airliner allegedly looking to
blow it up with potent explosive sewn into his underwear
and they have scrambled to find ways to tighten air travel security some eight
years after al qaeda extremists used hijacked airliners as guided missiles in
the september attacks
technology is only one part of what is going to keep us safe additional
resources additional technology additional cooperation from countries
throughout the world and comprehensive strategy to incorporate all of those
would be needed he added
and us intelligence will have to make concerted commitment to becoming more
flexible integrated and proactive organization said reyes
there is no question to my mind that this was not technological error this
was human error said democratic representative bill pascrell
think it was information sharing problem and human error in judgement to
make the determination not revoke his visa in the first place said republican
representative michael mccaul
democratic representative nita lowey signaled she might support the use of
controversial full body scanners which have drawn criticism from civil
liberties and privacy advocates
think we have to do everything possible to keep people safe she said
canada haitian diaspora tunes in for quake news
montreal jan afp
the phone lines lit up on wednesday at montreal cpam creole radio station as
canada haitian diaspora clamored for any information about the fate of loved
ones in quake stricken haiti
canada second largest city is home to more than people of haitian
origin
and with communication lines back home mostly down after magnitude
earthquake on tuesday devastated the haitian capital of port au prince local
radio here has become transfer hub for lot of quake information
we ve become relay station explained radio host jean robert boulin whose
usual french music slot was temporarily replaced by call in segment for
worried haitian expatriates
the am radio audience was invited to share any information they managed to
glean from family and friends in haiti
despite everything some managed to reach their parents by text message or
other means they tell us in such and such region there has been
devastation and that how our listeners get the information said boulin
in these circumstances there is spirit of solidarity that automatically
develops he said raising his voice to be heard above cnn broadcast ringing
telephones and computer tuned to haitian internet radio station
some people call to ask if there is anything they can bring us to help the
survivors said journalist yvon chery clinging to his blackberry for email
updates from his parents
but some coordination is still required to accept store transport and
distribute donations of food and medicine
earlier the station urged listeners to save their energies and plan to go to
haiti later to help in the reconstruction
our efforts to help haiti are needed in the reconstruction of what was lost
said radio host asma heurtelou urging listeners to set aside their vacations to
travel to haiti to help out
haitian community organizers meanwhile suggested that cash donations would
best serve the needs of those affected by the quake as those needs are not yet
defined
for now we re waiting we re mobilizing and then we wait said chery
formula one schumacher happy with track time
paris jan afp
seven time world champion michael schumacher said he was satisfied with the
crucial track time he secured on his second day of testing in jerez despite rain
restricting his programme
schumacher who has come out of retirement to drive for mercedes in the formula
one world championship on three year million dollar deal again drove
gp car as testing is banned until february
that was big step forward today wednesday because we could drive around
percent of our time in dry conditions we could even do two long runs which went
nice and constant the year old told his website
these days here in jerez are definitely worth it because even if was not
driving would spend the time speaking and discussing with the engineers
working on set ups and prepare for the season
schumacher first day on the track tuesday was restricted by heavy rain but
he is due to drive again at the spanish venue on thursday
azerbaijan to supply gas to iran until april official
baku jan afp
azerbaijan will supply iran with over two million cubic meters of gas daily
until april azerbaijan state oil company chief said wednesday
the contract signed by azerbaijan state oil company and its iranian
counterpart stipulates supplies until april rovnag abdullayev said
adding that another long term contract currently being prepared
until then azerbaijan will reconstruct its gas compressing station in astara
on iranian border and the gadjibul astara pipeline after that we will be able
to supply iran with three to five million cubic meters of gas daily abdullayev
told reporters
by azerbaijan may be producing up to billion cubic meters of gas
which would provide all its neighbours needs abdullayev said
rich in oil and gas and strategically located between russia and iran
azerbaijan has been courted by both moscow and the west since independence
following the collapse of the soviet union
backed by western governments companies such as britain bp have invested
heavily in its energy sector building corridor of oil and gas pipelines from
azerbaijan through georgia and turkey to europe
football cameroon bitten by underdogs gabon tunisia held
luanda jan afp
gabon became the latest underdogs at the africa cup of nations to punch above
their weight when they claimed the scalp of continental giants cameroon with
win on wednesday
later in lubango champions tunisia were unable to capitalise on
cameroon slip up when they escaped with draw against zambia to leave
group wide open
angola is fast earning reputation as tournament of upsets with angola
squandering lead to draw draw against mali algeria whipped by
malawi and ivory coast held by burkina faso
egypt the two time champions are the only side to do themselves justice in the
opening week with their defeat of nigeria on tuesday
on paper cameroon offically rated the best side in africa should have taken
gabon to the cleaners
but inter milan striker samuel eto and his teammates were unable to respond to
gabon hull city striker daniel cousin who produced the only goal of the game
to go top of group
veteran cameroon central defender rigobert song became the first man to play in
eight nations cup tournaments but he would have surely traded his place in
history for different result
we weren great conceded cameroon coach paul le guen but above all we
can become destabilised the last two first round games can allow us to
qualify
eto noted striking parallel to their experience in ghana in
two years ago we were in the same situation having lost their opener and then
facing zambia whom they meet on sunday in their second
the former three time african footballer of the year added losing today is not
big problem but we have to win our next game against zambia on sunday
we controlled the match but could not find the net
we are very pleased we got win in the first game our system worked well and
technically we were very good said gabon coach and former france star alain
giresse
even if we finish second in this group we will be happy what we want is to
qualify for the quarter finals he added
tunisia must have fancied their chances of seizing the initiative but they found
themselves trailing after minutes when james chamanga who plays his club
football in china charged down the centre and found jacob mulenga on his right
to score
tunisia avoided embarrassment when five minutes before the break teenage striker
youssef msakni tore the zambian defence apart down the left cutting the ball
back to zouhaier dhaouadhi who slammed it into the roof of the net
zambia coach herve renard reckoned his side had let slip maximum points
especially after gabon win
this was two points lost said the youngest of the five french coaches in the
competition
we started well but after the goal we didn show enough discipline
his tunisian counterpart faouzi benzarti commented we could have won the game
with our second half performance but the draw is fair
renard added gabon put up magnificent performance against cameroon cameroon
lost their first game but they did the same in and that didn prevent
them going all the way to the final
thursday sees the second batch of matches in group in luanda with angola
facing giantkillers malawi while mali tackle algeria
football french league cup results collated
paris jan afp
french league cup round of results on wednesday
guingamp sakho og paris saint germain
lyon toulalan lisandro metz
le mans bordeaux postponed due to heavy snow
lens eduardo pen lorient marchal amalfitano
toulouse macaluso og machado pen dupuis nancy
lille rami de melo hazard rennes pagis
saint etienne sako bergessio marseille brandao niang
played tuesday
sedan allart clermont
us economic recovery is broader beige book
washington jan afp
the us economy is seeing broader improvement in activity even if conditions
are still sluggish the federal reserve said in its beige book report wednesday
the report to be used by policymakers at the federal open market committee
meeting january said data from the federal reserve districts showed
modest improvement in key areas such as consumer spending manufacturing and
housing
the data indicated that while economic activity remains at low level
conditions have improved modestly further and those improvements are broader
geographically than in the last report the beige book said
ten districts reported some increased activity or improvement in conditions
while the remaining two philadelphia pennsylvania and richmond virgina
reported mixed conditions
this was better than the last beige book when eight districts showed increased
activity four were little changed
most districts reported consumer spending in the holiday season was slightly
greater than in but still far below levels
auto sales held steady or increased slightly since the last beige book in most
regions
manufacturing activity has increased or held steady since the last report in
most districts it added
home sales increased in most areas especially for lower priced homes with
price little changed
construction activity for new homes remained at low levels in much of the
country the report indicated
the fed cited soft conditions in commercial real estate that are pressuring
rents and leading to higher vacancy rates
in the financial sector loan demand continued to decline or remained weak in
many areas
as for the critical labor market the fed cited some hiring in few parts of
the nation but said labor market conditions remained generally weak with modest
wage increases appearing in just few districts
labor market conditions remained soft in most federal reserve districts
although new york reported modest pickup in hiring and st louis reported that
several service sector firms in that district recently announced plans to hire
new workers the report said
because of the high level of unemployment the beige book said wage pressures
were subdued and overall inflationary pressures modest
the us economy expanded at percent pace in the third quarter of the
latest for which official data is available
the fed and most economists expect data to show continued growth in the fourth
quarter and into but worry that high unemployment will curb consumer
confidence and spending
the jobless rate held at percent in december while jobs were cut
highlighting the slow pace of recovery from the deepest recession in decades
analysts said the report showed the fed is not in rush to change its stand on
monetary policy which include base rates at record low range of zero to
percent along with other stimulative efforts
the recovery tugboat is struggling to pick up speed but heavy anchors continue
to drag along the bottom behind said brian bethune at ihs global insight
thus the fed is expected to continue for some time with an exceptionally
accommodative stance on monetary policy
ryan sweet at moody economy com agreed saying although some anecdotes
indicate the economy is moving in the right direction the recovery is too
fragile for policymakers to begin removing some of its fiscal and monetary
stimulus
football coppa italia results collated
rome jan afp
results from the coppa italia on wednesday
last
ac milan inzaghi flamini novara gonzalez
genoa rossi catania plasmati
juventus diego del piero pen napoli
playing thursday
fiorentina chievo lazio palermo udinese lumezzane
played tuesday
as roma brighi vucinic baptista triestina della rocca pen
played december
inter milan sneijder livorno
snooker masters results
london jan afp
results from the masters snooker tournament at the wembley arena here on
wednesday
st rd best of frames
ryan day eng bt joe perry eng
mark allen nir bt john higgins sco
fourteen un staffers confirmed dead in haiti quake un
united nations jan afp
fourteen un staffers are confirmed dead and another injured in the earthquake
that flattened the un mission main headquarters in port au prince top un
official said wednesday
citing preliminary figures susana malcorra head of the un department of field
support said the world body could confirm fatalities among personnel of the
un mission in haiti minustah and others injured
she said the number of un personnel unaccounted for is in the range of
but alain leroy the head of the un peacekeeping department said the world body
could not confirm an assertion by haitian president rene preval that the
civilian head of minustah was killed in the quake
we cannot confirm this he added although annabi was in the building and is
likely buried under the rubble of minustah main building along with dozens of
other un staffers
leroy said his deputy edmond mulet annabi predecessor was on his way to
port au prince to take charge of minustah in an interim capacity
football former champions tunisia held by zambia
lubango angola jan afp
tunisia the champions were held to draw by spirited zambia in group
of the africa cup of nations here on wednesday
jacob mulenga put the copper bullets into an early lead only for zouhaier
dhaouadhi to level for the north africans before the break
zambia coach herve renard reckoned his side had let slip maximum points
especially after gabon had shocked the mighty cameroon earlier in lubango
this was two points lost said the youngest of the five french coaches in the
competition
we started well but after the goal we didn show enough discipline
his tunisian counterpart faouzi benzarti commented we could have won the game
with our second half performance but the draw is fair
given the spate of upsets angola has already produced it came as no
surprise to see the carthage eagles being outplayed by zambia for much of the
match
they went into th minute lead when james chamanga who plays his club
football in china charged down the centre and found mulenga on his right
the utrecht midfielder controlled the ball well fighting off tunisia defender
ammar jemal to slot an angled shot right footed past goalkeeper aymen mathlouthi
who should have done better
renard claude le roy assistant with ghana in justifiably raised his
arms in delight
zambia were worthy of the lead after almost constant pressure up to this point
and they continued to bely their underdog status with forays into tunisian
territory
on rare early incursion up the other end of the pitch skipper karim haggui
the lone survivor from the title winning squad hit over the bar
zambia with skipper christopher katongo joined in midfield by his younger
brother felix were proving real handful for benzarti north africans with
only the back of red shirt stopping rainford kalaba close range thunderbolt
after the half hour mark
tunisia were back on level terms though on minutes when teenage striker
youssef msakni tore the zambian defence apart down the left cutting the ball
back to dhaouadhi who slammed it into the roof of the net
the two sides both making their th appearance in this continental
championship emerged for the second half with everything to play for after
gabon shock win over cameroon earlier which split the group wide open
zambia appeared the more likely to regain the advantage harrying the tunisian
backline seemingly at will
benzarti took off ousama darragi on the hour and sent on lens attacker issam
jemaa in bid to reinforce his goal scoring options against side that had
only mustered paltry four goals in qualifying ties
mulenga almost got his and his country second goal in the nd minute when he
unleashed powerful climbing shot which thudded into the side netting
maccabi tel aviv forward emmanuel mayuka did score seconds later but his effort
was ruled offside
in injury time mathlouthi could only punch kalaba powerful freekick away
to retain the status quo
four us troops french soldier killed in afghanistan nato
kabul jan afp
four us troops and french soldier were killed in separate incidents in eastern
and southern afghanistan on wednesday nato said
two us soldiers died when ieds or improvised explosive devices went off in the
east of the country in the morning another soldier died in fighting also in the
east and fourth died of wounds suffered in the explosion of an ied in the
south
the french defence ministry said french non commissioned officer died on the
road between bagram and nijrab in the east the third french soldier to die in
as many days
fbi warns of haiti relief fraud
washington jan afp
the us federal bureau of investigation fbi warned potential donors of
earthquake relief funds to haiti on wednesday to be on the lookout for fraud
schemes
the fbi today reminds internet users who receive appeals to donate money in the
aftermath of tuesday earthquake in haiti to apply critical eye and do their
due diligence before responding to those requests the fbi said
past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal
intent to solicit contributions purportedly for charitable organization and or
good cause the fbi said in statement
email users should not respond to or click on links in unsolicited messages and
should make an effort to confirm the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations
raising funds for haiti the fbi said
potential donors should be cautious of emails that claim to show pictures of the
disaster areas in attached files because the files may contain viruses the fbi
said
do not give your personal or financial information to anyone who solicits
contributions it added providing such information may compromise your
identity and make you vulnerable to identity theft
microblogging service twitter was deluged with messages on wednesday on ways to
help haiti which was one of the top most popular topics on the site
they included sending money by text message to the american red cross and to
yele org charity set up by haitian born hip hop singer wyclef jean
the fbi warning came as the united states launched massive military and
civilian operation to aid haiti amid fears the quake had left thousands dead
teams of civilian and military experts dispatched by us president barack obama
began landing in haiti as us aircraft searched for survivors and tried to assess
the damage from the massive magnitude quake
un mission chief killed in quake haiti president
port au prince jan afp
the head of the un mission to haiti hedi annabi was killed when the un
headquarters here collapsed in deadly earthquake haitian president rene
preval said wednesday
send my condolences to the united nations and all the victims of the
earthquake which has struck haiti he said
but french un officer contacted by afp could not immediately confirm that the
tunisian envoy had been killed when the quake hit on tuesday afternoon but he
said dozens of bodies had been pulled from the ruins of the un building
and un official at the united nations headquarters in new york also could not
confirm the news
we have seen the comment by the haitian president our rescue team on the
ground is unable to confirm this un spokesman martin nesirky told afp
he said the world body was urgently contacting haitian authorities to try to
ascertain the source of preval information
us envoy tries to calm tensions with pakistan
islamabad jan afp
visiting us envoy richard holbrooke tried to calm tensions with pakistan on
wednesday with islamabad bristling at increased us drone strikes in the
northwest and new air passenger screening measures
washington has put pakistan at the heart of its fight against islamist
extremists and us officials say success in the war against the taliban in
neighbouring afghanistan cannot succeed without islamabad support
but the us drone missile programme in pakistan lawless northwest tribal belt
along the afghan border fuels anti american sentiment in the muslim nation with
six such strikes hitting the area so far this year
people are worried that we see pakistan only in regional context let me
assure all our listeners here that that is simply not the case holbrooke the
top us troubleshooter for pakistan and afghanistan told reporters
relations between the united states and pakistan are better today than they
were year ago on the other hand there are some obvious and very public issues
between the two countries that natural friends can disagree
speaking at the same press conference pakistan foreign minister again raised
concerns about the drone strikes which have killed nearly people in
pakistan since august and which islamabad publicly condemns
pakistan feels it will undermine our relations if there are drone attacks
shah mehmood qureshi said also querying new us air travel procedures launched
after failed bomb plot on christmas day
the us has introduced extra security screening for citizens travelling to the us
from nations including pakistan after nigerian tried to bring down
northwest airlines flight by detonating explosives hidden in his underwear
the people of pakistan feel that innocent people are treated like terrorists
qureshi said
holbrooke did not address the issue of the drone strikes but tried to reassure
pakistan over the us passenger screening measures saying they were necessary and
not discriminatory against the people of pakistan
meanwhile top senate ally of president barack obama sharply scolded pakistan
leaders charging that their public criticism of us drone strikes was at odds
with their private acceptance of such attacks
us senate armed services committee chairman carl levin fresh from trip to
pakistan and afghanistan told reporters on conference call that washington
would prefer silence on their part rather than public attack on us that
creates real problems for us in terms of the pakistani public and helps create
some real animosity against the united states
he was speaking from an airport in dubai as he headed back to washington
pakistan military has in the past year launched multiple offensives to quash
northwest sanctuaries of the taliban blamed for most of the attacks in pakistan
which have killed more than people since july
but washington is pressuring islamabad to also go after al qaeda linked groups
and militants who primarily use pakistan mountainous border zones to plot and
launch attacks on foreign troops in afghanistan
despite worsening militant violence both in pakistan and afghanistan holbrooke
said he did not think insurgent groups were gaining support
do not think that the movement is growing think that these actions while
terrible do not indicate growing strength they indicate willingness to use
extreme measures he said
