washington jan afp
the us economy is heading down path of lower living standards and diminished
confidence without action to stem the massive budget deficit group of
prominent researchers said wednesday
the panel said the country faces difficult choices on tax increases and spending
cuts to achieve more sustainable fiscal balance
the federal government is currently spending far more than it collects in
revenues and if current policies are continued will do so for the foreseeable
future said the report from the national research council and national academy
of public administration
no reasonably foreseeable rate of economic growth would overcome this
structural deficit thus any efforts to rein in future deficits must entail
either large increases in taxes to support these programs or major restraints on
their growth or some combination of the two
the us government closed its fiscal year with record trillion
dollar budget deficit and the white house forecasts an even bigger gap of
trillion dollars in fiscal said the report
the federal government fiscal ship is headed toward dangerous waters said
john palmer dean emeritus of the syracuse university maxwell school and co
chair of the panel
our committee members have varying political backgrounds and views but we all
agree that future economic prosperity is at grave risk if our nation does not
change its fiscal course
delaying action for even five or years will make addressing the problem more
painful and costly the report notes delay also raises the risk that the
nation creditors especially foreign governments will conclude that the us
has no plan to restore fiscal stability and will demand higher interest rates
to keep buying us debt
the researchers pointed out that the budget problems which were already in
grave difficulty ahead of the financial crisis will worsen as the baby boom
generation enters retirement pressuring government health and retirement funds
the report noted that the us government debt now totals more than trillion
dollars of which trillion dollars is publicly held about half of this by
investors abroad
if policies do not change large and increasing debt will expand the portion
of the budget required to pay interest on the debt especially if interest rates
rise and thereby reduce the resources available for all other government
activities the report said
increasing debt also may contribute to loss of international and domestic
investor confidence in the nation economy which would in turn lead to
even higher interest rates lower domestic investment and falling dollar
the report called for target of stabilizing the ratio of the nation debt to
its gross domestic product gdp of no more than percent
while there is no magic number for this ratio the committee judged that
ratio of percent is an achievable target within decade and can be useful
guide to policymakers it said any higher ratio would create an unacceptable
risk of higher interest rates and financial crisis
it added that policymakers should move aggressively to restrain growth of the
debt beginning in as soon as the economic recovery strengthens
the study funded by the macarthur foundation in an effort to create better
public awareness of the implications of the fiscal problems suggested variety
of ways to address the shortfall
panel co chair rudolph penner fellow at the urban institute said that
although these are difficult decisions everyone will benefit in the long term
if we accept some short term pain
us coast guard cutter arrives off haiti
washington jan afp
us coast guard cutter arrived off the quake stricken haitian capital wednesday
at the start of massive international aid and rescue effort for the
beleaguered caribbean nation officials said
the cutter forward arrived off port au prince in the early daylight hours and
was the first us asset on the scene after earthquake and dozens of
aftershocks caused widespread devastation in the city of two million homeland
security secretary janet napolitano said
the ship is equipped with helicopter flight deck satellite communications
equipment and the ability to provide coordination to military aircraft in the
area the department of homeland security said in statement
second cutter the mohawk was due to arrive wednesday afternoon and two coast
guard transport planes were flying along the western haiti coast doing
damage assessments and searching for people in need of assistance it said
president barack obama vowed swift coordinated and aggressive effort to
help haiti the poorest nation in the americas ordering vast mobilization of
military and civilian rescue forces
there were no immediate figures for dead injured and missing after tuesday
quake but haitian authorities said they expected tens of thousands of
casualties from the temblor the strongest to strike the area in more than
years years
football united nearly man ljajic signs for fiorentina
rome jan afp
serbia promising midfielder adem ljajic has signed for fiorentina the italian
club said on its website on wednesday
the teenager still needs to pass medical to complete his move from partizan
belgrade for reported eight million euros according to the belgrade daily
press
ljajic came close to joining english champions manchester united before the
red devils pulled out of deal last year
considered one of the most talented youngsters in serbian football ljajic
previously refused several offers from clubs in russia
year ago ljajic was unveiled by manchester united alongside countryman zoran
tosic
however while tosic joined united immediately ljajic was too young to do so
and united stated that he would be loaned back to partizan and would join in
january by which time he would have turned
however last month united announced that they had passed up their option on the
playmaker due to problems in securing work permit
regional summit this week on zimbabwe madagascar
maputo jan afp
key southern african leaders will hold special summit thursday in mozambique
capital maputo to discuss the crisis in madagascar and the power sharing
government in zimbabwe officials said
the security organ of the southern african development community sadc known
as the troika will meet from pm gmt on thursday mozambican
foreign ministry official told afp
there will be troika meeting tomorrow he said
senior zimbabwe government official told afp that president robert mugabe had
already left harare to attend the meeting
president mugabe left this afternoon for maputo to attend an extra ordinary
summit of sadc which is expected to discuss the zimbabwe situation and
unfolding events in madagascar the official said in harare speaking on
condition of anonymity
nigerian court rules vp can act for ailing president
abuja jan afp
nigerian high court ruled wednesday that vice president goodluck jonathan can
take executive powers in the absence of ailing president umaru yar adua in
hospital in saudi arabia since november
judge dan abutu the chief judge of the federal high court in abuja gave the
ruling in case filed on monday by lawyer christopher onwuekwe seeking the
court interpretation of the constitution
by virtue of section of the constitution the vice president can perform
the executive functions of the president pending the time he returns abutu
said
football coppa italia result
rome jan afp
result from the coppa italia on wednesday
last
ac milan inzaghi flamini novara gonzalez
playing later
genoa catania juventus 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
urgent nigerian court rules vp can act for ailing president
abuja jan afp
nigerian high court ruled wednesday that vice president goodluck jonathan can
take executive powers in the absence of ailing president umaru yar adua in
hospital in saudi arabia since november
football gabon lead cameroon at half time
lubango angola jan afp
hull city striker daniel cousin scored after minutes to give gabon
half time lead over cameroon in the first group match of the africa cup of
nations on wednesday
urgent regional summit this week on zimbabwe madagascar
maputo jan afp
key southern african leaders will hold special summit thursday in mozambique
capital maputo to discuss the crisis in madagascar and the power sharing
government in zimbabwe officials said
medical charity overwhelmed by haiti quake victims
washington jan afp
international medical charity medecins sans frontieres msf struggled wednesday
to cope with massive influx of survivors of the powerful earthquake in
haiti many with severe injuries spokesman said
patients with severe traumas head wounds crushed limbs have been streaming
into temporary structures set up by msf in and around port au prince but the
medical charity is only able to offer them basic medical care toronto based msf
spokesman paul mcphun told tele conference
he described port au prince as black city without power since the quake
struck shortly before nightfall on tuesday telephone lines were also down with
only sporadic communication via internet possible with teams on the ground
msf teams worked through the night after the quake which rattled the island
nation an hour before dusk and continued to ply destroyed roads after daybreak
they reported finding people sleeping on roads that were not completely
obstructed with rubble said mcphun
everywhere we go there massive demand from people to help them with
trapped family members or people suffering from major injuries so you re on the
streets and you re getting mobbed with people needing medical care he said
teams are basically managing what comes to them they are already getting
overwhelmed
destruction on the impoverished island nation was massive including msf
infrastructure said mcphun
all of our health structures are either condemned or collapsed so we can use
them he said
one of msf emergency care centers collapsed in the earthquake which measured
on the richter scale and two others were severely damaged and unusable
the level of care we can provide without that infrastructure is limited we are
able to provide stablization basically first aid because we don have the
infrastructure to manage surgery right now and unfortunately what we re seeing
is large number of patients in critical condition mcphun said
we need referral we need secondary level hospital care we need surgical care
that our focus to try to bring that to them and try to address that that
our priority mcphun said
msf expects within the coming days to be able to bolster its team of medical
staff including international members in haiti
we expect to have more international staff in place within days all with
specialities to address emergency needs said mcphun
the challenge now is how to get them there but we need to get them in there
and we need to get them in there fast he said
emergency freight shipments including an inflatable hospital are also being
readied to be dispatched to haiti he said
horror in haiti as thousands feared dead
port au prince jan afp
rescuers dug with bare hands to reach victims trapped in the ruins of the
haitian capital wednesday with tens of thousands feared dead injured and
missing after devastating quake
vast international aid effort swung into action as devastated president rene
preval appealed for help for his impoverished caribbean nation after the
powerful quake struck tuesday
parliament has collapsed the tax office has collapsed schools have collapsed
hospitals have collapsed he told the miami herald estimating the number of
dead in the thousands
there are lot of schools that have lot of dead people in them he said as
experts said it was the worst quake to hit the caribbean nation in more than
century
with hospitals also having crumbled in the fury of the quake medical services
were struggling to cope with the flow of wounded
there are tens of thousands of victims and considerable damage haiti
ambassador to the organization of american states duly brutus told afp without
specifying the number of dead
the most urgent need is to help the thousands of people who are still alive and
trapped in the ruins he added saying the last quake of such magnitude to
strike haiti was in
preval wife first lady elisabeth preval told the us daily she had seen
corpses in the streets of port au prince and had heard the cries of victims
still trapped in the rubble of the parliament building
stepping over dead bodies lot of people are buried under buildings the
general hospital has collapsed we need support we need help we need
engineers she said
cries from the victims still pinned under debris could be heard as powerful
aftershocks rattled the poorest country in the americas which lacks the heavy
equipment needed to dig through ruins
un chief ban ki moon said the capital with its population of two million people
had borne the brunt of the quake which struck at pm gmt saying vast
areas had been destroyed
while much of the rest of the impoverished caribbean nation appeared largely
unaffected ban gave grim assessment of the devastation in port au prince
saying the city few basic services had collapsed
there is no doubt that we are facing major humanitarian emergency and that
major relief effort will be required he told press conference in the united
nations as he prepared to visit haiti as soon as possible
the temblor toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace
major hotel where tourists were missing and the headquarters of the un
mission in haiti where up to personnel were unaccounted for
five people were confirmed dead in the un headquarters and the head of the
peacekeeping mission tunisian hedi annabi was among the missing
jordan reported that three of its peacekeepers were killed and wounded in the
quake brazil said of its peacekeepers were killed while eight chinese
soldiers were buried in rubble and were missing state media said
an argentine staffed hospital was the only one left operating in the city and
was struggling to cope with huge numbers of injured its director told argentine
television
the situation is really critical because we cannot cope with this many dead and
injured daniel desimone told todo noticias
there are lot of dead people in the streets lot of injured he added
major international relief operation was put underway with the united states
france britain and canada all promising help
us president barack obama vowed swift and aggressive effort to save lives and
said search and rescue teams would arrive within hours after heartwrenching
earthquake
this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible he said
the earthquake also caused widespread destruction in the resort town of jacmel
south of the capital witness said wednesday saying he saw an entire mountain
almost collapsed
it is complete devastation here personally am lucky to be alive said
emmet murphy head of the haitian office of the us non governmental organization
adci voca
was driving back to jacmel in the mountains when the entire mountain seemed
to fall down all around me
two hundred foreigners were missing at the hotel montana french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet said
we know there were people inside the hotel when it collapsed only around
have got out which greatly concerns us he told french radio
among the dead was the archbishop of port au prince monsignor serge miot the
missionary international service news agency misna reported in rome
pope benedict xvi urged generous response to the catastrophe the pope
lamented haiti tragic situation involving huge loss of human life great
number of homeless and missing and considerable material damage
world vision said it would begin distributing first aid kits blankets and
potable water to survivors on wednesday
this is especially devastating in haiti where people are acutely vulnerable
because of poor infrastructure and extreme poverty edward brown world
vision us relief director said in statement
already the poorest nation in the americas haiti has been hit by series of
recent disasters seventy percent of its population lives on less than two
dollars per day
alert
south african leaders to meet on zimbabwe madagascar officials
big job cuts if kraft takes over cadbury union
london jan afp
takeover of british confectioner cadbury by us food giant kraft could mean the
loss of jobs at cadbury and at the company sub contractors the
british trade union unite warned wednesday
the union said kraft would be saddled with debt of billion pounds billion
euros billion dollars after the takeover forcing it to impose job cuts
kraft ownership could see control of cadbury move from the uk to illinois usa
in the process putting at risk direct jobs and at least more jobs
in the wider supply chain unite warned in statement
unite is seriously concerned that the interests of the company its workforce
and its extensive supply chain will be placed at risk if kraft is able to push
through its hostile bid
the union recalled that between and kraft shed jobs and closed
sites to help pay down its debt
kraft offer in cash and shares is worth billion pounds billion
euros billion dollars proposal that cadbury dismissed again tuesday as
derisory
on wednesday italian chocolate maker ferrero dropped out of the race to buy
cadbury after deciding to end talks for joint bid with us counterpart hershey
source said
the conditions are no longer in place to proceed with hershey financial
sector source said without giving further details
ferrero and its advising bank mediobanca declined to comment
alert
nigerian court rules deputy can replace ailing president
us stocks edge up ahead of wave of corporate earnings
new york jan afp
us stocks drifted higher wednesday as investors awaited wave of corporate
financial reports following disappointing start of the results season
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to
at gmt holding opening gains
the tech studded nasdaq composite index gained points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to
al goldman chief market strategist at wells fargo advisors said investors were
cautious after alcoa earnings came in below expectations monday and china raised
bank reserve ratios to tame economic growth sparking concern other central
banks will soon start tightening credit
market action the next day or two will say lot about what ahead for the
next several weeks goldman said
if the market can come right back today and close well the message will be
that momentum remains up if the market tries to rally today but fails we are
probably starting an overdue normal correction
fred dickson of da davidson amp co said earnings may not provide the catalyst
for market gains as in the last quarter
we believe the market will embrace and reward companies that top both revenue
and earnings estimates and lift guidance for the first quarter he said
however we also believe companies that just barely meet earnings estimates
but fall behind revenue guidance and do not lift guidance could experience
selling pressure
the next major companies to report quarterly results will be intel on thursday
and jpmorgan chase on friday intel was trading percent higher at
dollars and jpmorgan added percent at dollars
investors welcomed slightly better than expected earning from kraft foods up
percent at dollars
alcoa which had plunged more than percent tuesday gained percent at
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
banking shares were under pressure as chief executives of top banks testified in
washington in the first day of hearing of congressionally mandated commission
to probe the reasons for the global financial crisis
goldman sachs slipped percent to dollar morgan stanley rose
percent to dollars and bank of america edged up percent to
dollars
investors also awaited federal reserve beige book report on economic activity
across the country that could hint at the direction of monetary policy
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
rallying verhoeven wins dakar motorcycling stage
san juan argentina jan afp
dutch motorcyclist frans verhoeven won the th stage of the dakar rally here on
wednesday the kilometres special from santiago in chile
verhoeven edged out american jonah street by three seconds while frenchman cyril
despres seventh on the stage over four minutes in arrears remained comfortably
the overall leader with just three stages remaining
despres whose main pre race rival for the title spaniard marc coma saw his
chances disappear last weekend when he was penalised six hours for illegally
changing tyre has lead of hr min over norwegian pal ullevalseter
chile francisco lopez retains third place overall while the big loser of the
day in terms of podium finish was portugal helder rodrigues who held on to
fourth place but lost six minutes on ullevalseter
european stocks close narrowly mixed
london jan afp
europe main stock markets closed narrowly mixed on wednesday with london
ftse index of leading shares falling percent to points
in paris the cac was virtually unchanged at points while in
frankfurt the dax gained percent to points
tennis players discuss world cup alternative to davis cup says djokovic
melbourne jan afp
revolutionary plan for world cup of tennis which could signal the end of
the year old davis cup will be discussed among the players during the
australian open novak djokovic said here on wednesday
djokovic member of the atp player council headed by roger federer said the
idea floating around for world cup nations playing once every two years
to replace the annual davis cup was an idea from the council
reports said it was envisaged to have biennial day tournament involving
teams which would feature shorter matches in which players have to watch the
clock between points and compulsory mid match substitutions
djokovic who is playing in the kooyong classic here said players would hold
talks during the australian open starting on monday which would be crucial for
upcoming years
the serbian star said nothing had been settled yet but various options were on
the table
it all fresh and it all ideas we didn decide to put anything on an
official term because we have to consider other sides as well djokovic told
reporters
this is the bottom line without sponsors there wouldn be tournament
without tournaments players wouldn exist
but still players are the ones who are making the show and their opinions have
to be greatly considered
this time think that slowly things will get better but these are things that
cannot happen overnight
the times of london said the idea had already been presented to the all england
club the united states tennis association and tennis australia as well
federer
top television executives were also in the loop it added saying that they
believed that men only competition would attract larger audience
australian open tournament director craig tiley was quoted by the paper as
saying the idea was innovative refreshing and thoughtfully put together
any initiative that will further expose our sport and will grow its
participation particularly in australia but also worldwide has to be great for
tennis he said
the itf confirmed it had seen the plans
this proposal has some interesting elements and of course timely branding
given the current worldwide fascination with the fifa world cup it also
has many challenges that must be faced if it is to succeed said statement
from the itf
everyone is in agreement that nation vs nation format is very attractive
something davis cup has recognized for over century and only time will tell
if new competition can earn regular place in the tennis calendar
it should also be noted that last year following request by the top players
for an amended schedule the itf signed five year agreement with the atp world
tour guaranteeing dates and ranking points
croatian ivan ljubicic who is also playing in the kooyong classic here said
the davis cup format was now outdated
the top guys are not able to play all the matches that they would love to play
for their nation ljubicic told reporters
it because the format is not suited for the players at the moment our sport
is going forward so you have to change something about it
maybe it was perfect or years ago but now it really too much for us
best of five sets three days in row and for sure the week after you can
play the week before you can play
some of the worst tragedies to hit the united nations
united nations jan afp
here is list of some the worst tragedies to hit the united nations in recent
years
port au prince devastating earthquake flattened the main headquarters
building of the un mission in haiti minustah tuesday with dozens of staffers
feared dead including minustah civilian head hedi annabi and his deputy
baghdad suicide bomb attack targeted un offices in the iraqi capital
killing staffers including un special envoy sergio vieira de mello on august
algiers eighteen un staffers three of them foreign nationals were killed in
car bomb attacks on their offices on december
islamabad four pakistanis and an iraqi were killed when man dressed in
military uniform breached strict security measures and detonated explosives in
the heavily fortified office of the un world food program in the heart of the
pakistani capital last october
kabul taliban suicide gunmen stormed un hostel last october killing six
foreign staff in an assault claimed by the islamist militia
white house backs free internet in google china dispute
washington jan afp
the white house said wednesday that it backs the right to free internet and
confirmed it has held talks with google which has threatened to quit china over
censorship demands
white house spokesman robert gibbs said he would not go into details about the
discussions with google which announced on tuesday that it would no longer
filter search results from china on its web search engine
the president and this administration have beliefs about the freedom of the
internet gibbs said noting that president barack obama had expressed them in
china last year
during visit to china in november obama pushed for an unshackled internet
saying he was strong supporter of open internet use and big supporter of
non censorship
kosovo plugs into flood hit albania power surplus
pristina jan afp
kosovo is importing electricity from albania to help tirana get rid of surplus
from their hydroelectric power stations created by heavy floods the publicly
run electricity company said wednesday
the kosovo electricity company kek said it has halted production in its own
two power plants to be able to import megawatts day from albania third
of its daily requirement the company said in statement
kosovo has agreed to import albania energy surplus now and will return the
same amount of electricity to tirana at later time
albania has been hit heavily by raging floodwaters in several northwestern
regions that forced authorities last week to declare natural disaster
hundreds of people have been evacuated
heavy rains in the past days have forced the authorities to open the gates of
the dam at the hydroelectric power station vau dejes causing flooding of
several villages near the adriatic sea
yachting oracle alinghi back to court as talks collapse
madrid jan afp
us challenger oracle launched new legal case against swiss defender alinghi on
wednesday just weeks before the scheduled start of their america cup duel
after negotiations between them broke down
it was not immediately clear what effect the latest move would have on the plans
for the rd america cup set to start on february in the spanish port of
valencia
oracle said it had asked the supreme court of the state of new york to verify if
alinghi had infringed the competition nationality rules by allegedly using us
made sails for its catamaran
the two sides held talks in singapore on tuesday and wednesday to try and reach
negotiated settlement on the issue but no mutual agreement was reached
oracle represented by the golden gate yacht club ggyc of california said in
statement
this is very disappointing and frustrating said oracle skipper russell
coutts
on three separate occasions during the two days of talks there was final
draft of an agreement ggyc was ready to sign alinghi negotiators were
prepared to sign but it seems they were not given permission
alinghi whose home club is the societe nautique de geneve sng responded by
accusing oracle of seeking to derail the america cup
oracle has already successfully disqualified teams through the us courts to
gain access to the match now they are seeking to win the cup without ever
racing for it alinghi skipper brad butterworth said in statement
this latest lawsuit has come as shock given we were planning further
