development council
strauss kahn also is to meet with senior officials of the hong kong government
to discuss the world economic outlook and policies relevant to hong kong the
imf said
hong kong with population of seven million was returned to china from
british rule in it has separate constitution guaranteeing freedoms not
available to chinese on the mainland including the right to protest
intel profit up sharply on pc sales surge
new york jan afp
intel posted sharply higher net profit thursday as surge in personal
computer sales boosted the fourth quarter earnings of the world biggest
computer chipmaker
the santa clara california based technology bellwether said net profit soared
nearly nine fold by percent to billion dollars in the three months
which ended on december
fourth quarter revenue rose by percent to billion dollars better than
the billion dollars expected by wall street analysts
intel strong earnings came despite the payment of billion dollars in the
quarter to advanced micro devices to settle long standing legal dispute
between the rival chipmakers
intel also said it expects revenue of between billion dollars and
billion dollars this quarter better than the billion dollars forecast by
analysts
as the world top chipmaker intel fortunes are closely linked to those of the
computer market
industry tracker idc reported wednesday that nearly million computers were
shipped in the united states in the fourth quarter record and heralding an
economic revival
abundant deals on low priced netbooks and demand that built up during the
economic crisis boosted shipments of computers percent in the final quarter
of compared with year ago idc said
our ability to weather this business cycle demonstrates that microprocessors
are indispensable in our modern world intel president and chief executive paul
otellini said in statement
looking forward we plan to deliver the benefits of computing to an expanding
set of products markets and customers otellini said
shares in the us semiconductor giant shot up percent to dollars in
electronic after hours trading in new york
obama sarkozy to organise haiti conference elysee
paris jan afp
us president barack obama and french president nicolas sarkozy along with
brazil canada and other countries directly concerned will organise an
international conference on haiti reconstruction the french presidency said
thursday
sarkozy would hold talks over the coming hours with president luiz inacio lula
da silva of brazil and canadian prime minister stephen harper the elysee
statement added
the decision was taken during phone call between obama and sarkozy on thursday
evening it said
the elysee the french president office said obama had called his french
counterpart to discuss the situation in haiti and efforts by the us and france
to help victims of the earthquake
the two presidents determined to face the humanitarian emergency agreed to
closely coordinate and intensify their efforts on the ground in order to save
lives it added
obama allies seek imminent health deal
washington jan afp
the white house and labor unions unveiled breakthrough deal thursday to clear
major obstacle blocking president barack obama all out campaign to remake us
health care his top domestic goal
the announcement gave much needed boost to obama and his democratic allies as
they strove in intense marathon talks to meld rival senate and house of
representatives versions of legislation to enact the historic overhaul
democrats eager for what would be major election year victory said they
hoped to overcome the last hurdles to craft final compromise by the weekend
and pass it before the president state of the union speech just weeks away
with deal almost within his grasp obama paid rare visit to the us congress
and sought to steel any house democrats worried about paying price in november
mid term elections for backing the legislation
if republicans want to campaign against what we ve done by standing up for the
status quo and for insurance companies over american families and businesses
that is fight want to have said the president
obama proclaimed we are on the doorstep of historic achievement and declared
himself proud we are putting the future of america before the politics of the
moment the next generation before the next election
democrats working on the final compromise had next to no margin for error the
senate passed its bill on christmas eve by exactly the votes needed and the
house got just two more than the needed seven weeks earlier
but they took critical step forward when labor unions announced deal in
which they watered down the senate plans to pay for the overhaul with taxes on
generous health plans like those their members have
union leaders told reporters on conference call to unveil the accord that they
would have preferred to go another route but that they would fight for the final
bill and that the house and senate had endorsed their approach
we think that everybody is on board with this said richard trumka president
of the largest us labor federation the afl cio gerry mcentee who heads the
largest union of government workers said they and their democratic allies were
ready to fight for the bill
republicans seemingly united in opposition to the plan have said they plan to
harness public doubts about the legislation ahead of the mid term elections in
which sitting us president party typically loses seats
but trumka said we think it will help us in the election because the
underlying legislation is good for all working americans
several other disputes stood in the way of crafting compromise that could be
sent to the non partisan congressional budget office for formal assessment of
its likely impact cost and effect on the soaring us deficit
previous cbo score showed the legislation would have cut roughly billion
dollars off the deficit over the first years
the legislation which would usher in the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in
four decades aims to extend coverage to more than million of the million
americans who lack health insurance and curb abusive practices by private
insurers who provide most americans coverage
recent public opinion polls have found deep skepticism about the bill with
large segment disappointed that the sweeping legislation does not go far enough
the white house and democratic lawmakers were also looking to resolve another
dispute centered on whether health care exchanges marketplaces where
consumers could comparison shop for coverage would be national or state by
state
we are very very close to agreeing on final plan said obama spokesman
robert gibbs
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
the united states spends more than double what britain france and germany do
per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
bosnian immigrant to remain in jail over ny bomb plot
washington jan afp
an american judge ordered thursday young bosnian immigrant suspected of
involvement in an alleged new york bomb plot to remain behind bars pending
trial prosecutors said
the suspect adis medunjanin was present in the brooklyn courtroom to hear
judge lois bloom grant the prosecution permanent order of detention
spokesman for the us attorney office told afp
medunjanin pleaded not guilty on saturday to charges that he received
military type training in pakistan from al qaeda along with two other men
and conspired to commit murder from there
the bosnian immigrant also known as mohammed was arrested by fbi agents on
friday along with taxi driver zarein ahmedzay both are alleged associates of
najibullah zazi denver airport shuttle driver indicted last year for planning
bombing spree around the anniversary of the september attacks
zazi told fbi agents he had traveled to pakistan to receive weapons and
explosives training at an al qaeda camp court documents say
the new york times reported that both ahmedzay and medunjanin had participated
in zazi pakistan trip making them prime suspects in the unfolding bomb plot
probe
it said the trio attended the same new york high school
zazi who is also being held in detention pending trial in brooklyn is accused
of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction
prosecutors say zazi traveled to new york with bomb making instructions in
laptop he also allegedly shopped for large quantities of chemicals found in
beauty products that could have been the ingredients for explosives
his case had been considered the most serious terror investigation in the united
states since september but has since been overtaken by the foiled
christmas day attack aboard us bound plane carrying nearly people
obama sarkozy to organise haiti conference elysee
paris jan afp
us president barack obama and french president nicolas sarkozy along with
brazil canada and other countries directly concerned will organise an
international conference on haiti reconstruction the french presidency said
thursday
sarkozy would hold talks over the coming hours with president luiz inacio lula
da silva of brazil and canadian prime minister stephen harper the elysee
statement added
the decision was taken during phone call between obama and sarkozy on thursday
evening it said
the elysee the french president office said obama had called his french
counterpart to discuss the situation in haiti and efforts by the us and france
to help victims of the earthquake
the two presidents determined to face the humanitarian emergency agreed to
closely coordinate and intensify their efforts on the ground in order to save
lives it added
chicago businessman charged over mumbai attacks
chicago jan afp
chicago businessman was charged thursday with helping an old friend from
military school in pakistan plot the deadly mumbai attacks that killed
people in mumbai last year officials said
tahawwur hussain rana year old born in pakistan has been held in jail
since his october arrest on charges of helping plot an attack on the danish
newspaper that published incendiary cartoons of the prophet mohammed in
prosecutors allege that rana canadian citizen helped his friend david
coleman headley key suspect in the mumbai attacks by allowing him to use his
immigration company as cover for surveillance trips to india and denmark
rana was charged thursday with three separate counts of providing material
support for the mumbai attacks for the denmark terror plot and for the banned
pakistani militant group lashkar taiba
also indicted on conspiracy charges related to the denmark plot were ilyas
kashmiri an alleged terror kingpin in pakistan who prosecutors accuse of being
in regular contact with al qaeda leaders and abdur rehman hashim syed
retired major in the pakistani military neither man is in us custody
headley has pleaded not guilty to terrorism related charges and remains
in custody where he is cooperating with prosecutors
the washington born son of former pakistani diplomat and american mother
headley reportedly befriended bollywood stars and even dated an actress during
his lengthy surveillance trips to mumbai
nearly year after the bloody hour siege which began november
headley was allegedly recorded discussing five future targets
prosecutors said the targets included bollywood the indian temple somnath the
national defense college in delhi shiv sena political party in india with
roots in hindu nationalism and the danish newspaper
headley and rana were arrested in october on terror charges related to the plot
to attack denmark highest circulating daily jyllands posten and kill an
editor and the cartoonist
headley was charged last month with spending two years casing out mumbai even
taking boat tours around the city harbor to scope out landing sites for the
attackers
rana who owns the chicago based first world immigration services that headley
allegedly used as cover insists that he is pacifist who was duped by his
friend date has not yet been set for rana arraignment
american express visa waive fees on haiti donations
washington jan afp
american express and visa on thursday waived transaction fees for donations made
via their credit cards to quake hit haiti amid criticism over profits by banks
and credit card firms on contributions
american express said it would rebate the merchant discount rate for charitable
contributions made on its credit card directly to approved non profit
organizations supporting haiti relief efforts
the organizations must be listed on the website of the us agency for
international development usaid company statement said
the rebate was effective retroactively from january through february
american express said
it announced dollar donation to assist several groups with their haiti
relief efforts including american red cross doctors without borders
international rescue committee and the united nations friends of the world food
program
visa said it will not apply interchange through february to donations made to
select group of major charities providing support to haitian relief efforts
we will donate back any visa revenue that is generated from charitable
donations related to the crisis in haiti through february company
statement said
visa made dollar contribution to the red cross
us banks and credit card companies make huge profits about million
dollars year from people charitable donations through transaction costs
an analysis by huffington post us news website showed
those profits rise sharply after major disasters when humanitarian relief
organizations such as oxfam and operation usa take in more than percent of
their donations via credit card it said
the credit card providers with only few exceptions refuse to waive their
fees the report said
credit card companies have only been willing to waive their processing fee for
charity once for the tsunami disaster said richard walden the chief
executive of operation usa according to the report
peter larson of the washington humane society said it unfortunate that
portion of our individual contributions are eaten up by processing fees but
that the nature of business we have no choice but to use credit cards because
without them we would lose great deal of money in donations
rugbyu south africa hougaard puts wilkinson in shade
london jan afp
jonny wilkinson made his first club appearance on english soil since his move to
french side toulon on thursday but found himself overshadowed by south african
fly half derrick hougaard
toulon were defeated by saracens in the european challenge cup with
hougaard kicking six penalties and conversion of justin melck try
wilkinson scored all of his team nine points with two penalties and drop
goal
jonny did well he was very good in defence it was difficult situation the
pitch was quite heavy and it was not very high level game he had solid
performance said toulon coach philippe saint andre
geithner to testify over aig bailout controversy
washington jan afp
us treasury secretary timothy geithner has agreed to testify before
congressional committee over the controversial government bailout of insurance
giant aig during the financial crisis the panel said thursday
geithner said separately thursday that he was not involved in any decision
related to the disclosure of details about the terms of the federal bailout
of american international group
congressional panel wednesday subpoenaed documents on the bailout including
from geithner who was president of the federal reserve bank of new york before
his current appointment
the house of representatives oversight and government reform committee said that
internal aig emails obtained by the panel to date indicate that the new york
fed may have urged aig to keep secret the details of the counterparty payments
despite the fact that taxpayer dollars made the payments possible
committee chairman edolphus towns said thursday he received confirmation
from geithner office that he would testify before the committee on january
towns had said his committee was seeking information on payments made to aig
counterparties major global banks including goldman sachs morgan stanley
barclays bank of america deutsche bank and societe generale
the panel seeks emails phone logs and meeting notes from the new york fed and
geithner among others on the discussions held ahead of the bailout decision
in an interview thursday with the cnbc broadcasting network geithner said he
was not involved in decisions about disclosing details of payments to aig
counterparties
you know have not looked at those memos actually was not involved in that
decision but do think the fed the fed did disclose all of that information
subsequently he said
think they made the right thing disclosing it important that the american
people see all of this information
the new york fed said on wednesday it would provide any relevant material to the
congressional panel
we will work with the committee to provide relevant information as
appropriate said deborah kilroe the bank spokeswoman
some lawmakers have called for geithner resignation
asked to comment geithner said oh that the judgment that the president has
to make
you know as long as have the chance to help him do this fix these problems
ll be honored to do it he said citing the financial and economic problems
gripping the country as it recovers from brutal recession
obama sarkozy to organise haiti conference elysee
paris jan afp
us president barack obama and french president nicolas sarkozy along with
brazil canada and other countries directly concerned will organise an
international conference on haiti reconstruction the elysee said thursday
sarkozy will hold talks over the coming hours with president luiz inacio lula of
brazil and canadian prime minister stephen harper the statement added
the decision was taken during phone call between obama and sarkozy on thursday
evening it said
obama vows us help for haiti aid operation builds
washington jan afp
president barack obama promised haitians thursday they would not be forgotten
offering million dollars in immediate earthquake aid and the backing of
every element of us power
large scale us military and civilian aid operation gained momentum with
washington sending rescue teams ships helicopters planes floating
hospital emergency supplies and more than ground troops
to the people of haiti we say clearly and with conviction you will not be
forsaken you will not be forgotten obama said
the president offered every element of our national capacity our diplomacy and
development assistance the power of our military and most importantly the
compassion of our country following the disaster
as rescuers raced to find survivors among thousands of corpses in haiti obama
recalled two top deputies from foreign trips and vowed to ensure the relief
operation received an urgent priority
defense secretary robert gates cancelled weekend visit to australia and
secretary of state hillary clinton returned to washington early thursday to help
organize us efforts after haiti worst earthquake in more than century
search and rescue teams from florida virginia and california were on the ground
thursday in port au prince as was group of us air force experts working to
restore air traffic control at the airport
the leading role for the humanitarian effort fell to the united states haiti
wealthy neighbor which has deployed troops and aid in the past to the
impoverished caribbean nation amid refugee crises and political unrest
this is one of those moments that calls out for american leadership obama
said flanked by clinton and gates
we stand in solidarity with our neighbors to the south knowing that but for
the grace of god there we go
the president announced an immediate investment of million dollars to
support relief efforts and to buy live saving equipment and food while us
businesses offered millions of dollars in cash and other aid as part of major
international effort
the us army ordered brigade of troops from the nd airborne division to
haiti to ensure safe environment for relief efforts said pentagon spokesman
bryan whitman with the first soldiers to arrive later thursday
three large amphibious ships with marines on board were also ordered in
and an aircraft carrier the uss carl vinson was expected to reach haiti by
friday
navy officers said the aircraft carrier will serve as floating airport for
fleet of helicopters ferrying emergency teams and aid to haiti which
desperately needed food water and shelter
two other warships and several coast guard cutters with helicopters were also
bound for haiti while large hospital ship the usns comfort was being loaded
with medical supplies in baltimore
the pentagon rejected criticism that it may have acted too slowly to deploy its
military might in the first hours of the disaster saying it moved in
assessment teams quickly
the relief effort faced serious challenges obama said with roads in haiti
impassable communications rudimentary and aftershocks still rumbling
the country damaged airport was stretched to the limit and haiti asked the
united states and other countries not to authorize any more flights to port au
prince for now us officials said
obama also discussed the humanitarian disaster with french president nicolas
sarkozy stressing the need for coordination of immediate and long term
international efforts to assist the people of haiti the white house said
part of the us effort was aimed at helping the estimated americans in
haiti some of whom were injured in the disaster
over us citizens were evacuated thursday and more were to be rescued
later in the day the state department said
some injured members of the american embassy staff were taken to the nearby us
naval base at guantanamo bay cuba home of the controversial prison camp for
terror suspects as well as spain ambassador to haiti
us officials were acutely aware of the need to contain possible mass panic or
attempts to flee haiti by sea to reach the united states
over the years hundreds have made the perilous kilometer mile
journey in leaky boats and many have perished on the way
dollar ticks higher against euro after trichet comments
new york jan afp
the dollar edged higher against the euro thursday after the head of the european
central bank warned of risks to the eurozone fragile economic recovery and
mixed us economic data
the single european currency slipped to dollars at gmt down from
dollars late wednesday in new york
the dollar meanwhile fetched yen compared with wednesday
the market looked past disappointing us retail sales report and another rise
in weekly jobless claims to push the dollar higher in narrow range bound trade
we had little bit of back and forth it looks like the dollar is holding in
its range relatively narrow said vassili serebriakov at wells fargo
the dollar started softer after disappointing us retail sales but think
the european central bank meeting was overall negative for the euro he said
ecb president jean claude trichet speaking after the central bank policymakers
held the benchmark eurozone interest rate at record low percent as
expected said the eurozone economy should grow at moderate pace in
but he warned that recovery would likely be uneven and was subject to
uncertainty
on greece whose massive debt and public deficit burdens have unnerved eurozone
partners trichet adopted severe tone
while it was absurd to suggest that greece might be forced to leave the
member bloc he insisted that greece along with other debt burdened
eurozone members had to take steps to get its public finances in order
greece debt debacle thrust it to the top of the bank list of problems but
ireland italy portugal and spain have troubles of their own and analysts say
market fears could fuel full blown crisis if officials do not act credibly and
soon
trichet said there would be no exception for greek government bonds within the
bank collateral requirements which are to revert to pre crisis criteria at
the end of this year
that would mean that greek bonds would not be accepted as collateral by the bank
at current ratings
meanwhile investors digested weak reading for the critical year end us
holiday shopping season
us retail sales fell unexpectedly by percent in december but numbers were
revised higher for the prior two months commerce department data showed
most analysts had expected gain of percent in sales major indicator of
the consumer spending that drives two thirds of us economic activity
the labor department meanwhile reported initial claims for unemployment
insurance benefits rose more than expected last week
still the figures showed continued improvement in the troubled jobs sector
with the four week moving average of initial claims falling to its lowest level
since august
with both european and us economic data reports disappointing investors as the
year begins the pair appears destined to remain range bound for the time being
as currency traders attempt to ascertain which economy will show faster growth
in before making their bets said boris schlossberg at global forex
trading
in late new york trade the dollar stood at swiss francs up from
late wednesday
the pound firmed to dollars from
spanish envoy to haiti evacuated to guantanamo us
washington jan afp
spain ambassador to haiti juan fernandez trigo was injured in the earthquake
that hit the caribbean nation and has been evacuated to the us naval base at
guantanamo bay the united states said thursday
overnight we evacuated the spanish ambassador who was injured said state
department spokesman philip crowley
diplomatic sources said the ambassador arm had been injured in the massive
quake that hit haiti tuesday
the us base at guantanamo home to controversial prison camp is receiving
groups of us citizens and others hurt in the disaster which may have killed
over people
chicago businessman charged over mumbai attacks
chicago jan afp
chicago businessman has been charged with helping an old friend from military
school in pakistan plot the deadly mumbai attacks officials said thursday
tahawwur hussain rana has been held in jail since his october arrest on charges
of helping plot an attack on the danish newspaper which published incendiary
cartoons of the prophet mohammed
prosecutors allege that he helped his friend david coleman headley key
suspect in the mumbai attacks by allowing him to use his chicago based
immigration company as cover for surveillance trips to india and denmark
bill clinton bush answer obama call to help haiti
washington jan afp
former us presidents bill clinton and george bush on thursday accepted
request from president barack obama to raise funds for earthquake victims and
relief efforts in haiti they said in statement
we are pleased to accept president obama request to lead private sector
fundraising efforts the former presidents said in joint statement
in the days and weeks ahead we will draw attention to the many ways american
citizens and businesses can help meet the urgent needs of the haitian people
the united states has launched massive aid operation including specialists
coast guard cutters helicopters transport planes and the uss carl vinson
aircraft carrier along with marines deployed
the usns comfort floating military hospital and team of doctors and medical
supplies was also readying to sail from the us east coast to haiti
americans have long history of showing compassion and generosity in the wake
of tragedy the two former presidents said
we thank the american people for rallying to help our neighbors in the
caribbean in their hour of suffering and throughout the journey of rebuilding
their nation
also thursday clinton and his wife us secretary of state hillary clinton
spearheaded drive to raise money to help earthquake ravaged haiti already
drumming up three million dollars for red cross relief efforts
hillary clinton who canceled trip to asia to address the humanitarian crisis
made the rounds of six morning television news shows where she urged americans
to make dollar donations by cellular telephone
bill clinton writing in the washington post said the aid should go to build
better future for the western hemisphere poorest nation including better
buildings schools and health care
the clintons have long running involvement with haiti where they spent their
honeymoon
taiwan envoy treated in dominican republic after haiti quake
santo domingo jan afp
taiwan ambassador to port au prince is receiving medical treatment in
neighboring dominican republic for injuries sustained during this week
earthquake in haiti hospital spokeswoman said here thursday
ambassador hsu mien sheng was injured when the embassy building in port au
prince caved in during tuesday huge earthquake said altagracia ortiz
spokeswoman for the center for advanced medicine and telemedicine
there was no immediate word on the nature or severity of the envoy injuries
officials in santo domingo said that since late wednesday more than
injured patients arriving from haiti have received medical treatment in the
dominican republic
football spanish cup results
madrid jan afp
results from the second legs of spanish cup last matches on thursday
real mallorca victor mario suarez rayo vallecano piti
real mallorca win on aggregate
atletico madrid simao aguero ujfalusi troest og
recreativo huelva carmona
atletico madrid win on aggregate
wednesday
racing santander alcorcon
racing stander win on aggregate
deportivo la coruna filipe luis juan rodriguez valencia zigic
deportivo win on aggregate
osasuna masoud hercules alicante
osasuna win on away goals rule after tie ended on aggregate
getafe soldado rafa pedro leon parejo malaga juanmi
getafe win on aggregate
fc sevilla barcelona xavi
on aggregate sevilla win on away goals rule
played tuesday
